A history of Germany : from the earliest period to the present time

HISTORY OF GERMANY;

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• /
V.

PROM THK

EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME.

BY FREDERICK KOHLRAUSCH.

LONDON:

CHAPMAN AND HALL, 186, STRAND.
1844.

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O. WHITING, BEAUFORT HOUSE, STRAND.

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I

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

THE high merits and distinguished character of the
original German work by Professor Kohlrausch, of which
this is a translation, have long been acknowledged. A work
which during a period of thirty years has enjoyed so much
popularity as to have gone through several editions, em-
bracing a circulation of many thousands of copies ; a pro-
duction which has extended and established its good repute,
even in its original form, far beyond its native clime, to
England, France, Belgium, Italy, America, &c. (in several of
which countries it has been reprinted in German), and has
thus become a standard book of reference in almost all the
universities and principal public, as well as private edu-
cational institutions — such a publication possesses ample
testimony proving it able to create a lasting interest, and
confirming its claims to consideration and esteem.

The aim of the distinguished author in this valuable
history is 'thus simply but distinctly expressed by him-
self: " M/'sole object," he says, " has been to produce a
succinct and connected development of the vivid and
eventful course of our country's history, written in a style
calculated to excite the interest and sympathy of my
readers, and of such especially who, not seeking to enter
upon a very profound study of the sources and more ela-
borate works connected with the annals of our empire, are
nevertheless anxious to have presented to them the means
of acquiring an accurate knowledge of the records of our
Fatherland, in such a form as to leave upon the mind and
heart an enduring, indelible impression."

IV PREFACE.

That our industrious historian has attained his object,
the intelligent reader will find in the interest excited, the
clear views imparted, and the deep impression effected by
his animated portrayals of both events and individuals.
This has been the original and acknowledged characteris-
tic of Herr Kohlrausch's work throughout its entire ex-
istence ; but in the new edition from which this translation
has been rendered, he has endeavoured to make it as
perfect as possible, both in matter and style, and besides
this has enriched it with many valuable notes not con-
tained in the former editions; thus making it in reality
a concise, yet, in every respect, a complete history of Ger-
many.

It is important to remark, that Professor Kohlrausch is
a Protestant, and one distinguished not less for his freedom
from prejudice and partiality, than for the comprehensive-
ness of his views and the high tone of his philosophy. The
general adoption of the work — alike by Protestant and Ro-
manist— is proof sufficiently convincing of the impartiality
of his statements, and of the justice of his reflections and
sentiments.

JAMES D. HAAS.

London, 1844.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

ANCIENT GERMANY AND ITS INHABITANTS.

PAGE.

The Sources of the most ancient German History — The Nature of the Country
— The Natives — The Germanic Races — Manners and Customs— Civil Insti-
tutions—War— Regulations . and Arms — Religion— Arts and Manufactures
— The Germanic Tribes 1-41

THE MORE ANCIENT GERMAN HISTORY.
FIRST PERIOD.

FROM THE MOST ANCIENT TIMES TO THE CONQUESTS OF THE FRANKS UNDER CLOVIS,

486 A.D.

CHAPTER I.

B.C. 113 — 6 A.D.

The Cimbri and Teutoni, 113-101 B.C. — Caesar and Ariovistus, 58 B.C.— Julius
Caesar on the Rhine— Commencement of the Great German Wars — Dmsus in
Germany — Marbodius, King of the Marcomanni 42-58

* CHAPTER II.

7—374

Arminius or Hermann — Arminius and Varus — Arminius and Germanicus —
The Death of Arminius, 21 A.D. — Further Wars between the Germans and
Romans — War with the Marcomanni, 167-180 — The Germanic Confederations
— The Alemanni— The Franks — The Saxon Confederation — The Goths—-
The Decline of the Roman Empire 58-78

CHAPTER III.

375-476.

The Hunns — Commencement of the Great Migration, 375— Irruption of the
Western Goths, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, and other Tribes into the
Western Roman Empire — Alaric — Attila, God's Scourge, 451 — The Fall of
the Roman Empire in the West, 476 79-92

CHAPTER IV.
SECOND PERIOD.

FROM THE CONQUESTS OF CLOVIS TO CHARLEMAGNE, 486-768.

Clovis, King of the Franks, 482-511— Theodoric, surnamed Dieterichof Berne,
488-526— The Longobardi in Italy, 568— Changes in the Customs and Insti-
tutions of the Germans— The Language— Constitution— Feudal System-
Laws— Pastimes— Christianity in Germany—The Grand Chamberlains-
Charles Martel against the Arabs, 732— Pepin the Little— The Carlo-

vingians 94-11.

b

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.

THIRD PERIOD.

PAGE,
THE CARLOVINGIANS FROM CHARLEMAGNE TO HENRY I., 768-919.

Charlemagne, 768-814— The State in which Charlemagne found the Empire—
The East-Roman, or Grecian Empire — England— The North of Europe— The
Spanish Peninsula — Italy — Austria and Hungary — Germany — The Wars of
Charlemagne — The Saxons — The Longobardi — The Arahs — The Bavarians
—The Empire of Charlemagne— Charlemagne, Emperor of Eome, 800— The
Death of Charlemagne, 814 — His Portraiture 113-137

CHAPTER VI.

814-918.

Louis the Pious, 814-840— Division of the Empire among his Sons, Louis,
Lothaire, and Charles the Bald, 843 — The German Sovereigns of the Race of
the Carlovingians, 843-911 — Louis, or Ludwig, the German — Charles the Fat
— Arnulf— Louis the Child — The later and concluding Period of the Carlo-
vingians— Conrad I., of Franconia, 911-918 138-151

CHAPTER VII.
FOURTH PERIOD.

FROM HENRY I. TO RUDOLPHUS OF HAPSBURG, 919-1273.

919-1024. ,

Henry I., 919-936 — His Wars — The Hungarians — The Sclavonians — New Insti-
tutions— Otho I., 936-973 — The Hungarians — Battle of the Lechfeld — The
Western Empire renewed, 962— Greece— Otho II., 973-9163— Otho HI., 983-
1003 — His Religious Devotion— His Partiality for Roman and Grecian Man-
ners and Customs — Henry H., 1003-1024 — Italy — Pavia, — Bamburg — His
Death, 1024— End of the Saxon Dynasty 155-185

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SALIC OR FRANCONIAN HOUSE, 1024-1125, TO LOTHAIRE THE SAXON, 1137.

Assemblage of the Ducal States— The Election— Conrad H., 1024-1039—
Re-establishes Internal Peace — Italy — Canute, King of England and Den-
mark—Burgundy— Ernest, Duke of Swabia — The Faust-Recht — Conrad's
Death, 1039— Henry HI., 1039-1056— The Popes— Henry's Zeal for the
Church— His Death, 1056— Henry IV., 1056, 1106— His Minority— The
Archbishops — Albert of Bremen — Henry and the Saxons — Their Hostility —
Henry's Revenge— Pope Gregory VII. — His Ambition — The Right of In-
vestiture— Rupture with the Emperor — Henry Excommunicated — The Em-
peror a Fugitive — The Rival Emperors and Popes — Rudolphus of Swabia
and Pope Clement HI.— Henry's Death, 1106— Henry V., 1106-1125— Rome
— Pope Pascal II.— The Investiture Contest — Sanguinary Battle — Henry
Crowned Emperor— His Death, 1125 — The First Crusade, 1096-1099— Lo-
thaire the Saxon, 1125-1137 185-216

CHAPTER IX.

THE SWABIAN OR HOHENSTAUFEN HOUSE, 1138-1254.

1138—1190.

Conrad IH., 1138-1152— The Guelphsand Ghibelines— Weinsberg— The Faith-
ful Wives— Conrad's Crusade — Disastrous ResultSr-His Death, 1152 — Fre-
derick L, or Barbarossa, 1152-1190 — His Noble Character and Distinguished
Qualities — Extends his Dominions — The Cities of Lombardy and Milan —
Pavia — Pope Adrian IV. — The Emperor's Homage — Otho of Wittelsbach —
Dispute between the Pope and the Emperor — Milan Taken and Razed — The
Confederation of the Lombardian Towns — The Battle of Lignano — Frederick
Defeated — Pope Alexander and Frederick — Venice — Henry, the Lion of
Brunswick — His Rise and Fall — Reconciliation and Peace — Lombardy —
Frederick's Crusade and Death in Palestine, 1190 216-233

CONTENTS. vii

PAGE.

CHAPTER X.

FROM 1190 TO THE INTERREGNUM, 1273.

Henry VI., 1190-1197— His Mercenary and Cruel Character— Richard I. of
England — Is Seized and Imprisoned by Henry — Naples and Sicily— The

Grandees — Their Barbarous Treatment by the Emperor — His Death, 1197

The Kival Sovereigns — Phillip of Swabia, 1197-1208, and Otho IV 1197-
1215— Their Death— Frederick II., 1215-1250— His Noble Qualities— Love
for the Arts and Sciences— His Sarcastic Poetry— Preference for Italy Dis-
putes with the Popes — Is Excommunicated — His Crusade to the Holy Land
— Crowned King of Jerusalem — Marries a Princess of England — Italy —
Pope Gregory IX.— Frederick Denounced and Deposed — Dissensions in Ger-
many— The Rival Kings — Death of Frederick II., 1250 — His extraordinary
Genius and Talents — His Zeal for Science and Education— A Glance at the
East and North-Eastern Parts of Germany — Progress in Civilisation —
William of Holland, 1247-1256— Conrad IV., 1250-1254 — Their Death—
The Interregnum, 1256-1273 — Progress of the Germanic Constitution ... 234-252

CHAPTER XI.

THE MIDDLE AGES.

Chivalry— The Cities— The Peasantry— The Arts and Sciences— The Clergy
and Ecclesiastical Institutions — The Monasteries and Convents — The Faust-
Recht — The Administration of Justice — The Vehm-Gericht, or Secret
Tribunal 253-285

CHAPTER XII.
FIFTH PERIOD.

FROM RUDOLPHUS I., OF HAPSBURG, TO CHARLES V., 1273-1520. — EMPERORS
OF DIFFERENT HOUSES.

1273-1347.

Rudolphus I., of Hapsburg, 1273-1291— Adolphus I., of Nassau, 1292-1298—
Albert I., of Austria, 1298-1308 — Switzerland — Confederation of the Swiss
— Gessler— William TeU— Henry VII., of Luxemburg, 1308-1313— Frederick
of Austria, 1314-1330, and Lewis of Bavaria, 1314-1347— Switzerland — The
Battle of Morgarten, 1315— The Battle of Muhldorf, 1322— The First Elec-
toral Alliance, 1338— Death of Lewis, 1347 288-304

CHAPTER XIII.

EMPERORS OF DIFFERENT HOUSES.

1347-1437.

Charles IV., 1347-1378— Wenceslas, 1378-1400— Switzerland— The Battle of
Sempach, 1386— Leopold of Austria — Arnold of Winkelried — His Heroism
and Self-devotion— Wenceslas Deposed— Rupert of the Palatinate, 1400-
1410— Sigismund, 1410-1437 — Grand Council of Constance— John Huss,
and the Hussite Wars— Death of Sigismund, 1437 305-320

CHAPTER XIV.

THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA.

Albert II.. 1438-1439— His Death— Frederick IH., 1440-1493— The Council of
Basle, 1448— JEneas Sylvius— The Turks— Belgrade— Defeat of the Turks
—The Diets— The Emperor besieged in Vienna— His Resolution— His Bro-
ther, Duke Albert— The Count Palatine of the Rhine— His Hostility-
Defeats the Imperialists— Albert of Brandenburg, the Achilles of Germany
—Feuds of the Nobles and Cities— Nuremberg— The Nobles Defeated—
Austria and Burgundy— Charles the Rash— His Ambition — Attacks the
Swiss— Defeated at Murten— The Battle of Nancy— His Death— Mary of

Viil CONTENTS.

PAGE.

Burgundy — Marries Maximilian of Austria— Her Death— The Emperor
Frederick a Fugitive— His Eeturn— Maximilian, Roman King— The Laws
— Their Improvement — Frederick's Obstinacy and Refusal — Maximilian Ap-
pealed to — The Swabian League — Death of Frederick III., 1493 — Prussia —
The Teutonic Knights — Their Decline and Fall — Prussia under Polish
Sway, 1466 321—323

CHAPTER XV.

Maximilian I., 1493-1519 — His Mental Acquirements and Chivalric Character —
His Government — Italy — Charles VIIL and Louis XII. of France — Switzer-
land—The Venetian Republic — The League of Cambray — Maximilian's Ho-
nourable and Consistent Conduct — The Battle of the Spurs — Union of Hun-
gary and Bohemia — Internal Administration of Affairs— Perpetual Peace of
the Land — End of the Faust-Recht — The Imperial Chamber and Aulic
Council — Opposition of the States— The Emperor Triumphant— State of the
Country — The Nobles, Cities, and Peasantry — Gotz von Berlichingen, &c. —
Death of the Emperor Maximilian, 1519 — Events of his Reign, and End of
the Middle Ages — Discovery and Use of Gunpowder — Artillery and Fire-
Arms—Invention of Printing, 1457 332-350

CHAPTER XVI.
SIXTH PERIOD.

FROM CHARLES V. TO THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA, 1520-1648.

State of the Empire — Internal Anarchy — Charles V. of Spain, and Francis I. of
France — Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony — Charles V. elected Emperor
of Germany— His Character — Jealousy and Discontent of the Spaniards —
Try to dissuade Charles from accepting the Imperial Crown — New Spain —
Discovery of Mexico — Arrival of Charles in Germany — His Coronation, 1520
— Schism in the Church— Causes which produced it — Ignorance of the
Clergy — Their Vices — Murmurs and Discontent of the People — A Reforma-
tion in the Church universally demanded — Scholastic Wisdom — Theology —
Enlightenment of Science — John Reuchlin 354-362

CHAPTER XVII.

Outbreak of the Reformation, 1517 — Abuses in the Church — Letters of Indul-
gence— Martin Luther, the Reformer — His Exposure and Condemnation of
these Proceedings — Is summoned to appear in Rome — Withheld from going
by the Elector of Saxony — The Pope's Nuncio, Cardinal Cajetan and Luther at
the Diet of Augsburg, 1518 — Refusal of Luther to retract — Luther's Appeal to
the Pope for a fair Hearing — Controversial Discussion between Luther and
Dr. Eck — Luther maintains his Ground— The Pope's Bull against Luther —
The Reformer burns the Bull, with the Canon Law and Eck's Writings —
Propagation of the New Doctrine — Luther addresses the People — Ulric of
Hiitten, and Francis of Sickingen — Frederick the Wise of Saxony and the
Princes in favour of Reform — The Grand Diet at Worms, 1521 — Charles V.
— The Pope's Legate, Cardinal Alexander — Luther's Appearance and Exami-
nation there — Solemn Refusal not to retract— The Emperor's Declaration —
Luther Excommunicated and his Writings burnt — Conveyed by the Elector
of Saxony for Safety to the Castle of Wartburg— His Translation of the New

, Testament — Tumults and Revolutions of the Peasantry — Miinzer the Fanatic
— Battle of Frankenhausen— Miinzer's Death — Tranquillity Restored.... 363-377

CHAPTER XVIII.

Foreign Relations of Charles V. — Francis I. of France — War between these two
rival Monarchs— Italy — Milan — The Duke of Bourbon— The Chevalier
Bayard— The Battle of Pavia, 1525— Defeat of the French— Francis I. taken
Prisoner — Madrid — The King of France liberated— His dishonourable Breach
of Stipulation— The Imperialists in Rome — The Pope a Prisoner — His Ran-
som— War with France resumed — Andrew Doria — Peace of Cambray, 1529

CONTENTS.

—Charles V. crowned Emperor and King of Lombardy in Bologna— His Ge-
nerosity— Return to Germany— First League of the Protestant Princes, 1526
—The Augsburg Confession, 1530— Melaucthon— His Character of Charles
V.— John, Elector of Saxony— His Determination— The Imperial Council—
The Emperor's Declaration— Keply of the Protestant Princes— Ferdinand
King of Rome, 1531— Religious Peace— The Turks in Hungary— Their
Defeat— Ulric, Duke of Wurtemberg— Restored to his Possessions by Philip
of Hesse— Insurrection of the Anabaptists — Their Defeat— The Emperor in

Africa — Tunis —His Triumph and Liberation of 22,000 Christian Slaves

Francis I. attacks Italy — Charles V. enters France— Suspension of Arms—
Interview between the two Monarchs at Aigues-Martcs— Revolt in Ghent-
Progress of Charles V. through France and Ghent— Hospitality received-
Peace restored in Ghent — The Diet at Ratisbon, 1541 — Charles V. in Al-
giers—Disastrous Expedition— His Fortitude— Return to Italy— Francis I.
resumes Hostilities — His Ill-success—Charles V. on the Rhine— Attacks the
Duke of Cleves — Overcomes and Pardons him — Marches into France — Ad-
vance upon Paris — The Peace ofCrepi, 1544 378-397

CHAPTER XIX.

State of Religious Affairs in Germany, from 1534 to 1546— Vain Attempts at
Reconciliation — Rapid Propagation of the New Doctrine — Henry, Duke of
Brunswick — Death of Martin Luther, 1546 — Charles V. and the Pope— Their
Alliance — Preparations for War — The League of Schmalkald — The Elector
of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse — Their Characters contrasted —
Maurice, Duke of Saxony — His extraordinary Genius — His Adherence to
the Emperor — The Pope's Bull — The Holy War — The Schmalkaldiau Army,
1546-1547 — General Schiirtlin — Division among the Protestant Leaders —
Inglorious Results — The Imperial Camp besieged — Charles triumphant —
Duke Maurice and the Elector of Saxony — Treachery of Duke Maurice —
The Emperor in Upper Germany — Conquers the Imperial Free Cities —
Saxony — The Battle of Miihlberg — The Saxons cefeated— The Elector taken
Prisoner — Deposed and condemned to Death — The Game of Chess — The
Elector's Firmness and Resignation — His Life spared — Duke Maurice made
Elector of Saxony— Wittenberg— Charles V. and Philip of Hesse — The Land-
grave's Submission and Humiliation — Detained a Prisoner, and his Lands
seized by the Emperor — The Elector Maurice — His Mortification and Projects
against the Emperor — The Spanish Troops in Germany — Their Insolence and
Oppression 397-421

CHAPTER XX.

The Council of Trent — Rupture between the Emperor and the Pope — The
Interim or Temporary Code of Doctrines — Its Condemnation by both Parties
— The Captive Elector of Saxony— Refuses to adhere to the Interim— His
Declaration — Shameful Treatment in consequence — The Elector Maurice —
Magdeburg — Maurice marches against that City — The Emperor and Maurice
— Maurice deserts the Emperor, and with Albert of Brandenburg joins the
Protestants— Their Declaration against the Emperor — His Reply — Albert's
Depredations — Maurice's Separation from him — Charles V. at Inspruck — Pur-
sued by Maurice — The Emperor a Fugitive in the Mountains of the Tyrol — His
Desolate and Forlorn Condition — His Return to Augsburg— Release of the
Elector John Frederick— His Welcome Home— Jena— Treaty of Passau—
Liberation of Philip of Hesse— Charles V. in France— Metz -Unsuccessful
Campaign — Albert of Brandenburg— Defeated at Liineburg by Maurice —
Death of Maurice and Albert — Religious Peace of Augsburg— Final Sepa-
ration of the Two Religious Parties — Abdication of Charles V.— Retreat to a
Hermit's Cell— Rehearsal of his Funeral Procession— His Death, 1558... 422-437

CHAPTER XXI.

Ferdinand!., 1556-1564— His industrious Habits— Moderation and Tolerance—
The Calvinists and Lutherans— Their Hostility towards each other— Ferdi-
nand and Protestantism— The Foundation of the Order of Jesuits by Igna-
tius Loyola, 1540— Its rapid and universal Dissemination — The Council of

X CONTENTS.

PAGE.

Trent — Ferdinand's Ambassadors — Their Propositions refused — Their letter
to the Emperor — Death of Ferdinand I., 1564— Maximilian IL, 1564-1576 —
His Qualifications and Good Character — Bohemia — Poland — State of Tran-
quillity— William of Grumbach in Franconia — His Revolt and Excommuni-
cation— Gotha— The Young Prince of Saxony — Joins Grumbach — His per-
petual Captivity and Death in Styria — Grumbach's Execution — The mer-
cenary Troops — Evils they produce — German Soldiers in Foreign Service —
Death of Maximilian IL, 1576— Rudolphus IL, 1576-1612— His Indolence
and Irresolution — Bad Councillors — Religious Excitement renewed — The
Netherlands— The Duke of Alba— The Elector Gebhard of Cologne and
Agnes of Mansfeld, Canoness of Gerresheim — Gebhard excommunicated —
John Casimir, the Count Palatine — Calvinism — Donauwerth — Austria — Ru-
dolphus against the Protestants — Deprives them of their Churches — Hungary
— Revolt of Stephen Botschkai — The Emperor an Astrologist and Alchymist
— Neglects his Government more and more — Tycho Brahe and Keppler —
Rudolphus resigns Hungary to his Brother Matthias— Bohemia — The Letter
of Majesty — The Palatinate — The Evangelical Union — Juliers — Henry IV.
of France joins the Union— The Catholic League — Prague— Revolt — The
Emperor a Prisoner — His Death, 1612 437-450

CHAPTER XXII.

Matthias I., 1612-1619 — His Coronation — Its Pomp and Splendour deceptive —
The Protestants — Increase of general Discontent — Austria — Aix-la-Chapelle
— Cologne — The Prince Palatine Wolfgang William, and the Elector of
Brandenburg — Their Quarrel— Box on the Ear — Baneful Consequences —
Foreign Allies — The Young Archduke Ferdinand — Elected King of Bohemia
— His Character — His Devotion to Catholicism and Hatred of the Protestants
— Banishes the New Faith from his Lands — The Electoral Princes —Ferdinand
warned against his Proceedings by the Elector of Saxony — Bohemia — The
Letter of Majesty shamefully infringed — The Protestant Churches destroyed
— Indignation and Revolt of the Protestants — Their Defender, Count Mat-
thias, of Thurn — Counts Martinitz and Slavata — Their Hostility to the Pro-
testants— Prague — The Council Hall — Martinitz and Slavata thrown out of
the Window— General Revolution— The Emperor's Alarm and Desire for
Peace — Ferdinand's Declaration in reply — Commencement of the Thirty
Years' War — Count Ernest of Mansfeld, the Leader of the Protestants — His
great military Genius and heroic Character — Death of Matthias I., 1619 —
Ferdinand IL, 1619-1637 — Count Thurn and the Bohemians in Vienna —
Surround the Emperor in his Palace— Ferdinand unexpectedly rescued — The
Bohemians depose him — The Elector Palatine, Frederick V., Son-in-Law of
James I. of England, King of Bohemia, 1619— His Irresolution and Pusilla-
nimity— Ferdinand and Maximilian of Bavaria — Their Alliance — Superiority
of the Imperialists over the Bohemians— Battle of Weissenberg, near Prague,
1620— The Bohemians defeated and their lung put to Flight—His Abdi-
cation—Prague capitulates — Bohemia severely punished by Ferdinand —
Thirty thousand Families banished the Country 45 1-464

CHAPTER XXIII.

Military Expeditions in Germany, 1621-1624 — Generals Mansfeld and Tilly —
Successes of Mansfeld — Joined by the Margrave of Baden— Durlach and
Christian— Duke of Brunswick— Tilly— The Palatinate— The Heidelberg
Library— Ferdinand resolves to continue the War — The Duke of Bavaria
made Elector Palatine — Tilly defeats the Duke of Brunswick in Miinster —
War with Denmark, 1624-1629— The Protestant Forces under Christian IV.
of Denmark — The Duke of Brunswick arid Mansfeld — The Emperor without
a Leader — Count Wallenstein — His extraordinary Character — Ambition —
Astrological Studies— Faith in Destiny — His Bravery— Weissenberg— Wal-
lenstein. Duke ^of Friedland — His stately Palace and regal Style of living —
Raises an Imperial Army— His Appearance— Pursues Mansfeld — Death of
Mansfeld, 1626— Death of the Duke of Brunswick— Christian IV. of Denmark
— His Flight— Dukes Adolphus and John of Mecklenburg banished— Their
Estates seized by Wallenstein— Created Duke of Mecklenburg and a Prince

CONTENTS. xi

of the Empire, 1628— Pomerania — Stralsund— Besieged by Wallenstein— Its
brave Resistance— Forces Wallenstein to retire— Peace between the King of
Denmark and the Emperor, 1629— The Edict of Restitution, 1639— Its Effect
—Augsburg— The Catholic League— Tyranny and Cruelty of Wallenstein
and his Army— Complaints of the Catholics and Protestants against Wallen-
stein to the Emperor— The Princes and the Nation insist upon his Dismissal
— His Resignation 464-474

CHAPTER XXIV.

Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, in Germany, 1630-1632— His Character
— Motives and Plans in favour of Protestantism— Stralsund— Gustavus de-
clares War against Ferdinand — Lands with his Army in Pomerania— Stettin
— The Protestant Princes hesitate to join Gustavus— Ciistrin and Spandau—
The Elector of Brandenburg— The Elector of Saxony— Siege of Magdeburg
Count Tilly — Conquers and burns the City— Dreadful Massacre— Gustavus
and Tilly— Battle of Leipsic— Defeat of the Imperialists— Glorious Results to
Gustavus— Surrender of the Cities— Ingolstadt— Tilly wounded — His Death
— Munich— Prague — Ferdinand and WaUen stein— Regal splendour of Wal-
lenstein—His Palace — Re-assembles an Army for the Emperor — Extravagant
Conditions — Appointed Generalissimo— The Camp of Nuremberg — The Swe-
dish and Imperial Armies— Gustavus in Saxony — Battle of Liitzen, 1632 —
Gustavus killed— His Death revenged by the Swedes— Total Defeat of
Wallenstein— Portraiture of Gustavus Adolphus 475-491

CHAPTER XXV.

Continuation of the War, 1632-1635— Chancellor Oxenstiern— Wallenstein's
Inaction — Court Martial over his Officers — Military Executions — Count of
Thurn taken Prisoner and released by Wallenstein-— The Emperor's Remon-
strance and Wallenstein's Reply — The Swedes in Bavaria — Wallenstein
withholds Assistance — Prohibits his Officers from obeying the Imperial Com-
mands— Pilsen — Military Council, and Compact between Wallenstein and
his Officers — Counts Terzka, Elo, and Piccolomini — The Emperor divests
Wallenstein of all Command — Italian-Spanish Conspiracy against Wallen-
stein—Piccolomini marches against Wallenstein — Wallenstein negotiates with
France and Sweden for his Services — The Crown of Bohemia offered to him
— Retreats to Eger — The Supper in the Citadel — Murder of Counts Terzka,
Illo, and Kinsky, by Deveroux and Geraldin — Assassination of Wallenstein,
1634 — His Estates confiscated— Succeeded in Command by Ferdinand, King
of Rome — The Battle of Nordlingen — The Elector of Saxony — Peace of
Prague, 1635 — Dreadful Condition of Germany— Cardinal Richelieu and
Chancellor Oxenstiern — French and Swedish Alliance against the Emperor —
Inglorious Character of the War— Death of Ferdinand II., 1637 492-498

CHAPTER XXVI.

Ferdinand HI, 1637-1657— Continuation of the War— Duke Bernard of
Weimar on the Rhine— His Death— Cardinal Richelieu— The Swedish Gene-
rals—Banner— Torstenson— Wrangel— Negotiations for Peace— Tedious Pro-
gress—French and Swedish Claims of Indemnification— Humiliation and
Dismemberment of the Empire— Territorial Sovereignty of the Princes-
Switzerland— The Netherlands— Final Arrangement and Conclusion of the
Peace of Westphalia, 1648 499-507

CHAPTER XXVII.
SEVENTH PEKIOD.

FROM THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA IN 1648, TO THE PRESENT TIME.

General Observations— State of the Empire— Agriculture— Commerce— -The
Nobility— French Language, Fashions, and Customs— Decline of National
Feeling in Germany— Death of Ferdinand III., 1657— Leopold I., 1658-1705
—The Rhenish League— Louis XIV., of France— His ambitious and aggran-
dising Spirit— Conquers the Netherlands— The Elector Frederick William of
Brandenburg— Westphalia— The Rhine— War between France and Germany
—Battle of Fehrbellin, 1675— Successes of the Elector of Brandenburg— His

xii CONTENTS.

PAGE.

energetic Character— Extends and improves his Territories— Berlin— Konigs-
— Generals Montecuculi and Turenne— Peace of Ninrwegen, 1678 — The

four French Chambers of Reunion- Treachery and Dishonesty of Louis
XIV. towards Germany — Claims and takes Possession of Strasburg and other
German Towns on the Rhine — Enters Strasburg in Triumph, 1681— Pusilla-
nimity and disgraceful Inertness of the Germans — The Turks in Hungary —
Advance and lay siege to Vienna, 1683— Flight of Leopold and his Court —
Brave Defence of the Viennese under Count Riidiger of Stahrenberg— Relieved
by Duke Charles of Lorraine and Sobieski, King of Poland — Heroism of So-
bieski— Battle of Naussdorf— Total Overthrow and Flight of the Turks by
Sobieski— His Letter to his Queen— Description of the Battle ............... 511-527

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Fresh War with France, 1688-1697 — Alliance of England, Holland, and Spain,
against Louis XIV. — The French in Germany — Dreadful Devastation and
unheard of Cruelties committed by Orders of Louis XIV.— Conflagration and
complete Destruction of Heidelberg, Worms, and Spires — Deplorable Condi-
tion of the Inhabitants— The Tombs of the Emperors pillaged — Peace of
Ryswick, 1697 — Compensation demanded for Germany — Insolence of the
French Ambassadors— Elevation of the German Princes— The First Elector
of Hanover — Frederick, Elector of Saxony, ascends the Throne of Poland,
1696— Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, places the Crown on his own
Head as King of Prussia, 1701 — War of the Spanish Succession, between
France and the House of Austria, 1701-1714— William III., of England-
Louis XIV. Proclaims his Grandson, Philip of Anjou, King of Spain — •
Prince Eugene— His military Genius and private Character— Appointed
Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army — His Reply to Louis XIV. —
Marches into Italy — Defeats the French at Carpi and Chiari — England —
Louis XIV. and the Exiled Stuarts— The Duke of Marlborough, General of
of the Allied Army— The Elector of Bavaria— The Bavarians in the Tyrol—
Their Overthrow by the Tyrolese— Battle of Hochstadt — Blenheim — Tri-
umphant Victory gained by the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene,
1704 — The Duke of Marlborough created a Prince of the Empire — Death of
Leopold I., 1705..... ..................................................................... 527-538

CHAPTER XXIX.

Joseph L, 1705-1711 — Continuation of the War— Riots in Bavaria— The Elec-
tor outlawed — Marshal Villeroi— Battles of Ramillies and Turin, 1706 —
Triumph of Marlborough arid Eugene — Complete Overthrow of the French —
General Capitulation— Naples— Spain— Battles of Oudenarde andMalplaquet,
1708-1709 — Defeat of the French under Bourgoyne, Vendome, and Villars —
Humiliation of Louis XIV. — England— Queen Anne — Marlborough re-
called and dismissed— Death of Joseph L, 1711— Charles VI., 1711-1740 —
Peace of Utrecht, 1713— Peace of Rastadt and Baden, 1714— Death of Louis
XIV., 1715 — The House of Austria in its Relations with the Germanic Em-
pire—Peaceful Reign of Charles VI.— His Death, 1740— Maria Theresa of
Austria— Her Title to the Imperial Throne disputed by Charles Albert of Ba-
varia—Frederick II. of Prussia— His extraordinary Genius and energetic
Character— His Army — Invades Austria— The First Silesian War, 1740-
1742— Glogau— Sanguinary Battle of Molwitz— Defeat of the Austrians— Al-
liance of France, Spain, Bavaria, and Saxony, against Austria in Support of
Charles Albert — Hanover — George II. of England— Charles Albert, King of
Poland — Election of Emperor in Frankfort ....................................... 539-555

CHAPTER XXX.

Charles VII., Emperor of Germany, 1742-1745 — Maria Theresa in Hungary —
Her Appeal to the Nobles— Their Devotion to her Cause — March into Ba-
varia — Seize that Country and banish its Elector — Charles VII. a Fugitive
— Battle of Czaslau, between the Austrians and Prussians, 1742 — Treaty of
Peace between Maria Theresa and Frederick II. — Continuation of the Aus-
trian Succession War, 1742-1744— The French in Prague under Marshal
Belle-Isle — Prague besieged by the Austrians — Abandoned by the French —
Charles VII. in Bavaria— Again a Fugitive— George II. of England in Ger-

CONTENTS.

many— Battle of Dettiugen, 1743— Defeat of the French— Alliance of Saxon v'
and Austria — Second Silesian War, 1744-1745— Ill-success of Frederick-
Death of Charles VII., 1745— Silesia— Battle of Holienfriedberg— Frederick
victorious— Battle of Sorr — The Princes of Brunswick— Frederick trium-
phant—Battle of Kesseldorf— Frederick conquers and enters Dresden-
Peace of Dresden and End of the Second Silesian War — Francis I. elected
Emperor, 1745-1765— Austria and France — Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748—
Brief Interval of Eepose, 1748-1756 — State of Affairs— Alliance of England

and Prussia, 1756 — Alliance between France and Austria, 1756 — Saxo'ny

Kussia— Sweden — Combination of Powers against Prussia — The Seven Years'
War, 1756-1763 — Frederick in Saxony— Battle of Losowitz, 1756— Frederick
victorious— The Saxons lay down their Arms — Frederick Conqueror of
Saxony — Immense Armies opposed to Frederick — His Presence of Mind-
Desperate Battle of Prague — Charles of Lorraine — Death of the Prussian
General Schwerin and the Austrian General Brown — Frederick victorious-
Battle of Kollin — General Daun — Frederick's grand Manoeuvre — Generals
Ziethen and Hulsen — Frederick and Prince Maurice of Dessau — Defeat of
Frederick — Shameful Conduct of the Duke of Cumberland — Convention of
Closter-Seven between him and the French — Battle between the Russians and
Prussians at Grossjagersdorf— Defeat of the Prussians — Withdrawal of the
Russians — The Empress Elizabeth of Russia — The Grand Chancellor Bestus-
chef— Retreat of the Swedes 555-571

CHAPTER XXXI.

Continuation of the Seven Years' War, 1757-1760 — Battle of Rossbach, 1757 —
Total Defeat of the French— General Seidlitz and the Prussian Cavalry—
Reverses of Frederick — Silesia — Battle of Leuthen, 1757 — Frederick's Appeal
to his Officers and Army — Their Enthusiasm — Complete Overthrow of the
Austrians— Glorious Results to Frederick — His Proposals of Peace rejected
by Maria Theresa — France — Russia — England's Enthusiasm for Frederick —
William Pitt — England supports Frederick — Treaty of Closter-Seven dis-
avowed— Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick General-in-Chief of the Allied Army
— Defeats and drives away the French from Germany — Frederick in Silesia —
Schweidnitz — Frederick's rapid March into Moravia— Olmutz — Bohemia —
Poraerania — Battle between the Russians and Prussians at Zorndorf, 1758 —
Dreadful Slaughter and Defeat of the Russians — The Prussians attacked and
defeated by the Austrians at Hochkirch, 1758— Frederick's Presence of Mind
— The Prussian Army — The Imperial Diet — The Prince of Mecklenburg —
The Imperial Ban against Frederick proposed— Negatived — The Allied and
French Armies — Battle of Bergen, 1759— Partial Success of the French-
Battle of Minden— Shameful Conduct of the English General, SackviUe—
Defeat of the French— Battle of Kay and Kiinersdorf, 1759— Total Defeat
of the Prussians— Frederick's Misfortunes — His Despair — Prince Henry of
Prussia — Continued Reverses of Frederick — Battle of Liegnitz, 1760 — The
Prussians defeat the Austrians— Beneficial Results to Frederick — Battle of
Torgau, 1760— Total Defeat of the Austrians— Frederick in Leipsic 572-593

CHAPTER XXXII.

Conclusion of the Seven Years' War, 1761-1762 — The Austrian and Russian
Armies — The Camp of Bunzelwitz— Frederick's difficult Position— Jealousy
between Generals Butterlin and Laudon — Schweidnitz, Glatz, and Colberg —
Saxony— Berlin threatened by the Russians — The Prussians rise en masse to
expel them— Death of Elizabeth of Russia— Peter III.— Peace and Alliance
between Russia and Prussia— Sweden— Battle of Reichenbach— Frederick
victorious— Schweidnitz— Final Battle and Defeat of the Austrians at Frei-
berg—Peace between France and England, 1763— Peace between Prussia and
Austria at Hubertsburg, 1763 — Observations — The Age of Frederick the
Great— His Army— Exerts himself to repair the Calamities of his Country—
His indefatigable Industry— His Labours and Recreations— Genius for Poetry
and Music— His Early Years— His Father's Tyranny— Its sad Effects even-
tually proved— His Predilection for French Education and Literature-
Voltaire— Helvetius, &c. — His Anti-German Feelings and Neglect of N»-

xiv CONTENTS.

PAGE.

tional Genius — Leasing — Klopstock — Goethe — Kant — Fichte — Jacobi, &c., —
Joseph II. 1765-1790 — Dismemberment of Poland, 1773 — Prussia and Russia
— Stanislaus Poniatowski — Bavarian War of Succession, 1778 — Death of Maria
Theresa, 1780 — Innovations and intolerant Measures of Joseph II. — Frederick

and the Allied Princes of Germany against Joseph II.—
the Great, 1786— Death of Joseph II, 1790— Leopold II.,

II.— Death of Frederick

1790-1792 594-615

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Leopold II. and the State of France — France declares War against Austria,
the Imperial States, Holland, Spain, &c., 1792 — Francis II. Emperor of Ger-
many, 1792-1806— Prussia — Successes of the Allies — General Dumouriez and
the Republican Army — The Austrians defeated at Jemappes — The Nether-
lands republicanized— Defeat of Dumouriez at Neerwinden, 1793 — Joins the
Allies— Continued Successes of the Allies under the Dukes of York and
Coburg— Carnot — Generals Pichegru and Jourdan — Battles of Tournay and
Fleurus — Jourdan's Aerial Reconnoitering Messenger, or the Adjutant in the
Balloon — Defeat of the Allies — Successes of the French — Conquests in
Flanders, Holland, and the Rhine — Kaiserslautern — Peace of Basle, 1795 —
England and Austria — France — The Austrian Generals Beaulieu, Wurmser,
and Archduke Charles — Napoleon Buonaparte, 1796 — Appointed General
in Italy — His Army — His Conquests and rich Booty made in Italy — The
French in Germany — Archduke Charles — Moreau— His famous Retreat —
Mantua — Buonaparte in Germany — His rapid Marches — Vienna — Peace of
Campo-Formio, 1797 — Shameful Conditions — State of Europe — Alliance of
England, Russia, Austria, and Turkey— Hostilities resumed, 1798 — Buona-
parte in Egypt — Cairo — Aboukir — His Fleet destroyed by Nelson — Italy —
General Suwaroff — His Successes in Italy — Genoa — Switzerland — SuwaroflPs
Passage across the Alps — His desperate Appeal to his Soldiers— His Recall —
The Emperor Paul and England— Buonaparte First Consul, 1799 — Genoa —
Battle of Marengo, 1800 — General Desaix — Moreau in Germany — Peace of
Lun£ville, 1801 — Sad Results to, and Sacrifices made by, Germany — Resig-
nation of William Pitt — Peace of Amiens, 1802 — England declares War
against France, 1803 — Buonaparte takes Possession of Hanover — The Ger-
man Legion 615-634

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Napoleon's Consulship — Gains the Nation's Confidence — Restores internal
Tranquillity and improves the Institutions — Napoleon Emperor of the
French, 1804 — His Usurpations — Alliance of Austria, Russia, and England
— War declared — Napoleon in Germany, 1805 — Defeats the Austrians —
Ulm — General Mack— Battle of Austerlitz— The Allies defeated— Peace of
Presburg — Dismemberment of the States of Germany — Naples — Joseph Buo-
naparte— Holland — Louis Buonaparte— Rhenish Confederation, or League of
the German Princes — Their Degeneration — The Emperor of Austria lays
down his Title of Emperor of Germany, 1806 — Prussia — Declares War
against France — The Prussian Army— Battle of Saalfeld — Death of Prince
Lewis Ferdinand of Prussia — Battles of Jena and Auerstadt — Defeat of the
Prussians — Napoleon enters Berlin— The Russian and Prussian Alliance
—Battles of Eylau and Friedland— Defeat of the Allies— Peace of Tilsit
between Russia and France, 1807 — Prussia's Dismemberment — Westphalia
— Hesse — Jerome Buonaparte — Prussia — Lieutenant Schill — Napoleon's
triumphant Return to Paris 634-644

CHAPTER XXXV.

Austria declares War against France, 1809 — Battles of Gross-Aspern and
Esslingen — Archduke Charles — The Austrians victorious — Lieutenant
Schill killed— Execution of Palm, the Bookseller — The Tyrolese — Battle of
Wagram— Defeat of the Austrians — Peace of Vienna— The French in the
Tyrol — The Mountaineers overpowered — Execution of Hofer, the Tyrolese
Patriot— The Duke of Brunswick — His Territory seized — His bold March —
Embarks for England— His Heroic Death — Napoleon at the Height of his
Power— Marriage with the Archduchess Maria Louisa of Austria, 1810 —

CONTENTS.

His continued Usurpations in Germany— His Campaign in Russia, 1812—
Conflagration of Moscow— The French Army destroyed— Napoleon's Flieht
and Return to Paris— The King of Prussia's Declaration and general Armincr
of his Nation against the Invaders, 1813— Napoleon's Preparations— The
French in Germany 645-655

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Successes of the Prussians— The Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz— His Daughter
the Queen of Prussia — Erfurt — Russia unites with Prussia— Battle of Liitzen
—Napoleon in Dresden— The King of Saxony— Battle of Bautzen— Hamburg
taken by Marshal Davoust— Heavy Contributions — The Armistice — Prussia
—The Liitzow Free Corps— Theodore Korner — Austria endeavours to nego-
tiate a Peace between France and the Allies — The Congress at Prague

Napoleon refuses all Concession — The Emperor of Austria declares War,
and joins Russia and Prussia — Dresden— Renewal of Hostilities — Strength
and Position of the Allied Forces — Bernadotte — Bliicher — Prince Schwartz-
enberg — Marshal Oudinot — Battle of Gross-Beeren— Defeat of the French.655-667

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Glorious Victory of the Prussians under Bliicher at Katzbach — Bliicher
created Prince of Wahlstadt — Battle of Dresden— Defeat of the Austrians —
Death of General Moreau — Battle of Kulm — General Kleist — Generals Van-
damme and Haxo made Prisoners — Battle of Dennewitz — Battle of War-
tenburg — General York — Preparations for the Battle of Leipsic — The French
Army — Honours and Promotions conferred by Napoleon— The Allied Forces
— Prince Schwartzenberg 667-675

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

The Three Days' Battle of Leipsic— Murat— The Austrian General Meerveldt
taken Prisoner— Battle of Mockern — Marshals Marmont and Bliicher — Ge-
neral Horn — Total Defeat of the French — Buonaparte's Offers to negotiate
rejected — Breitenfeld — Bernadotte — Bennigsen — The Prince of Hesse-Hom-
burg — Prince Poniatowsky — Probstheyda — The Saxon Army deserts Buo-
naparte and joins the Allies — The Allied Sovereigns — Night Scene on the
Field of Battle — Buonaparte's Slumber — Retreat of the French — Destruction
of the Elster Bridge— Prince Poniatowsky's Death— Triumphant Entry of
the Allies into Leipsic 676-685

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Napoleon's Retreat across the Rhine — Bavaria — General Wrede — Hanau — The
Allied Forces invade France — Their rapid March — Napoleon against Bliicher
—Battle of Brienne — Battle of Rothiere — Repulse of the French — Temporary
Successes of Napoleon — The Congress of Chatillon — Napoleon's Confidence
restored— His Declaration — Bliicher's bold Movement — Soissons— Laon—
Napoleon against Schwartzenberg — Rheims — Arcis — Napoleon's desperate
Courage and final Charge with his Cavalry 686-693

CHAPTER XL.

The French and Allied Armies in Battle Array — Napoleon's Sudden and Mys-
terious Retreat before Action — His secret Designs for the Destruction of the
Allies— His Plot Discovered — The Allies before Paris— Its Capitulation —
Triumphant Entry of the Allies into that City— Napoleon deposed — Louis
XVIII. King of France — Napoleon at Fontainebleau— His Abdication— Ba-
nishment to Elba— Peace Signed at Paris— Conclusion 694-700

INTRODUCTION.

ANCIENT GERMANY AND ITS INHABITANTS.

The Sources of the most ancient German History — The Nature of the Country —
The Natives— The Germanic Races — Manners and Customs— Civil Institutions —
War— Regulations and Arms— Religion— Arts and Manufactures— The Ger-
manic Tribes.

I. THE SOURCES OF OUR EARLIEST HISTORY.

THE history of the origin, and of the earliest state of the German
nation, is involved in impenetrable obscurity. No records tell us
when, and under what circumstances, our ancestors migrated out
of Asia, the cradle of the human race, into our fatherland; what
causes urged them to seek the regions of the north, or what allied
branches they left behind them in the countries they quitted. A
few scattered and obscure historical traces, as well as a resemblance
in various customs and regulations, but more distinctly the affinities
of language, indicate a relationship with the Indians, Servians, and
the Greeks.*

This obscurity of our earliest history must not surprise us ; for
every nation, as long as it lives in a half savage state, without a
written language, neglects every record of its history beyond mere
traditions and songs, which pass down from generation to genera-
tion. But as these, even in their very origin, blend fiction with
truth, they naturally become, in the course of centuries, so much
disfigured, that scarcely the least thread of historical fact is to be
found in them. Not a syllable or sound of even those traditions and
songs, wherein, according to the testimony of the Romans, our an-
cestors also delighted to celebrate the deeds and fate of their people,
has, however, descended to posterity.

Our authentic history, consequently, commences at the period
when our ancestors, possibly after they had dwelt for centuries, or
even a thousand years, in our native country, first came into con-
tact with a nation that already knew and practised the art of his-

* According to more recent researches, it is concluded that the ancient Sanscrit
and Zend languages may have formed likewise the basis of the German tongue,
or at least have approximated more closely with the common primitive dialect.

B

2 INTRODUCTION.

torical writing. This happened through the incursion of the Cim-
brians and Teutonians into the country of the Romans, in the year
113 before the birth of Christ. But this intercourse was too tran-
sitory, and the strangers were too unknown, and too foreign to the
Romans, for them, who were sufficiently occupied with themselves,
and besides which, looked haughtily upon all that was alien, to in-
quire very particularly into their origin and history.

And even the relation of this contest against the German tribes,
howsoever important it was to the Romans, we are obliged to seek
laboriously from many authors ; for the source whence we should
draw most copiously, is precisely here dried up, the books of the
Roman author, Livy, which treated of this war in detail, having
been lost, together with many others; and we only possess — which
we may even consider as very fortunate — their mere table of con-
tents, by means whereof, viz., those of the 63 — 68 books, we can
at least trace the course of the chief events of the war. Beyond
this, we derive some solitary facts from Roman historians of the
second and third class, who give but a short and partially mutilated
account, and collectively lived too long after this period to be con-
sidered as authentic sources. To those belong — 1 , the ' ' Epit. Rer.
Rom." of Floras (according to some, a book of the Augustan age,
but according to others, the work of L. Annseus Florus, who lived
at the commencement of the second century under Adrian) ; 2, the
" History of the World" of Velleius Paterculus, in a brief outline,
down to the period of Tiberius, who lived about the time of the birth
of Christ; 3, the " De Stratagematibus" of Frontinus (about 150
years after Christ) contains some good notices of the Cimbrian war ;
4, the " Dicta et Facta Memorabilia" of Valerius Maximus (about
20 years after Christ); 5, the "History of the World" of Jus-
tin (about the year 150); and 6, the " Sketch of the Roman His-
tory" of Eutropius (about the year 375), present us with much —
and again much is supplied us, incidentally, by the Roman writers
who did not directly write history.

Among those who wrote in Greek, must stand: 1, Plutarch,
(about 100 years B. C.), in his biography of " Marius," besides
whom, good details may be gleaned from: 2, Diodorus Siculus
(about the period of the birth of Christ), in his " Historical Library;"
3, Appian (about the year 160), in his ethnographically arranged
" History of the Romans," (particularly in the cap., "DeReb. Celt."
and " De Reb. Illyr."); 4, Dio Cassius (about the year 222), in the
fragments which are preserved of his " Roman History;" and among
those who treat of geography, Strabo (about the period of the birth
of Christ) especially.

After the Cimbrian era, another half century passes before the
Romans again mention the Germans. It was towards the middle of
the last century before the birth of Christ, when Julius Caesar advanced
to the frontiers of what may be truly considered Germany. He him-
self mentions having fought with Ariovistus in Gaul, and afterwards

INTRODUCTION. 3

with some German tribes on the left bank of the Rhine, and that
he twice united the banks of this river by means of a bridge, and
set foot upon the opposite side; besides which, he gives us alfthe in-
formation he could obtain from the Gauls, travelling merchants, or
German captives, relative to the nature and condition of Germany
and its people. His information is invaluable to us, although it is
but scanty, fragmentary, and, to a certain extent, not to be depended
upon. For this great commander, who strove for absolute rule;

who used mankind — he cannot be freed from the charge as the

means to his end ; who, from the depth of an already corrupted
state of civilization, could not possibly estimate the simple, natural
dignity of such a nation; and who, lastly, in order to be considered
worthy of belief in every thing he relates, too well understood the
art of representing events to his own advantage, — such a writer, we
say, cannot truly be regarded by us without some degree of mistrust.

After him there occurs another interval of about fifty years,
during which the obscurity of our history is scarcely illuminated by
a single ray of foreign observation, until about the period of the
birth of Christ, and when, immediately after, the Romans again set foot
upon, and, for a longer period, traversed the German soil. They then
became tolerably well acquainted with the south-west and north-west
of Germany; or, rather, they might have become well acquainted
therewith, had their prejudiced and selfish minds, which were barred
against all foreign peculiarities, been properly competent to it, and
had not the difficult extremities to which they were reduced in Ger-
many too much occupied them, and rendered them unjust in their
judgment of the country and its inhabitants. In order to expose
themselves to less shame for being several times severely cut up by
the very force of arms borne by those they called barbarians, by
whom they were frequently surpassed in prudence and warlike sub-
tlety; they necessarily, notwithstanding the decisive victories of
which they boasted, when driven from the German soil, extenuated
their own misfortunes, and exaggerated those of their opponents,
whom they accused occasionally of deceit, when probably, on the
contrary, the most open conduct prevailed, and generally, in fact,
they heaped upon the Germans and their country the most oppro-
brious charges. No impartial man among them, who was an eye-
witness of their incursions, describes to us faithfully the events them-
selves, and the German nation generally. The only historian of the
period who might have done so, Velleius Paterculus, the servant of
the Emperor Tiberius, and the friend of his favourite, Sejanus, who,
in the years immediately preceding and succeeding the birth of
Christ was himself in Germany — that is to say, on the banks of the
Elbe, with the army of the emperor— shows himself, in the very
scanty notices he gives, only as a flatterer of his despotic lord, whose
deeds he elevates to the skies in inflated and extravagant language.

A second Roman writer, who also had seen Germany, Pliny
the elder, (and who died in the year 79 A. D.,) had been upon

B2

4 INTRODUCTION.

the northern coast of Germany, among the Chauci, but certainly
did not travel far into the land. In his " Hist. Nat.," which is an
Encyclopaedia of general knowledge, he gives us several valuable
notices of the natural condition of our country, and of its tribes and
nations. His information and judgment, however, must be used with
precaution, as his critical sagacity is often questionable. But we have
suffered an irreparable loss in his twenty books, which treated of all
the wars of the Romans with the Germans, not the least fragment
of which has come down to us. He lived so near the period that he
might have collected the information as correctly as it was to be ob-
tained. We may, however, in some degree console ourselves that
Tacitus (about 100 years A. D.), who cites his precursors as testi-
monies, availed himself of the work of Pliny; but Tacitus only
relates the German wars in part, and does not treat them as the prin-
cipal subject, whilst, also, much from him that was important is lost
to us. His "Annals," which relate the Roman history from the
death of Augustus to the death of Nero, commence after the great
German battle of li berty with Varus ; but of these annals all from
the seventh to the tenth book is also wanting, and the fifth and six-
teenth books have come down to us only in an imperfect state. We,
nevertheless, acknowledge him to be by far the chief and most im-
portant author as regards our earlier German history, and revere his
elevated feeling for moral dignity, for truth and justice, in what he
also relates of the contests between the Romans and Germans, al-
though, faultlessly on his part, he does not always draw his infor-
mation from a pure source. But we value him for the treasure he has
left us in his description of Germany and its people, (" De Situ ac
Moribus Germ."). His deep feeling for simplicity of manners, and
healthy energy of nature, had made him a warm friend towards
the German natives; and it appeared to him that a faithful descrip-
tion of the German nation would be a work worthy of his pen,
so that, when placed before his corrupted countrymen, it should
present to their view a picture which might bring many of those
whose minds were as yet not quite unsusceptible, to acknowledge
their own unnatural condition. For this purpose he collected all
that he could obtain from the earlier authors, from the oral informa-
tion of the Romans who had been in Germany, and from the Ger-
mans who were in the Roman service. Thus arose this invaluable
book, which may be called a temple of honour to the German na-
tion, and which illuminates, like a bright star, the commencement
of their otherwise obscure path. Some things, indeed, through too
great a predilection, may be placed by him in too favourable a light;
but, even if much be deducted, still sufficient that is praiseworthy
remains, and that the material portion is true, we may be assured of
by the incorruptible love of truth of the noble Roman, which speaks
so triumphantly in all his works.

Among the remainder of the less important historians who con-
tributed to our earliest history, and are already mentioned in the

INTRODUCTION. 5

notice of the Cimbrian war, Dio Cassius may be included as im-
portant; for the later wars may be named, Suetonius (110 years
A.D., esteemed by Trajan and Adrian), in his biography of the
twelve first Caesars; the " Scriptorcs Hist. Augusta?," towards the
end of the third century; Julius Spartianus, Julius Capitolinus,
and Flavius Vopiscus; Aurelius Victor (330), in his biography of
the Caesars, from Augustus to Constantine; and Paulus Orosius(4l7),
in his history. Among the geographical writers, besides Strabo and
Pomponius Mela (48), we may name in particular Claudius Ptolo-
niEeus (140), who constructed a system of geography upon a lost
work of Tyrian Marinos, and was particularly careful in the deter-
mination of longitude and latitude.

But even when we have brought together all of the best that ancient
authors supply us with upon Germany, and console ourselves over the
great chasms they leave, with the idea that still something has de-
scended to us both great and important, we must nevertheless con-
sider it but as the testimony of strangers, — of the people of the South,
differing essentially from the Germans in nature and character, igno-
rant of their language, and, with the exception of one instance,
indifferent, or rather inimically-minded, towards them. Not a
single German word, correcting the judgment of the Romans, or
elucidating the thread of events which the Romans could neither
see nor understand, resounds to us from yonder period. How much
richer, and certainly more honourable, would the picture develop
itself before us, did we also possess German records !

But it was not until many centuries later, after multifarious con-
vulsions had taken place, and most of the constituent parts of
ancient times had disappeared from their seat, that isolated and
scanty sources of history commenced flowing from original German
testimony, by writers who, driven with their countrymen to foreign
lands, there endeavoured to relate their career and fate. Their names
will be mentioned at the commencement of the second period.

After what is stated above, we must rest contented with giving as
true a picture as possible of ancient German history, derived as it is from
the Roman and Greek writers, and by conclusions drawn from later
testimony upon earlier times, admitting that much must necessarily
appear obscure, fragmentary, and contradictory, and that upon many
points opinions will for ever remain divided. The period to which
the following description belongs, is about the time of the birth of
Christ, and the few immediately succeeding centuries.

II. THE NATURE AND CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.

According to the description of the Romans, Germany was, at
the time they first became acquainted with it, a rude and inhos-
pitable land, full of immense forests, marshes, and desert tracts.
The great Hercynian forest, by Caesar's account, extended froin^the
Alps over a space, that in its length occupied sixty, and in its width
nine days' journey; consequently, all the chief mountain chains and

6 INTRODUCTION.

forests of the present Germany, must be the remnants of that one
stupendous wooded range. But Caesar, from the indefinite informa-
tion he received, owing to his ignorance of the German language,
applied the general German word, Hart, or ffarz, for mountain, to
the collective mountain forests of the land, which, however, the
natives certainty already distinguished by different appellations.
Later authors, viz., Pliny and Tacitus, circumscribe the Hercynian
forests to those chains of mountains which, to the south of the
Thuringian forest, enclose Bohemia, and in the east extend to Mo-
ravia and Hungary. They also, as well as Ptolemy, subsequently,
mention many individual mountains by peculiar names ; for example,
Mons Abnoba, the Black Forest, (Ptolemy seems to imply by this,
the mountains between the Maine, the Rhine, and the Weser); the
Melibokos mountains, the present Harz; the Semana forest, to the
south of the Harz, towards the Thuringian forest ; the Sudeta forest,
a portion of the Thuringian forest; the Gabreta forest, the Bohe-
mian forest; the Askiburgish mountains, according to some the Erz,
or rather the JRiesen-Gebirg ; the Taunus, the heights between
Wiesbaden and Homburg; the Teutsburger forest, the mountain
and forest tracts which extend from the Weser through Paderborn,
as far as Osnaburg. Caesar mentions besides, the Bacenis forest,
probably the western portion of the Thuringian forest, which ex-
tends into Fulda, and in the middle ages was called Bocauna, or
Buchonia; and Tacitus names the Silvia Cassia, between the Ems
and the Issel, the remains of which may be the Haser forest, and
the Baumberge, near Coesfeld ; and that town itself may probably
have preserved the name. Many other less important or uncertain
names we pass over.

The large German forests consisted probably, as now, principally of
oaks, beeches, and pines. The Romans admired, above all, the immense
oaks, which seemed to them coeval with the earth itself. Pliny,
who had been personally in the north of Westphalia, in the country
of the Chauci, expresses himself thus upon them: " Created with
the earth itself, untouched by centuries, the monstrous trunks sur-
pass, by their powerful vitality, all other wonders of nature."

The Romans were also acquainted with the majority of German
rivers: Danubius, the Danube; Rhenus, the Rhine; Moenus, the
Maine; Albis, the Elbe; Visurgis, the Weser; Viadrus, the Oder;
the Vistula; Nicer, the Necker; Luppia, the Lippe; Amisia, the
Ems; Adrana, the Eder; Salas (in Strabo alone), the Saale; and
some others. It is remarkable that the Romans do not mention the
Lahn and the Ruhr, although they must surely have become ac-
quainted with them in their campaigns in the north of Germany.
The German rivers were not at that period made passable by means
of bridges, which the native did not require, as he easily swam
across the former, and for wider transits he had his boats.

The soil of the land was not cultivated as now, although the
Romans call portions of it extremely fertile, and agriculture and

INTRODUCTION. 7

pasturage were the chief occupations of the Germans. Rye, barley,
oats, and, according to the opinions of some, wheat also, were culti-
vated ; flax was everywhere distributed ; various sorts of carrots and
turnips it certainly produced; the Romans admired radishes of the
size of a child's head, and mention asparagus, which they, indeed, did
not praise, and a species of parsley, which pleased them much. The
superior fruits of southern climates which have been subsequently
transplanted among them, might probably not then thrive, although
Pliny mentions a species of cherry found near the Rhine, and Ta-
citus names among the food of the Germans wild-tree fruits (ayrestia
poma), which must certainly have been better than our crab-apples.

The pastures were rich and beautiful, and the horned cattle as
well as the horses, although small and inconsiderable, yet of a good
and durable kind.

The most important of all condiments, salt, the Germans found
upon their native soil, nor did it refuse them that most useful of all
metals, iron, and they understood the art of procuring and manufac-
turing it ; they do not, however, appear to have dug for silver.

Of the many strengthening mineral springs which the country
number, the Romans already mention Spa and Wiesbaden.

The climate, in consequence of the immense forests, whose density
was impervious to the rays of the sun, and owing to the un-
drained fens and marshes, was colder, more foggy and inclement
than at present, was nevertheless not quite so bad perhaps as repre-
sented by the Romans, spoilt as they were by the luxurious climate of
Italy. According to them the trees were without leaves for eight months
in the year, and the large rivers were regularly so deeply and firmly
frozen that they could bear upon them the heavy field-equipages of
the army. " The Germans," says Pliny, " know only three seasons,
winter, spring, and summer ; of autumn they know neither the name
nor its fruits/' The Romans found the country in general so un-
genial, that they considered it quite impossible that any one should
quit Italy to dwell in Germany.

But the ancient Germans loved this country beyond all, because,
as free men, they were born in it, and the nature of the climate
helped them to defend this freedom. The forests and marshes ap-
palled the enemy ; the severity of the air as well as the chase of wild
animals, strengthened the bodies of the men, and nourished by a
simple diet, they grew to so stately a size that other nations admired
them with astonishment.

in. THE NATIVES.

The Romans justly considered the German nation as an aboriginal,
pure, and unmixed race of people. They resembled themselves alone;
and like the specifically similar plants of the field, which springing from
a pure seed, not raised in the hotbed of a garden, but germinating
in the healthy, free, unsheltered soil, do not differ from each other
by varieties, so also, among the thousands of the simple German race,

8 INTRODUCTION.

there was but one determined and equal form of body. Their chest was
wide and strong ; their hair yellow, and with young children it was of a
dazzling white. Their skin was also white, their eyes blue, and their
glance bold and piercing. Their powerful, gigantic bodies, which
the Romans and Gauls could not behold without fear, displayed the
strength that nature had given to this people, for according to the
testimony of some of the ancient writers their usual height was
seven feet.

From their earliest youth upwards they hardened their bodies by
all devisable means. New-born infants were dipped in cold water,
and the cold bath was continued during their whole lives as the
strengthening renovator by both boys and girls, men and women.
Their dress was a broad short mantle fastened by a girdle, or the
skins of wild animals, the trophies of the successful chace; in both
sexes a great portion of the body was left uncovered, and the winter
did not induce them to clothe themselves warmer. The children
ran about almost naked, and effeminate nations, who with difficulty
reared their children during the earliest infancy, wondered how
those of the Germans, without cradles or swaddling bands, should
grow up to the very fullest bloom of health.

The Romans called our nation, from its warlike and valiant mode of
thinking, GERMANS ;* a name which the Tungi, — a body of German
warriors, who, at an earlier period, crossed the Rhine, and colonized,
with arms in hand, among the Gauls, — first bore, and subsequently
applied to all their race, to express thereby their warlike manners, and
thus to impress their enemies with terror. This name was willingly
adopted, as a name of honour, by all Germans, and thus it remained.

The aboriginal name of the people is, however, without doubt
the same which they bear to the present day. It springs from the
word Diot (in the Gothic, Thiudii), which signifies Nation. A
Teutscher or Deutscher, according to the harder or softer pronun-
ciation, was, therefore, one belonging to the nation, which styled
itself so prerogatively.

According to history, it was some centuries after the decline of
the Roman dominion, that the name of the nation of Germans was
again heard of, and it is found in but few records prior to Otto I., the
earliest of which bears the date of the year 813.

It must not appear remarkable to us, that the original collective
name of the people was little 'used in the earlier periods, and was
probably unknown to the Romans. In the intercourse with a nation
composed of so many septs, the names of only those septs transpired

* Most probably from the wordier, spear or lance, and the word man — the man, the
lord or chief. Therefore, in any case, a warlike title of honour, which distinguished
the manliness and valour of the nation. It is worthy of remark, that the name
Germanen, which, before Caesar, no Roman author mentions, appears on a marble
slab discovered in the year 1547, and which is connected with the celebrated Fastis
Capitolinis, in the year, before the birth of Christ, 223. The consul Marcellus gained
in that year a victory over the Gallic chief Viridomar, who is inscribed upon that
captured slab a leader of the Gauls and Germanen.

INTRODUCTION. 9

with whom that communication took place, because each held itself
to be a nation (Diot); and so also later, when various tribes asso-
ciated together in bodies, merely the name of the union appeared:
as, the Suevi, the Marcomanni, the Allemanni, the Goths, the
Franks, and the Saxons.^ It is, however, remarkable enough, that
we meet with the original national name in that of the Teu-
tonians, which is already used by Pytheas, 300 years before the birth
of Christ, and which again recurs in the Cimbrian war.

IV. THE GERMANIC RACES.

Ancient authors mention several German tribes, as well as their
dwelling-places, with greater or less precision. Several of them also
speak of the chief tribes amongst which the single septs united them-
selves. But their statements are not sufficiently unanimous or pre-
cise, to give us that clear view which we would, however, so wil-
lingly obtain. For how desirable would it not be for us to be able,
even in the very cradle of our history, to point out the original dis-
tinctions of the races as yet discovered, and which display them-
selves in the different dialects of the German language, as well as
in many essential differences in the manners of the people, particu-
larly in those of the less sophisticated peasantry ! But we are here
upon too insecure a foundation, although it still yields us some few
features always important.

The most obscure account presented to us is the fivefold division
of tribes given by Pliny. Beginning at the extreme north coast,
towards the estuary of the Vistula, he first mentions the Vinilians or
Windiler; farther westward, towards the East Sea coast, and beyond
the Cimbrian peninsula, towards the North Sea, as far as the mouth
of the Ems, the Ingavonians ; in the neighbourhood of the Rhine,
as far as the Maine, and higher up on the left bank of the Rhine, the
Istavonians; and in the middle of Germany, particularly in the high-
lands along the Upper Weser, the Werra, Fulda, and towards the
south, as far as the Hercynian forest, the Hermionian tribes. He gives
no general name to the fifth tribe, but includes therein the Pen-
cinians and Bastarnians in the districts of the Lower Danube, as far
as Dacia.

Tacitus also mentions three of these names, but he derives them
from the mythical origin of the people. Man, the son of Tuisko,
had three sons, Ingavon, Istavon, and Hermion, whose descendants
formed the three principal tribes of the Ingavonians, the Istavonians,
and the Hermionians.

We would willingly, as before mentioned, bring the fourth or fifth-
fold division of the tribes of Pliny, in conjunction with the subse-
quent times, and, on this head, we are not altogether without some
historical indications,— as, viz., when the Vandals, of their own accord,
return later and join in the great Gothic union; when the Suevi, the
flower of the Allemannic alliance, as the inhabitants of the -internal

10 INTRODUCTION.

and south-western parts of Germany, thus bring to mind the Her-
mionians, the Ingavonians and Istavonians therefore remaining for
the north and north-western portions ; so that as, even in the
earlier times of the Romans, an essential difference, nay, a de-
cided contrast, in comparison with the inhabitants of the North
Sea, the Tresians and Chaucians, evidently occurs between the inha-
bitants of the Middle and Lower Rhine, extending itself onwards to-
wards the mountain districts of the Weser and the Harz, and which,
in the subsequent league of the Franks and Saxons, becomes con-
firmed, we have thence furnished to us already the third and fourth
principal tribes of Pliny.

The fifth he refers to as before-mentioned. Proceeding further on-
wards we may find again in Bavaria the remnant of the Gothic tribe,
which, after the period of the migration of the people, remained sta-
tionary in Germany, so that between the later four principal nations in
Germany, the Franks, the Saxons, the Swabians, and Bavarians, a
connexion is formed and established even to the original tribes of
Pliny. Such links of connexion convey assuredly a great charm ;
but we, nevertheless, wander upon ground too uncertain to enable us
to succeed in acquiring authentic historical data.

Much more importance attaches, on the contrary, to what the
ancients, but more distinctly Caesar and Tacitus, relate of the pecu-
liarities of one German chief tribe, which included many individual
septs, namely the Suewi. From the combination of the picture
sketched by them, in conjunction with other descriptions of German
manners and institutions, we can define, with tolerable safety, the
peculiarities of a second tribe, although the Romans give it no
general name. We will first pourtray the Suevi, as Caesar and Ta-
citus described them :

1. The nations forming the Suevic race dwelt in the large semi-
circle traced by the upper and middle Rhine and the Danube,
through the middle of Germany, and farther towards the north to
the East Sea, so that they occupied the country of the Necker, the
Maine, the Saale, and then the right Elbe bank of the Havel, Spree,
and Oder. Nay, Tacitus even places Suevic tribes beyond the
Vistula, as well in the interior as on the coasts of the Baltic, and
beyond it in Sweden. Grounds of probability, admit, indeed, of
our placing a third— the Gothic- Vandal tribe, between the Oder and
the Vistula, and along the latter stream; but as distinct information
is wanting, we can but allude to it, of which more below. The
Suevi, as Cassar informs us, had early formed themselves into one
large union, whose principles were distinctly warlike. The love of
arms was assiduously cherished in all, that they might be always
ready for any undertaking. Thence it was that individuals had no
fixed landed possessions ; but the princes and leaders yearly divided
the land among the families just as it pleased them; and none were
allowed even to select the same pastures for two consecutive years,

INTRODUCTION. 11

but were forced to exchange with each other, that neither of them might
accustom himself to the ground, and, acquiring a love for his dwelling-
place, be thus induced to exchange the love of war for agriculture.
They were afraid that, if an individual were permitted to acquire an
extensive tract, the powerful might chase away the poor, build
large and imposing dwellings, and that the lust of wealth might
give rise to factions and divisions. Besides which, they were obliged,
from each of their hundred districts, to supply the wars with a thou-
sand men yearly, and those who remained at home cultivated the
land for all. The following year, on the other hand, the latter
marched under arms, and the former remained at home, so that
agriculture as well as the art of war were in constant exercise.

They considered it a proof of glory when the whole tract
beyond their frontiers lay waste, as a sign that the neighbouring
nations were not able to resist their force. They might also have
considered it perhaps as a greater security against sudden invasion.

In these, although rude principles of the Suevic union, a great
idea manifests itself, and proves that the ancient Germans, about
the period of the birth of Christ, were by no means to be reckoned
among the savage tribes. What Lycurgus wished to effect by
means of his legislation among the Spartans, and for the same
reason that he allowed his citizens no fixed and exclusive posses-
sion, seems to have been a principle and combining power of the
Suevic union, viz : a public spirit, so general and operative, that the
individual should submit himself to the common good, and for which
and in which he should only live; and not by selfishness, faction, or
by idleness, desire to separate himself from the rest, or consider his
own weal as more important than that of the collective body.

2. The Romans mention many individual tribes in the north-
west of Germany, between the lower Elbe and the lower Rhine, con-
sequently about the Aller, the Seine, the Harz, the Weser, the Lippe,
the Ruhr, and the Ems, as high up as the coasts of the Baltic, (later
also on the opposite side of the Rhine, in the vicinity of the Meuse
and Scheldt,) without distinguishing them by a collective name. Sub-
sequently,^ the second century after the birth of Christ, the name of
Saxon occurs in these districts, and in still later times it becomes the
dominant title in the above-mentioned tracts of land ; for in the third
century, the tribe of Saxons spread forth from Holstein over Lower
Germany, and gave its own name to all those tribes which it conquered
or united by alliance. It has been customary to apply the name of
Saxons, for even the earlier periods, as the collective appellation of
all the tribes of lower Germany, and thereby to express the very op-
posite character they presented in their whole mode of living to the
Suevi. For as these unwillingly confined themselves to a fixed spot,
and by their greater exercise and activity, kept themselves con-
stantly ready for every warlike undertaking, so, on the other hand,
the nations of Lower Germany had early accustomed themselves to
settled dwellings, and had made agriculture their principal occupa-

12 INTRODUCTION.

tion. They dwelt upon scattered farms; each farm had its boun-
daries around it, and was enclosed by a hedge and bank of earth.
The owner was lord and priest within his farm, and by voluntary
union with a number of other proprietors was attached to a com-
munity ; and several communities again were bound to a Gau or dis-
trict. The name of Saxon, which is derived from sitzen, to sit, and
has the same signification as to occupy, or hold, appeared effectively
to characterise the peculiarity of this people; whilst on the other
hand, the name of Suevi would indicate the roaming life led by the
others. But these derivations are more ingeniously than historically
founded. The name of Saxon is, according to all probability, to be
derived from the short swords, called Saxens (Sahs), of this people ;
but that of the Suevi in its derivation is not as yet thoroughly ex-
plained. Meantime, however, the contrast between the Suevi and
the non- Suevi is not to be mistaken. In the latter we find the greatest
freedom and independence of the individual; in the former we
perceive the combined power and unity of the ivhole, wherein the
individual self is merged; in the latter again, domestic life in its entire
privacy, and in the former, public life in the — although as yet rude —
accomplishment of an acutely formed idea.

Saxon institutions were not the most favourable for the exercise
of the strength of a nation against the enemy. But it gives a
strong and self-dependent mind to the individual man, to find him-
self sole lord and master upon his own property, and knowing that
it is his own power that must protect wife and child. In villages,
or even in towns where man dwells amidst a mass, he depends upon
the protection of others, and thereby easily becomes indolent or cow-
ardly. But the isolated inhabitant, in his, frequently, defiance-bid-
ding retreat, is nevertheless humane and hospitably minded, and
offers to his neighbour and his friend, and even to the stranger, an
ever welcome seat by his hearth. For he feels more intensely the
pleasure derived from the friendly glances of man, and the refresh-
ment of social intercourse; whilst, on the contrary, the townsman,
who meets a multitude at every step, accustoms himself to view the
human countenance with indifference. When the Saxon, with his
hunting-spear in his hand, had traversed, through snow and storm,
the wilderness and forest, the huts of his friends smiled hospitably
towards him, like the happy islands of a desert sea.

We shall enumerate subsequently the individual tribes of both
branches, as well as the others mentioned by the authors of antiquity.
It appeared necessary to notice thus early the chief distinction
between the German nations, for many of the descriptions given by
the ancients of their manners and customs, accord only with the one
or the other branch, and their apparent contradictions are to be ex-
plained only by the confused mixture of the information. Caesar,
for example, notices chiefly the Suevi ; and Tacitus, the Saxon tribes.
Yet in the detail which we now enter upon, it will be perceived that
the essential fundamental character of both was the same.

INTRODUCTION. 13

V. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

The Germans loved the open country above every thing. They
did not build towns, they likened them to prisons. The few places
which occur in the Roman writers called towns — the later Ptolemy
names the most — were probably nothing more than the dwellings of
the chiefs, somewhat larger, and more artificially built, than those of
the common freemen, and in the vicinity of which the servitors
fixed their huts ; the whole might possibly have been surrounded by
a wall and ditch to secure them from the incursions of the enemy.

The Saxon tribes did not even willingly build connecting villages,
so great was their love for unlimited freedom. The huts lay, as is
already mentioned, in the midst, of the inclosure that belonged to
them, and which was surrounded by a hedge. The construction of
these huts was most inartificial. Logs shaped by the axe were raised
and joined together, the sides filled with plaited withy, and made
into a firm wall by the addition of straw and lime. A thatched roof
covered the whole, which (as is still found in Westphalia) contained
the cattle also ; and by way of ornament they decorated the walls
with brilliant colours.

Tacitus says, they selected their dwelling wherever a grove or
spring attracted them. Advantage and comfort were consequently
frequently sacrificed to their love of open and beautiful scenery, and
it is probable, that they so ardently loved their country from its pre-
senting them with so great a variety of hill and dale, wood and
plains, and rivers in every part.

This strong love of nature, which may be traced from the very
first in our forefathers, is a grand feature of the German character.
As long as we retain it, it will preserve us from sensual ener-
vation and the corruption of manners, wherein the most cultivated
nations of antiquity, by excess of civilization and luxury, and com-
pression into large cities, gradually sunk.

Next to war the most favourite occupation of the Germans was
the chace; and that itself was a kind of warlike exercise. For
the forests concealed, besides the usual deer, also wolves, bears,
urocks, bisons, elks, wild boars, and many species of the larger
birds of prey. The youth was, therefore, practised in the use of
arms from childhood, and to him the greatest festival of his life was
when his father first took him forth to hunt wild animals.

" Agriculture, the herdsman's business and domestic occupa-
tions," says Tacitus, " they leave to the women and slaves; for it is
easier to prevail upon the Germans to attack their enemies than to
cultivate the earth and await the harvest ; nay, it even appears
cowardly to them to earn by the sweat of the brow, what the san-
guinary conflict would procure." But this description of our fore-
fathers, as is so often the case with the narratives of the Roman
authors, represents the individual feature as the general charac-
teristic. The small proprietor, no doubt, like our peasant, neces-

14 INTRODUCTION.

sarily applied his own hand to the cultivation of his land, while the
great land-owner reserved time for hunting, for festivities, and for
all the pleasures of social intercourse.

And with respect to the description of their dominant warlike
propensities, which preferred earning the necessaries of life by blood
rather than by the sweat of the brow, this must be understood to refer
more particularly to the conquering warlike trains of bold leaders, such
as an Ariovistus, or to the frontier safeguards of the Germans against
the Romans, as, for instance, the Marcomanni. For when once
amongst a nation agriculture and pasturage have become prominent
occupations, and without which life could not be supported, they
can no longer belong to those employments despised by the free
man, and which as such he leaves solely to the care and attention of
women and slaves.

It is, however, no doubt true, that among the Germans of
the more ancient period, warlike desires, and powerful na-
tural inclinations for bold undertakings, and in particular for
the display of an untamed strength with its violent concomitants,
were a ruling passion. But the ennobling features of higher vir-
tues are seen through these defects. History records no people
who, in conjunction with the faults of an unrestricted natural power,
possessed nobler capabilities and qualifications, rule and order, a
sublime patriotism, fidelity, and chastity, in a greater proportion
than the Germans. " There" says the noble Roman, who had pre-
served a mind capable of appreciating the dignity of uncorrupted
nature; "there no one smiles at vice, and to seduce or be seduced,
is not called fashionable; for among the Germans, good morals effect
more than elsewhere good laws."

This moral worth of the Germans, which beams through all their
rudeness, has its true source and basis in the sanctity of marriage,
and the consequent concentration of domestic happiness; for it is
these two features chiefly which most decidedly determine the mora-
lity of a nation. The young man, at a period when his form had
taken its perfect growth, in the full energy of youth, like the
sturdy oaks of his native forests, and preserved by chastity and tem-
perance from enervating desires, at the time that his physical and
moral nature had ^ attained their equilibrium, selected then the
maiden for his wife, little differing in age from himself. The
exceptions were few, says Tacitus, and that only perchance — as in the
case of a prince, who might wish to increase his own importance by
an alliance with another powerful house — that a second wife was
taken.

It was not the woman who brought the portion to the man, but
the latter to the former, and who indicated the value he attached to
his alliance with her by the quality of the present he made, accord-
ing to the extent of his means ; and even this custom displays the con-
sideration the German nation had for the gentler sex. The bridal gift
comprised, besides a team of oxen, a war-horse, a shield and arms ; a

INTRODUCTION. 15

gift not useless among people with whom, particularly in long excur-
sions, the wife, generally, accompanied her husband to the field. She
was thus reminded not to consider valour, war, and arms, as wholly
strange to her, but these sacred symbols of the opening marriage told
her to consider herself as the companion of the labours and dangers of
her husband, in war as well as in peace, and as such to live and die.
She received what she was bound to transfer uncontaminated to her
children, and what her daughter-in-law was to inherit in turn, in
order to transmit to her grand-children. And this gift, as Tacitus
says, was, as it were, the mystic holy consecration and guardian
deity of marriage.

Such an alliance founded upon love and virtue, and calculated to
continue for better for worse, in firm union unto death, must indeed be
holy and inviolable ; and in fact, the infringement of the marriage vow
was, according to the testimony of Tacitus, almost unheard of. The
deepest and most universal contempt followed a crime so very rare.

The children of such a marriage were to their parents the dearest
pledges of love. From their very birth they were treated as free
human beings. No trace was to be found in Germany of the tyran-
nical power of the Roman father over his children. The mother
reared her infants at her own breast ; they were not left to the care
of nurses and servants. The Germans, therefore, highly venerated
virtuous women ; they even superstitiously believed there was some-
thing holy and prophetic in them, and they occasionally followed
their advice in important and decisive moments.

This veneration for the female sex in its human dignity, com-
bined with their strongly impressed love of arms, of war, and man-
hood, this noble feature in the German nature, which elevates him
so high above the— in other senses, so gifted — Greeks and Romans,
shows most clearly that nature had resolved her German son to be the
entire man, who, by the universal cultivation of the human powers,
should at some future period produce an age, which as now, in its
liberal and many-sided or multifarious views, should far surpass that
of the Greeks and Romans.

The ancient German dress and food were simple, and agreeable to
nature. Female decoration consisted in their long yellow hair, in the
fresh colour of their pure skin, and in their linen robes, spun and
woven by their own hands, ornamented with a purple band as a girdle;
the man knew no other ornament than his warlike weapons; the
shield and his helmet, when he wore one, he adorned as well as he
could. Among the Suevi the hair was worn tied in a bundle on the
top of the head for the sake of its warlike effect. Among the Saxons
it was parted, and hung down the shoulders, cut at a moderate length.

Their simple fare consisted chiefly of meat and milk. They pre-
pared their favourite drink, beer, from barley and oats. They made
mead also from honey and water. Their honey was collected by
the wild bees in great quantity, and good quality. Upon the" Rhine
they did not despise or neglect the cultivation of the vine introduced
there by the Romans.

16 INTRODUCTION.

No nation respected the laws of hospitality more than the Germans
To refuse a stranger, whoever he might be, admission to the house,
would have been disgraceful. His table was frde and open to all,
according to his means. If his own provisions were exhausted, he
who was but recently the host, would become the guide and con-
ductor of his guest, and together they would enter, uninvited, the
first best house. There also they were hospitably received. When
the stranger took his leave, he received as a parting present whatever
he desired, and the giver asked as candidly on his side for what he
wished. This goodnatured people rejoiced in presents. But they
neither estimated the gift they made too highly, nor held themselves
much bound by that which they had received in return.

At these banquets the Germans not unfrequently took council upon
their most important affairs, upon the conciliation of enemies, upon al-
liances, and friendships, upon the election of princes, even upon war
and peace; for the joyousness of the feast and society opened the
secrets of the breast. But on the following day they reconsidered
what had been discussed, so that they might view it coolly and
dispassionately; they took counsel when they could not deceive, and
fixed their resolution when fitted for quiet consideration.

During these banquets they had also a peculiar kind of festival.
Naked youths danced between drawn swords and raised spears; not
for reward and gain ; but the compensation for this almost rash feat
consisted in the pleasure produced in the spectator, and the honour
reaped by the display of such a dangerous art.

They gambled with dice, as Tacitus with astonishment informs us,
in a sober state, and as a serious occupation, and with so much eager-
ness for gain, that when they had lost their all, they hazarded their free-
dom, and even their very persons upon the last cast. The loser freely
delivered himself up to slavery, although even younger and stronger
than his adversary, and patiently allowed himself to be bound and
sold as a slave ; thus steadfastly did they keep their word, even in a
bad case: " they call this good faith" says the Roman writer.

VI. CIVIL INSTITUTIONS.

The entire people consisted of freemen and slaves. Among the
latter there seems even to have been an essential difference. The
one class, which may be compared to the vassals pertaining to the
land of the lord of the manor, and among whom the freedmezi
of Tacitus may be also reckoned, received from the land proprie-
tor house and home, and yielded him in return a certain ac-
knowledgment in corn or cattle, or in the woven cloth which
was made under every roof. The second class, on the contrary,
the true ^ slaves, who were bought and sold, and were mostly pri-
soners of war, were employed in the more menial services of the
house, and the labours of agriculture. But their lot even was en-
durable, for their children grew up with those of their master, with
scarcely any distinction, and thus in the simplicity of their living
there was formed a relation of mutual adherence. But the slave was

INTRODUCTION. 17

held incapable of bearing arms ; these were alone the privilege and pre-
rogative of the Free-men.

They were divided into the nobles, noliles, as Tacitus calls them,
and the common Free-men, ingenui. In later periods the German lan-
guage distinguishes Adelinge and Frilinge. The former word is pro-
bably derived from Od, Estate, and therefore denoted the large pro-
prietor, who reckoned in his estate bondsmen and vassals, and who
possessed already in his domains the means of exercising a more ex-
tensive influence. The Friling was, on the contrary, the common
free man, who cultivated his small possessions with his own hands,
or by the assistance of but a few slaves. If Tacitus, as is probable,
indicates this distinction by his term noliles and ingenui, we may
therein trace the origin of the German nobility, founded as it is in
the nature of all social relations. From the importance given by
possessions and merit, individual as well as ancestral, those privileges
may be adduced, which are held over the poorer, unnoticed families,
and which in the course of time, and as it were by the antiquity of
possession, pass into rights. But the information given by Tacitus
aoes not, however, speak absolutely of 'rights, — implying, for instance,
the offices of director and president in communities and districts, —
but merely of the custom of filling them from the superior families.

A number of farms of great and small landowners, specially united
by close ties, constituted a 'Community (Gemeinde)-, several commu-
nities a league of the hundred {Markgenossenschaft\ which exercised
within a larger circuit the common right of herd and pasture ; and,
lastly, a number of these formed the larger confederacy of a district
(Gau), formally united for protection against every enemy, and for
internal security both of life and property.

As chief of the district, a judge was elected from among the
oldest and most experienced, who probably may have borne in an-
cient times the name Graf* Cents or hundreds were subdivisions
of the district, probably consisting originally of a hundred farms,
whose chiefs were the centners or Centgrafen. These gave judgment
in trifling affairs ; and in matters of more importance they were the
assistants of the Gaugrafen. The occupation of these functionaries was
not limited to their judicial employments, but they had the guidance
also of other affairs in the community ; and together, they formed the
Principes of the district, the foremost and first amongst their equals,
whence is derived the German word Furst (prince). The recompence
for their trouble did not consist in a regular stipend, but in presents
received from the chiefs of families.

But the National assembly was at the head of all, and counselled and
decided upon the most important affairs. Every freeman, high as
well as low, was a member of the national assembly, and took his
part in the welfare of the whole.

In earlier times, perhaps, there never existed in many circuits, and

* The derivation of the word Graf or Grav is uncertain. That from grau, gray,
as well as from alt, old, is not tenable.

C

18 INTRODUCTION.

during peaceful relations, a more extensive and firm confederacy than
that of the Gait. But danger from without, and the relationship
of the septs, chiefly produced, without doubt, the establishment of
Unions of whole tribes, which may possibly have given to their col-
lective body a form variously fashioned. A multifariousness of so-
cial regulations was welcome to the hereditary love of freedom of the
Germans. The majority of these tribes appear to have had a very
simple constitution of confederacy in the time of peace, inasmuch as
all transactions in common were determined and regulated by the
national community. In the individual districts all continued ac-
cording to the customary mode of administration, and it consequently
did not require the permanent appointment of a superior executive
government. In war, on the contrary, an election was made, of the
common Herzog, or duke, according to valour and manly virtue,
whose office closed with the war. (Duces ex virtute sumunt. — Tac.)
Among other tribes peace had also its chiefs or directors, selected
originally by the community from the most meritorious of the people,
which election, in the course of time, when a natural feeling placed
the son in the situation of the father, became invested with an al-
most hereditary right. (Reges ex nobilitate sumunt. — Tac.) We
cannot ascertain whether these chiefs bore everywhere, or merely
among some tribes, the title of King; the Romans called them Reges,
because they found this name most applicable, and in contradistinc-
tion to the transitory ducal dignity, which terminated with the war.
The king could also naturally be the leader in war, in which case
the duke was superfluous. But in smaller expeditions, which were
not to be considered in the light of a national war, or when the
king, by reason of age or natural infirmity, was unable to act, a
duke may have been appointed as his substitute.

Among some tribes we see a change of constitution. Among
the Cherusci, when they fought against the Romans, there appears
to have been no king ; Arminius was the leader appointed by the
people. Later, however, in the year 47 after the birth of Christ,
the Cherusci appointed Italicus, the son of the brother of Flavins,
who was brought up among the Romans, to be their king, in order
to adjust the internal factions.

The peculiarity of the Saxon people consisted altogether in their
free Jform of government, a constitution most conformable to their
origin, springing as they did from the union of the heads of free
families, each of whom ruled his domain according to the ancient
patriarchal form. A common general was required only during war,
which, in general, was defensive, and consequently national. Among
the Suevi, on the contrary, whose constitution was one warlike
throughout, wherein the individual was early accustomed to consider
himself but a portion of the whole, a monarchical government be-
came the natural form of the constitution, and we consequently find
among them an Ariovistus, a Marbodius, and a Vannius, as kings of
a warlike state.

INTRODUCTION. 19

These differences may assist in explaining the various charac-
teristics and forms of the public institutions which the Romans
mention, and which it is not always easy to distinguish, from their
having confounded and mixed the individual details.

In the larger confederations there also occurred general as-
semblies, although more seldom than in the individual districts, and
much that the Romans relate refers to these said larger assemblies,
whilst on the contrary the leading subjects were common to both
large and small assemblies.

These were generally held at a return of the full moon and new
moon; as they considered those the most happy moments for any
transaction. They came armed — arms being the symbol of freedom, and
they preferred exposing themselves to the possibility of their misuse,
rather than come without them. The right enjoyed by the youth
of bearing them as an ornament when he had attained a fitting
age, and was adjudged worthy, even in times of peace, was im-
parted by the national assembly itself; he was there solemnly in-
vested by one of the princes, his father or a relative, with shield
and spear. This was deemed among them the clothing of man-
hood, the ornament of youth ; previous to this the youth was con-
sidered only as a member of the domestic hearth, but henceforth he
was received as the representative of the common fatherland.

Priests ruled the communities; God only was the universally
feared lord, whom it was no breach of freedom to obey; and in his
name the priests kept the multitude in order. They commanded
silence ; the kings, dukes, counts, who derived experience from years
— the nobles, who learnt from their ancestors how the district was
to be governed — the most valiant, who, by their deeds in war, stood
in general respect, spoke in turn simply, briefly, and impressively, and
not in a commanding tone, but by the force of reason. If the pro-
position displeased them, it was rejected by the multitude with hisses
and murmurs ; but if approved, they signified their satisfaction by the
clashing of their arms , their most honourable mode of testifying applause.

In important affairs, the king and princes first counselled together,
prior to the matter being brought before the people; a custom
consistent with good government, for the multitude can form con-
clusions only upon a transaction being simply and clearly explained.

These few traits of aboriginal German institutions display the
sterling sense of our forefathers, who therein sought to establish the
principle, that the foundations of every community should be based
on inotividual good feeling, obedience to the laws, and respect for re-
ligion. Thus an internal durability was given to the whole structure,
which no external means could replace, howsoever artificially applied.

We have yet a word to say upon the larger unions of several tribes.
In a common danger, they formed themselves into a Confederation, at
the head of which stood one of the more powerful tribes. Thus it was
with the Cherusci alliance against the Romans; thus the Suevi, at
whose head, in earlier times, stood the Semnoni ; and later, the confede-

C2

20 INTRODUCTION.

rations of the Goths, Franks, and Allemanni. In all that concerned
the universal league, the laws were very severe. The slightest breach
of faith, and treachery as well as cowardice, were punished by death.
Their principle was, " One for all and all for one, for life or
death !" May this through every century be the niotto of all Germans !

VH. WAK-KEGULATIONS, AND AKMS.

When the nation was threatened by impending danger, or the
country of the enemy was to be invaded by a large force, all the
freemen were summoned to arms by what was called the Heerbann*
The army thus proceeded under the banner of the national god,
borne by the priests in advance. The princes and judges of each Gau
or district were also its leaders in war; the confederates of one mark or
hundred, and of one race or sept, fought united ; and when the inva-
sion became a regular migration, or when the invading foe chased all
from their hearths, the women and children followed them. Thus
was all combined that could excite their valour ; each warrior stood
side by side to his nearest relations, companions, and friends, and in
the rear of the order of battle were placed their wives and children,
whose appeals could not fail to reach their ear. When wounded, they
retired to the matrons and females, who fearlessly investigated and
numbered their wounds. We read, indeed, of the women having
occasionally restored a faltering battle by their incessant supplications,
from the dread of slavery, and even by forcing, with arms in hand,
the fugitives back to the contest.

Besides the general summons of the Heerbann, there was a Com-
panionship in arms, founded upon a voluntary union, which was called
the Gefolge, the reserve phalanx or sacred battalion. Warlike youths
collected themselves around their most tried and esteemed leader, and
swore in union with him to live and die. There was much contention
among this Gefolge who should take the first place next to the leader, for
this corps had its grades. It was high fame for a leader, not merely
among his own tribes, but among all the adjacent ones, when he was dis-
tinguished by the number and valour of his Gefolge. He was appealed
to for assistance ; embassies were sent to him, he was honoured by pre-
sents, and the mere celebrity of his name would frequently check a
war. In battle it was considered a disgrace to the chief to be outvied
in valour, and to the Gefolge not to equal that of their leader ;
but to return alive from battle, after the death of his chieftain, was
a stigma that attached for life to the individual, and their fidelity was
so great, that scarcely an instance of this occurs. It was considered
the most sacred duty to protect and defend their brave brother in
arms, and to attribute their own valorous deeds to his fame. The
leaders contended for victory, and the Gefolge for the leaders.

* In the language of the earlier times Heerbann, (Heribannus,) the penalty, which
was inflicted upon those who, at the general summons to the war, neglected their
duty. This word, however, for its object, is at once so usual and significant, whilst
it is so difficult to replace with another, that it may be here retained in its original
form.

INTRODUCTION. 21

When the tribe to which they belonged continued in a state of long and
monotonous peace, the majority of these bold youths, ted by their cap-
tain, voluntarily joined those tribes which were at war. Repose was
hateful to them; and, amidst danger, the valiant acquired fame and
booty. The Gefolge received from the leader their war-horse, and
their conquering and deadly spear; a large Gefolge, consequently,
supported itself most easily by war and booty. It is thus that
Tacitus describes the military institutions of the Germans. He
wrote, however, at a period when long wars and their attendant
chances may possibly have altered much. Originally, perhaps, the
alliance between the Gefolge and their chieftain was binding only
during single excursions, and ceased at their termination. For it is
not probable that a people so jealous of its liberty would have
allowed individual princes to have surrounded themselves with such
a troop, as with a body-guard. But when the dangers of war con-
tinued for a longer period, it became desirable, and even necessary, to
be prepared for every casualty. The Gefolge remained long united,
and they formed the experienced and elite portion of the army for
attack, defence, or pursuit. In the migratory period, kingdoms were
founded by these Gefolges, and from the essence of their internal
organization, the laws sprung which regulated these new states
(feudal system).

The chief arms of the ancient Germans were the shield and the
spear, called by them Framen (Framed)*, with a narrow and short
blade, but so sharp and well adapted for use, that they could employ
the same weapon, according to necessity, both far and near. Long,
heavy lances are also spoken of in the description of many battles.
For close combat, the stone battle-axe, which is still frequently dug
up, and the common club, were certainly used. From the scarcity
of iron, few wore body- armour, and but here and there a helmet;
even swords were scarce, and the shield was formed of wood, or of
the plaited twigs of the withy. Nevertheless, it was with these
simple weapons that they achieved so much that wras grand, inas-
much as natural courage and strength of limb effect more than arti-
ficial weapons.

Their horses were neither distinguished by beauty or speed, but
they were very durable, and the Germans knew so well to manage
them that they frequently overthrew the fully-armed and mounted
Roman and Gallic cavalry. They held the latter in contempt because
they used saddles, which appeared to them unmanly and effeminate;
they themselves sat upon the naked back of the horse. But the chief
strength of their army lay in their infantry, and they placed the
boldest and strongest of their youth, mixed with their cavalry, in the
van, in order to give an additional solidity to the ranks. The
cavalry themselves selected their companions from among the in-
fantry, and thus, even in the rude pursuit of war, esteem and affec-
tion exerted their influence. They thus held together ' in the

* Frora/ramen, to throw.

22 INTRODUCTION.

tumult of the fight, and came to each other's assistance when the
contest was desperate. If a horseman fell heavily wounded from
his steed, the foot soldiers immediately surrounded and shielded
him. When sudden and rapid movements either in advancing or
retreating were necessary, the quickness of those on foot, by means
of incessant practice, was so great, that holding by the main of the
horse, they equalled the swiftest in their course.

Their order of battle was generally wedge-shaped, that they might
the more speedily break the ranks of the enemy. Before battle
they sang the war-song relating the deeds of their ancestors and the
celebrity of their fatherland. Warlike instruments also, horns of brass
or of the wild bull, and large drums, formed of hides expanded over
hampers, beat the measure to their joined shields; and as they pro-
ceeded they became more and more excited. In the march against the
enemy the song became ruder and wilder, a courageous and stimulating
cry, which was called Barrit; at first deep sounding, then stronger
and fuller, and growing to a roar at the moment of meeting the
foe. The chieftain felt excited with hope or fear, according to the
louder or weaker tone of the Barrit. Frequently, to make the sound
more strikingly fearful, they held their hollow shields before their
mouths. This terrific war-song, combined with the sight of the
gigantic figures, and the fearful threatening eyes of the Germans
themselves, was so terrible in its effects upon the Romans and the
Gauls, that it was long before they could accustom themselves to it.

To leave their shield behind them was to the Germans an inex-
piable disgrace ; he who had so debased himself durst not attend re-
ligious worship nor appear in the national assembly, and many who
had thus effected their escape from the field of battle could not en-
dure so miserable a life, but ended it by a voluntary death.

VIII. RELIGION.

The religious worship of the Germans attached itself to, and was as-
sociated with nature. It was a veneration of her great powers and phe-
nomena; but withal it was more simple and sublime than the worship of
other ancient nations, and bore the impress of its immediate and pro-
found feeling for nature. Although but rudely so, they yet had the
prseentiment of an infinite and eternal divine power in their breasts ;
for they considered it at variance with the dignity of the divinity to
enclose him within walls, or to conceive and represent him in a human
shape. They built no temples, but they consecrated to holy purposes
groves and woods, of which nature had formed the pillars, and whose
canopy was the infinite heaven itself; and they named after their
divinity the mystery which their faith alone allowed them to con-
template. Even their aboriginal poetical descriptions of their divi-
nities display the nobler sentiments of the Germans, who did not, like
the Greeks and Romans, attribute to their deities all the infirmities
of human nature, but represented in them the portraiture of strength,
valour, magnanimity, and sublimity. And they still more strongly
distinguish themselves from all other ancient nations by their firm

INTRODUCTION. 23

and cheerful belief in the immortality of the soul, which entirely
dissipated every fear of death; and in the confidence of a future state
they committed suicide, when life itself could be purchased only by
slavery.

This sublime natural feeling, and this purity of their religious
ideas, made them, in after times, better adapted for the reception of
Christianity. They were the vessel which God had selected for the
pure preservation of his doctrines. For Jews, Greeks and Romans
were already enervated by sensuality and vice ; they could neither com-
prehend nor retain the new doctrines, just as, according to the scrip-
tural image, the old drunkard could not retain the new wine. The
ancient Germans revered, like the Persians, the sun and fire; but wor-
shipped as their superior God, Wodan,{ Guodan, the Goden, Guten, Gott).
They called him also by a beautiful name, the Universal father. They
kept, in their sacred groves, white horses for the sun, which were har-
nessed to the consecrated chariot and driven by the priest or prince,
who paid particular attention to their neighing, which they consi-
dered, as did the Persians, prophetic of the future, and indicative of
the will of their divinity.

They venerated the mother earth as their most beneficent deity;
they called her Nerthus (the nourishing),* and we have the fol-
lowing relation of her worship: " In the midst of an island in the
seaf there was a sacred grove, in which was a consecrated chariot,
covered with tapestry. Sometimes (as noticed by the priests) the god-
dess descended from the sacred dwellings above, and drove the chariot,
drawn by consecrated cows, accompanied by the priests in the deep-
est reverence. The days were then cheerful, and the places which she
honoured with her presence, solemn and holy; they then entered
into no war, seized no arms, and the iron spear reposed in conceal-
ment; peace and tranquillity then reigned in every bosom, until the
priests reconducted the goddess, satiated with her intercourse with
mortals, back into the temple. The chariot and carpet were immersed,
and the goddess too, if we may believe it, bathed in a secret lake;
slaves performed the offices of service, whom the same lake immedi-
ately swallowed up. Thence arose a mysterious fear and holy ignorance
of what that might be which only those beheld who were to die."

The Germans placed great faith in prophecies and indications of the
future, as shown already in the neighing of the sacred horses of the sun.
When they were at war they often selected a prisoner taken from their
enemy, and caused him to fight with one of their countrymen, each
armed with his national weapons ; the victory of the one or the other
was received as prophetic, or as a divine judgment. They considered
the raven and the owl as harbingers of evil ; the cuckoo announced
length of life. They prophesied of the future also with small staves
cut from a fruit tree, having peculiar or runic signs carved upon each
staff, and these were then strewed upon a white raiment. And then,

* Tacitus, Germ. xl.

t Much here indicates the island to be Riigen; but there are important grounds for
contradiction.

24 INTRODUCTION.

on public occasions, the priest, but in private the father of the family,,
prayed to the divinity, and, with upraised eyes, took up each in-
dividual rod thrice, the characters upon which indicated the event.

The holy prophetesses were highly esteemed, and history names
some to whom the credulity of the tribes attached great influence in
the determination of public affairs. Tacitus names Aurinia (per-
haps Alruna, conversant with the mystic runic characters) ; again, the
celebrated Veleda, who, from a tower on the banks of the Lippe, di-
rected the movements of the tribes of the Lower Rhine; and, lastly,
a certain Gauna, in the time of Domitian. In the incursions of the
Cimbri, and in the army of Ariovistus, notice is taken of prophesy-
ing females.

There was no ceremony at their funerals ; only the bodies of the
most distinguished were burnt with costly wood, and with each, at the
same time, were offered up his arms or war horse. The tomb which
covered the ashes and the bones of the deceased was a mound of turf.
Splendid monuments they despised as oppressive to their dead. La-
ments and tears they speedily gave over, but grief they indulged in
much longer. Lamentations they considered as appropriate to females,
but to men Remembrance alone was deemed suitable.

IX. ARTS AND MANUFACTURES.

Should we after all that has preceded, inquire concerning the pro-
gress made by the ancient Germans in the arts of life, we shall find
upon that subject the information of the Roman writers unfortu-
nately very scanty. Looking down from the point of their very
superior culture, they did not consider it worth their trouble to-
attend to the origin of the arts, trades, and knowledge, found
among those nations which they considered as barbarians. This
silence has misled to the supposition, that the Germans, about the
period of the birth of Christ, were to be considered as half savages,
resembling the North American Hurons. But history may, where
she finds no express testimony, draw conclusions from uncontested
facts. Therefore we can, with certainty, infer that about the time,
and shortlv after the birth of Christ, the Germans — who in arms and
warlike skill could contest with an enemy who had acquired in a war
of five hundred years,with all the nations of the earth, the highest grade
in the art of war and consequent subjugation; these Germans, who
had already far advanced in their civil institutions ; to whom marriage
and the domestic hearth, and the honour of their nation, and their an-
cestors, were sacred ; who in their religious symbols displayed a deep
feeling for the most profound ideas of the human mind ; and who,
lastly, by a dignified natural capacity, and exquisite moral traits, in
spite of the undeniable ferocity of unbridled passions, were enabled
to inspire that noble Roman, in whom dwelt a deep sense of all that
was great and elevated in human nature — these Germans, we say, could
not have been the rude barbarians described as resembling North Ame-
rican savages. Their cultivation, as far as their wild life and dis-

INTRODUCTION. 25

persed mode of dwelling admitted, advanced to a degree worthy of
mention.

Agriculture and pasturage united, consequently a regulated and
settled rural economy, pre-supposes the use of the necessary imple-
ments, howsoever simple they might be. The German made them
himself. The iron necessary for that purpose, as well as for his
weapons, he must have known how to work, and the manipulation
of hard-melting iron is not easy ; presuming they were only able to use
that which lay upon the surface without understanding or practising
the art of mining. Yet Tacitus names iron-mines among the Goths,
in the present Silesia. That the preparation of iron utensils must
indicate already a higher degree of skill in art, in the earliest ages
of nations, is shown by the very frequent use of copper in such in-
struments for which iron is much better adapted. Copper is much
easier to manufacture.

In the irruptions and battles of the Germans, namely, among the
Cimbri and Teuton!, chariots and cars are named, which conveyed
the women and children, and which were placed around to defend
the camp. The Germans appear also upon their rivers, and upon,
the coasts of their seas in ships, and contest also with the Romans in
naval battles. Tribes which could build structures of this descrip-
tion, need no longer be considered savage.

The art of spinning and weaving is also not possible without compli-
cated machinery, and this formed the daily occupation of the females.

Although the art of building houses was not carried to any
extent, yet the towers or burgs of the superior classes, some of which
are mentioned in the records of history, must have been essentially
different from the huts of the community ; and that walls of stone
were used in their construction, we may infer from the subterranean
excavations in which provisions were preserved, and wherein the
"women generally wove their linen, and which must therefore have
been walled in.

Trade and commerce were not foreign to the ancient Germans ;
they were even acquainted with that pivot of all commerce, a general
medium of barter — money. Tacitus remarks that they knew well
how to distinguish the old good coins of the Romans, and took silver
in preference to gold in their retail transactions. The great multi-
tude of Roman coins, which by degrees have been dug out of the
German earth, proves that their commercial intercourse was not
trifling, although much may have fallen into the hands of the Ger-
mans as booty upon the defeat of the Romans. Arminius, before the bat-
tle of Idistavisus, offered to every Roman deserter daily 200 sesterces.

Their music was no doubt limited to their war-song, and the rude
warlike instruments previously named, and to the heroic song at
festivals. German antiquity had without doubt its inspired singers,
equally as the Greeks ha,d their Homerides; the testimony of Tacitus
tells us so, and the inclination of the people for all that was great,
and worthy of fame, as it evinces itself in their deeds, would even,
without that testimony, have convinced us.

26 INTRODUCTION.

It has been disputed whether the Germans, about the time of the
birth of Christ, had a written character. Tacitus expressly says,
that neither men nor women understood writing (literarum secreta
viri pariter ac feminse ignorant. — Germ. 19). And although this
passage might be interpreted in a more restricted sense, were there
express witnesses to the contrary extant; still, for the want of them,
it is sufficiently conclusive of the ignorance of writing among the
ancient Germans. There are, indeed, letters mentioned of Mar-
bodius and Adgandaster, a prince of the Chatti, to Home; but these
were certainly written in Latin, and only prove, if they were written
by the princes themselves, that the upper classes, who had inter-
course with the Romans, and perhaps lived a long time in Home
itself, learnt there the Roman art of writing. The people generally,
however, were, without doubt, ignorant of the art.

X. THE GERMANIC TRIBES.

The seats of the Saxon tribes are already generally stated in the
fourth division ; the following are the names and situations of the
individual septs :

1. The Sigambri, a considerable tribe in the neighbourhood of the
Sieg, whence they probably derived their name; and farther in-
wards towards the mountainous districts of Westphalia, which was
called, later, the Siiderland, or Sauerland. Coesar found them here
about the year 56, and Drusus in the year 12, before the birth of
Christ, at which time their domain extended as far as the Lippe.
Weakened by the attacks of the Romans, to whom they were most
exposed, a portion of them were driven by Tiberius to tUe left bank
of the Rhine, as far as its mouths, as well as that of the Issel;
another portion remained in their ancient dwelling-places, and
fought with the Cherusci against Germanicus. In the subsequent
centuries, the name was retained only by that portion which
dwelt at the mouths of the Rhine, and which constituted the Salic
Franks, and formed a leading tribe in the confederation of the
Franks.*

2. The Usipetri and Tenchteri, almost always neighbours, and
sharing the same casualties. Driven by the Suevi, about the
year 56 before the birth of Christ, from their original seat, probably
in the Wetterau (the district between the Maine, the Rhine, and
the Lahn), farther towards the north, they were, upon their cross-
ing the Rhine, beat back again by Caesar, and partly destroyed. The
remainder were received by the Sigambrians; and in the time of
Drusus, the Usipetrians dwelt north of the Lippe, on the Rhine.
But the Tenchterians had already, about the year 36 before the
birth of Christ, when the Ubierians were driven to the left bank of
the Rhine, occupied their domain upon its right bank, so that both

* Claud. Claudianus (about 400 years after the birth of Christ) de iv. Cons.
Honor. 449; Gregory of Tours, ii., 31 ; and others. Clovis, on bein? baptized, was
addressed by the Bishop Remigius ; mitts Sicamber.

INTRODUCTION. 27

the tribes ^ became again neighbours, and dwelt in the duchy of
Berg and in a portion of Cleves. Finally, the Tenchterians appear
to have formed a portion of the Franks.*

3. The Brukteri, a powerful tribe in the country north of the
Lippe, as far as the more central Ems, and from the vicinity of the
Rhine near the Weser, consequently more properly in the present
Minister land, and some of the approximate districts. According to
the most recent investigations, the country in the south of the Lippe,
as far as the mountains of Sauerland, therefore, the so-called Hellweg,
is considered a portion of the country of the Brukterians. They
were divided into larger and lesser bodies, took an active part
as the confederates of the Cherusci, in the war of freedom against
the Romans, and they received as their booty, after the battle with
Varus, one of the three conquered eagles. About the year 98 after
the birth of Christ, in an internal war with their neighbours, they
were almost annihilated, so that Tacitus divides their domain be-
tween the Chamavrians and the Angrivarians. But this account is
certainly exaggerated, as their name occurs in Ptolemy much later
in the same district; and even afterwards they appear as a portion
of the Frankish confederation. After the alliance of the Saxons had
more and more widely extended itself towards Westphalia, the
country and tribe of the Brukterians became equally included
therein; but whether by force of arms, or by alliance, is not to be
decided. The Brukterians may possibly have derived their name
from the marshes (briichen) in their country.

4. The Mar si, neighbours of the Brukterians, also present them-
selves as active enemies of the Romans, about the time of the birth
of Christ. In the battle with Varus they seized an eagle, which Ger-
manicus afterwards reconquered; and this same leader commenced
his campaign against Lower Germany, in the year 14 after the birth
of Christ, by an incursion from Vetera Castra (near Xanten) through
the Caesian forest, into the land of the Marsi, in which he destroyed
the celebrated sanctuary of Tanfani. These events show us the
Marsi as a Westphalian tribe, dwelling not far from the Rhine.
Beyond this, we cannot determine with certainty their dwelling
place, and antiquarians consequently entertain different opinions
with respect to it. Some place them on the Lippe, others eastward
of the Ems, towards Tecklenburg and Osnaburg, which latter is
the most probable. The sanctuary of Tanfana, which has been
sought for in different places, and among the rest ^ near Miinster,
would, therefore, henceforth be considered to lie in the land of
Tecklenburg.

5. The Tubanti, likewise neighbours of the Brukterians, are
placed by some in the country between Paderborn, Hamur and the
Arnsberg forest (the Soester Borde)-, by others, and with greater pro-
bability, on the opposite side of the country of the Brukterians, north-

* Gregory of Tours, ii., 9.

28 INTRODUCTION.

west of the Rhine, and the Vechte, the Twente of the present
day.

6. Southward of the Tubanti, on the Rhine, dwelt the Chamavi,
and bordered farther southward on the Usipetrians, to whom they
had yielded a portion of the pasturage on the Rhine and the Issel,
even before the time of Drusus. About the year 98 after the birth
of Christ, they deprived the Brukterians of a portion of their
country, and they appear later as forming a part of the confedera-
tion of the Franks. In the middle ages, their domain, was called
the Hamaland. Ptolemy mentions the Chamavi, as well as the
Cherusci, at the foot of the Harz mountains, but which former were
probably a very different tribe.

7. The Ansibari or Amsivarians, northward from the Bruk-
terians on the Ems (thence called Emsgauer or Emsbauer). In the
year 59 after the birth of Christ, a portion of them were driven
away by the powerful Chauci; they long sought, in vain, another
dwelling among the neighbouring tribes, and they at last vanish
among the Cherusci. A portion, however, must have remained in
their ancient dwelling place, as they appear later, forming part of the
Prankish confederation.

8. The Chasuari and Chattuari were, according to some, two
tribes, the first of which dwelt upon the Haase, northward of the
Marsi, and were thence called Hasegauer, but the latter at the mouth of
the Ruhr, where the Gau or district Hatterun gave testimony of them
in the middle ages; but, according to others, they were but one
tribe, which had their dwelling northward of the Chatti, on the
Diemel.

9. The Dulgibim are placed, with probability, in the neighbour-
hood of the Weser, perhaps precisely in the district of the Lippe,
where the legions of Varus were destroyed, and where the name still
exists on the heath of Dolger. In a stricter sense they belonged to
the confederation of the Cherusci. Ptolemy places them on the
right bank of the Weser; therefore, they very probably occupied
both its banks. In this neighbourhood Ptolemy also names Tu-
lisurgium, perhaps wrongly copied for Teutiburgium, in the vici-
nity of Detmold, and Tropaa Drusi, the monument of the vic-
tory of Drusus on the Weser, perhaps in the neighbourhood of
Hb'xter.

The following are some other places, mentioned by Ptolemy, in
Westphalia, unfortunately without indicating the domain wherein
they were, and which are, consequently, very variously referred to by
antiquaries :

a. Bogadium — Miinster, according to some, but according to others,
Bochold, or also Beckum; according to Ledebur, Beckum on the
Lippe, upon the great Roman road between Vetera and Aliso.

b. Mediolanium — Also supposed to be Miinster, but now, pro-
bably, Metelu on the Vechte.

c. Munitium — is either Osnaburg, the Castle Ravensberg, or
Stromberg in the neighbourhood of Minister.

INTRODUCTION. 29

d. Stereontium— Warendorf, Stromberg, Steinfort or Steveren,
all in the land of Miinster.

e. Amasia — probably the same place as the Amisia of Tacitus, the
hold on the left bank of the Ems, not far from its estuary, which
was built by Drusus.

f. Ascalingium, near Minden on the Weser.

g. With respect to Aliso, the castle built by Drusus, in the second
year before the birth of Christ, at the confluence of the Aliso and
the Lippe, according to the information of Dio Cassius, opinions are
so far unanimous that it was situated upon the upper Lippe, not very
far from the entrance of the Teutoburgian forest. The majority
again have decided for Elsen, near Paderborn, not far from the con-
fluence of the Alme and the Lippe; the most recent, very careful
investigation of Ledebur, however, has raised it to the highest pro-
bability that Aliso lay in the present parish or district of Liesbom,
in the space which is formed between the junction of the Liese and
the Glenne, and that of the Glenne and the Lippe, near the reli-
gious foundation of Cappeln.

h. Arbalo — where Drusus was pressed hard by the Germans, upon
the frontiers of the country of the Cherusci, Sigambri, and Chatti,
was, very probably, between Nlihden and Gesecke, where the Haar
mountains gradually dwindle into the plains of the Hellweg, and
where in the Middle Ages a Gau or district, Arpesfeld, was situated.
The syllable ending with lo in the name, implies & forest; Feld, in
contradistinction to Wald, indicates old forest land made arable.

Close to the left bank of the Weser, beyond the Dulgibini, dwelt
also the remaining smaller tribes of the confederation of the Cherusci ;
and on the opposite side of this river :

10. The Cherusci themselves, the most celebrated Germanic tribe
of ancient times, when in their most flourishing state. About the
period of the birth of Christ they possessed an extensive domain,
but of which it cannot be exactly stated how much was properly
their own hereditary land, and how much of the land belonged to
their more closely attached confederates, who are often called by the
Romans, off-handedly, Cherusci. This domain extended from the
Harz, its centre, eastward as far as the Saale and the Elbe, north-
ward nearly as far as the Aller, westward as far as the Weser, and
southward as far as the Werra and the Thuringian forest. From
the time of Drusus to the generalship of Varus, in the twenty years
during which the Romans were almost settled in Lower Germany,
and already spoke of a Roman province, the Cherusci were on
friendly terms with them; the sons of their princes entered the
Roman armies, Augustus had a German body guard, and all seemed
peaceable. But under Varus the Cherusci placed themselves at the
head of almost all the tribes between the Rhine and the Weser; the
smaller tribes, particularly on the left bank of the Weser, united them-
selves with them, whom the Romans often called clients of the Cherusci,
naming them often absolutely Cherusci, whence has arisen the error

30 INTRODUCTION.

that the Cherusci dwelt on both sides of the Weser. Later, when
Arminius went forth against Marbodius, the Longobardi and
Semnoni, their powerful neighbours in the East, united themselves
with them. But after the death of Arminius the superiority of the Che-
rusci diminished. They became enervated in a protracted state of inac-
tivity, and were by degrees so weakened by the Longobardi, Chauci,
and Chatti tribes, that the shadow alone of their former greatness re-
mained. Once again only does their name appear as a ^ constituent
portion of the confederation of the Franks. Ptolemy mentions in their
domain Lupia or Lupta, now Eimbeck, Callagri, Halle on the Saale,
Brieurdium, Erfurt.

With the Cherusci sank also their confederates, viz. :

11. The Fosi on the Fuse, or Brunswick of the present day,

12. The Angrivari, on both sides of the Weser, below Minden,
the neighbours and faithful confederates of the Chauci, with whom
they appear again later as a constituent portion of the Saxon con-
federation under the name of Engern. The Saxon district on the
Weser was called Angaria.

13. The Chauci dwelt on the Baltic, from the estuary of the
Ems to the Elbe, surrounding the Weser, by which they were di-
vided into the greater and the lesser classes.* Pliny, who had per-
sonally visited their country, sketches a melancholy picture of the in-
habitants on the coast : " The ocean, twice a day," he says, " overflows
an extensive district, and produces a constant contest in nature, so that
we must continue doubtful whether to call this part land or sea.
The miserable natives dwell upon the hills of the coast, or rather
heaps of earth, thrown up by the hand upon the margin of the
highest side. They dwell there at flood tide like mariners, and at
its ebb like shipwrecked beings. The fish driven hither by the sea
they catch with nets of reeds and sea-grass. They have no cattle, and
do not, like their neighbours, feed upon milk. They are not allowed
even to hunt for game, for not a shrub grows near them. The turf,
secured by hand, they dry more in the air than in the sun, where-
with to cook their food^ and thereby to warm their bowels frozen by
the north wind. They have no other drink than rain water, pre-
served in holes ; and yet had these tribes been conquered by the
Romans, they would have called themselves slaves !" Tacitus, on
the contrary, who had more in view the extensive tribe of the Chauci
in the interior of the country, celebrates them as the most consider-
able tribe of the Germans, peaceably minded and yet warlike and
valiant. They were long the faithful allies of the Romans, who fre-
quently traversed their country, against the tribes on the more central
Weser, probably emanating in an original feud with the Cherusci.
Indeed, in the reign of Nero they pressed hard upon the Wehrmanni

* Their name appears to have been derived from the nature of their country;
kauken, quaken, means, in the vulgar language, to quake; and the marshy ground
of the country quakes under the feet. Quakenbriick still retains the original de-
nomination.

INTRODUCTION. 3j

of the Cheruscian alliance— the Ansibarians, and spread themselves
so far towards the south, that Tacitus makes them even extend as
far as the Chatti. In the third century they devastated Gaul in the
reign of the Emperor Didius Julianus, and at last they disappear
under the confederate name of Saxons.

Ptolemy mentions some of the towns of the Chauci: Tuderium,
probably Meppene; Tlmliphardum, Verden; Phabiranum, Bremen
or Bremenvbrder ; Leuphana, Liineburg, and others.

14. The Frist, on the Baltic, from the mouths of the Rhine,
to the Ems, allies of the Romans in the German wars. In the
fourth and fifth centuries they again appear in the Saxon alli-
ance, and even embark with these for Britain.* The Romans call the
island Borkum, Burchana, and Ameland, Austeravia, on their
coast, and in their country : Fleum or Flevum, on the Dollart.

15. The Saxons, afterwards so important, are first mentioned by
Ptolemy in the middle of the second century as inhabitants of the
present Holstein. They were skilful sailors, and in the fourth and
fifth centuries became dreaded from their piracies. Tacitus and
Pliny do not name them, probably because they comprise them
under the name of Cimbri. We shall speak further on of the con-
federation they founded and called by their name.

16. The Cimbri remained for many centuries after their great
irruption, with which our history begins, still in their old dwelling-
place, called the Cimbrian peninsula, styled the present Jutland;
Strabo expressly says, " they still dwelt in their old seat."f

Between the Saxon and Suevic septs is found one of the most
remarkable of the German tribes, which appears to belong to neither
side ; viz.,

The Chatti or Katti, in high probability the Hessians of the
present day (Chatten, Chassen, Hessen). They frequently came in
contact with the Romans, upon whom they bordered, and are often
named by them. Caesar himself even knew them, for the Suevi,
against whom he defended the Uberians, and whom he threatened
by his passage across the Rhine, must, according to the locality of
the dwelling-place, have been the Chatti. They even then, probably
belonged to the great Suevic confederation. Tacitus, on the con-
trary, expressly separates them from the Suevi, and we may, therefore,
most rightly consider them as a self-dependent tribe, forming a
separation between the two great tribes, the Suevi and Saxons. At
the time of these great wars under Augustus, their country was
often visited by the Romans ; but in the age of Tacitus, after the
entire reduction of the Cherusci, their domain seems to have
acquired its greatest extent, for they spread themselves from the
neighbourhood of Hanau, and where they bordered upon the Roman
tithe-land beyond the Spessart and the mountains of the Rhine as far

* Procop. Goth. iv. 20. t Geogr. vii., 2, i.

32 INTRODUCTION.

as the Thuringian forest, and towards the south-west as far as the
Franconian Saale, then towards the north, somewhat beyond the
country where the Werra and Fulda join, and north-west as far as
the heights of the Wester forest.

Tacitus celebrates the Chatti especially for their valour and pru-
dent management of war. Their infantry was the best of all the
Germans. They were more accustomed than all the rest to disci-
pline and order, and knew how to form defensive camps; besides,
they were large-formed, powerful, and fearless, and their warlike
glance was intimidating. " They can all fight," says Tacitus, " but
the Chatti alone know how to conduct a war; and what is very rare
in savage nations, they depend more upon their leader than upon
the army. Good fortune they reckon amongst the casual, valour
amongst the certain things." Their youths allowed their hair and
beard to grow long, and they wore an iron ring upon their arm, the
sign of minority, until a slain enemy proved their manliness ; over
whose body, and captured arms, they freed their face from the
abundance of hair, and only then first boasted of having paid the
reward for their tenure of life, and of being worthy of their father-
land and ancestors.

At a later period the Chatti joined the extensive confederation of
the Franks.

The ancient metropolis of the Chatti was Mattium, which many
consider to be Marburg; but it is probably the present village
Maden, near Gudensberg, on the river Eder.

The Mattiaci, a branch of the Chatti, which, in the expeditions
of Drusus and Germanicus, appear only under this latter name, but
by Tacitus are called by their individual name, dwelt between the
Lahn and the Maine, as far as the Rhine, therefore in the present
Nassau. The Romans located themselves very early in their country,
constructed defences upon the Taurus mountains, and treated the
Mattiaci as a conquered tribe. In the revolt of Civilis they took
a part, and invested Mentz. Subsequently, their name disappears,
and the Allemanni occupy their land. Pliny mentions warm springs
here, which he calls Fontes Matiaci, doubtless Wiesbaden, where
many remains of Roman buildings, baths, &c., have been found ; and
Arctaunum, the Roman fort upon the heights near Homburg, of
which traces are yet extant. Ptolemy names also Mattiacwn, pro-
bably the present Marburg.

SUEVIC TKIBES.

1. The Semnoni are called by Tacitus the most ancient and con-
siderable among the Suevi ; and Ptolemy fixes their seat between the
Elbe and the Oder, in the southern part of Brandenburg, and in
the Lausitz as far as the Bohemian frontiers. It is said that in
their country the sanctuary of the confederation was a holy grove,
wherein the confederate sacrifices were solemnized. They, conse-
quently, appear to have stood, in more ancient times, in peculiar re-

INTRODUCTION. 33

gard among all the Suevic tribes. After the second century of the
Christian era, however, their name does not again occur in the an-
nals of history; of the causes for this disappearance, we are ignorant.

2. The Longobardi, few in number, but the most warlike of all
the Suevi. They dwelt, when history first becomes acquainted with
them, about the period of the birth of Christ, westward from the middle
Elbe, opposite the Semnoni in the Alt-Mark and Luneburg districts,
where the name of the city, Bardewik, the villages of Barleben and
Bartensleben, and the Bardengau, still preserve their recollection.
They thence spread to the eastern banks of the Elbe, as far as the
Havel. Under Arminius, they fought against Marbodius, but subse-
quently they assisted to wards the reduction of the Cherusci, who appear
to have been, for a period, in a certain degree of dependancy on them.
Ptolemy gives them, in the second century, a very extensive do-
main, from the Elbe over the country of the Cherusci, the Tubanti,
and Marsi, as far as the Rhine. They may possibly, if Ptolemy's
relation be true, have made successful, but short invasive expeditions.
History then becomes silent concerning them, until towards the end
of the fifth century, when they appear upon the Danube, in Hun-
gary; and in the sixth, they establish their kingdom in Italy. They
derived their name, according to their ancient legend (as handed down
of king Rothari), from their long beards, but according to others,
from their Hellebarden or Halberts; more probably, however, from
their dwelling-place, on the borders of the Elbe, where a tract of
land is still called the long Borde, or fruitful plain. Ptolemy names
Mesuium among them, perhaps the present Magdeburg.

3. Northwards from the Longobardi and Semnoni, in the present
Lauenburg, Mecklenburg, and Pommerania, dwelt, according to
Tacitus, the Suevic tribes of the Varini, Angeli, Reudingi, Avioni,
Eudosi, Suardoni, and Nuithoni; but little known or remarkable. We
have already referred to their common worship of the goddess Nerthus.

The name of the Varini reminds us of the river Varne, in Meck-
lenburg; and, indeed, Ptolemy mentions, in their domain, a series of
towns, which, according to his geographical determination, are com-
prised in the district on the north of the Elbe, from Hamburg as
far as the estuary of the Varne. Hamburg itself appears under the
name of Marionis ; Liibeck under that of Marionis Alter a. Lad-
bur gium may be Wismar, and Alistus, Schwerin.

The Angeli, neighbours of the Varini, appear later in union with
the Saxons, with whom they seem to have joined themselves, in the
vicinity of Silesia and upon the neighbouring islands ; then in England,
which has preserved their name nobly down to the present day.

On the coasts of the Baltic, extending farther towards the east,
Tacitus names a series of tribes, which he refers to the Suevic
race. Perhaps we may recognize in them a third, namely, the
Gothic, and we therefore quit, for the present, that direction, to
turn ourselves towards the undisputed Suevic tribes in the interior
of Germany. Here first we meet :

P

34 INTRODUCTION.

4. The Hermunduri. The information of the dwelling-places of
this tribe, which, besides, is named by almost all the writers who
mention the Germans, from Veil. Paterculus to Dio Cassius
(with the exception of Ptolemy), is very contradictory, but which may,
perhaps, be owing to their frequent change of locality. Tacitus is
acquainted with them as the friends and neighbours of the Romans
on the northern shore of the Danube, whence they stood with the
Romans in a peaceful commercial intercourse, namely, in the capital
of Rhoatia, Augusta Vindelicorum, Augsburg, and he makes them
contend with theChatti, on the Franconian Saale, for the possession of
the salt springs, so that their domain, consequently, stretched between
the Danube and the Maine, across the present Franconia. They had
.arrived here about the time of the Christian era, when the Marco-
manni, under Marbodius, were moving towards Bohemia. They
were received by the Roman general, Domitius ^Enobarbus. Thence
arose their friendship with the Romans. They probably dwelt, pre-
viously, farther north-eastward, in the Franconian and Bohemian
mountains, as far as the Elbe. The Hermunduri, from the middle
of the second century, appear only under the collective name of
Suevi; and it is they, probably, who, carrying it farther to the
south-west, have preserved and brought it down to the present day
under the name of Swabians.

Ptolemy mentions, in the present land of Franconia, Segodunum,
perhaps Wiirzburg; JBergium, Bamberg; Menosgada, Baireuth, &c.

5. The Nariski, in the Upper Palatinate, between the Hermun-
duri and the Marcomanni.

6. The Marcomanni, the most important of the southern Suevic
tribes, or perhaps, more properly, the advanced Wehrmannei of the
Suevic confederation against the Gauls, and later, against the Ro-
mans— thence called mark or frontier-men— guarded the boundaries
of Germany between the Rhine, the Maine, and the Danube. Upon
the increasing weakness of the Gauls, they endeavoured to make
conquests in the country of their enemies. Ariovistus was, accord-
ing to all probability, a Marcoman. History will inform us how
about the commencement of the Christian era, they, under Mar-
bodius, advanced, in front of the Romans, towards Bohemia; and
how, subsequently, they became the terrific enemies of the latter.
Their name disappears in the migration, probably merging in that
of the Suevi, under which collective name they may have wandered,
with other Suevic tribes, to Spain.

7. The Quadi, the most south-eastern Suevic tribe, seated upon
the Danube, in Austria and Moravia, as far as the river Grau, in
Hungary, where they joined the Sarmatian tribe of the Jazygi.
They lived in peace with the Romans until the great Marcomannic
war, under Mark Aurelius, in which they took a share. From this
time they always remained the enemies of the Romans. In the fifth
century, their name likewise disappears, and merges in that of the
Suevi, among whom they are again mentioned in Spain. Ptolemy

INTRODUCTION. 35

names many towns in their country, as a great commercial road led
from Carnuntum, Pressburg, through the land of the Quadi, and by
this means conveyed life and spirit into it. We name only Ptiurgi-
satis, Coridorgis, and Philecia, probably Znaim, Briinn, and Olmiitz.

8. Behind these, towards the east, ancient writers mention the
names of many other tribes, without, however, giving more particular
information about them, or even being able to state precisely that
they were of German origin. Thus it is with the Gothini and Osi,
in the mountains which border upon Moravia and Bohemia, running
towards Upper Silesia, of whom Tacitus himself says, that the for-
mer spoke the Gallic, and the latter the Pannonian, accordingly, tho
Sarmatian tongue.

The Mar singi^ are mentioned by Tacitus alone; according to whom,
their dwelling place seems to have occupied a portion of Lower Silesia,
eastwards from the Riesengebirge. It is, however, doubtful whe-
ther the Marsingi of Tacitus were not a branch of the Vandals. In
the district of the abovementioned tribes, belong many of the names of
towns which occur in Ptolemy; viz., Strevinta, in the vicinity of
Neisse ; Casurgis, in that of Glatz.

9. The Lygi, a powerful union of tribes in the eastern portion of
Silesia, and in that part of Poland which is inclosed by the elbow
of the Vistula, from its source as far as Bromberg. Tacitus con-
siders them, perhaps rightly, as Suevi, although their manners
and mode of life partake much of that of their savage Sarmatian
neighbours, on which account several modern historians class them
with the Sclavonic tribes. They belonged, when we first hear of
them, to Marbodius' confederation of tribes, and their alliance with
the Marcomanni and Hermunduri, seems to have continued even
much later. In the third century, they appear with the Burgundians
on the Rhine, and are defeated by the Emperor Probus.* The chief
stem, however, which remained behind, probably attached itself
at the time of the great migration, to the Goths, the name being no
longer mentioned.

Among the Lygian tribes, Tacitus names the Ari, the Helve-
coni, Manimi, Ely si, and Naharvali ; his Buri also, which he does
not join to the Lygian union, belonged probably to it; they dwelt
at the sources of the Oder and the Vistula. Tacitus describes^ the
Ari as the most powerful, but also the most savage of the Lygians.
They painted their shields black, coloured their bodies, selected dark
nights for their battles, and excited terror in their enemies by the fear-
ful and almost infernal appearance of their ghastly, death -like ranks.

In the country of the Naharvali, there was a sacred grove, where-
in a youthful pair of twins, similar to Castor and Pollux, were wor-
shipped under the name of Alois, and were attended by a priest in
female raiment.f

The whole domain of the Ely si, who dwelt probably in Silesia,

* Fosimus i., 67.

f Tacitus calls it the Sanctuary or deity Alcis, probably the Gothic Alhs.

D 2

36 INTRODUCTION.

and perhaps gave its name to the principality of Oels, was certainly
traversed by a Roman commercial road, which is proved by the
many Roman coins that have been, and still continue to be found
buried there in the earth.

In the great Lygian domain, Ptolemy mentions many names of
towns ; among others, Budorgis, probably Ratibor ; Lygidunum,
Liegnitz; Calisia, Kalisch, &c.

10. The Goths. Tacitus, who only knew the Suevi and non-
Suevi among the German tribes, considers this tribe also, which he
calls Goths, as Suevi. Pliny, on the contrary, who makes a fivefold
division of the tribes, regards them as belonging to the stem of
the Windili, namely, to that of the Vandals. That the tribes of this
stem dwelt, collectively, in the extreme east of ancient Germany, these
;two, as well as the rest of the ancient authors who mention their names,
are in opinion unanimous. Later history finds many of these tribes
likewise in combination, or, at least, acting under the same impulses
and towards the same purpose ; and it was by them that the first grand
blow was struck against the Roman colossus. If, therefore, nothing
decided can be said upon these obscure relations, to the elucidation of
which the light of history is wholly wanting, it will not be objection-
able, but rather contribute to the easier survey of this manifold mix-
ture, if we here collect these tribes together, as belonging, probably,
to a third chief stem, allied to the Suevi, which, with Pliny, we may
call the Vandalian, or, according to the title of the later principal
tribe, the Gothic branch.

a. The true Goths, or Got/tones, were known to Pytheas, about
the year 300 before the birth of Christ, on the Amber-coast, near
the estuary of the Vistula. Tacitus places them beyond the Lygi,
therefore still on the Vistula, but no longer extending to the sea;
for on the coast he names the Rugi and the Lemovi. Ptolemy,
nearly fifty years later, places them likewise on the Vistula, in the
interior of the country, and mentions, by name, the Venedi, or
Wendi upon the coast. We may thence conclude that, even at this
period, the great movement of the Wendian and Sclavonian nations,
from the north-east towards the south-west, had already commenced,
whereby the Germans were impelled forward in the same direction.
At the beginning of the third century, we already find the Goths
again farther southward, namely, in Dacia, where they fixed them-
selves. At this time, also, they appear divided into two great
branches, the Ostro-Goths and Westro-Goths, or East and West-
Goths. Their progress and fate, at the time of the great migration,
will be further related in the history itself.

As single tribes, the Gepidi, Mosogothi, Therwingi and Greuthungi
are named as branches of the Gothic stem, upon whose affinity and
position towards each other a variety of opinions are still maintained.

b. The Burgundians are placed by Pliny at the head of the Van-
dal stem, but they are not named by Tacitus. Ptolemy points out
as their dwelling-place the country between the Oder and Vistula,

INTRODUCTION. 37

where the Netze and the Warthe flow. Driven by the Gepidi from
this district, a portion of them turned towards the north and located
themselves upon the island Bornholm (Burganda-holm) between
Sweden and Denmark ; but the greater portion drew off to the south-
west, attacked Gaul, were beaten back by the Emperor Probus, dwelt
for a space of time in the vicinity of the Maine, then upon the upper
Ehine, and received from the Roman governor, Aetius, at the be-
ginning of the fifth century, a dwelling-place in the south-east of
Gaul, where their name still continues. In their ancient domain
Ptolemy names the city Ascaucalis, where Bromberg now exists.

c. The Rugi are placed by Tacitus on the Baltic ; he attaches close
to them the Lemovi, who are mentioned by no one else, and who
do not even again appear in the great migration. The name of the
Rugi survives in the island of Riigen and some neighbouring places
Tacitus does not enumerate them among the tribes who took part in
the Nerthus worship on the isle of Rugen; but it was, perhaps, after
the age of Tacitus that they spread themselves so wide towards the
west, and gave its name to the island Riigen, with which he was un-
acquainted. At the time of the great migration they appear in the
army of Attila, when he advanced against the Gauls; after his death
they settled themselves upon the northern banks of the Danube in
Austria and Hungary, which country was called Rugiland; and,
shortly afterwards, Odoacer, king of the Heruli, Rugi, Sciri, and
Turcilingi (he being sometimes called by one and sometimes by the
other of these titles, although by birth a Scirian), came forth and des-
troyed, in the year 4 7 6, the west Roman empire. The said four named
tribes were, according to all probability, closely allied, originating from
the vicinity of the Baltic, between the Vistula and the Oder ; and who,
after several separations and a variety of adventures, of which isolated
notices occur in history, are again found united under Odoacer. The
Herulians are, next to the Rugi, the most remarkable. They ap-
pear as a portion of the great kingdom of the Ostro-Gothic king,
Hemanrich, and form, after Attila's death, a powerful empire on the
banks of the Danube, at last vanishing on different sides, after en-
countering the most adventurous fortunes.* A portion seems to have
united itself into a nation with the Bojoarians or Bavarians.

cl. The Vandals appear as an individual tribe in Dio Cassius only,
who calls the Riesengebirge the Vandalian mountains, whence the
Elbe has its source, and we indeed find upon its north-east side the
original dwelling-place of the Vandalian tribes. We have already
noticed that the Wendili race of Pliny is the Vandalian, and that
Tacitus speaks really of the Vandalian as received by some others ;
later writers expressly say, that the Vandals were of the same^stem as
the Goths, had a similar appearance, the same laws and institutions.
We shall further relate their history at the period of the migration.
Tacitus does not allow his country of the Suevi to end with the
coasts of the Baltic only, as far as the estuary of the Vistula, but

* Procop. de bell. Goth, ii., 11 and 12.

38 INTRODUCTION.

conveys his readers to the JEstyi, on the Amber coasts. They,
according to their manners and dress, were Suevi, but approached
nearer to the Britons by their language. They zealously cultivated
grain, and collected amber, which they called hesum (glass), and
received with astonishment the high price Roman luxury offered
for it. Tacitus describes amber very distinctly and rightly.

12. Also, on the other side of the Baltic, in the present Sweden,
according to him, are found Suevi, viz.: the Suioni. " Equally
strong," says Tacitus, " by their fleets as by their men and arms,
kings rule over them with unlimited power. Beyond the Suioni
there is another sea, calm and almost motionless. It is believed
that this sea limits the earth, from the circumstance that the last
dying splendour of the setting sun continues until its rise, and so
brightly, that it obscures the stars." Thus it is evident that they
had intelligence of the Polar circle. Tacitus also seems to hint at
the great northern lights, by citing the tradition that particular rays
are seen in the skies, and tones heard at the same time. To the
Suioni are attached the races of the Sitoni, over whom a woman
reigns. " Thus far," says Tacitus, " they are not only degenerated
from freedom, but fallen into slavery. Here is the end of the Suevi."

That the Swedes are of German origin, may be considered as de-
cided, and that they were closely related to the Goths is extremely
probable. The name of the island Gotland, and many other names
in Sweden, corroborate this. The Gothic historian, Jordanis, de-
scribes the Goths as having migrated and shipped themselves direct
from Scandia (Scandinavia, the general name given by the ancients
to the northern countries), and settled on the banks of the Vistula.
But what he states assumes more the form of heroic tradition than
a history of his people ; and it may be received as equally correct,
that the Goths passed over to Sweden from our coasts.

TRANS-RHENISH TRIBES.

In the west, the Rhine was not properly the boundary of the
German tribes, but many of them had passed over it already, before
the period of the birth of Christ, and had located themselves on its
left bank. To these belonged :

1. The Vangioni, the Nemeti, and the Triboci, in the district on
the left bank of the Rhine from Bingen, below Mentz, as far as
Breisach. In their domain are many towns, which either owe their
origin or enlargement to the Romans; viz., Monguntiacum, Mentz,
an ancient Gallic city in the country of the Vangioni; under the
Romans an important citadel. Already, in the year 70 after the
birth of Christ, the 22d legion, which, on returning from the con-
quest of Jerusalem, was quartered in this place, brought with them
probably, and introduced Christianity there. Bonconica, Oppen-
heim ; Borbetomagus, Worms; Noviomagus, chief seat of the Nemeti,
Spires; Taberna, Rheinzabern; Argentoratum, Strasburg, in the
country of the Triboci, containing the chief arsenal throughout Gaul.

INTRODUCTION. 39

2. The Ubi dwelt earlier on the right bank of the Rhine, but
were so hard pressed by the Suevi, that they applied to Julius
Caesar for help, and after he had procured them peace for a short
time, they allowed themselves, in the year 36 before the birth of
Christ, to be transplanted to the left bank by the Roman general Vis-
panius Agrippa. They were always the faithful allies of the Ro-
mans. Their country commenced at the confluence of the Naho
with the Rhine, and here was founded Bingiune, Bingen, the first
seat of their domain; further, Bontobrice, Boppart; Confluentes,
Coblentz; Antunnacum, Andernach; Bonna, Bonn; on the opposite
side, as a bridge head or sconce, built by Drusus, was established
Gesonia, the present village Geusen ; Colonia Agrippina, Cologne, a
chief city of the Romans on the Rhine, named after the daughter
of Germanicus, and consort of the emperor Claudius, Agrippina, who
was born in this city of the Ubi, and in the year 50, after the birth
of Christ, sent hither a colony of veterans in order to distinguish
her birth-place. Constantine also caused a bridge to be built here
over the river, the remains of which are still to be seen at low water;
on the right side was Divitia, the present Deutz, the bridge head.
Novesium, Neuss; Gelduba, (often named by the Romans), the
present village Gelb, near the little town of Uerdingen.

3. The Gugerni, northwards from the Ubi, commencing not far
from Gelduba, down the Rhine to where the Waal divides itself from
it. Places: Asdburgium, Asburg, near Meurs; Vetera (castra),
Xanten or Bliderich, opposite Wesel.

4. The. Batavi and Canninefati, both of the Chattic race were,
according to Tacitus, driven from their country by a revolt, and
settled themselves near the mouth of the Rhine, in that part of
the land surrounded by water, which was called the island of the
Batavians. They were allies of the Romans until they revolted
under Civilis in the year 70, after the birth of Christ. In their
domain lay Lugdunum, Ley den; Ultrajectum, Utrecht; Novio-
magus, Nimwegen.

Besides these tribes there were several others in the Trans-Rhenish
countries who had formerly wandered thither, and were still proud of
their German origin, as if the celebrity of their race separated them
from a connexion with, and a resemblance to the weak and cowardly
Gauls. The chief among them were the Treviri, with the capital
Augusta Trevirorum, the present Treves, the most important city
of the Roman empire in our northern countries; and the Nervi,
between the Meuse and the Scheldt.

The south of the Danube was no longer inhabited by the pure Ger-
man tribes, but such as had become mixed with Gallic and other
emigrants. The Danube may be considered as the boundary of Ger-
many at that period, and the Roman provinces on^its southern side
from Switzerland to beyond Carinthia, and Carniola, were called:
Helvetia, Rhetia, Vindelicia, Noricum and Pannonia.

40 INTRODUCTION,

KOMAN TITHELAND.

But more important for the ancient geography of our country is
the consideration of the southern part of Germany, from the Rhine
downwards beyond the Maine, according to others still further north-
wards, and which was called the Roman titheland, (agri decumates).
From these districts the Germans, pressed hard by the superiority of
the Romans, who threatened them from the Rhine and the Danube,
had retired more and more into the interior — amongst the rest the
Marcomanni especially — and the Romans considering the land now
as a portion of their own provinces, allowed Gallic and other colonists
to cultivate it, upon the payment of a tithe. Thence the country
which was now considered as a frontier or foreland against the barba-
rians, received its Roman name; and as such it was already known to
Tacitus. To secure it from the predatory irruptions of the Germans,
a long line of fortresses, walls, ditches, walls with towers, and other
defences, were by degrees constructed, the traces whereof by un-
wearied research have been discovered in the whole of the south
and middle of Germany, so that we are enabled to follow these
Roman frontier-defences almost uninterruptedly.

Their commencement is found in considerable remains of defen-
sive works, three miles beyond Ratisbon, near the influx of the
Altmuhl into the Danube. The intrenchment, well known to the
natives under the name of the Devil's Wall and the moat of piles,
runs from here, for twelve miles uninterruptedly, towards the north-
west, sometimes raised three or four feet above the groirfnd, then
again south-west and west into Wurtemberg, in the vicinity of the
Neckar, and at the distance of some miles from this river constantly
northward, as far as the Oden forest. This wall was built of a stone
found in the earth near the spot, and at every half league was almost
regularly provided with towers. If here and there perhaps the traces
of the fine have become indistinct, we soon again meet'with them
more perfect. In the Oden forest we only discover the ruins of solitary
towers more distinctly marked ; and it is highly probable that here,
where there was such an abundance of wood, they were connected by a
fence of piles, or a row of pallisades, all traces of which have
naturally disappeared. But if we follow the remains of these isolated
fortifications, we find at last that near Obernburg and eastward from
Aschaffenburg, the line joins on the Maine, after it has completed
from the Danube onwards a distance of nearly two hundred miles.

Northward from the Maine, the traces of the line are very slight,
yet it traverses Hanau and Darmstadt, to the north of the Nidda,
where the moat of piles begins to be again visible, and runs past Butz-
bach towards Homburg. Here lies the Salburg, probably the fort or
citadel of Arctaunum, erected by Drusus on the Taunus mountains.
In this part the frontier wall is twenty feet high, and closed in by
trees as old as the forest itself. It runs over the whole of the
Taunus mountains, then through the latter on the right bank of the

INTRODUCTION. 41

Rhine, as far as the Ems, and thence again over mountain and through
forest to the neighbourhood of Neuwied. Its traces are lost be-
hind the Seven mountains. This Roman boundary line extended no
doubt, as far as^ the Sieg, near Siegburg, perhaps also still farther
northwards. Tiberius, at least, according to Tacitus, built a border
wall ,' limes, also in the Caesarean forest; but no trace of any connexion
between this and the southern defences has been discovered. It is
clear that even under the later emperors, the defensive works were
constantly being extended, until the repeated irruptions of the Al-
lemannic hordes destroyed them. At the commencement of the
fourth century the Allemanni were in possession of the former
Titheland.

As Roman colonies within the boundary line of defences, besides
those in the north already mentioned, the following are further cited :

1. Costellum Valcntiniani, in the neighbourhood of Manheim.

2. Civitas Aurelia Aquensis, called also merely Aqua, the present
Baden ; it is not cited, it is true, in Roman authors, but from inscrip-
tions that have been found, it is at least clear that a Roman gar-
rison and baths were here, already at the end of the second century.

3. Tarodunum, near Friburg, in Breisgau, where the Mark or
boundary, Zarten, is still found.

4. Ara Flavia, Rotweil, together with several others. The
whole titheland is full of the remains of Roman buildings, forts,
citadels, and temples, bridges, streets, towers, pillars, and baths.

THE MORE ANCIENT GERMAN HISTORY.

FIRST PERIOD.

FROM THE MOST ANCIENT TIMES TO THE CONQUESTS OF THE FRANKS UNDER CLOVIS,

486 A.D.

CHAPTER I.

B. C. 113 — 6, A. D.

The Cimbri and Teutoni, 113-101 B.C. — Caesar and Ariovistus, 58 B.C. — Julius Caesar
on the Rhine — Commencement of the great German Wars — Drusus in Germany
— Marbodius, King of the Marcomanni.

THE Roman and Greek writers who give information upon this
period of our history, have already been mentioned at the commence-
ment of the Introduction. In addition to those, we may include
here the subsequent chronicles of Prosper and his continuators, Marius
especially, Idacius and Marcellinus, which are collected together
by Roncallius, in his " Vetustiora Latinorum Chronica," 2 vols.
Further, is to be named Beda Venerabilis, a very learned English
monk, who died in the year 735, and who has left behind him a chro-
nicle, " De Sex JEtatibus Mundi," to 726, and a " Hist. Eccles. Gentis
Anglicanae." Finally, we have likewise collected largely, for this
earlier epoch, from Jordanis, who will be referred to in the second
period.

Efforts have been made to trace back the signs of migrations and
contests of German tribes on Roman and Greek ground to very early
times, and especially to the invasion of the Gauls under Brennus
into Italy in the year 389 B. C., and the incursion of the Gauls
again, under a second Brennus, through Thracia and Macedonia,
as far as Delphi, in the year 278, as referring to German tribes
from the vicinity of the Alps. But these indications are much
too obscure and fragmentary, and to pursue the inquiry would pro-
duce no essential contribution towards a knowledge of our national
records. We shall therefore commence the running thread of our
history, after, as before, with the incursion of the Cimbri and Teutoni.

THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONI. 43

It was in the year 113 B.C. that a wild and unknown tribe crossed
the Danube, and appeared upon the Alps, where the Romans
guarded the passes into Italy. In this same year they defeated the
Roman consul Papirius Carbo, who commanded the army here,
near Noreja, in the mountains of the present Styria. Carbo had
proved treacherous to them, for upon their request to remain on
friendly terms with him, he had provided them with false guides,
who led them astray among the mountains, whilst he advanced by
a shorter road and fell unexpectedly upon them. For this breach of
faith they punished him severely, and he and all his troops would
have been utterly destroyed had not a heavy storm intervened and
assisted his flight.

No one knew whence these fearful hordes originally came; they
called themselves, according to the account of the Romans, Cimbri
and Teutoni. Upon collecting together the isolated narratives of
writers, it appears that the Cimbri had already, for a length of time,
been wandering about, and had fought with many nations, especially
with the Boi, and now, quitting the Danube, appeared upon the
Roman frontiers. Whether they are to be considered as collective
tribes intent upon migrating, or only as troops of warriors seeking
adventures (as was subsequently the practice of the Suevic warriors
under Ariovistus), or, forming themselves by degrees into one entire
mass by the junction of women and children, they required a country
wherein to settle, we cannot, owing to the deficiency of precise in-
formation, positively decide. If the Cimbri, as is the general opinion,
proceeded from the Cimbrian peninsula, so called by the Romans,
but which now is the present Jutland, it is very certain that only a
portion of the tribe could have left it, as it was still occupied by that
tribe at a much later period. But if the name Kimber, as others have
surmised, implied merely Kampfer, fighters, (Kamper, Strenuus\
they may then have belonged to other German tribes, probably to the
Suevi. Opinions likewise differ upon the name of the Teutoni. Some
believe it was not the name of an individual tribe, but that the Ro-
mans, hearing that these Cimbri were Teuten or Teutones, imagined
that they had a second tribe to contend with, which they called
Teutoni. According to the opinion of others, the Teutoni were
wanderers of several tribes between the Vistula and the Elbe, who,
urged forward by the eruption of the Cimbri from their northern
peninsula, formed themselves into an individual horde, and called
themselves Teuten, or Teutones, the collective name of all the German
races. Others fix the home of the Teutoni in the northern Scandi-
navia, in favour of which their iron armour appears to say much
already. But we shall follow the accounts of the ancient writers,
who always name the Teutoni as an individual tribe, and remind us
that Pytheas had already, more than three hundred years B.C., heard
the name of the Teutoni on our northern coasts.

After the Cimbri had fought near Noreja, they advanced
through the fruitful district that lies between the Danube and the

44 THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONI.

Alps, towards southern Gaul, which appears originally to have been
the aim of their exertions, and many tribes .from Germany, Gaul, and
Switzerland, strengthened their numbers, particularly the Ambroni
from the Emmegau, and the Tigurini (Zurichers), a valiant tribe at
the foot of the Alps. They demanded a country from the Romans,
for which they promised military assistance for every war. The Ro-
mans, however, refused their request, when they determined to obtain
by valour and the sword what they could not acquire by treaty.
Four Roman armies, one after the other, were defeated and almost
annihilated by them and their confederates — the first under the
consul Junius Silanus, the second under the consul Cassius Longinus,
who fell in the battle, the third under the legate Aurelius Scaurus,
who was taken prisoner. When he was brought before the council
of the Germans, in order to give them intelligence respecting the
passage over the Alps, he advised them to forego their intention, call-
ing the Romans unconquerable. Angered at this, a young German
prince, Bojorix, stood forth and struck Scaurus to the ground with
his sword.

The Romans, who already thought of conquering the whole earth,
but saw themselves now defeated by a horde whose name they scarcely
knew, collected together another large army, under the consul Marcus
Manlius, and sent it to the assistance of the consul Scipio, whose le-
gate, Scaurus, had just been vanquished. But envy and dissension
existed between the generals, and the Germans taking advantage of
this, gave such battle to this large army, that 80,000 of the Romans
and their allies were left dead upon the field, with 40,000 of their
slaves. Manlius fell with his two sons, but Scipio escaped, with, it
is said, but ten men. This day was, henceforth, considered by the
Romans as one of the most unlucky in their calendar, and the city
of Rome, as well as the whole country were seized with such a panic
that in Rome for a very long time after, any uncommon alarm was
called, a " Cimbrian panic" The enemy, however, did not take ad-
vantage of this opportunity, the reason for which neglect is not known ;
but, instead of advancing upon Italy, they turned aside towards the
south of France and Spain, and gave the Romans time to recover
themselves.

The Romans possessed but one man who still sustained their hopes,
this was Caius Marius, a rude, proud man, but a valiant warrior.
He was of low origin, and had raised himself by his talents alone;
he was, therefore, hated by the patricians, but they were obliged, in
opposition to all hitherto followed rules and against the laws, to make
him consul several years in succession, in order that he might free
them from their terrific German foes.

Marius collected his army and conducted it over the Alps towards
Gaul, as far as the river Rhodanus (the Rhone), and formed there a de-
fensive camp. He re-established the ancient discipline and order in
his army, which had been long neglected, and to which was to be at-
tributed the mischances that had befallen them. He, therefore, kept
himself for a long time quiet in his camp, that he might accustom

THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONI. 45

liis warriors to the view of the large gigantic forms of these stran-
gers, and to the tone of their fearful voices. And when ever he
observed that a small troop of his enemies were alone, he quickly took
advantage of the favourable opportunity, and made a sortie upon
them with great strength and superiority, that his troops might
learn to conquer them by degrees. This delay was irksome to the
war-hunting Germans, and they often came to the very walls of the
camp, mocked at the Roman army, and called them out to battle,
but Marius was not to be diverted from his plan.

The Germans had now divided themselves into two bodies. The
Cimbri had passed up the Rhodanus through Switzerland and the
Tyrol towards Italy, but the Teutoni remained opposed to Marius.
When these latter perceived that their challenge was not accepted by
their opponents, they also broke up, marched past his camp on the
road to Italy, and called out jeeringly to the Roman soldiers, asking
them "if they had any commissions to send to their wives?" The
multitude was so great that they were six days passing the camp in
uninterrupted ranks.

Marius followed at their side, continuing always upon the heights,
that they might not unexpectedly attack him ; he then re-encamped
himself opposite to them near Aquas Sextise, or which is the present
town of Aix, in the south of France. In the spot he had selected
there was but little water, and when his warriors complained of thirst,
he pointed with his hand to a river that ran close by the enemy's
camp, and said, " Behold, yonder is drink offered you — but only to be
purchased with blood." They replied, " Why do you not then
lead us at once against them whilst our blood still flows ?" He
however returned, in a steady voice, "The camp must first be
secured." — And the warriors, although unwillingly, obeyed his
orders ; to such an extent had this strict leader been able to re-
establish military discipline. Of the baggage men, however,
many hastened in a multitude to the river to procure water for them-
selves and the beasts of burden, when, meeting with a few of the
enemy who were indulging in bathing, they speedily came to
blows with them, and as the cries of the combatants drew to
their aid more from both sides, there arose a sharp skirmish with
the Ambroni, whose camp lay on the Roman side of the river. The
Ambroni were driven back into their camp of waggons, and then a
severe battle took place with the women, who burst forth with swords
and axes, attacking as well their own countrymen who retreated, as
the pursuing Romans. Night separated the combatants. But this
night was in many ways terrific and dreadful. There arose from the
camp of the Germans a strange mixture of voices, not like lamenta-
tion and sorrow — although it might have meant a mourning-cry for
the dead — but resembling a deadened roar as of wild beasts, which
was re-echoed by the mountains around, and by the shores of the
stream. Terror seized the Romans ; they feared the enemy might make
a night attack, which would easily have thrown all into confusion;
for their camp, owing to the battle, was still without walls and

46 THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONI.

ditches. But the enemy stirred not; they remained quiet, and
continued so up to daybreak. Marius now laid down his plans for
battle. He placed the infantry before the camp, but the cavalry he
sent down into the plain, and he despatched his lieutenant-general,
Claudius Marcellus, with 3000 heavy armed soldiers forward to oc-
cupy the wooded heights behind the enemy, with the command to
advance from his ambush at the commencement of the fray.

When the Teutoni observed the Romans place themselves in
order of battle, they were seized with such a desire for the fight that
they did not await them in the plain, but clambered the heights
against them. But as they arrived, breathless and panting, the
Romans received them courageously and with closed ranks, and
drove them back again into the plain. Marcellus did not waste this
decisive moment, but broke forth in full gallop, and shouting from
the wood with his three thousand horsemen, fell upon the rear of
the enemy, who, pressed on both sides, soon got into disorder, and
took to flight. The Romans pursued them, and either killed or
took prisoners more than one hundred thousand. Shortly after-
wards the prince of the Teutoni, Teutobod, was also taken, prisoner
in his flight across the mountains, and was subsequently forced
to form in Rome the chief ornament in the triumphant train of
Marius ; and according to the account of the Romans, he was so tall
and lofty that his figure rose above all the trophies, and so active,
that he could leap over from four to six horses. But Marius
burnt the arms and entire booty as a great and splendid sacrifice
to the gods, excepting only what he selected and preserved of
the most costly and rare. This battle, near Aquse Sextise, took
place in the year 102 B. C., and eleven years after the battle of
Noreja.

The exultation of Marius and his troops was speedily damped by
the intelligence that the consul Catulus had been repulsed by the
Cimbri in Upper Italy. These latter had, although late in the year,
crossed the Alps, and drove before them the enemy, who guarded
the mountain passes. The latter looked with astonishment upon
these powerful strangers, who, in their delight at their native snow
and ice, as well as in the consciousness of their hardy powers of endur-
ance, revelled naked in the snow, ascended over ice and deep snow
to the summits of the mountains, and then sitting upon their broad
shields, slid down from the peaks of the most precipitous declivities.
The consul was obliged to retreat behind the river Athesis (the Etsch),
but erected defences on each side of the bridge he had built. When
the Cimbri, advancing closer, had surveyed the river, they com-
menced, giant-like, to break rocks from the surrounding summits,
and cast them, with stones and earth, into the stream, in order to
check its course ; they loosened the piles of the Roman bridge with
great weights, which were driven crashing against them by the
floods, so that the Romans, in their terror, deserted their defences
and their camp, and took to flight; and not until they had crossed
the river Po did they again take up a position.

THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONI. 47

The Cimbri now spread themselves over the rich and beautiful
plains of Upper Italy, and delayed going at once and direct, as they
should have done, upon Rome ; the charms of the country completely
enchanting them. Instead of their rude camp beneath the open sky,
they now accustomed themselves to the shelter of a roof and its coin-
forts; instead of their cold baths, they now took warm; instead of
plain meat, they indulged in choice dishes; but, above all, they sank
into intemperance by wine drinking. Catulus, in the meantime,
waited beyond the Po until Marius returned from Gaul with his vic-
torious army and joined him; when they both advanced forwards
over the river. As soon as the Cimbri were apprised of this, they
collected their troops, and, in expectation of the Teutoni, whose
misfortune they were either ignorant of or did not believe, they sent
to Marius once more to demand of the Romans a country for them-
selves and their brethren. When they named their brethren, the
Teutoni, Marius ridiculed them, and said, " Think no more of your
brethren ; they have their land already, and you likewise shall receive
quite sufficient from us." The ambassadors censured him for his
ridicule, and said he would speedily receive his punishment from the
Cimbri on that very spot, as also from the Teutoni the moment they
arrived. " They are here already," said Marius; u and it would not
be right to allow you to retire without having greeted your bre-
thren." And with that he ordered the captive princes of the Teutoni
to be brought forward in their fetters.

Struck with amazement, the ambassadors returned to their camp,
and the Cimbri immediately broke up; Bojorix, their prince, rode
to the Roman camp, and challenged Marius, with the Romans, to
battle, at any place which he might appoint. Marius replied, " It
was not usual for the Romans to make their enemies acquainted be-
forehand with the day of battle, yet even in that he would show him-
self agreeable to the Cimbri;" and he accordingly appointed the
Raudian plain, between Vercellae and Verona, as the place of battle,
and fixed the time for the third day following.

After the lapse of this interval, the Cimbri quitted their camp in
good order; they placed their infantry in a square, but the cavalry,
15,000 men strong, turned to the right, and endeavoured, by this ma-
noeuvre, to bring the Romans between themselves and the infantry.
Their cavalry, for the greater portion, was equipped in the most
sumptuous manner possible; they wore helmets which were made
to resemble the throats of terrific animals, or other frightful ob-
jects, with a full waving crest, which increased the size of their gi-
gantic figures, and their iron armour and shining shields glittered
afar. Every rider had a double javelin, and for close combat a large
heavy sword. They had obtained these choice arms very probably
in victorious battles during their long incursions. The infantry,
however, poured itself forth upon the plain like an immeasurable and
moving sea. Marius, at this moment, washed his hands, raised them
to the gods, and vowed to them a great sacrifice, should he conquer;

48 THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONI.

Catulus also, with raised hands, made a vow for the success of thig
day. And when the entrails of the slaughtered animal were shown
to Marius by the priests, he exclaimed, with a loud voice, so that the
multitude might hear him, " Mine is the victory !"

A severe and bloody battle now began. The heat and the sun
which shone in the eyes of the Germans, aided the Romans. For
the former, brought up in cold and shady parts, could endure the
cold but not the heat; profuse perspiration enervated their bodies,
and they held up their shields to shelter their eyes from the sun. It
was precisely in the month of July, when the summer's heat is most
intense, that the battle was fought. The dust also was opposed to
them, for it completely enveloped them, and concealed from the
Romans both their numbers and their terrific aspect, so that the latter,
not being previously alarmed by their appearance, fell at once upon
the ranks of their enemies. The most dreadful close conflict ensued,
wherein the Romans derived a vast advantage over their enemies from
their short broad swords. They had also so accustomed their bodies
to the labours and discipline of war, that not a single Roman was
observed to perspire or to lose his breath, even in the most suffocating
heat. Besides, Marius had invented a new weapon, a kind of long
barbed spear, which the Romans hurled against the shields of their
enemies, and with which they forced these down, so that the indi-
vidual remained exposed.

Thus it happened that the largest and most warlike portion of the
Cimbri were killed. The foremost rank had bound themselves to-
gether with long chains or cords, fixed to their girdles, that they
might not be forcibly separated ; and they now lay on the field as it
were strung together. When the Romans, pursuing those who fled,
arrived at their waggon-camp, their eyes beheld a sad and mournful
scene. The wives of the Germans stood, dressed in black, upon their
waggons, and themselves destroyed the fugitives as they arrived, nay,
even their own little children they cast beneath the wheels of the
waggons, and under the feet of the beasts of burden, that they might
not fall into the hands of the Romans ; and they then killed them-
selves. Many of the men also slew themselves, for they feared slavery
more than death. Sixty thousand were, however, taken prisoners,
and as many more upon this fatal day were exterminated.

Thus was concluded this severe and bitter war, which the Romans
considered equally as critical as the earlier one, nearly three hun-
dred years before, when the Gauls under Brennus burnt Rome; and
thence they called Marius the third founder of the city. But the boys
and youths of the Cimbri and Teutoni, who were made prisoners in
these battles, and conveyed away as slaves, amply revenged hereafter
the blood of their fathers and their brothers in that of thousands of
Romans, whom they slew in the servile war under their leader,
Spartacus.

Not quite fifty years had passed after this first essay at arms of the
Germans with the Romans, when the former again advanced towards the

JULIUS CAESAR AND ARIOVISTUS. 49

Roman frontiers, in smaller numbers, certainly, than at the first
time, and perhaps not with the clearly defined purpose of invadin"-
Italy ;_ but conquest and the prospect of booty probably would
speedily have increased their forces, and the fruitful pastures, as
well as the full granaries, of the natives, would have allured them
from province to province, until the fame of the smiling country
beyond the Alps might have suggested to them the path over these
towering frontier walls, had they not found an opponent who knew
at least the art of war as well as Marius.

Ariovistus, a king of the Marcomannic Suevi, between the Danube
and the Neckar, was appealed to for assistance by a Gallic tribe, the
Sequarii, against another tribe, the JEdui ; in the year 72 B. C., he
passed over the Rhine at the head of an army, and obtained a victory
for the Sequani ; but the beautiful plains of the present Burgundy
pleased him so much, that he would not again quit them. At en-
mity equally with the conquerors and conquered, he seized a space
of land, and when the Gauls had united against him he put them to
flight near Magetobria (now Mumpelgard). He, perhaps, originally
went forth upon this adventure as a duke with his warlike train, but
more and more Germans flocked to him, attracted by the celebrity
of this beautiful country, so that he speedily had under him an army
of 120,000 men. The whole of Gaul trembled before him ; the tribes
believed themselves already vanquished or driven from their ancient
seats. The Romans, however, who possessed already in Southern
Gaul a subjected province, acknowledged Ariovistus as king in his
conquered territory, and called him friend.

But speedily afterwards Julius Caesar, one of the greatest and
boldest of Roman leaders, appeared in Gaul. Burning ambition
excited him to great warlike undertakings, and he had arrived in
these districts with no other view than to subject the whole of Gaul
to the Romans. The -ZEdui and other Gallic tribes, now turned to
him and demanded aid of him against the Germans. Caesar gladly
profited by this opportunity of advancing farther into Gaul, promised
them help, and demanded an interview with Ariovistus.

Ariovistus answered proudly and boldly, that, " If he himself de-
sired aught of Caesar he should come to him, and if Caesar desired
aught of him he must do the same. Besides, he could not under-
stand what Caesar or the Roman people in general had to do in his
Gaul, which he had conquered by the force of arms?"

Caasar replied to him: " As he had refused his invitation to an
interview, he at once would briefly state what he desired of him,
viz.: in the first place, that he should not bring anymore Germans
across the Rhine; and, secondly, that he should return to^the Gallic
tribes their hostages, and treat them no longer as enemies. If he
fulfilled these conditions, the Roman people would hold constant
peace and friendship with him ; if not, Caesar would not behold the
injuries of the ^Edui with indifference."

Ariovistus, in his reply to this, referred boldly and candidly to the

E

50 JULIUS CAESAR AND ARIOVISTUS.

right of arms, according to which the conqueror might treat the
conquered as he pleased. It was thus the Romans themselves were
likewise accustomed to act, who well knew too how to make use of
their rights; he only required therefore to be left to do the same.
And with regard to Caesar's announcement, that he would not let
the injuries of the ^Edui remain unrevenged, Ariovistus replied:
" No one had hitherto contended with him but to their ruin. If
Caesar wished, he might begin the contest ; he would then learn to
know what unconquered Germans, perfectly practised in the use of
arms, and whom no roof had sheltered for fourteen years, could
perform." Truly, the language of a hero of the great tribes-migra-
tion ; to whom his sword stood in lieu of hereditary right and title
deeds, and who, with his brethren in arms, was determined to repose
under no roof until he had conquered the sought-for country of his
new home !

With any other opponent this bold declaration might have pro-
duced its influence, and been effective; but Caesar, who even in
Rome itself could not endure to be the second, felt thereby the
more excited to measure himself with such an enemy. He ad-
vanced against him and occupied Vesontio (Besan^on), the chief
city of the Sequani, which was very strong and richly provided
with all the munitions of war. Whilst he remained here a few days,
a very dangerous despondency suddenly overpowered his army.
The statements of the Gauls who had been so often beaten by the
Germans, the descriptions given by the traders who had travelled
through their country, the close proximity of the terrific enemy him-
self, tended, combined altogether, to present before the soul of the
Romans so fearful a picture of the strength, the valour and ferocity
of the Germans, within whose annihilating glance it was impossible
to stand, that many who had thus far voluntarily followed Caesar, did
not hesitate inventing any excuse to enable them to return home.
Others whom shame retained, could however so little govern them-
selves, that they frequently broke forth in tears, and in their tents
sorrowfully mourned their ill-fortune. Throughout the whole camp
all were engaged making their wills publicly; and at last even those
became tainted by the panic, to whom the dangers of war were by
no means strange. And, in fact, there was a general murmur against
their rash leader, for thus unnecessarily seeking so perilous a battle.

Caesar, in order to subdue this impression in his army, summoned
forth the whole force of his eloquence. He collected together the
leaders of his host, and represented to them that a war with Ario-
vistus was as yet by no means certain; he much more expected that
the latter would listen to the voice of justice and of peace. But
should he, from a mad love of battle, absolutely desire it, they had
only to remember the defeat of the Cimbri and Teutoni, and the ser-
vile war just ended, wherein the Germans also were conquered as well
as the Helvetians, not being able to resist the Roman arms. But if,
notwithstanding, all these reasons could not serve to tranquillize them,

JULIUS CAESAR ON THE RHINE. 51

and none would follow ^him, he would at once advance against the
foe with the tenth legion alone, for on their fidelity he could de-
pend.

This address made a deep impression upon their minds. The
tenth legion thanked him immediately for his confidence, and all
the rest emulated each other in displaying their readiness. Csesar
broke up forthwith, and advanced nearer to the German army. An
interview which he held with Ariovistus at his desire, was as fruit-
less as the previous negotiations, and Caesar now wished for nothing
but a battle. But Ariovistus took up a position in which he cut off
from the Romans all the supplies, and caused his cavalry, which by its
mixture with the light infantry, was superior to that of the Romans,
to make skirmishes. But the battle, although daily offered by Caesar ,
he did not accept.

Caesar then learnt from some prisoners the cause of this delay,
which otherwise was not in accordance with German custom. The
prophetic women, according to whose oracles the army acted, had
announced misfortune should they fight before the new moon. Caesar
now sought a battle more zealously than ever, and advanced close up
to the German camp. They then at last drew forth their troops,
and each tribe took up its position — the Harudi, Marcomanni, Tri-
bocki, Vangioni, Nemeti, Sedusi, and Suevi; they surrounded their
battle array with waggons and chariots, whereon sat the women with
wild and loosely flowing hair, supplicating all the ranks as they passed
by, not to allow them to fall into the bondage of the Romans. The
battle commenced, and they were soon furiously engaged on all
sides. The Germans rushed forward with so much speed, that the
Romans had not time to cast their javelins, and their left wing was
driven to flight; but their right wing conquered on its side, and now
were displayed the advantage and superiority of perfect warlike order
and discipline. The broken wing of the Romans was re-formed,
when the third division advanced to its aid; the ranks of the Ger-
mans, however, remained in confusion, for their army, although
extremely valiant, was deficient in strict discipline and order. They
were therefore at last driven to flight on all sides, and hastened
towards the Rhine. But the Roman cavalry overtook the greater
part, and but few, among whom was Ariovistus, saved themselves
by swimming or by traversing the river in small boats. His two
wives were killed in the flight, and of his two daughters one was
likewise slain, and the other taken prisoner. Of Ariovistus himself
history says nothing further.

When Caesar had driven Ariovistus across the Rhine he began the
subjection of the Gallic tribes, who were not equal to the Germans
in valour. He conquered one after the other, and kept constantly
advancing to the lower Rhine. Intelligence then came to him that
two German tribes of the lower Rhine, the Usipeti and Tenchten,
pressed by the Suevi, had passed over the Rhine to seek a new set-
tlement in Gaul. They had with them their wives and children,

B2

52 JULIUS CAESAR ON THE RHINE.

tlieir slaves and herds, as well as the rest of their property, and were
upwards of 430,000 strong. As Caesar now, however, considered
Gaul to belong to him, he desired them to retrace their steps.
They, however, replied " That they had been forced by the Suevi
to wander from their homes; they desired nothing but a land to
dwell in ; he ought therefore to leave them the fields they had con-
quered with their arms, or give them others instead. Besides, it was
not German fashion to avert a battle by intreaties, but to make a stand
against those who desired the contest ; he was therefore free to choose
their friendship or war. They yielded to none but the Suevi, to
whom in battle even the immortal gods themselves were not equal ;
but excepting those there dwelt none on earth whom they could
not conquer."

They nevertheless were conquered by Caesar, but only by Italian
cunning, for as their princes and chieftains came to an arranged inter-
view with him, he suddenly seized them as prisoners, fell immediately
upon their camps, and beat and scattered the whole tribe, which was
now without a leader. Some of them fled back across the Rhine to the
Sigambri. Csesar required them to be delivered up. The Sigambri
answered: " The Rhine at least was the limits of the Roman empire;
if he did not wish the Germans to cross the Rhine against his will,
why did he presume to give orders on their side of the river?"

Such language vexed the proud Roman. He likewise still bore
fresh in mind, that the Suevi under Ariovistus had already fallen
upon Gaul; therefore, he determined to build a bridge over the Rhine,
and make the German tribes feel in their own country the power of
the Romans. In ten days he constructed with much ingenuity, in
the country of the Ubi, below the place where the Moselle falls into
the Rhine (according to some near Bonn, according to others near
Andernach) a large wooden bridge, and passed with his army over
Germany's noble stream. This was in the year 55 B. C. He wished
to attack the powerful confederation of the Suevi ; these, however, re-
moved their whole property and their wives and children far back
into the interior of the forests, and collected all their warlike forces
in the middle of their domain, there to await their enemy. It appears
they had selected their ground with great prudence, for Csesar did not
consider it even advisable to follow them thus far. He halted only
eighteen days on the right bank of the Rhine, devastated with fire
and sword the vicinity of the Sieg, where the Sigambri then dwelt,
and then returned across the river. To the Ubi, who upon this
occasion had been his faithful adherents, lie gave the name of Roman
allies.

But the Suevi had so little fear of the Romans, that they shortly
afterwards sent assistance to the Treviri against them. Csesar then
determined to cross the Rhine a second time. He built a second
bridge a little above the former place (according to the opinion of
some near Neuwied) but scarcely placed a foot in Germany, for the
Suevi had made their arrangements this time as prudently as before.
According to the connexion of events, and of the locality where

DEATH 0¥ JULIUS CAESAR. 53

Caesar crossed the Rhine, those whom he called Suevi must have
been the Chatti, and these either then have belonged to the Suevic
confederation, or Caesar, in his ignorance of the German relations,
has included them as such.

After this period Caesar did not again pass into Germany, but he had
become so well acquainted with the Germans, as being such stron"- and
valiant men, that he endeavoured to raise troops from among them to
serve in his legions. This was easy to him amongst such a brave
people, where there were always bold men ready to go forth for pay,
booty, and the love of war. Caesar was likewise a hero who well un-
derstood how to win the hearts of his warriors ; he led them always to
victory. German subsidies helped him henceforth to win his battles,
and at Pharsalus, where he fought the last battle against Pompey , and
where it was decided which of the two should rule the world, they
afforded him important aid. After the battle had been hard fought,
Pompey despatched his cavalry against the enemy, that they might
give decision to the battle ; but these horsemen were chiefly proud
Roman youths, of the superior classes, who idly thought they could
not be defeated. Caesar then gave command to his German infantry
to drive back the cavalry, and called out to them: " Comrades, strike
only at the face !" He well knew that the vain youths of the metro-
polis preferred their smooth faces to scars. And the Germans, who
were sufficiently tall and strong, rushed against the cavaliers as if they
were themselves mounted, and not on foot, and frightened them
so much that they speedily took to flight. Thus the day was
by them won for Caesar. Henceforward, there were constantly German
soldiers in the Roman service, and the succeeding emperors even
formed of them their body-guard.

Julius Caesar was murdered as he was about to make himself sole
master of Rome ; but the Romans were no longer worthy of being
a free people ; they therefore speedily fell into the hands of masters
who were worse than Caesar. The first among them was the Em-
peror Augustus, whose reign lasted from the year 30 B. C. to the year

14 A. D.

During this time the Romans had subjected a greater portion of
the then known earth. Of Europe, besides Italy, Greece and Mace-
donia, Hispania, and Gaul, were also subject to them; with that they
were not however satisfied, but coveted other countries which lay
beyond the Alps and the Rhine; for the ambition and avarice
of the Romans knew no limits, and no doubt it appeared very desir-
able to them to gain dominion over the powerful men of the^ German
race according to their own will, and to form thejloiver of their armies
from their ranks, and by their aid to hold the rest of the world in
obedience. They at first attacked those tribes which dwelt upon the
sides of the Alps towards Germany, in the mountains of Graubiinden,
the Tyrol, Saltzburg, and Austria: wild tribes, partly of Gallic and
partly of unknown origin, who could not resist the superiority of the
Romans, and who were not only conquered, but exterminated or
sold as slaves. This contest was concluded in the year 15 B. C.

54 DRUSUS.

Henceforward the river Danube was on this side the boundary be-
tween the Romans and the Germans. From the other side, however,
the river Rhine was no longer to remain so, and Augustus therefore,
sent his step-son, Claudius Drusus, to Gaul, to attack the Germans
in their own country, and he was certainly a hero competent to ac-
complish what was great.

Drusus undertook four campaigns in Germany, in the years 12
— 9 B. C. He warred with the Suevi, Chatti, Sigambri, Usipeti,
Tenchteri, Brukteri, and Cherusci. He passed on from the lower
Rhine to the rivers Lippe and Ems, as far as the Weser,
and in his fourth incursion advanced even to the Elbe. But his
irruptions were no conquests. The Germans well understood how
to conduct war against such an enemy. They retreated from their
isolated dwellings into the forests on both sides of the road he took,
destroyed the supplies they could not take with them, placed their
families in safety, and stayed there until the autumn. The Romans
were then obliged once again to return, as they could not winter in
the desert country, from the deficiency of provisions ; and that was the
moment the Germans had awaited with impatience. They now an-
noyed the enemy at every step he took; attacked solitary troops,
rushing upon them suddenly from the forests, in the most dan-
gerous places, destroyed the wearied stragglers, seized upon their
baggage and allowed them no rest either by night or day ; and thus
the Romans never returned to the Rhine without considerable loss.

The rapid and extensive incursions of Drusus into Germany gave
him, therefore, great fame among the Romans, but did little harm to
the Germans. In the autumn, winter, and spring, they dwelt quietly
in the places which the enemy had again quitted. But Drusus would
certainly have found at last the means of establishing his dominion in
Lower Germany had he lived longer. He had made one commence-
ment towards it already. He built strong forts at the mouths of the
rivers which flowed into the Rhine and the North Sea, that he might
retain in his power all their navigation ; thus being enabled to convey
into the country a portion of his army with greater security upon a
fleet of small vessels, and to transport their provisions conveniently
after. For this purpose he also commenced a canal, which was called
after him the Drusus ditch (and is still called the Drusus Vaart) and
united the Rhine between Doesberg and Isselort with the Issel. By
means of this canal the Rhine was brought into connexion with the
Zuider Zee, theFlevumostium of the ancients, and the Romans hence-
forth, by means of this outlet, were enabled to have communication
with the North Sea from all their holds upon the Rhine. Drusus
himself took this mode of uniting himself with the Friesi, and of reach-
ing the mouth of the Ems by sea, and where he likewise built a fort,
probably opposite to the present Emden. On the Rhine he built as
many as fifty of these forts, strongly fortified, especially Bonn and
Mentz, the last upon the border-limits against the Suevi, and pro-
vided them with bridges and flotillas for their defence; and upon

DRUSUS. 55

the Taunus mountains, on the heights near the present Homburg, he
built the fort Arctaunum, intended against the Chatti. Had he,
therefore, from year to year advanced more and more with such for-
tresses into Germany, and so at last have prevented his being obliged
to quit the^ land again in autumn, the dominion of the Romans,
together with the adoption of their language and manners might',
perhaps, have maintained a firm ground in Germany. But his course
was already stopped in the fourth year of his impellent irruptions.

We will here give a brief sketch of these incursions. The first he
made was after his legate had revenged himself upon the Sigambri
for the defeat of Lollius, with his fleet down the Rhine, through his
canal and the Zuider Zee into the Northern Sea, entering the mouth
of the Ems. The Friesi were allies ; however, the Brukteri had col-
lected a fleet in the Ems and opposed him, but they were beaten. Here
Drusus built his fort at the mouth of the river, and then continued
his course along the Oldenburg coast, as far as the afflux of the Yade,
where his ships got stranded, but by the aid of the Friesi and the
flood were set afloat again. The winter, however, obliged him to
return.

In the second campaign Drusus gained the shore across the Lippe,
as far as the Weser, in the vicinity of Hoxter; but a revolt of the
tribes in his rear forced him to make a retreat, when he found him-
self suddenly surrounded near Arbalo by the Germans. Their too great
confidence in gaining a victory, which misled them to make an irre-
gular attack, as well as their thirst for booty, were the means of his
rescue. He built here, at the junction of the Aliso and Lippe, the
fort or castle Aliso*, in order to have a point d'appui for his incursions
against the tribes on the Weser.

The third campaign he made was against the Chatti, who, pre-
viously peaceable, had now united with the Sigambri against him,
because he had built opposite to them the fort upon the Taunus
mountains ; they were beaten but not subdued.

In the fourth campaign Drusus advanced from the fort on the
Taunus mountains into the land of the Chatti, beat them, as well as
the Marcomanni under Marbodius, and forced the latter to retreat^far-
ther eastwards. These attacked the Bojians and forced them to yield.
Thus did Drusus himself assist in causing the Germans to completely
drive before them the Gallic tribes, and to extend their own settle-
ments. Upon this Drusus turned again to the left against the
Chemsci, marched on across the mountains to the Saale, and^along
this river downwards as far as the Elbe (perhaps in the vicinity of
Barby). It was whilst one day he was here standing alone^on the
banks of the Elbe, which in his mind was not yet to be the limits of
his progress, that, as it is related, a supernatural figure in the
form of a female, appeared before him, and with a lofty, threatening
air, addressed him thus: " How much farther wilt thou adyance,

* Respecting the locality of *Arbalo and Aliso, see the Introduction.

56 TIBERIUS.

insatiable Drusus? It is not appointed for tliee to behold all these
countries. Depart hence ! the term of thy deeds and of thy life is
at hand!"

Whether this was the creation of his imagination, or was de-
vised by the craft of one of the prophetic women among the Ger-
mans, inwardly bemoaning the fate of her country, is uncertain ; —
suffice it, that Drusus, on his return, fell from his horse, and died a
few weeks afterwards in consequence.

After him his brother Tiberius commanded the legions which
were opposed to the Germans. He was of an artful and deceptive dis-
position ; and besides arms, he employed other and worse means
against them. By craft he caused disputes among the tribes, and
by want of faith he led them into ruin. The Sigambri who were
one of the strongest and most valiant tribes upon the Rhine, he could
not conquer with arms. He therefore demanded an embassy from
them to him for the sake of peace, as he said; and as the princes and
leaders came in great numbers, he caused them to be taken prisoners
and dispersed among the Gallic cities, transplanting also of the
tribe, which was thus robbed of its chieftains, 40,000 towards the
estuaries of the Rhine and the Issel.* The princes, however, to
whom life among a strange people was an insupportable burden, and
who would not, that on their account, their people should be with-
held from a retributive war against the Romans, killed themselves.

By such means, indeed, it was not difficult to hold in trammels
those districts which bordered on the Rhine, or on the rivers which
flowed into it; and by the aid of the strong forts placed there,
and of the frontier walls or land defences (limites), which enclosed
the occupied country, the north-western portion of Germany
as far nearly as the Weser, appeared even already subdued, and, as it
were, a Roman province. Domitius j?Enobarbus, the grandfather of the
subsequent Emperor Nero, who held the command in the years
immediately preceding the birth of Christ, pressed forward, even
across the Elbe. No one hitherto had been so far. He also built a
road between the Rhine and the Ems, called ponies longi, namely
dykes and morass bridges, which led from vetera castra, near Wesel,
onwards to the vicinity of the Ems, over moors and marshes.

When Tiberius came a second time to Germany, about the year
3 A. D., he completely subdued a recent rebellion among the lower
German tribes, embarked upon the ocean, and sailing as far as the mouth
of the Elbe, fought with the Longobardi, and took up his winter
quarters among the quieted tribes near the sources of the Lippe,
probably near the fort Aliso. Henceforth this place was the
point whence the Romans directed all their undertakings against
the middle of Germany, upon the frontiers of which they had

* This transplantation of the Sigambri, by which Tiberius thought to extermi-
nate the tribe, only produced their salvation; for from these new settlements arose
afterwards the Issel-Franks, who laid the foundation for the greatness of the king-
dom of the Franks.

MARBOUIUS, KING OF THE MARCOMANNT. 57

now arrived; and with the nearest tribe therein, the Cherusoi,
they had just formed an alliance under the name of friendship
and confederation ; which kind of union had, more safely than
the force of arms, led to^the subjection of the tribes. The internal
organization of ^ this province appeared to be a task possible now to be
put into operation. But under this great oppression of their country,
the courage of the Germans did not sleep ; for, the same as in all times'
although it was possible to bend their proud spirit, still it had never
yet been broken. The sources of their aid sprung from among them-
selves.

A multitude of noble German youths had by a variety of events ar-
rived at Rome ; some in the Roman service, others as deputies, or as
hostages ; some again perhaps from ambition. But in the metropolis of
the world they beheld neither greatness nor freedom, on the contrary,
only slavery, which carries with it these sins : — meanness by the side
of arrogance, flattery, dissipation, enervation, and idleness. To be ruled
by such masters as the Romans then were, seemed to them the most
disgraceful of all things. At the same time, however, they became
acquainted with Roman military affairs, their art of government, and
their craft ; and what the former had applied to the oppression of their
country, they determined to employ for its redemption.

Marbodius, a noble Suevian of the frontier tribe of the Marco-
manni, was a youth of this stamp. The Romans describe him as tall
and stately, self-willed in disposition, and more by birth than intel-
lect a barbarian, which name they in their pride gave to all who were
not Romans or Greeks. He had been sent young to Rome, and at
the court of the Emperor Augustus he was particularly honoured.
When however, he had seen sufficient of Rome, he returned to
his own country, and as he saw that they could not, in their present
settlements upon the Neckar and the Rhine, well maintain themselves
against the great power of the Romans, which threatened them after
the conquest of the Alps from the side of the Danube, and, since the
almost completed subjection of the north of Germany, menaced them
also from the Maine, he persuaded his people to quit their districts, and
to withdraw to other settlements towards the cast. The Marcomanni,
who, by their warlike constitution, were speedily ready and resolved
for any movement, broke up, and Marbodins led them to Bohemia, a
country well defended on all sides by mountains; they drove hence
the Gallic tribe of the Boji, which had for generations past wandered
thither, subjected many tribes around, and founded a ^ great, well-
regulated Marcomannic kingdom. His capital was Bubienum, called
also Marobudum, according to some the present Prague, according
to others Budweis. The Hermunduri, Longobardi, and Senoni, the
flower of the Suevi, became dependent, and thus his power extended
from the Danube across the centre of Germany to the Elbe. Hence-
forward he addressed the Roman emperors not humbly as one sub-
ordinate and weak, but as their equal.

He had thus far conducted his affairs laudably, and he might now
have become, as it were, a frontier defence for the freedom of the

58 MARBODIUS, KING OF THE MARCOMANNI.

whole of Germany ; but it almost appears as if he had learnt too
much in Rome. He had acquired the love of dominion also from the
Roman emperors, and had at the same time perceived the art whereby
the exercise of power over men otherwise free born, may be confirmed.
He maintained a body guard, introduced all other Roman regula-
tions, and hitherto no single individual had ever practised so much
authority among the German tribes. His army consisted of 70,000 in-
fantry and 4000 cavalry, and he kept it in constant practice by his con-
tinual wars with his neighbours, so that it could be well seen that he was
preparing it for still greater purposes. This, however, constituted the
condemnable and distinctive feature in his character, whence, in truth,
he cannot be called a great man; inasmuch as all this was accom-
plished, not for the freedom and happiness of his people, but solely
for himself, and in order that he might alone be called great and
powerful, and become honoured and feared.

He had already appeared so dangerous to the Romans, that Tiberius,
the son of the emperor, in the year 7 A. D., advanced against him with
a large army. He intended to attack him from two sides with
twenty- two legions, and he was already in full march, when intelli-
gence reached him that a great rebellion had broken out in Hun-
gary, Dalmatia, and Illyria, and that all the tribes from the Adriatic
to the Black Sea, who dwelt upon the Danube and among the
mountains, had conspired against the Romans, and had collected an
army of 200,000 infantry and 9000 calvary, with which they were
determined to invade Italy. Fright and terror seized upon all in
Rome, and the Emperor Augustus exclaimed in the senate, " Ten
days hence the enemy may be within sight of Rome !"

Tiberius immediately concluded a peace with Marbodius, which
was favourable to* the latter, and hastened with his whole army
against the Pannonian tribes; and, after three years of the most ob-
durate war, he succeeded in diverting the great danger, and brought
these tribes again under the dominion of his father. The latter re-
joiced, however, but little in this good fortune; for, on another side
of his empire, the Germans had caused him the greatest loss, and
had involved him in calamities the most serious he had ever ex-
perienced during his whole life.

CHAPTER II.

7—374.
Arminius, or Hermann — Arminius and Varus — Arminius and Germanicus The

death of Arminius, 21 A. D. — Further Wars between the Germans and Romans—
• War with the Marcomanni, 167— ISO—The Germanic Confederations— The Ale-

manni — The Franks — The Saxon Confederation — The Goths — The Decline of the

Koman Empire.

THE campaigns and forts of Drusus, and the crafty, cunningly-

THE ROMANS IN GERMANY. 59

devised arts of Tiberius, had effected so much in Lower Germany,
as we have above seen, that as far as the Weser, no armed tribe any
longer openly opposed the Romans. All was bowed down, the unions
of the tribes were sundered, and the minds of many of the leading
men had been poisoned by the seductions of the Romans. They
already began to appear a different race of men, habit and intercourse
with the strangers commenced already to obliterate their national
manners. Markets sprang up and were established around the Ro-
man camps, and enticed the Germans to purchase and barter. Even
the earth and heavens, says a Roman writer, appeared to be more gentle
and mild, for the forests had become penetrated and passable, and
bridges and dykes were built across the morasses. Three complete
legions, the best of the Roman army, kept guard in the numerous forts
and camps, and in the midst of our lofty forests of oak, a Roman Praetor-
ship was established, together with Roman laws, legal institutions,
and appointed functionaries. The Roman governor, Sentius Satur-
ninus, who was in Germany in the year 5 or 6 A. D., contributed
much to these changes ; he was a man who united old Roman honesty
with affability. He took pleasure in feats and enjoyments, and im-
parted to the Germans a greater love for the refined mode of life
among the Romans. Quintilius Varus succeeded him in the autumn
of the year 6 ; a man of a weak mind, who was more adapted for the
occupations of peace than of war, and besides which, was addicted
to avarice, For it was said of him, that he entered the rich pro-
vince of Syria, where he had just been governor, a poor man; but
when he quitted it, he himself had become rich and had left the
province itself poor. The Germans, to this weak-minded man, ap-
peared thoroughly subjected, because they were tranquil, and he en-
deavoured to fix slavery among them by those gentle but effective
means, which are more pernicious and destructive than the power of
the sword, because they assume an innocent garb. He sat in judg-
ment upon the Germans, as among Romans; decided upon the
freedom and property of Germans, and the Roman lawyers, instead
of the straightforward and simple German custom, sought to intro-
duce the subtle and perplexing arts of Roman jurisprudence. If it
be desired to fix within the heart of a nation, a secretly devouring
and destructive worm, which shall gradually reduce it to that state
of degradation that it becomes careless to all magnanimous ideas, the
love of country and compatriots — substituting instead, the more de-
basing, petty, selfish considerations— it is only necessary to imbue it
with a love of law and disputation, that all may become embittered
against each other, and that every one shall know nothing greater
than his own advantage. And as all judicial proceedings were con-
ducted in the Roman language, it was likewise intended thus to intro-
duce and establish that tongue among the Germans. For, in order
to thoroughly annihilate the idiocrasy, freedom, and independent
feelings of a people, and to mould it into an entirely new form, it
is only necessary to deprive it likewise of its peculiar hereditary
possession — its mother tongue.

60 VARUS AND ARMINIUS.

Varus, however, had much miscalculated when he supposed the
rude Germans were insensible to these cunning arts. The understand-
ing of uncultivated nations is keenly alive to those who wish to en-
close them within nets, and the Germans were supplied by nature
with a healthy mind and good discernment. They quickly perceived the
source and central point of ruin, and they were beyond all things filled
with inward rage at the view of the lictors' rods or fasces of the Roman
governor, which were the attributes of his power of awarding corpo-
real punishment, or even death itself. Nothing was more degrading to
the free German than corporeal punishment, the disgrace of the most
abject slavery; and the power of punishing with death, they did not
even allow to their own princes, but conceded it to the divinity
alone, who proclaimed the sentence through the voice of his priests.

Their wrath, however, durst not give itself utterance, but it re-
mained long concealed in the breasts of individuals, for there was no
one near, who with a bold mind could collect and fan the glimmering
sparks into a broad name. But it was Rome itself that was chosen to
nurture and bring up to maturity the saviour of German freedom.
This was Arminius, (whom we are accustomed to call Hermann) the
son of Segimer, prince of the Cherusci ; a youth of valiant heart and
arm, of a clear, quick mind, whose eyes proclaimed the fire of his soul.
By distinguished military service he had acquired the right and
dignity of a Roman citizen and knight, and had returned to his
country well instructed and practised in all the arts of war and peace.
He here perceived the disgrace and ruin which was being prepared
for his native country ; and his mind pondered upon the great means
of remedy. He speedily discovered a similar feeling to reign among
the noblest of the Cherusci and the neighbouring tribes ; his inflam-
ing word inspired their courage ; they prepared the grand blow of
deliverance, and in order to destroy the Romans the more securely,
they enticed Varus by a planned rebellion to the frontiers — as it
is related by the Roman writers — still farther away from the Rhine,
into the depths of the Teutoburger forest, which flanked the districts
towards the Weser.

Varus, however, might still have escaped his fate, through
treachery : the traitor being found amongst the Germans themselves,
in the person of Segestes, a prince of the Cherusci, who was an enemy to
Segimer ; whilst he was envious also of Arminius's great reputation, and
jealous because this much younger man, by the powers of his mind
and his heroic virtues, attracted the eyes of all the tribes upon him.
Even the day before the breaking out of the conspiracy, when Varus
had collected the princes at a banquet, Segestus entreated him most
earnestly to take Arminius prisoner on the spot ; but a blind confi-
dence in his own power, concealed from the governor the abyss that
yawned beneatli his feet. He advanced still deeper into the forest
which covered the country of the Weser, and the princes quitted
him with the promise of immediately joining him with their auxiliary
troops. They came — their plan being well and happily laid— and in

MARIUS AND ARMINIUS. Gl

the midst of the Teutoburger forest (in the present principality of
Lippe-Detmol), where there are on all sides mountains and narrow val-
leys, they met him. Nowhere around was a beaten path visible, no-
thing but athickly grown and impenetrable wood. Trees were obliged
to be hewn, pits and morasses filled up, and bridges built. It was in the
stormy autumn season — the month of September; — heavy rains had
made the ground slippery and every step unsafe, whilst the tempest
roared at the summits of the oaks, whence the tutelary deities of
the country seemed wrathfully to threaten. Warriors, beasts of
burden, loaded with baggage and munition, all passed heedlessly on,
as in perfect security.

Amidst these terrors of nature, appeared suddenly, on all sides,
occupying the heights, the Germans as foes, hurling forth their
destructive weapons against the compressed masses of Romans.
These could but little defend themselves in their heavy armour, upon
a slippery ground, and with arms which were spoilt for use by the
continued rain. They, however, continued their course under con-
tinual attacks, and arrived in the evening at a spot where a camp
might be constructed. Fatigued as all were, they nevertheless
exerted their utmost powers to raise defences which should keep
the enemy off, in order to provide themselves with at least one quiet
night, were it even to be their last. Thus they awaited the dawn
of day between hope and fear. In the morning every thing unne-
cessary was burnt ; the soldiers were thereby made lighter for battle,
and the baggage was also diminished; this, together with the women
and children, of whom there was a great number with the expe-
dition (as no war had been anticipated), they placed in their centre,
and commenced their retreat, probably in the direction of their fort
Aliso. Their fate seemed to brighten ; they came to a more open
space, where they could muster and regulate their ranks, and where
the Germans did not venture to attack them ; but this was to be no
resting-place for them, they were to resume their march forward, and
the terrific forest once more received them. The enemy renewed
and increased his attacks; the tempest still continued, at which^the
Germans exclaimed as they pursued the Romans: " Behold this is
done by our God, who will this day revenge our wrongs upon our
enemies." Many of the most valiant Romans sank beneath their
wrathful, and unceasingly emboldened attacks.

In this desperate position night appeared a second time, and they
again endeavoured to construct defences. But the attacking enemy,
with his cries of victory, left them no time, and then, when heaven
and earth seemed to oppose them, and there was no hope of salva-
tion, the courage of the bravest sank. Varus, seeing now that all
was lost, and having already received several wounds, cast himself
upon his sword; many of the leaders followed his example, whilst
the whole army was either made prisoners or killed, very few -escap-
ing. This last battle took place, according to the most recent re-
searches, very probably between the present Horn andLippe spring,

62 ARMINIUS.

on the southern borders of the Lippe.* Thus was annihilated the
finest and most valiant of all the Roman armies, with the auxiliaries,
40,000 men strong. This was the hour of the heavy retaliation that
was to be expected upon some such day, from the fury of a severely
oppressed, freedom-loving, but still savage people. Many of the
most distinguished prisoners bled as sacrifices upon the altars of
the native divinities, others who retained their lives, were used
for the most degrading services ; and as the Romans themselves in-
form us, several of their distinguished countrymen, to whom at home,
the gates of entrance into the senate were open, concluded their
miserable lives as the herdsmen of German flocks, or as the keepers or
porters of German gates. It is also related, how embittered the Ger-
mans showed themselves towards the Roman judicial functionaries,
with the feeling, as it were, that it was by their arts that the greatest
danger was prepared against freedom and independence ; and further,
that a German tore out the tongue of one of these functionaries
with the caustic words, "Now cease hissing, adder!" Such is the
account of the great German battle of freedom, according to the re-
lation of our enemies themselves. In what a different light should
we not behold it, had we the testimony thereupon of even one
German historian !

But the opinion of all is unanimous and fixed, and it is confirmed
by the confession of the Romans themselves, that our fatherland
owes its freedom to this great victory in the Teutoburger forest, and
we, the descendants of those races, are indebted to it for the un-
mixed German blood which flows in our veins, and for the pure
German sounds pronounced by our tongue. But in Rome there
was universal alarm and mourning; whilst the Germans were full
of rejoicing, and, storming the forts on this side of the Rhine,f
cleared the whole country of the Romans. The Emperor Augustus
was beside himself; in his fury he struck his head against the wall,
and constantly exclaimed: " Oh, Varus, Varus, restore me my le-
gions 1" For some months he allowed his beard and hair to grow,
the guards of the city were doubled, and that no riot might occur, the
Germans were despatched from Rome, and even the German body-
guard was conveyed across the sea into the islands. At last Augustus
vowed great festivals to his god Jupiter, " Should his empire attain
a more flourishing state." — Thus did it happen in the Cimbrian war.

In order to meet the more extensive incursions of the Germans
which were now expected as certain, consequent upon this victory,
Tiberius was hastily despatched to the Rhine with a rapidly collected
army; to his astonishment, however, he found every thing quiet.

* The three days of battle have been calculated by M. Schmidt, not without inge-
nuity, to have taken place about the 9th, 10th, and llth of September.

f Aliso held out the longest. It was so strong, that the Germans, being without
a knowledge of the art of besieging and the necessary instruments, could not con-
quer it by force. They had, therefore, recourse to famine; but the Eoman garrison,
managed, in an unwatched moment, by a ruse de guerre, to slip out, and, although
with loss, they nevertheless succeeded in reaching the Rhine.

ARMINIUS AND GERMANICUS. 63

The Germans did not desire conquest, they wished only to protect
their freedom, and according to the very nature of their alliance,
after the danger ^ was removed each returned to his home. Tiberius
held the vacillating Gaul in obedience, and passed again across the
Rhine but without proceeding very far into the country, and as in a
few years afterwards he succeeded Augustus in the empire, he trans-
ferred to his nephew, Germanicus, the son of Drusus, the management
of the war against the Germans.

Germanicus, a young and ardent hero, had before his mind the
great example of his father, and he resolved to revenge the defeat of
Varus. He undertook three grand campaigns in lower Germany,
in the same districts where war had previously raged on the Lippe,
and from the sea up the Ems towards the Weser and the Elbe.
Germany was now again menaced with fresh danger, for Germanicus
was a warrior worthy of the best ages of Rome. But equally as
Arminius had obtained victory over bad leaders, so did he now with
so much craft and valour resist those better chiefs who advanced
with large armies, that although he was not always victorious in his
battles, he obliged his opponent at the end of every campaign to
withdraw to his fortresses on the Rhine. And thus, on these occa-
sions, he did not less for the freedom of his fatherland than he had
previously done in the annihilation of the legions of Varus.

Germanicus made his first campaign in the year 14 A. D., with
12,000 Romans and a multitude of allies from the Rhine, where
Biiderich and Weselnowlie, through the Csesarean forest in the vici-
nity of the Marsi, and fell craftily from several sides upon the un-
prepared enemy (who, thinking themselves in the midst of peace,
were at the time celebrating a great festival), and destroyed the
country for fifty miles around with fire and sword. No age, no
sex were spared, and a widely celebrated temple — that of Taufana —
(according to some in Tecklenburg, according to others in the neigh-
bourhood of the present Mimster) was destroyed. He did not press
farther into Lower Germany, for now the Brukteri, the Tubanti,
and Usipeti, speedily collected themselves to revenge the mis-
fortune of their friends. The retreat of the Romans was not unac-
companied by difficulties. It was only by prudence and strict
order that Germanicus led his legions successfully back across the
Rhine.

In the following year, after he had first attacked the Chatti, who
had joined the confederation of the tribes under Arminius, he rescued
Segestes, who was hated by his own tribe, and who applied to him
for assistance and rescue from the hands of his opponents. ^ The feud
between the two hostile houses had again broke out. Arminius, who
loved Thusnelda, third daughter of Segestes, and whom the father re-
fused to give to him in marriage, had eloped with, and made her his
wife. Her father, however, recaptured her, and brought her back to
his castle. Here he was besieged by Arminius, in order to recover his
wife; but Germanicus meantime delivered Segestes, and upon this

G4 ARMINIUS AND GERMANICUS.

occasion he took prisoner Arminius's consort, Thusnelda, and con-
ducted her to Rome. But she never forgot her husband or her high
rank, and in her sentiments she fortunately more resembled him than
her father. Segestes, on the contrary, who had now found a pro-
tector, addressed the Romans in the same sense as at all times is usual
from such as have betrayed their country: " This is not the first day
of my fidelity and constancy towards the Roman people !" — he ex-
claimed : " Since I was made a Roman citizen by the divine Augustus,
I have, in the selection of my friends and enemies, had solely your
advantage in view; not from hatred towards my country — for
traitors are hateful to those to whom they twin — but from the con-
viction that the same thing is beneficial to both Romans and Ger-
mans, and because I prefer peace to war, the old order of things
to the new, and tranquillity to turmoil. And now that I am with
you, I can become to the German people a useful advocate — should
they choose repentance instead of ruin."

Thus spoke Segestes. Augustus promised him protection, and se-
lected a dwelling for him on the Rhine. Arminius, however, felt
the most violent rage and indignation, and above all it pained him
most deeply to think, that the child with which his consort was
pregnant, must first behold the light of day in slavery among
the Romans. Acting upon these feelings, he forthwith traversed
the land of the Cherusci, summoning them all to the war against
Segestes, and against the Romans. His words are rife with the
most bitter energy: "The noble father! the great leader! the
valiant army !" he exclaimed, ironically, " who all combined together
to carry off a weak woman ! Before me three legions, and as many
leaders have fallen; / do not conduct war by treachery and against
pregnant women, but openly against the armed; and in our German
groves are now to be seen the Roman banners which I have there
consecrated to our native divinities. Let Segestes continue to
dwell upon the subjected banks of the Rhine. Let him there ob-
tain the priestly dignity^ for his son; but let him know that the
Germans will never forgive him, or forget that they have seen be-
tween the Rhine and the Elbe the Roman fasces and the Roman
toga. If, therefore, my countrymen, your fatherland and fa-
milies, and our ancient German manners are dearer to you than alien
rulers and their followers, then join Arminius, who will lead you to
glory and freedom, rather than obey Segestes, who will only con-
duct you to disgrace and slavery !"

By such fiery language he excited and collected together the
Cherusci and allied tribes, and at their head appeared at his side
his uncle, Inguiomar, as the Romans call him, who stood in great
respect and esteem among the people.

Germanicus had already retired with his legions to the Rhine;
upon receiving intelligence, however, of this fresh and great rising
of the German tribes, he resolved upon another expedition that same
year so as to prevent them from making an attack upon the Rhine.

GERMANICUS AND ARMINIUS. 65

In order to pass more rapidly, and from several sides into the heart
of the country of the enemy, he, according to his father's example,
led a portion of his army by sea to the estuary of the Ems; two
other divisions under Crecina and Pedo advanced from the Rhine
through the interior of the country, and thus the infantry, cavalry,
and the flotilla met together in Westphalia. Unfortunately the
Romans were not without German auxiliaries ; they had Batavian
cavalry with them — and besides these, troops from the Tyrol and
Salzburg, as also from the left bank of the Rhine. The country
that lay between the Ems and the Lippe was devastated ; the Bruk-
teri destroyed their own country themselves, that a waste might lie be-
fore the Romans; but the latter pressed onward, re-captured in their
pursuit of the Brukteri the eagle of the (19th) legion, which the
latter had taken in the battle with Varus, and arrived in the neigh-
bourhood of the Teutoburger forest, where Varus had been de-
stroyed. Germanicus glowed with the desire to show the last
honour to the fallen leader and his army ; he sent Coecina forward
to inspect the mountains and passes, and to lay bridges and dams
over the deceptive morasses; and then he himself advanced and
marched over the melancholy scene, ghastly and terrific in it3
appearance as well as in its associations. The vestiges of the first
camp of Varus might still be recognised by the larger circuit of
ground, capable of containing three complete legions; the second
encampment was smaller, the wall half demolished, and the trench
filled up and level. It was perceptible that the last remnant of the
army had encamped itself there until they were at length overpowered.
In the middle of the plain heaps of whitening bones, the remains of
the vanquished army, lay strewed around, and beside them were
scattered about the fragments of lances, the bones of horses, and
even heads transfixed to the trunks of trees. In the neighbouring
groves the altars still remained, upon which the commanders and most
distinguished leaders had been sacrificed to the gods. And some few,
who, having survived the battle and escaped from slavery, had joined
the present army, pointed out here a spot where a leader feu\ there
where an eagle was seized — yonder where Varus received his first
wound, and finally, where, further on, he gave himself his death
blow.

The Roman army then, in the sixth year after this defeat, buried
the bones of the three legions without any one of^them knowing
whether he covered with earth the remains of his friend or enemy;
the commander himself planting the first turf upon the mound. The
army now advanced with increased fury against the enemy. ^ Armi-
nius had well understood his own advantage, and retired into the
forests and morasses ; and when the Romans incautiously followed him,
he broke forth, repulsed the cavalry, and drove them back upon the
infantry. But when Germanicus advanced with the disciplined legions,
he retired, and the contest remained undecided. The results, how-
ever, were nevertheless those of a victory; the Romans commenced

66 GERMANICUS AND ARMINIUS.

their retreat: Ccecina, one of the before-mentioned leaders, serving
under Germanicus, proceeded with four legions across the country
towards the Rhine ; Vitellius, another leader, marched with two le-
gions towards the shores of the sea; and Germanicus himself with
the third body, embarked upon the ships.

The road taken by Coecina was that of the formerly noticed pontes
longi, or long bridges, a narrow dam road which ran across immense
morasses. All around were gently rising wooded heights;* these
heights Arminius now occupied, whence he courageously attacked
the Romans, and but little was wanting for Coscina to suffer the same
fate as Varus. The dams and bridges had become so ruined with
age, that it was found necessary to repair them, whilst at the same
time a camp was formed, and efforts made to keep the enemy off.
Many of the Romans sank into the morass, for the Cherusci, who
knew the locality well, drove them to the most dangerous parts, and
as these people were accustomed to fight amongst bogs, they, by their
great length of body, and their monstrous javelins which they knew
well how to cast from a distance, brought the Romans into great diffi-
culties. Night alone saved the already wavering legions from the
ruinous battle. But the Germans even then indulged in no repose,
for they guided the courses of the springs which rose among those
hills, direct upon the Romans encamped below.

This was the 40th year that Coscina had either served or com-
manded as a Roman warrior; to him the chances of war were well
known, and his mind, therefore, continued unalarmed in all situa-
tions. He accordingly gave his orders, and with presence of mind
commanded what was most expedient in this necessity. The night
was in a variety of ways most tumultuous. The Germans with their
rejoicings and shouts made the very valleys below resound, so that
even the ravines re-echoed with them ; among the Romans there were
only to be seen isolated small fires, and here and there was heard an
abrupt voice, they themselves lying dispersed along the walls, or
gliding about the tents, more because they were sleepless, than 'that
they were watchful. Coecina himself was alarmed by a bad dream.
He thought he saw Varus rise spotted with blood, from the morass,
and beckon to him; but the Roman did not follow him, and when
the former extended his hand towards him he struck it back.

At break of day the march was continued as Coecina had arranged
it, so that he was covered by two legions on each side. They, how-
ever, quitted their position upon the Germans attacking them with
renewed fury, led by Arminius, who called out to them, " Here,
Varus ! here are the legions already conquered by a like fate !" The
battle was severe and animated. Coecina himself fell with his wounded
horse, and must have been destroyed had not the first legion thrown
themselves before him. The baggage and munition fell into the hands

* Probably the forest heights of Mons Ccesius, the so-called Baumberge, between
Horstmar, Schapdetten, and Csesfeld, where the sources of the Aa, Stewer, Berckel,
and several rivulets are found.

GERMANICUS AND ARMINIUS. 67

of the enemy, and the loss of these was the salvation of the Romans,
for they enticed the booty-loving Germans from slaughter to pillage,
and the legions thus at last arrived on the open plain, where they
encamped.* Their condition was nevertheless deplorable, and the
soldiers already began to complain aloud, that only one day was now
left for so many thousands to live; and so great was their terror
that, when a horse which had escaped, ran towards a few soldiers
standing in its way, they all thought the Germans had now broken
into the camp, and they fled towards its back gates. Ccecina, to
bring them to a stand, used intreaties, commands, and threats of
punishment, but in vain; and as a last resource, he cast himself down
across the gate, so that the fugitives could pass only over his body,
and this desperate state of their old and honoured leader, brought
them at once to their senses and stopped their flight.

In the mean time the Germans had surrounded the camp. Ar-
minius, who knew the firmness of a Roman encampment, would
not venture to storm it, but preferred conquering the enemy by
famine. His uncle, Inguiomar, on the contrary, insisted upon a
speedy attack, and his advice, because it was bolder, pleased the
Germans better. They stormed the camp accordingly, but just in the
decisive moment Coecina caused his troops to sally out, beat back
the besiegers, and forced them to flight. Arminius left the battle
without a wound, but Inguiomar, his uncle, was severely wounded, and
the legions, as many as were left of them, arrived safely on the Rhine.

For the third campaign, in the 16th year, A. D., Germanicus made
still greater preparations than he had for the former. A fleet of a
thousand vessels, small and large, with deep and broad holds, and
others with flat bottoms for landing, were collected to carry the
whole army, without exposing it to the dangers previously expe-
rienced by an expedition by land, into the heart of northern Germany,
and. if necessary, so fitted as to bring them also back again. During
these preparations Germanicus made a rapid expedition with six
legions, probably upon the road from the Wesel towards Lippstadt,
on the northern banks of the Lippe, as far as Aliso,to raise the siege
of this fort, which had been re-taken from the Germans and repaired,
and which they were now again besieging. It succeeded, for the
enemy dispersed on his approach, and he strengthened the highway
between Aliso and the Rhine with new defences and dams. But as
the chief attack was to be made from a different side, he marched
back again to the Rhine, and thence embarked his whole army
of not less than 90,000 men, and passing through the fossa Dru-
siana into the North Sea, landed at the mouth of the Ems. The
Chauci were obliged to supply an auxiliary army, and the Angri-
vari were forced into subjection on the Lower Weser.
army advanced as far as the present Minden. Armmms, at the.hea
of the Cherusci confederation, opposed it, and abattle ensu

* Possibly between Coesfeld and Velen,
F2

68 ARMINIUS.

visus, on tlie Weser (probably between Prussian Minden and Vlotlio).
After a long and warm contest, the Germans were obliged to yield
the field to the Romans, after the latter had gained the hills which
commanded the plain. But the Romans could only attribute their
victory chiefly to the German auxiliaries who were with them,
from the North Sea and from the Danube ; and thus, even at the very
commencement of our history, it appears that Germans aided
aliens in the subjection of their compatriots. But in those rude ages
this must not be severely censured, ibr these tribes from the Danube
had probably never heard of the name of the Cherusci. In this battle
Arminius himself was wounded, and escaped only by the speed of
his horse ; and so great was the slaughter, that from mid-day to the
very depth of night, the work of murder was continued, and the land
was covered with bodies and arms to the extent of fifty thousand feet.

The subjected tribes of these districts had already determined to
quit their seat between the Weser and the Elbe, and retire beyond
the latter river, when they perceived the trophies, which the Ro-
mans had raised after the battle, and inscribed with the names
of the conquered tribes ; the sight of this inflamed their wrath more
than their own wounds and the remembrance of their fallen friends.
The populace, the nobles, the young and the old, all seized arms,
and again advanced against the Romans. A second bloody battle
took place in a wooded district between the Weser and the Steinhu-
der Lake, which proved that the nations' force was not yet broken;
for although the Romans ascribed the victory to themselves, they
nevertheless immediately afterwards commenced their retreat, and
Germany was saved. Henceforth the Weser never again saw a
Roman army.

The greatest portion of his warriors, Germanicus led back by
water down the Ems to the North Sea. But a tremendous storm
overtook his fleet, destroyed a multitude of his vessels, and dispersed
them on the coasts of Britain. He, himself, was shortly afterwards
recalled from the command of the armies on the Rhine, by the Em-
peror Tiberius, who was jealous of his military fame, and he was
sent to Asia, where he was destroyed by poison in the bloom of
manhood.

Thus did this truly German hero, Arminius, who was equally
great whether in victory or in a doubtful battle, behold his country
freed from the danger of a foreign yoke. The rapidity and strength
with which he roused himself in misfortune, and instilled new
courage into his people, produced its salvation. And be it remem-
bered, he had not to contend merely with the rising or sinking
power of the Romans, but whilst it stood in its highest perfection
and extent. Such an army as fought against the German forces in
most beautifully regulated military array at Idistavisus, and near the
Steinhuder Lake, even the most powerful empires of the earth
could not, up to that time, have resisted.

After he knew that the frontiers were secured, he turned against
an internal enemy, who had remained indifferent to the contest for

ARMINIUS AND MARBODIUS. 69

German liberty, and whose manners, aped from the Romans, together
with his despotism, made him doubly hateful to his own tribe, as well
as to his neighbours. This was Marbodius, the king of the Marco-
manni. After the battle of the Teutoburger Forest, Arminius had
sent the head of Varus to Marbodius, probably as a token of victory,
to shame him, because he had not taken part in the league against
Rome; perhaps, also, as an appeal to his patriotism to break forth, at
this decisive moment, from his position, so favourable to the Ger-
mans, from its being so near and dangerous to the best Roman pro-
vinces. But Marbodius remained inert. The Emperor Tiberius,
may likewise, perhaps, have employed his usual ingenuity — in order
to conquer the Germans more by stratagem than arms — and have
contributed his share also in this case, to produce a division between
the two German princes.

The power of Arminius was now strengthened by the Senoni and
Longobardi, who, wearied with the system of dominion exercised by
Marbodius, at once renounced him, and joined the Cherusci; but,
on the other hand, Arminius was forced to behold his uncle, In-
guiomar, desert his own ranks, and pass over to those of the enemy.
Hostilities appear to have been commenced by Marbodius, inasmuch
as he was the first to advance beyond the frontiers ; very probably in
order to overtake and chastise the renegade Senoni and Longobardi.
A severe and sanguinary battle was fought, in which, as Tacitus
states, they did not fight in irregular array, but with perfect mili-
tary order and discipline. The result of the action was against Mar-
bodius ; he was forced to retire back to his country, and thereby lost
still more the confidence of his people ; and, finally, driven away by
the Gothic prince, Katualda, he fled to the Romans. The latter
granted him a pension, perhaps as a reward for having remained neu-
tral instead of joining Arminius; and, eighteen years afterwards, he
concluded his life — the means for prolonging which had been fur-
nished by Roman charity — ingloriously at Ravenna.

"We have no records of the last years of Arminius, except what
Tacitus relates in a few words, viz. : that he himself having become
suspected of indulging a desire to rule despotically, a conspiracy was
formed against him, in which his relatives (possibly Segestes and
Inguiomar) participated, and he was murdered in the year ^ 21, in
the thirty-seventh year of his age, and in the twelfth of his chief
command. But we must not forget that the Romans had this talc,
probably, from the assassins of Arminius, and, perhaps, from their
old friend, Segestes, himself; for the whole spirit and tenour of his
great life testify that he certainly desired nothing more for himself
than what was justly his due. He may, however, have endeavoured
to have given to the north German confederacy— whose chief in war h
was— a permanency and stability likewise during peace, and thus have
drawn the confederation closer together, in order that a new enemy
should not take them unprepared; and as his great object in this was
misunderstood, his old enemy, Segestes, and his uncle, who was per-

70 CLAUDIUS CIVILIS.

haps envious of the great fame of a nephew, so much his junior in years,
may have availed themselves of the general feeling to promote his do wn-
fal. The testimony of the great historian of his enemies, does especial
honour to the memory of our hero ; for, after the short narrative of his
death, he thus speaks of him: " Arminius was, without dispute, the
emancipator of Germany. In battles not always the victor, he never-
theless remained in war unconquered ; and he is still celebrated in the
heroic songs of the Germans. He is unknown in the chronicles of
the Greeks, for they admire themselves alone; neither among us
Romans does his fame stand high enough, for we elevate and dig-
nify only that which is ancient, and have but too little regard for
that which is modern."

Henceforth, the Romans thought no more of subduing Germany,
but applied themselves solely to the means of securing their frontiers
from the incursions of the German tribes. They therefore continued
to add to the strength of the banks of the Rhine and the Danube,
and kept a considerable army, consisting of their best legions, as a
guard upon the borders. The Emperor Claudius granted to the
chief seat of the Ubi the distinction of a colony of veterans, and,
subsequently, in honour of his consort Agrippina, born in that
spot, it was called, Colonia Agrippina (Cologne). The strong camp
upon the Taunus mountains, which the Romans likewise considered
as one of the most important points in the district of the Rhine,
was re-established also by Claudius.

In the year 69, another serious revolt again broke forth in the
Lower Rhine, under Claudius Civilis, a leader of the Batavian aux-
iliary tribes, and of royal birth. Like Hannibal, one-eyed, and of inde-
pendent, haughty spirit, he nourished the greatest hatred towards the
Romans, and, under Nero, had been dragged in chains to Rome, where
he narrowly escaped death. When, therefore, now a tribute was
demanded from the Batavians, although they were only bound to do
military service, Civilis invited all the chiefs to a festival in the sacred
grove, where he communicated to them his plans, and, by his elo-
quence, gained over the whole body to join in the revolt. Messen-
gers were despatched to all the neighbouring tribes, nay, even across
to Great Britain; and Civilis, without further delay, forthwith at-
tacked and defeated a Roman encampment, and conquered the fleet
on the Rhine ; but not content with small results, he swore not to
cut his beard, or the hair of his head, before he had gained a great
and signal victory. He was now joined by the Caninefati, Friesi,
and several tribes of the Saxon race; and as soon as he had con-
quered the Castra Vetera, and had destroyed or made captives several
legions, the whole body of Germans, dwelling on the right bank of
the Rhine, rose up and joined him, as well as the Brukteri and other
tribes on the left bank ; for their prophetess, Velleda, a Brukterian
virgin of high rank, had predicted that the power of Rome was now
approaching its end. Civilis sent her the most valuable portion of
the booty he made; and from her isolated tower, in the forest near

THE MARCOMANNIC WAR. 71

the Lippe, she herself directed the war. All the fortresses beyond
Mentz were taken, Cologne was made to pledge itself to abolish the
Rhenish dues, at the decree pronounced by Velleda, that the Ger-
man trade should be open and free from taxation. Gallic tribes, also,
joined the confederation. The Emperor Vespasian who had, mean-
time, succeeded to the imperial throne, now despatched Cerealis, an
experienced and active general, to the head-quarters, where, on 'his
arrival, he at once proceeded to sow dissension, and produce sus-
picion amongst the army of Civilis against their leader; and the
Gauls, in accordance with their usual changeable character, with-
drew themselves ; whilst Civilis, twice defeated, was forced to retreat
among the marshes, and wade through the dykes. Numbers deserted
him ; Velleda was taken prisoner ; and Cerealis, who gained over to
him the passions of the majority, partly by mildness, partly by cun-
ning, as well as by mysterious promises, offered terms of peace. Ci-
vilis then yielded ; the generals met on a river, according to the ancient
German custom, and peace was again restored under the old con-
ditions of furnishing military service only. Of the subsequent fate
of Claudius Civilis, nothing more is known.

After these fresh trials at superiority of arms, it was but occasion-
ally that any emperor essayed to obtain military fame against his un-
conquered neighbours, and these endeavours were generally very un-
successful, but in order to conceal the shame thereof, they were obliged
to invent a variety of plausible excuses. No one, however, had con-
ducted himself more shamelessly and ridiculously than the Emperor
Domitianus, who reigned between the years 80 and 90. He com-
menced a war with the Chatti but did not venture to attack them se-
riously, for he quickly retired, leaving his purpose unfinished, and in
order that he might not return to Rome with disgrace and obloquy, he
purchased tall and strong grown slaves in Gaul, dressed them like Ger-
mans, caused their hair to be died yellow and arranged in the Ger-
man fashion, and then led them as if they had been German captives
in triumph into Rome. In the second century after the birth of
Christ, the Romans had to endure a very severe war with the Ger-
mans which they called the Marcomannic war, because the Mar-
comanni were best known to them from time immemorial, and
because their attack, combined with that of the tribes of the Danube,
most immediately threatened Italy. But a yet more extensive al-
liance of the tribes seems to have taken place, for also on the Rhine,
and even on the coasts of the Baltic, the Romans had to endure hard
contests. But, unfortunately, the accounts which we must collect
from the later historians, (Jul. Capitolinus, Arl. Spartianus, Dio Cas-
riiis, as extracted from Xiphilinus, Amm. Marcellinus, Orosms and
others,) are very imperfect. The Emperor Marcus Aurehus well
understood the greatness of the danger; he caused the priests to be
collected from all parts, prayers and large sacrifices to be made, and the
oracles questioned respecting the issue of the war. It is also related
by Lucian, that a wise man from Egypt, of the name of Alexander,

72 THE MARCOMANNIC WAR.

who had acquired great fame, was questioned respecting the Mar-
comannic war. He replied that two lions, well anointed with fra-
grant herbs and spices, should be made to swim across the Danube
into the enemy's country, and that victory would not then fail. His
advice was followed. The Germans, however, who held these lions
to be foreign dogs, killed them with clubs, and immediately after-
wards gained a great victory over the Romans.

The war now became so desperate that the emperor was neces-
sitated to receive into his army slaves, gladiators, and others, who
were previously considered unworthy to bear arms. Even a band of
robbers from Dalmatia were included in the service ; and the em-
peror, that he might find means to carry on this severe war, sold every
thing most precious in his treasury, together with his pictures, and
his gold and silver vessels, the sale of which lasted two months.

The Marcomanni nevertheless pressed forward as far as Aquilcja,
which lies on the frontier of Italy, causing a similar panic and con-
fusion in Rome as at the time when the Cimbri crossed the Alps.

Had a weak emperor then governed the Roman empire, its fate
would probably have been decided. But Marcus Aurelius was
a wise and valiant man, and saved Rome once more from great dan-
ger. He maintained a war for thirteen years against the allied tribes,
and had to endure several sanguinary battles, being even obliged to
maintain a warm skirmish with the Jazygi on the frozen Danube;
and although he brought many of the tribes individually to peace
and thereby weakened the enemy, and succeeded in irritating Ger-
man tribes against each other, he, nevertheless, did not survive the
end of the war, but died from his exertions during the campaign at
Windobona, the present Vienna, in the year 180.

It now fell upon his son, Commodus, to lead the army against the
enemy, and he made a speech to the soldiers, even over the body of
his father, of what great things he purposed doing, and that the ocean
alone should set limits to his conquests ; but his heart longed for the
pleasures of Italy and for the sensualities of his metropolis. This was
well known to his flatterers and courtiers, and as they themselves were
weary of the fatigues of the camp, they thus addressed him: "How
much longer will you exchange Rome for the rude banks of the Da-
nube, where nothing is to be met with but cold, rain, and eternal
winter, where not a fruit-bearing tree is to be seen and nothing to be
met with to exhilarate life ? When will you cease to drink the frozen
water of the Danube whilst others indulge in the warm wells and baths
of Italy ?" To such speeches Commodus listened eagerly and said, ' ' It
is true what you say, and if I preserve my life, I can assuredly more
effectually weaken the enemy than if I expose it to the dangers of war."
Some of the tribes were so reduced by his father that they willingly
concluded a peace with him, but from others he purchased it in a dis-
graceful manner by means of large presents, and then he hastened back
to Rome. So valiantly, however, had these tribes fought that, upon
peace being concluded, the Quadi alone gave back 50,000, and the

CONFEDERATIONS OF THE TRIBES. 73

Jazygi 100,000 Roman prisoners; and all that the Romans had
gained by the effusion of so much blood was, that things now
remained for a short period tranquil upon these frontiers of their
empire.

The proximity of the Romans on the Rhine, the Danube, and
the Neckar, had by degrees effected alterations in the manners of
the Germans. They had become acquainted with many new things,
both good and bad. By means of the former they became
acquainted with money, and many luxuries. The Romans had
planted the vine on the Rhine, and constructed roads, cities, manu-
factories, theatres, fortresses, temples, and altars; Roman merchants
brought their wares to Germany, and fetched thence ambers, fea-
thers,* furs, slaves, and the very hair of the Germans, for it was now
the fashion to wear light flaxen wigs, instead of natural hair. Of
the cities which the Romans built there are many yet remaining, as
Salzburg, Ratisbonne, Augsburg, Basle, Strasburg, Baden, Spires,
Worms, Mentz, Treves, Cologne, Bonn, &c. But in the interior
of Germany, neither the Romans nor their habits and manners
had found friends, nor were cities built there according to the
Roman style.

The most important alteration that took place among the Ger-
mans at this period, was their concentration into several extensive
confederations of the tribes. The more ancient example of the
Suevi, the later combination of the Marcomanni and Cherusci, and
perhaps various successful results in other German districts, chiefly,
however, the character presented by the great Roman empire, which,
notwithstanding its great corruption, was yet strong by its union : all
this, as well'as the predominant power of individual tribes, and perhaps
many other unknown causes, produced four great confederations of
the tribes, which probably arose from small beginnings, and had ex-
sisted perhaps for some time, but had only become known and formi-
dable to the Romans in the third century after Christ. Their origin
will probably always remain obscure to us. The Roman writers
here leave us entirely, or are so scanty and uncertain in their indi-
cations, that we cannot build upon them; and the historians who
afterwards arose among the German tribes themselves, were so

rorant of their earlier history, that they were only able to pro-
je old traditions, and often placed them in the most wonderful
fashion in connexion with the narratives of the ancient writers ; and
thus they connected the origin of the German tribes with the Trojan
war, the expeditions of Alexander the Great, and other specially
celebrated events of the ancient world. The confederations of the
tribes as they occur in history, and as they are actually treated
therein, are as follow:

1. The Alamanni, afterwards called the Alemanni, and Allc-

* The Romans celebrated the white German goose, which they even called by its
German name, gans.— Plin. Nat. H., x. 27.

74 CONFEDERATIONS OF THE TRIBES.

manni, between the Danube and the Maine ; and subsequently,
after they had won back the Roman tithe-land, also upon the Upper
Rhine and Neckar. They spread themselves later northwards as
far as the Lahn. They were a confederation of Suevic tribes, whose
formation perhaps emanated from the Hermunduri, and, according
to the opinion, erroneously formed, of some ancients, derived their
name from their being composed of all kinds of men, or manni.
But it is perhaps more correct to consider the name Allemanni as a
warlike, confederative name, equally as the Marcomanni signifies the
War-manni on the frontiers, Germani, the army or Ger-manni in
general; the Allemanni may therefore mean the Manni, who formed
the defence for the whole. They were warlike, wild, and valiant,
and gave the Romans no little uneasiness. Dio Cassius first men-
tions them in the history of the Emperor Caracalla; accordingly,
at the beginning of the third century from this period — particularly
after they had penetrated the limes, and towards the end of the
third century, after the death of the Emperor Probus, when they
had conquered the tithe-land — they fell upon the effeminate Gauls
(who henceforward, from terror, called all Germans Allemands), at
another time made incursions across the Danube, and even across
the Alps into Italy, and each time returned home with rich spoil.
Northwards from these dwelt :

2. The Franks, on the lower Rhine, as far as the Netherlands
and the North Sea; likewise a confederation collected from dif-
ferent tribes of the north-west of Germany : the Sigambri, on the
Issel, which appears to have been the chief tribe (the subsequent
salic franks), the Chamavi, Amsibari, Tenchteri, Usipeti, Brukteri,
Chatti, Cherusci, Tubanti, and others. The Friesi and Chauci
also joined them afterwards. The name of Frank is variously
derived by ancient and modern learned men. The broadest deriva-
tion is that they wished to be frank and free people, and thence
called their confederation. The name of Franks is much more pro-
bably supposed to be derived from their peculiar weapon, a javelin
armed with a barbed hook, which writers call Franziska (perhaps
the ancient/rawzea of the Germans). History mentions the Franks
to us for the first time distinctly about the middle of the third cen-
tury, as a union of north German tribes. Flavius Vopiscus first
names them in the life of the Emperor Aurelian, about 242 ; after
which the Emperor Julian and other later writers. They were also
very strong and bold. Their high opinion of themselves is ex-

Eressed in the introduction to the Salic law, where it states: " The
igh-famed nation of the Franks, who have God for their judge,
are brave in war, profound in council, firm in union, noble, manly in
form, bold, prompt, firm; such is the nation, which, small in num-
ber, by strength and courage, burst the yoke of the Romans."
They traversed many Roman countries, particularly Gaul, from one
end to the other, whenever they were excited by the lust of prey

CONFEDERATIONS OF THE TRIBES. 75

and booty. ^They even crossed the Pyrenees into Spain, and con-
quered the city Tarragona. The Romans in the third century had
so frail a tenure of these countries, that the Franks and other Ger-
man warlike hordes, among whom are named the Burgundians and
Vandals, had possession of seventy considerable cities in Gaul.
After a long period a hero again appeared among the Roman
rulers, in the Emperor Probus (276 — 282); he drove the Germans
beyond the Rhine, fell upon their country, and conquered so many
of them, that in order to reduce them, he was enabled to transplant
many thousands into other portions of his empire. He conveyed a
body of the Franks, who had their seat upon the North Sea, more
than a thousand miles into a distant country, to the coasts of the
Black Sea. He expected the Germans would here forget their bleak
fatherland, for here they dwelt in a most beautiful and warm cli-
mate, and in a rich and delightful country. They, however, could
not banish from their recollection the cold shores of the stormy North
Sea, but only planned how they could return. They attacked and
took possession of several ships, and in them passed, amidst a thou-
sand dangers and difficulties, through unknown waters, across the
seas of Greece and Africa, and by the coasts of Italy, Spain, and
France, towards their home. They were often obliged to land, and
fight with the natives for provisions ; they even conquered the large
city of Syracuse in Sicily, which the Athenians in ancient times
had vainly invested for three years ; and they at last came through
the great Ocean into the North Sea, and back to their German
coasts. This took place in the year 280.*

3. The Saxon confederation is named, together with the Franks, as
early as the year 288, by Eutropius, and was formed of the remaining
Lower German tribes who had not joined the Franks, or had again
separated themselves from them. Amm. Marcellinus next mentions
the Saxons as the neighbours of the Franks about the middle of
the fourth century, and after him they are named by many others.
The greatest territorial extension which they attained in the course
of the following centuries up to the time of Charlemagne, was from
the Danes, from whom they were separated by the Eider, over
Lower Saxony and the greatest portion of Westphalia, and in addi-
tion they occupied the banks of the Elbe, Weser, Aller, Seine, Ems,
Lippe, and Ruhr. The history of this command of territory by
the Saxons is entirely unknown to us. If we fix upon the name
of the small tribe of the Saxons which is mentioned in the second
century by Ptolemy alone, and who places them at the mouth of
the Elbe, and towards Holstein, it then becomes probable, that
these, together with the Chauci, Brukteri, Cherusci, and Friesi,
(who again detached themselves from the Franconian^ league), the
Angrivari, the Fosi, and other tribes, formed an alliance against
the powerful confederation of the Franks, and drove these who

* Zosimus, i-, 71; Eumenius in Fanegyr., ir., 18.

76 CONFEDERATIONS OF THE TRIBES.

previously occupied the greater portion of Westphalia, farther to-
wards the Rhine.

The Saxons appear subsequently divided into three circles : that of
the Eastphalians, beyond the Weser, in the country of Hanover and
Brunswick; the Westphalians on the Ems, and the Lippe in Miin-
ster, Osnabriick, &c., as far as the Rhine, and the Enyerians, in the
centre between both, in the vicinity of the Weser, continuing per-
haps the name of the Angrivari in an abridged form.

The Saxons likewise well understood navigation, although in the
earlier times they possessed but poor ships, formed as they were
principally of twisted branches and boughs of trees lashed together,
and. then covered over with hides of oxen and bullocks — they
were called by the name of kiel* They committed many piracies
and became first known to the Romans at the end of the third
century, as pirates on the Gallic coasts. We shall find, subsequently,
that they crossed over to England, and there founded new king-
doms. They placed themselves only during the wars under the
leadership of dukes, who afterwards immediately withdrew into
the ranks of the nobility. In times of peace they legislated by
representation, and sent from each of the three circles an equal
number of chosen deputies to their assembly, whose decisions were
valid for all. Thus the idea of a representative parliament, of
which the ancient nations knew nothing, originated with the
Germans.

But still more powerful than all these tribes were :

4. The Goths. Their name we have already found on the
banks of the Vistula. Subsequently, however, it is mentioned from
the shores of the Black Sea as far as the East Sea. They were evi-
dently a union of many mixed nations, as it appears, belonging
hereditarily to the Gothic race, and perhaps founded already at
the period of the great war of the Eastern tribes against Mark
Aurelius. And whilst on the one hand the Alemanni, Franks,
and Saxons, attacked the country of the Romans, which lay to-
wards the west, the Goths, on the other, turned their attacks to-
wards the south and the east, the Black Sea and the Danube.
Already, in the third century, the Romans had to maintain severe
contests with them. The Gothic king, Eniva, crossing the Danube,
invaded Mcesia and Thracia, conquered several cities, laid the country
waste, and when the Emperor Decius advanced to meet him, he
gained so great a victory^ over him at Abrutum, that the emperor
himself and his son remained slain upon the field. From this battle,
in the year 251, the superiority of the Germans, and the weakness
of the Romans, became more and more evident, although several
powerful emperors gained victories over them. Even the successor
of Decius, the Emperor Gallus, was obliged to purchase peace with
the Goths, by leaving them all the booty, as well as all the distin-

* Kiel, a Danish port, still bears this sign in its city arms,

DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 77

guislied prisoners, and promising them besides a yearly tribute. At a
later period they made, in conjunction with the Herulians, several bold
and dangerous piratic expeditions, from the northern coasts of the
Black Sea, as well as beyond it, to those of the Mediterranean.
Athens, with many monuments of its flourishing period, the vicinity
of Troy, and the splendid temple of Diana at Ephesus, were overrun
by them, and the latter wholly destroyed.

The great prince of the Goths, who, of all others, spread their do-
minion the most extensively, was Armanarich, or Hermanrich,
who lived in the fourth century. He ruled over them for more
than two generations, and attained himself the age of a hundred and
ten years. His empire extended from the Black Sea and the Da-
nube over Moldavia, Wallachia, Hungary, Poland, and Prussia, to
the Baltic.

The Goths early divided themselves into two head divisions, which
afterwards, after many changes, appear in the history under the titles
of the Eastern Goths and the Western Goths. Kings of the race of
the Amalians (probably the pure, without stain) ruled over the
Eastern Goths ; and the Western Goths were governed by the royal
race of the Baltians (from bait, bold). Among the Eastern Goths,
the Greuthungi, and among the Western Goths, the Thervingi, were
the chief tribes.

The Goths belonged to the noblest and most civilized German
tribes, and had adopted Christianity at a very early period. Their
bishop, Ulphilas or AVulfila (Wb'lflein), as early as the fourth cen-
tury, undertook the truly wonderful task of translating the Bible*
into their language, until then but little cultivated; and thus was
speedily diffused among them, together with the belief in the
Saviour of the world, both gentler feelings and manners.

Besides these confederations, there wrere other isolated tribes in
Germany, particularly two, who will speedily appear among the
rest, as distinguished for power and dignity, viz. : the Burgundi,
earlier on the Vistula, and the Longdbardi^ on the Elbe.

At the period that the German tribes flourished in their prime,
and collected and combined their power in large unions, the Roman,
empire, in its declining strength, became daily more and more re-
duced within itself, and its magnitude was a burden to it. The ma-
jority of the Roman emperors, from the year 180 downwards, became
in a greater degree enervated, and with their effeminacy, grew likewise
either more and more malignant and suspicious, or they were avowed
tyrants, and shed the blood of the best men without reserve or shame.
But even if a good ruler happened to appear, and sought to maintain

* This translation is the most ancient, and for us, an invaluable monument of our
language. For a long period, there only existed two MS. copies thereof: the so-called
Codex Argentius (of the silver letters), in Upsala, and the Codex Carolinus, in Wolfen-
biittel. These, however, contain only the four Evangelists and a portion of the Ro-
man Epistles; whilst Ulphilas translated the whole Bible, with the exc'eption of
the books of Samuel and the Kings. In recent times, however, considerable portions
of the remaining translation have been discovered and made known in Milan.

78 DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

right and order, he was speedily murdered by the wild horde of
soldiers; for they it was who, in fact, ruled the empire. Accord-
ing to their pleasure, they elevated or deposed the emperors; and
to such shameless extent did they carry their sway, that they pub-
licly offered the imperial crown for sale, and placed it upon the head
of him who gave them the most money. In the course of one hun-
dred and twenty years, from 180-300, in which period — in the
ordinary course of things — six rulers would have succeeded each
other, no less than six-and-thirty emperors governed the Roman
empire, of whom twenty-seven were murdered, three fell in war,
and only six died a natural death.

It did not, however, suffice that an emperor was destroyed every
moment, but the murderers slew all his adherents with him ; so that
blood was shed in streams, and the majority, in their selfishness, took
especial care not to adhere too faithfully to their princes to the last.
In such times, the Romans necessarily became a corrupted, reckless,
and contemptible people, who only cared to pass their days in idleness,
luxury, and sensuality. For when man beholds before him no secu-
rity for the future, and knows not if the fruits of his industry will
descend to his children, he then only considers how he himself shall
enjoy the present moment; and thus, in his sensual voracity and
brutality, he places himself upon a level with the irrational beasts,
no longer thinking of a future judgment and a retribution.

It is true that the doctrine of Jesus had calmly diffused itself like-
wise among the Romans, and had certainly saved many from the
general ruin. The Emperor Constantine himself even, who removed
the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople, made it, in the
year 311, the established religion of his empire; and, indeed, from
that time, Roman affairs took for a period a more favourable turn,
but the improvement was not fundamental. The Romans during
the dominion of vice had lost the higher moral power of the soul,
in which alone the divine word can take deep root; the former sin-
fulness became intermixed with the modern doctrines, and thus, as
pure spring water when flowing into a morass, becomes as bad as the
stagnant pool itself, so did the admixture of the ancient wickedness
with the new light of Christian virtue destroy completely all bene-
ficial results. \

In this condition of the world it is easy to understand, that the at-
tacks of the German nations upon the Roman empire must, neces-
sarily, have become daily more successful, and it also explains how
they were urged by an irresistible natural impulse to overpower such
miserable neighbours, by whom they themselves had been first at-
tacked, and who, notwithstanding their enervation and corruption,
considered themselves a nobler race than the unpolished Germans,
whom they called barbarians. And thus in nature also it may be
observed as a rule, that where there is a vacuum, the active, agitated
powers of air and water forthwith strive to break in.

THE HUNNS. 79

CHAPTER III.

375—476.

The Hunns— Commencement of the Great Migration, 375— Irruption of the Western
Goths, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, and other tribes, into the Western Roman
Empire — Alaric — Attila, God's Scourge, 451 — The Fall of the Roman Empire in
the West, 476.

ABOUT the year 375, when the Emperor Valens reigned in Con-
stantinople, and the western empire was under the dominion of his
nephew, the youthful Gratian, a new tribe, almost unknown and
exceedingly savage, broke forth from Asia. They were not of Ger-
man but of Mongolian origin, and were called Hunns. Terror and
dread preceded them, and those who had seen them described them
in the folio wing terms* : " The tribe called Hunns surpass every degree
of savageness. They have firm-set limbs and thick necks, and their
whole figure is so mis-shapen and broad, that they might be consi-
dered as two-legged monsters, or as posts that have been roughly hewn
to support the balustrades of bridges. And as, immediately after
their birth, deep incisions are made in the cheeks of their children,
so that the growth of hair may be hindered by cicatrising the
wounds, they remain beardless and most hateful to behold, even
to the most advanced period of life. In addition to their ill-
favoured and repulsive shapes they are so savage that they neither
need fire, nor cook their victuals ; but the roots of wild plants and
the half raw flesh of the first good animal they meet with, and which
they place beneath them upon the backs of their horses and thus ride
it somewhat tender, is their whole sustenance. They enter houses
only when they are forced by the most extreme necessity; they
avoid them as the separated graves of life, but wandering through
mountains and valleys, they learn to endure, from their infancy,
frost, hunger, and thirst. They clothe themselves with a linen gar-
ment or in furs, consisting of the skins of mice sewn together ; they
cover their heads with overhanging caps, and their legs with the
skins of goats. Their rough and clumsy boots prevent them from
walking freely, and, therefore, they cannot fight on foot; but are
almost grown, as it were, to their horses, which are durable, but, in
keeping with their masters, as characteristically ugly. All their
business is transacted upon horseback, and thus this people buy
and sell, eat and drink; and, leaning upon the neck of his swift
animal, the rider sinks into a deep sleep, even to the very phantasrna
of dreams ; and if a council is to be held upon serious matters, it is
conducted in this same manner.

"They commence battle with a terrific howl; with the rapidity
of lightning they advance and purposely disperse themselves -in the

* Anna. MarcelL, xxi., 2; Dordanis, 24.

80 THE HUNNS AND THE GOTHS.

same moment; return rapidly again, hover about in irregular array,
destroying heedlessly whatever they meet with here and there ; and
from their extraordinary speed, almost before they are observed, they
are already engaged in storming the wall, or plundering the camp of
the enemy. At a distance they fight with javelins, whose points are
furnished with polished bones, prepared with extraordinary skill; but
in close combat with the sabre, whilst the enemy parries the thrust,
they cast a noose over him and carry him off.

" Agriculture is not practised among them, and none touch the
plough, for all roam about without a dwelling, without a home,
without laws and fixed customs, always wanderers ; the women
dwell in waggons, where they weave their coarse garments and
bring up their children. If the question be put to them, whence
they come, none can return an answer; for they are begot at one
place, born at another, and brought up again elsewhere. Adherence
to contracts they know not, and like insensible animals, they scarcely
know aught of justice or injustice, but they precipitate themselves
with all the impetuosity of their desires upon an object, and they
waver at every newly raised hope or prospect; nay, they are so
changeable and irritable, that even sometimes in the same day with-
out the least offence, they fall out with their allies, and again without
any persuasion, they return and become friends with them again."

This lightly-equipped and uncontrollable race, burning with a
fearful and determined desire of booty from strangers, broke forth
from the sea of Asov, whither they were driven much earlier from
their ancient pastures on the frontiers of China, and fell first upon
the Alani, thought by some to be an Asiatic tribe, by others again
considered to be a branch of the Goths ; but it is probably a collec-
tive name, by which the Romans signify the tribes eastward of the
Goths on the Wolga and the Don, who may possibly have been of
different races. The Hunns are said to have sacrificed their first
European prisoners to the manes of their ancient princes. This im-
mense swarm then rushed onwards upon the Goths. Hermanrich,
a brave old warrior, upwards of a hundred years of age, and still suf-
fering from a severe wound received in battle, when he saw he
could not resist the Hunns, would not survive his formerly acquired
lame, and therefore, in despair, killed himself. His people were
obliged to subject themselves to the power of these savages, and
the Thervingians considering resistance useless, quitted their ancient
seats, and sent messengers to the Emperor Valens, at Constan-
tinople, with a petition: " that if he would give them land and pas-
turage beyond the Danube, they would be the defenders of the
frontiers." As mediator for the Thervingians, it is very probable,
that much was effected by the Gothic Bishop Ulphilas, who, in a
persecution made against the Christians by the pagan Gothic princes,
had, some time previously together with several Gothic Christians,
taken refuge, and been granted an asylum on Roman ground, at
the foot of the Hoemus. This pious and patriotic prelate had, in-

THE HUNNS AND THE GOTHS. 81

^ during a space of forty years, been continually occupied in
working for the benefit of his people. The emperor received them
kindly. They were not pursued by the Hunns, who now followed
pasturage, hunting, and pillage, for more than fifty years in the
Steppes and forests of the present southern Russia, Poland, and
Hungary, by which means they came into frequent intercourse with
the Romans, whom they often served in war ; and humanized by
this communication with the latter and the Germans, much of the
uncouthness in their manners was removed.

The new seat of the Western Goths in Msesia became very soon
too narrow for them ; and as their herds did not supply them with
sufficient support, they begged permission to barter for their necessary
wants. The Roman rulers, however, Lupicinus and Maximus, took
such shameful advantage of their necessities, that for a loaf and
about ten pounds of miserable meat (frequently the flesh of dogs),
they demanded a slave in return. The majority of their herds were
consumed, their slaves gone, and famine induced many to give up
even their children for bread. While the people suffered from these
grievances, Fridigern, the Gothic prince, was invited as a guest by
Lupicinus to Marcianopolis. He was a valiant youth, full of the
heroic courage of his ancestors ; and on this occasion many young
men, his brethren in arms and other friends, accompanied him.
Whilst he was eating, the cries of his followers outside rose suddenly
upon his ear, for the Romans had fallen upon them and were murdering
them. With his eyes sparkling with vengeance, and his sword in
hand, he sprang up, and rushing out, saved his friends, and hastened
away with them.* The Goths, embittered at the treachery of the
Romans, broke up, defeated Lupicinus, and traversed the nearest
provinces with fire and sword ; and from the walls of Constantinople
were seen the flames of the villages and country-seats which they
had lighted.

The Emperor Valens advanced against Fridigern with an army;
the assistance which his nephew, Gratian, was bringing to his aid from
the west, he would not wait for, in order to retain alone the honour
of victory; and he precipitately ventured a battle near Adrianople.
It was severely contested ; but the Gothic infantry repulsed, at last,
the Roman cavalry, and then the legions. The emperor fled wounded ;
his horse falling, he had scarcely time to save himself in a neigh-
bouring peasant's hut. The Goths, far from thinking that the Ro-
man emperor was concealed beneath a thatched roof, set fire to this
as well as other huts ; and Valens found his death in this miserable
manner in the year 378.

In this pitiable state the empire was once more warded from its
fall by the vigorous and prudent Emperor Theodosius, a Spaniard
by birth. He contrived to weaken the Goths by divisions, and
made Fridigern's successor, Athanaric, conclude a peace. He pro-

* Amm. Marcell., xxxi. 5, and Jordanis, 26.
G

82 THE GOTHS-— ALARIC. „

mised the Goths a considerable supply of provisions, and they, in
return, lent him 40,000 men as auxiliaries.

This emperor died in the year 395, and his two sons, Hono-
rius and Arcadius, divided the empire between them; Arcadius
took his seat at Constantinople, Honorius in Italy, and the first divi-
sion was called the eastern, and the second the western empire.

The sons did not resemble the father; too indolent to undertake
the government themselves, they allowed their chancellors, the
Gaul, Ryfinius, and the Vandal, Stilicho, to rule. Rufinius, who was
chancellor in Constantinople, corrupt and selfish, thought by war
and daring adventures to exalt himself and increase his power;
accordingly he excited the Goths under Alaric to make an irruption.
The presents promised them by Theodosius were not delivered, and
Alaric devastated Thracia throughout ; and Stilicho advanced against
him, but was driven back by the jealous Rufinius, who was mur-
dered by the embittered army. Upon this, Alaric turned against
Greece, then quite defenceless, which he robbed of its last treasures
and glories. Suddenly^, Stilicho attacked and pressed hard upon
the Goths; but Arcadius ordered him to retire, negotiated with
Alaric, and made him general of Illyria, that is — gave it up to him
in 396. The Goths broke up from here in the year 402, and
advanced across the Alps. Stilicho, nevertheless, once more suc-
ceeded, by a determined resistance, in forcing his dangerous enemy
to retire beyond the boundary line of mountains. And in the same
manner he saved Italy in the year 405 from the attack of a large
mixed army of German tribes, which, under Radagaisus, endea-
voured to break across the Alps from a different side, and were
perhaps in alliance with Alaric. The history of these times is very
confused, and it is therefore not clear if that body was destroyed
near Fresulse, as some historians relate, or whether Stilicho was
enabled to remove them by treaty, and direct them to Gaul.
But it appears that Stilicho also pursued ambitious projects; for he
had combined with Alaric to make an attack upon the eastern
empire, but was accused of treachery by his enemies, and by com-
mand of the Emperor Honorius, his own son-in-law, he was assas-
sinated in the year 408. As soon as Alaric heard of the death of
Stilicho, he once more advanced against Italy, pressed through the
passes of the Alps, crossed the Po, and went direct to Rome ; he left
the emperor in Ravenna, for he despised this weak prince. In Rome
all was terror and confusion ; for since 600 years the Romans had
seen no enemy before, nor during 800 years had they beheld an
enemy within their walls, thence the city was called the eternal
city. They, nevertheless, once more gave voice to their ancient
haughtiness, and thus addressed Alaric:* "The Roman people are
numerous and strong, and by their constant practice in arms are so
bold and courageous that they have no dread of war." But Alaric

* Zosimus, v., 34,

THE GOTHS— ALARIC. 83

only laughed aloud at this, and replied: " Thickly standing grass is
much easier mowed than thin." The ambassadors then asked the
conditions of peace. He demanded all the gold and silver, together
with the whole of the rich plate contained in the city, and all the slaves
of German origin. On which they asked, " What, will you then leave
us?" "Your souls!" said he. Thus insolently spoke a man, bom
among a barbaric tribe, upon the island of Peuce (at the mouth of
the Danube) to that city which, for centuries, had ruled the habit-
able earth, and through the gates and streets of which the proudest
heroes had marched in triumph, crowned with victories gained over
foreign nations, and loaded with booty from Europe, Asia, and
Africa !

At this moment, certain prophets from Tuscany, who were in the
city, offered themselves to drive Alaric back from Rome by pro-
phetic threats, if, in return, they might be allowed to institute feasts
and sacrifices to their ancient divinities. Doubtless, when he heard
of such weak and futile proposals being made, the valorous Alaric
treated the matter with merited contempt and derision.

When now the Romans discovered no hopes of being rescued,
they were obliged to fulfil the wishes of their enemy, and promise
him 5000 pounds of gold and 30,000 of silver, besides a multi-
plicity of rare and costly articles. But so much gold and silver was
not to be found in the possession of the inhabitants. They were,
therefore, obliged to have recourse to the ornaments and decorations
of the ancient temples ; and it is said that, among the statues of their
divinities, that of Valour was also melted down — it thus appearing as
if all that still remained in Rome of that noble quality in man was
now annihilated for ever.

The Emperor Honorius refused to enter into any negotiation
whatever with Alaric, who, therefore, returned next year to Rome,
and appointed another emperor, of the name of Attalus, as rival to
Honorius; but as, after one year's trial, he also proved himself to be
wholly worthless, Alaric reduced him again to the dust from which
he had raised him, and the city of Rome, which held out against
him, he now took by storm. This happened on the 23d of August,
in the year 410. The Goths entered the imperial palace and plun-
dered it, as well as the houses of the nobles ; but they so far mode-
rated their ire, that they did not burn the city. It was a happy
thing for the Romans that the Goths were Christians; for those who
fled to the churches were not molested or touched; nay, a singular
occurrence, which is related to us, displays very evidently the pious
feeling of these people. A warrior, who entered the house of a fe-
male, found gold and silver vessels there. She told him that they
belonged to the holy apostle St. Peter, and were given to her
in charge for the church; he might, therefore^ act as he thought
proper. The soldier communicated this to Alaric, who sent .imme-
diately thither, and caused the sacred vessels to be carried with so-
lemnity back to the church. The Romans, animated by such gene-

G 2

84 MIGRATION OF THE TRIBES.

rous tolerance, accompanied the train, chanting solemn hymns; and
the Gothic warriors, astonished at the unexpected spectacle, ceased
to plunder, joined the procession themselves, and thus was the fury
of war transformed into genial peace by mere Christian emotion.

Alaric remained only a few days in Rome ; lie then advanced towards
lower Italy, indulging his imagination with magnificent plans, for,
as it appears, he purposed embarking for the beautiful island of Sicily,
and thence to proceed to Africa, in order to conquer likewise this
granary of Italy. But death overtook him at Cosenza, in his 34th
year. The entire Westro-Gothic nation bewailed his loss, and pre-
pared a remarkable and memorable grave for him. They dug ano-
ther bed for the river Busento, conducting the water through it,
and then buried their king, fully armed and equipped, in the original
bed of the river, accompanied by his war-horse and the trophies of
his victories. They then conducted the course of the river back
again, in order that neither Roman covetousness nor revenge should
desecrate or disturb the great Alaric, in the grave where he reposed
from his victories. Upon his death, the Goths elected for their king
the most handsome of their young nobles, the youth Athaulf, or
Adolphus, the brother-in-law of Alaric. He advanced from Lower
Italy to Rome, where he obliged the Emperor Honorius to give
him his own sister, Placidia, as consort; he then quitted Italy,
passed with his nation into Gaul and Spain, and he and his suc-
cessor, Wallia, were the founders of the extensive Westro-Gothic
kingdom, which comprised the south of France as far as the Loire,
and speedily embraced Spain also, the metropolis of which was
Toulouse, on the river Garonne. In the year 419, the Romans for-
mally delivered Southern Gaul up to Wallia. The commencement
of the fifth century was therefore in the highest degree turbulent,
from the violent movements of the various nations. Almost all
the German tribes sent out hordes of troops upon excursions of
pillage or conquest; or they themselves, pressed forward by the
superior attacks of other tribes, broke up their abode, that they
might, arms in hand, seek elsewhere for new dwellings. The
weak alone, who could Or would not quit their paternal dwelling,
remained behind, and became mingled with and lost amidst the
immediately succeeding race. Besides the Goths, the Vandals
and Alans were pressed forward by the Hunns, and advanced from
the east gradually towards the west. In their advance, the Bur-
gundians, who likewise had quitted their dwelling-place on the
Vistula and had arrived as far as the Upper Danube, with a portion
of the Suevi, namely, the Quadi, and other tribes joined them.
It was probably a swarm of these mixed tribes which, under Ra-
dagaisus, or Radigast, made the attack upon Italy in the year 405,
and which by great good fortune was warded off by Stilicho.
This isolated horde disappears, as well as the name of its leader,
without leaving a trace in history. But in their attacks upon Gaul
and Spain the beforementioned tribes were more fortunate. Stilicho

MIGRATION OF THE TRIBES. 85

had opened to them the road thither, by withdrawing the legions from
the Rhine and from Gaul for the defence of Italy. They now
desolated the country from Strasburg to Amiens. Treves was
four times plundered, Mentz and Worms destroyed, the inhabitants
of Strasburg, Spires, Rheims, and other cities driven forth as
slaves. After these swarms had at last been driven back into the
south of France by the Romans and the Franks, they, in the
year 408, were called into Spain by the rebellious Roman governor,
Gervatius. Hitherto this country had been spared during these
fearful times, but its turn came at last. The Vandals, Alani, and
Suevi, crossed the Pyrenees, and speedily conquered the greatest
part of the country. A portion of the Alani remained in Gaul, and
are found later on the side of the Romans, in the great battle with
Attila ; after which they disappear. The Burgundians also remained
under their king, Gundikar (Giinther), and first founded their king-
dom in Alsace, where it speedily extended towards the Rhone
and Soane into Switzerland, and from thence it spread to Savoy.
In northern Gaul, however, the Franks appear about this time to
have made themselves masters, so that all that lies towards the
north, from Boulogne on one side, to Cologne on the other, was
subject to their sway. Before the middle of that century Treves
also, which they had four times conquered, remained in their power.

The Vandals, who with the Alani had taken their seat in the
south of Spain, passed thence in the year 420, under their king,
Geiserich or Genserich, upon the invitation of the discontented
Roman governor, Bonifacius, over into Africa, and conquering there
the whole of the northern coast, founded for a century a flourish-
ing kingdom, the chief city of which was Carthage. What a mi-
gration, from the very shores of the Baltic, where these tribes first
appear in history, even to the borders of the African deserts ! Gei-
serich, one of the great men of his age, but of a savage disposition,
ruled for 50 years, from 428 — 477. After him the kingdom of the
Vandals fell, in the luxuriant climate of the country, produced by
internal disturbances, and by the enervation of this otherwise powerful
tribe. The emperor of Constantinople, Justinian, took advantage of
their reduced state? and in the year 553 sent his general, Belisarius,
to Africa with an army, who overcame them in eight months. Their
last king, Gelimer, was led by him in chains on his triumphant entry
into Constantinople.

The Suevi remained in Spain, but became, by degrees, more and
more pressed upon by the Westro-Goths under Wallia and his succes-
sors, being soon limited to the north-western portion of Spain and
Portugal; and at last, in the year 585, they were entirely united
with the Westro-Gothic kingdom.

In the middle of the fifth century, 449, the Angeh, Saxons and
Futi, passed over into England, and there founded new dynasties.
Under the Emperor Honorius, and immediately after him, the Ro-
mans had entirely quitted Britain. The Britons had, however, be-

86 THE BRITONS — ATTILA, GOD'S SCOURGE.

come so enervated under their sway, that after the withdrawal of the
Roman garrisons, they felt themselves incompetent to protect their
freedom. Their neighbours in the Scotch Highlands, the warlike
Picts and Scots, breaking forth from their mountains with undi-
minished power, pressed hard upon them ; and they found no other
alternative but to call strangers once more to their defence. Their
choice fell upon the tribes of Saxon origin who inhabited the coasts
of the North Sea, and whose valour they had often had occasion to
know when these fell in with their piratic squadrons on the coasts of
Britain. Two Saxon brothers, Hengist and Horst, or Horsa, heroes
of a noble race, who derived their origin from Wodan, accepted the
invitation of the British king, Vortigern, and with only three ships,
•which bore 1600 warriors, they landed. Their valour alone supplied
the place of numbers ; they beat the Picts near Stamford, and speedily
afterwards large troops of their countrymen followed them over from
the continent. The Britons then would willingly have been freed
of their new guests; they, however, preferred remaining, subjected
the whole of England as far as Wales, and founded the well-known
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms or heptarchy, of which Kent, established by
Hengist, formed the first.

In a large village, seated in a plain between the Danube and the
Theiss, in Hungary, and surrounded by pallisades, which had origi-
nated in a camp, there stood, in the midst of a spacious court, an
extensive wooden mansion, adorned with many passages and halls,
and which formed the dwelling of Attila or Etzel, king of the Hunns.
He had united his people — until then dispersed under many leaders —
under his own dominion; and in effecting this had not hesitated
even to slay his own brother, Bleda. All the -tribes of the Hunns
and their subjected nations, distributed from the Wolga to Hungary,
reverenced his command. He was lord of the Gepidi, Longobardi,
Avari, Ostrogoths, and many nations in the south of Germany; they,
however, retained their languages, their customs, and their laws,
and were ruled by their own princes ; so that they were to be con-
sidered more as allies than subjects; and besides the language of the
Hunns, that of the Goths, or German, was spoken at the court of
Attila.

He himself was small of stature, had a large head, deeply-seated
eyes, which he proudly cast around, a broad chest, much animation,
and a manner and bearing which thoroughly displayed the ruler.
His most favourite name, indeed, was Godegiesel, the scourge of
God, for the punishment of the world.

But as it may be assumed generally with regard to rulers, the
founders of mighty empires, that they have not alone to thank
their conquering swords for their acquired power, so also on his part
King Attila gave undoubted proofs that for governing he possessed
capacities more mild and intellectual than the mere rude courage
and skill of a warrior. For if he was terrible towards his enemies,
and in his wrath severe and exterminating, still, on the other hand,

ATT1LA AND THE HUNNS. 87

he was gentle and kind to those lie took under his protection. And
if in war he himself always led on his people to battle, he was never-
theless, in times of peace, always to be found seated at their head be-
fore his palace gates, performing the office of mediator and judge be-
tween each and all who came to him, without distinction.

He loved splendour around him, but he himself lived in a simple
and plain style, as if his greatness did not require this foil. The trap-
pings of his horse were unadorned and but little costly; at his ban-
quets, gold and silver vessels were placed before his guests, whilst he
alone had those of wood ; he ate but little meat, despising, according
to the custom of his nation, even bread. After each dish was served,
the cup or wassail-bowl was handed round, and his health and pros-
perity drank ; whilst minstrels sang heroic songs in praise of his valor-
ous deeds. The court jester then followed with his wit and fun, and
hilarity and merriment ruled at the board of the royal host ; but he
alone never intermitted his strict seriousness. He remained through-
out grave and thoughtful; and it was only when his youngest son,
Irnack, entered the hall and approached him, that his features re-
laxed into a smile, and whom he greeted with affection; for of this
son it had been prophesied, that he alone would be the means of pre-
serving the succession of the race of Attila.*

This powerful ruler, of whom it has been said that, when with
his mysterious sword — which had been found by a shepherd in the
steppes of Icythia, and was considered to be the sword of the god
of war — he struck the earth, a hundred nations trembled, and even
Koine and Constantinople shook to their foundations, arose with his
army in the year 461, and turned his course towards the west. He
advanced with 700,000 men, all under him as chief ruler, and every
tribe under its particular prince ; and although the princes them-
selves trembled before him, his whole army had but one soul, and
his nod alone directed every movement. His path was called de-
struction ; for what could not fly, or was not destroyed, as he pro-
gressed in his road, was forced to follow in his train.

He advanced through Austria and the Allemannic country, across
the Rhine, overcame the Burgundian King Gundikar (Giinther),
even to the destruction of his whole tribe ; conquered and plundered
the cities of Strasburg, Spire, Worms, Mentz, Treves, and others,
and vowed not to stop until he reached the ocean itself. The military
portion of the countries he traversed joined him either spontaneously
or by force, and the gigantic horde increased at every step like an
avalanche.

But the Romans and several German nations had now armed
themselves against the great danger which threatened the west ; for it
was now to be decided whether Europe should be German or Mon-

* This description of Attila and his court is handed down to us by an eye-witness,
the sophist, Prisons, who attended in the suite of an embassy from the Emperor
Theodosius H. at the court of Attila: Byzant. hist, script, i. Jordams also describes
Attila cap. xxxv. — Both relate also about the sword of Mars.

88 ATTILA AND THE GOTHS.

golian, whether German races were to found new kingdoms upon
the tottering ruins of the Roman Empire or the great King of the
Hunns. The Romans had at this time once again a good leader of
the name of jEtius, who had formerly, when banished by Valen-
tinian, sought refuge at the court of Attila; he collected an army in
Gaul, and applied for aid to the Westro-Gothic king, Theodoric or
Dieterich, who dwelt in Toulouse, and whose kingdom also was in
great danger. To him Dieterich replied, although, in earlier times,
JEtius had been his enemy: " A just war has never appeared to fall
too heavy upon any king of the Westro-Goths; and never has any
such king been known to fear when it depended upon a glorious deed.
Even thus think the nobles of my kingdom also ; and the entire
nation of the Westro-Goths will, at the call, cheerfully seize their
well-tried arms, at all times victorious." The Burgundians had also
promised assistance, besides Sangipan, the Alanian, who ruled upon
the Loire; a portion of the Franks also, together with the city of
Paris itself, and even a branch of the Saxons, which had colonised,
it is unknown at what period, at the mouths of the Loire, or perhaps
had landed there direct from a maritime expedition — all these united
together for the same purpose.

In the broad plain of France, through which the Marne flows,
and which was called by the ancients the Catalaunian Plain, where
the city of Chalons now lies, there rises near Mury, in the vicinity
of Troyes, a moderately high hill, which commands the district. It
was here that the army of the West met the forces of the Hunns,
and a severe battle was fought. It may be called a battle of the
nations, for the majority of the European nations stood here opposed
to each other. The left wing of the Roman army was commanded
by ^Etius, the right by Theodoric; between them they posted
King Sangipan, who was the least to be trusted. The hordes of the
Hunns, on the opposite side, appeared innumerable; one wing was
commanded by Arderic, the King of the Gepidi ; the others by
Theudimer, Widemir, and Walamir, the princes of the Ostro-Goths.
Attila was in the centre of the whole. The multitude of petty kings
obeyed his least nod, and they fulfilled his commands in silence and
terror; he alone, the chief of all these kings, thought and acted for
all. When the battle was about to begin, he summoned his leaders
before him, and said, " It does not become me to say common-place
things to you, or for you to listen to such. Be men; attack, break
through, cast all down ; despise the Roman array and their shields.
Fall upon the Western Goths and Alani, in whom lies the strength
of the enemy. If you must die, you will die even when you flee.
Direct your eyes to me, for I shall go first; he who does not follow
— shall be a corpse !"

Both armies strove to obtain the hill ; the battle was very furious,
and there was terrible slaughter. The Hunns soon broke through
the centre, where the Romans were stationed, and whom they put
to flight; and soon afterwards the Westro-Goths gave way before the

AT TIL A — HIS DEATH. 89

Ostro-Goths. Whilst the Westro-Gothic king was addressing his
people he fell, but gloriously, for his death inflamed his nation to
revenge it; and his son Thorismund leading them on, put the
enemy to flight, and thus decided the battle. Upon the approach
of night, Attila was obliged to retire within his camp of waggons.
As he did not know but the enemy might pursue him, he caused
innumerable saddles and wooden shields to be piled up, in case of
necessity to set fire to them and die in the flames ; at the same time,
to terrify the enemy, he commanded a noise to be made all ni^ht
with arms, drums, trumpets, and songs; but they did not At-
tack him. Amongst the piled heaps of the slain, they sought the
body of the Westro-Gothic king, and celebrated his funeral by a
procession, amidst laments and warlike instruments sounding, taking
with them the spoils of the Hunns in their very presence, who how-
ever did not venture to interrupt the ceremony. Thorismund followed
the body of his father, and wished to return and renew the attack;
but he was dissuaded from this by ^Etius, who advised him to re-
turn to his kingdom, that his brotlier might not take first possession
of the crown. He was anxious not to destroy the power of the
Hunns completely, in order, perhaps, to be enabled to use it subse-
quently against the Goths.

In the following year, Attila, who was thus enabled to recross the
Rhine unpursued, made a second incursion into Italy, and destroyed
in a terrible manner Aquileja, Milan,* and other cities. Rome
itself was alone saved from a similar fate by the supplications of
Pope Leo, and the rich ransom he offered to him. Want of sup-
plies and disease amongst his army, forced him to retreat across the
Alps; he nevertheless threatened to return again, and had al-
ready prepared another expedition, but amidst his preparations he
died, in the year 453. He was mourned over, and buried according
to the customs of his people. The Hunns slashed their faces with
wounds, and shaved away their hair, and upon a broad plain, be-
neath a silken tent, his body lay in state. About it coursed the
cavalry, singing his deeds as they galloped around, and vaunting
the good fortune, that the great Attila, after immortal victories, in
the most glorious moment of his nation's history, and without pain,
had closed his life, and had transferred himself to the spirits of the
ancient heroes. In the night he was laid in a golden coffin; this
was placed in a silver one, which was inclosed in an iron one ; the
caparison of his horses, his arms, and costly ornaments being buried
with him. After the ceremony, the workmen were immediately
slaughtered on his grave, that none of them might betray where the
hero of the Hunns reposed.f

* Sucibius relates that, at this place, Attila met with a picture, in which were re-
presented some Scythian men kneeling before the Roman emperor; and that there,
opposite to it, he had his own figure painted, seated upon the imperial throne, and
at his feet the Roman emperors, throwing down before him bags of gold.

f The name of Attila, or Etzel, was afterwards mentioned in the German legends;

90 FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

As soon as the terror of his name no longer bound the nations
together, they separated; many refused obedience; and after his
first-born son, Ellak, had fallen in a great battle against Arderic,
the king of the Gepidi, the whole power of the Hunns disappeared,
and they dispersed farther towards the east. The head of one of
the sons of Attila — such are the changes in human fate — was
shortly afterwards seen held up for display, at one of the race-
courses in Constantinople ! Arderic occupied the country of the
Lower Danube, and the Ostro -Goths took possession of Hungary,
towards Vienna. The remaining portion of the German tribes who
had been subject to the power of the Hunns, no doubt likewise took
advantage of this moment of renewed independence, to return to
their old, or to take possession of new dwelling-places. This period
may therefore be considered as decisive of the form of the imme-
diate future, until the entire destruction of the Roman power in
Italy produced new revolutions for a portion of Europe.

The Western Roman Empire now consisting of Italy alone, de-
clined more and more towards its utter extinction. The wretched
emperor, Valentinian III., murdered with his own hand jEtius,
who had been the support of the empire, and who had once more
saved it in the Catalaunian plains, against Attila, because he had
been made to suspect him. Valentinian himself was slain, at the in-
stigation of Petronius Maximus, who now became emperor, and
forced Eudocia, the widow of the murdered monarch, to marry
him. She however, out of revenge, invited the Vandal king,
Geiserich, from Africa. He came, conquered in 455 the city of
Rome, plundered and devastated it in a dreadful manner for the
space of fourteen days, as if, by him, Fate retaliated upon the
Romans, for their terrible destruction of Carthage six hundred
years before. He then embarked again for Africa, with a fleet of
many ships, loaded with costly booty and prisoners of all classes,
who were sold as slaves.

After Valentinian, nine sovereigns, in the short space of twenty
years, bore the degraded title of Emperor of Rome. At last, in
the year 476, Odoacer, a prince of Scyric descent, commander of
an allied horde of Scyri, Herulians, Rugians, and Turcilingi, a man
equally distinguished for his mental powers and physical strength,
thrust the last of those shadowy emperors, Romulus Momyllus
or Augustulus, as yet a boy, from the throne, and called himself
King of Italy. The tender age of the young emperor when he
laid aside the purple robes, the crown and arms, and came and
deposited them in the camp, caused him to be spared, and he was
sent by Odoacer to a castle in Campania. The above-named tribes,
who doubtlessly belonged to the Gothic confederation, had gra-
dually advanced from their earlier dwellings on the Baltic towards

he was there grouped with Hermanarich and the subsequent Theodoric (Dieterich, of
Berne). He does not, however, appear there as an enemy to the Germans, but as a
might/ valiant ruler in the east of Germany.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE TRIBES. 91

the south, until they found a dwelling on the Danube and the
frontiers of Italy, and there served the Romans frequently for pay.
This small band, therefore, at last extinguished the Roman empire,
in the year 476, and in the 1230th year since the foundation of the
capital.

About this period the following was the manner in which the
countries of the western empire were divided among foreign tribes,
the result of the great migration which had taken place a century
before.

Italy was under the dominion of Odoacer, and his kingdom ex-
tended itself towards the north, across the Alps, as far as the
Danube. In Hungary the Ostro-Goths were powerful, and the
Longobardi had long before advanced from their seats upon the Elbe,
and fixed themselves to the north of the Danube, towards the Theiss.
In Bavaria was formed by degrees, (without history giving a de-
tailed account of it) from remnants of the Rugi, Heruli, Scyri, Tur-
cilingi, and certainly from Suevic tribes, particularly the Marcomanni
— the nation of Bojoarians under the royal race of the Agilolfi. The
name more particularly indicates the descent from the Marcomanni,
coming from Bohemia, inasmuch as the more ancient name of this
country, Boja or Bojos, has been transferred to Bojoheim, Baiheim,
or Beheiin. The Marcomanni, who had previously wandered back
to this country, after the Danube districts had become free, fixed
themselves in Franconia and Bavaria, and called themselves Bojoari
or Bajovari.

The Allemanni dwelt in the eastern part of Switzerland, in
Swabia, and down both banks of the Rhine, as far as the Lahn and
Cologne. On the left bank of the Rhine they were afterwards
called Alsatians. The name of Suevi also appears about this time
among them, and has preserved itself to this day in the name of the
country: Swabia.

In the centre of Germany, from the present Harz mountains to
Franconia, the powerful Thuringians held their sway, whose earlier
history is very obscure. They first appear noticed about the middle
of the fifth century, without our author mentioning their origin or
earlier state.

In Lower Saxony and Westphalia the Saxons retained their
ancient seats and constitution, and close to them on the North Sea
were the Friesi.

On the Lower Rhine, on the Maas and the Scheldt, as far as the
Netherlands, and in the north of France, dwelt the branches of the
Franks; the most considerable of which were the Salians, in the
Netherlands, and the Ripuarians, dwelling along the coasts of the
Rhine.

Close to them, on the Seine, a Roman governor, of the name of
Syagrius, maintained his power for ten years longer, until the year
486, when already there was no longer an emperor in Rome. The
north-western point of France, the present Britany, had already

92 DISTRIBUTION OF THE TRIBES.

been occupied much earlier by fugitives from Britain, who had fled
before the Picts, and then formed under the name of Armoricae an
alliance of free cities.

South-eastern France, Savoy and western Switzerland belonged
now to the Burgundians. Their chief cities were Geneva, Be-
sanc^on, Lyons, and Vienne. The Burgundians were certainly
the mildest of the conquering tribes of this period, being early
attached to Christianity, cultivation, and art; and to them that
portion of France is indebted for its many remains of ancient
Roman works of art. In Switzerland the French language still
marks its ancient boundaries against the Allemanni, for the Bur-
gundians mixed more with the Romans, and adopted much of their
language.

South-western France, from the Loire and Rhone to the Pyra-
nees, as well as a great portion of Spain, was subject to the Western
Goths, but north-western Spain to the Suevi.

The north-western coast of Africa was Vandalian. In Britain the
Angeli and Saxons by degrees retained their power and augmented
it more and more.

The east and north-eastern portion of Germany was left com-
paratively bare by the advance of the tribes towards the south and
west, and Slavonic tribes migrated increasingly thither, who had
been seated on those boundaries from time immemorial, and who
had also perhaps been partly subject to the Germans. Those foreign
branches now gained the superiority, and the remains of the Ger-
mans who would not quit their original dwelling-place, became sub-
ject to, and were dispersed amongst them.

93

SECOND PERIOD.

FROM THE CONQUESTS OF CLOVIS TO CHARLEMAGNE.

486—768.

THE historical writers of this period form but a very limited class, and are of very
unequal estimation. What they relate of the earlier times is mostly founded on tra-
dition, and can scarcely be placed in conjunction with what lias been furnished by
the Roman authors; still, in reference to the history of their own period, and those
immediately preceding, they are nevertheless of high importance:

1 . For the " History of the Franks," we may consider as a principal writer, Gre-
gory, bishop of Tours (Gregorius Turonensis), who died in the year 595. He calls
his book an ecclesiastical history, but therein he describes generally the acts and pro-
ceedings of the Franks, in ten books, until the year 591. His language, charac-
teristic of his time, is uncivilized, his description confused and interrupted by
legendary wonders, going, however, very deeply into the details, and in reference to
subsequent years, as the record of a contemporary, it is very exact, and thus renders
him equally instructive; he likewise possesses the merit of being honest and a lover
of truth. He has been styled the Herodotus of this period.

Fredegar, about the year 650, made from Gregory's work a short abridgment, in-
terspersed with fables, (" Historia Francorum Epitomata,") which proceeds as far as
the year 584, and then continues the history in a " Chronicum" until 641. This " Chro-
nicum" Avas again taken up and resumed by three other men, but with certain chasms,
until 768; very meagre and without connection, but still important because the
writers were chiefly witnesses of the events described. The " Gesta regum Fran-
corum," are, likewise, in part extracted from Gregory, whose description they
continue to the year 720, very briefly and not without many inaccuracies.

With these and later are, the " Annals," short sketches which were made annually
in the monasteries, of the most important events, and thus, at least, in part originate
from eye-witnesses. They were afterwards copied and communicated from the one
monastery to the other, often augmented there, then subsequently various portions
corrected and prepared, and thus they acquired greater extent and value. The most
important are those which bear the simple title " Annalis Laurissenses," from a
monastery in the Upper Rhine province, which go on from 741 to 788, and were
acontinued by Eginhardt, from 778 to 829. They have been partially published in
the older collections, but more completely given in the " Monumenta Germanise His-
torica," collected by Pertz.

2. For the "History of the Goths" are to be mentioned:

a. Cassiodorus, invested with high offices of state, under Odoacer, Theodoric, and
their successors, and who died in the year 565, in the convent Vivarosa; he wrote a
history of the Goths, which, unfortunately, was lost. There have, however, been
preserved his " XH Libri Variarum," a very important work, because it contains
edicts, instructions, and documents, which were written in the names of the kings j
learned, elegant, but vain and verbose.

b. The monk Jordanis (thus he is called, and not Jornandes, in the more ancient
documents, and by himself likewise), a Goth, living about the middle of the sixth
century, has brought into an abridgment — de rebus Geticis — the lost history of
Cassiodorus, but has disfigured it by the interlineation of every thing he knew or heard
of besides. Still, although without judgment and historical knowledge, his book is of
the highest value, inasmuch as for many events that is nearly our only source. It
extends to the year 540.

c. The parallel of " Procopii Caesarensis Vandalica et Gothica" may in the details
explain much, because the Greek proceeds upon very different views to those of the
western writers.

d. Isidor, Bishop of Seville, (Isidorus Hispalensis), who died in 636, wrote a short
history of the Goths, Vandals, and Suevians, to the year 628, but which again ex-

94 CLOVIS, KING OF THE FRANKS.

plains nothing about the earlier history of these nations, and refers more properly to
Spain alone.

3. The chief writer on the history of the Longobardi is Paul Diaconus, the son ot
Warnefried, one of the first men of his age, living at the courts of Desiderius and
Charlemagne, and who died as a monk on Mount Cassino in the year 799. In his
" De Gestis Langobardorum libri vi." he describes the deeds of his nation with a great
predilection for tradition; the commencement is quite unhistorical, but subsequently
he becomes more careful and exact, and presents us with detailed information ex-
tremely valuable.

4. For German history likewise are of great importance the Biographies of the
Roman Pontiffs, at least from the eighth century, composed by contemporary writers;
they continue to the beginning of the ninth century.

5. Extremely important also are the letters of distinguished men which have been
handed down to us from that period, especially those of Saint Boniface, as well as the
biographies of him and other holy men (Vitae Sanctorum) which often present the
most faithful picture of their times, and have preserved for us the most valuable
information.

6. and lastly; for our research into the relations of life, the manners, customs, and
institutions, are very important, the " Laws of the German nations or tribes," who
belonged to the Franconian empire: the Salians, Ripuarians, Allemannians, Bur-
gundians, and Bavarians, and later, the Saxons and Thuringians. But there remains
much therein which is very obscure, inasmuch as they contain principally only the
penal law of these people, and cannot therefore yield us the desired information re-
specting the other relations, are not regulated according to general principles, contain
nothing of the constitution of the empire beyond what refers to the administration of
the law, and present even in that portion what to our eye appears very fragmentary.

CHAPTER IV.

FROM THE CONQUESTS OF CLOVIS TO CHARLEMAGNE.
486—768.

Clovis, King of the Franks, 482-511 — Theodoric, surnamed Dieterich of Berne, 488-
526 — The Longobardi in Italy, 568 — Changes in the Customs and Institutions of
the Germans — The Language — Constitution— Feudal System — Laws — Pastimes —
Christianity in Germany — The Grand Chamberlains — Charles Martel against the
Arabs, 732 — Pepin the Little — The Carlovingians.

DURING the great movements of the tribes, which we have just
related, the Franks had not, like the Goths, Burgundians, and other
nations, migrated from their dwellings to settle themselves elsewhere,
but they remained in their own seat, and from thence conquered only
that portion of Gaul which lies to the north of the Forest of Ar-
dennes. And this forest also sheltered them from being drawn into the
great stream of migration. Their division also into several branches,
each of which had its own king or prince, prevented them from
making extensive and general expeditions.

But their time came. About the year 482, Clovis, or as we should
say Lewis, the son of Gilderich, became Prince of the Salian Franks ;
and he soon prepared himself to execute the plans of his bold and
comprehensive mind, for the bent of his ardent spirit was to make
war and conquest. Clovis belongs to that class of rulers in the his-
tory of the world, who think all ways good that lead to dominion.

CLOVIS, KING OF THE FRANKS. 95

He has sullied the celebrity of his military fame by the most des-
picable want of faith to his relatives and allies. He at first concluded
with the princes of the Franks, who were his equals, and for the
majority his relatives, alliances of war against other tribes, and after
he had conquered them by their assistance and had become powerful,
he then also despatched those very friends out of his way by poison,
the dagger, and treachery. By this means he became eventually
King of all the Franks.

Of his foreign enemies, he first attacked, when only twenty, the
Roman governor Syagrius, whom we mentioned above, effectually
beat him at Soissons (Suessiones), and occupied the country as far
as the Loire. Syagrius, who fled to the Western Goths, was obliged
to be delivered up to Clovis and was executed. This commencement
of the conquests of Clovis took place in the year 486, ten years after
Romulus Augustulus was deposed.

He then advanced with his army against the Allemanni, who in
the meantime had fallen upon the country of the Ripuarian Franks,
for both nations having their boundaries upon the river Lahn, had
been enemies for years. They met in the year 496, near Zulpich,
in the district of Juliers, and fought bitterly against each other, and
the victory already inclined to the side of the Allemanni, when in the
heat of the battle, his soul excited by anxiety, Clovis fell upon his
knees and vowed to become a Christian ; and as victory now absolutely
turned on his side, he caused himself and three thousand of his Franks
to be baptized in Rheims, at the subsequent Easter festival, by the
Bishop Remigius. This was the commencement of the introduction of
the Christian faith among the Franks, and Clovis was henceforward
called the eldest son of the church and the most Christian king. His
consort Clotilda, the daughter of a Burgundian prince, had long
wished to convert him to the better faith by the force of gentle per-
suasion; he, however, had always despised it until the necessity of the
battle overpowered him, and it was indeed very evident both in him
and in the Franks in general, that their conversion was a work of
mere compulsion. For Clovis murdered his relatives after as well
as before, and subdued one Christian nation after the other, whilst the
Franks for several centuries bore the character of being the most
treacherous of all the German nations.

After the Allemanni were reduced and the kingdom of the Franks
had spread itself along the Rhine to Switzerland, and after the Bur-
gundians were obliged to promise tribute, Clovis bent his eyes to-
wards the kingdom of the West Goths, who possessed the most beau-
tiful portion of France in the south. Thus although he had only
shortly before had a conference with their king, Alaric, and had sworn
friendship to him, he yet determined to attack him as an enemy.

The wise Ostro-Gothic king, Theodoric, who previously to this had
founded his dominion in Italy, counselled the unruly Clovis, whose
sister, Audofleda, was his consort, in the most urgent ^manner from
his unjust expedition against Alaric, and reminded him that peace

96 THE MEROVINGIANS — THEODORIC THE GOTH.

and imion became Christian nations. But Clovis, who knew only
the language of the sword and of rude force, gave no ear to him; he
attacked the Westro-Gothic kingdom; and, in the year 507, in a
plain of the river Vienne, near Vougle or Vironne, fought and won
a great battle in which Alaric himself fell, transpierced by the spear
of Clovis, who took possession of the chief cities of his country, and
would, no doubt, have destroyed the whole kingdom, had not the
great Theodoric stepped between and driven him back with a strong
hand. He was, therefore, obliged to content himself with the coun-
try between the Loire and the Garonne.

Clovis did not live long after this, but died at Paris, in the year
511, in the forty-third year of his age, and his empire was divided
between his four sons.

His successors to the throne of the Franks, who are called the
Merovingians, were in general worthy of their founder. It appeared
as if vice and tyranny, unheard of cruelty, and savage revenge were
hereditary in this family, and as if a curse had from the beginning
been poured over them. In the space of forty years six Merovingian
kings were destroyed by poison or the sword ; and the intrigues and
revengeful passions of malicious women form an important feature
in these horrid scenes. It cannot, therefore, suit the purport of this
history to penetrate further into the details of these events, which
are equally as unnourishing to the mind, as they are unfruitful in re-
gard to the knowledge it is so desirable to obtain from the great en-
tirety of our history. The nation of the Franks, under such princes,
could not possibly be raised from its state of moral rudeness and
degradation, but necessarily became plunged more deeply in vice.
Their power, however, continued to extend itself more and more.
They by degrees subjected the Burgundians, and in Germany the
powerful nation of the Thuringians, and the dukes of Bavaria sought
their protection. About the middle of the sixth century all the
German nations from the frontiers of the Saxons to the Alps allied
themselves with the kingdom of the Franks; Franks, Thuringians,
Allemans or Swabians, and Bavarians. The Saxons alone and the
Friesi still remained independent in their north-western dwellings.

When, after king Attila's death, the kingdom of the Hunns fell
asunder, the Ostro-Goths, as has been already mentioned, became
again free, and dwelt in Hungary and the neighbouring countries of
the Danube. They had frequent disputes with the emperor, in Con-
stantinople, and upon one of these occasions Theodoric or Dieterich,
a son of one of their princes, was sent as hostage to that city, and
there he saw, as had Marbodius and Arminius formerly, in Rome,
the institutions of a great empire. He remained there ten years,
and was instructed in the Grecian arts and sciences, so that no Ger-
man prince of his time equalled him in accomplishments. After the
death of his father, Theodemir, and of his uncles, he became sole
king of the Ostro-Goths, and now resolved, like other rulers, to found
for his people a large and beautiful kingdom, for they longed to be

TIIEODORIC THE GOTH. 97

led to more desirable lands than the wastes near the Sau and the
Danube. The Emperor of Constantinople, Zeno, who considered
himself now as the sole inheritor of the entire ancient empire of
the Romans, upon this presented him with the land of Italy as the
reward for services rendered, and instead of his promised subsidies
in money. Italy was still under the rule of Odoacer, but his king-
dom was not properly to be considered German, because the Heru-
lians and Rugians formed but a small portion of his people.

Theodoric broke up with his nation in the year 488, pressed
through the passes of Italy and encountered Odoacer near Aquileja
and Verona. But the Italians fought with little zeal for their king,
and he was both times obliged to fly. King Theodoric, from this
last battle, was styled in legendary songs and ballads, in a multitude
of which his fame was recorded, the great hero, Dieterich of Berne
(which signifies Verona). Immediately after this, Odoacer was a
third time defeated near the Adda, after his own city, Rome, had
shut its gates against him, and for three years he was besieged in
Ravenna until, in the year 493, he was at last forced to yield, and
his lands fell into the hands of Theodoric, by whom he was killed.
His kingdom had lasted seventeen years. Theodoric became lord of
Italy, and ruler over the countries beyond the Alps to the Danube,
and in the wars of the Franks and Westro-Goths he made himself
master of the provinces as far as the Rhone, an extensive and beau-
tiful kingdom, which might have existed to the present day if his
successors had equalled him in wisdom and virtue. His chief cities
were Ravenna and Verona.

He himself reigned more than thirty years, and was not only a
kind and mild master to his Goths, but also a gentle ruler over his
Roman subjects and all who dwelt in Italy; so much so, that this
country had not enjoyed so happy a time for many centuries as under
him, the foreign prince. Agriculture and trade again flourished.
Art and science found in him a protector, and ^ancient cities, lying
in ruins, were rebuilt. Italy enjoyed under, and subsequent to his
reign, for a period of forty years, continued peace, and was so dili-
gently cultivated, that it not only grew sufficient grain for its own
consumption, but could even export it to Gaul, whilst formerly,
under the Roman emperors, it was always necessary to procure a
supply from Sicily and Africa.

His wisdom and justice raised him above all the kings of his time.
He stepped among them like the father of a large family and an in-
stitutor of peace ; and the most distant tribes had recourse to his
counsel, and honoured him with presents. To the other kings of
German origin, with almost all of whom he had allied himself by
marriage, he wrote as a father thus: " You all possess proofs of my
good-will. You are young heroes, and it is my duty to counsel you.
Your disorder and irregularities grieve me ; it is not a matter of in-
difference to me to behold how you allow yourselves to be go-
verned by your passions, for the passions of kings are the ruin of

H

98 THEODORIC THE GOTH — HIS DEATH.

nations ; whilst, on the contrary, your friendship and unity together
are, as it were, the veins through which the wishes of nations flow
into each other."

He placed such principles before their eyes, and showed thereby
that his mind had formed the conception of a great alliance, founded
upon justice and wisdom, between all the Christian nations of
German origin, who had fixed their seat in Europe. An alliance,
such as reason has depicted before the eyes of all ages as a sublime
picture ; and as it has displayed itself, from time to time, by the
mouths of enlightened men, so that justice and order, and especially
the spirit of Christian unity, should predominate, and hatred and
thirst after prey be reined in — evils which, alas ! through the want
of such an alliance, have ravaged Europe from one end to the other.
Had Theodoric been enabled to form such a noble union, he would
have founded more of that which is truly grand than the ancient
Romans, over whose possessions he had now become ruler, and whose
empire he was anxious to restore, not by the rude force of arms, but
in the form of a peaceful alliance of nations. But as the mild force
of truth and justice always finds its enemy in the selfishness of those
who only seek their own advantage and the indulgence of their pas-
sions, Theodoric, consequently, experienced that the world was not
then yet rife enough for the fruction of his great ideas ; for whilst he
preached peace with earnestness and love, Clovis, the Frank, raged
war with his sword, despising his doctrine, and seeking only to bring
a multitude of tribes under his dominion.

The great Theodoric died in the year 526. His monarchy had
now no duration; for his son, Athalaric, was but just ten years old,
and died shortly after his father. The nobles of his kingdom were
no longer unanimous, but elevated and deposed several kings
after each other. The Roman subjects, also, could not forget that
their rulers were Goths, and attached to the Arian faith. They
wished themselves again under the Greek emperors, who dwelt in
Constantinople, and were members of the orthodox church, al-
though the dominion of these emperors had become lamentably bad,
and was in a ruinous state. It was then that the Emperor Justinian,
who was one of the best of the series, took advantage of this dis-
content, and sent his general, Belisarius, and after him Narses, into
Italy, to subject this country again to his rule. A long and severe
war arose, conducted by the Goths with their usual valour, but with-
out success, and which destroyed the country, and almost depopu-
lated Rome by several sieges, so that no trace was left of its ancient
splendour.

The Goths raised themselves once more, after four of their sove-
reigns had been destroyed, under their king, Totilas, who was worthy
of ruling the dominions of Theodoric ; but as he also, after he had fought
with fame for eleven years, was killed in the year 552, in a battle
against Narses. and ten months afterwards, his successor, Tejas, fell like-
wise in the three days' desperate battle near Cuma, the Gothic kingdom

THE LONGOBARDI IN ITALY. 99

sunk into such a ruinous state that twenty-seven years after the death
of Theodoric, and in the year 553, the Ostro-Goths were not only
vanquished, but also almost entirely annihilated. A few only escaped
over the Alps to seek an asylum among other German nations.

Fifteen years after the fall of the Ostro-Goths, another valiant
German nation, the Longobardi, who had taken possession of the earlier
dwelling-places of the former on the Danube, executed an act of re-
taliation, justly timed for them, on the Greeks. The Greek general,
Narses, upon falling under the displeasure of the Emperor Justinian'
hud himself called forward their king, Alboni or Albwin, who
had already overcome the Gepidi, and now ruled in Hungary, Aus-
tria, Carruthia, and even in a portion of Bavaria. This king pos-
sessed that heroic courage which graves itself deeply in the hearts
of nations. Not only his own nation, but those of the Saxons and
Bavarians sang his praise for centuries after his death.

On the second day of April, in the year 568, the King Alboni
broke up from Hungary with all his Longobardian men, their
women and children, accompanied by 20,000 Saxons. The country
they hitherto possessed was left by them to their allies, the A van,
who were found still there by Charlemagne subsequently. It was a
morning full of splendour when, from the heights of one of the ad-
vanced mountains of the Alps, which was afterwards called the
King's Mountain, the astonished strangers cast their eyes down upon
their new and beautiful country. Wherever Alboni passed he
showed his veneration for the church, and sought, on every occa-
sion, the affection of the people. By the conquest of Pavia, at the
confluence of the Ticino and the Po, he founded his dominion in
Upper Italy, which, to the present day, has been called Lombardy,
from the Longobardi, and he made it the chief city of those districts.
In Lower Italy, also, this nation conquered beautiful tracts of land,
and founded the principality Benevento, which comprises the greatest
portion of the present kingdom of Naples. But Rome and Ravenna
remained in the hands of the Greeks, who gained the Franks to
their side by presents, in order that they might, by their means, pre-
vent the Longobardi from taking possession of the whole of Italy,
and consolidate it into one powerful and strong kingdom. And, un-
fortunately for the country, in this object they succeeded. From
that period to this day, Italy has remained disunited, and has endured
the severe fate of a divided country, internally rent. Strangers have,
from time immemorial, contested for its possession, and its ground
has been deluged with streams of native and foreign blood.
! f The Longobardi cultivated their newly-acquired country so ad-
mirably, that the melancholy traces of former devastation became
daily less discernible. The king also procured his supplies from the
produce of his possessions ; and from one farm to another he was re-
gular in his visits of inspection ; living, in fact, with all the simplicity
of a patriarch, combined with the dignity of a great military leader.
Their free-men, as among the ancient Romans, laboured of their

H2

100 CHANGES IN THE CUSTOMS AND INSTITUTIONS.

own accord to turn the desert and waste tracts into arable land, thug
distinguishing themselves from other German nations. Agriculture
Hourished particularly around monasteries, whose chronicles, says a
great German writer, contain the less dazzling but more satisfactory
history, of the way in which they almost overcame, or, at least,
assisted Nature, and how cheerful gardens and smiling fields covered
the ruins of ancient Italy.

The majority of German nations, at the time of the great migra-
tion, had come into new countries wholly different from their for-
mer settlements, and there found inhabitants of a different race, with
other languages, manners, and laws. They, consequently, could not
themselves continue to exist stationary in their new country upon the
same footing that they had been used to in their former homes ; and it
is important that we should place before our view, in its broad outline,
the great difference presented between the tribes which had wandered
forth as conquerors, and those which had remained behind adhering
to their ancient simple customs.

The German conquerors found in Gaul, Spain, Italy, and Eng-
land, inhabitants consisting of Romans and natives mixed. They
left them, it is true, after they had appropriated to themselves a por-
tion of their possessions, in their dwelling-places, but generally as an
ignoble and degenerate race. By the laws of the Franks, the fine
for killing a Roman or a Gaul was only the half, and in some cases
but one fourth, of what it was for a free Frank. Afterwards, not-
withstanding their original separation and distinctive character, it
could not well be otherwise but that the Germans by degrees became
mixed with the natives, and that many of the latter, who were su-
perior to the Germans in knowledge, as well as in cunning and re-
finement, speedily obtained, under weak kings, distinguished offices,
and now ruled their former lords. They even obtained, as services
were paid only with land, grants of possession as feudal tenures, and
became thereby partakers in the feudal rights. Romans and Gauls
were seen to rank among the counts, dukes, and grand stewards, and
thence arose, although perhaps but slowly, a mixture of nations, and
accordingly of manners, languages, and forms of ideas.

The ancient vigorous nature of those Germans who came into
warm and luxurious countries, became enervated by effeminacy and
sensuality. Thus the Vandals in Africa, and the Ostro-Goths in
Italy, in the course of twenty years after their arrival, had become so
much transformed and degenerated, that they submitted to enemies
who previously could scarcely bear their powerful glance. The
tribes, however, which remained in Germany, continued as firm and
vigorous as ever; and if afterwards, they became by degrees, more
mild, like their climate, their forests were nevertheless cleared so
gradually, that the change in the people took place without too
rapid, and thereby injurious a transition.

But the greatest change that happened to the migrated German
branches, was in reference to their language. For, as in the con-
quered countries, the Roman or Latin language was chiefly spoken,

THE LANGUAGE— THE CONSTITUTION. 101

and as this was at that time much more cultivated than the German,
it could not be supplanted by the latter; but there arose a mixture
of both, whereby they became changed, and the indigenous lan-
guage of the country before the Roman period, often formed a third
component of this medley. Consequently in France, Spain, Por-
tugal, Italy, and England, a language is spoken formed by a mixture
with the Roman, which may perhaps fall more gently upon the ear
than the German, which yet retains much of its former roughness
from the ancient forests ; whilst, however, the former tongue is neither
so energetic, so hearty, and honest, nor so rich in peculiar words. The
German language remains ever fresh and florid, and is open to con-
tinual improvement in beauty and richness. It is a language en-
tirely original, the roots of which ramify into the aboriginal founda-
tions of German national idiosyncrasy, and draws its nourishment
from the rich fountain of life with which nature has endowed the
nation ; it may be compared to the living plant in a fruitful soil, and
the labour bestowed upon it, is as that of the gardener who watches
and carefully attends to the development of the favourite tree. But
the language formed by a composition of many others, is but the
work of man, like the artificial web which the hand of man pre-
pares from the plants of the field. It is true this may be beautifully
and richly worked ; but it is then and for all times finished, and
possesses no further internal power of life and growth.

The constitution of the conquering German nations necessarily
became also essentially changed. At home, in their original condi-
tion, the power of royalty in peace was but insignificant. The
elders or counts, as the appointed judges in every gau or district,
regulated the usual affairs, adjudged disputes according to custom,
and upon more important and general affairs the national assembly
was convened. But in war the power of the leader surpassed every
thing else, and justly so, as it then depended upon prompt decisions.
The king or prince was the unlimited lord, and the most faithful
of his suite or Gefolge ranked next to him. When such a war had
speedily passed away, the prince again retired into the insignificance
of a state of peace; but in the many years of the incursions, amidst
constant warfare, his power became firmly established. The whole
nation became an army, and it accustomed itself to the obedience ne-
cessary in war. The institutions of peace lost much of their force, and
as in their incursive movements they had no country they could call
their own, their whole confidence and attachment were necessarily
concentrated in their leader, who led them to victory and pillage,
and the forcible possession of a new country. He was the safeguard
and hope of the nation; he stood to them in lieu of home and father-
land, and those who stood next to him, as his suite, were the most
prosperous.

To these latter, when conquest was completed, he apportioned
first their share of booty and of land, as in ancient times he had
given them only their horse, arms, and entertainment. But without

102 THE CONSTITUTION.

doubt he took to himself the most desirable and considerable share,
and particularly the lands of the conquered or slain princes ; his
power being thus founded by his possessions and strong adherents.
The Goths, the Burgundians, and the Longobardi, who came as
migrating nations, with their wives and children, must certainly
have exacted from the conquered a considerable portion of their pos-
sessions. The Ostro- Goths in Italy demanded one -third of the land,
whilst the Westro-Goths and Burgundians required from the Gauls as
much as two-thirds. The Franks, on the contrary, made their con-
quests in excursions from home, not only as a nation, but as the
suite of their prince. Their numbers were not great, thence they
did not require to take from the Gauls and Romans any portion of
their land, although, according to their ideas of the rights of con-
querors, they considered the whole as their property ; and in many
cases, no doubt, they seized much of private property, so that the
chance of the Gauls became often much more fatal, inasmuch as they
were more immediately exposed to the wild and arbitrary demands
made.* But altogether, they still found in what the Romans had
previously possessed as national property -, a sufficiency of land; be-
sides, in those portions of Gaul which they took from the Westro-
Goths, the majority of those land possessions fell to them which
the latter, upon the conquest, had appropriated to themselves; for
many of them were killed in the war, and many likewise quitted
the country and advanced into Spain, that they might not become
slaves to the Franks. The whole mass of the conquered state-
lands above mentioned (according to the Roman expression Jiscus),
formed now, after the king had received his chief portion, the
common property of the conquerors. It was thence, so long as they
held together as an army, that their support was furnished ; af-
terwards, when they began to domicile themselves among their
new subjects, and, according to the original disposition of German,
nations, desired to obtain entire possession, they received this
from the mass of fiscal lands, as a reward (beneficium) for the mili-
tary services rendered; and for which they remained obligated to
afford further military duty at the command of the king, holding,
however, possession of the land merely as a fief, or loan (leheri
during their lives.

From this commencement was developed the entire constitutio:
afterwards so important and influential, and which was called tl
feudal state. In the following centuries it obtained, by degrees, its
full perfection, particularly when it extended itself backwards to
the ancient seats of the Franks, and the other German nations sub-
jected to them. The exertions to obtain fiefs, and procure appoint-
ment for the services connected therewith under the sovereign, be-
came increasingly predominant, for thereby was attained influence
and power; and to gain this many gave up their freedom. The

* " Nee ullus muttire coram iis audebat," says Gregory of Tours.

I to

ng>
*),

on,
the

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM— THE LAWS. 103

feudatories took the name of liege subjects (fideles), and people
(fades) of the prince, or vassals (vassi), whence vasalli is derived.
The feudal lord was called senior (whence seigneurs), or dominus.
The name antrustio (confidential) signified the liege subject,
leader of a troop, or arimanie of the escort or train, in which quality
he had to take a particular oath of fidelity, and then stood trusts
dominica. Those liege subjects who stood in close service to the
prince were called administrators.

The great vassals could distribute from their own land fiefs to
other poorer individuals, who engaged in their service, and thus
became after, or arriere vassals. They were obliged, with these their
fidcles to follow the heerbann of the prince, whilst the common free-
man, who had only an alodial or free inheritance (in contradistinc-
tion ivfeudum*}, was only obliged to attend in great national wars,
and for which the heerbann, in the ancient German sense, was pro-
claimed. Noth withstanding which, the feudatories soon began to
look down upon the freeman as upon one much their inferior, and to
consider themselves on the other hand, as the nobility of the nation
— even when they were not descended from the original nobility of the
nation, for Gauls were likewise enabled to receive fiefs ; nay, already,
under Clovis, these were elevated beyond the Franks in honours,
for they more easily yielded obedience than the latter, and were
thus more agreeable to the king. The law also made a distinction
prejudicial to the free possessor. The liege subjects (in truste domi-
nica) had a higher amount of fine-money allowed them ; it amounted
to three-fourths of that of the common freeman ; and even when the
liege subject was merely of Roman descent,the sum was higher than that
of the free Frank, it being 300 solidis, whilst that of the latter was 200.

The feods originally were not hereditary; the lord could with-
draw, and invest others with them ; but in the course of time, and
particularly under weak governments, the vassals found means, in
one way or the other, to obtain hereditary possession, and make it
nearly independent; the royal power being thus again restricted,
by those whom it had previously elevated for its support. The ma-
jority of vassals were also powerful by their inherited property;
and who would deprive the powerful man or his son of his feod?
Property and feods became mixed, because he who inherited the
property inherited also the feod.

The power of the kings was, therefore, not unlimited, and the
ancient freedom not annihilated, inasmuch as the nation still parti-
cipated in the decision of important national affairs. Regular assem-
blies were still held, and by the Franks at first, in March, afterwards
under Pepin the Little, in May, whence the names_of March and May
plains. But the greatest difference from ancient times was that these
assemblies consisted no longer of the majority of all the^freemen, but
chiefly of feudatories, so that the nobility gave the decision. -

* The wor&feudum, however, does not present itself before the second century.

104 THE FEUDAL SYSTEM —THE LAWS.

The laws of the German nations of this age show that their state
was still very rude. The punishment of death was scarcely awarded
to any crime except treason and infidelity. The German regarded
personal liberty so highly, that he would not yield to any other
the right to his life. Murder might be compounded for with money
or goods, and the compensation obtained by relatives, who, ac-
cording to the ancient right of the retribution of blood, could
have demanded the blood of the offender. Accordingly, the in-
jured family possessed the right of feud or hostility against the
other, until satisfaction was given. Expiation for the non-exercised
family revenge was, therefore, the original signification of the retri-
bution or fine-money. The punishment of death, however, would
not have withheld these passionate nations, who instantly grasped
the sword, and had but little fear of death, from the momentary sa-
tisfaction of revenge; the pecuniary penalty was, on the contrary,
very high for that period, and therefore more felt, and he who could
not pay it lost his freedom, and became the slave of the offended
party. Many poor freemen thus lost their liberty because their
possessions were esteemed of but little value, as for instance, an ox
by the Salic laws was worth two gold shillings, a cow but one, a stal-
lion six, and a mare three; therefore, an opprobrious word cost a con-
siderable sum, for he who called another a liar was obliged to give
him six shillings or two oxen ; he who called him knave or scoun-
drel as much as fifteen shillings. The extent of the punishment
certainly conduced to their frequently making arrangements, in order
that they might not, through the excitement of a passionate moment,
involve each other in deep misfortune. As each went armed and could
always defend himself, the murder of a man, according to the Alle-
mannic law, was only half as heavily punished as that of a woman,
who was defenceless. But theft was more abhorred than murder,
because a coward may also attack defenceless objects. According to
the Saxon law, he who had stolen a horse was punished with death,
but every murder, even that of a noble, money could buy off. The
highest fines inflicted were, first, that of a Bavarian duke, of 960
shillings, and secondly, that of a bishop of 900 shillings. There
was no fine fixed for a king, for his person was considered sacred and
unassailable. With the Franks the fine-money of the royal Aritrustio,
if he was a Frank, was equal to that of a count, 600 shillings ; of the
freeman 200, and the Litus 100. For the Romans it was fixed at
half these amounts, in the same proportion : so that the Romanus
conviva regis paid 300 shillings, the Romanus possessor 100, but the
Romanus tributarius instead of 50 paid only 45. Among the other
nations, according to their laws, there were many variations. Every
corporeal wound was very precisely fixed by a money rate ; the mu-
tilation of the hand for instance cost 100 shillings, of a thumb 45 ; the
nose the same, the fore finger 35, and any of the others 15 shillings.
Judgment was held under the open firmament, in an enclosed
place, called Mallum (Malstatte, or Malberg), and before an elevated

PASTIMES— CHRISTIANITY IN GERMANY. 105

shield^ The judges chosen under the presidency of the count
were, in all cases, for freemen also freemen themselves, and called
in judicial language Racldmburgi, or boni homines. These were
nominated by counts, usually to the number of seven. In cases
where the Kachimburgi could not find judgment, the so-called
Sagibarones who were appointed as especial councillors or magis-
trates, stepped in to decide. The regular tribunal which met at cer-
tain fixed periods, was called mallum legitimum. It was attended
by the entire population, and the whole community gave its de-
cision and not the judges (Rachimburgi), who merely found the
judgment. In the especial or summoned tribunals, however, at
which only few assisted besides the counts and judges, the latter
decided at once; the others present did not act as a community, but
only attended as audience, and as such had nothing to say.

To arrive at the guilt or innocence of an accused person appeared
to the Germans, with their acute feeling for the sacredness of justice,
to be one of the most indispensable duties. When, therefore, the
truth was not to be obtained by means of witnesses, they sought
higher aid, by having recourse to the so-called judgments of God.
The innocence of the accused party seemed confirmed if they re-
mained unharmed, upon being exposed to the dangers which, in the
ordinary course of things, are injurious; if, for instance, upon expos-
ing the hand or foot to boiling water or a glowing iron, it remained
unmarked, or if in single combat he conquered his opponent. They
had confidence that God would not allow innocence to fall, and no
doubt in the single combat, at least, the consciousness of innocence
would frequently give the victory.

Their chief pleasures were still the chace and war. The former
they loved so much, and so highly prized all that pertained to it,
that the Alemanni estimated a stolen lime hound at twelve shillings,
while a horse could be compensated at six, and a cow only at one
shilling. A common trained hawk was valued at three, and one
that had taken a stork at six shillings.

The whole moral and civil condition of the German tribes, in the
centuries immediately after the great migration, was in certain re-
spects worse than their ancient simple state, when they followed the
immediate impulses of their nature. They were now on the transit from
the unconscious life of nature to a consequent progress in civilization,
and this period of a nation is the worst, because the consciousness of
moral dignity begins to awaken before the power of self-government
is present to subdue the active impulses of passion.

The Goths, Burgundians, Longobardians, and Franks, had, as
has been related, much earlier adopted Christianity; in Germany
proper it made its appearance a couple of centuries later. For al-
though the Allemanni, Thuringians, and Bavarians, were subject to
the Franks, the latter did not give themselves much trouble to' dis-
seminate the holy doctrines amongst them ; although, by such a boon,
they might have given them a compensation for the loss of liberty.
It appeared indeed as if they, who had adopted Christianity in need

106 CHRISTIANITY IN GERMANY.

and in the tumult of battle, sought and desired only to promulgate it
with the sword. On the other hand, the apostles who planted these mild
doctrines among the German forests, came from distant countries — •
from England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Angli and Saxons, who
had landed there as heathens, were slowly converted to Christianity,
not by force, but by instruction and conviction. And it, therefore,
struck so deep a root in their minds, that speedily a multitude of
inspired and Christian men travelled from those countries as teachers
of the heathens. They had not to expect either rich abbeys or much
honour and reward among them, but, on the contrary, ridicule, con-
tempt, want, and the most extreme danger.

Such men were the holy Columban and Gallus, in the sixth cen-
tury; Kilian, Emmeran, Rupertus, and Willibrod, in the seventh
and eighth centuries; and, at last, the Englishman Winefred, who
afterwards received the honourable name of Bonifacius (the Benefi-
cent). He laboured from the year 718 to 755 with inexhaustible
courage for Christianity. In Franconia, Thuringia, on the Rhine, and
among the Saxons and Friesi, his zeal planted the divine doctrines ;
and whilst he introduced and established the Christian worship, so
humanizing to the manners, he collected the communities into villages,
and this laid a foundation for towns. For the strengthening of the
new faith, he fixed bishoprics here and there, or regulated those al-
ready existing, as in Salzburg, Passau, Freisingen, Ratisbonne, Wurtz-
burg, Eichstadt, and Erfurt ; the celebrated abbey Fulda was founded
by his follower Sturm, and at Ohrdruf he planted a school for fu-
ture teachers, who, according to the rule of their institution, not
only zealously propagated Christianity, but also the arts of agricul-
ture and horticulture.

In addition to all this, he did not hesitate, although at great per-
sonal danger, to contend against the rude disposition of the people with
the force of his faith. He overturned their altars, and cut down their
sacred trees, beneath which they sacrificed to their gods. One among
these, at Geissmar in Hessia, was particularly celebrated; but Boni-
face himself seized the axe and helped to hew it down. The sur-
rounding heathens firmly believed that the god who dwelt in the
tree would speedily come forth with fire, and consume the culprit
and all his companions. But the tree fell without the fire coming,
and with it dropped their former confidence in their god.

But Boniface complained even more of the bad Christian priests
themselves, whom he found among the Franks, than of the savage-
ness of the heathens. They lived in all kinds of vice, and made no
conscience of sacrificing to the false gods, as well as to baptise howso-
ever was required from them for the money offered for so doing. And
even the best among them took as much delight in arms and the chace
as in the duties of their spiritual office: " Religion has now been
prostrated full sixty or seventy years," says he in an epistle to Pope
Zacharias; u and the Franks for more than eighty years have had
neither an assembly in council of the church nor an archbishop. The

ARCHBISHOP BONIFACE— DAGOBERT. 107

bishoprics are in the hands chiefly of greedy laymen or criminal church-

I men, who perceive profit in nothing but temporalities." Thence one of

his chief cares was, that councils should be held by the Franconian

clergy to restore good morals and the ancient church discipline, and

1 that the clergy should participate in the assemblies of the March

I plains (Martii Campi), that the weal of the church might also be

there taken into consideration; and towards this he accomplished

much, for which he made himself greatly distinguished.

In the year 746, Boniface was made archbishop of Mentz, and as
such he stood at the head of the East-Franconian clergy, which he
I accustomed to unconditional obedience towards the Roman bishop,
who now as pope stood incontestedly at the head of the western
church. Boniface, however, would not remain inactive and pass his
later years in quiet, for the conversion of the heathens was now, as
formerly, still the labour and aim of his life ; and at last his zeal was
rewarded with the martyr's fate. Upon his return to the Friesi,
in order solemnly to consecrate some newly-baptized Christians, he
was fallen upon by a troop of barbarians, who expected to gain
booty from him. His servants seized their arms to repel the attack ;
he, however, forbade them to shed blood, and was therefore at once
murdered with all his companions by the furious band.

The religious foundations, churches, and cloisters which Boniface
and others built in Germany, became not only the sparks whence
the light of religion and intellectual cultivation proceeded, but many
of them formed also the nucleus of new towns and villages which,
by degrees, arose around them. Not only the bondsmen built their
huts close to them, but others also sought the protection of their
walls, and merchants and traders proceeded thither in the hopes of
making profit from the multitude of strangers who flocked there for
the sake of worship. The name of the festival, Kirchmesse or
Churchwake, derived thence its origin.

The kingdom of the Franks was divided into two great portions,
Neustria and Austrasia, or the Western and Eastern kingdoms ; and
the former was again frequently divided into several parts. In the
Western kingdom, the Roman manners and language maintained
the superiority; but in the East those of the Germans were pre-
dominant. Both nationsj were frequently at war and discontented
with each other.

In the year 613, Clothaire II. once again united the two divisions
of the kingdom, but soon afterwards resigned that of Austrasia into
the hands of his son Dagobert, who, on the death of his father in
the year 628, again combined the whole together. Under these two
governments, which may be included in the series as the most happy,
the kingdom became strengthened, and the internal relations, by the
exertions of Arnolph, bishop of Metz, and the great chamberlain or
prime minister, Pepin of Landen (Grandfather of Pepin of Heris-
tal), were greatly improved, and rendered more perfect and settled.
The judicial system now assumed more of the Christian character;

108 DAGOBERT— THE GRAND CHAMBERLAINS.

for, according to the original pagan law, every act of murder, with
the exception of that committed against the king, could be com-
pounded for with money and land, whereas now it was decreed that
each premeditated murder should be punished with death. The
clergy likewise were placed upon a more elevated and distinct foot-
ing, and which, indeed, was extremely necessary and desirable, so
that Christianity might not again sink and fall into neglect. In
order that the bishops should, as far as possible, consist of the most
worthy men, the ecclesiastics received, with the co-operation of the
people, the right of election (clerus cum populo). The jurisdiction
of the clergy was likewise, at the great synod of Paris in 614, esta-
blished upon a more firm and secure basis; and at the grand con-
ferences, its influence became more important, inasmuch as they ap-
peared there almost alone with the great vassals or higher officers of
the crown. The ancient assemblies of the people had, under Clovis,
entirely ceased to exist.

Dagobert resided chiefly in Paris. We find that under him con-
tinual wars were carried on between the Franks and Slavi, which
produced against them a friendly league between the Franks and
Saxons. Dagobert released the Saxons from their tribute of five hun-
dred cows.

After the death of Dagobert in 637, the decline of the Merovin-
gian dynasty commenced anew, and we find seven kings ruled like
puppets by guardians, acting as prime ministers or mayors of the
palace, thus producing the complete fall of the race. These mayors
got the entire sway of the kingdom. Originally, the major-domus
was only steward ; he stood at the head of the royal house and of the
royal people (Leudes), and was leader of the feudal retinue in war,
next to the king. The heerbann of free-men was not under him.
But when the retinue obtained, by degrees, the precedence, and be-
came properly the state, the heerbann fell into disuse, and the inde-
pendent freemen becoming reduced in number, the grand steward then
rose to be effectually the first officer of the kingdom, and under weak
kings was their ruler. When a war was to be conducted, the grand
steward placed himself at the head of the troops, and showed him-
self prepared for warlike feats; in peace also, he exercised the pri-
vilege of mercy, disposed of offices, distributed vacant sinecures, and
left to the king merely the honour of his name and that of the crown,
and the indulgence of his sensuality in the inner apartments of the
palace. It was only at the March assembly that the king appeared
personally amidst his people. There he sat publicly upon the seat of
his ancestors, greeted his nobles, and was saluted in return by them ;
he received the presents brought by the nation, and handed them over
to the grand chamberlain or steward standing beside the throne, distri-
buting, according to his recommendation, the vacant places, and con-
firming those he had already disposed of. He then mounted his chariot,
which, according to ancient custom, was drawn by four oxen, drove
to his palace, and remained there until the following March assembly.

CHARLES MART EL — THE ARABS. 109

Such was the condition of the great conqueror Clevis's de-
scendants, before two hundred years had passed since his death.
About the year 700, the grand steward over the whole kingdom of
the Franks, Neustria, as well as Austrasia, was Pepin of Heristal
(near Liege); a very careful and prudent man, who restored order and
justice, held the old March assemblies regularly, and won so much the
love and confidence of the people, by restoring in this manner their
rights against the encroachments of the hordes, that he was en-
abled to make the office hereditary to his family. His son, Charles
Martel, who was grand steward after him, saved the whole of Chris-
tianity at this moment from a great impending danger.

A savage horde had arrived from the south, and had in a short time
traversed extensive tracts with fire and sword, and subjected all to their
dominion. No nation could set limits to them, their arm was irresisti-
ble, and struck their opponents like lightning. These strangers were
the Arabs ; they came from Asia, and they derived their great power
from the new faith. For he whom they called their prophet, Ma-
homet, had announced to them much from the doctrines of Moses
and of our Saviour; besides which he promised to this people, who
were addicted to sensual pleasures beyond every thing, great re-
wards and an ever-during bliss in Paradise, if they fought zealously
for their new faith, and extended it over all countries. Mahomet
lived about the year 622. They had now rapidly conquered several
lands in Asia and Africa, and in less than a hundred years after the
death of Mahomet, in the year 711, they had already crossed the
Straits of Gibraltar to Spain. Roderic, king of the West Gothsr
who ruled in Spain, opposed them near Xeres de la Frontera; he
strove for his crown, for the freedom and religion of the West
Goths ; long and severe was the battle. Roderic fought heroically,,
until a treacherous count, who called the Arabs across the straits,
passed over to the enemy. The king then fell, and with him the
flower of his army. The kingdom of the West Goths was subjected
to the Arabs, and they soon ruled from the sea to the Pyrenees, so
that only a very small spot to the north-west of Spain, in the moun-
tains of Gallicia, remained a free possession in the hands of the
Goths.

After the Arabs had conquered Spain, they cast their eyes upon
France, and, crossing the Pyrenees, fell upon that country. At the
same time they showed themselves below Constantinople with a large
army and a fleet: so that they embraced the whole of Europe from
east to west, determined upon conquering it and extinguishing Chris-
tianity. And had they obtained the victory on both sides they would
have advanced still farther, and the two great armies would have met
and united in Germany and have completed the work. ^ But Pro-
vidence had determined otherwise. The city of Constantinople held
firm against the attack, with its strong walls and Greek fire, which
the inhabitants used against the ships of their enemy. But in France
they were opposed by the powerful hero Charles Martel, the son of

110 PEPIN THE LITTLE — END OF THE MEROVINGIANS.

Pepin ; he was called Martel or the hammer, because by his bravery
he struck his enemies down, as it were, like a hammer. With his
Franks he crossed the river Loire to meet the enemy, and came upon,
them between the cities of Tours and Poitiers, where a wide plain
spread itself out. The battle here took place on a Saturday in October,
in the year 732. Close and impassable, and covered with an advanced
wall of shields, the Franks stood immoveable, and endured their first
violent attack, for this was always the most furious. The Franks,
however, then suddenly broke forth, precipitated themselves upon the
Arabs, repulsed them, and it is said that more than 300,000 fell, to-
gether with their general, Abderachman, slaughtered by the swords
of the Franks. Those who remained fled towards southern France,
whence Charles soon drove them forth, and placed for ever a boundary
against them on this side. Charles, who, for this deed, was highly
honoured throughout all countries, died in the year 741.

His son was called Pepin the Little, or the Short; he was also
grand steward until 752, and ruled the kingdom according to his
pleasure but with wisdom and justice, whilst king Childeric III.,
sat in his palace like a shadow, and took not the least care of his
government. When Pepin saw the disposition of the Franks favour-
able to him, he caused an assembly of them to take place in the
year 751, when it was determined to send an embassy to Rome,
with this question: "Is he justly called king who has the royal
power in his hands, or he who merely bears the name?" To which
pope Zacharias replied, " He must also be called king, who possesses
the royal power."

The holy Boniface had accustomed the Franks, in certain cases of
conscience, to apply to the pope for advice as their spiritual father,
and the papal reply is to be regarded as counsel and opinion, as an
answer to such a question, but not as a deposal of king Childeric, by
virtue of the power existing in the pope. Upon this, the Franks
assembled again at Soissons, and took the crown from Childeric, the
last of the Merovingians, cut off his long hair, the mark of honour
with the Frankish kings, and had him removed to a cloister,
there to end his days ; whilst Pepin, the son of Charles Martel, and
grandson of Pepin of Heristal, was in the year 752 solemnly anointed
and crowned king of the Franks by the archbishop Boniface, 266
years after Clovis the Merovingian had, by his victory over Sya-
grius, upon this same field of Soissons, first founded the kingdom.

Pepin by his courage and wisdom augmented the power of his
nation. At this time, in 753, pope Stephen crossed the Alps (he
being the first pope who since the foundation of the church had
undertaken this journey) to demand the assistance of Pepin against
the Longobardian king Aistulph, who had conquered Ravenna,
and demanded tribute and submission from the pope. Pepin pro-
mised him aid, and retained him through the winter at his court in
Minister. Here the pope repeated the anointment of the king, as
already performed by the holy Boniface, anointing also his two sons,

PEPIN'S DEATH— THE CARLOVINGIANS. Ill

Carloman and Charles (after lie had himself lifted the latter, then
twelve years old, from the font), and then presented to the Franks
these members of the newly-created dynasty as alone legitimate. In
the spring of the year 754 the king advanced against Italy, defeated
Aistulph at^Susa, re-conquered Ravenna, with the surrounding
country, which had previously belonged to the Greek emperors, and
presented it to the pope. This formed the beginning of the papal
states.

Pepin died in 768, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and the
Franks mourned his death as much as if he had sprung from the
ancient royal race. In stature he was short, but very strong. It is
related of him, that once, upon the occasion of a combat of wild
beasts, some one jested about his size, upon which he stepped into
the arena, drew his sword, and with one blow struck off the head of
a lion: " I am not tall," said he, " but my arm is strong !"

His sons, Charles and Carloman, were elected kings by the nation
of the Franks, in a solemn assembly, and regularly divided the
kingdom between them.

112

THIRD PERIOD.

THE CAROLINGIANS FROM CHARLEMAGNE TO HENRY I.

768—919.

THE events of the reign of Charlemagne called forth the energy of the historical
writers :

1. The annals and chronicles, of which mention has been made previously, became
augmented, and proved for this period more and more important; whilst education,
so much promoted by Charlemagne, is therein displayed both in the language and
treatment of the subject.

2. In reference to the history of Charlemagne, the works of Einhard or Egmhard
will always remain the most important, being written by a man who was in imme-
diate communication with that sovereign. His "Annales," from 741 — 829, treat
more particularly of this period than the continuation of the " Annal Laurissenses,"
before mentioned. The " Vita Caroli Magni," after giving a brief account of the
wars of Charlemagne, describes especially every other particular connected with his
life and its events; and must be read by all with pleasure. In addition to this we
possess also his letters.

3. Theganus, bishop of Treves, who died in 848, wrote the life of Louis the pious,
— " De gestis Ludovici pii" — certainly not very impartially, and rather too briefly,
yet written with sincerity and exact information.

4. The " Vita Hludo vici Pii auctore anonymo," is much more complete, written
by a member of the emperor's household; this is rich in facts, and is expressed with
judgment.

5. Equally important is the poetical representation of a contemporary, Ermoldus
Nigellus, in his elegiac poem, " in honorem Hludovici Caesaris."

6. Nithard, grandson of the emperor, who died in 858, describes most completely
the disputes among the sons of Louis, in his " IV Libris de dissensionibus fillorum
Ludovici Pii;" he shows himself to be decidedly on the side of Charles the Bald.

7. The " Vita Sti- Anskarii," by Rimbert, Archbishop of Hamburg, written under
Louis the German, treats more especially upon the North German relations.

8. Enhard's and Kudolphus's " Annals of Fulda," and their continuators, are, after
the conclusion of Einhard, very important in German history. In his work,
Rudolphus gives a very interesting description of the Saxons; he is the only
writer who was acquainted with the writings of Tacitus, and from the latter's
Germania he has quoted several chapters literally. With respect to the western
moiety of the Frankish kingdom, the " Annales Bertiniani" (so called from the
Abbey St. Bertinbei Gent) of 822, give the best information. The last moiety was
perhaps written by the celebrated Archbishop Hincmar of Rheims.

9. A monk of St. Gallen, Manachus Sangallensis, has described in two books " de
Gestis Car. Magni," the life of the emperor in a peculiar fashion, according to
communications received and popular legends, mostly without historical fidelity, but
still not without grace.

10. Abbo, a monk of St. Germain, was present at the siege of Paris by the Nor-
mans in 885, and has described the events of that period in a poem, "debellis Parii-
acis," in a very animated style.

11. The so-called Poeta Saxo(900), has rendered into verse what Einhards Annals
relate of the emperor, and has partly succeeded in his work, although he can never,
or but rarely be used as a reference.

12. The Chronicles of the Abbot Regino, who died in 915, and which extend to the
year 907, are very important for the latter period of the Carolingians.

13. The letters of the popes, sovereigns, princes, &c., of this period are also very
important, particularly those which are contained hi the Codex Carolinus; likewise
the letters and works of Alcuin, as also the letters of Servatus Lupus, Eginhard's-
friend, and Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims.

14. Finally, it is quite certain that the " Capitularia Regum Francorum," the
laws of the realm, and general decrees of the kings, form a principal source of re-
ference for our history. They were collected by Baluzius, and have been recently
published by Pertz, in the third volume of the " Monumenta,"

CHARLEMAGNE, OR CHARLES THE GREAT. 113

CHAPTER V.

768—814.

Charlemagne, 768— 814— The state in which Charlemagne found the Empire—
The East-Roman or Grecian Empire— England— The North of Europe— The
Spanish Peninsula — Italy — Austria and Hungary — Germany _ The Wars of
Charlemagne— The Saxons— The Longobardi— The Arabs— The Bavarians—
The Empire of Charlemagne— Charlemagne, Emperor of Rome, 800— The Death
of Charlemagne, 814— His Portraiture.

IT has been the fate of Charlemagne, as well as the majority of
extraordinary historical characters, to be subjected to the ordeal of
a very different, and frequently a very opposite criticism. By many
he has been classed with the noblest heroes and sages of the human
race, by some, however, he has been rejected as a blood-thirsty ty-
rant, whose whole^ object and desire was war and destruction. It is
true that he led his armies from one end of his extensive empire to
the other in constant warlike expeditions, and subjected many nations
by force of arms to his dominion, thus giving Europe an entirely
different form. The question therefore to be solved is, whether his-
tory shall bless or curse him for these extraordinary deeds.

A false judgment must necessarily be passed upon great men and
the great events of nations, by those who cannot transport themselves
from their own times back into those whereof the picture is to be drawn.
In periods when society is in a ferment, and barbarism and civilisa-
tion are in contest with each other; when from the existing compo-
nent parts something new and great is to germinate, towards which
the tranquil course of things, as handed down will not suffice —
Providence sends forth mighty individuals, who are destined to lead
a whole age many steps onward in its development, and, according
to the object which they are to accomplish, it furnishes them with
adequate vigour of intellect and strength of will. But because such
chosen spirits do not follow the beaten track, and because, perhaps,
whilst their eye is fixed upon the distant mountain summit, many a
flower is crushed beneath their feet, and they in the impatient
struggle, which in the short space of the life of one man is to deter-
mine the plan of the course of centuries, wound unconsciously many
a sacred right; the easy, indolent spirit of the lover of repose,
therefore, to which the sanctity of rights forms the foundation-stone
of life, is loud in execration against the vessel in which was compressed
such gigantic, mighty powers, and the judgment thence pronounced
is frequently severe and unjust. But who shall censure the mountain
stream because it flows not like the meadowy brook, but drags forth
even stones and trees, bearing them onwards with it in its course? It
is true it tears forth by the roots the decayed and rotten stems, -but
thereby the light of heaven is opened to cheer the progress of the
more young and tender plants.

I

1 14 STATE OF THE EMPIRE — ENGLAND.

Let this, however, by no means be considered as an apology for the
violence of tyrannical rulers, whose actions'flow from an impure source.
Man is a free agent, and presents himself as the ready instrument
of Providence in its great plans. The manner in which he executes
his office depends upon himself, and either justifies or condemns him.
It is not the great deeds he has performed, nor the thousands who
have bled in battle, whilst others in the intoxication of victory have
profanely worshipped him, that decide upon his merits or demerits,
but it is the object by which he was governed, and the purpose for
which he accomplished his extraordinary plans : whether he has been
guided by great thoughts towards a worthy and noble end, or only
by his own pride, his ambition,'and vanity, or to speak figuratively,
whether in the mirror of his life the infinite creation and its worlds,
or only his own proud image be reflected. This may be observed from
many signs, but it is especially to be recognised therein, viz., when he
has revered the dignity of humanity as a sacred object, even in its
details, or not observing or acknowledging it, but despising men, he
has merely used them as instruments to his purposes.

This should be our rule of judgment, in order that we may not
allow ourselves on the one side to bestow admiration upon mere
power without intrinsic goodness, nor on the other to prejudge un-
justly all those names which are inscribed in the volume, too fre-
quently perhaps in characters of blood and fire.

The work of a great man derives its proper light from the condi-
tion of the world when he appeared upon the stage; it is therefore
necessary to take a short review of the state of Europe at the time
Charles attained the empire.

1. The East-Roman, or Greek empire, still existed; but only in the
strange mixture of old and new relations, of splendour and misery, of
presumption and weakness, as it had existed for a thousand years —
in the history of the world a riddle. For it is scarcely to be con-
ceived how the mere shadow of an ancient, great, and splendid state,
or as it were the gaudily-decorated corpse of antiquity, as that empire
has been happily called, should have preserved itself so long without in-
ternal life. The change of rulers and the inconstancy of all conditions
were so great, that for an emperor of Constantinople no title was more
flattering than being styled, " the imperial son of a father born in the
purple robe" (porphyrogenitus porphyrogeniti). For the throne came
by turns to men who had been born among the dregs of society , and who
owed their elevation to some crime. To Charlemagne this distant
and extensive, but wealthy empire, could not be immediately either
an object of dread or ambition. He maintained friendship with the
Greek emperors, and they mutually honoured each other with em-
bassies and presents, for it was desirable to the Greeks to be upon
good terms with him. " Retain the Frank for thy friend, but pre-
vent him from being thy neighbour," was an established proverb
among the Greeks.

2. England, at the commencement of Charlemagne's reign, was

THE NORTH OF EUROPE— THE SPANISH PENINSULA. 115

still divided among several Anglo-Saxon kings, and formed a se-
cluded world of its own, without possessing any influence upon the
nations of the continent. Charlemagne's name, however, was speed-
ily known and highly esteemed. One of his most confidential friends,
Alcuin, was an Englishman, and by his means he often caused the
princes there to be written to, and persuaded them to be united and
repel the attacks of the valiant Danes. Even the Thanes, or petty
kings of Scotland, called him no otherwise than their lord.

3. The north of Europe was still but little known. It is true it
was the cradle of valiant men, who knew how to wield the iron of
their soil with a powerful arm, and who, after the reign of Charle-
magne, by their maritime expeditions gained themselves a terrific
name upon all the coasts of Europe. They were yet, however, with-
out importance to the Frankish empire. Nevertheless, with his com-
prehensive mind, Charlemagne perceived the danger which threa-
tened from them. It is related that being once at a seaport, (it is
said at Narbonne,) some ships approached the coast but their crews
were not known. Charlemagne's quick eye detected them to be
Norman pirates by their shape and rapid motions. They hastily re-
tired when they heard that the great emperor was there. After they
had disappeared he turned sorrowfully from the window, shed tears,
and at last said to those around him, " You would fain know, my
friends, why I wept? Not from fear, no! but it vexes me that,
during my life, they have ventured to this shore, and with grief
do I foresee, alas ! the mischief they will bring to my successors."

4. The Spanish Peninsula was subjected to the Arabians with the
exception of some Westro-Gothic places among the mountains, but
their religious zeal had already cooled, and their power was tamed by
internal dissensions. Charlemagne's grandfather had deterred them,
from the conquest of Europe, and they thought only of maintaining
their own existence in Spain. But Charlemagne could not behold
with indifference the enemies of the Christian name as his neighbours.

5. Italy was divided into three dominions, the Longobardian in
upper and a portion of lower Italy; the Grecian in lower Italy and
Sicily; and the Roman in middle Italy. Rome was in a mixed
state, for the power was divided between the Pope, the senate, and
the people, but the pope daily acquired more importance. The su-
perior protective dominion of the city had passed from the Greek
emperors to the kings of the Franks, for Pope Stephen, in the name
of the Roman senate and people, had, in the year 754, conveyed the
dignity of a Roman Patrician to King Pepin and^his sons. Between
the Romans and the Longobards there arose a bitter hatred and im-
placable enmity, which were the immediate cause of Charlemagne
interfering in the affairs of Italy. He had, indeed, endeavoured to
remove the ancient jealousy which prevailed between the Franks and
the Longobards by marrying the daughter of King Desiderius", but
upon this occasion Pope Stephen wrote to him thus : " What madness
in the most excellent son of a great king to sully his noble Frankish

12

116 AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY—THE AVARIANS, &c.

race by an alliance with, that most faithless and most fulsome nation,
the Longobardi, who should not be named among the multitude
of nations, and from whom doubtlessly the race of lepers had their
origin. What community of feeling has light with darkness, or a
believer with an unbeliever." The Longobards richly returned this
hatred of the Romans; one of their bishops says of them: " Under
the name of a Roman we comprehend all that is mean, cowrardly?
avaricious, and lying, nay, even all vices combined." Charlemagne's
union with the royal house of the Longobards was not durable, for
two years afterwards he sent back the daughter of King Desiderius;
whether it arose from the ill-will of the pope to this marriage, or
whether other unknown reasons urged him we cannot say, but we
shall speedily see that greater causes arose for the enmity between
them.

6. To the south-east of Charles's possessions in Austria and Hungary,
dwelt the Avari, a Mongolian nation from Asia, which had long
warred with and plundered the provinces of the eastern empire, but
now quietly but anxiously guarded the treasures amassed during two
centuries. These lay heaped up in nine particular places, surrounded
by walls and ditches, and which were called circles, appearing to
invite, as it were, every one to retake them from their possessors,
who themselves did not know how to enjoy them.

7. The remaining portion of the eastern German borders was oc-
cupied by the different branches of the Slavonians and Vandals,
rude nations of a less noble, natural disposition than the Germans.
In Germany they possessed Holstein, Mecklenburg, Brandenburg,
Pomerania, a portion of Saxony, the Lausitz, Silesia, Bohemia, and
Moravia. In Holstein were the Wagrians; in Mecklenburg, the
Obotriti ; in a portion of Brandenburg, the Wilzen ; in another part
the Hevellers and Ukerns; the Pomeranians in the province which
has received their name — collective branches of the Vandals. In
the district of Meissen, the Sclavonian Sorbi; in Lausitz, the Lau-
sitzers; in Bohemia, the Ezechi; and the Moravians in Moravia.

8. In Germany itself Charlemagne found greater tranquillity. The
Septs, who had been subjected to the Franks, the Allemanni, Ba-
varians, and Thuringians had by degrees accustomed themselves to
the foreign dominion, which was not only not oppressive, but had
even left them their manners, laws, and peculiar customs. But with
the exception of the Bavarians, they were no longer ruled according
to ancient custom by their own dukes, but according to the Prankish
institutions, by counts without hereditary power in distinct districts.
Thence they wanted a central point of union, and the ancient love
of independence survived most firmly among the Bavarians alone.
The bishops in all these provinces were very much attached to the
Carlovingian dynasty.

But on the borders of his empire, in the north of Germany, dwelt
neighbours who offered the first object for the trial of his strength,
namely, the Saxons, unconquered and free, fixed in their boundaries

THE SAXONS— THE WARS OF CHARLEMAGNE. 117

from the German Ocean to Thuringia, and from the Elbe to the
vicinity of the Rhine. Whilst among the Franks, the old German
institutions had been much altered, and the warriors in the Gefblge
or suite of the king, had assumed the order of nobility, and occupied
the place of the freemen, the Saxons still lived in the ancient man-
ners of their ancestors, without a common chieftain, each Gau or
district under its own head, and only during war, under a self-elected
leader. It was a community of freemen in free dwellings. The in-
terior of their country was defended by forests and morasses, and
strong places for the defence of the boundaries were erected on the
Lippe, Ruhr, Weser, Dimel, and Elbe. In their groves of a
thousand years' growth, they still sacrificed to the gods of their
fathers, whilst the other German tribes had all adopted Christianity;
nay, they were even accused of still celebrating human sacrifices. The
Franks considered themselves so superior to them by reason of their
Christianity, as well as the general superiority of their cultivation,
that their historians can scarcely deprecate sufficiently the rudeness
and wildness of the Saxons. But they were not so much dangerous
as burdensome neighbours of the Franks, because, according to the
ancient German practice, they did not wish to make conquests, but
merely roved in predatory incursions into neighbouring countries.
But a well-guarded frontier would have been a sufficient protection
against them as well as against the Slavonians and Avari, and we
see from this sketched description, that Charles might have re-
mained, like the Merovingians, in quiet possession of his inheritance
without conducting such great external wars. The Frankish em-
pire extended in self-sufficient strength, from the Pyrenees to the
Lower Rhine, and from the English Channel to the Ens, in Austria,
and had nothing to fear from any of its neighbours.

But a mind satisfied with mere tranquil possession was not ac-
corded to Charles ; its internal power was used to vent itself in new
forms for this was the law implanted in his nature. The condition of
the world demanded great creative powers in order not to remain for
centuries longer waste and confused. We dare not censure Charles
because he followed this impulse of his nature, but the way in which
he followed it and modelled his new creation, gives the measure of
judgment against him. Were high and noble thoughts his guide,
and was his own genius great, or was it petty, and directed to vain
things? Upon that the history of his life must decide.

After Charles (who ascended the throne in his twenty-sixth year)
and his brother Carloman had reigned together some years, the latter
died in 77 1 . The nobles of Carloman's possessions desired his brother
for their king also, and cast out the two sons of Carloman from suc-
cession to the throne, with whom the widow fled, and took refuge at
the court of Desiderius, king of the Longobardi. Thus was Charles
sole ruler of the Franks. Upon this he assembled at Worms an- im-
perial diet in 772, where he represented to the assembly the re-
peated offences of the Saxons and the merit of their conversion to

118 THE SAXONS— ITALY— THE LONGOBARDIANS.

Christianity ; upon which the nation declared war against the Saxons
— the first and longest war that Charles was engaged in — for it con-
tinued with several interruptions to the year 803, consequently for
thirty-two years. During this time Charles frequently conquered
the Saxons in open field, and forced them to conclude peace, but
when he again quitted their country, and was obliged to withdraw to
the farther end of his empire, they broke the peace, rebelled against
the obnoxious dominion, chased away the Frankish garrisons, and
made incursions into the country of the Franks, until Charles again
appeared and forced them anew to submission.

The first irruption made in their country, in the year 772, was
successful and short. He proceeded from Worms, through Hessia to
the Weser, and Dimel. He conquered the burg of Eresberg (the pre-
sent Statberg, in the bishopric of Paderborn), the Saxon place of re-
treat not far from the Weser, in a rude neighbourhood, and upon a
precipitous height; and destroyed the celebrated Irminsul (or statue
of Irmin), an object regarded with the most sacred veneration by
the Saxons, but of which we do not precisely know whether it was
an image of a god, or perhaps a monument of Arminius, thus revered
with divine honours. The Saxons concluded peace upon the banks
of the Weser, and gave twelve chiefs as hostages.

Charles was rejoiced at having so speedily concluded an advan-
tageous peace, for already other affairs called him into Italy. De-
siderius, who by the reception of the widow of Carloman had al-
ready shown himself as an enemy, required of the new pope, Adris
that he should anoint the sons of Carloman as kings of the Franks ;
and upon Adrian's refusal, he threatened him with war. The pope
demanded aid from Charles, who at once advanced, crossed the
Alps, marched round the passes, of which the Longobardi had
taken possession, and encamped before Pavia in the year 774.
Desiderius purposed defending his metropolis until sickness and
want should force the Franks to retire. But Charles was not of a
disposition to be so soon fatigued ; he let his army lie six months be-
fore Pavia, went himself to the Easter festival at Rome, which he
for the first time witnessed, and there confirmed the deed of gift
made by his father. He then returned to Pavia, which soon yielded
to him, received Desiderius as a prisoner, and sent him, after shaving
his head for the cowl, to the monastery at Corvey in France, whei
, after a short time, he died. Charles now called himself king of tl
Lombards, and caused himself to be crowned at Monza.

As the Saxons had in the meantime recommenced war, he
his return, and after he had held a diet at Diiren, made in 775,
new incursion into their country, conquered Sigberg, restored th(
Eresberg destroyed by the Saxons, pressed onwards over the Weser
to the Oker, there receiving hostages from the Eastphalians, and on
his return, near Buckeburg (Buchi), obtaining also those of the An-
gravarians. But as, in the meantime, the Longobardian, Duke Rot-
gaud, of Frioul, to whom, as vassal of the empire, he had entrusted the

THE ARABS— THE SAXONS. 119

passes of the Alps, decided upon taking advantage of the moment, and
rebelled, Charles was already again in Italy (776), and punished the
seceders before they thought him even apprised of their plans. This
time, also, he was about to advance to Rome, when a message ar-
rived with intelligence that the Saxons had again revolted, had retaken
Eresberg, and laid siege to Sigsberg. He speedily returned back
into Germany, forced his way through all their forest-defences as far
as Lippspring, when the Saxons again yielded, and many vowed to
become Christians, and offered themselves to be baptised. He built a
fortress on the Lippe, perhaps where Lippsstadt at present stands.

^ In the following year (777), he was already enabled to hold a
diet at Paderborn, in the country of the Saxons, where the majority
of the nation swore fidelity. Their boldest leader, however, Wit-
tekind (Saxon, Widukind), had fled to the Danish king, Sigfried.
It was at this diet that the ambassadors of the Arabian governors
of Saragossa and Huesca, in Spain, appeared before Charles, and
entreated his assistance against the King, Abderam. He consi-
dered it worthy of his dignity not to allow those who placed them-
selves under his protection to entreat in vain; besides, these unbe-
lievers, who had pressed onwards into Europe, were his most hated
enemies. Accordingly he advanced in the following year (778),
into Spain; the petty Christian princes in the mountains of Na-
varre, who had maintained themselves independent of the Moors,
here joined him; he conquered Pampeluna, Saragossa, Barcelona, and
Girona ; and the country as far as the Ebro swore allegiance to him.
Henceforward it formed part of his empire, under the name of
the Spanish marches or limits, and was a land of protection for
the Christians remaining in Spain.

Upon his return, however, with his army, winding itself, as it
is poetically described, like a long brazen serpent among the rough
rocks of the Pyrenees, and through the obscure forests and narrow
paths, the rear-guard became separated from the main body, and in
an ambuscade laid by the mountaineers, fell into the ravines of Ron-
cesvalles. The Franks could not fight in their heavy armour, and
they fell with their leader Rutland, the Count de la Manche. _ This
is the celebrated knight, Roland, who later, as well as his king —
Charles, is so much sung in the legends and heroic lays of Europe.

Meanwhile the Saxons, according to custom, when the king was
at a distance, had again seized arms. Under Wittekind they fell
upon the country of the Franks, and devastated it with fire and
sword as far as Deuz, opposite Cologne. This, like the earlier revolts
of the Saxons, was not so much a war of the nation and of the heads
of families, but of individual leaders with their suite or Gefolge, who
did not consider themselves bound by the treaties. ^ Charles returned,
drove the enemy far back into their country, and in 780 constructed
fortresses on the Elbe to fix a strong rein upon them. And now
thinking himself quite secured in that quarter, he made a journey in
781 to Rome to cause his sons Pepin and Louis to be anointed by the

120 THE SAXONS — THEIR OVERTHROW AND SUBJECTION.

Pope, the former King of Italy, the latter King of Acquitaine (South
France).

The Saxons in the interim had maintained themselves perfectly
quiet, but the remembrance of their ancient freedom would not quite
die within them, and Christianity, which had been brought to them
with the sword by their hated neighbours, gained no power over
their hearts. It appeared insupportable to them that a man should not
himself revenge a contumely, and that a hero should not have a par-
ticular heaven. The impost of tithes which they were obliged to pay
to the church, appeared also excessively oppressive to them. As Wit-
tekind had, therefore, now returned and placed himself at their head,
they thought the present was the best moment for them to shake off
the yoke, and, the same as formerly, when their nation fell upon Varus
in the Teutoburger forest, they now surrounded the Frankish leaders
Geilo and Adalgis, upon Mount Suntel, on the Weser, just as they
were about to march against the predatory Serbians dwelling on the
Saale, and destroyed them as well as the greatest portion of their army.

This deed inflamed the wrath of the king (who was already ex-
cessively irritated at their repeated rebellion) to the degree, that
he broke into the country, desolated it far and wide, and caused
4500 imprisoned Saxons to be beheaded near Verden on the Aller,
as a terrible example to the rest, and as a sacrifice for his army de-
stroyed— as it appeared to him, by treachery; a stain in his history
which cannot be justified, but may partly be excused by the rash
and turbulent manners of those times, and the excited passions of the
king. As a consequence of this severe act, Charles, in 783, beheld
the whole nation of the Saxons, under Wittekind and Alboin, rise
simultaneously in such furious rage and madness as had never
before been evinced. Two severe battles were fought near Thiet-
melle, now Detmold, and on the river Hase in Osnaburg; the first
was undecided, but the second so unfortunate for the Saxons, that
Charles advanced as far as the Elbe, and in this and the next year,
when with his wife and children he passed the winter campaign at
Eresburg, he progressively strengthened his power in their country.
Wittekind and Alboin then saw that heaven had decided the fate of
their nation, and that a longer resistance would completely annihi-
late it. They promised submission to the powerful king, and took an
oath to go themselves to France, and be there baptised ; and they kept
their word. In the year 785 they came to Attigny, and Charles him-
self was sponsor to the Saxon duke, Wittekind, and his wife Gera.

From this time henceforward Saxony became more tranquil, and sub-
mitted to the Frankish institutions as well as to those of Christianity.
Charles, for the purpose of strengthening this doctrine among them,
likewise founded, by degrees, several bishoprics and religious foun-
dations, which continued to spread light around, viz. : in Osnaburg, in
783; Verden, in 786; Bremen, in 788; Paderborn, in 795; Halber-
stadt; Elze (which was removed in 822 to Hildesheirn), and Munster,
in 806. Yet the seeds of disquiet were not quite destroyed; small dis-

THE BAVARIANS— THE LONGOBARDIANS— THE AVARIANS. 121

putes still frequently arose, and we shall shortly come to one of
greater import.

Charles's next dispute was with Duke Tassilo of Bavaria, of the an-
cient race of the Agitolfingi. Tassilo had still old offences to answer
for, inasmuch as he had never supplied Pepin or Charles with troops,
and he was now charged with having incited the Avari of Hungary
to war with the king. His consort Luitberga, a daughter of°the
Longobardian king, Desiderius, may have enacted her part likewise in
these designs. Tassilo was condemned to death by the assembled no-
bles at the diet of Ingelheim, 778, but pardoned by^ Charles; and
by his own wish, together with his son Theodore, banished to a mo-
nastery. Bavaria became now, like the other Frankish countries,
ruled by royal counts or governors, and the bishopric of Salzburg
was raised to an archbishopric over the whole of Bavaria.

In the year 787, Arechis, the Longobardian Duke of Benevento
in Lower Italy, also yielded allegiance to the king as his superior
feudal lord. He ruled that beautiful country as far as Naples and
Brindisi. He made it a condition, however, that he himself should
not come to Germany and appear before Charles, which was granted.
The duke received the ambassadors of the king at Salerno; his
army surrounded the palace, young nobles with the falcon on their
gauntlet, formed rows upon the grand steps leading up to the Burg,
whilst the hall was filled with the provosts of cities, and their coun-
cil in state dresses, &c. The duke, seated upon the gorgeous, golden
chair of state, stood up, and swore to be faithful to the king, to
maintain peace, and to perform feudal service to the extent of a
league beyond the frontiers of Benevento.

After this, Charles formed the resolution to punish the Avari in
Austria and Hungary for their earlier predatory expeditions. Ac-
cordingly, he marched against them in the year 791; the Franks
advanced on the south side of the Danube; the Saxons, with the
Friesi, who were both obliged to yield feudal service, advanced upon
its northern bank; and upon the river itself a flotilla conveyed an-
other portion of the army. Their appearance alone drove the Avari
away full of terror; they left to the enemy the immense booty of
their treasures, and Charles subjected the country to his dominion as
far as the river Raab.

In the following years, he merely sent detached forces against
them. His main army remained, meanwhile, in South Germany, and
worked at a canal to form the junction of the Altmiihl with the Red-
nitz rivers, between the Maine and the Danube, which, had it been com-
pleted, would have united the North Sea, by means of the Rhine, with
the Danube to the Black Sea; an important work, replete with rich
commercial prospects. Levantine merchandize would thus have
found a direct course from their repository at Constantinople to the
very heart of Charles's states. But unfavourable weather, and the dif-
ficulties of the ground, but chiefly the want of skill in his workmen,
who knew not how to drain the water from the places that were dug,

122 THE FRESIANS — THE TVJ URGE AVIATES— THE SAXONS.

nor to secure the banks of the canal from falling in, rendered the
work nugatory. Charles, therefore, abandoned the undertaking ; but
the honour of completing this great plan, originating with him, has
been handed down and conferred in our days upon another sovereign
of the German race. And the cause why he did not now again at-
tack the Avari, and thus open to himself the road to Constantinople,
was produced by a fresh rebellion of the Saxons, who, not liking long
warlike expeditions, but only short-excursions, found the hard march-
ing feudal service in such distant parts particularly trying. They re-
sisted it and mutinied, and induced^ the Friesi to do the same. The
king was, therefore, obliged to make several incursions into their
country, in the course of which, in 797, he advanced as far as the
ocean between the mouths of the Elbe and Weser. Meantime, the
war against the Avari was continued successfully by his generals,
and then by his son Pepin, to the year 796 ; the seat of their Chagan
or chief, the main circle of their land, with all its treasures were con-
quered, and the country thus wrested from them was taken possession
of by fresh inhabitants, conveyed from other German states, but chiefly
from Bavaria. Charles distributed the immense booty amongst his
army, by which means the quantity of noble metals became sud-
denly very much increased in the Frankish country.

The object of Charles in this expedition against the Avari, as well
as in those against the Sclavonian nations, was chiefly to secure the
eastern frontiers of the kingdom. Thence arose a long line of fron-
tier provinces, from the Adriatic Sea to the Elbe, along the ancient
boundaries of the Longobardi, Bavarians, Swabians, Franks, Thu-
ringians, and Saxons. To these were appointed margraves, who
bore the title of marchio (dux limitis), and who had their seats origi-
nally fixed in the most strongly fortified burgs of the ancient dis-
tricts. The inhabitants of these frontier provinces, through wars
and repeated revolts, became gradually destroyed, and were replaced
by German colonists, for whose protection the burgs were usefully
adapted, as well as for bringing either into subjection or alliance the
neighbouring Slavonic princes. Several of these princes entered,
subsequently, the ranks of the princes of the empire ; for Charles's
plans and regulations in these countries operated late in after years
with beneficial effect.

The disputes with the Saxons continued until the ninth century;
but the strength of these people became more and more weakened,
and especially after Charles, forced, by their obstinate resistance, to
adopt such extreme measures, transplanted some thousands of them.
from their native land into other parts of his kingdom. Thus they
were gradually reduced to a state of peace, even without any for-
mal treaty being concluded — the peace of Selz in 803, as hitherto
accepted, not being admissible as a proof of treaty — and Charles was
enabled to commence upon his plans and arrangements in Saxony.
He proceeded at once to strengthen Christianity amongst them more
firmly, whilst, however, he granted them greater independence than

THEIR UNION WITH THE FRANKS — RESULTS OF THE WARS. 123

lie had to the Allemanni and Bavarians. They retained their an-
cient privileges, and were chiefly governed by native counts, who
•were, it is true, chosen by Charles, and were placed under the im-
perial envoys. This, therefore, may rather be called a union of the
Saxon nation with that of the Franks, as Einhard himself terms it,
than a subjection; and, indeed, they well merited, by the perse-
vering consistency with which they conducted it, so honourable a
conclusion to their long struggle for freedom. But, on the other hand,
Charles's perseverance is also to be admired, for although he had the
advantage of numbers and great superiority in the art of war on his
side, still the Saxons had the benefit of their country, and the forests
and morasses as formerly in their battles with the Romans.

Charles, to confirm tranquillity for ever among them, transplanted
about 10,000 of the most violent from the Elbe and the coasts of the
North Sea into the country of the Franks, as cultivators of the im-
perial farms; and from that transplantation, no doubt, is derived the
names of Sachsenhausen near Frankfort, as well as Sachsenheim
and Sachsenflur, in Franconia. The places left thus void on the
Elbe he gave over to his allies the Vandal Obotriti, in Mecklen-
burg, and the Vagrian Sclavi, from whom this part of Holsteiii has
received and preserved the name of Vagria.

If we cast back our glance upon these first thirty years of the
reign of Charles thus filled with wars, we must admire the great ra-
pidity with which he marched from Saxony to Italy, from there back
to the Weser, and then back again twice the same road ; then into
Spain along the Ebro, and back to the Elbe, proceeding on to Hun-
gary, to the Raab, and again returning into his own country; and
wherever he arrived, his presence immediately deciding the contest.
Herein we have at once the true character of a hero; this boldness and
rapidity of thought, resolution, and action; this impression of innate
personal greatness, which nothing could resist, and which greatness
nobody has sought to deny. But still more than all this, it was not ab-
solutely the love of war and conquest, and the honour of his name, which
inspired him to drive his armies on so breathlessly through the countries
of Europe, but his plans were regulated by one grand creative idea
for which he considered himself called upon to make these sacrifices.

What already the great Ostro-Gothic king, Theodoric, had in con-
templation, prospective, as it were, of future times, but which it was not
allowed him to accomplish, viz., the union of the Christian Ger-
manic nations into one empire, Charlemagne executed ; not certainly
in Theodoric's manner, by the gentle force of persuasion and convic-
tion, for by that means the end was not to be attained, but accord-
ing to the custom of his nation and of his age, by the terror of arms.
Yet, he cannot be charged with having capriciously sought war more
urgently than was necessary for the attainment of his object.

The central point of this great Germanic empire was to be the beau-
tiful country of the Rhine, and Ingelheim near Mentz, was, therefore,
made the royal seat, but which was afterwards transferred to Aix-la-Cha-

124 CHARLEMAGNE AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE— POPE LEO III.

pelle and Nimwegen. No doubt he might have found richer and
more attractive spots in Italy and France, to induce him to fix his
residence there, but his constant mind was more attached to his an-
cient fatherland than to the most beautiful countries of the earth.
He was no Frankish king as it has frequently been wished to repre-
sent him ; but he belonged to the Austrasian Franks, which is the
country of the Rhine, and where the Franks had their chief inter-
course with the Germans still remaining there, and thus continuing
most pure and unmixed. This country he intended should form the
main and central seat of his empire, and the noble stream of his
fatherland, as it were, its great vital artery, which should unite all
its different sections. This is indicated by the canal by means of
which he purposed connecting the Rhine and the Danube.

But if the Lower Rhine and Aix-la-Chapelle were to form the
centre and seat of his empire, it becomes evident that his chief con-
test must be with the Saxons, who were here too close and unquiet
neighbours of his residence for him to tolerate. He necessarily, there-
fore, extended the limits of his empire farther to the north and north-
east. But his war with the Saxons had a still different but equally
serious object; it being essentially a religious war, for the honour
and diffusion of the Christian faith. Charles was eminently a cham-
pion of the church, and therein a type of the chivalric middle ages.
It is true the mild doctrines of Christianity should not be diffused
by fire and the sword ; and Charles sufficiently experienced how little
durable was the conversion when at his command hundreds at the
same moment stepped into a river and had water poured over them
in sign of baptism ; but in this he followed less his own wishes than
the character of his nation, which had itself been converted suddenly
and during the external excitement of the tumult of battle. To
him, however, belongs the fame and glory that he also knew and ho-
noured the right mode of igniting the light of faith. For besides
this, he founded monasteries, churches, and bishoprics in Saxony, and
that these doctrines might be more fully developed and propagated,
he caused also all the young Saxons, received as hostages, to be as-
siduously instructed with others, that they might, as teachers, en-
lighten their nation. And so perfectly did he succeed in his plans,
that this same Saxon nation, which had hitherto so obstinately re-
sisted Christianity, was speedily filled with the greatest zeal for it,
and made in every respect a flourishing progress.

The confidential and beloved friend of the king, Pope Adrian,
died in 795. Charles mourned for him as for a father, and caused an
inscription to be placed over his tomb which contains the expression of
his veneration. His successor, Pope Leo III., was misused in a revolt
of the Romans, and sought protection from Charles, who received him
in solemn state at Paderborn,* whither the pope came in 799, amidst
an almost incredible concourse of venerating people, when he gave

* Pope Leo consecrated at Paderborn, amongst other objects, the altar of St. Ste-
phen, which is still to be found in the vault under the choir of the cathedral.

CHARLEMAGNE AT ROME— CROWNED EMPEROR OF ROME. 125

him his promise to go himself to Rome to punish the evil-doers; and
which promise he fulfilled in the year 800. At the Christmas fes-
tival of that same year, Charles was present at the service in St»
Peter's church at Rome. On this great occasion individuals from
almost every nation of the west, were collected together in the me-
tropolis of the Christian church, and an innumerable concourse of
people filled the temple. After high mass, when Charles knelt at
the altar, Pope Leo brought forth an imperial crown and placed it
upon his head, when the whole assembled multitude exclaimed:
" Charles Augustus, crowned by the Almighty, the great and peace-
bringing emperor of the Romans. Hail, all hail, and victory !" At
the same time the pope knelt down before him.*

Thus in 324, the year after Romulus Augustulus had lost the Ro-
man imperial dignity, it was again renewed by Charlemagne, who,
as a patrician, was already chief protector of Rome. He himself
attributed so much importance to the imperial coronation, that all his
subjects, from twelve years of age upwards, were obliged to renew
their oath of allegiance. His power was now extended over Italy,
France, Catalonia, the Balearic islands, and on the other side as far

* Eginhard, the biographer and friend of Charles, says indeed — and we may pre-
sume as received direct from the mouth of the emperor himself— that the latter had,
at first, adopted the title, Augustus Imperator, with very great reluctance, and that
lie assured him he would not even have entered the walls of the church on that grand
day of festival, had he foreseen the intention of the pope. Nevertheless, it is scarcely
to be conceived that a proceeding so grave and highly important could have been
arranged without the knowledge and concurrence of Charles, who, indeed, in all his
actions never allowed himself to be led by others. Besides, it is already evident,
from what is shown by other good testimonies (Annul. Lauris. ham), that the renewal
of the imperial dignity had been discussed and resolved upon, for Alcuin himself
knew of it beforehand, he having given to one of his pupils a bible and a letter, both
of which he was deputed'to present to the emperor at the Christmas festival in
Rome, and in which letter the learned master wished the mighty sovereign all happi-
ness ad splendorem imperialis potentia. But what struck Charles, no doubt, with
sudden surprise and momentary vexation was, that the pope should merely have
presented to him the imperial crown, and that it had not been left to him, the sovereign,
to place it upon his own head himself, or to command it to be done by the pope (as
his bishop), as was the custom with the Greek emperors, who were crowned by their
patriarchs; thence, there is little doubt, arose the expressions attributed to him by
Eginhard. This, indeed, is clearly shown subsequently, when, at Aix-la-Chapelle,
he ordered Louis to place the crown upon his own head. Charles always considered
himself as chief ruler over Rome, styled the Romans in his decrees as his subjects,
and included Rome in his will amongst the chief cities of his empire. The popes
again, on their part, placed his own name, as well as those of his successors, on their
coins, and included them in their bulls. In his letters, Charles henceforth calls him-
self: " Carolus serenissimus augustus a Deo coronatus magnus pacificus imperator
Romanum gubernans imperium, qui et per misericordiam Dei rex Francorum et
Langobardorum." To him it was important to hold dominion over those other na-
tions which had not devolved upon him by hereditary right, by some other means
than the mere sway of conquest, and he well knew that among the German tribes
the title of Roman emperor always connected itself with the idea of supreme govern-
ment. Besides, to the emperor all were equally bound to yield allegiance — counts,
bishops, freemen, and servitors; whilst in obedience to the king, the freemen varied
materially from the vassal, and the bishop from the layman. It likewise established
his position towards the clergy, for the pope became now the first bishop of the em-
pire, and Alcuin says distinctly (cap. ii.), that the imperial power is higher than any
other, even that of the pope.

126 STATE OF THE EMPIRE— -CHARLEMAGNE'S SON.

as the north sea, the Elbe, the Bohemian forest, the Raab, and the
mountains of Croatia, thus even over the greatest portion of the an-
cient Roman empire in Europe.

By this solemn act, Charles's grand undertaking was completed, ac-
cording to its outward form. All the Christian nations of German origin,
excepting England, were united in one large body, and Charles, as
their temporal chief, was crowned under the ancient and, by God's
guidance renewed title of Roman emperor. As such, he was the chief
protector of the church — by the Franconian synod he was styled the
regent of true religion — as well as the guardian of justice and peace
in Europe; and under his powerful protection, the recently planted
germ of fresh life and new moral cultivation could safely develope
itself, without being trampled upon by the destructive contention of
nations. Accordingly, this was the great aim and purpose of the
Roman imperial dignity, as renewed by the Germans, and as The-
odoric had contemplated, which Charles alone, however, was enabled,
by his power, to call into existence — an object which has ever con-
tinued to be fostered in the heart of every noble and magnanimous
emperor succeeding to the throne of the Germanic empire.

Charles's empire was therefore not what it has been endeavoured
by a new name to call — a universal monarchy; not one empire wherein
all the nations and countries within his reach were subject to his, the
individual's will, and by one law, custom, and language, united
into one uniform, circumscribed whole. Such was not Charles's
wish. He honoured the peculiarities of nations, left them their
laws, which were based upon their ancient customs and modes of
living ; he left them their manners and their language, which a nation
could not be deprived of without inflicting the most grievous wound.
He was even so widely distant from the idea of an empire strongly
and despotically ruled by the will of one individual, that during his
life, in the year 806, at Dietenhofen, he divided his countries be-
tween his three sons, so that Pepin should take Italy, Louis,
Aquitine, and Charles the remainder, consisting chiefly of German
countries. They and their successors were bound to consider them-
selves as the members of one race, and under the superior guidance of
the emperor for the time being, or the head of the family, hold fra-
ternally together, and accustom their nations to a similar unity.

His soul was full of such good and noble thoughts, that Europe
would soon have flourished upon the basis he thus laid, had but a
portion of his spirit fallen to the share of his descendants.

But Charles partially foresaw with his own eyes the destruction of
his plans. Both of his most promising sons died shortly after each
other, even before their father, and Louis, the weakest, alone re-
mained. The eldest, Charles, had made several successful cam-
paigns against the Serbians beyond the Elbe. The father hoped
every thing from this son, but unhappily these hopes were frus-
trated.

As Charles now felt his own end approaching more and more

LOUIS CROWNED KING OF THE FRANKS. 127

near, lie sent for his son Louis to come to him in the year 813 to
Aix-la-Chapelle, and there on a Sunday, when in the cathedral to-
gether, he reminded him of all the duties of a good monarch and
he then caused Louis to place the golden crown (which lay upon
the altar) upon his head, and thus crowned, his venerable father
presented him to the assembly as the future king of all the
Franks. By this act Charles wished to show that his crown was
independent of the papal chair, and the Franks were greatly pleased
with this determination evinced by their prince at the close of his
career.

The venerable emperor, however, remained still active ; he conti-
nued to hold imperial diets and church convocations, and regulated
all other affairs of the state.

In January of the year 814 he was attacked by a fever, which
was followed by pleurisy. Charles, who up to his latter days had
never been ill, and was always an enemy to medicine, wished to
cure himself by his usual remedy of fasting, but his body had now
become too weak. About five o'clock on the morning of the eighth
day of his illness (the 28th of January), he felt the approach of death,
and energetically raising his right hand, marked upon his forehead,
bosom, and even to the feet, the sign of the cross. He then stretched
forth his arms once more, folded them over his bosom, closed his eyes,
and murmuring softly and in broken tones, "Lord, into thy hands do
I commit my soul," he breathed his last sigh in the seventy-second
year of his age, and the forty-sixth of his reign. On the very day
of his death the body of the deceased emperor was solemnly cleansed,
laid out, and anointed, and conveyed amidst the sorrow and mourn-
ing of the whole nation, to the vault of the church built by himself.
He was there clothed in all the imperial robes, with a golden gospel
spread out on his knees, a piece of the original holy cross upon his
head, and a pilgrim's golden scrip around his loins, and placed thus
in an upright position upon a marble chair; when, filling the vault
with frankincense, spices, balsam, and many costly articles, they
closed and sealed it up.

So much veneration for the emperor existed throughout all his
dominions, and so much were all eyes directed upon him, that
«very thing, which during the last few years of his existence, had
happened to him either wonderful or extraordinary, was considered
as prophetic of his death. His biographer, Eginhard, mentions
many such phenomena. During the three years preceding his death,
there were frequent eclipses of the sun and moon; the arcade ^ of
columns, which Charles had caused to be erected between the min-
ster and the imperial palace, sank by a sudden revolution of ^nature,
upon Ascension Day, into the earth, and was destroyed to its very
foundation. Besides which the Rhine bridge, near Mentz, which
in the course of ten years he had built of wood with great ingenuity
and art, so that it was rendered fit to last for ages, was entirely
destroyed by fire in the short space of three hours. He himself in

128 PORTRAITURE OF CHARLEMAGNE.

liis last campaign against Godfrey, king of the Danes, upon march-
ing forth one day before sunrise, beheld a fiery meteor fall suddenly
from heaven, passing from the right to the left, through the clear
air. At this moment his horse plunged, and falling to the earth,
overthew him so violently that the clasp of his mantle broke, his
sword-belt was torn asunder, so that he was lifted from the ground
by his alarmed attendants without a mantle and without his sword.
To which may be added a variety of other signs, equally alarming
in their indication, but in which the great emperor was too wise to
place any faith.

In order that we may completely comprehend the extraordinary
man whose history thus calls forth our admiration, we necessarily desire
to be acquainted with his outward form, wherein the mighty spirit
was encased. We are anxious to know how the eye reflected the
internal sentiments; whether the brow and countenance depicted
dignity and repose, or whether they expressed the animated, im-
petuous emotions of the mind ; and finally, whether the elevation
and power of the spirit were equally displayed throughout the en-
tire corporeal form. Eginhard, the friend of Charlemagne, and
whom the latter had brought up in his palace as his adopted son,
has drawn up for us a beautiful and affectionate description of his
noble fosterfather :

" In person," he says, " the emperor was robust and strong, and
of great height, for he measured seven of his own feet.* His head
was round, his eyes large and animated ; his nose somewhat exceeded
moderate proportions ; his grey hair was beautiful to behold, and his
countenance joyous and cheerful, whence his figure derived peculiar
dignity and charm. He had a firm step, and a perfect manly bearing.
He practised riding and hunting incessantly, according to the cus-
tomary habits of his nation, for scarcely a people existed upon earth
that could rival the Franks in these arts. Besides this, he was such
a skilful swimmer, that none could justly be said to surpass him.

" He enjoyed constant good health, with the exception of the
last four years of his life, when he was frequently attacked by
fever, which at last occasioned him to limp slightly on one foot.
During these attacks, he continued nevertheless to follow his own
counsel, rather than the advice of his doctors, with whom, in fact,
he was sorely vexed, for they prohibited him from eating roasted
meat, which he himself considered the most wholesome of all food.

" He was exceedingly temperate in both eating and drinking,
but especially so in the latter, for intoxication was his abhorrence,
in any person, and particularly in his own palace. His daily meal
consisted of four dishes only, exclusive of the roasted joint, which
his yagers or squires brought upon the spit, and which he preferred
and relished before every other dish. During his meals he listened

* A staff or lance of iron has been preserved, which is said to give the exact
height of Charlemagne, and according to which he measured six feet three inches
by the Rhenish measurement.

PORTRAITURE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 129

•with great pleasure to the lays of his minstrels on the lute, or to a
reader, the subjects sung or read being always the histories and
events of heroic men. He also took much delight in the books
of St. Augustine, particularly in those on the divine government of
God.

" In summer it was his custom after dinner, to enjoy a little fruit,
and to drink once ; then to undress himself as at night, and thus
repose for three or four hours. His nights were very restless, not
merely by ^ his awaking up several times, but likewise by his getting
up from his couch and walking about. During his toilet, not only
were his friends admitted, but likewise, if his Count Palatine had
to present to him any appeal, which could not be decided without
his opinion and determination thereupon, he forthwith caused the
disputants to be brought before him, and then investigated the affair
and gave judgment at once.

" His dress consisted of the national costume, and was but little
different from that of the common people. He wore, next his skin,
a linen shirt, over which a garment with a silken cord, and long
hose. His feet were enclosed in laced shoes, and in winter, for the
protection of his shoulders and chest, he wore a waistcoat of otter
skin. As upper garment, he wore a mantle, and had always his
sword girded on, the haft and defence of which were of gold and
silver; and at times he wore a sword inlaid with jewels, but only
on particular festivals, or when he gave audience to foreign ambas-
sadors. His raiment likewise, on these occasions, was of golden cloth,
and he wore a crown adorned with gold and precious stones. Fo-
reign dress, even the most beautiful, he disliked and despised, and
would never clothe himself in such; except when at Home, where,
firstly at the express wish of Pope Adrian, and secondly, at the re-
quest of Leo, his successor, he wore a dress with a long train, and a
broad mantle, with shoes made according to the Roman fashion.

" Charles possessed a style of rich and flowing eloquence, and
whatever he wished, was expressed by him in the most clear and
concise manner. He did not content himself with his mother tongue
alone, but applied himself industriously to the acquirement of the
classical and foreign languages generally. Of the former, he was so
perfectly master of the Latin, that he spoke it equally as well as his
native tongue ; and the Greek, although he did not speak it, he
nevertheless, perfectly well understood, and was so proficient in it,
that he could himself have become its teacher. He practised the
superior arts very zealously, and was extremely liberal in the
honours and rewards he conferred upon their professors. In learn-
ing grammar, he had the attendance of the venerable deacon, Peter
of Pisa; and in other sciences, his instructor was Albin, with the
surname of Alcuin, who was a native of Britain, but of Saxon origin;
a very learned man, and Charles devoted much labour and time
in acquiring from him a knowledge of astronomy. He also endea-

K

130 PORTRAITURE OF CHARLEMAGNE.

voured to attain the art of writing, #nd was even accustomed to
Lave his tablets under his pillow in bed, so that when he had a
leisure moment he might practise his hand in the imitation of
letters. In this, however, owing to his commencing it at so late a
period, he made but little progress.

" The minster at Aix-la-Chapelle, which is of extreme beauty, is a
monument of his love for the arts, as also of his great piety, and
which he caused after he had it built, to be ornamented with gold
and silver, together with windows, lattices, and gates of solid brass.
He had all the pillars and marble stones used for its construction,
brought from Rome and Ravenna, as he could not obtain them in
any other quarter.* His piety displayed itself in the support of the
poor, and in gifts and donations which he sent to distant lands across
the sea, and wherever he heard Christians to be in want ; and thence
it was that he sought the friendship of princes ruling in those dis-
tant countries, in order that some portion of nourishment might be
dispensed to the Christians living under their dominion. It was thus
he maintained a cordial friendship with Aaron, the King of the
Persians (Haroun al Raschid, Caliph of Bagdad), who ruled over
nearly the whole of the east, with the exception of India. When,
therefore, Charles sent his envoys with rich offerings to the holy
tomb of our Lord and Saviour, they were not only very kindly re-
ceived by Aaron, but, on their return, he sent with them his own
ambassador to accompany them to the court of Charles, and who
conveyed from him the choicest of the shawls, spices, and other costly
rarities of the east, as presents to the emperor, to whom be it men-
tioned, he had already, in proof of their good understanding, sent
some few years previously, the only elephant he then had in his pos-
session."

From another source we learn that this elephant, which was called
Abulabaz, or the destroyer, by its monstrous and unexampled size,
amazed the whole world, and was Charles's especial favourite ; and that
among the presents sent with it there was a costly tent, together with
a clock made of brass with astonishing skill and ingenuity. This latter
contained a hand or indicator moved round, during twelve hours, by
the power of water, together with an equal quantity of brass balls
which, when the hours were completed, dropped into a brass cup
placed beneath, by their fall indicating the hour, upon which mounted
knights, fully armed, according to the number of hours, galloped
forth from twelve windows — a work assuredly of great and extraor-
dinary ingenuity for that period. Charles, on his part, made presents
in return to the Persian ruler, of Spanish horses, mules, and fresian
mantles, which in the east were very rare and expensive, and finally,

* The church of the Virgin Mary and the imperial palace are, as far as we know,
the first extensive buildings founded by a German prince. Charles's structures
are based upon the Roman style of North Italy and South France, whence he pro-
cured his architects. The palace in Aix-la-Chapelle has, with the exception of a
few remaining stones, entirely disappeared, but St. Mary's church still exists.

PORTRAITURE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 131

were added to these a number of dogs for hunting the lion and tiger,
unsurpassed for swiftness and ferocity.

We have previously mentioned his friendly connt xion with the
emperor in Constantinople, and his amicable relations with the princes
of England and ^ Scotland, by whom he was highly esteemed; and
thus the impression of his personal greatness was reflected throughout
the age in which he lived, as well in the descriptions given by those
who were about him, as also in the veneration of distant nations.
His own grandson, Nithard, who has described the disputes of the
sons of Louis the Pious, says of him with great justice: " Charles,
justly called by all nations the great emperor; a man who by true
wisdom and virtue rises so high above the human race of his own
age, that whilst he appears to all equally awe-striking and amiable,
is at the same time universally acknowledged to be wonderful and
admirable."

In the subsequent generations, still filled with veneration towards
him, his figure became so eradiated by tradition and fiction, that its
proportions appear gigantically magnified. Thus, for instance, in a
legend of Low Germany he is described as follows: " The Emperor
Charles was a handsome, tall, strong man, with powerful arms and
legs : his face was a span and a half long, and his beard a foot in
length. His eyes, to those at whom he attentively looked, appeared
so bright and searching, that the effect therefrom was to strike with
awe and terror; whilst his strength was so mighty, that with one
hand he could raise a fully-armed man above his head."

Another ancient chronicle says of his expedition against Desi-
derius: "When the Longobardian king from his castle in Pavia
observed the entire body of the Frankish army in full march against
him, his eye searched everywhere among the ranks to find the
king. At length the majestic monarch appeared to view, mounted
on his war-horse (which both in durability and colour resembled
iron itself), with a brazen helmet on his head, his entire lofty figure
encased in iron armour, and a shining breast-plate spread over his
chest. In his left hand he held his heavy iron spear, and his right
grasped his massive sword; and when at this moment Nosker, a noble,
exiled by Charles, and who was standing near the King of the Lon-
gobardians, pointed to him, and said, * Behold, O king, there is he
whom thou hast sought,' Desiderius almost fell to the ground in
wonder and dread, faintly exclaiming, ' Away, away ! Let us
descend and bury ourselves in the earth from the wrathful counte-
nance of that terrible and mighty foe !' "

As a testimony that the admiration excited by true greatness ex-
tends far beyond the present and immediately succeeding periods,
and maintains its estimation in all susceptible and glowing niinds,
even to the latest ages, we will here quote the opinion of a modern
writer* upon the character of the great Charles: " The whole ap-

* M. Siivern: " Abhandlung iiber Karl der Grossc."
K 2

132 PORTRAITURE OF CHARLEMAGNE.

.pearance and bearing of the emperor evince the true and original
model of his energetic age — full of manly, yet cheerful virtue. Com-
bined with the exuberance of power, which remodelled an entire
world, were united mildness and placidity, and with all his dignity
and elevation, we find consorted, simplicity, purity of mind, and a
profound and noble fire of feeling. The mixture of serenity and
childlike mildness in his deportment was the mystery whereby he
filled all at the same time with veneration and love; retaining in
faithful adherence to him even those who had been severely provoked,
so exquisitely shown by the act of the noble Frank, Isenbart, who,
although deprived by Charles of all honours and possessions, be-
came, nevertheless, the unexpected but sole saviour of his life when
threatened with great danger. There lay in the fire of his piercing
eye so much power, that a punishing glance prostrated the object, so
that to him might be applied the words of scripture : ' The king when
he sits upon the throne of his majesty, chases by a glance of his coun-
tenance every evil thing ;' whilst in the thunder of his voice there was
such force, that it struck to the earth whomsoever he addressed in an-
ger. On the other hand, again, we find that his countenance reflected
such unutterable pleasure and gladness, and his voice was so har-
monious and of such delightful clearness, that a writer styles him
the joyful king of the Germans, assuring us that he was always so
full of grace and gentleness, that he who came before his presence in
sorrowful mood, was by a mere look and a few words so completely
changed, that he departed joyful and happy. In his countenance
was reflected the full expression of a tranquil and clear mind, and in
all these outlines of his character he is the perfect ideal of a true Ger-
man hero and prince, worthy to be called, what he really was, the
father and creator of the Germanic age, which he brought upon the
stage of history, after it had attained ripeness and perfection in the
womb of humanity. It was not merely in his works and external
creations that he founded the Germanic age, but its greatness and
simplicity, its heroism in war and friendship in peace, were ingrafted
in his profound soul entire !"

We have already spoken of his friendship with Pope Adrian,
founded on mutual esteem, and his paternal devotion to Einhard.
But to none was he attached so affectionately as to Angilbert, or
Engelbert, a young man of noble family, who was his constant com-
panion in all his travels and campaigns, and to whom he confided
his most important affairs. Engelbert was an excellent poet, and
for some time appointed prime minister in Italy; he then became
Charles's private secretary, and likewise married his daughter
Bertha, from which marriage descended the before-named histo-
rian, Mthard. Charles was a reverential son to his mother Ber-
trande, a faithful brother to his only sister Gisla, and of his consorts
he chiefly loved the second, Hildegarde, who bore him his three sons,
besides three daughters. He caused his children to have the best
education, and he even dedicated much of his own time to them

PORTRAITURE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 133

with paternal watchfulness. His sons learnt not only all chivalric
accomplishments, but studied also the sciences. The daughters were
taught to work in wool, sewing, and spinning, according to the
prevalent simple German custom. He never took his meals without
his children; they accompanied him in all his travels, his sons riding
beside him, and his daughters following him. His heart was so at-
tached to these, that he could never prevail upon himself to part
with them. He superintended his domestic economy most care-
fully. To him even, the legislator of an extensive empire, it did
not appear too trifling to overlook with prudent care his estates
and farms, so that any father of a family might have learnt from
him how to regulate his household affairs. Some of his laws are
still extant, and therein we find especially indicated, how many of
every description of domestic animals, and how many peacocks and
pheasants shall be reared and maintained for ornament on his farms ;
as likewise how wine and beer were to be prepared, and how the
cultivation of bees, fisheries, orchards, and plantations, was to be
pursued.

" If Charles's general greatness impresses us with reverence and
admiration,'" so says the modern historian of his life, "this partici-
pation in the inferior concerns of life, not smothered by higher cares,
brings him more closely in connexion with us ; this especial care of
the domestic hearth, so peculiar to the genuine German, wherein he
has grown up as the plant in the earth which bears and nourishes it,
whilst his active power strives outwards into the world of deeds and
works, and his bold mind soars towards heaven, as the plant shoots its
blossom forth towards the sun." And in truth, Charles's mind was
directed towards the light of truth ; he was animated with the love of
the glorious and the beautiful, and planted both wherever he was able,
and by all the means in his power.* He had formed with the wise
Englishman, Alcuin, and other learned men a scientific society, and he
maintained with them a regular correspondence, which was rendered
more free and intellectual, inasmuch as a happy idea from Alcuin ena-
bled it to be conducted without any interference with personal rela-
tions. The communications were not made in the ordinary names of
the members, but in those of adoption, in which Charles himself bore
the name of King David, his friend Engelbert that of Homer, Alcuin
that of Horace, Eginhard that of Bezaleel, and the rest, other equally
select names, whence the cheerful disposition of this union, breaking
the restrictive chains of ordinary life, sufficiently displays itself. Its
immediate purpose, besides the cultivation of both the ancient lan-
guages, may possibly have been to reanimate and draw forth from its
obscurity the ancient German language and its poetry. Charles himself

* As regards the benefits produced by Charles's zeal for education and science, we
find already that in the years 650 to 770, there were in Germany and France some
twenty-six writers, whilst in the years 770 to 850, there were already in Charles s
kingdom more than one hundred.

134 PORTRAITURE OF CHARLEMAGNE.

either sketched, or caused to be sketched, a German grammar, gave
to the months and the seasons German names, and collected the abo-
riginal songs, wherein were recited the noble deeds and the wars of
ancient heroes (as formerly Lycurgus and Pisistratus collected the
songs of Homer). But there is not a more affecting trait of his own.
love for the sciences extant than that already related, when in ex-
treme age he endeavoured carefully to accustom his once powerful
hand, which had been used only to wield the sword, to the practice of
writing, and that even during the sleepless hours of the night. And
how far he esteemed educated and scientific men is proved, besides the
instances already cited, by his example shown towards the Longobardian
historian, Paul Diaconus. He was private secretary to King Deside-
rius, and after the latter was conquered, the former participated in the
.subsequent revolt of the Lombards, upon which he was sentenced to
have his hands chopped off. Charles, however, interfered and said,
•"If these hands are chopped off who will, like him, be able to write
us such charming histories ?" and accordingly he pardoned him.
The learned Alcuin, already mentioned — in possessing whom at his
court Charles felt more pride than in having a kingdom — had been
previously provost of the high school of York in England, where
almost all the learned men of that period had received their educa-
tion and had imbibed their zeal for the sciences, and which contained
one of the few then existing libraries of the west of Europe. In
793 he was induced by the repeated entreaties of the king to go over
to France, where he founded the celebrated school of Tours. Charles
esteemed him so much that he called him his beloved instructor in
Christ, and presented him as his friend to the grand imperial diet
and church convocation at Frankfort. And Alcuin proved himself
worthy of this honour, for when all, from fear or doubt, were silent,
he alone candidly told the king the truth. The correspondence of
Charles with Alcuin is worthy of high estimation, and of which,
happily, we still possess a considerable portion. Charles, on his part,
there expresses the greatest respect and friendship for Alcuin, and
the latter is full of true affection, nay, at times, of inspiration to-
wards his king and friend. Charles's wife and his sons and daughters,
received instruction from Alcuin, and he was styled by them all their
master and father, he, on his part, calling them his sons and daughters.
Combined with his anxiety for the affairs of the church, Charles
likewise, with proper foresight and penetration, felt deep interest for
the instruction of the people; thence, wherever it was possible, he
founded schools and investigated their progress with great solicitude
himself. It is related that he once entered the school which was
established at his own court, and examined the studies of the boys.
The skilful he placed on his right and the unskilful on his left,
and then it was found that the latter consisted chiefly of the sons of
noble families. Charles then turned to the industrious class, praised
them much, and assured them of his particular regard ; the others he
admonished and scolded severely, threatening them, notwithstanding

PORTRAITURE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 135

their noble descent, to reduce them to the lowest rank in the school
unless they speedily repaired, by zealous industry, the negligence
shown.

The study of the Latin tongue was especially promoted by Charles
for the sake of the church ; but, at the same time, he acknowledged
the value of the Greek language, as he proved by founding in Osna-
burg a Greek school. In a royal decree addressed to all monas-
teries, in which he exhorts them to apply themselves to the sciences,
he says expressly, that he has been led to make this exhortation, be-
cause their communications are written in such bad Latin. Another
important result arising from the scientific labours of Charles and his
friends, was the establishment of libraries in the chief schools. Al-
cuin laid the foundation of such a one in the school at Tours, by send-
ing scholars to York for the purpose of making copies from the books
there, and thus " transplanting the flowers of Britain to Franconia."
This example was soon followed, the desire to possess books awoke,
the office of extracting from writings now became a favourite occu-
pation and duty in the monasteries and schools, and indeed, we have
to thank this industry of the copyists for what has been preserved to
us from ancient times.*

The sacred dignity of divine worship concerned him much ; he gave
himself particular trouble to introduce a good psalmody, and caused
for that purpose organ players and singers to come from Italy; and
at Soissons and Metz he instituted singing schools. Besides this, he
ordered a number of good sermons by the Greek fathers to be trans-
lated into the Frankish tongue, and read to the people ;f and he
made a general regulation, that sermons should be preached in the
national language, for King Charles well knew that civil order re-
posed upon the religious and moral dignity of the people, and with-
out which it can have no solid basis. He considered church and
state not as separated from, or inimical to each other, but conceived
that they both had one great aim, that of the ennoblement and per-
fection of mankind. He, therefore, in his extensive empire, linked
both these institutions still more closely together.

Even under the earlier Frankish kings, the clergy formed an es-

* Alcuin took especial pains to form and establish classes for the improvement
and perfection of writing. In Tours, Fulda, and Treves, particular and distinct
halls were appropriated for transcribers, provided with inscriptions, which impressed
upon the mind the important duties of a writer. In fact, the art of writing in books
and ancient documents appears, under Charles, to have undergone a change, com-
pletely sudden, in improvement. For, to the unsightly Merovingian style of italic
character previously in use— even to the first years of Charles's reign— we find suc-
ceeding, as it were, with one spring, a fine and legible form of round hand, called
the Carolingian minuskel, or neatly reduced writing. This style became the legiti-
mate source whence we derived all our present forms, both in writing and printing,
in German as well as Latin. In the coins of the year 774, we likewise find displayed
an improvement equally striking, thus showing that, even in minor objects, the
great Charles operated efficaciously.

f He directed Paulus Diaconus to .prepare extracts from the fathers, in the form
of a collection of homilies throughout the year. This collection, from the usual
opening of the pieces, " post Ola/' received, subsequently, the name postiUe.

136 PORTRAITURE OF CHARLEMAGNE.

sential portion of the constitution of tlie kingdom. The bishops,
as well as the dukes, participated in state affairs, and had a seat and
voice in the national assembly. Charles made this a fixed principle,
and this raised the clerical body to rank as one of the orders of the
state. The constitution had already now formed two of its chief
orders, that of the clergy and nobility; the civil order, as the third
component, did not yet exist; later centuries brought it to perfection,
and thereby completed the constitution of the state. But it was im-
portant for that period, that the feudal nobility, which had already
become too powerful, should receive a counterbalance in the clerical
order, which must necessarily become the preservation of Christian
cultivation throughout Europe, and thereby unite Europe into one
great whole. Besides, Charles felt himself sufficiently powerful to
fear no misuse of such spiritual influence in his realms. Although he
increased the possessions and the consideration of the clergy, he yet
maintained his imperial power so much above them, that his quick
eye was everywhere feared, so much so, that one of his historians
calls him the bishop of bishops.

We frequently find in his decrees reproaches made against the
clergy, when they commenced exceeding the limits of their power,
and many of his laws generally allude to an ameliorated state of dis-
cipline amongst the ecclesiastical body, to a restraint being put to
their worldliness, and commanding them to perform the duties of their
office with zeal and activity. In fact, he may be regarded as the true
reformer of the clergy, especially when we refer to the condition of
that body under the Merovingians. Of the tithes which were to be
paid to the church, he appointed for the bishops one fourth, for the
inferior clergy one fourth, for the poor one fourth, and for the church it-
self one fourth, especially towards the building of fresh edifices. And
as these taxes were altogether hateful alike both to the Franks and
Saxons, he at once set the example himself of subscribing to them,
by having them levied equally upon the royal estates. They were
rendered less obnoxious and more moderate likewise by his subse-
quent decrees, that all church offices, such as baptisms, communions,
and burials, should be performed gratuitously.

With respect to the administration of the state, Charles dispensed
with the power of the grand dukes as governors of entire provinces^ and
divided the latter into smaller districts, causing them to be ruled by
counts, whose chief occupation was the superintendence of the judi-
cial office ; but the dignity of count was not hereditary. The dukes,
whom he himself appointed, were merely his lieutenant-generals in
war and leaders of the arriere ban of a province. Besides which he
despatched, as often as he thought it necessary, royal envoys (missi
regii) into the provinces, who inspected their condition, and exa-
mined how they were governed, and were obliged to draw up writ-
ten reports thereof. These envoys consisted generally of a bishop
and a count, as the proceedings of the spiritual as well as temporal
administrators were to be examined at the same time. The district

PORTRAITURE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 137

of a Missus was called Missaticum. When any person believed
he had experienced an avoidance in law from the count, he could
appeal to the Missus ; and again from this there was an appeal to the
Comes palatii. The appointment of the judges in the courts was re-
moved from the power of the counts by Charles, and transferred to
the Missus.

He expressly and earnestly exhorted all his officials, and par-
ticularly the judges, to the fulfilment of their duties, as in fact the
grand endeavour, shown throughout his entire government, had for
its object the improvement of the administration of justice, and es-
pecially the protection of the poorer classes and the common free peo-
ple, against the pressure of the higher ranks. It seemed as if in the lat-
ter period of his reign he had more and more perceived the danger
with which the common freedom of his subjects was threatened by the
feudal system. All administration of justice, however, was in vain.
He was forced himself to attend in person, twice in the year, national
assemblies or diets, the one in spring, called the May field (Campus
Madius) in which the king, with his estates, gave the decisions ; the
other in autumn, composed of the most distinguished of his nobles and
confidential friends, with whom he regulated the most urgent mat-
ters, and prepared those affairs to be settled at the ensuing May meet-
ing. The regulations made at these diets, particularly those passed in
the Spring meetings, which, after their division into chapters, became
known under the name of capitulars, produced for the entire king-
dom a great combining power.

The envoys, each in their division, called together the communi-
ties four times every year, who, besides attending to their own
matters, had to approve and confirm the resolutions passed at the
grand assemblies, if they concerned the interests of the people : so
little power had the king and his nobles to affect or alter their rights.
Thus by means of all these institutions Charles, who was still greater
as a legislator than a warrior, was enabled to keep in order without
garrisons and a standing army, all the people subjected to obedience,
as well as his whole extensive empire, although composed of such a
variety of nations. He himself remained within the boundaries^ of
the constitution, honoured the laws, listened willingly to the ^ voice
of his people, and showed in every thing, but especially in this, his
noble genius and magnanimity, and the dignified superiority of his
nature.

138 LOUIS THE PIOUS— DIVISION OF HIS EMPIRE.

CHAPTER VI.

814—918.

Louis the Pious, 814-840— Division of the Empire among his Sons, Louis, Lothaire,
and Charles the Bald, 843— The German Sovereigns of the Race of the Carlo-
vingians, 843-911— Louis, or Ludwig, the German— Charles the Fat— Arnulf-
Louis the Child — The later and concluding Period of the Carolmglans— Conrad I.
of Franconia, 911-918.

AFTER the race of the Carolingians had produced consecutively
four great men — a rare occurrence in history — its energy seemed to
become exhausted. Louis the Pious did not resemble his ancestors.
However, his personal appearance was by no means insignificant, for
he is described as well made, with a prepossessing countenance, of a
strong frame, and so well practised in archery and the wielding of
the lance, that none about him equalled him. But he was weak in
mind and will, and his by-name, " the Pious," implies not only that
he was religious, but principally that he was so easy tempered, that
it required much to displease him. A ruler of this description was
not adapted to hold in union the vast empire of his father; neverthe-
less, the chief misfortunes of his whole life arose solely from his own
sons.

He had three sons by the first marriage, Lothaire, Pepin, and
Louis ; and he very early divided his empire between these three, re-
taining for himself nothing but the title of emperor. He, however,
soon afterwards espoused as second consort, Judith, of the family of
the Guelfs, who bore to him his fourth son, Charles, and was a proud,
ambitious woman, who would willingly have transferred all to her
own child. Upon her persuasion Louis was induced to take a portion
of the countries from his other sons, and give it to Charles. Where-
upon open war arose between the emperor and his children, who
took their father twice prisoner. The last time it occurred was near Col-
mar, in Alsace, and because most of the nobles of Louis's suite, who
had sworn allegiance to him, passed over to his sons, the place has re-
tained the name of Lugenfeld, or the Field of Lies. The good-natured
Louis, turning to those who remained still with him, said, " Go ye, also,
to my sons ; I will not allow that even a single individual lose, on my ac-
count, life or limb." They wept and departed, and Louis fell again into
the hands of his sons. Lothaire, who was the worst among them, had
him conveyed to a cloister at Soissons in France, and urged him so
incessantly, until he at last resolved to do public penance in the
chapel. Lothaire's object in this was, that his father might thereby
be made incompetent to take arms, for it was ordained by^ the
canon law, that any one who had done penance was rendered inca-
pable of bearing arms, and the Franks could not endure among them
a king without a sword.

The pious Louis, who was easily persuaded that his own sins were
the cause of all his misfortunes, absolutely allowed himself to be
conducted into the chapel of the monastery, and after he had been.

HIS ILL-TREATMENT — HIS DEATH. 139

divested of his sword and military accoutrements, he was clothed in
a sack of penance, and was forced to read a paper aloud, whereon
his son and his accomplices had inscribed all his sins, thus: " That
he had unworthily filled his office, frequently offended God, vexed
the church, was a perjurer, the originator of dissensions and turbu-
lences, and, at last, had even wished to make war upon his sons." And
whilst he made this confession, the clergy, consisting of the Arch-
bishop Ebbo, of Rheims, whom Louis himself had raised from
a servitor to an archbishop, and with him thirty bishops, spread out
their hands over him, and chanted penitential psalms ; Lothaire
himself sitting close by upon a throne, and feasting his eyes upon the
degradation of his father, who was immediately afterwards led away
in the garment of repentance, and immured within a solitary cell,
where he was leffccto remain, without any consolation.

This misusage of the emperor enraged his son, Louis of Bavaria,
who was afterwards called Ludwig the German, and who was the best
of the sons ; he conferred with his brother Pepin, and they forced
Lothaire to emancipate their father, who was formally absolved by
the bishops, and received from their hands his sword and accoutre-
ments back again.

But his misfortunes had not made him wiser, for, on the contrary,
he allowed himself to he immediately persuaded by Judith to prefer
his son Charles before the rest, and to give him his most beauti-
ful countries, causing him to be crowned King of Neustria. He
treated his best son, Louis, the worst, who consequently, in his irri-
tation, seized arms against his father, and the old king could nowhere
find a tranquil spot for his death-bed ; for, as he was proceeding to
Worms, to hold a diet there against his son, and was just passing
over the Rhine, near Mentz, he suddenly felt his quickly-approach-
ing end. He remained upon an island of the Rhine, near Ingelheim,
caused a tent to be there pitched for him, and sank down upon his
death-bed. He pardoned his son before his death, in these words:
u As he cannot come to me to offer satisfaction, I acquit myself thus
towards him, and take God and all of you to witness, that I forgive
him every thing. But it will be your office to remind him, that
although I have so often pardoned him, he must not forget that he
has brought the grey hairs of his father to the grave in bitter grief."
Thus died, in the year 840, King Louis, who was of a kind dis-
position, but whose life was one continued scene of trouble and
affliction, because he knew not how to govern his own house,
much less his empire.

The most celebrated acts of his life consist in the foundation of two
religious institutions; viz., the monastery of Corvey, and the arch-
bishopric of Hamburg. The first originated from the cloister of the
same name, at Amiens in France. It was hither that Charlemagne
caused many of the imprisoned Saxons to be brought, that they
might be instructed in the Christian religion, and become thereby
the future teachers of their fellow-countrymen in the same doc-
trines. Louis the Pious caused a religious colony of these Saxons to

140 LOTIIAIRE, LOUIS, AND CHARLES THE BALD.

settle in their native country, on the Weser, and lie commenced
building the new monastery as early as the year 815. It was com-
pleted in 822, and the abbey was enriched with many crown endow-
ments. It speedily became the best school for education in that country.

Louis founded the archbishopric of Hamburg in 832, principally
for the conversion of the heathens of the north. The first bishop was
Ansgar, from the abbey of Corvey, one of the most zealous propa-
gators of the Christian religion, and who had already taught the
doctrine in Denmark and Sweden. But Hamburg, unfortunately,
was destroyed by the Romans, in 845, on which account the arch-
bishopric was transferred to Bremen.

The brothers, who had not hesitated to take up arms against
their own father, could much less remain united among themselves.
In particular, Lothaire assumed, as emperor, great privileges over
his brothers. Louis and Charles, Pepin being already dead, conse-
quently armed themselves against him ; and as he would not agree
to a treaty of peace, a battle was fought in 841, near Fontenay, in
France. It was very sanguinary; forty thousand, according to
others a hundred thousand, men were left on the field. Lothaire
was conquered, and his great pretensions were thus dissipated, and
in consequence, in the course of two years, an important treaty took
place, which divided the great Frankish empire, and separated Ger-
many for ever from France. This is called the treaty of Verdun,
concluded on the llth of August, 843.

1 . Louis received Germany as far as the Rhine ; and across the
Rhine, Mentz, Spires, and Worms, for the sake of the culture of the
vine (propter vini copiam), as it is said in the original record. Thus
were united all the countries wherein a pure German race, unmixed
with the Romans, had remained, and the Germans may consider
the treaty of Verdun as a great national benefit. For had that
country remained united with France, and had the king made
Paris, perhaps, the metropolis, or even changed about in the chief
cities of that country, it is probable that, in the course of time, a
ruinous mixture of the German and French languages, manners, modes
of life, and idiosyncracies of the two nations would have taken place.

2. Lothaire retained the imperial dignity and Italy, and acquired
besides, a long narrow strip of land between Germany and France,
from the Alps as far as the Netherlands, namely, the country of
Valais and Vaud in Switzerland, the south-east of France, as far as
the Rhone; and on the left bank of the Rhine, Alsace, and the
districts of the Moselle, Meuse, and Scheldt. This long and narrow
strip between the two other brothers was probably apportioned to
the emperor that he might be near them both, and that according to
the wish of the father and grandfather, the imperial control might
tend to preserve the unity of the whole. It likewise seemed that
Italy and the ancient city of Rome, as well as ancient Austrasia,
namely, the Rhenish districts, which Charlemagne had selected for
his residence, with his capital, Aix-la-Chapelle, were not separable
from the imperial dignity. But although Lothaire received beautiful

LOUIS, OR LUDWIG, THE GERMAN— THE NORMAN PIRATES. 141

andproductiveprovinces,yethisportion was the weakest, for his empire
on this side^of the Alps had no^ natural frontiers, either in mountains
or in a distinct national race. The inhabitants of his countries on the
Rhone and down the Rhine were composed of very different tribes ;
thence as there was no natural necessity for this division of coun-
tries, it was merely produced by human caprice, consequently, there
was no durability in it. On the contrary, it became the source of great
misfortune. After the Emperor Lothaire, pursued as it were by the
spirit of his injured father, against whom he had chiefly offended, had
laid down the sceptre and retired into a convent, where he died in 862
his three sons took up arms in contest for the land, and divided it
among themselves ; but neither of them transmitted it to his descend-
ants. The countries of Burgundy, Alsace, and the province of Lor-
raine proper, which Lothaire II. had received, and which had from
him received its name was, after his early death, divided by his two
uncles, Louis the German, and the French king, Charles; so that
the land to the east of the Meuse, with the cities of Utrecht, Aix-la-
Chapelle, Liege, Metz, Treves, Cologne, Strasburg, Basle, &c., fell
to Germany. But this division did not terminate the dispute for the
Lorraine inheritance, for it has remained through every century
a bone of contention between the Germans and the French, and many
sanguinary wars have taken place in consequence.

3. Charles the Bald, received lastly, the western division of the
whole Frankish kingdom, and which has continued to preserve its
title.

Louis the German (840 — 87 6), who was an energetic prince, of lofty
stature and noble figure, with a fiery eye and a penetrating mind, and
who also possessed an active disposition for education and science
(which the schools of eloquence that he founded at Frankfort and
Ratisbonne have proved), had constantly to contend for the tranquillity
of his realm ; for the Slavonian tribes made incursions on the eastern
frontiers, and the Normans on the north and north-west. These bold
sailors, of ancient German origin, wild as their sea and its northern
coasts, coming from the Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish waters,
appeared with the rapidity of the wind, at the mouths of the rivers,
and frequently advanced deep into the country. They ascended the
Seine as far as Paris, flew along the Garonne to Toulouse, and sailed
up the Rhine to Cologne and Bonn. And it was not the banks merely
of these rivers which suffered from their devastations, but they knew
also how to convey their vessels many thousand paces across the
country into other rivers, so that no j)lace afforded security against
them. So great was the terror of their name, that the mere report
of their coming drove to flight all before them. Their numbers were
generally small, for a fleet of the small ships of that period could not
convey large armies; but their courage, as well as their strength ^ of
body and their weapons, testified to their true northern origin ; whilst
in wielding the powerful spear, no race equalled them. A few ships,
manned with valiant men, formed frequently the equipment of their
royal princes ; and as in ancient Germany, a noble leader with his com-

142 LOUIS THE FAT — HIS WEAKNESS— ARNULF.

pany, in bold excursions, acquired honour and booty, and with his
suite, even contested for the possession of a whole country; so, on
the other hand, the squadron of the bold sea-hero, manned with
warlike and pillage-seeking adventurers, was the source of his riches,
forming often the moving basis upon which he erected his king-
dom. It was thus they founded similar kingdoms in Normandy,
France, Sicily, and in Russia. Louis the German succeeded in
protecting his kingdom against them, and against the Slavonians,
but not so his son, Louis the Fat (876 — 887), who, after the death
of his brothers, Carloman and Louis, by the intervention of particu-
lar circumstances, again united for a short time the three portions of
the Frankish empire, in Italy, Germany, and France. In France,
there was a minor king, Charles the Simple, six years of age, for
whom he was to have protected the country against the Normans;
but not possessing the qualifications necessary, this he was not able
to do, and thence he was forced twice to purchase peace from them
at the price of many pounds of gold : the first time when they had
advanced upon the Meuse as far as Hasloff, and the second time
when, with 700 vessels, they had ascended the Seine as far as Paris
itself, and closely besieged that city. Such cowardly conduct, and
the weakness of his whole government, brought him into contempt,
and was the cause which produced his formal deposition, in a great
and national assembly held at Tribur in the year 887. To his great
good fortune, he died the following year.

In Germany he was succeeded (887 — 899) by Arnulf, a son of
his brother Carloman, consequently a grandson of Louis the Ger-
man, a valiant and worthy king. He beat the Normans at Louvain,
in the Netherlands, where they had erected a fortified camp, which
victory made him very celebrated, for those Normans formed the
most valiant race of the north, and had never previously been known
to fly before an enemy.*

Arnulf now marched also into Italy to bring that disunited coun-
try— where many pretenders contested for supremacy — again under
German dominion. He advanced, in 896, as far as Rome; but his
army had been so much weakened by sickness and foul weather,
that he dared not attempt to attack the strong walls of the city, and
was about to turn back. Upon this, the Romans hooted and in-
sulted the Germans so grossly, that, without awaiting the word of

* About this time, in the south-eastern frontiers of Germany, a Slavonic prince,
Zwentibolt, had established a considerable dominion in Moravia. In order to gain
his friendship, Arnulf gave him the vacant Duchy of Bohemia as a fief, and chose
him as godfather to his son, whom he named after him. But the Moravian prince
became unruly, and strove for independence; and Arnulf soon saw himself entangled
in a severe war against him. In order, therefore, to gain allies, he had recourse to
the Magyars, who rose against Zwentibolt, and, falling upon Moravia, completely
overthrew his dominion, and established themselves there instead, whilst the late
ruler withdrew, and sought refuge in a monastery. Arnulf, in order to extend the
power of his house, now took advantage of some favourable circumstances presented
in Lorraine, hi order to procure for his son, Zwentibolt, the duchy of that country.
In this he succeeded, after several encounters with the nobility; and in 895 his son
took the title of king, but he held it but for a short time, being soon afterwards killed
in a battle against his vassals, immediately after the death of Ms father.

LOUIS THE CHILD— THE END OF THE CAROLINGIANS. 14S

command, they turned back, advanced, and, storming the gates,
filled the ditches, mounted the walls, and carried the city. The
Roman people were obliged to swear fidelity to him. But they
knew not how to observe the oath they took; and as they had not
been able to overcome the powerful Germans by open force, they had
recourse to poison ; thence Arnulf was, most probably , secretly drugged
by them, for he returned ill to Germany, and died, after a Ion «• sick-
ness, in the year 899, much too early for his kingdom, and mourned
by all Germans; for he was yet young, and Germany never more
than at that moment required his powerful arm.

A new savage tribe, in ferocity equal to the ancient Hunns, had
now fixed themselves in Hungary, and extended their incursions to
Germany. They were properly called Madschari or Magyars, and
belonged to the Calmuc race of the Asiatic wanderers, but they were
called Hunns (also Hungarians, after the country they henceforward
occupied), because it was then customary to call all those tribes Hunns
who were savage and terrible to behold, and who came from the
east. They also, like the former Hunns, lived always on horse-back,
and suddenly appeared where they were not awaited. They unex-
pectedly attacked, and as suddenly fled, and in flying they always shot
their arrows backwards, and turned quickly round when all was con-
sidered safe. They shot their arrows from bows, formed of bone,
with so much force and precision, that it was scarcely possible to
avoid them ; but they were ignorant of the art of fighting at close
quarters, or of besieging cities. They were small in stature, ugly in
countenance, with deep sunken eyes, of barbaric manners, and with
a coarse and discordant language; so that an ancient writer who
lived at that period, says: " We must be astonished that Divine Pro-
vidence should have given so delightful a country to be inhabited
— not by such men, but by such monsters in human shape !"

These terrific enemies desolated in an unheard-of manner the
German countries, during the period when Arnulf 's son, Louis the
Child, who was still a minor, was called King of Germany from the
year 899-911. These were probably the most miserable years that
Germany had ever witnessed. With almost every year these Hun-
garians suddenly precipitated themselves in masses upon one or
other of the provinces, desolated it with fire and sword, and drove
thousands of the inhabitants back with them as slaves, whilst the
Germans, valiant as they were, knew not the mode of conducting
such a war, and could not defend themselves; besides which, they
possessed as yet no walled towns wherein they might have shel-
tered their wives and children. Bavaria was first attacked by
them, and made a prey to their devastations, and all the court and
nobles cut to pieces. The following years the same happened to
Saxony and Thuringia, and the two concluding years Franconia
and Suabia were in turn devastated. The words of Solomon may
be applied to these horrors of Germany: "Woe to the country
whose king is a child." But, fortunately for the salvation of his own
and other countries, this child now died early in the year 911.

144 END OF THE CAROLINGIANS — GERMANY.

After the race of the Carolingians, which had commenced with
•so much lustre, became extinct in Germany, it still existed a short
time longer, although but weak, and without any power or autho-
rity in France; it soon, however, disappeared there also — like a tor-
rent which at first springs forth majestically, and dashes down all
before it, but at last dividing itself into various isolated arms, its
power becomes reduced, and gradually absorbed by the sand.

Meanwhile in Germany much had become changed that proved of
great importance to futurity. Charles the Great, as we have seen,
made the royal power superior to all other; he did away with the
great dukes' reigning over entire provinces, and substituted royal
officials, with smaller circuits of government ; and had his successors
followed his example in this, the system might have been established
in Germany, as it was in France and other countries — namely, that
but one lord should rule with unlimited power throughout the
whole empire, and no prince besides. But fate ordered it other-
wise, and caused many rulers to spring up among us, which has
given an impulse to the development and cultivation of the German
mind, and has been only then not dangerous to the country with
respect to its exterior relations, when all who called themselves Ger-
mans held together in love and unity, and in that disposition con-
stituted a firm and solid German empire.

.The foundation of this polygarchy, or division of dominions, may
be traced chiefly to the times subsequent to the treaty of Verdun.
On almost all sides formidable enemies threatened the frontiers : the
Hungarians, the Slavonians, the Venedians, and the Normans. The
kings themselves were unfortunately too weak, and unable, like
Charlemagne, to fly with assistance from one end of the realm to
the other. They were therefore obliged to permit and authorize
the German tribes, for the defence of the frontiers, to choose
powerful chiefs raised among themselves, who continued to remain
at the head of their troops, and led them against the enemy. The
efforts made to establish a fresh foundation for the ducal power, be-
comes more and more visible in the last moiety of the ninth century
and very soon we find the royal Missi or Margraves, together with
other proprietors of land, and influential men, raising themselves to
the ducal dignity.

It lies in the nature of things, that the development of these rela-
tions could not be everywhere the same. We find often the go-
vernor of a province still called in the old records Graf (Comes),
because he already possessed more of the ducal power than in
another province was commanded by him who was ordinarily styled
Dux. All research made into this subject is extremely difficult,
and opinions thereupon are even yet not united. Thus much is
certain, that if we consider and acknowledge in general those
governors as owners of the ducal power, who possessed an over-
balancing influence in their provinces, and who represented the
king himself in war, and in the highest courts of jurisdiction, we
find that, at the end of the ninth and commencement of the tenth

THE DUCAL POWER— SAXONY, THURINGIA, &c. 145

Century, ^they again appear, and gradually became dukes of Saxony,
Thuringia, Franconia, Bavaria, Swabia, and Lorraine.

In Saxony, the Ludolphic race, as it appears, acquired at a very
early date a power which we may call ducal. Eckbert, related to the
house of Charlemagne, was placed by the latter at the head of all
the Saxons between the Rhine and Vistula, as count and chief
of the heerbann; his son Ludolph held also this rank, and pos-
sessed, in effect, already ducal power. His son Bruno, and, after
bis death, in 880, Otho, the father of King Henry, must be con-
sidered in every sense as dukes. Saxony became, by degrees, the
most powerful and extensive duchy, for it embraced, at the time of
its greatest development, the country from the Lower Rhine to the
Oder, and from the North Sea and the Eider to the Fichtel moun-
tains and the Wetterau.

Thuringia had, it is true, counts also, who at times were called
berzoge (duces limitis Sorabici) ; but their power, owing to the fre-
quent changes occurring among the owners, did not completely
form itself into a ducal power. Burchard, whom we find mentioned
as duke, fell in 908, against the Hungarians; his power was trans-
ferred to Otho of Saxony, who already possessed a province giving
him the title of count (Gaugrafschaft) in the northern part of Thu-
ringia. King Henry retained Thuringia united with his duchy.

In Franconia, which besides the ancient Frankish land on the
Lower Rhine, comprised likewise Hessia and the countries of the
Central Rhine, the title of duke could not otherwise appear then
much later, because the country, as long as the kings continued of
the Frankish family, was considered kings' land ; still the administra-
tion of the country was performed by powerful counts, and two
families, the Babenbergerians in the eastern, and the Conradinians
at Worms, in the western part, divided the power, until they broke
out into a deadly dispute and fight, in which the former were com-
pletely defeated. Count Conrad, soon afterwards King Conrad I.,
became, therefore, potentissimus comes in Franconia, and possessed
in reality ducal power. Widukind styles him likewise Duke of the
Franks, although he, as well as his brother Eberhard, is called by
others also comes. It cannot, however, be doubted but that under
Henry I. Eberhard possessed the ducal dignity.

In Bavaria, Luitpold, who had to defend the eastern frontiers
against the Slavonians and Hungarians, is styled dux in a diploma
of King Louis, of the year 901, and his son Arnulf calls himself duke
in the year 908.

In Swabia, where the defence of the frontiers was not so necessary,
the ducal dignity appears to have connected itself gradually with the
power of the royal missus, and to have developed itself later. Bur-
chard, however, under Conrad I. appears nevertheless as Duke of
Swabia.

In Lorraine finally, it became more easy to the nobles of the land

L

146 THE DUKES HEREDITARY— THE FAUST-RECHT.

by means of its doubtful and critical position between France and
Germany in the later Carolingian period, to maintain a state ot
greater independence, and we thus find upon record already in the
year 901 a Duke Kebehart, and later, under King Henry, the Duke
Gisilbrecht.

The dukes were not, it is true, regarded as lords of their people
and lands, but as ministers and representatives of their king, in whose
name they regulated in peace the affairs of justice and order, and
in war led the army of their race to battle. But soon becoming
large landed proprietors, and being no longer under the surveil-
lance of royal envoys, the dukes took advantage of the weakness
of the kings, and by degrees arrogated to themselves an increase of
power, and brought the lesser vassals under their dominion; nay,
they even gradually made their dignity, granted to them only as
imperial crown officers, hereditary in their families, as well as the
revenues of the crown lands, which they had only received as the
salary for their service.

Like the great dukes, the inferior imperial officers, the counts,
margraves, and others, established themselves more and more firmly
in their dignities, and the estates attached thereto. The spiritual
lords, archbishops, bishops, and abbots, were, like the temporal lords,
members and vassals of the empire, and like them augmented their
secular power and possessions; and all these became by degrees
from the mere deputies of royal authority, independent princes of
the German nation.

Besides this, in some individuals, the love of freedom and per-
sonal independence began already, as early as this period, to dege-
nerate often into licence. He who thought himself offended by
another, and conceived he possessed sufficient strength to revenge
himself, did not seek the establishment of his rights in the usual
way, namely, through the judges of the land, but with arms and the
strength of the fist. Thence that period wherein the appeal to the
fist was so generally adopted, was called the period of the faust-recht,
the fist or club law. It commenced, already, under the later Carolin-
gians, but it was long afterwards that it reached its highest extent.

The evil became necessarily great, for the manners of the nation were
still rude. Arms and the chace remained their favourite occupations,
and the sword and the falcon were the greatest treasures of the Ger-
man. He could calmly see all taken from him, says an author, but
if his sword and falcon came into any danger, he would not hesitate
to save them even with a false oath. The hunting fetes were superb,
and were included among the highest festivities of life. Ladies, from
gorgeously ornamented tents, beheld the destruction of the game. In
the evening they feasted under tents in the forest, and the company,
with their suites, returned amidst the music of the hunting horns.
For the sake of the chace, the kings and nobles preferred remaining
at their country seats, and on this account for a long time, despised
dwelling in cities.

MUSIC AND SINGING— NEGLECT OF THE LANGUAGE. 147

During the later period of the Carolingians, besides the wars
within and beyond the land, which they so much desolated, what
was greatly to be deplored was, that the germs of cultivation which
Charlemagne, in his exertions for science, had planted in his schools
for instruction, became again almost entirely destroyed. No period in
the whole history of Germany is darker, more superstitious and icmo-
rant, than that of Louis the German, to the end of the Carolingian dy-
nasty, and a short time beyond it — despite of the Germans being, from
time immemorial, so susceptible of cultivation, and by their serious
application and profound meditation so well adapted for the acquire-
ment of art and science. An example of this is to be found even in
that dark age. In the days of Pepin and Charlemagne the first or-
gans were brought to Germany from Greece, and Charles took every
pains to introduce the Latin psalmody and church music among his
subjects. At first he had but little success; at least an Italian of that
time complains that their natural rudeness was their great obstruc-
tion: " Great in body like mountains," says he, " their voice rolls
forth like thunder, and cannot be modulated into gentler tones; and
when their barbaric throats endeavour gently to produce the soft tran-
sitions and flexibilities of the music, the hard tones pour forth their vo-
lume in a rattling sound, like a coach rolling over the stones, so that the
feelings of the hearer, which should be gently moved, are, on the
contrary, completely startled and terrified." Thus was pronounced
originally a criticism upon their disposition and qualification for har-
mony. And yet by industry and exercise they advanced so far in a
short time, that Pope John VIII., who lived about the year 870,
besought Anthony, bishop of Freisingen, to send him a good organ
from Germany, and with it a person who was equally well able to
play upon as to make it.

In this century a pupil of Rhabanus Maurus, the monk Otfried of
Weissenburg, gave a very remarkable example of his love for his
mother-tongue, by translating the gospel into German verse, in
order that the people might be enabled to read it. Charlemagne
had, indeed, commenced to improve and cultivate the German lan-
guage, but after him no one thought further about it. Otfried now
zealously endeavoured to make it a written language, although it
was very difficult to express by letters its hard and strange sounds.
He strongly and justly contended against those who, indifferent to-
wards their native-tongue, preferred learning, with excessive labour,
and using the languages of the Latins and Greeks. " They call the
German language," he says, "boorish, and yet do not endeavour by
their writings or study to make it more perfect. They carefully avoid
writing badly in Latin and Greek, and yet do not care forgoing so
in their own language ; they are ashamed to offend against good
taste by even a letter in those languages, but in their own tongue it
happens with every word. Truly a singular fact this, that such great
and learned men do all this for the honour of foreign languages, and
yet cannot even write their own !"

L 2

148 DECREASE OF FREEMEN— THEIR DEGRADATION.

The condition of the common freemen was the saddest of all in
these times, and they, consequently, decreased so much that they
scarcely formed a distinct order in the nation. Much earlier,
already when the feudal system gradually developed itself, and ele-
vated the vassals above all those who cultivated their own inherit-
ance, their numbers had decreased considerably, but the worst time
came after Charlemagne.

Charles knew well that the strength of a nation consists in the great
preponderance of freemen, and that it is upon their courage and
their animated love for their country that must depend the general
weal and its security from all danger ; he therefore applied great care
and vigilance to the restoration of the arriere ban, which had also by
the influence of the feudal system fallen into disuse. In this, how-
ever, he attained his aim but partially, because his wars, far from
being real national wars, for the defence of the country, were only
conquering excursions in distant countries. These were very op-
pressive to the common man, who, from the day that the army
stepped upon the land, of the enemy, was obliged to provide himself,
at his own expense, for three months with provisions, as well as with
clothes and arms. Many, therefore, endeavoured to avoid the duties
of this servile military service. They gave themselves up both in
body and possessions to the service or guardianship of the church,
or to the patronage of a noble, either as arriere or under vassals, be-
cause, as such, they were not bound to yield so much service as to
the king in the arriere ban, or even as bondmen, and as such no
longer belonging to the class of freemen. They were called the
Lidi (Leute, people) of the seigneur, and remained, it is true, the
possessors of their own inheritance, which they themselves cultivated,
but they were subject to pay tax, and were held in soccage, and
could neither quit the land nor sell it; but with their children and
descendants they were bound to the soil, and were the property of
their lord. This was severe; but they were at the same time ex-
empted from doing any military service in distant expeditions ; for,
as bondsmen, they were not considered worthy of bearing arms, but
remained all their lives in tranquillity with their families. At the
most they were only obligated, under the most urgent circumstances,
to repair to a short distance, within the immediate vicinity of their ter-
ritory, there to fight, on foot, with stick or club ; the lance and sword
being forbidden to them. Had they rightly considered that men
who are not allowed to bear arms, also speedily lose both courage
and power, and if they are not absolutely called slaves, soon adopt
slavish sentiments, they would, no doubt, much rather have remained
poor and oppressed, but still freemen and warriors ; but, alas ! in ne-
cessity the nearest and most immediate aid appears the best to him
who suffers, and the eye loses the power of perceiving the distant
consequences.

Besides the oppressive service of the arriere ban, which brought
many freemen into slavery, there were other causes which contribu-
ted to decrease their numbers, among which may be classed the ter-

STATE OF THE COUNTRY— OTHO THE ILLUSTRIOUS. 149

rific incursions of the Avari, the Normans, the Slavonians, and
Hungarians, in which thousands of them were killed or carried off
as slaves; and later, the disorders and oppressions of t\iefaust-recht,oi:
club-law, which likewise obliged many of the poor freemen to give
themselves up to the service of some neighbouring powerful noble, to
secure themselves from the robberies of those who made a trade of
pillage. Besides, in those times of disorder, when laying up maga-
zines of provisions was not thought of, countries were often visited
with desolating famine and pestilence ; in such necessities many free-
men, that they might not die of starvation, gave themselves up, with
their children and property, to nobles or spiritual foundations for
bread. And, lastly, many became servitors to cloisters and eccle-
siastical establishments; and from piety, or for the salvation of their
souls, they gave their all to the altar of God. For the church already,
at this period, possessed and maintained the privileges, by which an
individual might give to it his whole possessions, and thus entirely
pass by the just inheritors. Thence, from all these causes, it happened
that, at the end of this period, not only the ancient pride and cou-
rage, but also the majority of the freemen — accordingly the inde-
pendence of the Germans — had disappeared, and scarcely any but
noblemen and their feudatories remained, thus threatening the coun-
try with the sad prospect of decay and ruin. But whenever neces-
sity has been great, God has always sent to the German nation unex-
pected aid and support. Accordingly, at this moment, it was precisely
the devastation spread everywhere by the Hungarians which laid
the foundation for the renewed elevation of the common freemen to
a civic state, and re-established later the condition of the peasant.

After the death of Louis the Child, the principal German branches
assembled, and looked about them for the most worthy among their
princes to be their king. The election fell upon Otho the Illustrious,
Duke of Saxony and Thuringia, who was related, on the maternal
side, to the Carolingians, and by the power of his house, as well as
by age and wisdom, was held in great esteem by all. On the pa-
ternal side, he descended from Count Eckbert, whom Charlemagne
had placed in Saxony against the Normans, in 810. Otho, however,
refused the crown, because the cares of the empire were too great
for his age, and advised rather that Conrad, the Duke of the Franks
(according to some writers, he was only a count), be made king.
For this act, Otho merits the greater praise, as Conrad was ^ truly
worthy to rule as king, and the race of the Franks still continued
the most esteemed among the German nations ; for hitherto it was
from that race that the king had commanded over the whole of Ger-
many. Otho, therefore, wisely considered it better that the rule
of the empire should remain with them, and, in so doing, entirely
dismissed from his mind the enmity which always had, and still par-
tially existed between the Saxons and the Franks.

Conrad was accordingly elected king on the 8th of November,

150 HENRY OF SAXONY — EBERHARD — CONRAD'S DEATH.

911, at Pforzheim. He is described as being a man of great merit,
both, at home and abroad ; valiant and prudent, kind and liberal. His
first care was to elevate, from its sunken state, the royal authority,
for upon it depended the order of the whole empire. But the confusion
was too great, and Conrad's reign too short, to render his efforts com-
pletely successful. The Lothringians, or Lorrainers, who only, since
the time of Louis the German, had belonged to Germany, were not
contented with his election, and separated themselves, nor could Con-
rad bring them back again to the empire. After the death of Otho
the Illustrious, he had to contend with his son, Henry of Saxony;
for, misguided by the advice of Hatto, Archbishop of Mentz, he
wished to deprive Henry of some great fiefs which he owned, besides
his dukedom of Saxony, in order that no prince of the empire
should be too powerful ; probably these were the northern districts of
Thuringia, which Otho had already possessed; but Henry was va-
liantly defended by his Saxons. He completely defeated the king's
brother, Eberhard, who had advanced against him with an army,
near Eresburg (now Stadberg) so that he retained the fiefs in the
subsequent treaty, which terminated the war; nay, he even appears
to have conquered also the southern portion of Thuringia, and to
have maintained the ducal dignity over the whole of Thuringia.

Conrad confirmed Count Burkhard in Swabia, after some contest,
as Duke of the Allemanni. Arnulf of Bavaria, however, who also
revolted, and so far forgot himself as to call in the Hungarians to
his assistance, was condemned to death by the princes of the empire
as a traitor to the country, and was obliged to take refuge among
the Hungarians.

Thus, by energetic measures and timely concessions, the general
tranquillity and imperial dignity were re-established, and the unity
of Germany maintained. But Conrad well felt how difficult the task
was for him, and that the power of the Frankish dukes alone was not
sufficient to curb the over-powerful nobles. It also required greater
strength to protect the empire against the Slavonians and Hunga-
rians, who still repeated, without ceasing, their incursions. At the
same time, perhaps, he did not perceive in his brother, Eberhard,
who pretended to possess the greatest claim to the crown, the proper
qualities of a king; whilst, on the other hand, his earlier and now
conciliated opponent, Henry of Saxony, was, in all respects, irre-
proachable, endowed with great energy of mind and body, and, by
nis power and influence, ranked at the head of all the German princes.
When, therefore, Conrad lay sick of a wound at Limburg, on the
Lahn, which he had received in his last expedition against the
Hungarians, and felt death approaching, he thought of the example
which Otho the Illustrious had given at his election, and forgetting
all jealousy, and with his thoughts directed only for the weal of his
country, he called his brother, Eberhard, to his bedside, and thus
addressed him : " We command, it is true, great means, my dear

HENRY OF SAXONY. 151

Eberhard; we can collect great armies, and know how to leadtliem.
We are not wanting in fortified cities and defences, nor in any of
the attributes of royal dignity. Yet greater power, influence, and
wisdom, dwell with Henry, and upon him alone depends the welfare
of the empire. Take, therefore, these jewels, this lance and sword,
together with the chain and crown of the ancient kings, and carry
them to Henry the Saxon. Be at peace with him, that you may
have him for your constant strong ally. Announce to him that Con-
rad, on his death-bed, has chosen and recommended him as king, in.
preference to all the other princes." He died in December, 918.

Eberhard did what his brother had commanded, and was the first
who did fealty to King Henry. A kingdom wherein such senti-
ments were found, might truly and without danger, remain electoral

152

FOURTH PERIOD.

FROM HENRY I. TO RUDOLPHUS OF HAPSBURG.

919—1273.

THE tenth century is by no means rich in historical works :

1. The chronicle of Eegino, already mentioned in the preceding epoch, was con-
tinued by another writer as far as the year 967, abridged, but mostly careful and
exact, and altogether well written.

2. Luitpvand of Pavia, private secretary to King Beranger II. of Italy, afterwards
in the service of King Otho L, and finally Bishop of Cremona, wrote the history of
his time not without spirit, and, especially in his history of Italy, very instructive,
although partial and enthusiastic. His style is far-fetched and bombastic, showing
much of the courtier, and a great love for anecdote and illustration in his narrative.
This history goes from c. 886 — 948, and a supplement from 961 — 964. He wrote
also, in another distinct work, an account of his embassy to the court of the Em-
peror Nicephorus.

3. Horoswitha, a nun of Gandersheim, wrote a poem, " De Gestis Ottonum Pa-
negyris," from 919 — 964; as the title indicates, a poem in praise of Otho the Great,
accordingly not always faithful to truth, and, of course, partial or one-sided ; never-
theless, not without some proportionate merit here and there. She treats upon the
later years rather fugitively.

4. Widukind, usually called Wittekind, a monk of Corvey, who died about the
year 1000, wrote a history of the Saxons (Rerum Saxinocarum, libri iii.) as far as
973. As the first historian of his time, he presents his record of the events in a
form equally agreeable and happy, devoted to the house of Saxony, but still with a
desire after truth; and the second part of his work is of invaluable merit. The first
portion is, in part, based upon the legends and traditions of the people.

5. Amongst the chronicles on the history of Germany, especially the relations of
the Lotharingians, Flodoard of Rheims is particularly important, who wrote a his-
tory from 919 to 966.

6. Richer, a monk of St. Remy, near Rheims, studied medicine/and was a pupil of
the celebrated Gesbert; and encouraged by his master to write history, he com-
posed, in the years 995 to 998, his " Historiarum, libros iv.," from 888 — 995, which
he dedicated to Gesbert. His history is, for France, partial, and he often adapts the
events to the advantage of that country. Nevertheless, amidst the dearth of his-
torical source in his time, he is certainly of great value. His narrative is based upon
a close study of the ancients. The middle ages being only taken up by Ekkehard,
Richer was quite lost sight of, until Pertz discovered in Bamberg the only autho-
graphic document still existing by him, which has been published in the " Monu-
menta."

7. Detached and extremely interesting communications are given to us in the
biographies of Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne, the brother of Otho I.; of Udalrich,
Bishop of Augsburg; and other ecclesiastics of that time.

In the eleventh century, we find more important and a greater number of historians,
who, in their descriptions, distinguish themselves especially:

1. The life of Queen Matilda, written by command of King Henry IL, by an un-
known author, between the years 1002 and 1014; agreeably written, and not unim-
portant as regards the history of Henry I.

2. Ditmar, or Thietmar, Bishop of Merseburg, who died in 1018, wrote a history
of the German kings from 876 — 1018. His narrative is confused, his language ob-
scure, being neither pure nor agreeable, and his description in the first books not
impartial. Nevertheless, he is of great importance to us, rich in information of the
most varied nature, and forms our principle source for the history of Otho III. and
Henry II. He was a friend and relation of the Saxon emperors.

3. Besides the last-mentioned writer, we find the best detailed and correct infor-

HENRY L— RUDOLPHUS OF HAPSBURG, 919—1273. 153

mation respecting the end of the tenth and commencement of the eleventh century
in the " Annales Quedlinburgensis," to 1025.

4. The life of Henry II. by Adelbold, Bishop of Utrecht, is incomplete and nearly
all borrowed from Ditmar, but well written. The " Vitae" of both the Bishops of
Hildesheim, Bern ward and Godehard, are, as regards the history of Saxony of preat
consequence; the Meinwercs of Paderborn merit being mentioned likewise'

5. Wippo, chaplain to the Emperor Conrad II., whose life he has written in a pom-
pous style, " Vita Conradi Salici." He was a man of science and letters, and of a
remarkable mind.

6. Hermannus Contractus (the lame), of the family of the Counts of Vehringen,
and a Benedictine monk of Reichenau, who died in 1054. He wrote a chronicle
from 1000 — 1054, continued to 1100 by Berthold and Bernold, of Constance.

7. Adam of Bremen (born at Meissen, and canon and rector of the college of Bre-
men), who died in 1076. He wrote a good ecclesiastical history of the North, from
the middle of the eighth century to 1076; important for the history of North Ger-
many, especially of the time of Henry IV.

8. Bruno of Corvey (de Belle Saxonico), a passionate adversary of Henry IV., and
who exaggerates and disfigures much; yet he is important and indispensable for the
history of the war.

9. Lambert of Aschaffenburg, a monk of Hersfeld, wrote a chronicle from the
earlier times to 1077. A work of great genius, full of spirit, well written, and an
important source for the period in which he lived; he is especially the best historian
of the middle ages.

10. Marianus Scotus, who died in 1086; a monk of Fulda and Mentz, who wrote
a chronicle to 1083, which was continued by Dodechin to 1200.

11. Sigbert, a monk of Gemblours (Sigeb. Gemblacensis), who died in 1112, wrote
a chronicle; learned, written with great industry, and rich in information, but which
is nevertheless confused and not altogether authentic. His work has been continued
by several writers, and in the subsequent middle ages much resorted to.

12. Ekkehardus Uraugiensis wrote a chronicle to 1126, likewise very learned,
carefully written, of great value in the particular history of his own times, and more
impartial than most of the historians of that period, who all wrote for or against the
emperors and popes. There are several continuations of this work, of wlu'ch the
most known is that by the Abbot of Ursperg (Chron. Urspergj to 1229.

13. The letters of the popes and other distinguished men, collected by an ecclesi-
astic, Ulrich of Bamberg, in the twelfth century, are extremely valuable.

14. It is likewise very interesting, in order to catch the spirit of those times when
the dispute between Henry and Gregory excited the pens of various distinguished
men, to write in defence of both those parties, to know the various controversial
productions which appeared on this subject, with the different opinions therein con-
tained. The partisans of the pope had their central point in the monasteries
of St. Blaise, Schaff hausen, and Hirschau ; whilst, however, many learned and esti-
mable men, of irreproachable character, wrote against the pope and in favour of the
emperor. We cannot here give the names of these opposite writers, but their cha-
racter will be found fully drawn in Stenzel's excellent work on the history of Ger-
many under the Frankish emperors.*

15. The Biography of Benno, Bishop of Osnaburg, a friend of Henry IV. by
Norbert, Abbot of the Convent of Iburg, which was built by Benno, contains im-
portant information.

16. The historians of the Crusades are more especially numerous ; the importance
of the subject, the universal interest taken therein, the peculiar nature of the expe-
dition in a foreign country and at such a distance, together with the surprising and
wonderful deeds performed, excited many, and particularly those who were present,
to give their records of the scenes witnessed, for the perusal of those left behind at
the time and their successors. The majority of the chronicles have been collected
by Bongars, under the title : " Gesta Dei per Francos, Hanoviae 1611, fol."

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the impetus given by the Crusades pro-
duced its influence, and operated beneficially upon the historians. They became
more particular in the selection and arrangement of the subject-matter, thus showing
a commencement in the art of historical writing. Amongst the most distinguished
writers are:

1. Otho, Bishop of Freisingen, who died in 1158, son of the Margrave Leopold of

* Geschichte Deutschlands unter den Frankischen Kaisern. 1827-1828.

154 HENRY I. — RUDOLPHUS OF HAPSBURG, 919 — 1273.

Austria, a philosopher, of independent feeling, and full of eloquence. He wrote a uni-
versal history to the year 1152, well continued as far as 1209, by Otho of Sainte
Blaise ; and the Life of the Emperor Frederic I. to 1156, which was continued as far
as 1160 byRadewich, Canon of Freisingen; both works equally interesting and
learned, and written with intelligence and discernment.

2. The History of Frederic I. receives important elucidations from the Chronicles
of Vincenz of Prague, 1140—1167; the History of Lodi 1153—1178, by Otho and
Acerbus Morena; the History of Romuald, Archbishop of Salerno, to 1168; the
Poem of Giinther : Ligurinus and the book of the so-called Sire Raul of Milan: " de
Eebus gestis Frederici in Italia."

3. The Chronicle of the Slavi, by Helmold, an ecclesiastic of Lubeck, to 1170, and
by Arnold to 1209 ; important for the history of Henry the Lion and the house of
the Guelphs.

4. Valuable information is given upon the same subject by Gerhard, Provost of
Stederbuch, in his Chronicles of the Monastery, and by the Monk of Weingarten in
his book " de Guelfis," and his Chronicles.

5. The so-called " Annalista Saxo" and " Chronagraphus Saxo," mostly compila-
tions, but the former for the eleventh and the latter for the twelfth centuries, in the
detail, are both very interesting.

Nearly all the bishoprics, churches, and monasteries of Germany, now received
their appointed historians, who we find touch more or less upon general matters, and
are often more important than the universal chronicles selected for general circula-
tion. Such are for instance:

6. Albert von Stade, whose chronicle goes as far as 1256, and is continued by a
Stranger to 1324 — also a compilation.

7. Gotfried vonViterbo to 1186; the monk Alberich, Joh. Vitoduranus, &c.

8. A collection of letters by celebrated men of that period is very important,
especially those of Pope Innocent III. and Petrus de Vinea, Chancellor of the Em-
peror Frederic II., and who died in 1249.

9. The most complete collection of letters to and from the popes, of the transac-
tions of their ambassadors and other similar documents, has been preserved in the
archives of the Vatican in Rome, which, as maybe easily conceived, are of the highest
importance for the history of this period, but it is extremely difficult to gain access
to them. A great part of them, however, has been transcribed in Rome by Pertz,
and already the commencement of their publication has been made in the fourth
volume of the " Monumenta Germaniae Historica."

10. A work of very great importance for the history of the Emperor Frederic II.,
is the History of England, by Matthieu-Paris, who, together with the events of the
English nation from 1066 — 1259, treats also occasionally upon the affairs of the other
nations of Europe. So likewise various Italian historians, of whom we need only
here refer especially to Richard de Saint Germano and Nicolas de Jamsilla (both
in the Collection of Muratori).

11. All the great writers who form the source of history have been brought toge-
ther in the great Collections of Duchesne, Bouquet (for France), Muratori (for Italy),
Schard, Reuber, Urstisius, Pistorius, Freher, Goldast, Schilter, Meibom, Leibnitz,
Ekkard, &c., (for Germany).

|K> 12. Equally important as were for the history of the preceding epoch the collection
of the ancient laws of the Franks and the nations subjected to them, are likewise for
the history of the Middle Ages (although much abridged j the collections of the later
laws, known under the names of the Sachsenspiegel or Mirror of Saxony, the Schwaben-
spiegel or Mirror of Swabia, and Kaiserrecht, or the Imperial Law.

HENRY I.— PRODUCES INTERNAL TRANQUILLITY. 155

CHAPTER VII.

919—1024.

Henry I., 919-936 — His Wars — The Hungarians — The Slavonians — New Institu-
tions— Otho I., 936-973-^The Hungarians — Battle of the Lechfeld— The Western
Empire renewed 962 — Greece — Otho II., 973-983— Italy — Otho HI., 983-1003 —
His Religious Devotion — His Partiality for Roman and Grecian Manners and
Customs — Henry II., 1003-1024 — Italy — Pavia — Bamberg— His Death, 1024 —
End of the Saxon Dynasty.

THE accounts we possess respecting the election of Henry vary
much, and are here and there very erroneous. If we follow — as is
but just — the statements of the most ancient writers, Widukind and
Ditmar, we shall find that the princes and elders of the Franks,
yielding to the counsel of Conrad their king, given on his death-bed,
assembled together at the summons of their duke, Eberhard, at Fritz-
lar, in the beginning of the year 919, and there, in the presence of
the two nations, the Franks and the Saxons, elected Henry for their
sovereign. The whole assembly with uplifted hands proclaimed and
saluted with loud shouts their chosen king. Thus the choice was
more properly made by the nobles of Franconia, whilst the Saxons
naturally accepted the election made of their own duke. As yet, how-
ever, it could not be known what measures might be adopted by the
other nations, and we shall soon learn in what way Henry speedily
brought the Swabians and Bavarians to acknowledge his sovereignty.

Subsequent authorities relate that the envoys despatched to offer
the crown to Henry, met him on his estates of the Hartz Moun-
tains, among his falcons, occupied in catching birds, whence
he derived the byname of the Fowler. It is possible that this tra-
dition may have been preserved among the people, still the aforesaid
earlier writers make no mention of it, whilst it is only in the middle
of the eleventh century that we for the first time meet in the chro-
nicles and other historical works, with this byname Henricus auceps.

Henry's reign began, it is true, with some internal agitations, but
these were soon quelled, for the anxious wish both of Otho the Illustri-
ous and King Conrad became now fulfilled, and the Franks and the
Saxons lived accordingly in harmony together. Duke Burkhard of
Swabia, and Duke Arnulf of Bavaria, who had returned from the
Hungarians, refused him homage ; but he speedily brought them by
the power of his arms and the gentler force of peaceful and friendly
persuasion, back to their duty. Thus, from the year 921, the whole
of Germany obeyed Henry, and no internal war disturbed the peace
of his empire, although it was only after several battles that he con-
quered Lorraine, which had still wavered between France and
Germany. Soon afterwards he strengthened his union with that

156 THE HUNGARIANS AND SLAVONIANS.

country by giving his daughter Gerberga in marriage to its duke,
Giselbert, and during seven centuries that beautiful land remained
united with Germany.

Henry could now occupy himself with his foreign enemies, the
Slavonians and Hungarians. The latter thought they could still
continue their old system of destruction in the German countries,
but they now found an opponent who arrested their progress. At
first, indeed, Henry was obliged to yield to their furious attacks (in
924), and they advanced into the very heart of Saxony. He was,
however, fortunate enough, in a sally he made from the fortified
Castle of Werle, or Werlaon,* to capture one of their most distin-
guished princes ; for his ransom and Henry's promise of a tribute the
Hungarians concluded a truce for nine years, and engaged during
that time not to attack Germany. They probably purposed after
that to make doubly good the lost time, but Henry profited so well
by those nine years that when they did return they found a very
different country to contend with.

He now commenced suppressing with much severity and justice in-
ternal turbulence and depredation, so that the greater zeal might be
excited against foreign enemies. For under the reign of the last
Carolingians, as we have already seen, the spirit for war and rapine
was cherished everywhere, even amongst the nobles. Henry pur-
sued and punished these robbers wherever they were taken; but
lie pardoned those in whom he found the better spirit to exist, and
gave them arms and land on the eastern frontiers of the empire, in
order that they might thus have a fair opportunity for the exercise
of their passion for war against his enemies. Merseburg, which
served as one of the quarters for such a troop, thus became a sort of
bulwark or protecting wall against the Slavonians, until Henry
himself advanced farther into the country of that nation.

He then exercised his German soldiers, who until then only knew
how to contend on foot, in the art of fighting on horseback, so that they
might be better enabled to resist the hordes of mounted Hungarians ;
and as the Germans were always willing to learn, and were likewise
skilful in the acquirement of the art of arms generally, they were
speedily made perfect in the cavalry evolutions. He practised them
to attack in close ranks ; to await the first arrow of the enemy, and to
receive it on the shield, and then suddenly to dash upon them before
they had time to discharge the second. Combined with this reform in
the cavalry exercise, he likewise introduced a more strict discipline ;
the eldest brother in every family, as it appears, was forced to do
duty as a horse soldier, and all capable of bearing arms were obliged
at tne general summons (according to the ancient law, which he re-
newed) to join the ranks.

* The position of Werle (called by Widukind, Werlaon) has been variously dis-
cussed; endeavours having been made to trace it in Westphalia, Brunswick, Hildes-
heim, and other districts ; but most probably it was in the palatinate of the same name,
near Goslar, as appears in the " Mirror of the Saxons."

NEW TOWNS AND FORTIFICATIONS. 157

Finally, as he well saw that the enemy could still do much mis-
chief, even if they were put to flight— for, like a flash of lightning they
appeared now here, now there, pillaging and murdering and then
vanished before they could be overtaken — he in this interval, con-
verted with great industry a number of unemployed buildings into
fortified castles, placed at certain distances from each other, so that the
inhabitants of the surrounding country, upon the first intelligence of
the enemy's approach, might take refuge there with their property.
The Hungarians knew nothing of besieging cities, and if they made
but little booty in their incursions they did not very soon appear
again. Henry's hereditary lands — as in fact generally the north of
Germany — were very poor in those larger settlements which might
be compared with towns ; in those parts the custom of li ving in iso-
lated localities was preserved later than elsewhere. Accordingly, as
Widukind relates, all were busily occupied, day and night, with the
construction of these burghs, and every one without distinction of
rank or other claims to independence, was forced to join in this
grand work. Henry built these fortified castles and cities chiefly
in his hereditary lands, Saxony and Thuringia, and among others
Goslar, Duderstadt, Nordhausen, Quedlinburg, Merseburg, and
Meissen are named. But that he might also have inhabitants and
garrisons in these places he ordered, that of all the men who were
bound to do service in war, every ninth man should dwell in the city,
and these were obliged to occupy themselves with the building of
houses, which might serve as places of refuge, upon the attacks of the
enemy, and the others were bound to supply them yearly with the
third portion of their produce, in order that they might have where-
with to live, and preserve the rest for all in time of danger.

When Henry had passed some years in making these ^reparations
he resolved to exercise his warriors, by subduing the neighbours of
the Germans in the east and north, who although not so dangerous as
the Hungarians, were still not less disposed to be hostile.

He attacked and beat the Slavonians (the Hevellers on the Havel)
in the Marches of Brandenburg, and conquered their city Brennaburg
(Brandenburg), which he besieged in the most severe winter, so
severe that his army encamped on the ice of the river Havel. He then
subjected the Daleminziens or Dalmatians, who inhabited the banks
of the Elbe, from Meissen to Bohemia. He also undertook an expe-
dition against the Bohemians, besieged Duke Wenzeslaus in Prague,
the capital, and forced him to yield obedience. From this time the
kings of Germany have continued to demand fealty from the dukes
of Bohemia.

These events took place in all probability in the years ^928 and
929. But in this latter year a Slavonic race, the Redarians, en-
couraged no doubt by the absence of the king when on his Bohe-
mian expedition, united with their neighbouring tribes, and sud-
denly revolted, and it was necessary to summon together all the
Saxons, in one entire mass, to advance against them. The king's

158 THE MARGRAVIATES-— THE HUNGARIANS.

generals laid siege to the town of Lukini (Lenzen), near the Elbe.
A great army of the Slavonians advanced to its relief, and a grand
battle was fought, in which they were completely annihilated.
Widukind states their loss at 200,000; even if this number is

exaggerated, it is quite certain that this victory of the Saxons pro-
duced the lasting subjection of the Slavonians.

No doubt it was in order to guarantee these new conquests against
the Slavonians, that Henry extended the already existing defences
on the Slavonian frontiers, and thence were formed gradually the
Margraviate of Nordsachsen (the present Altmark), and the Mar-
graviate Meissen, on the Elbe, where he founded the same-named
city and fortification. Credit may not be given to him, it is true, for
the complete establishment of both these margraviates, because that
occurs in the time of the Ottomans ; nevertheless they owe to him
their foundation. Neither is it proved that in order to promul-
gate Christianity among the Slavonians, he had already founded
bishoprics, the turbulence of the times may have prevented him during
the rest of his reign from doing so; but his son Otho completed
afterwards what his father projected, by introducing ecclesiastical
institutions there.

Meantime the nine years' truce with the Hungarians having ex-
pired, they sent an embassy to Germany to demand the ancient tri-
bute which that country had disgracefully been obliged to pay
them. But Henry, to show them the contempt in which the Ger-
mans now held them, delivered to the ambassadors this time,, in the
form of a tribute, a mangy dog, deprived of its tail and ears, that
being a very ancient symbol of the most utter contempt. At this
the Hungarians were roused into fury, and prepared themselves
to take bitter revenge for it; but King Henry now addressed his
people thus :

" You know from what dangers our formerly-desolated kingdom
is now free, for it was torn to pieces by internal dissensions, and
external wars. But now, by the protection of God, by our efforts, and
by your valour, one enemy, the Slavonians, being brought to subjec-
tion, nothing remains for us but to raise ourselves just as uni-
tedly, and in one mass against the common enemy, the savage Avari
(thus he styled the Hungarians). Hitherto we have been obliged
to give up all our possessions to enrich them, and now to satisfy them
further we must plunder our churches, for we have nothing else to give
them. Choose now yourselves; will you admit that I shall take
away what is appointed for the service of God to purchase our
peace from the enemies of that God, or will you, as it beseems Ger-
mans, firmly confide that He will save us, who in truth is our Lord
and Saviour?" On this the people raised their hands and voices to
heaven, and swore to fight.

The Hungarians now advanced in two strong divisions. The first
attacked Thuringia and devastated the country, to the Weser dis-
tricts, as far as it was not defended by its fortified towns. But an

BATTLE OF MERSEBURG— THE HUNGARIANS DEFEATED. 159

army, formed of the Saxons and Thuringians, attacked this divi-
sion, defeated it, ^destroyed its leaders, and pursuing it through the
whole of Thuringia, annihilated it completely.

The other division of the Hungarians which had remained sta-
tionary in the eastern districts, received the tidings of the overthrow
of their brethren at the moment they were laying siege to the seat
of Henry's sister, married to Wido of Thuringia. What place this
was, we ^ have unfortunately not been able to learn. Some have
thought it to be Merseburg, which Liutprand names as the enemy's
place of encampment, others again pronounce it to be Wittenberg.
The king^ as Widukind relates, encamped near Riade, the situation
of which it is equally impossible to determine. Still it is extremely
probable that the battle took place in the vicinity of the Saale, not
far from Merseburg, in the Hassgau.

The enemy abandoned their camp, and according to their custom,
lighted large fires as a signal to all the rest of their troops, dispersed
around in plundering, to collect together. The following morning
Henry advanced with his army, and exhorted his troops in the most
glowing language on that day to take ample revenge for the wrongs
of their country and their relations and friends slain, or carried off as
slaves. Thus he marched through the ranks of his warriors, bearing
in his hand the holy lance,* preceded by the banner of the army
waving before him, which was consecrated as the angel's banner,
it being decorated with the figure of the archangel Michael. Thence
the German warriors felt within them the full confidence of victory,
and awaited the signal for battle with impatience. The king, how-
ever, who already perceived by the motions of the enemy that they
would not make a stand, sent forward a portion of the Thuringian
militia, or Landwehr, with a few lightly-armed horsemen, in order
that the enemy might pursue these almost unarmed troops, and then
be seduced onwards to attack his main body. And this took place ; but
they so speedily turned their backs upon viewing the well-armed
ranks of the Germans, that it scarcely became a regular battle.
They were pursued, and the greater part were either hewn down or
taken prisoners; the camp of the enemy, with all the treasures
stolen, was captured, and what to the feelings was most of all af-
fecting and delightful was, that the prisoners whom the Hunga-
rians had already forced along as slaves, now saw themselves so provi-
dentially freed from bondage. Henry then fell down on his knees,
together with his whole army, and thanked God for the victory
gained. The tribute which he had hitherto been forced to pay over
to the enemy he now devoted to the service of the church, as well as

* This holy lance was handed to Henry by Rudolphus of Burgundy, as a pre-
sent : it was furnished with a cross, formed of nails, with which, as was believed, the
hands and feet of our Saviour had been fixed when crucified. King Henry and his
successors held this sacred weapon in high veneration, and always used it on im-
portant occasions.

160 THE DANES — THEIR SUBJECTION.

to charitable gifts which he made to the poor ; and the king himself,
says Widukind, was henceforward called by his inspired warriors,
"The father of his country," their "sovereign lord," and their
16 emperor;" whilst the fame of his great virtue and valour extended
over the whole country.

This action took place in the year 933, in the neighbourhood of
Merseburg, and was what was usually styled theMerseburger engage-
ment or the battle of the Hassgau. In remembrance of the event, Henry,
as is related by Liutprand, had a painting of the battle drawn in the
dining hall of his palace in Merseburg, which represented the tri-
umphant scene with nearly all the truth and animation of life itself.

The year 934 presented to King Henry another opportunity by
which to gain great glory, by an expedition against the Danes,
who were ravaging and laying waste the coasts of Friesland and
Saxony. He marched into their own country, at the head of his
army, forced their king, Gorm (usually surnamed the old), to con-
clude a peace, established at Silesia, on the frontiers of the empire,
a fortified barrier, and founded there a margraviate, wherein he left
a colony of Saxons. He also succeeded in converting one of the
members of the royal family — probably Knud, the son of Gorm,
but, according to others, his second son, Harold — to Christianity.
Thus was re-established by Henry I. the Margraviate Schlei and
Trenne, which had previously served as a bulwark for the imperial fron-
tiers, and which the Danes had again possessed and destroyed. This
good prince therefore had now the happiness to behold, when on the
eve of his glorious life, these enemies of the north who, during an entire
century, had spread terror throughout the countries of Europe, retire
before him, and, confining themselves within the limits of their own
territory, acknowledge his power.*

At home, in his own domestic circle, King Henry exercised the
virtues and duties of an excellent husband and a good father. His
queen, the pious and gentle Matilda, was the model of wives;
for, possessing great influence over the king, she availed her-
self thereof wherever it was possible, to obtain his grace and
pardon for the guilty; and his kind and noble heart was always
sadly pained when the stern command of public justice forced him to
refuse her appeals for mercy. By her he had five children, Otho,
Gerberga, Haduin, and subsequently Henry and Biuno. By his
first wife, Hathberga (who, having originally been destined for a
convent, was never looked upon as his lawful wife, and soon left him)
he had a son, called Tancmar, but who was not acknowledged as a
legitimate child.

He gave Otho, his eldest son and successor, in marriage to Edge-
tha, daughter of Edward, King of England; and by that act, set the
first example which the kings of the Saxon dynasty followed so fre-

* This piece of land, between Sclilei and Eider, remained thenceforward united
with Germany for nearly a century, until the emperor, Conrad II., resigned it to King
Knud.

DEATH OF HENRY I. — HIS NEW INSTITUTIONS. 161

quently afterwards, of seeking ^to unite themselves with all the other
royal houses of Europe. This forms a distinguished feature in this
noble race.

Towards the end of his life, according to Widukind, after having
go gloriously succeeded in his devoted object, of producing for his
country peace internally, and from all other nations respect exter-
nally, Henry had it in contemplation to proceed to Italy, in order
to re-unite that country with the empire of Germany. Whether or
not this statement rests upon any good foundation, is not known; but
the execution of this design, if really intended, was suddenly inter-
rupted by sickness, he being attacked with a fit of apoplexy whilst
Staying at Bothfeld, in the autumn of 935, from which he suffered
a long and severe illness. When he did recover sufficiently, he felt
the necessity of at once attending to the means of securing the tran-
quillity of his empire, and he accordingly convoked an assembly of
the nobles at 'Erfurt. He had long perceived in his eldest son
Otho, all that energy and greatness of mind so suitable and necessary
for a sovereign; but the mother was more in favour of Henry, the
second son, because he was more mild than his passionate brother;
besides which, she held him to possess a greater right to the succession
of the crown, because he was the first-born son after his father had
teen invested with the imperial dignity. The will of the father, how-
ever, determined all the nobles to recognise Otho as successor.

More easy now in his mind, Henry left Erfurt and proceeded to
Memleben. There he experienced a second attack of apoplexy,
and, after having taken an affecting, but resigned farewell of his
amiable wife, he died on Sunday the 2nd of July, in the year 936,
at the age of sixty, in the presence of his sons and different princes
of the empire. His remains were buried in the church of St. Peter,
before the altar, in Quedlinburg, the city he had himself founded.

Henry had reigned only eighteen years, and yet during that time
he had not only raised the empire from a fallen state, but had ele-
vated it to the highest degree of power and command. He was
strong and mighty against his enemies, and towards his friends and
subjects, kind, just, and mild. He is represented as having been of
a handsome, chivalric form, skilful and bold as a hunter, and so
adroit in all the exercises of the body and warlike arms, that he was
the terror of his adversaries. He was extremely bland and affable
in his manner, but still preserved so well his dignity that he kept
every one within the bounds of respect.

Henry may, with justice, be styled one of the greatest of^all Ger-
man princes ; for that which proves the greatness of a king is not so
much the actions by which he astonishes the world, but the works he
leaves behind him, and which bear in themselves the living germ of
a new epoch.

!' | Unfortunately, the most ancient and authentic writers in reference
to Kino- Henry are very imperfect and unsatisfactory, so much so,
1 1 that it is impossible to place entire confidence in the subsequent state-

162 FOUNDATION OF CITIES — THE JEWS.

ments. Still it is already much when we find at least, that all the
writers of the middle ages agree in looking upon him as the insti-
tutor of chivalry and the ennobling reformer of the nobility, as well
as being the founder of cities and citizenship, and, with one word, of
all the noble institutions which became developed after him. This tes-
timony proves that his works have had the greatest influence, and,
accordingly, that his memory, as it has been, should continue to be
honoured among mankind. But even if we retain only what is
clearly proved in history, enough will remain to establish his claims
to glory and honour.

Henry became a still greater benefactor to Germany by founding,
in the construction of cities, new municipalities. For although the im-
mediate object of these strong places was to protect the country against
the pillaging hordes of the Hungarians, it was one only secondary, in-
asmuch as they were far more important as the cradle of a new con-
dition of life. The order of common freemen towards the end of
the Carolingian period was, as already stated, very much reduced or
nearly extinct. The German people were upon the high road of be-
coming, like those other nations where there are but two classes, lords
and slaves; two conditions between which that pride and energy
given by freedom are never recovered. Already the country itself
was chiefly cultivated by mere mercenaries, and industrial employ-
ments as well as trade were almost entirely in the hands of the Jews.
The nobles considered these occupations beneath their dignity; nay,
they were very often dependant on the Jews, who had accumulated
immense riches, because in their necessity they were forced to borrow
money from them. As early as in the last period of the Roman
empire the laws had already commenced to favour the Israelites, and
by Honorius among others, they were entirely freed from all military
service. Their chief dwelling places were the cities on the Rhine
and the Danube, which originated in the time of the Romans, (Co-
logne, Coblentz, Treves, Mentz, Worms, Spire, Strasburg, Basle,
Constance, Augsburg, Ratisbonne, Passau, &c.), and in these cities •.
they lived in such great numbers, that they prevented all competi-
tion and obstructed all increase of trade and industry.

But King Henry now built, as we have seen, a number of cities
in Saxony and Thuringia, and placed in them inhabitants from the
country, to serve not merely, as has been supposed, during the time -
of war, but as constant dwelling places; he also found means to over-
come the ancient repugnance felt by the Saxons to living in towns.
He promised to those who dwelt in them the security of justice; and
it is not improbable that each town received its own count, who, in
time of war was the leader, and in peace was the immediate judge
and president, although in gradation he may have ranked under the
count of the gau or district in which the town lay.

Afterwards he ordered, as is expressly stated by Widukind, that
all councils, assemblies, and festivals of the inhabitants of the neigh-
bouring districts, should be held and celebrated in the cities; and

TRADE AND MANUFACTURES—PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION. 163

that all trade-fairs in their turn, followed and joined in these regula-
tions, and that industry and traffic found in the cities their central
point of union, is to be inferred as a natural and important result.
Whatever had been formerly executed in isolated dwellings, by the
family or serfs, soon became, under the new order of things, worked
and finished in quantities, and in a superior style, by the artizans and
mechanics of the cities. And as the master and his men, in turns,
prepared only one, to each allotted part of the work, wherein each was
skilled and had been exercised from youth upwards, such a division
of labour proved, as it always must, the foundation of all civilization
among the people ; and thence Henry was again the founder of indus-
try, moral cultivation, and the development of the civil order of life.

And with the same motives that had caused him to give to chivalry
a nobler aim and a more illustrious title for the exercise of arms, so
did Henry now seek to introduce the practice of arms for the inha-
bitants of the cities, so that they might be skilled in the defence of
their walls, and thus become a defensive and honourable body of the
state. By this he succeeded in attracting inhabitants for his fortified
places, in such great numbers, that as these, in their original state,
soon became too narrow to hold them, the new comers, as they ar-
rived, built themselves houses around the fortified place, so that ano-
ther city, as it were, was speedily completed, which was subsequently
[surrounded with strong walls, likewise as a defence against the at-
j tacks of the enemy.

By what, however, has just been said, it is not meant to convey
that these institutions of King Henry had at once, changed the
whole course of existing customs and manners in Northern Ger-
many, and substituted an extensive and independent order of civil
(institutions ; on the contrary, owing to the ever-repugnant feelings of
[the Saxons against a confined life in towns, as is shewn in subsequent
(times, this new order of things progressed but slowly. Yet he had
laid the foundation, the commencement was made, he gave it an
[impetus, and more could not be demanded from him. His merit
jlies therein, that he perceived and acknowledged the necessary re-
forms required by the march of events, and he promoted their pro-
gress; but it was the course of human development which was
jto combine and complete, in an extended form, what was merely
(began by him. This course, however, is not measured by years, but
by centuries, and thus we. shall find, that it is only in the subsequent
period of the middle ages that the result of the great Henry's noble
designs are made manifest in the flourishing state of the existence of
the cities.

Already, before the death of Henry, the princes had promised
jhim to recognise his son Otho as his successor to the empire ; and
this recognition was now confirmed in a great assembly at Aix-la-
Chapelle, where Otho was solemnly crowned. Two of the great
Archbishops on the Rhine contended for the honour of the corona-
ion. He of Cologne claimed it from Aix-la-Chapelle being in his

M2

164 OTHO I.— HIS ENERGY AND BOLDNESS.

diocese; and the other, of Treves, because his archbishopric was
the most ancient. However, it was at last concluded that neither
of them, but that Hildebert, Archbishop of Mentz, should perform
the ceremony. Giselbrecht, Duke of Lorraine, in whose duchy Aix-
la-Chapelle lay, was charged, as high chamberlain, with the office
of providing for the lodging and entertainment of the strangers,
of whom a vast number attended. Eberhard, Duke of Franconia,
as high steward, supplied the tables and the viands; Duke Herman
of Swabia, acted as high seneschal, and Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria,
as high-marshal, provided for the horses and the camp.

When the people were assembled in the grand cathedral of Aix-
la-Chapelle, the archbishop led the young king forward by the
hand, and spoke thus to the multitude: " Behold, I here present to
you the king, Otho, elected by God, proposed by King Henry, and
nominated by all the princes ! If this choice be acceptable to you,
you will signify it by raising your right hand towards heaven !"

The whole multitude then held up their hands and hailed the new
king with loud and j oyful acclamations. The archbishop then stepped
with him to the altar, whereon the imperial insignia lay — the sword
and belt, the imperial mantle, the armlets and the staff, together
with the sceptre and the crown. The sword he handed to him with
these words : " Take this sword, destined to repulse all the enemies
of Christ, and to confirm, with most lasting power, the peace of all
Christians;" and he handed to his majesty the other articles, with
a similar address. He then placed the crown upon his head and
led him to the throne, which was erected between two marble
columns, where Otho continued to sit until the solemn ceremony
was concluded. All eyes were turned with astonishment to the young
king, whose countenance filled every one with veneration. His
lofty, princely form, his broad manly chest, his large sparkling
eyes, and beautiful flaxen hair, which flowed down to his shoulders !
in long locks — all seemed to announce him as being born, to rule.
The days of festival and ceremony having ended, Otho commenced
his new reign with vigorous power, and it was speedily shewn that
outward appearances had not deceived.

But Otho did not gain over the hearts of men that same mild
power which Henry his father had obtained. He has often been
called a lion from his proud and terrific look and manner, and be-
cause like the lion he cast all enemies down before him, whenever
and however numerous in force they appeared against him, whether
at home or abroad. He was a great and powerful monarch, and was
soon considered the first prince in Christendom. He had placed upon
his head the imperial crown of Charlemagne, and even rendered the
Germanic empire and its name so celebrated amongst all nations, that
none could venture to claim comparison with it. Such powerful re-
sults cannot be accomplished by a man of ordinary mind, and who
lives only for tranquillity and peace, but by him alone, to whom like
Otho, the fame of his nation stands ever before his eyes as an elevated
glory-beaming image, and if even the haughtiness of his soul raised >

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS — HENRY OF BAVARIA. 165

many enemies against him, and even if in his wrath with which his
manly breast was often excited, he acted with harshness towards hig
adversaries, still in his noble dignity of mind, he may be compared
with the lion, inasmuch as he pitied and spared many times those
weaker enemies who besought his mercy and pardon. Anger and
severity indeed never carried him beyond the limits of justice, for
with him the law ever maintained its influence and authority.

Our country, which before these two great kings, Henry and Otho,
was rapidly approaching its own ruin, being rent by internal anarchy
and surrounded externally by enemies who in their contempt, accord-
ing to their caprice, laid it desolate wherever they could, now rose
again suddenly, and became as it were a new-born empire. Not only
were the enemies struck to the ground, but even new countries were
acquired, and all other nations which had previously mocked, now
bent low before us. In the time of peace, when no danger threatens,
and justice and order hold predominance everywhere, a nation may
rejoice in a king who sits upon the throne of his fathers, intent upon
continuing that state of peace ; but when the world is violently agi-
tated, and personal freedom and independence are in danger, or
when a nation has become completely enervated by a long peace,
and is thus rendered indifferent to honour and glory, then a king is
required bold and proud as King Otho the First. His royal patriotic
father had commenced the work, and he, the son, felt himself in
possession of the power to perform its completion.

It is true that at the commencement of his reign many princes rose
against him, as for instance : the Franks under Eberhard, and theLoth-
ringians or Lorrainers under Giselbrecht, who still could not forget
that a Saxon possessed the royal dignity; Tankmar, his step-brother,
and even his own younger brother Henry, the mother's favourite, who
considered he had a greater right to the crown than Otho, because
he was born when his father was already a king, whilst Otho, on
the contrary, was born whilst he was a duke. But the Franks and
Lothringians were reduced by arms to tranquillity, after the Dukes
Eberhard and Giselbrecht were both slain; Tankmar was also killed in
the contest; and Henry, who had been allied with them, repaired to
Frankfurt, and at the Christmas festival, in 942, during mass in the
night, cast himself at the feet of his brother, and received full pardon,
tlthough he had three times risen against him, and had even joined
in a conspiracy to take his life. Nay, in 945, he was presented by
Otho with the vacant duchy of Bavaria, and thenceforward they re-
\ mained true friends until their death.

The king now turned his attention towards his external enemies.
j With his north-eastern neighbours, the Slavonians, he had long and
i sanguinary wars, but he made them tributary as far as the Oder,
! and in order to confirm Christianity among them, he erected the
I Bishoprics of Haselberg, Brandenberg, and Meissen, and subjected
: them later to the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, which he had estab-
j Hshedintheyear 968. TheDukesof Bohemia and Poland were obliged
I to acknowledge his authority, and by the foundation of the Bishopric

166 THE DANES— ITALY— BURGUNDY.

of Posen he sought to extend the mild doctrines of Christianity to
those distant countries. He drove back the Danes, who had
shortly before desolated the Margraviate of Sleswig, founded by his
father, as far as the point of Jutland, and an arm of the sea on this
coast derived from him the name of the Otho- Sound, because he
fixed his lance there in the ground, as a token of his arrival. Harold
caused himself as well as his consort Gunelda and his son Sveno to
be baptised, and bishoprics were erected in Sleswig, Ripen, and
Aarhuus. Otho felt within himself that he was appointed to per-
form the part of a Christian German king, the same as Charles the
Great; he spread Christianity around with a national feeling for its
cultivation, by planting in the conquered countries German colonies.

Meanwhile, in Italy, circumstances had occurred which attracted
the eyes of Otho to that country, longing as he did to perform great
deeds there. Ever since the extinction of the Carolingian branch
numerous pretenders to its dominion had started up, scattering dis-
order and destruction throughout that beautiful land, in addition to
which bands of plundering strangers had either taken up their
quarters or made continual incursions throughout the country. Here
and there the Saracens were found regularly housed amongst the
rocks of the seacoast, whilst the hordes of the Hungarians or Mag-
yars, frequently overrun the rich and fertile plains of tipper Italy. In
the south of Italy, the dominion of the Greek emperors still main-
tained itself, and extended almost to Rome, and whose mercenaries,
consisting of many nations, were a scourge to the land.

In Upper Italy, the native princes at one moment, and the kings
of Burgundy in the next, took possession of the reins of govern-
ment, and to a certain extent assumed the imperial title. Lothaire,
the last king of the Burgundian race, died in the year 950, and the
Margrave, Berengar of Ivrea, took forcible possession of the authority.
In order to fix himself more securely in the government, he tried
to force the young and beautiful widow of Lothaire, the Princess
Adelaide, to marry his son Adelbert. But this she steadily and
firmly refused, and was imprisoned by the king; but with the assist-
ance of an ecclesiastic she escaped, and took refuge at the court
of Adelhard, Bishop of Reggio. This event gave occasion for
Otho to interfere with his influence, in order to adjust this sad state
of confusion in that part of Italy, and especially as he was appealed?
to by many nobles of that land, as also by the persecuted Adelaide
herself. Accordingly in 951 he crossed the Alps with a well-ap-
pointed army, besieged and took possession of Pa via, and as his first
wife Edigatha had died in the year 946, he concluded by giving
his hand to the beautiful Adelaide, whom he had thus so chival-
rously delivered from her base persecutor. In the course of the
following year he became reconciled with Berengar at Augsburg,
and gave him Lombardy as a fief under German dominion. Verona
and Aquislegia however he yielded to Henry of Bavaria.

These events however produced shortly afterwards great disputes

INTERNAL REVOLTS — THE HUNGARIANS. 167

in Germany. Otho was affectionately attached to his queen, Ade-
laide and his brother Henry of Bavaria, and they both* acquired
great influence with him. Ludolf, Otho's son by his former mar-
I riage, felt himself, perhaps not unjustly, to be neglected, and was
' afraid he would be excluded from succession to the throne by the
I children his father might have by Adelaide. He was joined by
Otho's son-in-law, Conrad, Duke of Lorraine, Frederic, Archbishop
of Mentz, the Palatine Arnulf of Bavaria, and several other nobles,
Induced especially, as it would seem, by hatred to Henry of Bavaria,
whose deceitful character had embittered them against him. It was
I only with the greatest trouble and difficulty that Otho was enabled in
the course of the years 953 and 954, to suppress the revolt. Obstinate
and severe battles were fought in Saxony, Lorraine, Franconia, and
Bavaria ; and it was in vain that Otho besieged his adversaries in
Mentz, as well as afterwards in Ratisbonne. Even the Hungarians
renewed their destructive attacks, and were supported in them by
the revolutionary forces; they pursued their incursions through Ba-
varia, Franconia, Lorraine, a part of France, and finally returned
through Burgundy and Italy. But it was just these very devasta-
tions committed by this arch-enemy of the empire which at last put
an end to the revolutionary war. Punished by their conscience,
Conrad and the Archbishop of Mentz returned to their allegiance
and humbled themselves before the king, by whom they were par-
doned and received again into favour, and although in his obstinacy
Ludolf for a time continued the contest, he nevertheless in the end,
I after the Palatine Arnulf had been killed before Ratisbonne, likewise
yielded submission to his father, whose kindled wrath had been
softened down by the intercession of the princes. Ludolf and Conrad,
however, were not granted the restoration of their lost dukedoms,
I that of Lorraine being given to Otho's faithful brother Bruno, who
had likewise been already appointed to the Archbishopric of Cologne,
whilst Burchard, Henry of Bavaria's son-in-law, was raised to the
Dukedom of Swabia.

Thus internal peace was happily restored, when in the year 955,

the Hungarians in still greater force, again invaded Bavaria, and

besieged Augsburg. Udalrich, the bishop of that city, defended it

heroically, until the king advanced to its assistance^and encamped

along the river Lech. His army was divided into eight battalions,

of which the first three consisted of Bavarians; the fourth of the

Franks under Conrad; the fifth of the elite troops of warriors, selected

I from the entire army, at the head of which noble division Otho

! himself commanded; the sixth and seventh were composed of the

I Swabians, and the eighth consisted of a thousand picked Bohemian

! horsemen in charge of the military stores and baggage, as from this

• side no attack was anticipated. Scarcely had the Hungarians, how-

I ever, caught a glimpse of the army, when, with their usual rapi-

i dity, they spread out their innumerable hordes of cavalry, swam across

: the Lech, and attacked the camp behind the army; throwing the

168 BATTLE OF LECHFELD — THE SLAVONIANS.

Bohemians and the Swabians into such disorder that the baggage
became lost. The valiant Conrad, however, with his Franks, has-
tened to their assistance and restored order. The decisive battle was
fixed to take place on the following day, it being the day of St,
Lawrence. The whole army prepared itself for the contest by
prayer ; the king received the holy sacrament, and he and the entire
army swore to remain true to each other unto death. Otho then
raised the holy lance, the banner of the angel which had led to vic-
tory at Merseburg, waving also now in front; the king himself
gave the signal for attack, and was the first to fall upon the enemy.

,£

^

rn<

He himself, with his chosen troop, and Conrad, who felt anxious
to recover by splendid deeds the good name he had lost in his rebel-
lion, decided the battle. Thus a great and glorious victory was
gained ; the enemy's troops completely defeated, and put to flight,
nearly all being destroyed or made prisoners, and three of their
leaders hung up like chiefs of robbers. Their own writer, Keza,
assures us that out of both their large armies, consisting of 60,000
men, only seven stragglers returned — with their ears shorn.

But the victory of the Germans was dearly purchased. Many
brave leaders fell; and the heroic Conrad, who, during the great
heat, had loosened his armour to cool himself a little, was mortally
wounded in the neck by a stray arrow, and died — thus repaying
with his blood the debt he owed to his country. The Hungarians,
however, after the battle, did not venture to appear again in Ger-
many ; and the whole of that beautiful country along the Danube,
the subsequent margraviate of Austria, was torn from them, and by
degrees repopulated with Germans, so that eventually it flourished
gloriously.

Otho gained, in the same year, a victory not less important over
the Slavonians, who, in conjunction with numerous discontented
Saxons, renewed their attacks constantly. The Margrave Gero, one
of the most important men under the reign of Otho I., and who had
for many years continued to protect the eastern frontiers against the
Slavonians, now, together with the valiant Hermann Bilburg, op-
posed them with great vigour and success, until the king himself
was enabled to advance to their aid ; and in a battle fought on the
16th of October, and which has been compared with that of Augs-
burg, he completely conquered them. The brave Hermann Bilburg
was subsequently created a duke of Saxony by Otho, although, as
it appears, without having attained the government of the entire
country, and the full power of the other dukes.

Meanwhile, Berengar, the ungrateful King of Italy, to whom
Otho had shown great kindness, again rebelled against him, and
cruelly persecuted all who held with the King of Germany; and
in their trouble they entreated assistance from Otho. He first
sent his son, Ludolf, with an army across the Alps; its force was
indeed but small, but the valiant son of Otho pressed the traitor
so closely, that he must have been destroyed, if Ludolf had not sud*

ITALY-— THE WESTERN EMPIRE RENEWED. 169

denly died in the bloom of youth, and, as it is supposed, by poison
in the year 957. Some few years elapsed, when in the year 961
King Otho himself, invited by the pope, John XII., the Archbishop
of Milan, and others, accompanied by Adelaide, his queen, marched
himself a second time into Italy, after he had caused his son, Otho,
yet an infant, to be elected and crowned king. Berengar concealed
himself among his castles, whilst his son Adelbert took refuge in
Corsica ; but Otho proceeded direct to Rome. During his progress
towards the capital, the gates of every town were thrown open be-
fore the mighty King_ of the Germans, and everywhere the inha-
bitants were struck with amazement and admiration, when they
beheld the powerful and lofty figures of the northern strangers.

Otho considered it worthy of his own glory, as well as of the
dignity of the German nation, to replace upon his head, on the
2nd of February, 962, the Roman imperial crown, which Charle-
magne had transferred to the Germans, thereby testifying to the
whole world, that strength and power were with that people, and
that their monarch was the first of all Christian rulers. It was
under his protection and support, that the church and its spiritual
head, the pope, were to exercise their influence over the people;
and in him, the emperor, every enemy of order and justice would
find a stern and implacable judge. Thus had, likewise, Charles the
Great founded anew the imperial dignity, and thus it was renewed
by Otho I. It is true, the condition of Europe had changed since
Charles's time ; then almost all the Christian nations were under his
dominion; whilst there were various independent kings who were
not subject to him, the German king. Yet not one of them all
could compare himself with him ; the imperial crown had ever been
justly regarded as belonging to the Germans, and the ancestors of
Otho had none of them given up their claim to it. Otho was espe-
cially the protector of the Christian faith towards the north and
east; he ruled in Burgundy; his authority was the ruling one in
France, where his brother, Bruno, of Lorraine, acted as arbitrator and
judge, and as which he was acknowledged by all; and now, having
subjected Italy, to him alone belonged the dignity of Emperor of
the Western Christendom.

Many have spoken against the renewal of the empire, and have
particularly censured King Otho, that he cast this great burden
upon Germany. The union of the two countries was the source of the
greatest misfortune to Germany, which sacrificed so many men for
the foreign ally, whilst at home it was itself entirely neglected by
its own hereditary rulers. But what God had prepared as a great
transition in the fate of a nation, and what a number of excellent
men in former times acknowledged as necessary and good, cannot be
rejected by the judgment of later descendants. It has been the
same with the papacy; many have expended their gall against' it, as
having only contributed to the diiFusion of darkness, superstition,
and spiritual slavery. But those who thus express themselves, mix

170 THE EMPERORS AND THE POPES— THE CHURCH.

In their censure all ages, and are unable to transport themselves
into those wherein the imperial throne and the papal chair were
necessary links in the great chain of historical development.

It is not difficult for the unprejudiced and candid mind to perceive
the grand idea which served as the foundation of both. In those
times when rude force exercised its dominion, the emperor, with
the scales of justice in his hand, presided as judge between Chris-
tian nations, and exerted himself for the peace of the world exter-
nally; whilst, on his part, the pope guided the empire of internal
peace, piety, and virtue. As the condition of life was yet rude, and
civil institutions still so imperfect, that the state could not of itself
undertake to superintend mental cultivation; therefore, the church
and schools, the clergy and teachers, necessarily stood under the
supremacy of the head of the church, whose care it was that the
truth and gentleness of the divine word should illumine all Chris-
tian nations, and unite them into one empire of faith.

With respect to the danger which might threaten — viz. : that, in
the first place, the one of these two powers might bring under its
dominion the body by means of the sword, and thence require what
was unjust; and that, in the second place, the other would so bind
the conscience, that it might force it not to put faith in truth itself,
but merely in the word as given — a sufficient protection was pro-
vided, in either case, inasmuch as the said power, both of the em-
peror and the pope, was less an external than an internal power,
founded solely upon the veneration of nations. Such an authority
can never be lastingly misused without destroying itself.

It is true that not all emperors have truly seized the idea of their
dignity, or else, perhaps, such great obstructions stood in their way
that they could not execute it ; and thus, also, the popes not having
always retained themselves within the limits of those rights which
were accorded to them alone in the dominion of the church, both
powers, which should have worked in unity together, and the one
have made the other perfect, have, in their enmity, at last destroyed
each other. But — and this is the chief point — the grand idea itself
must above all things be well distinguished from its execution. The
more glorious it is, the greater is its contradiction to the fallibility of
human nature, and the low bias of many ages ; and the ill-success oi
its accomplishment cannot detract from its own dignity or from '*
greatness of those who have contended for it.

With respect to the sacrifice of men in the Italian expedition,
depends upon the question, whether the object to be obtained v
great and important or not. If it was so, the sacrifice must not
taken into consideration, if battle and war may be allowed for a higl
and necessary purpose. And the emperors who with noble-minded
dispositions and intentions, made this sacrifice for the idea of an
empire, and the honour of their nation, are not, therefore, to be
blamed.

The noble pride, however, felt by the Germans in the thought, that

OTHO'S RIGHTS AS PROTECTOR OF THE CHURCH. 171

they and their rulers should be the central point of Christianity; the
conviction of their strength, made manifest by the daring courage of
the small forces, composed of their countrymen, in venturing across
the Alps, and who, when reaching their destination, by the superiority
of their nature gave laws to a numerous and populous nation ; these
recollections of the ancient glory of our nation, still existing in us
the later descendants — all this is the reward for the sacrifice made.

Other advantages, becoming more and more immediately manifest,
arising from the union of Germany with Italy, will be shown in the
course of our history. We only mention in advance the great influence
which the example of the free Italian cities, and, in particular, the
flourishing state of commerce there, had upon the rise and successful
progress of German towns, an advantage the importance of which
cannot be too highly estimated.

Otho speedily exercised his right of protectorship over the church,
and his office of superior Christian ruler, against the same pope who
had crowned him. John XII. had recalled from Corsica the son of
Berengar, for the purpose of placing him in opposition against the em-
peror; and, in addition to this was charged by the Roman people, and
the clergy, with the most serious crimes. John sprang from a very cor-
rupt race, and had become pope as early as in his eighteenth year.
Otho hereupon convoked a council, consisting of forty bishops and
seventeen cardinals, and as John, upon the emperor's citation, refused
to appear before these assembled fathers, he was deposed from his dig-
nity, and Leo VIII. chosen instead. The Roman people, as well as the
clergy, now swore to elect no pope in future without the consent of
the emperor. The popes from this time again called the emperor their
lord, and in acknowledgment of his supremacy, placed his name upon
their coins, and marked the years of his reign upon their bulls.

But the Romans soon forgot their oath, drove away^ Pope Leo,
and recalled the deposed John, after whose death, which speedily
followed, they elected another pope, Benedict, in opposition. The
patience of theemperor was now exhausted, and he exercised a heavy
punishment upon the perjured Romans. He returned again with
his army, laid waste the country around Rome, surrounded and be-
sieged the city* and forced the inhabitants to surrender and open the
gates, and to give up the pope, Benedict, into his hands. He then
convoked a large assembly of the bishops and clergy, and in their
presence Benedict was divested of his insignia, and at once banished,
"whilst Leo was replaced upon the throne.

Meantime Berengar, with his wife, Willa, had been taken pri-
soners by the emperor's generals, and were conveyed to Bamberg,
where after their imprisonment they shortly _ died. The emperor
himself, after he had thus established his dominion, returned in the
beginning of the year, 965, to Germany, and celebrated at Cologne,
with his beloved brother, Bruno, his mother, his son Otho,' and
nephews, together with a numerous assemblage of the nobles of his

172 OTHO'S EMBASSY TO GREECE — THE GREEK EMPEROR.

empire, the joyful event of his return among them after a long and
trying time of absence.

But already in the following year, 966, his presence was again re-
quired in Italy through the disturbances caused by Adelbert, the son
of Berengar, and the revolt of the Romans against their pope. His
appearance, however, once more produced order and peace ; and he
was now enabled to turn his attention to Lower Italy, where the em-
peror of Greece still had his governor, and then to Sicily, whence
the Saracens threatened entire Italy. It was now Otho's wish to form
an alliance with the family of the Greek emperor, in order, thereby,
to open a prospect for his own house upon Lower Italy, as well as to
become enabled to ward off more effectually the inroads of the un-
believers.

He sent for his son Otho from Germany, and had him crowned
as future emperor by the pope, and then despatched an embassy to
Constantinople, for the purpose of demanding Theophania, the
daughter of the emperor, in marriage for his son. Connected with
this embassy Luitprand, whom Otho had made Bishop of Cremona,
relates a singular circumstance, although, from his hatred of the
Greeks, with evident exaggeration : u We arrived here," he says,
" in June, and were immediately supplied with a guard of honour,
so that we could not go anywhere without an escort. On the second
day of our arrival we proceeded on horseback to the audience.
The Emperor Nicephorus is a short, stout man, so brown that, in a
forest, he would strike us with terror. He said, * he lamented that
our lord and ruler had shown the daring boldness to assume and ap-
propriate Rome to himself, and to destroy two such honourable men.
as Berengar and Adelbert, and then to carry fire and sword even into
Grecian countries : ' he added ' that he knew we had counselled our
lord to it/ We replied : ' Our lord, the emperor, has delivered Rome
from tyranny and sinners, which he has come from the end of the
earth into Italy to accomplish, whilst others have remained indolently
sleeping upon their thrones, and deemed such great confusion and
anarchy beneath their dignity to notice. Besides which, 'we added, ' we
have amongst us those brave and loyal knights, who are always ready
and prepared to maintain, by single combat at arms, the justice and
virtue of our master. Yet we have come here with views and
intentions of peace, and for the purpose of demanding the Princess
Theophania in marriage for Otho, our prince, and eldest son of our
lord and emperor.' To which the emperor observed : ' It is now
time to go to the procession. We will attend to this matter at a more
convenient moment.' The grand procession, wherein the king ap-
peared, attired in a long mantle, escorted by soldiers or city volun-
teers, without halberts, passed along slowly amidst the acclamations
of the people.

l( When at table, he wished to censure our mode of warfare, saying
our arms were much too heavy, whilst the Germans appeared to be
only valiant when they were drunk ; and that the true Romans were

OTHO'S SON'S MARRIAGE WITH A GRECIAN PRINCESS. 173

only now to be found in Constantinople. When lie said this, he made
a sign to me with his hand that I should be silent. At another time
he spoke of the affairs of the church, and asked, mockingly, whether
any council had ever been convoked in Saxony? I replied, 'that
where there was most sickness, there was most need of the greatest
number of doctors ; that all heresies had originated with the Greeks,
and therefore church councils were more necessary to be held
amongst them. Nevertheless I knew of one council being assembled
in Saxony, where it had been pronounced that it was more glorious
to fight with the sword in hand than with the pen.'

" The emperor is surrounded with flatterers and sycophants; the
whole city floats in sensuality, and even on holy days of festival
there are plays performed. Their power reposes not in their own
strength, but is dependent upon the mercenary forces of Amalfi, and
upon Venetian and Russian sailors. I believe firmly that four hun-
dred Germans in open field would put the whole Greek army com-
pletely to flight."

Nicephorus would not consent to the marriage, and Otho, as
emperor, now sought to extend his dominion over the whole of
Lower Italy, which was divided amongst the Greeks, Saracens, and
native princes. The history of these expeditions is not clearly given ;
but altogether it appears the imperial arms were victorious, although
it was not possible to gain any durable advantage in that difficult
country. In December, 969, the Emperor Nicephorus was mur-
dered in a revolt, when his successor very willingly formed an
alliance with the Emperor of Germany. The Princess Theophania
was crowned in Rome in the year 972, by the Pope, John XIII.,
and united to the young prince, Otho. The emperor himself now
returned to Germany, after an absence of six years, in order that he
might enjoy some little peace at the close of a life so rich in striking
events.

The great influence which Otho had acquired throughout the en-
tire western world, was satisfactorily proved to the German nation
during the last few months of his life. Having gone to Quedlin-
burg to visit the grave of his mother, Matilda, he was there waited
upon by the rulers of the Poles and Bohemians, the chiefs Mjcsko and
Boleslas, in order to receive his opinion and judgment in their affairs;
and these were immediately followed by the ambassadors of the Ro-
mans, Beneventanians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Slavonians, Danes, and
Hungarians, and the whole completed by an embassy from the Sa-
racens in Africa, which arrived shortly afterwards at Merseburg.

Just at this time, however, he was very much affected by the
death of his faithful friend, Herman, Duke of Saxony, who died
in Quedlinburg on the 27th of March, 973. Grieved at the loss of
that good man, says Widukind, he wandered solitary and dejected
amongst the graves of those he had held so dear. Alas, hem many
of these had already preceded him in their departure from this life,

174 OTHO'S DEATH — OTHO II.

reminding liim of his own past career, so troubled, so eventful, but
yet in many respects so glorious !

When on the 6th of May he arrived at his castle in Memleben,
where his father had died, he felt himself extremely weak. Never-
theless he attended service in the chapel on the following morning,
gave his usual alms to the poor, and then reposed again. At mid-
day he again appeared, and at the appointed time he took his meal
at dinner with cheerfulness and enjoyment, upon which he attended
the evening service. It was then he suddenly felt overcome with a
burning fever, and he was assisted to a chair by the princes in attend-
ance. But his head sunk; he felt his approaching end, and indicat-
ing his wishes by signs, he was immediately assisted in the solemn
service of the holy communion. Just after he had received it, and
when the holy ceremony was over, as Widukind states, he ended
his mortal career, and without a sigh, tranquilly breathed his last, on
the 7th of May, 973, aged sixty-one years, and in the thirty-eighth
of his reign.

His body was conveyed to Magdeburg, his favourite city, and
being deposited in a marble coffin, was placed as he had wished, on
the side of his beloved Edgitha, in the church of St. Maurice.

Otho II., who, in the eighteenth year of his age, now succeeded
to the throne, very soon had reason to find that the task which
had thus early devolved upon his shoulders, of maintaining, in all
its supremacy, the powerful empire of his father, extending, as it
did, from the boundaries of the Danish country to nearly the ex-
tensive points of Lower Italy, was not a little arduous and difficult.
For in the north and east, the Danes and Slavonians continued still
unwilling subjects or neighbours; in the west, the French rulers
were jealous rivals; in the south of Italy, the Greeks and Arabs
were anxiously watching for an opportunity to extend their power;
whilst, in the interior of Germany itself, many parties stood in a
condition of direct hostility towards each other.

In this critical position, the necessary strength and energy of body
were certainly not wanting in the young monarch, as was sufficiently
shown by his figure, which, although rather short, was, nevertheless,
strong and firmly knit together, whilst his healthy constitution was
indicated by the florid, ruddy hue of his cheeks, and which, in fact,
procured for him the by-name of Otho the Florid, or Red. But
wisdom and forethought were not as yet at his command; and it
was for him a misfortune that, even as a child, he had been designated as
the sovereign; for he thus became proud and violent, extreme and
unequal in his conduct; whilst mildness and severity were with him
in constant interchange, and his liberality at times bordered upon
extravagance itself. Had time, however, enabled him to moderate
these strong passions of youth, and thus, by the experience of in-
creased years, have ripened and brought to perfection his nobler
qualities, he might then have been included in the list of the most

HAROLD OF DENMARK— LORRAINE— PARIS. 175

distinguished rulers of our country. But fate ordained otherwise ;
and he was struck down, in the bloom of manhood, at the age of
twenty-eight years.

The very first years of his reign were already fully occupied with
the different disputes and dissensions in the empire, but more
especially with that produced by his cousin Henry, the second
Duke of Bavaria or the Turbulent, who had revolted against the
young emperor, but who, however, was taken prisoner, and deprived
of his duchy ; as likewise by the rising of Harold of Denmark against
Otho, who was forced to march against him, and completely sub-
dued him.

Soon afterwards, France made an attempt to acquire the Lorraine
dominion, which, by the division of Verdun, was fixed in the centre
between Germany and France, but had now become united with
Germany. The king, Lothaire, secretly collected his army, and
whilst Otho, completely unprepared, was holding a court on the
occasion of the feast of St. John, in 978, in the ancient im-
perial palatinate at Aix-la-Chapelle, he suddenly advanced, and,
by forced marches, without even announcing hostilities, hastened
on to that city, in order to take the emperor prisoner. Fortu-
nately, Otho received intelligence of the enemy's approach in time
to enable him to quit the place on the day before his arrival. Lo-
thaire took possession of Aix-la-Chapelle, and plundered it, whilst
at the same time he commanded the eagle, erected in the grand
square of Charles the Great, to be turned towards the west, in sign
that Lorraine now belonged to France. But Otho forthwith held a
diet of the princes and nobles at Dortmund, represented to them,
with the most impressive eloquence, the faithlessness of the French,
king, and summoned them to march against the presumptuous enemy.
They all unanimously promised their assistance, forgetting every in-
ternal dispute, for it now concerned the honour of the country.

Accordingly, on the 1st of October, 978, a considerable army
marched into France, and without meeting with much opposition,
advanced, by Rheims and Soissons, as far as Paris. Here, on the
right bank of the Seine, around the Montmartre, the Germans en-
camped, and their mounted troops scoured the whole of the country
around, committing devastation everywhere. ^The ^city itself was
garrisoned by the duke, Hugo Capet; the Seine divided the two
armies, but the French did not venture out ^ to give battle. Otho,
however, could not succeed in taking the city, which was strongly
fortified; and as winter now advanced — it being the end of Novem-
ber— and sickness very generally prevailed amongst the troops, he
commenced a retreat. This expedition was one of the first under-
taken by the Germans against Paris; the treacherous attack of the
French king was now punished, nor did he venture to make an-
other. In the treaty of peace subsequently concluded, Lorraine
was secured to Germany for ever.

In the year 980, Otho set out on his first expedition to Italy,

176 ITALY—THE GREEKS AND ARABS— OTHO'S DEFEAT.

from which, however, as it turned out, he was never to return. He
was in hopes of being able to conquer the possessions in Lower Italy,
which the Greek emperors still maintained, and to which Otho, by
his marriage with Theophania, laid claim The Greeks, however,
called to their aid the Arabs, both of Africa and Sicily. At first,
Otho gained some advantages, and, after a siege of nearly two
months, he made himself master of Salerno. He then took Bari
and Taranto, in Apulia, and pressed forward, in the spring of 982,
to the mountains of Calabria. He beat the combined army of the
Greeks and Arabs, first at Rossano, where they had waited for
him in a strong position, and then overthrowing them at Coterna,
pursued them as far as Squillace, where another decisive battle was
fought on the 13th of July, 982. The imperial troops rushed
with the greatest impetuosity upon the ranks of the Greeks,
who held out bravely until mid-day, when they fell back upon
Squillace. The successful troops, abandoning themselves now
too eagerly to their elated hopes of victory and pillage, felt so
secure, that they laid aside their arms, and marched leisurely and
confidently along the banks of the river Corace. But here they
were suddenly fallen upon by an ambuscade of the Arabs, hitherto
concealed behind the rocks, and were speedily surrounded on every
side by innumerable hordes of these swift warriors. The scattered
troops were completely overpowered, and either cut to pieces or
made prisoners by the enemy; and only a very small number of
that army, but a short time before so triumphant, were enabled to
save themselves. The emperor himself, as it were, by a miracle,
escaped by plunging into the sea, mounted as he was on his trusty
steed, and swimming towards a Greek vessel. The crew received
him on board, not knowing the high rank of the imperial fugitive,
yet hoping to receive a handsome ransom from him as a distin-
guished knight, for which they held him to be. By means of a
slave on board, who had recognised, but not betrayed him, he saved
himself a second time, near Rossano, by springing from this ship,
and swimming on shore ; and, after safely reaching land, he entered
that city, and there joined his queen.

In this disastrous scene, many German and Italian princes and no-
bles perished, amongst whom were Udo, Duke of Franconia, the
Margraves Berthold and Giinther, Henry, Bishop of Augsburg (who
had likewise fought in the ranks), together with numerous others;
and all the conquered portions of the country in Lower Italy fell
again into the hands of the enemy.

Full of sorrow and vexation, the emperor proceeded to Upper
Italy, in order to collect another army. He held a grand assembly
in Verona, consisting of both German and Italian princes and no-
bles, and his mother, together with his queen and infant son, Otho,
then only three years old, were likewise present ; he succeeded ii
having the latter at once elected by all the princes as his successor.
It was, at the same time, determined that the child should be taken

DEATH OF OTHO II. — OTHO III.-— HENRY THE TURBULENT. 177

back to Germany, under the charge of Willigis, Archbishop of
Mentz, and be crowned on the following Christmas (983), in the
ancient imperial city of Aix-la-Chapelle.

The emperor, himself, however, after he had regulated the affairs
of Upper Italy, repaired to Rome. There he arranged to have his
chancellor, Peter of Pavia, elected as pope (John XIV.) ; and this
was his last public act. Overwhelmed with the important plans he
nourished in his heart for his next campaign in Lower Italy, as well
as with the excitement produced upon his impatient and nervous
mind, by the sad reverses of the previous year, and the multifarious
cares of his government, he was, in a few days, attacked by a raging
fever, of which he died, in the presence of his queen, the pope, and
several of his faithful adherents, on the 7th of December, 98«3, in
the 28th year of his age. He was buried in the church of St. Peter,
in Rome. The news of his death reached Aix-la-Chapelle the day
after the coronation of his infant son had been celebrated in the as-
sembly of all the princes.

The very tender age of the new sovereign, Otho III., would have
been a great misfortune for Germany, had not his mother, Queen
Theophania,awoman of extraordinary genius, been enabled to under-
take, during his minority, the direction and control of the affairs of
the imperial government with adequate spirit and energy, and if,
likewise, among the greater portion of the German princes there had
not existed a faithful adherence towards the imperial house, and a
general desire for peace and order. For immediately after the death
of Otho II., Henry, the deposed Duke of Bavaria, after having been
set at liberty by Poppo, Bishop of Utrecht, into whose custody he
had been given, came forward again with his pretensions, and
even demanded, as nearest relation, to have the sole guardianship
of the young king. The Archbishop of Cologne, Warm, under
whose protection the infant had been placed, actually delivered him
up to Henry, who held him under his control during a whole year.
The queen-mother, Theophania, who, according to her deceased hus-
band's will, was to have the guardianship of the child, was still in
Italy; and when she returned, Henry had already so strengthened
his party, that he contemplated taking possession of the government
himself. He had lost no time in forming a league with those no-
bles who were devoted to his interests, and had already agreed with
them under what conditions they should give their assistance and
support towards raising him to the throne. At the same time, the
French king, Lothaire, availing himself of the disunion in Germany,
had again stretched out his hand to grasp the Lorraine country, and
had got possession of the important town and fortress of Verdun.

The Slavonians on the northern and eastern frontiers who, during
the years that Otho II. was in Italy, had, by their united strength,
almost entirely shaken off the German dominion, re-established -pa-
ganism, and made many successful depredatory incursions in the
various German possessions, now, together with the Dukes of Poland

178 ATTEMPTED REVOLT— HENRY'S SURRENDER.

and Bohemia on their part, promised the rebel, Henry of Bavaria,
their assistance in his revolutionary plans. Thus the condition of
the Germanic empire had at this moment become extremely critical.

But the alliance of Henry with the barbarians only served to bring
back to their proper recollection all those nobles of Saxony and
Thuringia who had hitherto formed the majority of the renegade's
partisans, and they turned from him and joined the ranks of the
legitimate party, headed by the Dukes Conrad of Swabia, Bernard
of Saxony, and the newly created Duke of Bavaria (recently elected
by Otho II.), Henry the younger, of the house of Babenberg ;
the whole of whom, with Willigis, Archbishop of Mentz, had still
maintained their fidelity towards the young monarch and his royal
mother. In Lorraine, also, a party rose up to defend the cause of
Otho, the heart and soul of which was the distinguished ecclesiastic,
Gerbert, the most learned man of his time ; possessing a knowledge
of all the sciences, but, more especially, so profoundly read in
natural philosophy, that he was regarded as a magician. At the same
time he possessed great powers of mind, with the necessary ener-
getic and penetrating capacity for action in all political matters;
and in his office of tutor to the young emperor, to which he was
appointed subsequently, he continued to assist him with his valuable
counsel until his death.

Thence, by means of this combined operation on the part of all
his faithful friends and stanch adherents of the imperial house,
Henry the Turbulent, was forced, at a grand diet held at Rora,*
in the month of June, 984, to surrender into the hands of the
queen-mother and grandmother, who were both present, the infant
emperor. In the same year, also, the desired union of peace and
friendship between Henry and the guardians was completely re-
stored and firmly established at the diet of Worms ; Henry and
his friends swearing fealty to the sovereign, and which he continued
to hold sacred from that day ; nay, through leading subsequently, a
life of peace, piety, and charity, he earned for himself the by-name
of the peaceful, instead of the turbulent Henry. In the follow-
ing year he received again his long wished-for duchy of Bava-
ria, in return for resigning which, Henry the younger, was indem-
nified with the Duchy of Carinthia, which had become again sepa-
rated from Bavaria, together with the Veronian marches. Other
nobles were bound to the new government by presents and gifts of
land. The margraviates, erected to oppose the Slavonians and Hun-
garians, were fortified anew, and supplied with faithful guards; the
JDukes Micislas of Poland and Boleslas of Bohemia returned to
their allegiance, and thus, by wisdom, prudence, and firmness, both
the empresses restored once more the order and tranquillity of the
German empire internally, and again promoted and established its in-
fluential claims for respect externally.

* The exact site of this place cannot be traced.

ITALY— OTHO III. CROWNED AT ROME. 179

In the year 987, after the death of Lothaire, France likewise
concluded a treaty of peace, and his son and successor, Louis V.,
surrendered to Germany the bishopric of Verdun. He was the
last of the race of the Carlovingians on the throne of France; and,
after his death, in the same year, the house of the CapetirUians
followed in the person of Hugo Capet, his successor.

In Rome, after the Empress Theophania had returned to Ger-
many, great disturbances broke out, and the patrician Crescentius
especially, exercised the greatest tyranny in the city. The empress'
however, having beheld Germany tranquillised, and the dominion
of her son established, returned in 988 to Rome, and with her
innate power and wisdom, caused the authority of Crescentius to
be checked and restricted within its proper limits. Unhappily, this
distinguished woman died too soon for the times she lived in, her
death taking place already in the year 991, at Nimwegen.

The education of the young emperor, now eleven years old,
henceforward devolved more especially upon Bernward, of Hildes-
Leim, a most excellent, and, for his time, a very learned man, into
whose hands Queen Theophania had already confided her son. He
treated the boy with mildness, but at the same time with firmness,
and gained his entire good- will and confidence. Bernward's position
became one of very great and decided importance, in connexion with
the relations of the government subsequently, particularly after he
•was appointed in the year 993, Bishop of Hildesheim; for in the
northern frontiers of the empire there was continually fresh cause,
even from year to year, for contention with the Slavonians or Nor-
mans., either by warding off their attacks at home, or in order to
punish them, by sending expeditions into their own land.

When the youthful monarch had attained his sixteenth year, his
grandmother, Queen Adelaide, expressed a desire to behold the
head of her grandson decorated likewise with the imperial crown.
Accordingly, in February, 996, he commenced his first Roman ex-
pedition, and all the nations of the Germans, Saxons, Franks, Bava-
rians, Swabians, and Lorrainians, yielded on this occasion military
service, and joined in the ranks of the multitudinous train. He was
crowned emperor on Ascension-day, the 21st of May in that year,
by Gregory V., the first pope of German origin who had, as yet,
presided on the papal chair, and who exerted himself with great
perseverance to bring into order the confused state of the Roman
relations. The patrician, Crescentius, was pardoned for the turbu-
lent proceedings he had hitherto pursued ; but scarcely had the
emperor returned to Germany, when the ungrateful Roman again
revolted, and banished Pope Gregory from the capital. Otho was
forced, therefore, to march an army into Italy a second time in
the year 997, and conducting the pope back again to Rome, he
besieged Crescentius, in the fortress of Engelsburg, which he took
by storm, and the traitor was forthwith beheaded on the battlements
of the burg, in view of the whole army and people.

N 2

180 OTHO'S RELIGIOUS DEVOTION AND PENANCE.

Pope Gregory died in the year 999, and Otho caused his
esteemed instructor and councillor, Gerbert, to be elected to the papal
chair, who adopted the title of Sylvester II.

Otho, who always felt a great preference for Rome and Italy
generally, would fain have wished to remain longer there, but he
was not able to bear the enervating effects of that hot climate.
Altogether, he did not enjoy the strongest constitution, and his
health was not always in the best condition; besides which, during
the period between youth and manhood, he evinced a very marked
expression of sadness and melancholy, and which often exercised
upon his mind such an influence, that, completely overcome, he re-
sorted to the most severe self-inflicted punishments and penalties.
Thus he now made a pilgrimage to Monte Gargano, in Apulia, and
sojourned for a considerable time in the monastery of St. Michael,
undergoing the most severe exercise of expiatory penance. Thence
he visited the holy abbot, Nilus, near Garta, who, with his monks,
lived there in wretched cells, and in the most secluded state of strict
devotion and humility. Here, likewise, Otho joined in the exercise of
prayer, and severe and rigid repentance. Afterwards, we again find
him following the same course of extreme self-punishment in Ra-
venna, for whole days together ; and at one time he is said to have
passed whole weeks with the hermits in the caves around, fasting and
praying.

It was these Italian monks, and especially Nilus the holy, a
venerable man, ninety years of age, who had succeeded in pro-
ducing within the prince this melancholy view of life, and filled him
with such continual desires to indulge in gloomy fits of abstinence
and penitential sacrifices. He was particularly intimate with Adal-
bert, the apostle of the Prussians, who, after the period of the first
Roman campaign, had become his constant companion, not quitting
the imperial apartments either by night or day, and who, partly by the
wish of Otho, proceeded to the north, in order to preach the holy
gospel to the pagan Prussians, where he died a martyr's death, in the
year 999. When the religious emperor returned, in the following
year, to Germany, he was urged, by his affection towards this friend,
to visit his grave in Gnesen. As soon as he came in view of the
town, he dismounted from his steed, and continued the rest of his
pilgrimage to the sacred spot barefooted. Deeply affected, he poured
forth his devotions over the tomb of his much-lamented friend, and
in recollection of the scene, he raised the bishopric of Gnesen, on the
spot, into an archbishopric, placing under its authority the bishoprics
of Breslaw, Cracovie and Colberg, promoting Adalbert's brother,
Gaudentius, to the sacred office.

Combined with the emotions originating in Christian humility
and worldly sacrifice, we find, however, likewise excited within Otho's
soul, (which appears to have been subjected to sensations of the most
varied nature,) a high aspiring desire and aim, and, especially, an
elevated idea of the supremacy of the imperial dignity. As the son

HIS PARTIALITY FOR ITALY AND ITALIANS. 181

of a Roman-Germanic emperor and the grandson of a Greek em-
peror; already chosen as reigning king from the first moment of
self-consciousness, and, likewise, almost immediately afterwards de-
corated with the imperial crown ; educated by the most learned and
accomplished men of his time — a Gerbert, aBernward, a Meinwerk,
(of Paderborn), and by the Calabrian Greek, John of Placentia —
he held himself in high respect, and far beyond the Germans, who, in
his opinion, were still uncouth and savage. He tried to persuade them
to lay aside their Saxon barbarism, and exhorted them to imitate and
adopt the more refined and elegant manners of the Greeks, and he
even introduced the customs and usages of the latter, amongst the rest,
which he himself adopted, that of dining alone from a table more ele-
vated than the others, and to arrange the different places of honour ac-
cording to rank and distinction. His tutor, Gerbert, had himself
formed a high idea of the imperial dignity, which he had taken
great pains to instil in the youthful mind of his pupil. " Thou
art our Caesar, Imperator, and Augustus," he wrote to him, " and
descended from the noblest blood of the Greeks ; thou art superior to
| them all in power and dominion," &c. Otho had indeed contemplated
j the restoration of the Roman empire, in its entire dominion, and no
doubt he would have carried his intentions into effect, by making
Rome the central point and the imperial seat of government, had he
only been able to endure the climate.

He regarded the founder of the Germanic-Roman empire, the

great Charles, as his model, and when, in the year 1000, he visited

Aix-la-Chapelle, he felt a desire to elevate his mind by the contem-

! plation of his ancestor's earthly remains. Accordingly he caused the

vault to be unclosed, and descended its steps, accompanied by two

bishops. He found the embalmed body still in the position it was

placed, sitting in the golden chair, covered with the imperial robes,

I together with the sceptre and shield. Otho bent his knee in prayer,

i then took the golden cross from the breast of the emperor, and

| placed it upon his own. After which, before leaving, he had

the body covered with fresh raiment, and then again solemnly closed

the vault.*

Otho's strong predeliction for Italy drew him once more into that
' country. Rome and the Romans appeared to him in all the splen-
dour of their ancient dominion of the world; but they ill-returned
the preference he showed for them. Whilst he was sojourning in
Rome in the spring of the year 1001, the Romans revolted against
; him because he had exercised his lenity towards the Tiburtinians,
j who, as in ancient times, still remained their hated enemies; they
i kept him a close prisoner in his own palace during three days, so
! that he could obtain neither food nor drink. Then it was that the
! emperor experienced that German fidelity and rude virtue were still
| better than the smooth but slipperywords^ndjuore accomplished

* The emperor, Frederick I., caused the vault to be unclosed again in the year 1 165
and had the body deposited in a superb tomb.

182 HIS DEATH — HENRY II. OR THE HOLY — HIS PIETY.

manners of his favourite Italians. Bern ward, the Bishop of Hildes-
lieim, placed himself, with the sacred royal lance, under the portico
of the palace, and, as his biographer states, thundered against it most
dreadfully ; and thus, through the bishop's resolution and the aid of
his faithful adherents, the emperor was at length rescued from the
Romans. Nevertheless, he looked over their bad conduct, and peace
was resumed for a short time longer, but they soon again broke out
against him. He then prepared at once to punish this false and
treacherous people; but his spirits were now broken, and he weak-
ened and reduced his body still more by nocturnal watchings and
praying, often fasting, too, the entire week, with the single exception
of the Thursday. He was attacked by a severe and inflammatory dis-
ease, (according to Dietmar, the small-pox,) and died on the 23d of
January, 1002, at Paterno, in the twenty-second year of his age.
The body was placed under the charge and protection of the few
German princes and nobles who had accompanied the emperor, and
they lost no time in conveying it away from that hateful country into-
their native land. In the course of its march, however, the funeral
procession was frequently attacked by the Italians, who were eager
to get possession of the corpse, and it was only by the united efforts
of the brave and valiant band of noble warriors that formed its escort,
that the enemy was successfully repulsed, and that, at length, after
great difficulty, it arrived safely at its destination in Aix-la-Chapelle.
Thus all the male descendants of Otho the Great, his two sons,
Ludolf and Otho II., and his two grandsons, Otho III. and Otho,,
the son of Ludolf, died in Italy in the bloom of their youth ; whilst
of the imperial Saxon family, the great-grandson of Henry I., Duke
Henry of Bavaria, alone remained. The Germans were not at all
inclined towards the Bavarian race; but Henry, who had, by means
of his generous gifts, already enlisted the clergy on his side, and had,,
likewise, in his possession the crown jewels and insignia, succeeded
by degrees in gaining over one by one the individual German states,.
so that, without a general electoral assembly taking place, each trans-
ferred to him the royal authority with the sacred lance.

Henry II. has received the title of saint from his strict and pious
life, as also from his liberality towards the clergy, already men-
tioned. The latter had acquired extensive possessions under the
Saxon emperors, who were all very generous towards them, and
thence many of the leading members became powerful princes of the
empire. Like Charlemagne, the kings saw with pleasure their increase
of power, in order that they might use it as a counterpoise to that of the
temporal lords, and at this period too, the spiritual power held chiefly
with the kings. Otho I. had already began to unite the lordships
with the bishoprics, and Henry II. transferred to many churches twor
even three lordships, and to that of Gandersheim he even made over
seven. The partiality and attachment shown by the emperor to-
wards the clergy was, no doubt, taken advantage of by many; still
among that body there were likewise at this period many men who.

BISHOP BERNWARD- PAVIA— HENRY CROWNED. 183

were perfectly sensible ^of the peculiar dignity of their calling, and
zealously sought the spiritual welfare of their community, as well as
the progress of the human mind in the arts and sciences, and all true
cultivation; of which the tenth century, especially, presents us with
several illustrious instances. Bishop Bernward, of Hildesheim, who,
in the urgent danger of the emperor, Otho III., in Rome, displayed
so much resolution, was a man of great intellectual mind, and
nourished the most profound feeling for all that was good and beau-
tiful. During^ his many voyages, chiefly in Italy, he took young
persons with him for the purpose of exercising their taste in the ob-
servation of works of art, and in their imitation. He caused the pave-
ments and churches to be decorated with mosaic embellishment, and
costly vessels of a beautiful form to be cast in metal, with whichhe
was furnished by the mines of gold and silver in the Hartz, discovered
under the Emperor Otho I. Thus did Bernward nobly exert him-
self for his diocese, and the school of Hildesheim was one of the
most celebrated of that period.

When in Italy, the Emperor Henry received a second by-name
— that of HuiFeholz or the lame. For fresh disturbances hav-
ing arisen there after the death of Otho III., and the Italians hav-
ing made a margrave, Ardovine, their king, Henry, in order to
restore order, advanced thither in the year 1004, put Ardovine to
flight, and caused himself to be crowned, with the iron crown, at
Pavia. Out of regard for the city, and in order to show his con-
fidence towards the citizens, he retained merely a small body-guard,
and caused the rest of the army to remain outside the city in the
camp. The capricious and inconstant disposition of the Italians im-
mediately became manifested. They rose in revolt, stormed the
palace of the emperor, and threatened his life. It was then, in spring-
ing from a window, that he lamed his foot. His companions, al-
though but few, fought like valiant men, and successfully resisted
the attacks of the enemy until the Germans beyond the city, hearing
the tumult within, stormed the walls, and after severe fighting, broke
through, paved their way to the palace and saved the king. The battle
still continued most furiously in the streets and houses, whence the in-
habitants hurled forth stones and other missiles upon the troops, who
set fire to the whole city, and which destruction continued until the
king put a stop to the fury of his soldiers, and saved the rest of the
inhabitants. It was in this battle that the queen's brother, Giselbert, a
valiant youth, being killed by the Lombards, a brave knight, Wolfram,
his companion in arms, rushed upon the enemy, struck one of them
such a powerful blow with his sword that, passing through the hel-
met, it separated his head and neck down to the shoulders; and
having thus revenged the death of his noble friend, he returned, un-
wounded, back to his comrades.

This conduct of the Pavians produced great disgust upon the
open-hearted and honest feelings of the king, and as nothing could

184 BAMBERG CONSECRATED — HENRY'S DEATH.

induce him to remain longer in Italy, he returned to Germany as
speedily as possible.

Here, also, many disturbances arose during his reign, for the em-
peror, who, with his good and pious qualities, was much too weak to
hold the reins of his government, could not possibly maintain his
authority. In particular the neighbouring Polish duke, Boleslas, an
ambitious, turbulent man, who had conquered and partially retained
Bohemia and Silesia, gave him much trouble. For these coun-
tries, however, the usurper swore allegiance to the German emperor,
but beyond this he maintained himself independently, and made
himself feared on the other side even by the Russians and the Greek
emperor.

Henry visited Italy a second time in 1013, and re-established the
pope, Benedict VIII., in the papal chair; he swore to protect him
faithfully, and was by him crowned emperor. Returning to Ger-
many, he was especially occupied with founding the bishopric of
Bamberg, his favourite seat, which he richly endowed, and had de-
termined it should serve as a monument of his own piety as well as
of that of his empress, Cunegunde. In the year 1020 he was much
gratified by a journey which Pope Benedict made to Germany, who
visited him in Bamberg, and consecrated his holy foundation.

The object of the pope's presence in Germany was more especially
to induce the emperor to undertake another expedition to Italy, in
order to prevent the Greeks, who threatened Rome from Lower
Italy, from attacking and taking possession of that capital.

And Henry, who at once perceived the danger to which the church
of Southern Italy was exposed of being robbed by the Greeks of its
central point of operation, marched forth, for the third time, in
the year 1021, for that country, drove the Greeks easily back to
the most extreme points of their possessions in Lower Italy, con-
quered Benevento, Salerno, and Naples, and was everywhere greeted
and hailed as king. But as he never liked to remain long in that
country he returned to Germany in 1022, and devoted himself to
the exercise of devotional and peaceful works.

Henry died in the year 1024, aged fifty-two, at his fortress, Grone,
in the Leingau (near Gottingen), which had often been the seat of
the Saxon emperors. His body was conveyed to Bamberg and there
interred. Subsequently, 122 years after his death, he was added to
the calendar of saints by Pope Eugene III. With him the house of
Saxony became extinct, which, like that of the Carlovingians, had com-
menced powerfully but ended weakly. Germany now required once
again a vigorous and great-minded ruler, in order to save it from in-
ternal dissolution, as well as to preserve it from losing its dignity
among the other nations ; for, during the minority of Otho III. and
under Henry II., the imperial vassals had committed many usurpa-
tions based upon the imperial prerogatives. The sons of the nobles,
endowed with imperial feods^ retained them as if by right of inhe-

THE FRANCONIAN HOUSE. 185

ritance, and many disputes were settled only by an appeal to the
sword without any regard being paid to the emperor's supreme judi-
cial power. These wars devastated in particular the south of Ger-
many.

^ Mean while the Christian countries wherein, together with the do-
minion of the church, a regard for the imperial dignity was dissemi-
nated, were now become considerably increased in number. Towards
the year 1000 Christianity became still more deeply rooted in Hun-
gary, Poland, Russia, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SALIC OB FRANCONIAN HOUSE, 1024—1125 TO LOTHAIRE THE SAXON — 1137.

Assemblage of the Ducal States — The Election — Conrad IL, 1024-1039 — Re-esta-
blishes Internal Peace — Italy — Canute, King of England and Denmark — Burgundy
—Ernest, Duke of Swabia— The Faust-Recht— Conrad's Death, 1039— Henry
III, 1039-1056— The Popes -Henry's zeal for the Church— His Death, 1056—
Henry IV., 1056-1106— His Minority—The Archbishops— Albert of Bremen-
Henry and the Saxons— Their Hostility— Henry's Revenge— Pope Gregory
VII.— His Ambition — The Eight of Investiture — Rupture with the Emperor—
Henry excommunicated — The Emperor a Fugitive — The rival Emperors and Popes
— Rudolphus of Swabia and Pope Clement IH.— Henry's Death, 1106— Henry V.
1106-1125— Rome— Pope Pascal II.— The Investiture Contest— Sanguinary Bat-
tle—Henry crowned Emperor— His Death, 1125— The First Crusade, 1096-1099—
Lothairethe Saxon, 1125-1137.

THE Germanic states, each under its duke, assembled for the elec-
tion of a new emperor, upon the vast plains along both banks of the
Rhine, between Mentz and Worms, near Oppenheim. There were
eight dukes ; Conrad the Younger, who exercised the ducal power in
Franconia in the name of the king — Franconia being still regarded
as the king's country — Frederick of Upper Lorraine, Gozelo of
Lower Lorraine, Bernard of Saxony (of Herman Billung's race),
Henry of Bavaria, Adalbert of Carinthia (the new duchy, separated
under Otho II. from Bavaria, and which contained the passes into
Italy), young Ernest of Swabia, and Othelric or Ulric, of Bo-
hemia. The Saxons, the eastern Franks, the Bavarians, and Swa-
bians, together with the Bohemians, encamped themselves on this
side of the Rhine ; the Rhenish Franks, and those of Lower and
Upper Lorraine on the other side. Thus a splendid and numerous
assembly or diet of electors was here reflected in the waves of the
great German stream.

The voices, after long deliberation, inclined in favour of the
Frankishrace, from which twoConrads, surpassing all the rest in virtue
and consideration, presented themselves — Count Conrad the Elder or
the Salian, and Conrad the Younger, the duke. They were kinsmen,
being sons of two brothers, and descended from Conrad the Wise, the
husband of the daughter of Otho I., who fell in the battle with the

186 CONRAD II— INTERNAL PEACE— ITALY.

Hungarians on the Lech ; botli were worthy of their ancestors, and
upon the female side related to the Saxon imperial branch. The
choice balanced between them ; the elder Conrad then advanced to
the side of the younger one, and thus addressed him: " Do not let
us allow our friendship and interest to be disturbed by the contest.
If we dispute together the princes may elect a third, and posterity
will then say we were both unworthy of the crown. Methinks that
whether the election fall upon either you or me, we shall still both
be honoured — I in you and you in me. If the crown be awarded
to you, I will be the first to do homage to you; vow, therefore, my
friend and brother to do the same by me." To this the younger
prince agreed, and forthwith made the vow likewise.

When the election commenced, and the archbishop, Aribo of
Mentz, was first to give his vote, he named Conrad the Elder; the
archbishops and bishops followed. Among the temporal princes, the
Duke of the Franks was the first in rotation, and the younger Con-
rad arose, and with a loud voice gave his vote to his cousin, Conrad
the Elder, who seized him by the hand, and pkced him beside him.
The remaining princes followed on the same side, and the people
shouted their applause. Frederic of Lorraine and the Archbishop
of Cologne alone were discontented, and quitted the assembly ; but
when they beheld the unanimity of all the others, and that the
younger Conrad had at once acceded to the choice made, they be-
came reconciled, and returning, rendered homage with the rest of
the princes.

The new king was now conducted to Mentz, to be there solemnly
anointed and crowned. On the road to the church, the procession
was stopped by the number of petitioners, who prayed for jus-
tice. The bishops became impatient, but Conrad listened tranquilly
to their prayers and said: " To exercise justice, whether it be con-
venient to me or not, is my first duty." These words were heard
with joy by all around; thence great hopes were formed of the new
king, and Conrad did not disappoint them. He commenced his reign
by visiting all parts of Germany; he practised justice, restored order,
and showed so much strict judgment, combined with mercy, that
all united in one opinion, that no king since Charlemagne had so
well merited to occupy his seat upon the imperial throne. Robbers
lie punished so severely, that now there was more general security than
had been known for a long period, whilst commerce flourished once
again. He secured for himself and his race the voice of the people,
by promoting the development of the municipal institutions by every
possible means.

Thus did he govern his kingdom internally. In his foreign
relations, he laboured equally for the dignity and greatness of Ger-
many. Shortly after the commencement of his reign, he advanced
into Italy, where in Milan he was crowned king of Italy, and subse-
quently in Rome, emperor. The festival was rendered more august
by the presence of two kings, Rudolphus of Burgundy, and the great

CANUTE OF ENGLAND AND DENMARK— ERNEST. 187

Canute, King of England and Denmark. With the latter, Conrad
formed a strict friendship; he united his son, Henry, with his
daughter, Kunihilda, and regulated also with him the limits be-
tween ^ Germany and Denmark, so that the river Eider, between
Holstein and Silesia, became the boundary of both countries. He
thus gave up, it is'true, the margraviate of Silesia; but the country was
difficult to defend, and Conrad was the gainer in other respects.
Henry II. had already concluded an hereditary alliance with King
Rudolphus of Burgundy, so that after his death Burgundy should fall
to Germany. Conrad renewed the treaty, and after the death of
Rudolphus he took actual possession of that country, although a
portion of the Burgundians had called forward Count Odo, of
Champagne, whom, however, Conrad drove back, and was forthwith
recognised as king. This kingdom comprised the beautiful districts of
the south-east of France, which were afterwards called Provence,
Daupheny, Franche Comte, and Lyons, together with Savoy, and a
portion of Switzerland, thus placing Germany, by means of the im-
portant sea-ports of Marseilles and Toulon, in connexion with the
Mediterranean: an important acquisition, which, however, after-
wards, in the times of weaker emperors, became neglected, and fell
into the hands of the French.

Conrad, however, was forced to experience, that this very acqui-
sition of Burgundy became a subject of dissension in his own family,
and thence a source of vexation to himself. His step-son, Ernest,
Duke of Swabia (the son of his queen, Gisella, by her former hus-
band Herman, Duke of Swabia), considered he possessed the first
right to the crown of Burgundy, because his mother was the niece
of Rudolphus, King of Burgundy. Dissatisfied with Conrad's
conduct, in getting this territory annexed to the German em-
pire, he deserted him in the Italian campaign, excited dissen-
sion against him in Germany, and was in hopes, by the aid of
his friends, to invade and conquer Burgundy. Conrad, however,
hastened back, disappointed him in his efforts, and as Ernest could
not succeed in gaining over the Swabian vassals to his purpose, he
was forced to surrender at discretion, and his step-father sent him a
prisoner to the strong castle of Giebichenstein, in Thuringia. After
an imprisonment of three years, he set him at liberty, and offered
to restore him to his duchy, if he would deliver up to him his
friend and principal accomplice, Count Werner, of Kyburg. This,
however, Ernest hesitated and finally refused to do, and he was accord-
ingly deposed ; and at a diet of the princes and nobles of the em-
pire, he was banished the country, together with all his partisans.
He fled for refuge to his cousin, Count Odo, of Champagne, ac-
companied by Count Werner, and a few faithful friends ; but soon
afterwards returned, whilst his father was on an expedition against
the Hungarians, concealed himself amongst the caverns of the Black
Forest, and once more endeavoured to gain adherents in Swabia.
But the Bishop of Constance, as administrator of the duchy for

188 DEATH OF ERNEST — CONRAD's DEATH.

Gisella's second son, Herman (yet a minor), to whom Conrad had
transferred it, sent Count Mangold, of Vehringen, against him, when
both armies met (1030), and fought a severe battle, until both
Ernest and Werner, together with Mangold, were killed. The ad-
ventures of Duke Ernest became the subject of many heroic lays
and legends; and the most wonderful deeds performed by his army
were connected with his name, and eventually, collected together
by later poets, formed one entire work. Meantime, the campaign
undertaken by the emperor against the Hungarians, proved tri-
umphant, and he obliged Stephen, their king, to sign a favourable
treaty of peace. He forced, also, to their former obedience the
Slavonian and Vandalian tribes, who were still seated on the Oder,
and northwards on the Elbe; and Hamburg, which they had de-
stroyed, raised itself by degrees from its ruins.

The emperor was also a zealous promoter of the institution
whereby the church sought to set some limits to the rude force of
the faust-recht — namely, that of the Peace of God. From Wednes-
day evening at sunset until sunrise on Monday morning, all feuds
were to cease, no sword be raised, and universal security protect the
affairs of life. He who should transgress against the peace of God
(treuga or treva dei), was to be punished with the heaviest ban.
Odilo, of Clugny, is named as the originator of this institution, and
the clergy of Burgundy and the low countries, where the most san-
guinary feuds prevailed, with the consent of Conrad, first united
themselves, in the year 1033, for this purpose.

Conrad returned sickly from his second expedition into Italy,
wherein disease reduced his army; and his own step-son, Herman
of Swabia, and Kunihilda, the young consort of his son Henry, the
.daughter of the Danish king, both died there. He himself never
thoroughly recovered, and died at Utrecht, in 1039. His biogra-
pher, Wippo, thus speaks of him : — " I should expose myself to the
charge of flattery, were I to relate how generous, how steadfast, how
undaunted, how severe towards the bad, how good towards the
virtuous, how firm against the enemy, and how unwearied and urgent
in affairs he was, when the welfare of the empire demanded it."

His consort, Gisella, one of the most noble of German women,
and who loved him most tenderly, refused every consolation, and
mourned her husband in the convent of Kaufungen, near Cassel, until
her death. The corpse of the emperor was brought to Spires, and
deposited in the noble cathedral which he himself had founded.

This emperor had evidently formed the idea, and which maybe called
the fundamental idea of the whole Salic imperial race — namely, to
raise the imperial power of Germany to the most unlimited extent, to
restrict the dominion of the princes within narrow bounds, and, in
order to complete this, he endeavoured to gain, by every favour, the
assistance of the inferior vassals, who had almost become slaves to
them. To this tended an important law (constitutio de feudis),
which Conrad made in the year 1037, on his second expedition to

HENRY III. — THE HUNGARIANS— ITALY— THE POPES. 189

Italy, for that country, and which was soon afterwards transferred
to Germany, namely— that feudal estates, which had belonged to
the father, ^ should not be taken capriciously from the sons, but
only in criminal cases, decided by tribunals composed of their
co-vassals. Thereby he prepared for the lesser vassals the full right
of property ; so that from them there must necessarily have arisen a
distinct, free order, for the support of the emperor against the greater
vassals. These, on the contrary, and particularly the dukes, he
sought to bring back to their old condition of mere imperial func-
tionaries; and even gave the duchies of Swabia, Bavaria, and Fran-
conia, to his son Henry, who seemed fully adapted to carry still
farther his great and extensive plan. Had success attended it, Ger-
many would have become earlier what France became later, an undi-
vided, powerful empire. But the Salic race was stayed in its mid-
career, partly by its own fault, and partly by the rapid rising
of the papal chair, whose authority developed itself with astonishing
energy, and whose victory over his grandson, Henry IV., the power-
ful Conrad certainly had not anticipated.

Conrad's son, Henry, or the black, whom the Germans had
chosen during his father's life, was twenty- two years of age; but the
hopes formed of him were great, and they proved not unfounded.
Like his father, he was of a high mind and a determined will, obsti-
nate and firm, and at the same time eloquent and well-informed, for
the prudent Gisella had early induced him to cultivate his mind as much
as possible by reading, although at that time books were very scarce.
No emperor since Charlemagne maintained more vigorously the im-
perial dignity in Italy, Germany, and the neighbouring lands, or
ruled more powerfully within the limits of his extensive empire.
What served to increase his great fame was, that he so humbled the
wild Hungarians, who a hundred years before were the terror of
Germany, that the Hungarian nobility, after a lost battle, took the
oath of allegiance to him in the city of Stuhlweissen, in the year
1044, and that Peter, their king, re-established by Henry, received
the country as a feud from him, by means of a golden lance. It is
true this was no durable subjection; still the act of itself is suf-
ficiently glorious for Henry, whilst thereby he gained a portion of
Hungary, from Kahlenburg to Leitha, which he united with the
marches of Austria.

The king then, in 1046, turned his attention towards Italy, to
settle the great disorders existing there. There three popes held their
sway at once: Benedict IX., Sylvester III., and Gregory IV.
Henry, in order to be wholly impartial, convoked a council at
Sutri. Here they were all three deposed, as irregularly elected;
and then, in Rome, at the desire of the collective clergy and no-
bility, Henry, who, following the example of Charlemagne, had
received the dignity of patrician for himself and successors, made
a German, Suidger, Bishop of Bamberg, pope, who took the
name of Clement II. ; and at the Christmas festival, 1046, he

190 THE GERMAN POPES— LEO. IX.

crowned Henry emperor. Subsequently, Henry gave the Romans
three successive popes, for they were obliged to promise him, as
they had done to Otho, to acknowledge no pope without the impe-
rial sanction.

After these, the papal chair was filled by two more German
popes, and these six pontifs from Germany: Clement II., Dama-
sus II., Leo IX., Victor II., Stephan IX., and Nicholas II. , who
succeeded each other in very quick, but uninterrupted rotation,
laboured with one concurring mind for the good of the church, and
raised it again from the ruinous state into which it had been thrown,
through dissension in Rome itself, the immoral conduct practised by
many of the clergy, and the purchase of spiritual offices for money.
Thus they paved the way for the plans of that spiritual dominion of the
world, which Hildebrand or Pope Gregory VII., afterwards suc-
ceeded in executing. In our subsequent history of this celebrated
pope, we shall allude further to this question. Here, however, we
must at once say, for the honour of these German pontifs, that by
their efforts, influenced by a noble and firm mind, and true zeal,
towards promoting the purity and dignity of the church, they must
be classed as the precursors in the reforms eventually introduced.
Leo IX. (formerly Bruno, Bishop of Toul, and a relation of the
Emperor Henry III.), was especially to be esteemed as a man of the
most elevated moral virtue and true nobleness of mind. His hu-
mility was so great, that after he was elected pope, he left his
bishopric of Toul for Rome on foot, and with the pilgrim's staff in
hand, he journeyed all the distance thus lowly, accompanied by Hil-
debrand, then chaplain to the deposed pope, Gregory VI., in whom
Leo had already recognised a man of extraordinary genius.

His zeal for the purification of the church urged him forthwith
to operate against the prevailing system of Simonism, or the pur-
chasing of spiritual offices with money, and the immoral life led by
the clergy. He presided at three councils which were convoked for
this purpose, in Rome, Rheims, and Mentz; and he succeeded in
bringing to bear, within a year, the most important reforms. He
then travelled from the one country of Christendom to the other,
wherever his presence was most necessary, in order to promote and
establish personally the purification of the church. He died in the
year 1054, too soon for the great work he had in hand; but his
successors continued to complete what he had commenced according
to his grand plan.

Meantime, in Germany, Henry ruled as a wise and powerful sove-
reign. He abandoned, certainly, to other princes, the duchies which
he himself formerly possessed, but only to such as were rulers of
very limited power, and who received, it is true, the name but not the
ancient prerogative of duke, as viz. : Bavaria to Henry of the house
of Luxemburg, and, after him, to Conrad, of the Palatinate; Carinthia
to Guelf, son of Guelf, the Swabian count ; Swabia itself to Otho,
Count Palatine, on the Rhine. In Swabia, the Guelfic house was

HENRY'S PERSONAL COURAGE— HIS DEATH. 191

very powerful, and would therefore willingly have possessed the duchy •
but it was^precisely for that reason, that Henry placed Count Guelf
in Carinthia, in order that the duke might not possess great hereditary
lands in the country. Thus he acted as he pleased with the imperial
dignities, whilst he favoured the inheritance of the smaller fiefs
Upper Lorraine passed through him to Count Albert, of Lono-Wy"
an ancestor of the present Austrian house.

It was about this time that Henry gave a striking proof of his
personal courage, for at an interview which took place between him
and King Henry of France, near Mentz, in the year 1056, a dispute
arose between them, and the latter king charged him with a breach
of his word. As it beseemed, Henry replied only by casting his
gauntlet down before the king, who, however, during the following
night, retired within his frontiers. Nothing could be more pleasing
to the Germans than this chivalrous bearing of their emperor.

Henry now returned to Saxony, where his favourite seat Goslar
lay, in the Hartz, and which he raised to a considerable city. We
must not wonder that a king of the Frankish race should fix his
seat in Saxony, considering that he did so on account of its rich mines,
which existed close to this said Goslar, in the Hartz. Mines, in
those times, were the exclusive property of the emperor. In Goslar,
Henry built a fortress, a palace, churches, and ramparts round the
town, and he obliged the Saxons of the surrounding country to
render excessive service. This increased the ill-will they felt at
seeing an imperial fortress thus suddenly created in their country;
and although under so severe and powerful an enemy, they could
not give utterance to their thoughts, it nevertheless produced the
more bitter fruits for his son. Henry died suddenly, in the year
1056, at Bothfeld, near Blankenburg, at the foot of the Hartz (whi-
ther he had gone to hunt), in the prime of life, being only thirty-
seven years old, and in the midst of great plans which he formed for
the future.

This emperor was strictly and bigotedly pious, notwithstanding
his strong mind and sternness of will. He never placed his crown
upon his head without having previously confessed, and received
from his confessor permission to wear it. He likewise subjected
himself to the expiatory penalties and punishments of the church,
and often submitted his body to be scourged by his priests. Thus
the rude and barbarous manners of those times held in no contempt
corporeal chastisement — as practised among them to curb the vio-
lence of passion — even when inflicted upon the body by the suf-
ferer's own lash.

Henry III. may, nevertheless, be named amongst those emperors
who have proved the cultivation of their own mind, by their love for
the sciences, by their predilection in favour of distinguished men, and
by their promotion of intellectual perfection generally. Ever since
he had received the poem addressed to him in Latin by Wippo (the
biographer of his father), in which he encouraged him to have the

192 EDUCATION PROMOTED BY HENRY III.

children of the secular nobles educated in the sciences, he con-
tinued to evince the greatest interest in the erection of schools.
Those of Liege, Lobbes, Gemblours, Fulda, Paderborn, St. Gallen,
Reichenau, &c., nourished especially under his reign; and it was
in the two last-mentioned schools that Herman le Contracte, one of
the most learned men of that time, received his education. This
extraordinary philosopher was, from his childhood, such a cripple,
that he could only be conveyed from one place to another in a
portable chair. He wrote also with the greatest difficulty, and
stammered so painfully to hear, that his pupils required a long time
before they could understand him ; whilst, however, he was so ad-
mired and sought after by them, that they nocked to him in multi-
tudes from all parts. His chronicles belong to the most distin-
guished historical sources, including the first division of the llth
century.

The sciences and the arts under Henry III. progressed to an extent
by no means unimportant ; and if much became neglected under the
long and turbulent reign of his successor, Henry IV., still the foun-
dation was then laid for that glorious development which is presented
to us in the after-times, under the reign of the Hohenstaufens.

The princes had already recognised the succession of Henry's
son immediately on his birth. Unfortunately for the empire,
upon the death of his father the young king was only a child six
years old.

His education and the government of the realm were at first in
the hands of his excellent mother Agnes, who, however, was not in
a condition to retain the nobles of the empire in dependance, and
thus complete the father's work. She sought rather by favouring
some of them to acquire support for her government, and therefore
gave Swabia, and at the same time the dominion of Burgundy, to
Count Rudolphus of Rheinfelden, and Bavaria to Otho of Nordheim,
confirming the grant with a dangerous clause, viz., that these dig-
nities should remain hereditary in their houses. Henry, Bishop of
Augsburg possessed especially her confidence, but this speedily caused
envy and jealousy. At the head of the discontented stood the Arch-
bishop Hanno of Cologne, an ambitious and prudent, but austere
and severe man. In order to gain possession of the young king, and
thereby of the government, he went at Easter in 1062 to Kaiser werth
on the Rhine, where at that moment the court of the empress was as-
sembled, and after the dinner he persuaded the boy to go and view a
particularly beautiful vessel, recently built. He had scarcely, how-
ever, got onboard, when the sailors, at a signal given by the archbishop,
loosened her moorings, and rowed to the middle of the Rhine, which so
much terrified the youth, that he suddenly jumped into the river, and
would certainly have been drowned had not Count Eckbert of Bruns-
wick sprang after him and saved him at the hazard of his life. He was
cheered up, and many fair promises being held out to him, he was thus
decoyed away and taken to Cologne. His mother was much alarmed and

HENRY IV.— HIS MINORITY. 193

grieved, and when she perceived that the German princes had no
longer confidence in her, she determined to conclude her life in quiet
retirement, and went to Rome.

The Archbishop Hanno, in order that it might not appear as if he
wanted to retain the highest power in his own hands, made an order
that the young king should dwell by turns in the different countries
of Germany, and that the bishop, in whose diocese he dwelt, should
for the time being, have the protectorship and the chief government
of the kingdom. His chief object, however, was to get the mind of
the prince under his own control, but in this he could not succeed.
His character and manner were not such as to gain the heart of the
youth, for^he was severe, haughty, and authoritative, and as it is re-
lated of him, that he even applied the scourge with severity to his
father, the powerful Henry the Black, it may likewise be presumed
that he often treated the youth very roughly. Among the remaining
bishops there was one who was a very different man, as ambitious as
Hanno, but subtle and flattering, and who gained the youth by grant-
ing all his wishes : this was the Archbishop Adalbert of Bremen. This
ambitious man wished to unite the whole of the north of Germany into
one great ecclesiastical dominion, and to place himself at its head as a
second pope. In fact he was already invested almost with the authority
and dignity of a patriarch of the north ; for by his zealous efforts to pro-
pagate Christianity there, many bishoprics had been founded in the
Slavonic countries, such as Ratzeburg and Mecklenburg, as well as
several churches in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. He hated the
temporal princes, because they stood in the way of these objects and
in order to suppress them he wished to raise the imperial power to
unlimited despotism. Hanno of Cologne and his confederates stood
in the most decided opposition to him in this view, for they endea-
voured to raise the dignity of the princes upon the ruins of the empire;
and thus both parties, without any reserve, went passionately to ex-
tremes. Whilst Hanno was on a journey to Rome, where he re-
mained some time, Adalbert obtained entire possession of the young
prince. Nothing worse could have happened to the youth than to
be subject to the influence of two such different men, and to this
change of treatment so entirely opposite ; for after having been treated
with the greatest severity, he was now allowed to sink by too great
lenity and indulgence into dissipation and sensuality.

Henry was distinguished for great mental as well as physical
qualities ; he was endowed with daring and ardent courage, quickness
of resolve, and a chivalric mind which might have been directed to
the most noble objects. But now his active and fiery nature became
transformed into a revengeful and furious disposition, and his elevated
mind degenerated into selfish pride and domination. Besides which,
he loved sensual pleasures, and thence became often idle and care-
less. A good thought and a praiseworthy, honourable action in him
changed speedily to an opposite character, because throughout his
whole life he was wanting in a fixed leading principle whereon to

194 THE ARCHBISHOPS — THE SAXONS.

base his actions. That steady calm repose and moderation, ever
immutable, and which constitute the highest majesty of kings, were
by him unattainable and never possessed; and thus are reflected in
his whole existence the dissimilar and even contradictory sentiments
and principles of those by whom he was educated.

It was strongly evinced and verified as a great truth in Henry IV.,
that according to our disposition and inward being, so is our fate.
If the ibrmer be fixed and firm, our life as surely takes a fixed direc-
tion. But Henry's life was as unequal as his mind : the variation of
good fortune with misfortune, elevation with abasement, and haugh-
tiness with humiliation — such were the transitions of his life, even
unto the moment of his death.

Adalbert had transplanted from his own soul to that of his pupil
two feelings of the deepest aversion — the first was directed against
all the princes generally, and the second against those of Saxony,
and especially the ducal house of Billung, and the whole Saxon,
people, with whom he had previously had many disputes relative to
his Archbishopric of Bremen. He therefore impressed upon the
mind of the young king, that as the princes, but chiefly those of
Saxony, were striving for independence, he should reduce them by
times to obedience and crush them. These principles embittered and
destroyed the tranquillity of the king's whole life, for although the
ambitious archbishop, after he had declared the king to be of age at
Worms in 1065, was, by means of the princes, removed from Henry in
the following year, his ward never forgot his instructions, and when,
in 106 9, Adalbert again visited the court of the young monarch, he used
all his former influence to strengthen and confirm him in this hatred.
The Saxons speedily perceived the king's purpose of making their
country immediately dependent on the crown ; for he dwelt chiefly
at Goslar, and commenced building in the mountains of the Hartz
and in Thuringia a multitude of fortresses, and manned them with
garrisons, to enable them to curb the natives more easily. The same
Benno (afterwards Bishop of Osnaburg) who, under Henry III., upon
the building of Goslar itself had already forced the Saxons into service,
now superintended these buildings. The chief of these fortresses wa3
that oT Hartzburg, near Goslar, Henry's favourite place, but an eye-sore
to the Saxons. Murmurs passed around, and the people complained
that the freedom they enjoyed from their ancestors was about to be
destroyed. It was also related, that whilst one day surveying the
country around from a mountain in Saxony, the king exclaimed:
" Saxony is indeed a beautiful country, but those who inhabit it are
miserable serfs."

There were two other causes which increased the discontent. Henry,
as a child, had already been betrothed by his father to Bertha, the
daughter of the Margrave of Susa, in Italy, and he had afterwards
married her. Now, however, he wished to be divorced from her, and
as for this purpose he required the assistance of the spiritual princes,
he accordingly sought to conciliate before all others the friendship

THEIR HOSTILITY—HENRY'S INJUSTICE TOWARDS THEM. 195

of Sigfried, Archbishop of Mentz. But as his passions always drove him
blindly on to the object he was so anxious to grasp, so likewise the
means he now employed to attain it were equally bad. Hecommanded
and forced the Thuringians to pay to the archbishop the tithe of their
goods which he had formerly claimed, and they had refused. Thus he had
now made the Thuringians doubly his enemies. Meantime, however,
owing to the opposition shown on the part of the pope, he was not
divorced from the queen ; and subdued, shortly afterwards, by her noble
and dignified conduct, his heart once more turned towards her, and
she faithfully continued to share with him his good and bad fortune.

Besides this, Henry treated the Saxon Count, Otho of Nordheim,
to whom his mother had given the Duchy of Bavaria, so badly, that
all the nobles, but chiefly those of Saxony, were highly exasperated.
This Duke Otho was a friend of the Archbishop of Cologne, and
might probably thereby have become obnoxious to the king, or the latter
perhaps turned the hatred he had imbibed from Adalbert against all
the nobles, more particularly against Otho, upon whose arm the Saxon
people chiefly depended. And when at this moment an accuser
appeared, named Egino (probably employed for that purpose), and
charged the duke with having tried to persuade him to assassinate
the king, and Otho refused to do battle with him because he was not
of the same rank, and bore besides a bad character, Henry, by an
unjust sentence, deposed hirn forthwith from his duchy of Bavaria,
and destroyed with fire and sword all his hereditary lands in Saxony.
He gave his duchy of Bavaria (in 1070) to Guelf the Young (IV.)
the son of the Italian Margrave Azzo, and the founder of the junior
Guelfic house, the elder house having become extinct by the death
of Duke Guelf of Carinthia in 1055.

But in Otho of Nordheim he had now aroused for his whole life
time a most valiant and inveterate enemy. He joined Count Magnus
of Saxony, son of Duke Ordulf, "a noble youth, bold and valiant in
arms, and united himself with him ; but pressed by the royal forces,
they were obliged to yield themselves both prisoners to Henry before
they had hardly prepared themselves for battle. After the lapse of
a year Henry set Otho at liberty, but he retained Magnus in prison
in the Hartzburg, because he refused at his command to renounce his
rights to his father's duchy, and although Otho nobly offered to
take his friend's place in prison, he refused to listen to him. Thence
arose the natural conclusion, that it was the king's intention to take
possession of the duchy of Saxony himself, and leave the young prince
to die in captivity.

These circumstances were the origin of that deep and violent
enmity between Henry and the Saxons, and which prepared the
most bitter and melancholy reverses for the king, and incited both
parties to acts of 'the most implacable hatred and revenge.

The Saxons, with Otho of Norheim at their head, concluded with
each other a close alliance. All the Saxon and Thuringian nobles,
temporal and spiritual, belonged to it, and among others, Burkhard,

O 2

196 THE SAXONS OVERPOWER HIM — HENRY A FUGITIVE.

Bishop of Halberstadt, who was a nephew of the Archbishop of Co-
logne, and had imbibed from the latter his hatred against the imperial
misrule and ascendancy. This was still the time when the clergy them-
selves went into battle and frequently fought at the head of their war-
like hosts.

Quite unexpectedly, and whilst Henry was at Goslar, in the year
1073, a deputation from the Saxons came to him and demanded of
him as follows: " That he should destroy his fortresses in their
country ; set Magnus, the heir of their Saxon duchy free from his
imprisonment; not always remain in Saxony; honour the ancient
constitution of the country; and in imperial affairs not give ear to
bad advisers, but take counsel of the states. If he would perform
these conditions," they added, " no nation in Germany would be
found more faithful and devoted to him than that of the Saxons."
Henry, however, dismissed the deputation with contempt. The
Saxons accordingly, now brought into speedy effect and immediate
execution the threatened consequences, and advanced towards Goslar
with 60,000 men. Henry fled with his treasures to the strong fortress
of Hartzburg, and as the enemy speedily followed him, he took to flight
and sought refuge amidst great danger in the Hartz mountains. He
was obliged, for three days, to wander without food or drink, and
with but few companions, under the guidance of a yager, imagining
in every whisper of the wind passing along the tops of the firs, to
hear the steps of his pursuers. At last he reached Eschwege, on the
river Werra. From thence he went to the Rhine, towards Tribur,
and sent messengers throughout the whole empire, summoning all to
arms against the Saxons. But the Saxons wisely profited by the inter-
val, destroyed fortress after fortress, and took possession of the strong
castle of Luneburg with its whole garrison ; and which lucky circum-
stance they took advantage of to free their duke, Magnus, for they now
demanded his freedom of the emperor under the threat, that, if not
granted, they would hang up the whole garrison of Luneburg as rob-
bers. Henry was obliged therefore, however unwillingly, to yield and
set Magnus at liberty, together with seventy other nobles and knights.
The monarch's humiliation, however, did not end here, for he was
now likewise deserted by the princes of Southern Germany, and
even the Archbishop of Mentz, on whose account he had made so
many enemies, left him. A circumstance also occurred at this mo-
ment which formed a parallel case with that of Egino and Otho of
Nordheim, only that here the king was made out to be the assassin.
Reginger, a knight and former favourite of Henry, came now for-
ward and made public that " the king had employed him to murder
the Dukes Rudolphus of Swabia and Berthold of Carinthia." This
statement might possibly have been a mere manoeuvre of the enemy, in
order to prejudice public opinion against Henry, similar to that which
he had himself previously employed against Otho of Nordheim.
But it was equally successful, for it was even proposed to elect a
new king, and the ungrateful Archbishop Sigfried convoked the
princes for that purpose to hold a diet at Mentz.

HIS REVENGE— DEFEATS THE SAXONS. 197

In this emergency, when all his friends had deserted him, the citi-
zens of Worms alone remained faithful to the king. They opened their
gates to him against the will of their archbishop, offered him men
and arms, and by their generous attachment and fidelity again re-
stored his despondent mind, and as far as their means admitted they
wholly supported him, no one else attempting to assist him. At this
period, certain cities in Germany already began to have a voice in
the imperial diets, and they became the chief support of imperial
authority against the princes; thence we see how much, by industry
and activity, they must have increased since the time of Henry I.,
both in the number and in the wealth of their inhabitants. But
the faithful people of Worms could not defend him against the
entire power of all the accumulated evils which now hung over his
head. He was obliged, in order not to lose his crown, to make hard
terms of peace with the Saxons in 1074, and to deliver up to them
all his fortresses, even his beloved Hartzburg. After contemplating
it with sorrow and regret for the last time, as, in the midst of the
Saxons he rode to Goslar, he once more, and even most earnestly
entreated them to grant its preservation, but the proud fortress was
doomed to fall, and in its destruction hatred raged so furiously, that
the embittered populace, without even the knowledge or consent of
the princes, plundered and burnt both its church and altar, tore open
the imperial tombs, and desecrated the remains of Henry's brother
and infant son.

But the Saxons very soon experienced that the most dangerous
enemy to good fortune is the arrogance of our own heart ; and one of
those singular changes of fortune which distinguished Henry's en-
tire reign now suddenly displayed itself. He had well learnt by this
time, that men must be differently treated to the fashion Adalbert had
taught him, and that in order to conquer a people, something more
is necessary than building isolated fortresses in their country. Ac-
cordingly he now began to address the German princes in a very-
opposite manner to what he had hitherto done ; he sought to gain
them individually, especially as their assemblies were in general pre-
judicially opposed to him, and for this purpose he employed a differ-
ent but more suitably- adapted means with each of them separately.
To all of them he complained bitterly of the shameful and revolting
destruction of Hartzburg, and as soon as the public voice became more
favourable towards him, he issued a general summons against the
Saxons. This time obedience immediately followed, and a strong
army was speedily collected both of knights and vassals, from all
parts of the kingdom, even from Bohemia and Lorraine, an army
such as had not been seen for a long time, whilst the Saxons
who had only hastily assembled a few troops, and by the artifices
of the king had become disunited among themselves, were severely
beaten, in 1075, near Hohenburg, not far from Langensalza, on.the
river Unstrut. Henry pursued the fugitives as far as Magdeburg and
Halberstadt, and desolated their country with fire and sword.

198 POPE GREGORY VII. — REFORMS THE CHURCH.

vengeance was terrific, like all his ungovernable passions. But in the
following year, the other princes, who would not suffer the poor people
to be entirely destroyed, stepped between as mediators. Henry granted
the Saxons a peace after their nobles had humbly knelt to him before
all the army; but instead of effecting a complete reconciliation by a
full pardon, he, contrary to the promise he gave through his am-
bassadors, retained many of the Saxon nobles as prisoners, and made
over their fiefs to his vassals. The most dangerous of all their
princes, however, Otho of Nordheim, he allowed to return to his
estates, and even appointed him administrator over Saxony. He
caused all the destroyed fortresses, including Hartzburg, to be rebuilt,
erected additional ones, and had them garrisoned by his own troops,
who, as before, oppressed the land by arrogance and extortion; thus
the seeds of future revolt were again planted in this quarter, whilst
from an opposite direction an enemy presented himself, far more
powerful, and who fought against him with very different weapons
to those of the Saxons.

Hildebrand (afterwards Gregory VII.) was the son of a carpenter
at Saone, an Italian city. He entered the clerical state, and as he
possessed extraordinary mental powers he was taken by Pope Leo
IV., in the reign of Henry III., from the monastery of Clugny to
Home, and there made sub-deacon of the Roman church, and after-
wards chancellor ; henceforward he alone directed the government of
the popes, and became the soul of the pontifical court. His object was
to raise the pope above all the princes and kings of the earth, and
this aim he pursued during his whole life with so much prudence,
constancy, power, and greatness of mind, that he must be placed
among the most extraordinary men in the history of his times. When
he first appeared great misuses had crept in among the higher and lower
clergy; the majority purchased their holy offices with gold, whereby
unworthy men could attain to high and important places. Immo-
rality, dissipation, and vices of every kind were not rare among
them, and as they were the slaves of their own sins, so also by their
love for temporal possessions they attached themselves to temporal
princes, who rewarded them with their possessions. Hildebrand
therefore resolved, inspired as he was for the freedom of the church
and the morality of the clerical order, to lay the axe to the root of
these evils.

His first endeavours were very justly directed against the purchase
of spiritual offices with gold, which was called the crime of simony (in
reference to the history of Simon the magician, related in the Xcts
of the Apostles, viii., 18-24) and was considered a sin against the Holy
Ghost. It is shown with what moral power and superiority of mind
he knew how to influence men, in the example of an archbishop of
France, who was charged with this crime, but had cunningly gained
over the informers by gold. Hildebrand, so says the original docu-
ment, sat as representative of the pope in judgment upon the affair.
The archbishop then stepped boldly into the assembly and said,

THE RIGHT OF INVESTITURE— GREGORY AND HENRY. 199

« Where are they who charge me? Let him step forth who will con-
demn me !" The bribed complainants were silent. Hildebrand then
turned himself to him and said: " Dost thoti believe that the Holy
Ghost with Father and Son are one Being?" To which the other
replied: " I believe it." He now commanded him to repeat: " Ho-
nour the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," and whilst the arch-
bishop was pronouncing the words, he looked at him with sucli a
piercing, penetrating glance, that the conscience of the convicted
clergyman was so struck with his guilt, that he was unable to add
" The Holy Ghost," although he several times tried it. This was
considered a divine judgment. The archbishop fell at his judge's
feet, acknowledged his crime, and confessed himself unworthy to
hold the priestly office ; after which confession he was enabled to
repeat those words with a distinct voice. This circumstance worked
so powerfully upon the minds of the people, that twenty-seven other
churchmen and several bishops, as yet unaccused, laid down their
offices, because they had acquired them with gold.

In order, therefore, that the clergy should now be made entirely
free from the temporal power, it became essential that the head of
the church should no longer be named by the emperor, but be ap-
pointed by a free election. This had been differently settled at the
time that Henry III. caused the promise to be made to him, that the
Romans should acknowledge no pope without the imperial sanction,
and under this emperor Hildebrand probably would not have carried
his object. But he now took advantage of the moment while the
new emperor was still a child, and succeeded in the year 1059, under
Pope Nicholas II., in having a law made, that every pope should be
chosen by the cardinals, but with the clause that the sanction or
confirmation of the emperor should be added, as it was only in sub-
sequent times that endeavours were made even to abolish this decree,
and to put a false construction upon the law of Pope Nicholas.

When Hildebrand as chancellor had, by this and other regula-
tions, prepared every thing for his great object, he was himself
elected pope in the year 1073, and called himself Gregory VII. , in
order thus to declare the deposition of Gregory VI. by Henry III.
as invalid. The Emperor Henry IV., who now ruled the empire
himself, sent his faithful adherent, Count Eberhard, to Rome, to de-
mand of the Romans why they had dared without the imperial
permission to elect a pope. Gregory, who did not wish at this mo-
ment to commence the dispute with the emperor, excused himself by
the plea that the people had forced him to receive the papal dignity,
but that he had not allowed himself to be ordained before he had
received the sanction of the emperor and of the German princes.
With this excuse Henry was contented, and the pope was confirmed.
Henry thus showed, that in the blindness of his fury against the
Saxons, he had not at all perceived that all this time the degradation
of all temporal dominion, and the elevation of a spiritual empire, was
now being gradually prepared in Rome.

200 GREGORY AKD THE INVESTITURE.

Gregory now stepped forth with new and very severe laws against
simony, and against the marriage of priests. He desired, like the
earlier popes and fathers, that the priests of the church should conse-
crate themselves wholly to the divine service, restrain themselves from
all sensuality, and not even chain themselves to the love of the earth's
possessions by the marriage tie. It is true that in Italy, as well as
in France and Germany, this prohibition found at first great oppo-
sition among the clergy, for many of them, particularly among the
lower clergy, were already married, but Gregory^ found in the people
themselves the support necessary for the execution of his law. The
populace, excited against the married priests, forced them, partly-
through the severest misusage, to separate themselves from their
wives, but it lasted a full century before the celibacy of the clergy
was fully established. The attainment of this object was of the greatest
importance to Gregory for the completion of his extensive plans;
for if the clergy throughout all Christian countries were no longer
bound by their domestic cares and anxiety for their children, and
were made independent of the temporal lords, the pope would thereby
gain so many thousand more zealous servants, who would listen only
to his command, and contribute to fix firmly the dominion of the
church over all temporal power. But in order to possess such ser-
vants they must be rendered still more independent, and not receive,
even in any shape, their temporal possessions from the hands of
princes as a fief; for the same as the lay vassals received a banner as
a mark of their services, so also the grand ecclesiastical dignitaries
received from the princes as a similar sign, a ring and a shepherd's
crook, which thus formed the investiture. Gregory, therefore, pro-
hibited the clergy from receiving this said symbol of investiture from
the hands of the nobles; and he insisted that for their elevation
they were to be beholden to the papal chair alone, and only to the
pope were they to swear the oath of obedience. According to this
principle, the pontiff necessarily became sovereign lord of one- third
of all the property in the Catholic countries.

Such then is the commencement of the long and violent dispute of
investiture, and especially of the contest between the emperor and
the pope, the state and the church, and which by degrees weakened
and destroyed both. We have already noticed previously that the
peaceful co-operation of both the papal and imperial dignity might
have formed a solid basis for the happiness of the people ; but now
the epoch commenced when both these powers strove singly to rise
more elevated than the other. For if, on the one hand, the pope
wished to reign not only in spiritual but also in temporal affairs over
all princes and kings, and was anxious to take away as well as to
provide crowns, so, on the other hand, the emperor would not admit
in just and reasonable cases the authority of the pope, but insisted
he could rule with the edge of the sword even over invisible and
spiritual affairs and the conscience of man. Thus the two powers
which in concord together might have made the world happy, de-

GREGORY'S SUMMONS AND THREAT TO HENRY. 201

stroyed each other, and after a contest of a century and a half, and
after unutterable confusion and dissension in Germany and Italy,
the imperial dignity lost its ancient splendour and its intrinsic power!
whilst the head of the church became externally dependent upon a
foreign power. In this schism great men stood opposed to each
other, who might have exercised their energy and powers much more
beneficially for society ; but this very contest necessarily entered into
the great plan of the history of the world, and it prepared those de-
velopments which otherwise would not have followed.

Pope Gregory continued to advance still further in his principles.
Not satisfied with having separated the church with all its endow-
ments wholly from temporal dominion, he also now solemnly declared
that emperors, kings, and princes, together with all their power,
were subject to the pope. These principles are especially expressed
in his own letters : " The world," he says in one of them, u is guided by
two lights : by the sun, the larger, and the moon, the lesser light. Thus
the apostolic power represents the sun, and the royal power the moon;
for as the latter has its light from the former, so only do emperors,
kings, and princes, receive their authority through the pope, be-
cause he receives his authority through God. Therefore, the power
of the Roman chair is greater than the power of the throne, and the
king is accordingly subject to the pope, and bound in obedience to
him. If the apostles in heaven can bind and loosen, so may they
also upon earth give and take, according to merit, empires, kingdoms,
principalities, duchies, and every other kind of possession. And if
they be appointed as sovereign judges over spiritual, they must like-
wise be so, and far more in proportion over temporal affairs, and if,
finally, they have the right to command angels who are most assur-
edly placed above the most powerful monarchs, how much more may
they not give judgment over the poor slaves of those angels. Be-
sides, the pope is the successor of the apostles, and their represen-
tative upon the chair of St. Peter; he is the vicar of Christ, and
consequently placed over all."

These principles Gregory resolved to exercise generally, and first of
all upon the emperor himself, as the head of the kings and princes, in
order thereby to prove his power before the whole world. At the same
time, Henry, living as he did in continual dissension with his sub-
jects, had less real power than any other king, whilst his name
being greater, the victory over him must consequently become
more glorious, and from the passionate character of this prince in
all his proceedings, the pope soon found it easy to furnish a pretext.
Complaints against the emperor came to Rome from every quarter,
whilst the Saxons, likewise, bitterly complained because he still kept
many of their princes prisoners. Gregory accordingly caused it to
be signified to the emperor, " That at the ensuing fast he must ap-
pear before the synod at Rome, to answer for the crimes laid to .his
charge; otherwise, it was now made known to him, that he would be
cast out from the bosom of the church by the apostolic ban."

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ened to raise thyself above the royal power, bestowed upon us by 0
himself, and threatened to take it from us, as if we had recer

202 HENRY DEPOSES GREGORY—HENRY'S EXCOMMUNICATION.

Henry was more indignant than terrified at these words, for the
invisible power of the papal ban of excommunication had hitherto
been little proved. He assembled the German bishops at Worms,
in the year 1076, and there with equal precipitation and impatience he
caused to be pronounced at once against the pope the same sentence
of deposition with which the latter had threatened him. He then
wrote him a letter of the following contents :

" Henry, king, not by force, but by the sacred ordination of God,
to Hildebrand — not the pope, but the false monk :

" This greeting hast thou merited by the confusion thou hast spread
throughout all classes of the church. Thou hast trampled under thy feet
the ministers of the holy church, as slaves who know not what their
lord does ; and by that desecration hast thou won favour from the lips
of the common herd of people. We have long suifered this because
we were desirous to maintain the honour of the Roman chair. But
thou hast mistaken our forbearance for fear, and hast become embold-

God
received

our dominion from thee. Thou hast raised thyself upon the steps
which are called cunning and deception, and which are accursed. Thou
hast gained favour by gold, won power by favour, and by that power
thou hast gained the chair of peace, from whence thou hast banished
peace itself by arming the inferior against the superior. St. Peter,
the true pope himself, says : ' Fear God and honour the king ! '
but as thou dost not fear God, thou dost not honour me, his envoy.
Descend, therefore, thou that liest under a curse of excommunica-
tion by our and all bishops' judgment, descend ! Quit the apostolic
seat thou hast usurped ! And then shall the chair of St. Peter be as-
cended by one who does not conceal, under the divine word, his arro-
gance. I, Henry, by God's grace, king, and all our bishops, say to
thee, ' descend, descend ! ' '

Upon this the pope held a council also, and not only pronounced
the sentence of excommunication against Henry, but he deposed
him in the following words: " In the name of the Almighty God,
I forbid to King Henry, the son of the Emperor Henry, who, with
haughtiness unheard of, has arisen against the church, the govern-
ment of the German and Italian empire, and absolve all Christians
from the oath which they have made or will make to him, and for-
bid that any one serve him as king. And occupying thy office,
holy Peter, I bind him with the bands of a curse, that all nations
may learn that thou art the rock whereon the Son of God founded
his church."

When, at the Easter festival of the year 1016, Henry received,
at Utrecht, the news of his excommunication, he immediately
pronounced, on his part, through the violent bishop, William of
Utrecht, an anathema against Gregory; and the bishops of Lom-
bardy, the enemies of the pope, renewed this anathema in a coun-

THE EMPEROR A FUGITIVE— ARRIVES IN ITALY. 203

cil assembled at Pavia, under the presidency of Wibert, Archbishop
of Ravenna.

The impression made by these unheard of events was varied, ac-
cording to the disposition and feelings of the people. The Saxons
rejoiced, for their cause was now the cause of the church, and hence-
forward their usual shout of war was " Holy Peter ! " whilst, throu"-h-
out the empire generally there was a division of parties; every where die
cry was, " the pope for ever ! " or, " the emperor for ever ! " This was,
Indeed, a time of bitter contention, and hatred reigned throughout the
whole country. Had the king been a good, irreproachable man, pos-
sessing the greatness of soul which can bind and rule the hearts, the
power of the mere word would not have overcome him, for it was only
from public opinion that this word received its force. But he had
now numerous and bitter enemies, and his arrogance after conquering
the Saxons had served to increase their number. Besides the Saxons^
his conduct had likewise made Rudolphus, Duke of Swabia, ex-
tremely hostile towards him, whilst the pope's legates exercised all
their influence upon the minds of the people. Thence it happened
that the majority of German princes assembled together at Tribur,
on the Rhine, in order to elect a new emperor. Henry hastened to
Oppenheim, in the vicinity, and at length, after many entreaties
and vows of reform, he obtained from them an extension of one
year's delay ; and it was decided that, in the meantime, the pope
should be requested to come to Augsburg, and himself closely inves-
tigate the affair ; but if Henry, at the end of the year, was not freed
from excommunication, they resolved to proceed immediately to a
fresh election.

In this desperate state Henry formed quite an unexpected resolu-
tion. In the anxiety he experienced lest, in the diet at Augsburg,
where his enemies constituted the majority of the members, nothing
favourable towards him should be determined upon, he set off him-
self, notwithstanding he possessed no means, and was obliged almost
to beg for his support (whilst likewise the princes still occupied the passes
between Italy andGermany), and resolved to cross the Alps, accompanied
only by his consort and one faithful companion. He passed through
Savoy, where he was furnished by his mother-in-law, the Margravine
of Susa, with a few more attendants, and as it was winter, and indeed
so severe a winter that the Rhine, from Martinmas until the first of
April, was completely frozen, the journey over the mountains covered
with snow and ice was, consequently, attended with immeasur-
able difficulties and danger, and the empress, wrapped up in an ox-
hide, was obliged to be slidden down the precipitous paths of Mount
Cenis by the guides of the country, hired for the purpose. He arrived
at last in Italy, and his presence, to his astonishment, was hailed
with joy; for the report had already spread "that the emperor was
coming to humiliate the haughty pope by the power of the swojd."
In Upper Italy a strong hatred had long been cherished against Gre-
gory; the temporal lords were indignant at his recent reguktions,

204 THE EMPEROR AND THE POPE AT CANOSSA.

and among the clergy there were many whom his laws against simony
and the marriage of priests had made his enemies. Besides, many
Italians, even the Archbishops of Milan and Ravenna, had shared
in the sentence of excommunication. Had Henry, therefore, not
been too much dejected and disheartened by what he had experi-
enced in Germany, he might speedily have acquired a numerous train
of adherents in Italy, to offer opposition to his mighty enemy, but he
now had conciliation alone in view; the pope too, was at this moment
on his journey to Germany, to meet the diet at Augsburg, and there
to sit in judgment upon the king. Upon hearing, however, of Henry's
sudden arrival in Italy, and not knowing as yet whether he was to ex-
pect good or bad from him, he deviated from his direct route, and
proceeded to the strong castle of Canossa, there to gain an asylum
with the Countess Matilda, the daughter and heiress of the rich
Margrave Boniface, of Tuscany, and who was a zealous friend of the
papal chair; having even, at this moment, privately made over to it
all her inheritance.

Matilda was the most powerful and influential princess in Italy,
and reigned as queen throughout Tuscany and Lombardy , whilst she
was likewise equally distinguished for her mental attainments and
firmness of spirit, as well as for her piety and virtue. She contested
with all her power, during a period of thirty years, for the elevation
of the pontifical chair, having embraced this idea with all the strength
of her natural character, and to which she was still more influenced
by the new severe regulations adopted by Gregory VII., which so
perfectly agreed with her own austere and rigid principles of virtue.
She was married to Gozelo, Duke of Lower Lorraine, but they
lived separated from each other, owing to their opinions being so
completely different; for whilst in Italy, where she ruled over the
extensive possessions of her father and mother, she herself was busily
occupied in the support of Gregory, her husband was doing all he
could in aid of the emperor.

Henry now turned himself therefore to the Princess Matilda, in
order to get her to speak to the pope in his favour. The latter, at
first, would by no means hear of a reconciliation, but referred all to
the decision of the diet; at last, however, upon much entreaty, he
yielded permission that Henry, in the garb of a penitent, covered
with a shirt of hair, and with naked feet, might be received in the
castle. As the emperor advanced ^within the outer gate it was im-
mediately closed, so that his escort was obliged to remain outside the
fortress, and he himself was now alone in the outer court, where,
in January, 1077, in the midst of a severe and rigorous winter, he
was obliged to remain three whole days barefooted and shivering
with the cold. All in the castle were moved. Gregory himself
writes in a letter, " That every one present had severely censured him,
and said that his conduct more resembled tyrannical ferocity than apos-
tolic severity." The Countess Matilda, whilst vainly pleading for him,
was affected even to burning tears of pity and grief, and Henry, in his

HENRY RESUMES HOSTILITIES— RUDOLPHUS OF SWABIA. 205

distress, at length only prayed that he might at least be allowed to go
out again. On the fourth of these dreadful days, the pope eventually
admitted him before him and absolved him from excommunication •
but Henry was still forced to subscribe to the most severe conditions'
He was obliged to promise to present himself at the day and place
the pope should appoint, in order to hear whether he might remain
king or not, and, meanwhile, he was to abstain from all exercise of
the royal attributes and monarchal power.

With shame _and anger in his heart, Henry now withdrew, and as
soon as the Italians and his old friends still under excommunication
perceived the disposition he now evinced towards the pope, they as-
sembled around him, and he remained during the winter in Italy.

His penetrating eye now perceived, during this his first visit to
Italy, that the power of the pope was nowhere so weak as just in
that very country of dissension and venal egotism, and that who-
ever only understood the art of creating adherents by money, pro-
mises, and cunning, would very soon succeed in collecting together
a considerable party to aid him against the court of Rome. The il-
lusory awe he had hitherto felt for the papal power now vanished;
his former courage revived, and from this moment he commenced
with the sword, as well as the pen, a war which he sustained, during
thirty years, with the greatest skill and determination, and in which
he very often experienced the most decisive success.

The German princes, however, were still his enemies, and avail-
ing themselves of his absence, held a diet at Forsheim in March,
1077, and elected Rudolphus Duke of Swabia as rival emperor. Ger-
many became now again divided by violent dissension; for Henry
also commanded a strong party, chiefly among the cities arid those of
the clergy, who were discontented with Gregory's church laws. He
returned now to Germany ; war commenced, and for three years
devastated many of the most beautiful countries of Germany.
Rudolphus was obliged to retire from Swabia, and marched to
Saxony, the Saxon people and the valiant Otho of Nordheim being
his warm supporters. Henry gave the duchy of Swabia, together
with his daughter, Agnes, to the bold and ambitious Count Fre-
deric of Buren, who now removed his seat from the village of
Buren, at the foot of the high Staufen, and fixed it upon the pin-
nacle of that mountain, where he built the Castle Hohenstaufen.
Thus was laid the foundation of the greatness of this house, al-
though, at the same time, it was a cause of enmity between the
Hohenstaufens and the other noble houses in the vicinity, who
envied the good fortune of this new race, and thought they had
much greater right to the duchy of Swabia. The Hohenstaufens,
however, remained henceforward faithful friends to the Salic-Im-
perial house.

Gregory acted with duplicity in this war between the two empe-
rors; and it appeared as if he rejoiced in the destruction of Germany,
and in the enervation of the temporal power by its own acts, for

206 THE RIVAL EMPERORS AND POPES— DEATH OF RUDOLPHUS.

instead of supporting the Saxons and their king, Rudolphus, with'all
the power of his authority, in order that they might speedily gain the
victory, he recognised neither of the emperors, but only continued to
promise them that he would come to Germany and be himself the
judge between them. " Nothing, however, took place," says Bruno,
the historian of this war, " except that the pope's legates arrived
and waited on both parties in each camp, promising at one moment
to the Saxons, and in the next to Henry, the favour of the pope ;
whilst at the same time they conveyed away from both armies as
much gold as they could obtain — according to Roman custom."
The Saxons complained severely of this equivocal conduct of the
pope, and they wrote to him amongst the rest as follows : i( All our
misfortunes would never have arisen, or at least have been but trivial,
if upon having commenced your journey, you had turned neither to
the right nor to the left. Through obedience to our shepherd we
are exposed to the rapacity of the wolf, and if we are abandoned
now by that shepherd, we shall be more unfortunate and miserable
than all other people." This bold and reproachful address, however,
did not please the pope ; he returned no reply to it, nor did it
produce more determination in his conduct than the subsequent
desperate battle fought between the two armies at Melrichstadt, in
Thuringia, in the year 1078; and it was only after Rudolphus had
gained superior advantage in a second battle near Mlihlhausen in
1080, that he declared for him, and even sent him the crown,* at
the same time again excommunicating Henry. The latter, on the
other hand, assembled a council at Brixen, again deposed the pope,
and caused to be elected as pontiff against him the excommunicated
Archbishop Wibert of Ravenna, or Clement III. Thus there were
now two emperors and two popes. The victory, however, this time
inclined on Henry's side.

Meantime, in 1080, he suffered a severe loss in a third battle, on
the Elster, in Saxony, not far from Gera, through the valour of Otho
of Nordheim, who there displayed the genius of a truly great leader,
but, unfortunately, Rudolphus himself was fatally wounded in the
battle and died. His right hand was hewn off, and Godfrey, Duke
of Lower Lorraine, (Godefroy of Bouillon, the conqueror of the
holy tomb,) as related in some records, thrust the spear of the
imperial banner into his stomach. According to a later account, when
his hand was shown to him, King Rudolphus is said to have remarked :
" Behold, that is the hand with which I swore fidelity to King
Henry !" His fall was considered as a judgment of God, and Henry's
adherents increased in proportion ; so that he was now enabled to un-
dertake an expedition into Italy in order to make war upon his most
violent opponent. He marched, therefore, with his army and
came before Rome, which he besieged three times, in three suc-
cessive years, and reduced Pope Gregory to such extremity that he

* This crown bore the following inscription: — "Petra, dedit Petro, Petrus diadema
Eudolpho.

REVOLT OF HENRY'S SONS.— DEATH OF HENRY iv. 207

was obliged to shut himself up in the castle of St. Angelo, where he
was besieged by the Romans themselves; nevertheless, Gregory's spirit
was too great, and his will too inflexible, to humiliate himself, and
follow the example of Henry at Canossa. The emperor oifered him re-
conciliation if he would crown him, but he replied firmly : " He could
only communicate with him when he had given satisfaction to God
and the church." Henry was obliged, therefore, with his consort,
to be crowned by the rival pope, Clement, at Easter, 1084, after which
he retired from Italy. Pope Gregory, however, was still besieged by
the Romans, in the castle of St. Angelo, until he was freed by his friend,
Robert Guiscard, Duke of Normandy, who ruled in Lower Italy.
The latter subjected the city to plunder, and then took with him the
old and obstinate pope (who, even in misfortune, would not renounce
any of his views and pretensions) to Lower Italy, where he died the
following year at Salerno. His party chose Victor to succeed him ;
but he possessed neither the genius nor the force of Gregory, for
even Clement maintained the position he held, and continued to en-
joy the chief authority in Rome.

Favourable and tranquil times now seemed to dawn upon the Em-
peror Henry. The successor of Rudolphus of Swabia, Herman of
Luxembourg, whom the princes had elevated to be his second oppo-
nent, could not maintain himself against him, and spontaneously laid
down the dignity. A second, Egbert of Thuringia, died by assassi-
nation, and the Saxons, after Otho of Nordheim was dead, and the
irreconcilable bishop, Burkhard, of Halberstadt, had been killed by his
own people, (after he had tried, for the fourteenth time, to excite them
to revolt,) wearied with constant war, voluntarily submitted them-
selves to the emperor — now made milder by the many painful trials
he had undergone. But fate had reserved for him visitations still
more severe. For he was obliged to behold revolt against him, even
in the last years of his life, his eldest son, Conrad, and after his death
in 1101. his second son, Henry, was gained over by the papal party.
Both the successors of Gregory, Urban II. and Pascal II., renewed
the papal ban against Henry the father, and his son, now declared
that he could hold no community with an excommunicated person.
Nay, even when Henry, confiding in the apparent reconciliation
with his son, was about to attend the great diet of princes at Mentz,
the latter caused him, by cunning and treachery, to be disarmed,
deprived him of the imperial insignia, by means of the Archbishops
of Mentz and Cologne, and placed him a prisoner at Ingelheim,
where he forced him formally to abdicate the throne.

Henry, however, found an opportunity to escape from prison, and,
full of grief and trouble, he went to his friend, Otbert, the Bishop
of Liege. The latter, and Henry, Duke of Lorraine, assembled an
army for him, and beat back the degenerated son when crossing
the Meuse in pursuit of his father. But the Emperor died imme-
diately afterwards at Liege, oppressed at length by a turbulent and
vexatious career, in the year 1106. The number of battles he had

208 HENRY V. — THE INVESTITURE — HENRY IN ROME.

fought during his life — being no less than sixty-five — sufficiently
prove its agitated and anxious character.

The Bishop of Li£ge buried the emperor as beseemed; but to
such length did hatred go, that his body was again exhumed, con-
veyed to Spires, and there, for five years, it remained in a stone cof-
fin above the earth, in an isolated, unconsecrated chapel, until at last,
in the year 1111, Pope Pascal absolved him from excommunica-
tion. He was then interred with greater magnificence than any other
emperor before him.

In the first years of the reign of Henry V., the ducal race of the
Billungens, in Saxony, became extinct ; and he bestowed the duke-
dom upon Lothaire, Count of Supplingenburg.

Henry V., although he had previously revolted against his father,
now acted according to his principles ; and in defiance of the papal laws,
he still continued to impart the investiture with ring and staff, a right,
which, as he declared to the pope, his ancestors since Charles the
Great, had legitimately exercised for three centuries, under sixty-
three popes; and as early as the year 1100, he marched with a large
army of 30,000 horse-soldiers, besides infantry and servitors, for Italy,
in order to be crowned with the imperial crown, and in case of neces-
sity, to maintain his rights with the sword. He was a much more dan-
gerous enemy than his father, for, besides his physical force, he knew
likewise how to avail himself of cunning and hypocrisy. Pope Pascal
II. made a proposition to him, which would have ended the dispute for
ever could it have been executed. He caused the emperor to be apprised
that — "As he founded his claims to the investiture only upon the
donations which the emperors had presented to the church : the cities,
duchies, counties, coins, tolls, farms, and castles, he might take
them all back again ; the church would only retain the presents of
private individuals, and the tithes and sacrifices. For," said he, " it is
commanded by the divine law, as well as by the law of the church,
that the clergy shall not occupy themselves with temporal matters,
nay, not even appear at court, except for the purpose of saving an
oppressed person. But among you, however, in Germany, the
bishops and abbots are so mixed up with worldly affairs, that the
servants of the altar have become the servants of the court."

The pope might have been serious when making this proposition,
for he was extremely strict in his principles, and thought, perhaps,
in this manner to remedy the degeneration of the clergy, and to
bring them back to their original simple condition. But Henry's
penetrating mind foresaw well that the clergy themselves, particu-
larly those who, by their possessions, were raised to the rank of im-
perial princes, would never consent to make such a restitution ; therefore
he promised to dispense with the investiture, if the pope would com-
mand the bishops to give back to him, the emperor, all those posses-
sions which they had received from Charlemagne and his successors.
He then advanced to Rome, and the solemn treaty upon this affair
was to be ratified between him and the pope in a large assembly of the

POPE PASCAL II.— SANGUINARY BATTLE. 209

bishops, in the church of St. Peter, and then the coronation of the
emperor was to be celebrated. But when the above condition be-
came the subject of discussion, the most animated and violent oppo-
sition arose between the German and Italian bishops, and a long and
angry contest ensued. At length one of the German knights pre-
sent exclaimed: " Why do you all continue thus wranglino-V Let it
suffice for you to know that our lord, the emperor, is resolved to be
crowned as formerly were Charlemagne, Louis, and the other em-
perors !" The pope replied once more—" That he could not perform
the ceremony before King Henry had solemnly sworn to discontinue
the right of investiture." Henry then, by the counsel of his chan-
cellor, Adalbert, and Burchard, Bishop of Munster, summoned his
guards, and caused the pope, as well as the cardinals, to be made pri-
soners. The Romans, enraged and furious at this violent proceeding,
on the following day attacked the Germans, who were encamped
around the church of St. Peter. The king speedily mounted his
steed and boldly, but rashly, rushing into the midst of the enemy,
pierced five Romans with his own lance, but was himself wounded
and thrown from his horse. He was rescued by Count Otho, of
Milan, who hastily assisted him to mount his own horse, which he
gave up to the king, but for which service he was cut to pieces by the
Romans. A murderous combat was continued throughout the whole
day, until at length towards the evening the emperor cheered on his
troops to make a final charge, the result of which was that the Ro-
mans were completely put to flight, and were driven partly into the
Tiber, and partly across the bridges back into the city. The church
of St. Peter, together with all that portion of the city remained in the
hands of the Germans, but which the emperor abandoned, together
with all his prisoners, in order to scour the country around in the most
dreadful manner. The Romans, now reduced to extreme necessity,
urgently entreated the pope to conclude a treaty of peace with the
emperor. He had now been a prisoner sixty-one days ; and at length
yielded to their prayers. He, accordingly, agreed that the emperor
should retain the investiture with ring and staff, and promised, at the
same time, that he would never excommunicate him on account of
this proceeding. The treaty was signed by fourteen cardinals, and
in the emperor's name by fourteen princes, and Henry himself was,
on ihe 13th of April, 1111, solemnly crowned emperor by Pascal.

But scarcely were the Germans out of Rome when the whole
clergy severely censured the pope, and persuaded him to assemble a
council and excommunicate the agreement made between the king
and him, as having been extorted by viojence; for, according to^the
promise made by the pope, they durst not pronounce the ban against
the emperor himself. The dispute thus commenced anew, and con-
tinued, also, under the following popes, Gelasius II. and Calixtus II.,
ten years longer. As long as Pascal lived, the emperor was riot
himself visited with the general excommunication of the church ;
but the legates and many of the heads of the church excommunicated

p

210 HENRY AND ADALBERT—THE INVESTITURE DISPUTE.

him in their dioceses, and thereby gave occasion to fresh divisions
and dissensions in Germany; and a great portion of the imperial
princes accordingly refused obedience to the emperor and his laws.
Arbitrary feuds, robbery, devastation, and murder took the upper
hand. The most faithful allies of the emperor were his relations of
the race of Hohenstaufen, and he raised their house accordingly still
higher. When Frederick, the first duke to whom his father had
given the duchy of Swabia, died, he transferred it to his eldest son,
Frederick, and, shortly afterwards, he gave the duchy of Franconia
to his second son, Conrad.

His own sister Agnes, the widow of Duke Frederick, he married to
the Margrave, Leopold of Austria, of the house of Babenberg, the
father of that Leopold who was afterwards Duke of Bavaria, and
who also established on the place where Windobona then stood, the
foundation of the present city of Vienna. Thus in the south of
Germany the emperor gained the superiority, but in the north, on
the contrary, he could acquire no lasting power. Here the Arch-
bishop Adalbert of Mentz, who had been elevated by him (and who
was previously his own chancellor, and had advised him to imprison
the pope, Pascal, but had now become his uncompromising enemy),
worked most strenuously against him, and excited one prince after
the other to oppose him. Saxony, as in his father's time, became
now the centre of opposition to him likewise. The emperor ad-
vanced in the year 1115 with an army into Saxony, but in a battle,
not far from Eisleben, he was entirely defeated by the Saxon
princes. An expedition, which he soon afterwards made to Italy,
gave him for a short time the superiority in Rome, but brought
upon him in 1118 the general excommunication of the new pope,
Gelasius, which his successor Calixtus II. confirmed. The chief
object of dispute was still the right of investiture. Finally, in the
year 1122, both parties, tired of the long dispute, concluded a solemn
treaty at the diet of Worms, where both yielded to each other.
The emperor permitted the free choice of bishops, and gave up the
investiture with the ring and staff, as signs of spiritual jurisdiction,
but for which concession, on the other hand, the election was to take
place in the presence of the king, or of his plenipotentiary, and he
was to decide in doubtful cases, or in any disagreement of the electors,
and lastly confer fiefs of temporal possessions with his sceptre. The
spiritual consecration of this bishop elect was to take place in Ger-
many after the investiture with the sceptre ; but in Italy it was to
precede it.

After the records were publicly read, the legate of the pope gave
the emperor the kiss of peace, and afterwards the communion. The
joy expressed by the peacefully-minded members of the assembly
upon this reconciliation was great ; all separated as the records say,
with infinite pleasure.

The emperor reigned but a few years longer — in peace, it is true,
with the church, but not without constant dissensions in the Ger-
man empire. Amidst plans for strengthening the imperial power,

DEATH OF HENRY V.— PILGRIMAGES TO PALESTINE. 211

in order to oppose more firmly those disorders, lie died suddenly at
Utrecht in 1125, in the forty-fourth year of his age. He died
childless, ^and with him the Salian house became extinct. Most of
his hereditary possessions came to his nephews, the Dukes Fre-
derick and Conrad of Hohenstaufen.

Henry did not acquire the love of his contemporaries; he was des-
potic, severe, and often cruel. On the other hand, however, it is not
to be denied that he possessed many great qualities : activity, bold-
ness, perseverance in misfortune, and a noble-minded disposition.
The maintenance of the imperial dignity against every enemy ap-
peared to be with him the chief object of his life. He was en-
tombed at Spires in the grave of his ancestors.

Meantime, whilst the two emperors, Henry IV. and V., were en-
gaged in such warm and serious disputes with the pope, more than a
hundred thousand Christians, summoned by the voice of the church,
and excited by their own immediate enthusiasm, assembled together,
and abandoned their country in order to recover and secure from the
power of the infidels the tomb of the Saviour in that holy land,
wherein his divine footsteps remained imprinted.

Already, from the earliest ages, it had been a pious custom to make
pilgrimages to the holy land, to pray at its sacred places, and to
bathe in the waters of the Jordan, which had been consecrated by
the baptism of our Lord. Constantine the Great, the first Roman
emperor who embraced Christianity, as well as his mother, Helena,
issued orders for the purification and adornment of these holy places
in Palestine, and the restoration of the sacred tomb at the foot of
Mount Golgotha; and they erected over the tomb, at enormous out-
lay, a lofty dome, supported by beautiful pillars, with an adjoining
oratory, richly adorned. Eastward of the sepulchre Constantine built
a larger and still more magnificent temple. He celebrated the
thirtieth anniversary of his reign by the consecration of this temple,
on which occasion he was himself present; and the pious Helena,
although in extreme old age, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
at the same time, and built two churches, one at Bethlehem on the
spot where our Saviour was born, and the other on the top of the
Mount of Olives.

After this, pilgrimages to the Holy Land became more and more
frequent ; and even in the seventh century, when the land was under
the dominion of the Arabs, the pilgrims were not obstructed or dis-
turbed in their devotions. For the Arabs rejoiced in the advantage
they derived from the visits of so many strangers, and took equal
care not to molest either the Patriarch of Jerusalem, or the Christian
community. But when the Turks, a savage and barbarous people,
seized upon the country in the year 1073, complaint after complaint
reached Europe of the cruel treatment heaped upon the pious pil-
grims, and of the shameful profanation committed by the infidels on
the consecrated spots.

In the year 1094, a hermit, named Peter of Amiens, appeared

P2

212 PETER THE HERMIT — GREAT ASSEMBLY OF CRUSADERS.

before Pope Urban II. on his return from a pilgrimage to Palestine,
with, a letter of petition from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and gave a
most affecting description of the unheard-of sufferings experienced
by the Christians resident there, as well as by the pilgrims who
repaired thither. The pope praised and encouraged his zeal, and
sent him with letters of recommendation to all the princes in the
various Christian countries, in order to arouse the minds of the
people, and to prepare them for a great expedition. The enthu-
siastic language of the hermit, together with the fire which still
shone from his deep-sunk eye, and his wasted, meagre form, on
which was imprinted the sufferings he had endured, made the
deepest impression, and excited, wherever he went, equal enthusiasm
among all classes, from the highest to the lowest. After this, in the
year 1095, the pope convoked a great council of the church, at
Piacenza, in Italy, and another at Clermont, in France, at which
were present fourteen archbishops, two hundred and twenty-five
bishops, and four hundred abbots, besides numerous princes, nobles,
and knights. And when Peter the Hermit and the pope advanced
before them, and with words of overpowering fire and energy ap-
pealed to and called upon this assembly to come forward in deli-
verance of the sacred tomb, a thousand voices shouted aloud: "It
is the will of God ! It is the will of God !" When the pope and
the hermit had concluded their eloquent appeal, Ademar, Bishop of
Puy, was the first to press forward, and throwing himself at the
feet of the pontiff, begged from his holiness permission to proceed to
the holy war. Many of the clergy and laity followed his example,
and as a sign of their devotion to the pious undertaking, they sewed
a red cross on their right shoulder. The final day of meeting for
the great expedition was now fixed to take place on the 15th of
August, 1096.

Accordingly, innumerable multitudes assembled, including war-
riors from Italy, France, Lorraine, Flanders, and particularly from
Normandy, where the same love for distant and adventurous expe-
ditions, that had ever distinguished their heroic ancestors, was now
evinced by the present natives. Not only the knights and nobles,
but the whole people were set in motion, for as also in France the
labouring classes experienced the severest oppression, many of these
joined the expedition; because, according to the pope's decree, free-
dom was attained by dedication to the holy cross. Germany, which
was then at variance with the pope, and agitated by internal dis-
cord, was least affected by this first movement. With the com-
mencement of the spring, Peter the Hermit set out at the head of a
crowd of people, — whose impatience would not allow them to await
the appointed time — in company with their commander, a knight
named Walter the Pennyless; but their army was deficient in order
and discipline, and especially in a supply of proper weapons. Before
it reached Asia, the greater part, on account of the robberies com-
mitted, were cut off by the Bulgarians and Hungarians, and those who,

THE FIRST GRAND CRUSADE— GODEFROY OF BOUILLON. 213

under the guidance of Peter and Walter, reached and landed on the
first Turkish territory, were so badly received and cut up by the
Turks, that very few escaped; and Peter was forced to return home
with the remnant in a very melancholy plight. A second and still
ruder horde commenced its labours for the cross of Christ, by slaying
the Jews in the cities on the Rhine; in Mentz alone nine hundred
were in this way put to death. In this was evinced the universal
hatred of the people towards the Jews, who, by their usurious prac-
tices, and the immense wealth gained thereby, brought down upon
their heads this full measure of vengeance. This party, and several
other troops of crusaders, however, only reached Hungary.

So unpropitious a commencement might easily have crushed all
inclinations for further attempts, had not these first adventurers,
in great part, consisted of the lowest class of the people, and had
not their leaders been deficient in prudence, experience, and noble
zeal and energy. Accordingly, at the appointed time, in the middle
of summer, a grand army, well-appointed and disciplined, and burn-
ing with enthusiastic courage, was assembled, and on the 15th of
August, 1096, set out for its destination. No king was present as
leader of the assembled forces ; but, among the princes and nobles,
Godfrey, Duke of Lower Lorraine, called, from his ancestral seat,
Godefroy of Bouillon, stood proudly forward, conspicuous in every
heroic virtue ; having often fought in the armies of Henry IV. He
was appointed the leader of a body of 90,000 men, and directed his
course through Hungary and the dominions of the Greek emperor,
whilst other princes proceeded through Italy to Constantinople. He
conducted his army, with the most admirable order, through coun-
tries where so many of the crusaders had already perished, and
having joined the other princes, entered the Turkish territories in
the spring of 1097. The united forces of the crusaders consisted of
300,000 men, and with the women, children, and servants, made up
a body of half a million. Unfortunately, however, they already found
in the tribe of the Sedjoucidians, who first opposed their progress,
an enemy equally cunning and active, whilst they met with still
greater and more serious obstacles, in the deserts where the Turks
Lad destroyed every thing which might have procured them some
sustenance, and through which they had to pass from Asia Minor
to Palestine. Hunger and disease carried off every day numbers
of men and horses ; even the bravest began to waver, and had it
not been for the active genius and heroic firmness displayed by the
brave Godfrey, this expedition would perhaps have experienced the
same unfortunate result as those that preceded it.

At length, in May, 1099, the wearied feet of the remaining portion
of the army which had escaped so many dangers, trod the cherished
soil of that hallowed land, and on the 6th of July7> they beheld
from the top of a mountain near Emmaus, the object of their
ardent hopes and desires — Jerusalem ! One universal shout of joy
filled the air, vibrating in undying echoes from hill to hill, whilst

214 JERUSALEM CONQUERED — ELECTION OF EMPEROR.

tears of rapture burst from every eye. Their noble leader could
scarcely prevent them from rushing forwards at once, in their wild
enthusiasm, to storm the walls of the holy city. But Godfrey soon
perceived that the conquest of the place was not easy, and could not
be effected in a moment, especially as the garrison was much
stronger in numbers than the crusaders, of whom out of 300,000,
only 40,000 men were now left. At length every preparation being
made, and warlike machines with storming-ladders provided in spite
of every existing difficulty — for the country around was deficient in
wood — the first general assault was made on the 14th of July ; but
as the besieged defended themselves with the greatest bravery, this
first attempt failed. On the following day, however, the Christians
renewed the attack, and Godfrey was one of the first that mounted
the enemy's ramparts. His sword opened a path for the rest; the
walls were soon gained on all sides, the gates forced open, and the
whole army rushed into the city. A dreadful scene of massacre now
commenced ; in their first fury the victors put all to the sword, and
but few of the inhabitants escaped. When, however, reason at length
resumed its sway, the warriors, wiping the blood from their swords,
returned them to their scabbards, and then proceeded bareheaded and
barefooted, to prostrate themselves before the holy places ; and the
same city which just before had resounded in every part with the
wild shrieks of the slaughtered, was now filled with prayers and
hymns to the honour and glory of God.

The election of a sovereign for the new kingdom of Jerusalem,
became now an object of consideration, and Godefroy of Bouillon
appeared to all as the most worthy to rule; but he refused to
wear a crown of jewels on the spot where the Saviour of the world
had bled beneath one of thorns, and would only take the title of
" Defender of the Holy Sepulchre." As he died, however, in the
following year, his brother Baldwin assumed at once the title of
king.

Of the other crusades, which subsequently took place for the
maintenance of the Christian dominion in Palestine, and in which
the German emperors also took part, our history will speak here-
after.

After the extinction of the Franks, 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 em-
peror above themselves; but such a thought was foreign to their
minds, and they preferred 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 Mentz, and ten princes selected
from each of the four principal families, viz: Saxony, Franconia, Ba-
varia, and Swabia, assembled in Mentz for the first election. Three
princes only were proposed: Duke Frederick of Swabia, (the mighty

LOTHAIRE II.— 1125-1137— THE GHIBELINS AND GUELFS. 215

and courageous Hohenstaufen,) Lothaire of Saxony, and Leopold of
Austria. The two latter on their knees, and almost in tears, en-
treated 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 pretension indeed was too visibly expressed in his coun-
tenance. Adalbert, the Archbishop of Mentz, however, who was himself
not well inclined towards the Hohenstaufens, put to all three the ques-
tion : " Whether each was willing and ready to yield and swear alle-
giance to him that should be elected ?" The two former immediately
answered in the affirmative ; but Frederick hesitated and left the as-
sembly, 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 Lothaire of Saxony,
although against his own will.

But hostilities soon broke out between the two powerful Hohen-
staufen 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 Lothaire, in order
to strengthen his party, had recourse to means which produced agita-
tion 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 addi-
tion to all this his consort now brought him the entire lands of Sup-
plinburg, Nordheim, and old Brunswick. Thus the foundation for the
subsequent jealousy so destructive to Germany and Italy, between the
Guelfs and Hohenstaufens — the latter (styled by the Italians Ghibel-
lini,) according to their castle, Veibling on the Rems, being called
Veiblingers — was laid at this period, and the faction-names of
the Guelfs and Ghibelins henceforward continued for centuries
afterwards to resound from Mount Etna and Vesuvius to the coasts
of the North and East Sea. Lothaire's reign became so shaken
and troubled, partly by the dispute of the Hohenstaufens 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 cha-
racter, were brought into effect.

216 DEATH OF LOTHAIRE II. — CONRAD III.

During his second and rather successful campaign in Italy, in the
year 1137, Lothaire was suddenly seized with 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 Kb'nigslutter, in
Saxony, founded by himself.

However much the two princely houses of the Guelfs and
Ghibelins may, from this time, have continued to attract and com-
mand attention, there was still a third, which, under this reign, ex-
cited not less interest. Lothaire had given the Margraviate of North-
Saxony, which then comprised the present Altmark, to Albert the
Bear, of the house of Anhalt, one of the most distinguished princes
of his time. He conquered from the Vandals the middle marches,
as well as those on the Uker and Prignitz, together with the town
of Brandenburg ; and finally, in order to excite in these countries the
desired industry, he procured from Flanders a great number of agri-
cultural labourers. He may likewise be regarded as the founder of
the Brandenburg territory; and it was also under his rule that, about
the middle of the twelfth century, the name of Berlin appeared for
the first time, which place, therefore, dates its origin from the
same period that Leopold of Austria laid the foundation of Vienna.

CHAPTER IX.

THE SWABIAN OR HOHENSTAUFEN HOUSE, 1138 — 1254.

Conrad III., 1138-1152— The Guelfs and Ghibelins— Weinsberg— The Faithful
Wives — Conrad's Crusade — Disastrous Results — His Death, 1152 — Frederick I. or
Barbarossa, 1152-1190 — His noble Character and distinguished Qualities — Ex-
tends his Dominions — The Cities of Lombardy and Milan — Pavia — Pope Adrian
IV.— The Emperor's Homage — Otho of Wittelsbach — Dispute between the Pope
and the Emperor — Milan taken and razed — The Confederation of the Lombar-
dian Towns — The Battle of Lignano— Frederick defeated — Pope Alexander and
Frederick — Venice — Henry the Lion of Brunswick — His Kise and Fall — Recon-
ciliation and Peace — Lombardy — Frederick's Crusade and Death in Palestine, 1190.

THE election even this time did not fall upon him who considered
he had the greatest right to the crown, namely, the son-in-law of
Lothaire, the powerful Henry (the Proud) of Bavaiia and Saxony,
although he had possession of the jewels of the crown; for the
princes, repulsed by his pride, elected on the 22d of February,
1138, the Kohenstaufen duke, Conrad of Franconia, whom mis-
fortune had made wise, and to whom his elder brother, Frederick, who
contested with Lothaire for the crown, willingly gave up now the
precedence. Henry the Proud would not bend before the new em-
peror, whereupon he was declared an outlaw, his two duchies taken
from him, and Bavaria given to the margrave, Leopold of Austria,
the half-brother of the Emperor Conrad by the maternal side, and

THE GUELFS AND GHIBELINS— WEINSBERG. 217

Saxony to Albert the Bear, of Brandenburg. Henry died almost
immediately afterwards, and left a son ten years of age, who be-
came afterwards so celebrated under the title of Henry the Lion, to
whom Albert, at the desire of the emperor, formally resigned
the duchy of Saxony, which he had not been able to conquer (so
faithful did the Saxons remain attached to the Guelfic house) ; and
in return he was allowed to possess his hereditary estates in that
country as a princely margraviate, independent of the duchy.

In Bavaria also, Count Guelf, of Altorf, the brother of Henry the"^
Proud, still contended against the house of Austria, and not unsuc-
cessfully. But when, in the year 1 140, he ventured to march against
the emperor, near Weinsberg, he was vanquished in the battle. It
was in this action that the names uGuelfs and Ghibelins" were first
heard as party names, for the battle-cry of the troops on one side
was, " Strike for the Guelfs," and of those on the other, " Strike for
the Ghibelins." After the battle, the long besieged city of Weinsberg
was obliged to yield. The emperor, irritated at its long resistance,
had resolved to destroy it with fire and sword. He, however, per-
mitted the females of the city previously to retire, and to carry with
them their dearest jewels. And behold, when the day dawned, and
the gates were opened, the women advanced in long rows, and the
married bore eacn upon her back her husband, and the others each
their dearest relative. This affecting scene so moved the emperor, i
that he not only spared the men, but also the whole city.*

The Emperor Conrad was now about to proceed to Italy, to re-
confirm and establish there the imperial dignity, when intelligence
arrived in Europe that the unbelievers threatened the Holy Land,
and had already conquered and destroyed the fortified city of Edessa,
a frontier fortress ; upon which, Pope Eugene III. sent letters of exhor-
tation to all the European kings and princes, that they might assist the
Christians in the east ; and a pious and zealous man, the holy Abbot Ber-
nard of Clairvaux, inFrance, journeyed throughout Europe, preaching
so powerfully, that many thousands took the cross. And when he ad-
dressed Louis VII. of France, the multitude of those who took the cross
was so great, that St. Bernard (he being afterwards canonised), was
obliged to cut up his own clothes to make crosses of them, and both the
king and his consort Eleanor resolved upon the expedition. St. Bernard
now turned his attention to Germany, and tried to stimulate the Em-
peror Conrad, who long refused, and avoided the abbot, by proceeding
from Frankfort to Spires, in order that he might take in to consideration
how much still remained to be put in order in his own empire. But
St. Bernard would not quit him ; he followed him to Spires, and there it
was that Conrad, in the middle of the abbot's address, suddenly arose,
and, with tearful eyes, exclaimed, " I acknowledge, holy father, the
great goodness that God has shown me, and will no longer refuse, but
am ready to serve him ; for I feel urged to this expedition by Himself."

* This circumstance is recorded by a contemporary of that period in the chronicle
Of St. Pantaleonis.

218 CONRAD IN PALESTINE— HIS DEATH— FREDERICK I.

St. Bernard immediately decorated Mm with the cross, and presented
him with the holy banner lying upon the altar. Frederick, Conrad's
nephew, who became afterwards the first emperor of that name, and
even the old Duke Guelf, who had become reconciled with the em-
peror, both took the cross likewise, and a great army was assembled,
which numbered 70,000 warriors alone. But in all human enterprises,
a splendid commencement will not always secure a successful issue,
and so, in this great expedition, nothing but misfortune followed.
In the year 1147, whilst the army was encamped near Constanti-
nople, on the banks of a river, in order to refresh themselves from the
fatigues of the march, and to celebrate the festival of the birth of St.
Mary, the waters so swelled in the night by a sudden rain, that the
whole camp became overflowed, and great numbers of men and horses
were drowned. And again, when the army was transported across
the straits to Asia, treacherous guides led it into places which the
Turks had previously devastated; the provisions they carried with
them were soon consumed, and the cities which the expedition
passed closed their gates against them. Many then entreated those
upon the walls for bread, and showed their gold, which the people
first let down ropes to possess themselves of, giving in return only
as much as they pleased, frequently nothing at all, or only a little
meal mixed with lime. Many thousands, consequently, died of
hunger and disease, and still more were destroyed by the cimeters
of the Turkish horsemen, who allowed the Germans no repose,
either by night or day, never forming for a regular engagement
with them, which the harassed troops so heartily desired. Thus, after
a thousand dangers, Conrad arrived in the Holy Land with only
the tenth part of his army. He entered Jerusalem and visited the
holy spot of the cross, where he paid his worship ; but these were
the whole fruits of this crusade. The siege of Damascus was unsuc-
cessful, and the French army was equally unfortunate. Conrad re-
turned after an absence of two years, and died shortly afterwards,
In the year 1152, at Bamberg. He was a valiant, high-minded, and
noble-hearted man, and was universally esteemed. He recommended
as his successor, not his own young son, Frederick, whose age would
not as yet allow him to rule the nation, but his valiant nephew,
Frederick Barbarossa, Duke of Swabia, who had made the crusade
with him, and who was unanimously elected at Frankfort.

Frederick I. was one of the most powerful of all the German
emperors; high-minded, valiant,with a will firm as iron, and of
a stern, energetic character. His very form displayed his lofty
mind. His figure was manly and powerful; his limbs well formed and
strong, auburn locks covered his high forehead, and beneath them
sparkled his sharp and piercing eyes. His chin, according to the an-
cient custom, was covered with his beard, which being of a bright yel-
low, he thence derived his surname of Barbarossa. A youthful rud-
diness of complexion and natural affability gave to his countenance that
cheerful expression which attracts all hearts; but his firm, proud step,

HIS NOBLE QUALITIES— HENRY THE LION. 219

and the whole bearing of his presence, displayed the prince bom to
rule and command.

Already, even as a youth, he had performed deeds which an-
nounced the great man; besides which, he belonged to the Ghibe-
lins on the paternal, and to the Guelfs on the maternal side. It
was hoped that he would cause the rivalship of both houses to be
forgotten; and, indeed, one of his first acts in Germany was in fa-
vour of the Guelfic house. For, in the year 1154, he re-granted
the duchy of Bavaria to Henry the Lion, the son of Henry the
Proud, so that the duke again possessed Saxony and Bavaria in con-
junction, by which means he became the most powerful prince in Ger-
many. The Margrave Henry, called Jasomirgoth, of Austria, who,
after his brother Leopold's death, had become Duke of Bavaria, re-
fused, indeed, to give up the country; but in 1156, Frederick in-
duced him to renounce it, and compensated him by giving him the
old Bavarian Margraviate of Austria, and by making it independent
of Bavaria, and raising it to a duchy, he presented him with great
rights and privileges. The duchy was to be hereditary, not only
in the male, but also in the female line, and the duke was to rank
with the first imperial nobles.* He was only required to be invested
in his own land, and to participate in the expeditions against the
Hungarians, whilst, without his sanction, no foreign laws were avail-
able in Austria, &c. The reconciliation of the first princely houses
in Germany caused universal satisfaction ; and Frederick depended
now more firmly than ever upon the assistance of the friend of his
youth, Henry the Lion, for the execution of his enterprises. In the
other affairs of the empire also, the new emperor exerted himself
with vigour; he destroyed the castles of the freebooter-knights,
whom he condemned to death ; and proved himself to be, by all his
acts, a protector of general order, and of the rights of the German peo-
ple. A contemporary historian says, therefore, of him: "It appeared
as if he gave to heaven and earth a new and more peaceful form."

The countries bordering upon Germany also presented him with
an opportunity to give to the imperial name additional lustre. In
his first diet, at Merseburg, in 1152, he decided the dispute of the
two Danish princes, Sven and Knud, respecting the kingdom ^ of
Denmark. Knud received Zealand; but Sven the crown, which
Frederick himself placed upon his head ,and for which the Danish
king swore allegiance to him. This also King Boleslaus, of Poland,
was obliged to renew, and whom the emperor forced thereto by an
effective campaign in Silesia. He gave to Duke Wladislas, of Bo-
hemia, on account of his faithful adherence in this Polish campaign,
the title of king, such titles the emperor alone being able to ^impart.
King Geisa, of Hungary, renewed his allegiance, and fulfilled his duties
as vassal in Frederick's second Italian expedition. And finally, in

* "He shall rank equal with the ancient Archiducibus," stands recorded'in the ori-
ginal statute. Thence, from this expression, originated the subsequent title of Arch-
duke of Austria. This was first adopted by Frederick III in the year 1453.

220 EXTENDS HIS DOMINION — ITALY — LOMBARD!' — MILAN.

Burgundy, which had become almost estranged from the Germanic
empire, Frederick re-established his influence by his own mar-
riage with Beatrice, the heiress of High Burgundy, whereby his
house acquired, at the same time, this portion of the kingdom of
Burgundy. All the Burgundian nobles did homage to the em-
peror, and thus the ancient imperial dignity acquired additional
splendour under the powerful monarch who now ruled in Germany.

It was only in Italy, the ancient seat of the dominion of the
world, that the authority of the emperor had declined; and Frede-
rick was not able to restore it entirely, even by the most glo-
rious battles. The large towns in this country, since the weak
government of Henry IV., had become overbearing, and submitted
with great repugnance to the obedience due towards their superior
feudal sovereign; above all the rest, the opulent city of Milan, the
capital of Lombardy, was the most arrogant and independent. Milan,
since the commencement of the 12th century, had, by the vigour and
energy of its inhabitants, made such rapid progress, that one might
almost have believed that ancient Rome had transplanted its spirit
thither. It subjected, by degrees, several of the neighbouring cities,
especially Lodi and Como ; and, at the same time, affected to treat the
commands of the emperor with such contempt, that an imperial
edict which Frederick issued in the year 1153, had even its seal torn
off, and was trampled under foot. Upon this, the emperor, in
1154, crossed the Alps, and, according to the ancient custom of the
Longobardian kings, held his first great diet in the Roncalian plains,
on the banks of the river Po ; and now that complaints from many
other places were urged against the oppression of this proud city,
which even refused to meet or reply to them, his anger became ex-
cited, and he resolved to punish it severely. He did not venture
this time, to besiege it, as he was not prepared for such an important
undertaking; but he destroyed several of its adjacent castles and
forts, and conquered its allied cities, Asti and Tortona.

At Pavia he caused himself to be crowned King of Lombardy,
and then rapidly advanced towards Rome. Here dissension existed
between the pope and the people, who, in a revolutionary tumult,
and under the guidance of a bold monk, Arnold of Brescia, wished
to restore the ancient Roman republic. Neither of the parties knew
in whose favour the emperor advanced. Pope Adrian IV. fled to
a well-fortified castle called Castellana, but soon returned to the
German camp, the emperor having promised him safety. Upon his
arrival, Adrian (who had originally wandered from England, his
native country, as a beggar boy, and had eventually raised him-
self to the papacy), expected that Frederick would hold his stir-
rup, as his predecessors had always done; as, however, he did
not do it, the cardinals accompanying the pope fled hastily back
to Castellana, for they regarded this omission as a bad omen of the
imperial sentiments. Adrian, however, descended from his mule,
and pkced himself upon the seat prepared for him ; and now Frede-

ADRIAN IV. AND FREDERICK — OTHO OF WITTELSBACH. 221

rick cast himself before him, and kissed his feet. The pope now
acquired fresh courage, and charged the emperor with the omission
of the accustomed mark of deference ; and the latter, who sought his
glory in greater things, willingly yielded in this trifling affair, upon his
princes assuring him that the Emperor Lothaire had shown a similar
sign of respect to Pope Innocent II. The ceremony of dismounting
was consequently repeated on the following day, when the emperor met
the pope and held his stirrup — thus it is related by the records of
Rome. German writers, on the contrary — namely, Otho of Freis-
singen, and Helmold, inform us that the emperor, upon the first
descending of the pope, had held the stirrup, but, from oversight, had
seized the left instead of the right, and that the pope, in consequence,
had refused him the kiss of peace. Upon the excuse of the emperor,
that he had erred through ignorance, as he had not applied much
attention to stirrup-holding, the pope replied: "If the emperor
neglects trifles from ignorance, how will he show attention in im-
portant affairs ?'' The emperor, however, at the entreaty of the
princes, yielded, and they both embraced each other as friends.

After this, Frederick went to Rome, and was crowned emperor
in St. Peter's church, on the 18th of June, 1155. Meantime, a
dispute ensued with the Romans, who would yield neither to the
pope or the emperor; the force of arms, however, soon reduced
them to tranquillity.

In spite of these continual contests, however, with the perfidious
and treacherous Italians, Frederick returned at length to Germany.
But disputes speedily arose between him* and the pope himself, who,
confiding in the assistance of the Norman king, William of Naples and
Sicily, wrote to the emperor a letter full of reproaches, and his
legate, Cardinal Roland (afterwards Pope Alexander III.), uttered
even in the assembly of the German princes, the arrogant words :
" From whom, then, has the emperor the empire, if not from the
pope?" The irritated Count Palatine, Otho of Wittelsbach, whose
office it was to bear the naked sword before the emperor, upon hear-
ing this raised the weapon, and was about to sunder the legate's head,
for he considered the honour of the German princes deeply wounded
by this language. Frederick, however, withheld him from this des-
perate act of indignation ; but he commanded the ambassador to return
early on the following morning to Rome. The German bishops, in
reply to the reproaches of the pope, stated, that they had given them-
selves every possible trouble to mediate, but that the emperor had re-
plied to them, firmly and gravely, thus: " There are two regulations,
according to which our empire must be ruled — the laws of the em-
perors, and the good customs of our forefathers; these limits we will
not, nor can we transgress. To our father, the pope, we will wil-
lingly pay all the homage we owe him; but our imperial crown
is independent, and we ascribe its possession to divine goodness
only." They then earnestly entreated the holy father no longer to
excite the anger of their lord the emperor.

222 THE MILANESE SUBJECTED — THEY REVOLT AGAIN.

The dispute between the emperor and the pope, after a short
reconciliation, was, nevertheless, resumed, and lasted until the death,
of Adrian, in 1159. Thenceforward, affairs became still more en-
tangled, for the imperial party chose Victor III., and the opposite
party Alexander III., the same who, as cardinal legate, had uttered
such bold words in the imperial assembly. Each pope excommuni-
cated the other, and sought to strengthen each other's party by all
possible means.

The Emperor Frederick, as early as the year 1158, had already
prepared another more powerful expedition against Italy; the Mi-
lanese having in the preceding year, reduced to ashes the city of Lodi,
which had yielded allegiance to the emperor. All the princes of Ger-
many, as well as the king of Hungary and the newly-elected King of
Bohemia, performed feudal service ; by which means such an army was
collected as no emperor had previously led into Italy : consisting of
100,000 infantry and 15,000 cavalry. They broke up their camp, near
Augsburg at Whitsuntide, and crossed the Alps. Almost all the cities
of Northern Italy were humbled at the view of such a powerful force,
and allied themselves with the emperor ; but the rebellious city of Milan.
was declared outlawed, and, after a short siege, was obliged to sub-
mit to the irritated ruler. The Milanese appeared now before him,
in humble supplication, forming a procession unusual to the Germans.
First came both ecclesiastics and laymen barefooted, and dressed in
tattered garments, the former holding up crosses in the air; then fol-
io wed the consuls and patricians with swords hanging from their necks,
and the rest with cords round their throats; and thus humbly they fell at
the feet of the emperor. As he therefore only desired their submission,
he pardoned them, saying: " You must now acknowledge that it is
easier to conquer by obedience than with arms." Upon which, he
caused them to swear allegiance, and to promise that they would not
interrupt the freedom of the smaller cities ; and taking with him three
hundred hostages, he placed the imperial eagle upon the spire of the
cathedral.

But their humility was only feigned, and the effect of necessity;
lasting only so long as the power of the emperor terrified them.
For when, according to the imperial prerogative, he wished, in the
following year, to appoint the civil functionaries, the citizens attacked
Kaynald, his chancellor, the count palatine, Otho, and the other
ambassadors, with so much fury that they could scarcely save their
lives. Upon being summoned, and an explanation demanded, they
pleaded nothing but empty excuses ; and at the second and third
summons they end not appear at all. Upon which the emperor renewed
the imperial edict of outlawry against Milan, and vowed, in his
wrath, never to replace the crown upon his head until he had de-
stroyed the arrogant city.

The war recommenced with all the bitter exasperation of that pe-
riod. The Milanese sought even their salvation — such at least was
the universal charge — in the assassination of the powerful emperor

I

FREDERICK'S LIFE ATTEMPTED— MILAX RAZED. 223

who thus menaced them. It is quite certain that a man of gigantic
strength suddenly attacked the emperorwhilst performing his morning
devotions in a beautiful and solitary spot upon the Ada, and strove
to throw him into the river. In the struggle both fell to the earth,
and, upon the call of the emperor, his attendants rushed forward,
and the assassin was himself cast into the stream. Shortly after this
an old mis-shapen, squinting man glided into the camp with poisoned
wares, the very touch of which was said to be mortal. The emperor
being fortunately already warned, caused him to be seized and exe-
cuted. His army, meanwhile, had become much strengthened, and
with it he first besieged, in 1160, the city of Cremona, which was
in alliance with Milan, and had obstinately refused submission ; the
inhabitants defended themselves for seven months with unexampled
obstinacy, when they were at length obliged to yield. The city was
razed to the ground, and the inhabitants were obliged to wander to
other places.

It was only after a three years' siege, and after much blood had
been spilt on both sides, that Frederick overcame the strong city
of Milan. His patience was exhausted; the pardon he had once
granted having only made the rash citizens more arrogant, he re-
solved therefore, by a severe punishment, to destroy their spirit of
resistance. During three days, the 1st, 3d, and 6th of March,
the consuls and chief men of the city, in increasing numbers, ad-
vanced to the imperial camp before Lodi, and on the third day, the
whole people with them ; they divided themselves into a hundred
sections, and repeated thrice before that city, which had been so
despised and ill-treated by them, the whole spectacle of their humili-
ation ; with crosses, swords, and ropes hanging about the neck, and
barefooted. More than a hundred banners of the city were, up^on the
third day, laid down before the imperial throne, and, lastly, their chief
banner, the CAROCIUM,* was drawn forward. Its lofty frame or
tree, with its iron leaves, was bowed down before the emperor as a sign
of the deepest humiliation ; the princes and bishops, seated near him,
sprang up, in dread of being killed by the weighty mass, but Frederick
remained unmoved and tore the fringe of the banner down. The whole
of the people then cast themselves to the ground, with loud wailings,
and implored mercy. The consuls and grandees of the city, and even
the nobles of the emperor's suite, all supplicated his pardon for the
capital, but the emperor remained inexorable, and desired his chan-
cellor, Raynald, to read the law, whereby the city surrendered itself
at discretion. He then said : " According to that law you have all me-
rited death, but I will grant you your lives. As regards the fate of the
city itself, I will so order it, that in future you shall be prevented from

* Upon a car strengthened with iron, a massive iron tree with iron leaves was
fixed; a large cross adorned the top of the tree, in front of which was represented the
holy Ambrosius, Milan's tutelary saint. The colour of the car was red, and the
eight oxen which drew it, were also covered with red drapery. Before it was
drawn away, high mass was celebrated on the car; the whole being an imitation of
the ark of the Israelites.

224 THE LOMBARDIAN CONFEDERATION.

committing similar crimes therein." Upon which he retired to Pavia,
to decide upon the fate of Milan in a large assembly of German and
Italian bishops, lords, and deputies from the various other cities.

The sentence was, " that Milan should be levelled with the ground,
and the inhabitants remove, within eight days, to four of their vil-
lages, two miles from each other, where they should live under the
surveillance of the imperial functionaries." The city of Milan in its
prosperity and arrogance, had so deeply injured many other cities:
Cosmo, Lodi, Cremona, Pavia, Verrelli, Novarra, and others, that they
all begged, as an especial favour, that they might themselves pull
down the walls of the proud capital ; so that, by the impulse of their
hatred and revenge, they accomplished within six days what hired
workmen would scarcely have executed in so many months : for, al-
though the houses and churches were not pulled down, as later exagge-
rated records report, yet, the powerful walls and forts of the city were
destroyed, the ditches filled up, and this once wealthy and splendid
city, after the expulsion of the moaning inhabitants, became one dread-
ful scene of waste and desolation.* The emperor then, at a splendid ban-
quet at Pavia, in the Easter festival, replaced his crown upon his head.

But Frederick was doomed to show to the world, by his example,
that a change of fortune must ever produce its influence upon the
most powerful monarchs, and that no force can check it but wisdom
and moderation. The punishment of the city of Milan had been
too severe, and if this may even be excused perhaps by the rude-
ness and strong passions of that period, still Frederick erred in not
having treated that and the other cities of the north of Italy with
mildness, and according to the laws of justice.

His deputies severely oppressed the country, and although, per-
haps, without his concurrence, yet he did not sufficiently attend to
the complaints which were made to him. At the same time he con-
tinued the contest with the still-increasing party of Pope Alexander,
and acted wrong in not taking advantage of the death of his own
Pope, Victor III., to reconcile himself with the former, instead of con-
firming the election of another rival pope, Pascal III. Frederick did
not consider that his opponents, by their united inspiration, the one
for civil freedom and the other for their church-party, derived uncon-
querable power. The cities of Lombardy allied themselves still more
closely together, and even those which had previously been the enemies
of the Milanese became disinclined towards the emperor; for, now that
their former oppressors were cast to the ground, they compassionated
them. But the most dangerous enemy of the emperor was the bold and
sagacious Pope Alexander, who had succeeded, after a two years' exile
in France, to gain over the Romans to his side ; and had now returned
to his metropolis. Consequently, Frederick, after he had collected a
new army, and had settled the most urgent affairs in Northern Italy,

* During this devastation of Milan, many relics were removed from the deserted
churches. Among the rest, the Archbishop Raynald conveyed the bones of the three
kings with great solemnity across the Alps to the city of Cologne, and the King of
Bohemia carried with him the candlesticks of the temple of Jerusalem.

THE IMPERIAL ARMY — MILAN RESTORED. 225

marched, in 1167, to Rome. The Romans were speedily beaten out
of the field, and the city itself besieged. It was especially around
the churches that the severest conflict took place, for they were de-
fended like fortresses; and it was in the heat of combat that the
Germans, having cast torches into the church of St. Mary, situated
close to St. Peter's, the flames reached the latter edifice, which, in
the general confusion, was taken possession of by the Swabian duke,
Frederick. Pope Alexander, seeing that the Romans commenced
murmuring at his obstinacy, fled secretly from the city, in the dress
of a pilgrim. He was seen on the third day near a fountain, not far
from Circello, whence he escaped to Benevento.

Frederick, however, together with his consort, was crowned by
his pope, Pascal, on the first of August, 1167, in the metropolitan
church of Christendom. But, immediately afterwards, an epidemic
disease broke out among the Germans, of so terrific a nature that a
great portion of the army and a multitude of the nobles and chief men
were carried off. It wTas on a Wednesday, in August, that it first ap-
peared ; the heat had long been excessive and overpowering ; on the
morning of that day the sun was bright, after which rain suddenly fell,
and a glowing heat succeeded; whence the vapour raised caused the
sickness. Men died so suddenly, that often those who were perfectly
well in the morning fell dead on the same day while walking in the
street, and many, whilst even burying the dead, fell suddenly with
them into the grave. The Archbishop Raynald, of Cologne, the
emperor's able chancellor, four bishops, and eight dukes, and
among these the emperor's cousin, Frederick of Rothenberg, and
Guelf, the younger; besides many thousands of noble counts and
lords who were numbered among the dead. The people everywhere
exclaimed, " that this was a judgment of God for burning St.
Peter's Church ! " The emperor was obliged to retire to Pavia, and,
in the following spring, he was forced, with only a few companions,
to leave Italy like a fugitive, secretly and disguised.

The cities, however, now raised their heads. They had already, in
that very year, 1167, and almost under the very eyes of the emperor,
whilst he lay before Rome, concluded a formal alliance with each
other ; they even ventured to re-conduct the Milanese back to their
ancient city. The ditches, walls, and towers were speedily restored,
and every one laboured to re-construct his habitation. For the
capital had been so large and strong that, in its destruction, por-
tions of the walls, most of the houses, and almost all the churches
had remained standing. Thus, as Athens once, after its destruc-
tion by the Persians, so, also, Milan now raised itself by the aid of
the other cities, more extensive and powerful than before. After
this was done, the Lombard confederation built a new city, as an im-
pregnable fortress against the emperor, in a beautiful and fertile spot
surrounded by three rivers and deep marshes, and called it, . in
defiance of the emperor, and in honour of their pope, Alexandria.
In the space of a year this city became inhabited, and garrisoned by

Q

226 ALEXANDRIA — BESIEGED BY FREDERICK.

15,000 warriors. The most powerful cities participated in the Lom-
bard confederation : Venice, Milan, Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Fer-
rara, Brescia, Cremona, Placenza, Parma, Modena, Bologna, &c.

Frederick, meanwhile, was not inactive in Germany; he remained
there stationary, nearly seven years ; established more firmly the im-
perial dignity with all the strength of his high mind ; regulated and ad-
justed internal disturbances, and, in particular, the great dispute in the
north of Germany between Henry the Lion and his adversaries — upon
which subject we shall enlarge as we proceed — and at the same time
augmented the power of his house by various just and legitimate acqui-
sitions for his five sons, still very young. Henry, the eldest, although,
only 15 years of age, was elected King of the Romans; Frederick
received the duchy of Swabia and the lands of Guelf, the elder, who
had bequeathed them, after the death of his only son, to the em-
peror, an example followed by many other counts and nobles in
Swabia. Conrad, the third son, inherited the lands of the Duke of
Rothenberg, who died childless. To the fourth son, Otho, Frede-
rick gave the vice-regency of Burgundy and Aries ; and to the young-
est, Phillip, who still lay in the cradle, he presented several confis-
cated crown possessions and clerical feods. Thus the race of the
Hohenstaufens stood firmly rooted like a vigorous and richly -branched
tree of majestic oak.

But now Frederick again directed his attention to that still revolu-
tionary country, Italy. The German princes were now, it is true,
less easily induced to proceed to that intractable unhealthy climate,
but, by his persuasive eloquence and unwearied activity, he at length,
succeeded in again collecting an army, and appeared, in the autumn
of 1174, for the fifth time, in that land. He besieged the new
city of Alexandria, which had been built and fortified in order to
check his course ; and he was forced to remain seven months before
it, during which his army suffered greatly in the winter from sick-
ness and fatigue, in their camp, pitched upon marshy ground.
Meanwhile the Lombard cities had collected an army to relieve the
besieged, and which advanced at Easter, in 1175. fully prepared and
equipped. The emperor resolved upon making a last attack against
the place, and caused it to be stormed on the Thursday before Easter.
The Germans, by means of a subterraneous passage, succeeded in
advancing into the very heart of the city, as far as the middle of the
market place. Nevertheless the valiant garrison did not lose courage,
and, to their great good fortune, this subterraneous passage fell in.
Those of their enemy, who had thus entered the city, were over-
powered, and the rest who were storming from without were beaten
back. The emperor was therefore obliged to raise the siege, and to
seek so hastily a different position, that he was forced to set fire to
his own encampment.

It was then agreed, that a meeting of the belligerent parties
should take place at Pavia, in order to conclude a treaty. The cardi-
nal of Ostia, who appeared in the name of the pope, would not

THE BATTLE OF LIGNANO — FREDERICK DEFEATED. 227

greet the emperor on account of the excommunication, but he evinced
to him hisjegret, whilst^he expressed his admiration of Frederick's
great qualities. ^ Both sides were, however, but little inclined to
yield in any portion of their demands. What tended much to increase
the courage of the Lombards was, that precisely at this moment,
Henry ^ the Lion refused the emperor that assistance, upon which
Frederick had so much relied. The treaties were, consequently,
broken off, and the Lombards, taking advantage of this favourable
moment, advanced, under the protection of the grand and sacred
banner of St. Ambrose, against the emperor, and fought the deci-
sive battle of Lignano, on the 29th of May, 1176. Their force was
far superior in numbers, and occupied a favourable position; whilst
on one side they were flanked by a ditch which made all flight im-
possible. When they saw that the emperor had accepted their chal-
lenge, and now advanced against them, they immediately formed
their line of battle. The Carocium of the Milanese, was placed in
their centre, surrounded by 300 youths who had sworn to defend it
in life unto death, besides a body of 900 picked cavalry, styled the
phalanx of death, who had, singly and collectively, likewise taken the
oath of imolation. The battle commenced, and one of the Lombard
wings beginning very soon to waver, the order of the Milanese ranks
became confused. The emperor pressed directly upon the centre, to
gain the Carocium, and, as now its band of defenders likewise fal-
tered, the courage of the Germans increased, and at length they con-
quered the sacred banner, and tore down all its decorations. But at
this moment the death-squadron recovered themselves, and again re-
turned to the charge. Mortally wounded, the emperor's standard-
bearer now sank at his side, and the imperial banner with him; but
the brave Frederick, equipped in his splendid suit of armour, still
fought on at the head of his warriors. Suddenly, however, he was
seen to fall from his charger, and vanish from the view of the army.
Terror and confusion now seized upon all, and Frederick's troops suf-
ferred an entire overthrow; he himself escaped with a few faithful
friends in the wild tumult, and under the protection of the night.
Almost all the citizens of Como, his allies, embittered by hatred and
revenge against the Milanese on account of their ancient wars, fell
a sacrifice and were left dead upon the field. For two whole days
the emperor was mourned as slain, and even his consort put on a
widow's robes; when, to the unexpected joy of all, he again ap-
peared in Pavia.

After this the Emperor wished and proposed a peace; when the
Pope, Alexander, said in reply: " That nothing was more desirable
to him than to obtain peace from the greatest hero of Christendom ;
he entreated only, that the Lombards might participate in it, and
he himself would proceed to that country." The two great ^opponents
had now learnt mutually to esteem each other, and Frederick having
expressed a wish for an interview with the pope, the latter proceeded at
once to Venice. His j ourney thither resembled a triumphal procession,

Q 2

228 POPE ALEXANDER AND FREDERICK— VENICE.

for lie was treated as the saviour of liberty, and as the father of the
Italian free-states. Frederick also came there in July, 1177, and,
according to an ancient historian: " It pleased God so to guide his
heart that he suddenly subjected the lion-like pride of his mind, and
he became mild and gentle as a lamb, so that he cast himself at the
feet of the pope, who awaited him at the entrance of the church
of St. Mark, and kissed them; and the pope, with tears, raised him
from the ground, and gave him the kiss of peace, at which the
Germans exclaimed : 4 Lord God we praise thee ! ' The emperor
then took the pope by the hand and led him into the church, where
he bestowed upon him his benediction. On the following day,
however, at the express desire of the emperor, the pope celebrated
high mass, and Frederick, after he had himself, like an inferior of
the church, humbly cleared the way for the pope through the crowd,
took his place amidst the train of the German archbishops and
bishops, and devoutly assisted in the holy ceremony."

Thus, in those days, did mild, religious feelings moderate the
severe and stern disposition of the emperor, without at all affecting
the majesty of his presence, for his humility was voluntary, and
thence acquired for him general esteem ; whilst at the same time his
conduct was sincere, and consequently his reconciliation with the
pope was complete and lasting. But with the Lombards, as all the
articles of the treaty could not be immediately settled, a truce of six
years was concluded. All rights and customs were to be investi-
gated ; the demands of both sides equally weighed ; and the relations
of the Italian cities with the emperor and empire arranged afresh : all
which demanded time.

In 1 178 the emperor proceeded to Aries, where he was crowned king
of Burgundy, and thence returned to Germany, where another import-
ant affair awaited his presence. Whilst on the one hand the house of
Hohenstaufeii possessed at this period, in the person of its emperor, a
powerful and high-minded chief, the house of Guelf enjoyed, on the
other, an equal advantage in Henry the Lion, Duke of Bavaria and Sax-
ony. For, whilst Frederick, in the south, conducted his great wars
against the Italian cities, Henry increased his power in the north by a
successful war against the Vandals. Henry resembled the friend of his
youth, Frederick, in valour, firmness, and chivalric sentiments. His
outward appearance was also distinguished, and his powerful figure,
strengthened by every corporeal exercise, displayed the bold courage
of his mind. Yet, whilst Frederick, in his hair and complexion, bore
the true impress of genuine German origin, Henry, on his part,
presented in his whole appearance the evidence of his connexion
with the southern race of the Guelfs; his complexion being darker,
his hair and beard black, and his eyes the same colour. His name
soon became terrible in the northern districts. He conquered a great
portion of Holstein and Mecklenburg, as far as Pomerania, and
populated the country, as Albert the Bear had done previously in
the inarches, with peasants from Brabant, Flanders, and Germany.

HENRY THE LION OF BRUNSWICK— HIS RISE AND FALL. 229

He founded bishoprics and schools; distributed throughout these coun-
tries criminal courts and judges; transformed forests and marshes into
fruitful fields^ and, whilst he increased his own power, he became the
promoter cf civilization in the north of Germany. Lubeck, founded in
1140, and made the sec of a bishop, soon developed itself and flourished
nobly ; and Hamburg, previously destroyed by the Vandals, was again
restored. Thus his extensive possessions extended from the shores of
the Baltic and the North Sea, as far as the Danube in the southern
mountains, and were more considerable than the absolute dominions of
the emperor; whilst, finally, he founded, in 1157, Munich, in Bavaria.
The object of Henry was to unite his two duchies under one entire
political government, and thus to restrict throughout his territories
as much as possible, the rights of the nobles, both temporal and spi-
ritual. At the same time, in so doing he laid himself open to the
reproach of injustice; as, for instance, in the case of Count Adol-
phus III., of Holstein. This nobleman had laboured greatly to ad-
vance the prosperity of his country, and having, amongst the rest,
established some valuable salt works at Oldesloe, Henry now de-
stroyed them by causing fresh water from neighbouring springs to
flow into them, because his own salt works at Liineburg were, as he
thought, injured by the existence of those of Count Adolphus.

The jealousy of the neighbouring German princes having now
become excited against him, he, as a warning to them, caused a large
lion, cast in bronze, to be placed before his castle in Brunswick.
They understood what by this sign he meant to indicate, but although
they trembled individually, they nevertheless tried once more to put
a stop to his rapid progress by a great alliance, in which were in-
cluded: the Archbishops of Cologne, Bremen, and Magdeburg; the
Bishops of Hildesheim, and Lubeck, the Landgrave of Thuringia,
and the Margrave of Brandenburg, with several counts and knights.
But Henry, sudden as the royal animal whose title he had chosen,
broke loose, re-conquered Bremen, devastated Thuringia and the
archbishopric of Magdeburg with fire and sword, drove away Con-
rad, bishop of Lubeck, and thus overcame and crushed his enemies
completely. Such was the state of affairs in Germany when the
Emperor Frederick returned from Italy, in 1168 ; his presence, how-
ever, restored tranquillity once more, and both parties were obliged
to surrender to each other their conquests.

The noble Guelf, to whom repose was hateful, made now, in 1172,
a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but, upon his return, disputes were
renewed, and he this time drew upon himself, in the person of the
emperor, a far more powerful opponent. The latter, who had been
hitherto his constant friend, and, in a series of years, had shown him
nothing but kindness, considered he might with justice calculate
especially upon him when, after raising the siege of Alexandria, in the
year 1175, he collected all his forces together, in order to come to a
decisive and final engagement with the Lombards. But it was just
in that critical moment that Henry, to whom these distant expedi-

230 HENRY'S INGRATITUDE — FREDERICK'S REVENGE.

tions were highly objectionable, and who preferred remaining at home
with his army, for the purpose of increasing his own power, refused his
assistance. He pleaded his age, although he was only forty-six years
old, 'and thus younger than tne emperor himself; pretending that too
many necessary affairs required his presence in Ms own country.
Frederick hoped, however, in an interview with him, to persuade him
to change his mind, and invited him to the frontiers of Italy ; the
duke came, and the two rulers met at Chiavenna, on the Lake of
Como. The emperor reminded his friend of their alliance, their
close relationship, of his honour, and feudal duty as prince; but
Henry remained inflexible. The emperor then arose in great agita-
tion, embraced the duke's knees, and entreated him still more
earnestly — so important was his assistance to him at this moment.
Henry was moved, and endeavoured to raise the emperor, but did
not waver in his determination. The empress then joined them, and
said to her husband : " Pray rise, my dear friend, God will help you if,
on some future day, you do but punish this arrogance !" The emperor
arose, but the duke retired ; and it was to his absence that Frederick
might chiefly impute his subsequent bad success atLignano. He could
not forget this event, and upon his return to Germany, after the peace
of Venice, in 1178, and fresh complaints resounded from all sides
against the duke, he cited him to appear at a diet at Worms. Henry
did not however attend. He was summoned a second time to Magde-
burg ; even there he did not appear ; and , as he equall y neglected a third
and a fourth summons, at Geslar and Wurzburg, the emperor sat in
judgment upon him, in the year 1180, and the princes confirmed his
deposal from all his dignities and fiefs, as his punishment. Fre-
derick then declared him outlawed, and divided his fiefs among other
princes. The duchy of Saxony, to which he left but the shadow of
preceding greatness — for he had himself already felt the danger re-
sulting from too extensive duchies — he awarded to the second son of
Albert the Bear, Bernard of Anhalt. The duchy in the western
districts, as far as the dioceses of Cologne and Paderborn, comprising
Limburg, Arnsberg, Westphalia, Paderborn, and a portion of Ra-
vensberg, he gave to the Archbishop of Cologne, who, however,
only succeeded in holding possession of a portion of these countries.
The Bishops of Magdeburg, Hildesheim, Paderborn, Bremen, Ver-
den, and Minden, took advantage of this opportunity to make them-
selves not only independent of the duchy, but also to increase their
possessions. The duchy of Bavaria, which was also somewhat d<
creased, was given to the valiant Count Palatine, Otho of Wi
telsbach, the faithful companion of the emperor. The cities of Lu-
beck and Ratisbon became free imperial cities, and in Pomerania,
which was now united with the empire, Frederick created the bro-
thers, Casimir and Bogislaus, dukes.

After the emperor had passed judgment upon Henry his enemies
forthwith took up arms, to possess themselves of their portion of the
booty ; but the old Lion still defended himself valiantly. They could

HENRY EXILED TO ENGLAND— LOMBARDY— PLACE. 231

accomplish nothing against him, and were repeatedly beaten, until
Frederick himself advanced with an army. Their reverence for the im-
perial name, and their natural repugnance to be allied with an outlaw,
disarmed the duke's friends ; he was obliged to quit his patrimonial
estates, and was forced to ^see Brunswick, his capital, invested, one
of his chief castles, Bardewick, taken; and finally, when the powerful
city of Liibeck yielded to the emperor, he found himself left com-
pletely without any protection, even behind the Elbe. Driven, at
last, to extremities, he cast himself at the feet of the emperor, at
the diet of Erfurt, held in the year 1181. The humiliation of his
old friend and companion in arms, whose proud soul was now broken,
drew even tears of sympathy from the mighty Frederick, and he par-
doned him. He counselled him, however, in order that, with time,
the hatred of his enemies might become moderated, to absent him-
self for three years from Germany, and to remain, during that inter-
val with his father-in-law, Henry II., King of England; meanwhile
his hereditary lands, Brunswick and Limeburg, remained in his pos-
session. Thus it was that, as it were by a singular reverse of fate,
the duke dwelt as an exile for some time in the country where his
descendants were subsequently to ascend a brilliant throne ; for it was
there that his consort, Matilda, gave birth to the same William who
was afterwards the chief branch of the house of Hanover which has
placed the British kings upon the throne.

This great example of imperial superiority in Germany may pos-
sibly have worked upon the minds of the Italians; and as, in the
following year, 1183, the truce of six years with the Lombards
ceased, and the emperor, besides, showed himself a merciful ruler,
they evinced a more satisfied disposition, and the peace of Kosnitz
was accordingly signed with them, which henceforward stood as
fundamental law between the emperor and upper Italy. The em-
peror himself obtained great privileges : he had the right to appoint
his own counts, as the burgomasters chosen by the citizens, and to
renew their dignity every five years ; he exercised the supreme judicial
power, whilst he derived, besides, several imposts, particularly the
subsidies for his army in the Italian campaigns ; and all the citizens,
from the age of 15 to 70, swore allegiance to him. Under these
conditions the citizens, on their part, received the right of municipal
freedom within their walls ; were permitted to live according to their
own manners and customs, and were even privileged to ^ make such
new regulations as they deemed just, and the confederation of their
cities, already existing, was now confirmed.

Thus Frederick was enabled, now and for the last time, (in 1184)
to proceed to Italy in a state of peace, and, as he advanced, ^he was
rendered more and more happy in witnessing the tranquillity and
contentment that reigned throughout the land, whilst all around him
was in a fever of joy and delight. The Lombards received him as
if no enmity had ever existed between them. He caused the iron
crown of the Lombards to be placed on the head of his son Henry,

232 FREDERICK'S GRAND CRUSADE— HIS SUCCESSES.

and gave him away in marriage, with great pomp and festivity, at
Milan, in 1186. (which city had especially begged from the em-
peror that honour) to Constanza, the last heiress of Naples and
Sicily of the royal Norman race, and which alliance gave the house
of Hohenstaufen new and high expectations; for, being already
in possession of Northern Italy, if it acquired in addition, Lower
Italy, the whole peninsula would necessarily soon become subject
to its dominion, and its subjection would accordingly lead to that of
the whole of Germany. Such were the projects formed by the old
yet youthfully-sanguine emperor, who was far from anticipating that
by this last, and apparently splendid achievement of his glorious
career the seeds were sown for the fall and ruin of his house.

It appeared now as if fate, after having subjected the emperor to
all its storms, had determined to prepare for him, in his venerable
age, the glory of a noble death in a sacred cause; for, at this mo-
ment, intelligence arrived suddenly in Europe that Jerusalem, after
the unfortunate battle of Hittin, or Tiberiad, in 1187, was again
torn from the Christians by Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt. Pope
Urban III. died of grief at this news, and his successors, Gregory
VIII. and Clement III. addressed urgent letters to the European
princes, summoning them to rise and march forthwith to the deliver-
ance of the Holy City ; consequently, all the knights-templars and the
knights of St. John, dispersed throughout Europe, were the first to
embark; the Italians assembled together under the Archbishops of
Ravenna and Pisa ; the Normans furnished all their forces ; a fleet of
fifty vessels from Denmark and Friesland, and thirty-seven from
Flanders set sail, headed by their great leaders : Richard Co2ur-de-lion,
King of England, Philip Augustus, of France, and the Emperor Frede-
rick Barbarossa, together with all the neighbouring kings and princes
came likewise forward with their whole power for the sacred cause.
Our venerable hero, Frederick Barbarossa, advanced, in the May of
the year 1189, at the head of 150,000 well armed combatants. The
Greeks, who seemed disposed to practise similar treachery towards
him as they had against Conrad III., he punished severely, and dis-
mantled their cities. The Sultan Kilidish Arslan, of Cogni, or Ico-
nium, in Asia Minor, who had offered him his friendship, and after-
wards betrayed him, he attacked and put to flight, taking possession
of his metropolis. Thus, in all these battles Frederick, even as an old
man, distinguished himself beyond all the rest by his heroic vigour
and magnanimity, and he succeeded in leading his army through
every danger as far as the frontiers of Syria, but here ended the
term of his noble course. When, on the 10th of June, 1190, the
army resumed its march from Sileucia, and traversed the river
Cydnus, or Seleph, the bold and venturesome old warrior, to whom
the passage over the bridge was much too slow, dashed at once with
his war-horse into the river, in order thus to overtake more speedily
his son Frederick, who led the van. But the rapid course of the
stream overpowered and bore him away, and when at length, assist-

DEATH OF FREDERICK I.— PALESTINE. 233

ance could be rendered him, the veteran was found already dead.
The grief and lamentations of his son, of the princes, and of the whole
army were indescribable. Fate nevertheless had by this means saved
him from experiencing subsequently, bitter pain and mortification, and
his noble soul was not doomed to suffer by the unfortunate termina-
tion of so great an enterprise. For the German army, after his
death, was almost entirely destroyed by sickness before the city of
Antioch; and the emperor's second son Frederick, Duke of Swabia,
died at the siege of Acre, or Ptolemais, and Jerusalem was never re-
conquered.*

The grief which the Emperor Frederick's death excited through-
out the west of Europe, is testified by a French writer of that
period, who, according to his peculiar style, thus speaks of it:
" News so deadly piercing, even to the very marrow and bone, has
wounded me so mortally, that all hope and desire of life have passed
from me. For I have heard that that immoveable pillar of the em-
pire, Germany's tower of strength and its very foundation, and that
morning star which surpassed all other stars in splendour, Frederick
the mighty, has ended his life in the east. Thus no longer exists
that strong lion, whose majestic countenance and powerful arm
frightened savage animals from devastation, subjected rebels, and
made robbers live in peace and order." And the degree to which
the imperial dignity in general was raised by him, is expressed in
the words of his chancellor, Raynald, at a diet at Besan9on, where
lie said, " Germany possesses an emperor, but the rest of Europe —
only petty kings.

* This siege is one of the most remarkable and sanguinary on record. Botli the
Kings of England and France were present, and took their share in the dangers.
The city was eventually taken, after a long and vigorous resistance; but the sword
and disease had combined to reduce the army of the Crusaders to such a degree,
that it was in vain to contemplate any fresh enterprise. Several archbishops and
patriarchs, twelve bishops, forty dukes and counts, five hundred of the principal no-
bility, together with a great number of knights, and an innumerable host of inferior
officers and soldiers, became a sacrifice. Philip Augustus returned speedily to
France ; but Richard of England remained, and continuing on the war with the
greatest activity, acquired the reputation of being the most valiant knight of
his time; whilst Saladin likewise proved himself a brave and shrewd adversary.
Eichard, however, was recalled to Europe, through the dangers which threatened his
own kingdom. He concluded a peace with the sultan, and gave up to him Jerusa-
lem; and thus nothing more remained in the hands of the Christians than a narrow
strip of land along the coast from Jaffa to Acre.

234 HENRY VI.— RICHARD CCEUR-DE-LIOX.

CHAPTER X.

FROM 1190 TO THE INTERREGNUM, 1273.

Henry VI, 1190-1197— His Mercenary and Cruel Character— Richard I. of England
— Is Seized and Imprisoned by Henry — Naples and Sicily — The Grandees— Their
Barbarous Treatment by the Emperor — His Death, 1197 — The Rival Sovereigns
— Phillip of Swabia, 1197-1208, and Otho IV., 1197-1215— Their Death— Fre-
derick II., 1215-1250 — His Noble Qualities — Love for the Arts and Sciences — His
Sarcastic Poetry — Preference for Italy — Disputes with the Popes— Is excommu-
nicated— His Crusade to the Holy Land — Crowned King of Jerusalem — Marries
a Princess of j England — Italy — Pope Gregory IX.— Frederick denounced and de-
posed— Dissensions in Germany — The Rival Kings — Death of Frederick II., 1250
— His Extraordinary Genius and Talents — His Zeal for Science and Education —
A Glance at the East and North-Eastern Parts of Germany — Progress in Civili-
sation—William of Holland, 1247-1256— Conrad IV., 1250-1254— Their Deaths—
The Interregnum, 1256-1273 — Progress of the Germanic Constitution.

FREDERICK'S eldest son, Henry, who, during his father's life
was named his successor, and in whose absence he had been invested
with the government of the empire, was not dissimilar to 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 oc-
currence which has not done him much honour. King Richard Cosur-
de-Lion, of England, when in Palestine, had at the siege of Akkon,
or Acre (of which we have already spoken) a dispute with Duke
Leopold of Austria ; inasmuch as the Germans, after the city was
taken, being encamped in one of its quarters, Duke Leopold caused
the German banner to be raised accordingly upon a tower, similar
to 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, namely,
upon his return from Palestine in 1192, was cast by a storm upon
the Italian coast, near Aquileja, and wished to continue his route
through Germany ; but, although he had disguised himself as a pil-
grim, he was recognised in Vienna by his expensive style of living,
and by the imprudence of his servant. He was seized and delivei
up to Duke Leopold, who had previously returned, and by whom h<
was surrendered to the Emperor Henry. The noble chivalric Kii
of England, and brother-in-law of Henry the Lion, was now detaim
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 had 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 proceed-

NAPLES AND SICILY— DEATH OF HENRY VI. 235

ing against Richard, Henry had, it is true, acted in conformity with
the ancient right of the imperial dignity, according to which the
emperor was authorised to cite before him all the kings of Christ-
endom, 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 two distinguished houses was confirmed.

The principal aim now of the Emperor Henry, beyond every thing
else, was to secure to his house Naples and Sicily, the inheritance
of his consort Constanza ; but the avarice and cruelty with which he
acted in his endeavours to gain his object soon indisposed and ren-
dered the feelings of his new subjects more and more adverse towards
him, and increased their hatred against the Germans. For he not
only conveyed away the gold and silver, together with all the costly
ornaments of the ancient Norman kings, to such an extent that one
hundred and sixty 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 mis-
fortunes, and in mockery of their efforts to get possession of the throne
and wear the crown, he placed them upon seats of red-hot iron, and fas-
tened 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 severely for his cruelties.

He meditated the most important plans, which, had they been
accomplished, would have given to the whole empire a completely
different form. Among the rest, he offered to the German princes to
render their fiefs hereditary, 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 pro-
positions, which appeared advantageous to them ; some of the greater
ones, however, refused, and as the pope likewise withheld Ms 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 died suddenly in 1197, in the 33d 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.*

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 Phillip, Henry's brother,

* Henry's tomb, at Palermo, was opened after nearly 600 years, and the body
found well preserved. In the features of the face, the expression of imperious pride
and despotic cruelty were still to be recognised.

236 THE RIVAL EMPERORS — THEIR DEATHS — FREDERICK II.

and the other Otlio, the second son of Henry the Lion, a prince distin-
guished 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 quali-
ties, could do nothing for the country ; on the contrary, in the endea-
vours 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. Otho 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
Phillip in 1208 was assassinated at Bamberg by Otho 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, Otho IV. was universally acknowledged
as emperor, and solemnly crowned at Rome. His friendship with
the pope, however, did not last long, for Otho saw that he had gone
too far in his submission, and ought not to sacrifice for his private
interest all the privileges of the empire. The pontiff, therefore, op-
posed to him as king, the youthful Frederick, the son of Henry VI.,
who had meanwhile grown up in Sicily, and whose guardian he be-
came after the death of his mother Constanza. Frederick soon gained
adherents, and was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1215, and Otho
lived henceforward deserted and inactive on his patrimonial lands
until he died in 1218.

The Emperor Frederick II., the grandson of Frederick I., by his he-
roism, 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 every one,
whence or of whatsoever faith he might be, merely the man, and
honoured him as such if he found him so worthy.

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 educa-
tion 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

DISPUTE WITH THE POPES— PALESTINE. 237

root, whilst, on the other hand, in France the royal power, by with-
drawing 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 Otho IV. had ceded to them;
but, thirdly, what most excited their anger was, that, in the heat of
their dispute, he frequently turned the sharpness of his sarcasm
against them, and endeavoured to make them both ridiculous and
contemptible.

The commencement of the schism, however, arose from a par-
ticular circumstance. Frederick, at his coronation, in Aix-la-Cha-
pelle, 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 Lom-
bard cities, which, after the death of Frederick I., had again 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 em-
peror a friendly feeling, and even a mutual feeling of respect. But
with the passionate Gregory IX., the old dispute between the spi-
ritual 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 lew days, under the pretext of ill-
ness, 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. To contradict these charges by facts, the emperor actually
went the ensuing year to Palestine. But upon this the pope cen-
sured him, even more strongly than before, declaring any one,
under excommunication, to be an unfit instrument for the service of
God. And in order that Frederick might accomplish nothing great
in the holy land, he sent thither commands, that neither the clergy
there, nor the orders of knighthood, 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.

But Frederick, in the meantime, speedily brought the war in Pales-
tine to a successful termination. The Sultan of Egypt, at 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.

238 FREDERICK'S MARRIAGE WITH ISABELLA OF ENGLAND.

Notwithstanding which, he performed his devotions, and in the pre-
sence of his nobles, crowned himself with the crown of the kings of
Jerusalem ; a right he had acquired by his marriage with lolontha,
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.

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. After
fifteen years absence, 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 also held, in 1235, a grand diet at
Mentz, where 64 princes, and about 12,000 nobles and knights
were present. Here written laws were made relative to the peace
of the country, and other regulations adopted, which showed the em-
pire the prudence of its emperor. Before the diet assembled, he cele-
brated, at Worms, his espousal with his second consort, the English
princess, Isabella. The imperial bride was received upon the iron-
tiers 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, in the form of ships, their wheels and
horses concealed by purple coverings, caused an harmonious music to
resound, and throughout the whole night choirs of maidens sere-
naded beneath the windows of the emperor's bride. At the
marriage in Worms, four kings, eleven dukes, and thirty counts and
margraves 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.

From these peaceful occupations, Frederick was obliged to turn, in
the following year, to more serious affairs in Italy, where the Lombard
cities more especially claimed his presence, they having renewed their
ancient alliance amongst themselves and refusing to yield to him the
obedience he required as emperor. With the assistance of his valiant
leader, the knight Ezzelin de Romano, he 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 Kings of Naples and Sicily inherited the title of King of Jerusalem from
Frederick.

THE POPES — FREDERICK — DENOUNCED AND DEPOSED. 239

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 writers, " he
lost the favour of many men by his impkcable severity." His old
enemy also, Gregory IX., rose up again against him, joined hence-
forth the confederation of the cities, and excommunicated him a
second time. Indeed, the enmity of both parties went so far, and de-
generated 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 immediately replied
with another passage from Scripture: u Another 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 operated
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 despiser of religion and of the
holy church, and was inclined to the infidelity of the Saracens (the
fact that Frederick had employed, in the war with the Lombardians,
10,000 Saracens, appeared to justify this charge), and although the
emperor several times, both verbally and in writing, solemnly de-
clared 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 which, 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. Ac-
cordingly he sank more and more in general estimation, and it was
this that embittered the latter period of his life, and at length en-
tirely consumed him with vexation.

Gregory IX., who died in 1241, nearly one hundred years old,
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 from 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 so-
lemnly to pronounce the deposal of the emperor from all his states
and dignities. When the bull of excommunication was circulated
in Germany, many of the spiritual princes took advantage of the
excitement produced thereby, and elected, in 1246, at Wiirzburg,
the landgrave, Henry Raspe, of Thuringia, as rival emperor. The

240 THE RIVAL KINGS — ANARCHY — DEATH OF FREDERICK II.

latter, however, could gain no absolute authority, and died the fol-
lowing year. As Frederick, however, still remained in Italy, en-
tangled in constant wars, the ecclesiastical princes elected another
sovereign, 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 forthwith solemnly promoted from his inferior rank
of squire to that of a knight. The greatest confusion now existed
in Germany, as well as in Italy. " After the Emperor Frederick
was excommunicated," says an ancient historian, " the robbers con-
gratulated themselves, and rejoiced at the opportunities for pillage
now presented to them. The ploughshares were transformed into
swords, and the scythes into lances. Every one supplied himself
with steel and flint, in order to be able to produce fire and spread
incendiarism instantly."

In Italy, the war continued uninterruptedly and without any deci-
sive result, especially with the Lombardian 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, Enzius, whom he had made King of Sicily, and of
all his sons the most chivalric and handsome, was taken prisoner by
the Bolognese in an unsuccessful combat near Fossalta. The irritated
citizens refused all offers of ransom for the emperor's son, and con-
demned 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, and the axe
of the executioner.

Exclusive of the bitter grief caused by his son's misfortune, the
emperor, in his last years, was afflicted with the additional pain and
mortification at finding his long-tried friend and chancellor, Petrus
de Vincis, 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. Matthieu of Paris, at least, relates as certain,
that the physician de Vincis handed to the emperor a poisonous
beverage as a medicine, but which the latter, having had his sus-
picions excited, did not drink. The chancellor was thrown into
prison, and deprived of his eyesight, where he committed suicide by
dashing his head against the wall. Whether de Vincis was guilty,
or whether appearances were alone against him which he could not
remove, is not to be decided, owing to the insufficiency of the infor-
mation 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 or Firenzuolo, in the fifty-sixth
year of his age.

If after contemplating the stormy phases which convulsed this em-
peror'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

FREDERICK'S EXTRAORDINARY GENIUS AND TALENTS. 241

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 devotion over his German
subjects. Since Charlemagne and Alfred of England, no potentate
had existed who loved and promoted civilization, in its broadest
sense, so much as Frederick II. At his court the same as at that
of Charlemagne, 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 consider-
able 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 pre-
sented 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 govern-
ment, 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 sanc-
tioned limits. Wherefore, 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 regu-
lation 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 pro-
duce of much exertion, but will only consider our own 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. Wherefore, receive these works as a present from your
friend, the emperor," &c.

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 Peter de Vincis. Ac-
cording to the plan of a truly great legislator, he was not influenced
by the idea of creating something entirely new, but he built upon
the basis of what already existed, adapted whatsoever to him ap-
peared good and necessary for his main object, and so formed a
work which gave him as ruler the necessary power to establish a
firm foundation for the welfare of his people. Unfortunately, the
convulsions of his later reign and the following periods, never al-
lowed this grand work to develope its results entirely.

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

R

242 HIS ZEAL FOR SCIENCE AND EDUCATION.

by a work he composed upon the art of hawking ; for it not only
displays the most perfect and thorough investigation in the mode of
life, nourishment, diseases, and the whole nature of those birds, but
dwells also upon their construction generally, both internally and ex-
ternally. 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 every thing else ;
they were referred to the enthusiastic application of Hippocrates and
Galen, and not allowed to practice their profession until they had
received from the board of 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 competent members in the science.

The emperor founded the University of Naples in 1224, and he
considerably improved and enlarged the medical school at Salerno.
At both places also, through his zeal, were formed the first collections
of art, which, unfortunately, in the tumults of the following ages,
were eventually destroyed.*

Of Frederick II. it is related, as was already stated of Charle-
magne, that the eastern princes emulated each other in sending him
artistical works as signs of friendship. Amongst the rest, the Sul-
tan of Egypt presented him with an extraordinary tent. The 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 wreaths bestowed, in which scenes Frederick
shone as a poet, and invented and practised many difficult measures
of verse. His chief judge, Peter de Vincis, the composer of the
code of laws, wrote also the 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 re-
cognised, that he was enabled to collect around him the most cele-
brated men of the age without feeling any jealousy towards them—-
always a proof of true greatness. His most violent enemies even
could not withhold from him their admiration of his great qualities.
His exterior was also 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 corporeal 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

* On the bridge across the Vulturnus, in Capua, was erected a statue of the Em-
peror Frederick II., with several others, and it continued there in a very good state
of preservation until the most recent wars of modern times, when it became a prey
to the devastation committed. The head of the emperor on this statue, however,
has been copied and engraved upon a ring; and it is after that, that the excellent
portrait of Frederick has been drawn in the History of the Hohenstaufens, by M.
F. de liaumer.

EAST AND NORTH-EASTERN GERMANY— THE MONGOLS. 243

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 ^ seriousness was, throughout his life, the distinguishing
feature of this emperor. 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 Con-
rad ^ 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 rival emperors, it
will be useful and interesting to cast our glance at the countries in
the east and north-eastern parts of Germany.

Europe was about this time threatened by a terrible enemy from the
east, equally as dreadful as the Hunns were in earlier times. This
enemy consisted of the Mongolians, who ever since the year 1206,
under Dschinges-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 farther westward, as they
now turned towards Hungary. Thus, by his own death, Henry the
Pious, saved Europe; and indeed, upon the same spot (Wahlstadt)
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 iirst
Christian prince, and very urgently pressed the other kings for their
immediate assistance against the common enemy; but at this mo-
ment the general disorder was too great, and his appeal for aid re-
mained 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
Slavonic country. Other neighbouring countries also were about this
period occupied and populated by the Germans, consisting of the coasts
of the Baltic, Prussia, Livonia, Esthland, andCourland. As early as at
the end of the twelfth century, Meinhardt, a canon of the monastery
of Leo-eberg, built a church at Exkalle, (in the vicinity of the pre-
sent 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 Celestin 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 knight-

244 PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION— MIGRATIONS.

hood was formed under the name of the knights of the sword, and
with the Christian doctrines the dominion of this order was by de-
grees extended over Livonia, Esthland, and Courland. The na-
tives 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.

In Prussia also the sword established at the same time with Chris-
tianity 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 heath-
en 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 many warriors of the neighbouring lands,
immediately marched forth and gave warlike aid to the new bishop.
But little was accomplished 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 Germany. Accord-
ingly, in the year 1229, their first grand master, Herman Salza, with
not more than twenty-eight knights and one hundred squires and at-
tendants, 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 Culm, Marienwerder, Elbing, Braunsberg, 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 Li-
vonians, in 1273, were received in it; and in 1255, upon the advice
of Ottocar of Bohemia, who had made a crusade against the Prussians,
in which Rudolphus of Hapsburg joined, the present metropolis of the
country was founded, and in honour of him was called Konigsberg.
The cities around, by their favourable situation for commerce, soon
flourished again, and the peasants found themselves in a happier situa-
tion than their Livonian neighbours, for their services and imposts
were rendered more moderate, and absolute slavery was only expe-
rienced by a few individuals as a punishment for their defection.

When we add to this the various emigrations which had commenced
already much earlier, populating the Vandal countries as well as Bran-
denburg, Mecklenburg, and Pomerania, and take into consideration
the many flourishing 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 Germans towards the north-east, 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 asto-
nished at the population which that vast country produced, and assur-
edly cannot join with many other historians in calling a period pre-

CONRAD IV. AND WILLIAM OF HOLLAND. 245

senting like this so ^much vigour and activity of life an epoch of
absolute misery, slavitude, and desolation.

Had the Emperor Frederick rightly known the strength of Ger-
many, and had he understood 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.

Conrad, meanwhile, was likewise more occupied with his patrimonial
inheritance than with Germany. He went as early as 125 1 to Italy, and
left his consort in the former country who gave birth the following year
to the unfortunate Conradin. Conrad, under the excommunication of
the pope, like his father, conquered Naples, it is true, but made the in-
habitants his most implacable enemies, by placing a bridle upon the
horse, which stood as an emblem of the city upon the market-place. He
died shortly after, in 1254, and said a few moments before his death:
" Unhappy being that I am, why did my parents bring me into this
world only to expose me to so much misfortune ! The church, which
should have shown both me and my father a maternal heart, has be-
come much rather our step-mother ; and this empire which flourished
before the birth of Christ is now fading away and approaching its
destruction !" And in this he prophesied too truly with respect to
his own race, for he was the last king of the Hohenstaufens. Fre-
derick II. had, it is true, left behind him a second son (Henry) by his
marriage with Isabella, and a third (Manfred) by Blanca, his Italian
consort, and two grandsons, the sons of his unfortunate eldest son
Henry; but they all died in the flower of their age, and about the
same time: so that at the death of Conrad IV., there only remained
of the whole family of the Hohenstaufens, his son, the unfortunate
Conradin, and his brother Manfred. We shall very shortly learn the
fate of these two princes.

King William also lived but a few years after Conrad, and in so little
esteem, that a common citizen of Utrecht cast a stone at him, and a
nobleman plundered his consort upon the highway. When in the
winter of the year 1256 he advanced against the Friesi, and crossed
the ice near Medenblick, it broke under him, and he remained
with his heavy war-horse sticking in the morass, where the Friesi
killed him, although he offered a large sum for his life.

After his death the confused state of affairs in Germany became
greater than ever.

Upon the demise of Conrad IV., and William of Holland, no
German prince would accept the imperial crown, except, perhaps,
Ottocar, King of Bohemia, but who, however, was not liked.
Most of them preferred rather to occupy themselves in ruling over,
and extending their own hereditary lands, than to take upon them-
selves the heavy charge of restoring order and peace in those coun-
tries of Germany now become almost again savage, and thus renounce
their own selfish interests, in order to consecrate all their powers to

246 CONRADIN OF SWABIA— CHARLES OF ANJOU.

tlie common good. The spiritual electors now conceived the un-
worthy and degrading idea of electing a foreigner for emperor.
Still they were by no means unanimous in their choice ; the one party
elected an Englishman, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, the brother of King
Henry III.; the other chose a Spaniard, Alphonso, King of Castile,
who, on account of his knowledge in astronomy, was called the Sage,
but who nevertheless was not wise enough to know how to rule even
his own country. Both had offered the imperial princes considerable
sums of money, and Richard, as some relate, came with thirty-two
carriages to Germany, each drawn by eight horses, together with an
immense tun filled with sterlings, an English coin of that period.
He possessed extensive tin mines in Cornwall, then almost the only
mines in the world, whence he acquired immense riches. With such
arms as these, he speedily conquered many hearts, and was solemnly
crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1257, after which he returned to Eng-
land again, accompanied by several Germans of high rank. In Eng-
land, however, the home of national pride, he was not treated other-
wise than any other English prince or nobleman ; and this so much
vexed the Germans who were with him, that they returned to their
country discontented. After that, Richard visited Germany at three
different times, but on each occasion only for a short space. Alphonso,
however, never came to that country at all. During this period,
therefore, disorder and violence necessarily increased from day to
day, so that the petty princes, counts, knights, and the cities them-
selves, lived in constant anarchy and warfare with each other, to an
extent, that those who desired justice and tranquillity, wished most
heartily for an emperor who might become their protection and
shield.

Conradin of Swabia, the son of the Emperor Conrad IV., the last
descendant of the Hohenstaufen race, fell at this moment a victim
to the most cruel fate. He was styled Conradin by the Italians, be-
cause he ended his career at so early an age. After his father's
death, he had been brought up in Bavaria, and afterwards in
Swabia, where he still retained some small inheritance ; whilst his
uncle Manfred, as regent, and subsequently as king, administered
his hereditary estates in Naples and Sicily. The popes, however,
who still remained the irreconcileable enemies of the Hohenstaufen
house, sought to despoil him of these possessions; and as they
could not effect this by their own power, it was determined by Cle-
ment IV. to bring another king in opposition to the hated Manfred.
He applied, therefore, to Charles, Duke of Anjou, who marched forth
in 1266 ; he was accompanied by a numerous suite of French knights,
who were ever happy to avail themselves of any expedition which
promised them rich booty. King Manfred, who had unfortunately
lost, in a storm, the whole of his fleet, with which he had set sail
in order to prevent the French from landing, was defeated in an
action at Benevento, on the 26th of February, 1266, principally
through treachery , and preferred sacrificing himself by an heroic death,

CONRADIN EXECUTED— END OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS. 247

rather than to endure an ignominious life in prison; he therefore
rushed into the midst of the enemy's ranks, and sank mortally
wounded. His children, however, were seized by the conqueror,
and remained in captivity during the rest of their lives.

When the youthful Conradin now became older, and bethought
him of the lands which belonged to him, whereof one city alone
was richer than his German possessions altogether, the bold dispo-
sition of his ancestors awoke within him, and he resolved to drive
the robbers from his inheritance. In 1268, therefore, he went forth,
accompanied by the faithful friend of his youth, Prince Frederick of
Baden and many faithful knights who followed him from Germany.

In Italy the numerous adherents of the Ghibelin party imme-
diately nocked to him ; the Romans in defiance of their pope, Cle-
ment, who had called for the aid of the French, led him in triumph
into their city, and he soon stood opposed to the enemy with a strong
army near Tagliacozzo in Lower Italy. In battle, also, fortune at
first favoured him ; the enemy was put to flight, but, unfortunately,
in the pursuit his own army got into disorder, and in their eagerness
for booty fell too soon upon the enemy's camp, for at that moment
the French reserve returned and rushed upon the plunderers. The
latter were wholly defeated, and Conradin, with his friend Frederick,
after they had long fought most bravely, were forced to fly towards
the sea. They had already got on board a ship at Astura, and were
just setting sail for Pisa, when they were overtaken, made prisoners,
and led before Charles of Anjou. And such was the insolence, per-
fidy, and cruelty of the tyrant, that he treated Conradin as a rebel
against himself the legitimate and true king, and caused both the
princes, at the age of sixteen, to be beheaded publicly in the market
place of Naples on the 28th of October, 1268.*

With the unfortunate Conradin ended the powerful house of the
Hohenstaufens, and that was produced by means of the same pos-
sessions by which Frederick I. thought to elevate it to the highest
degree of splendour and glory. But the Swabian patrimony now
fell into so many divisions, that eventually no territory throughout
Germany was divided into so many ownerships as Swabia. As the
duchy was never restored, the whole of its states henceforward
formed a part of the immediate possessions of the empire. Not only
the bishops, counts, and superior free lords, but also the inferior
ranks of the nobility, the cities, monasteries, and even the peasantry,
which had been previously the vassals and subjects of the duke, be-
came now emancipated ; but they had not these rights and privileges
individually, like the larger imperial lordships, but only as an entire
combined body of the Swabian states, which they enjoyed as members

* The unfortunate Conradin, before his execution, transferred all his rights to
Manfred's daughter, Constanza; and this princess became afterwards the avenger of
the Hohenstaufens. For, as the wife of Peter of Arragon, she favoured the horrible
conspiracy known under the name of the Sicilian Vespers, in the year 1282, by
which Charles of Anjou lost his usurped kingdom of Sicily.

248 PROGRESS OF THE GERMANIC CONSTITUTION.

thereof. The emperor derived from them important revenues, and the
administration of these imperial possessions was transferred to senes-
chals; so that instead of the ancient Swabian dukes there were only
now the imperial bailiwicks : Helvetia or Switzerland, Alsace, and
Swabia, which were divided into cantons. These arrangements were
adopted under the reign of the succeeding emperor, Rudolphus.

The fate of the duchy of Swabia leads us naturally to consider the
circumstances which produced, especially in the interior of Germany,
the dismemberment and abolition of the ancient national duchies.
The basis for this important event was laid, as we have already seen,
at the time of the deposition of Henry the Lion, in the year 1180.
Although the plan and the limits of this general history of the em-
pire will not permit us to trace more in detail all those princely
houses which have arisen from the ruins of these ancient duchies, we
may give at least a general outline of the changes as they occurred :

1. The duchy of Saxony had already become separated from the
important margraviate of Brandenburg, which was transferred to
Henry the Bear, who received therewith all the prerogatives of a
duke in time of war, together with the rights of an elector, in his
quality of arch-chamberlain. His son Bernard re-united subsequently,
it is true, the duchy with the margraviate, and was created a duke;
but his territory was of very little importance, and was, besides,
divided into two portions between the two families of Lauenburg
and Wittenberg, both of which disputed with each other for a long
time for the possession of the office of grand marshal, and which
question was not settled until the reign of Charles IV., who de-
cided in favour of the Wittenberg house.

The ducal authority of the Archbishop of Cologne in the western
part of Saxony likewise could not recover its former elevation. The
nobles in his jurisdiction made themselves gradually independent,
after the example presented to them, especially by the spiritual
princes of the ancient duchy. Besides which, the Archbishop of
Bremen came into possession of the lordship of Stade, in the terri-
tory of Detmarsh ; the peasants took upon themselves the principal
authority in that country; the Count of Oldenburg refused to re-
main united with the duchy, and the important city of Liibeck was
raised to the dignity of an imperial free city by Frederick II. ; whilst
at the celebrated diet of Mentz, in 1235, the emperor having con-
ferred upon the Guelfic house new power and authority, by re-
storing to the infant duke, Otho, the duchies of Brunswick and
Liineburg, that powerful family likewise refused to recognise longer
any rights claimed by the house of Saxe-Anhalt. Thuringia had
already long since separated itself from the duchy, and had possessed
its own particular counts from the time that the house of Saxony
became imperial: we speak here of the north and southern parts of
Thuringia, which became united under the valiant margrave, Eccard
of Meissen. Under the Hohenstaufens, the margraviate was re-
placed by a landgraviate. The landgraves resided at Eisenach and

PROGRESS OF THE GERMANIC CONSTITUTION. 249

in the castle of Wartburg. Their possessions extended, by means of
certain allodial acquisitions, over Hesse and the towns of Munden
Cassel, Marburg, &c., as far even as the banks of the Rhine; such
was the power commanded by Louis IV., landgrave of Thurino-ia
the husband of Elizabeth the Holy, at the commencement of "the
thirteenth century. With Henry Raspe, who died childless, in
1247, the masculine branch of the house of Thuringia became' 'ex-
tinct. The female line contested together for the inheritance, and
two of the descendants carried on a war against each other during a
period of seven years. At length, in 1264, the fief of Thuringia
was conferred upon Otho the Illustrious, of Meissen ; but the allo-
dial possessions, and especially the Hessian territory, fell to Henry,
the son of Sophia, of Brabant. The aforesaid Henry of Meissen
was the founder of the present Saxon house, and Henry of Hesse
that of the house of the landgrave of Hesse.

In the north of Germany the counts of Holstein possessed claims
to immediate imperial lordships: Mecklenburg, which belonged to
the counts of Schwerin on the one part, and to the Obotrite princes
011 the other, had become an immediate fief of the empire, the same
as the Duchy of Pomerania.

2. The Duchy of Bavaria, when it passed from the house of the
Guelfs to that of Wittelsbach, possessed nothing more than the
mere name of the ancient duchy. Carinthia, Austria, and Styria,
had already since the year 1156, under the Saxon emperors, been
separated from Bavaria.

Otho of Wittelsbach governed his duchy with much greater
vigour certainly than Bernard of Saxony ; but the bishops, neverthe-
less, withdrew from his sovereignty ; Ratisbon became an imperial city ;
and in the south of Bavaria the Count of Andechs, in his quality of
heir to the house of the Counts of Dachau, came in possession of
the title of Duke of Merau, (which this house had assumed from a
track of land on the coasts of Dalmatia), which title he extended
to the whole of his possessions in Franconia, and made it the
basis for claiming his independence. In 1248, however, the house
of Andechs became extinct, whence the greater portion of its posses-
sions passed over to a house of Swabia (the Hohenzoller branch),
the burgraves of Nuremberg, and laid the foundation for the
duchies of Anspach and Baireuth.

Meantime the house of Wittelsbach, besides the acquisition of
the duchy of Bavaria, came into possession of another territory
extremely important: the county-palatine of the Rhine, which it
received in 1227, by the marriage of Otho the Illustrious, with the
hereditary countess palatine of the house of Guelf. But the power of
this house became considerably diminished by its dismemberment,
after the death of Louis the Severe, in 1292, whose eldest son, Ru-
dolphus, received the palatinate, and his second son, Louis', suc-
ceeded to the duchy. The count palatine of the Rhine possessed
the title of arch-carver or steward, and consequently he commanded

250 PROGRESS OF THE GERMANIC CONSTITUTION.

the first voice in the electoral college of the temporal princes. Ba-
varia contested with Bohemia for the office of arch cup-bearer, which
Henry the Lion, or his father, who possessed two duchies, had been
forced to abandon, and which it subsequently lost for ever.

Those arch or grand offices fell gradually into the hands of those
who possessed the right of election, after the original institution,
which called together the principal heads of the people throughout
the empire to take part in the meetings, had become altered. At
the election of Otho I., there were present five of the principal
nations: the Lorrainers, the Franks, the Swabians, the Bavarians,
and the Saxons. When Otho of Saxony was elected, the dukes of
the other four nations divided among themselves the offices of arch-
chamberlain, arch-carver or steward, arch-cupbearer, and arch-mar-
shal. At the subsequent election of Otho III., however, the distri-
bution of the offices had already become changed.

At the election of Conrad II. there appeared seven nations, because
Lorraine was then divided in two portions, and Carinthia had likewise
recently joined the rest. But at the election of Lothaire, the Saxons,
the Lorrainers, and Carinthians, no longer attended, as the former
had detached themselves from the empire, and the latter remained
but a short time allied with the other chief nations. In earlier
times the dukes did not possess this exclusive and positive right of
election. All the princes, even the populace itself, took part in the
choice of the sovereign ; but subsequently in proportion as the elec-
tion assumed a more determined form, the elective right became
more and more connected with the arch-offices, and was even trans-
ferred altogether with those dignities to other princes.

Thus Conrad III. indemnified the margrave, Albert the Bear, for the
loss of the duchy of Saxony, by giving up in his favour the office of
arch-chamberlain, which he held as a Hohenstaufen ; whilst, on the
other hand, the Hohenstaufens received the dignity of arch-carver or
steward, when the remains of the duchy of Franconia passed over to
their house. This office was then attached to the palatinate of the
Rhine ; and as, in ancient times, the Duke of Franconia held the
first rank among the temporal princes, so now, among the latter, the
count palatine commanded the first voice.

We have already found that the office of grand cup-bearer was
transferred from the Guelfs to the house of Bohemia; but with
respect to that of grand marshal, it always remained with the Saxons.
The right of Bohemia to a voice in the elections was a subject of
long contest, inasmuch as the Germans would not admit the right of
election to a Slavonic prince ; and it was on this account that, at the
period in question, the college of princes only possessed six votes :
three ecclesiastical, consisting of those of the Archbishops of Mentz,
Treves, and Cologne, who, protected by the influence of the pope,
were thus enabled to raise themselves to the highest rank in the em-
pire ; and three temporal votes, those of the Dukes of Saxony, Bran-
denburg, and of the Palatinate.

PROGRESS OF THE GERMANIC CONSTITUTION. 251

3. In Swabia, we have seen that, at the fall of the Hohenstaufens
all their rights disappeared; their rich possessions had, in the later
period, been wasted or given away; and Conradin, at the time of
his expedition to Italy, made over his remaining possessions to the
house of Bavaria. We therefore naturally inquire who then, from
that time, really ranked as the most important and influential family
in Swabia? In answer to this, we find that the Counts of Wurtem-
berg stood at the head of all the rest of the nobility, and who had
already chosen Stuttgard as their place of residence. After them,
the rich Counts of Baden, scions of the Hohenstaufen race, ac-
quired from the house of Zahringen the territory of Breisgau,
which was the commencement of the reign of the house of Baden.
Another portion of the Zahringen inheritance, in Switzerland, fell
to the Counts of Kyburg, and after them to the Counts of Haps-
burg, who owed to this circumstance their subsequent importance.
Of the Counts of Hohenzollern, the Burgraves of Nuremberg, we
have spoken previously.

4. In Franconia, the duchy had already become extinct when the
succession of the Salic house terminated. It had been divided
equally between the ecclesiastical and temporal nobles; for the Ho-
henstaufens, who were called dukes of Franconia, possessed nothing
of the authority of the ancient dukes; enjoying merely, as they
were the most powerful lords of Franconia, and proprietors of the
county-palatinate, a small portion of the ducal influence, and which
was recognised by a few of those counts and knights who were de-
pendent on them as feudatories. At the end of this period, besides
the powerful counts palatine of the Rhine, we find in the ancient
land of Franconia the landgraves of Hesse, who possessed a portion
thereof, the Counts of Nassau, the Bishop of Wiirzburg, &c.

The general title of count palatine gradually vanished in Germany,
leaving it only in the hands of the count palatine of the Rhine,
whilst, on the other hand, the title of burgrave now came into use,
and took rank immediately after that of the king.

5. Finally, with respect to Lorraine, it became divided into two
portions : Upper Lorraine falling to the Counts of Alsace, and Lower
Lorraine to the Counts of Lovain. They, however, did not possess
the whole of Lorraine, and for this reason they were likewise styled
Counts of Brabant. Several other counts — of Holland, Zealand,
Friesland, Juliers, Cleves, Guelder, Luxemburg, &c., ranked them-
selves as immediate imperial feudatories.

All the princes began now to consider themselves as feudatories,
not only of the country of which they merely had the administra-
tion, but likewise of their hereditary lands, which they governed in
their own name. Vassalage now received another meaning ; it was
no longer for their possessions, but their dignities, that the princes
now held themselves bound to pay homage by the investiture ; and
as they had already raised themselves to the height of territorial
power and sovereignty throughout their country — although they did

252 PROGRESS OF THE GERMANIC CONSTITUTION.

not take to themselves the title — all the sovereign princes in the
land became feudatories.

We will now proceed to give a sketch of the entire states exist-
ing in the empire, although we cannot pretend to present an exact
detail thereof, on account of the confusion so prevalent in some of
the dependencies.

Germany included, at this period, six archbishoprics; that of
Mentz (the most considerable and extensive) having under its
jurisdiction fourteen bishoprics, viz. : Worms, Spires, Strasburg, Con-
stance, Cour, Augsburg, Eichstadt, Wiirtzburg, Olmutz, Prague,
Halberstadt, Hildesheim, Paderborn, and Verden; that of Cologne
with five bishoprics : Liege, Utrecht, Munster, Osnaburg, and Min-
den ; that of Treves with three bishoprics : Mentz, Toul, and Ver-
dun ; that of Magdeburg with five bishoprics : Brandenburg, Havel-
berg, Naumburg, Merseburg, and Meissen; that of Bremen with
three bishoprics: Oldenburg (afterwards Liibeck), Mecklenburg
(afterwards Schwerin), and Ratzburg; and, finally, that of Salz-
burg with five bishoprics: Ratisbon, Passau, Freisingen, Brixen, and
Gurk. Besides which are to be added : Bamberg, which stood im-
mediately under the pope, and Cambrai under the Archbishop of
Rheims. Altogether, therefore, they amounted to six archbishop-
rics and thirty-seven bishoprics. There existed, besides, seventy
prelates, abbots and abbesses, and three religious orders, thus forming,
in the whole, more than a hundred ecclesiastical states.

The temporal estates were, viz. : four electors (if we include Bo-
hemia), consisting of one king, one duke, one count palatine, and
one margrave; six grand dukes: Bavaria, Austria, Carinthia, Bruns-
wick, Lorraine, and Brabant-Limburg ; about thirty counts with
the title of prince, amongst whom some had also the title of duke,
others of margrave, landgrave, and burgrave; about sixty imperial
cities, of whom some, however, did not enjoy entirely the privileges
of the imperial municipalities. Thus, altogether, these formed about
a hundred temporal states; and, finally, both classes embraced more
than two hundred members of the empire, spiritual and temporal.

Meantime, the dominion of the empire had, in certain respects,
diminished in extent of government towards the end of the inter-
regnum, inasmuch as it no longer held under its sway either Den-
mark, Hungary, or Poland ; whilst Burgundy and Lombardy had
both withdrawn themselves from the imperial rule, Prussia alone
having joined in alliance.

We will now avail ourselves of this short interval, and cursorily
review the chief features presented in the Middle Ages, which imme-
diately succeed this period of the interregnum ; for every thing that
has been said, whether favourable or unfavourable upon the cha-
racter of this barbarous and yet glorious epoch, is especially appro-
priate at the present moment.

THE MIDDLE AGES. 253

CHAPTER XL

THE MIDDLE AGES.

Chivalry — The Cities — The Peasantry — The Arts and Sciences — The Clergy and

Ecclesiastical Institutions — The Monasteries and Convents — The Faust-Recht

The Administration of Justice — The Vehm-Gericht or Secret Tribunal.

THE period of the Middle Ages Has also been called the period of
Chivalry, and it was knighthood indeed which chiefly gave to it its
great and peculiar lustre. By the diffusion of the feudal system
over the whole of Germany, as has already been shown, the nobility
became the influential portion of the empire, to the extent that, be-
yond the cities, few common freemen were to be found. War was
conducted principally by the nobles and their vassals. The former
fought only on horseback, were equipped in heavy iron armour, and
were so exercised in the exercise of arms from youth upwards, that
they could not only bear them with ease, but were enabled to use them
freely and powerfully. A man thus encased in armour and arms, on
horseback, was infinitely superior to the common warriors, who
served on foot, and who were badly armed, and thence an army was
speedily counted solely by the multitude of its knights. In order to
maintain these privileges, the education of the nobility was neces-
sarily entirely warlike. An ancient writer says — " The boys born
in Germany, in their quality as pages, prefer learning to ride rather
than to read; their horses may run and gallop as they please, still
they remain immoveably fixed in the saddle. They carry after their
lords their long lances ; and inured to cold and heat, they are not to
be fatigued by any toilsome exercise. The bearing of arms is as
easy to the Germans as carrying their own limbs, and it is sur-
prising, and almost incredible, how skilful they are in governing
their horses, using their bows and arrows, and wielding the lance,
shield, and sword."

By their exclusive attention to the improvement of their corporeal
strength^ whilst the intellectual occupations which, in later centuries,
began to be treated as the chief portion of education, were then en-
tirely unknown, this generation must have sank into a state of com-
plete barbarism, had not the happy nature and noble capacities of
the German races, and the development of the grand institutions ^of
chivalry, have produced a preponderating power by ^their beneficial
effects. But in order to comprehend the details, it^ is necessary we
should know more exactly the institutions of the middle ages.

These various grades of condition and rank were^ particularly dis-
tinguished by the changes introduced in military service from the time
of Henry I. ; for from that period the cavalry department especially
underwent such reforms that, in the course of a short time, it came
exclusively into the hands of the nobility and their own vassals, to

254 THE MIDDLE AGES.

the extent that the honour of this warlike arm of the service be-
longed to them alone. It was made to form two divisions or classes,
the Semper-freien, or available freemen (always free), and the Mittel-
freien, or mediate freemen. The former, who, in ancient times, con-
sisted merely of the nobility, and were called ingenui in the codes of
law, were the immediate nobility, which, after the dismemberment
of the early duchies, retained their independence of every prince,
and were only subjected to the empire. Of this class, the high clergy
formed part, with this exception, however, that the nobility ac-
quired by birth what the former received by their office.

The second class was composed of mediate freemen; firstly, of
those freemen who were originally bound by their possessions to
do service as cavaliers, but who could not disengage themselves from
the authority of the princes, and were forced to follow them to the
wars; and secondly, of those who were employed by the higher
nobility of the empire, and who served as cavaliers under their
orders with the title of milites minores. These mediate freemen very
soon advanced their claims to titles of nobility, especially after Con-
rad II. had been the means of raising them to higher importance and
consideration by making the lowest fiefs hereditary. Thus was
created by degrees a higher and lower class of nobility.

But for both these grades it was strictly necessary that the descent
of families should be from parents of equal rank ; and in case of un-
equal unions, the children were forced to remain in the inferior con-
dition of the one or the other parent.

The king, however, always retained the right of power to elevate
any subject from this lower grade to the rank of a nobleman.

Thence the nobility formed two distinct classes from the moment
that the art of war became wholly based upon its cavalry service;
and it was in this sense that knighthood already existed under the
Saxon and Salian emperors. But it was not until the twelfth cen-
tury that it formed itself into one especial institution, which served
as a connecting link between the higher and lesser nobility, inas-
much as it thus brought into union by military and religious vows,
and under especial discipline, militaris or do, both the Semper-freie
and Mittel-freie. The Crusades had the most important influence and
shed the greatest lustre upon chivalry, for it was in the sacred service
of God and the Saviour that the swords of the knights obtained for
them the greatest glory on earth. The goal which was to be at-
tained lay far distant from home, and in other climes; the imagina-
tion became more enthusiastically excited, and the descriptions given
by such as had returned from those eastern countries were perfectly
adapted to heighten and render still more vivid the glowing colours
of the picture their heated fancy had already formed. Thence this
period was inspired by such daring and fanatic enthusiasm, that no
enterprise was deemed too difficult to undertake, and such heroic
deeds were actually achieved, that in modern times they have been
regarded almost in the light of fabulous creations of the mind.

CHIVALRY. 255

Three religious orders of knighthood, which owed their origin ex-
clusively to the Crusades, served especially to attach the warriors to
the cause of Christianity by a sacred and solemn vow. The first of
these was the order of the Templar-Knights, which originally only
consisted of a small body of French cavaliers, for the purpose of pro-
tecting the pilgrims on their journey to the Holy Land; they took
the three religious vows : obedience, poverty, and chastity, adding a
fourth, which was altogether military, viz.: to protect travellers,
stratos publicas custodire. Baldwin II., King of Jerusalem, granted
them as quarters a portion of his palace, next to the temple of Solo-
mon ; and it is from this circumstance that they adopted the title
of Templars. Two years afterwards originated the order of the
Knights of the Hospital, who devoted themselves to the charge of
the sick pilgrims, subsequently adopting the name of St. John,
from 'their tutelary saint, John the Baptist ; their vows were exclu-
sively religious. To these followed shortly after the order of the
Teutonic knights.

These examples operated with a very great effect upon the con-
tinent ; and as the entire spirit of the times produced a closer union
between individuals of equal habits and condition, the result was
that chivalry in the middle of the twelfth century became more and
more extended and formed one grand body of alliance, to which ac-
cess could only be obtained after passing through certain ordeals in
which the religious vows of chastity and poverty were, however, ex-
empted, but religious consecration was retained.

Thus the entire education of the nobility connected itself with
the sole object of attaining knighthood by passing through all its
various gradations. As soon as the boy had escaped from its ma-
ternal guide, he was transferred to the charge of some esteemed
knight and friend, whom he served as page; and, subsequently, after
he had become versed in arms, and received his sword, he at-
tended him as his esquire (famulus, armiger), regarding him as the
model of his future life. He accompanied his lord at all hours, and
in every occupation. In the pleasures of the chace, the festival, the
tournament, and military jousts, as well as in the dangers of the
battle. His first duty was the most faithful attachment to and vi-
gilant care of his lord; and if, in the heat of the battle, he had de-
fended him with sword and shield, and had saved his life, he thence
acquired the highest degree of fame that could be^ earned by a young
nobleman. Thus fidelity was the first virtue which, by hourly and
daily exercise, became so deeply impressed upon the memory of^the
youth, that it grew up in indissoluble connexion with his mind.
After several years of honourable service as a squire, the youth (gene-
rally in his twenty-first year) was made a knight, and Deceived into
military companionship under the consecration of religion. Solemn
occasions: grand festivals, coronation days, and such scenes, were
diligently sought for the purpose, and frequently many were dubbed
knights at the game time, fasting and prayer preceded, and after

256 THE MIDDLE AGES.

the youth had partaken of the sacrament he received from the
hands of a knight, or noble lady, the spurs, breast-plate, and
gauntlets. He then knelt down, and one of the knights (often
however, the reigning king or prince) gave him, with a naked
sword, three gentle blows across the shoulder, upon which he
vowed, with a solemn oath, to faithfully fulfil all the duties of an
honourable knight, to speak the truth, to defend the laws, and to
draw his sword for the defence of religion, of widows and orphans,
and of persecuted innocence, but, above all, against every unbeliever ;
finally he received the helmet, shield, lance, and sword. Thus, in
the most inspired hour of the youth's early career, the practice of
manly virtues: truth, justice, and religion was again, by a solemn
oath, elevated to become the inviolable law of his whole life. Honour
stood before the eyes of the youthful knight like a brilliant star — an
emblem to which he was to remain faithful to his last breath — as the
noble object of, and, at the same time the reward for the due ob-
servance of the oath he took. So highly was this solemn consecra-
tion of the noble warrior esteemed, that Count William of Holland,
as we have already seen in his history, was necessarily made a knight
before his coronation.

The prerogative of the knight was to belong henceforward to a
select body of his equals, which none could join but by the especial
reception he himself had experienced, and to be enabled to confer
knighthood himself; as also to take his share in the tournaments,
which in the twelfth century were introduced from France into
Germany. These had the most important influence on the educa-
tion of the nobility ; for as none could take part in them whose
honour had suffered the least stain, and the whole imagination of
the boy and youth was from earliest infancy devoted to the glory
and high reputation these contests conferred, chivalry thenceforth
became the school of honour and morality, as well as of every
other heroic virtue. Thence this period presents us with the most
complete and undeniable evidence of the principle : that in order to
disseminate a love for virtue in a generation, it is not enough to try
to promote it by instruction, but it is likewise necessary to en-
courage and give an impulse to the practice thereof by the irresist-
able force of example.

Such is the light in which the design and object of chivalry must
present itself before us in the most flourishing period of its existence ;
for although a system may not be carried out so completely as to
render it possible to say, that it is in every respect perfect, and, conse-
quently, although in the most happy times of chivalry, much bar-
barism and uncouth violence too often appeared, still it cannot be
denied that it laid the foundation for that elevation of thought which
•eventually, in a moral point of view, exercised its influence upon the
community at large.

The noble institution of chivalry was, in fact, of the highest im-
portance in its results to the whole of the Christian nations, inas-

THE CITIES. 257

much, as even when the imperial dignity lost its powerful influence,
and the authority of the church began to totter on its base, the prin-
ciples of honour and rectitude, together with the irresistible force
commanded by the manly, chivalric word, in all cases of need and
succour, operated so beneficially upon all classes, that this grand
and illustrious foundation of knighthood served as a tower of strength,
impregnable against all subsequent attacks attempted by uncivilised
and barbarous assailants.

Whilst the aristocracy of the German nation thus vigorously
cultivated itself, and wore the sword equally for the honour of
their faith and defence of their country, the citizens in the towns
laboured with industry and activity for their commercial pros-
perity. The German cities during this period daily increased in
population and riches, and the source of all was commerce, for
which also the crusades operated very advantageously. The spirit
for great undertakings and speculations was aroused, the costly wares
of southern countries were brought more frequently and in greater
abundance to Europe. The Italian maritime cities, particularly
Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, introduced the merchandise of the east,
and then it was conveyed the same as the produce of Italy itself
along the ancient commercial roads, through the passes of the Alps
to Germany, there extending its transit upon the high roads and
rivers, and what was not consumed in the country itself was carried
still further towards the territories bordering upon the North Sea
and the Baltic. All that was brought to the northern countries from
across the ocean was forwarded through Germany, and by means of
this extensive commercial agency, to which was added the produce
of native German industry, the ancient cities of the empire pro-
gressed and nourished in all their wealth and prosperity. Augsburg,
Strasburg, Ratisbon, Nuremberg, Bamberg, Worms, Spires, and
Mentz, in the south of Germany; in the north, Cologne, Erfurt,
Brunswick, Liineburg, Hamburg, Bremen, and Liibeck, and many
others proudly raised and extended their walls and towers, and an
increasing and active, but equally industrious population, animated
their streets. Their riches soon gave them the means to purchase
their freedom and independence from the princes who held them in
dominion, for as in those ancient times, when but few or no regular
imposts were levied, the privileges of those princes and lords were not
so productive as now, no large sum was required to obtain this eman-
cipation. The cities then acknowledged the emperor alone as their
superior feudal lord, and thence wTere called free imperial cities.

This progress, however, was only made by degrees, and wras not
everywhere attended with the same favourable results. The first
step was made in the tenth century, when Henry I. encouraged the
foundation and extension of cities, and improved their internal con-
dition in eastern Germany, and when afterwards the episcopal cities
in the south and western parts of the country, according to the
ancient Roman cities, were raised to a state of immunity, and the

8

258 THE MIDDLE AGES.

authority of the count was substituted by that of the episcopal in-
tendant, or advocatus casae. After their example, a number of
other cities received also imperial governors, and were thus freed
from the jurisdiction of the count.

Subsequently the cities advanced still further, and sought to elevate
themselves from their state of immunity, in order to become their own
governors; for the intendants, replacing the counts in their quality
as judges, selected their assessors from the municipal council, who,
previous to the twelfth century, were called cives, in its more dis-
tinguished acceptation, and later, in imitation of the Lombardian
cities, they were styled consules or councillors; and their president,
proconsul or magister consolum, burgomaster. Those families
amongst whom the councillors were usually chosen, formed a civic
or urban nobility, and were called patrician families. As this coun-
cil was entrusted with the administration of the commercial property
and the magisterial authority of the city, it is easy to conceive what
increasing influence it must have had at its command, and how it must
have extended its power in the administration of affairs beyond,
as well as within the city, and the burgomaster, consequently,
in the course of time, left little or nothing for the intendant to per-
form. In fact, this latter functionary in the end had reason to con-
gratulate himself if he was only allowed to retain the administration
of justice; and, even then, means were not wanting on the part of
the council to arrogate this department to themselves when they
found it favourable for their object to do so.

But the authority did not rest exclusively in the hands of the
council; the various guilds and trade associations had also their share
in the government. Their influence derived strength from the
increasing activity among the industrial and working classes, and
consequent prosperity in trade ; and thence their claims to a portion
of power they enjoyed were based upon the interest they took and
shared individually and among themselves in the municipal institu-
tions. The extent to which they gradually succeeded in establishing
their united dominion is made evident by their generally triumphant
contests with the patrician families in many of the cities.

If commerce and gain had alone been the objects of the inhabit-
ants of the cities, they would soon have become subject to all those
evils which necessarily arise when the mind of man becomes wholly
occupied and absorbed in his mercenary pursuits ; the citizens would
have been rendered timid and cowardly, and would have sacrificed
both their liberty and pride in their efforts after worldly possessions.
But in those times, when the Faustrecht or club-law existed in all
its violence, they found opposed to them the entire nobility of the
empire : princes, counts, and knights, as well as bishops and abbots,
who, jealous of the riches of the cities, closely observed their deeds
and acts, and waited only for an opportunity to overturn and de-
stroy their freedom.

If the cities, therefore, desired to submit no longer to these power-

THE CITIES. 259

ful enemies, they found they^must necessarily bear arms themselves,
and preserve inviolate in their breasts that manly courage which is
the shield of freedom. In an ancient chronicle we find the follow-
ing account of the Nuremberg patricians: " The furniture of their
houses consists chiefly of gold and silver, but amidst all that meets
the eye nothing is more conspicuous than their swords, armour, bat-
tle axes, and horses, which they particularly display as the chief
signs of their nobility and the ancient rank of their families. But
the simple citizen also keeps his arms ready and in good order in his
house, so that on the first movement he may appear fully equipped
immediately at the appointed place of assembly." The whole of the
internal regulations of the city had war in view; the citizens were
divided into companies according to their trade and dwelling-place;
and when the city was in danger each of the different bodies assem-
bled in its appointed quarter, and under its particular banner, and
thus all marched forth together, and fought united in battle. This was
a beautiful union, firmly bound by warlike and peaceful occupations,
and the rivalry and emulation evinced by all in valour have frequently
obtained the victory for cities in time of danger. The citizens col-
lectively did not lose their time in a love for petty things and trifles,
nor in the effeminacy of a sedentary life in the close rooms of their
houses, but they were both in body and soul good men and true, as
well as independent. And, notwithstanding their riches, notwith-
standing their extraordinary expenditure upon great festivals, which
honour demanded in those more ancient and better times, their
daily ordinary life was very simple and temperate, and not sophis-
ticated by artificial wants. Thence their bodies remained strong,
and their prosperity lasting ; for the source and guarantee of prospe-
rity do not so much consist in rich acquisitions as in that moderation
which knows how to preserve them. " That the Germans are rich,"
says Machiavelli, in his treatise, Ritratti della Alamagna, " arises
from their living as if they were poor. It suffices for them to have
a superfluity in bread and meat, and a room, whither they may re-
treat from the cold. Thus little or no money quits their country ; on
the contrary far more comes into the land in payment for the wares
they manufacture themselves. The power of Germany is based upon
its cities ; they are the nerves of the provinces, for in them there
exists both wealth and good order."

At this glorious period of the municipal institutions, many German
cities united together for the protection of their freedom, their inde-
pendance, and their commerce generally. Thus, in the year!254, seventy
cities in the south of Germany formed the Rhenish league, for of-
fence and defence, and powerfully opposed themselves to the en-
croachments and pretentions of the nobility. Afterwards arose the
Swabian cities'-union, which was also very numerous and strong.

But the most powerful confederation among all was that of the
Hanse towns. Already early in the middle ages, the trading cities
of Germany had formed alliances in the large commercial towns of

S2

260 THE MIDDLE AGES.

other countries, and there established warehouses and factories.
These factories bore the name of Hanse, probably from the word
Hansa, which signifies trade imposts (confounded subsequently with
the Italian word Ansaria), and as several such houses were united
in foreign cities, there consequently arose a general Hanse, which
was termed German Hanse. Very early we find in London, Ger-
man Hanses from Cologne, Hamburg, Lubeck, Bremen, and other
cities, and, perhaps, their union was a chief cause for the establishment
of the whole alliance. In the history of its formation also it is im-
portant to notice the league which in 1241 the cities of Liibeck and
Hamburg concluded together, and which is commonly but incorrectly
considered as the first commencement of the whole confederation.
It was agreed that both cities should prepare ships and supply troops
to protect from all robbery the highway between the Trave and the
Elbe, and the rivers themselves, down which both sent their merchan-
dise to the sea. Several northern cities soon joined this alliance ; about
the year 1300 it numbered already sixty cities from the Lower Rhine
as far as Prussia and Livonia ; later it included as many as a hundred,
and in the middle of the fourteenth century we find the name Hansa
universally distributed. In Germany there belonged to it, besides
Liibeck and Hamburg: Bremen, Stade, Kiel, Wismar, Rostock,
Stralsund, Greifswalde, Stettin, Colberg, Stargard, Salzwedel,
Magdeburg, Brunswick, Hildesheim, Hanover, Luneburg, Osna-
burg, Miinster, Coesfeld, Dortmund, Soest, Wesel, Duisburg, Co-
logne, and many others besides; and out of Germany : Thorn, Dant-
zig, Konigsberg, Riga, Reval, Narva, Whisby, Stockholm, &c.
They wholly monopolised the trade in the Baltic, and chiefly that
in the North Sea, and had four grand depots : at Novogorod in Rus-
sia, Bergen in Norway, Bruges in Flanders, and in London.

The establishment of these emporia called forth the greatest pos-
sible development in trade, and produced the most glorious results
in commercial intercourse. From the northern regions they shipped
timber for building vessels, flax, hemp, tar, furs, and smoked and
dried fish, the consumption of which was extremely great on account
of the rigorous observance of the periods for fasting practised by the
catholics ; and they maintained the herring fishery exclusively in
their own hands. From England they procured raw wool and
cloths, which they had dyed and prepared in Germany. Bruges at
this epoch was one of the most important of the commercial cities,
and formed a depot for the merchandise of Asia, Italy, and Western
Europe, which the Hanseatic towns conveyed thence to the north
of Europe : spices of every sort, silks, gold and silver wares, fruit,
&c. This traffic exercised, likewise, the most happy influence upon
the sale of the produce of Germany : linen, cloth, metal wares, corn,
flower, beer, Rhenish wine, and woad, (so much sought for before
the introduction of indigo, and much planted in Germany,) and
many other articles which, by means of the Hanse found a market in
foreign countries. It is, therefore, not surprising that when uniting

THE CITIES — THE PEASANTRY. 261

its strength the confederation was richer and more powerful than the
northern kingdoms. It was enabled to collect together whole fleets
and armies whenever it chose, even if only a portion of the cities
united, and its friendship was universally sought. It forced King
Philip IV. of France to forbid the English aU traffic on his coast,
and obliged England to purchase peace for 10,0007. sterling. It
conquered, in 1369, even Copenhagen and Helsengoer, command-
ing the mouth of the Sound, and offered the kingdom of Denmark
for sale; to such an extent did it hold the northern kingdoms gene-
rally in its dependence, and the city of Lubeck might well be proud
of being the head of such an alliance. It was divided into four
classes: 1. The Wendish, of which Lubeck was particularly the
head ; 2. The Westphalian, with Cologne at its head (Cologne
emulated Lubeck for precedency; it carried on an extensive com-
merce by sea, and founded in London a celebrated German
factory; its maritime commerce, however, fell when Dortrecht
received its oppressive staple-right) ; 3. The Saxon, of which Bruns-
wick was the head; and 4. The Prussian and Livonian, with Dant-
•zig at the head.

Many records testify how extensive and populous the cities were
precisely at a time when violence through the Faustrecht raged
most wildly. In the fourteenth century, for instance, Aix-la-Cha-
pelle had 19,826 men who could bear arms, and Strasburg 20,000
more; Nuremberg 52,000 citizens; and increased annually by 4000
male born children. Upon a revolt of the citizens of Lubeck, the
council alone armed 5000 merchants and their servants. And be-
sides these and other large places Germany was covered with a mul-
titude of towns of middling size, which likewise flourished in trade
and population, but which now retain only the shadow of their
former importance; as, for instance, the many imperial cities in
Swabia.

jEneas Sylvius, (afterward Pius II.,) in the fifteenth century, speaks
with great admiration of the riches of the German cities, although even
then their splendour began to sink: " The kings of Scotland might
envy," hejsays, * ' the state of the meaner citizens of Nuremberg. Where
is there a" tavern among you where you do not drink out of silver?
What married woman, I will not say of rank, but the wife of merely
a simple citizen, do we not find decorated with gold? What shall I
say of the neckchains of the men, and the bridles of the horses, which
are made of the purest gold, and of the spurs and scabbards, which
are covered with jewels?"

The source of such especial riches in precious metals, possessed
by Germany, originated not only in the commerce, but also in the
recently discovered mines of the country. In the ^ year 1477, for
instance, when Duke Albert of Saxony; dined in the mine of
Schneeberg, in the Hartz mountains, the viands were laid out upon
a solid block of silver, whence afterwards 400 quintals of silver
were produced.

The flourishing state and increasing power of the German cities

262 THE MIDDLE AGES.

•was also a chief motive for the peasantry to recover their freedom ;
for the inhabitants also of the rural districts who, under the oppres-
sion of slavery, were obliged to cultivate their own land, as serfs,
for a master, at the view of the flourishing free cities were aroused
to the love of liberty and independence, and when this desire is once
properly re-awoke in an enslaved people, it rests no more until it has
cast its oppressive and degrading burden from its shoulders. Not
that the gradual rise of the rural population is to be attributed to one
source only, but, on the contrary, as in this case, it must be a con-
sequence of the collective working of many causes, which here ear-
lier, there later, supplied an individual, a family, or a whole commu-
nity with freedom and possession of the soil. In this view also the
crusades now produced the most important and beneficial results.

By command of the pope, every serf who took the cross to pro-
ceed into the Holy Land was obliged to be made free by his lord, and
thousands of them proceeded thither and became free accordingly.
In other cases the lord, previous to setting out upon the crusade,
animated by pious zeal, gave his serfs their freedom at once, or per-
haps he did not return at all ; and if he had no heirs, many of his
feudal servitors, in the consequent dispute for the inheritance, faithful
until then, now made themselves free. This method of disfranchise-
ment was the more easily put into effect when they belonged to a
noble, and if they dwelt near large cities. For they put themselves
under the protection of the latter, and continued to live within their
walls or remained upon their own inheritance, and were called then,
Pfahlbiirger or suburban citizens, and in case their lord sought to
force them to return to his service, it became the affair of the power-
ful city itself, and even of the entire league to which it belonged.

It is not to be denied, that under such circumstances many cities
in their municipal arrogance were unjust towards their noble neigh-
bours, inasmuch as they, without having one justifying cause, received
and harboured their subjects in opposition to him ; but what incited
them chiefly to do this was the recollection of the injustice which these
lords or their predecessors had done to them, — for injustice provokes
injustice — or they were perhaps at open variance with them, and they
thought they were j ustified in inj uring them in every way. When now
the nobles saw themselves in danger of thus losing all their subjects,
one after the other, if they persisted in retaining them in their service
"by force, they preferred emancipating them themselves, under certain
conditions, for lighter services and a fixed yearly impost. Finally,
many from a kindliness of disposition, and influenced by the en-
lightenment of the period, may possibly have seen that it was more
honourable as well as more lucrative, to cause their land to be cul-
tivated by free labourers, who in the feeling that they were toil-
ing for themselves and their descendants, now devoted all their
powers of mind and body to that occupation which formerly as slaves
they were forced to be driven to perform.

It was in this manner, particularly at the period of which we now
speak, that by a hundred different causes, a basis was laid in Ger-

THE PEASANTRY — THE ARTS AND SCIENCES. 263

many for the establishment of the important class of common free
peasantry, which by degrees became the fundamental strength of
the more modern states of Europe

When man is raised to a certain degree of prosperity in which his
mind is no longer absorbed in acquiring the more immediate and
pressing means to satisfy the necessary cares and wants of life, he
then applies and devotes the powers of his genius towards producing
the beautiful and grand — to that, the creation of which must shed
o'er his whole life and memory, an enduring halo of glory and ho-
nour— and accordingly all those gifts of intellectual greatness are
promoted by their cultivation and enjoy the free independent action
they demand. Thence the cities with their increasing riches neces-
sarily became the cradle of German art and science ; to which the
excitement of the imagination, and the impulse which the crusades
produced in all minds, contributed not a little. Ideas both novel
and of vast and extraordinary character spread over the world, ele-
vated the powers of the mind beyond the ordinary condition of life,
and filled it with images which it found itself excited to represent and
embody in beautiful productions of art. If we had no other evidence
of the splendour of the middle ages than that displayed in the works
of art of all kinds which that period has handed down to us, we
should even then have ample proof wherewith to refute those opi-
nions which, without any modification, pronounce that epoch to
have been dark, barbarous and miserable. A period of ignorance
and calamity could not have produced such sublime works as the
minsters of Strasburg, Vienna, and Ulm, together with the cathe-
drals of Cologne, Magdeburg, Spires, Freiburg, and so many other
churches in the cities of Germany and the Low Countries. For
art flourishes solely in the light of freedom and in the genial warmth
of prosperity and human happiness.

We have here taken our examples from architecture, because there
is scarcely any other art which like this so peculiarly expresses the
genuine German genius. What we call gothic architecture, — and
which would be better expressed with the general name of the na-
tion, Teutonic architecture — is a combination of the greatest bold-
ness and sublimity of idea, produced by religious inspiration and deep
natural feeling, with the most admirable industry and perfection in
the execution of the detail. In the contemplation of those wonderful
structures, our heart swells and the breast expands with reverential
awe and emotion ; we become completely lost, and forget ourselves
in the presence of so much grandeur, whilst we feel as we con-
tinue gazing as if with those bold ideas our mind was conveyed
upwards towards heaven, leaving its earthly infirmities behind it —
such is precisely the expression which characterises the truly sub-
lime and grand in all the creations of nature, as also in the
works of man. And when the eye, after it has recovered, from
this first and overpowering impression of the whole, contemplates
the detail, it observes that there is scarcely a solitary stone through-
out the gigantic edifice which is introduced in its rough state,

264 THE MIDDLE AGES.

but each bears some artistical labour which makes it share in
the embellishment of the whole. Thus, it might be almost said
that, as in the works of the wide creation itself, there is not a blade
of grass but possesses its own peculiar beauty and ornament, and
this blade with its millions of semblant companions combined with
the trees, rocks, and lakes present a rich and magnificent picture
of nature — so, likewise these works of German industry and art,
faithful in the detail, and sublime in the idea of the whole, are in
this union of both, objects surpassed by no other nation. We will
only remark of the Minster of Strasburg, that it has the loftiest
tower in Europe, being 594 feet high. Bishop Werner began to
lay the foundation of the church in 1015, but it was not completed
until 1275. After which the eminent architect, Erwin of Stein-
bach, sketched the plan of the tower in 1277; this was begun and
completed in 1439 by John Hulz, of Cologne, so that 424 years
were consumed in the entire construction. Of the Cathedral of Co-
logne, which in its design, commenced by Archbishop Conrad, of
Hochstedt, in 1248, is still more noble, not even the church itself,
not to name its tower, has been completed although its construction
has lasted 250 years. But we shall not wonder at this when we con-
sider the thousands of images which are carved in the stone.*

It tends to the eternal fame of our nation and of those times that
the industry, patience, and outlay of capital so necessary for the con-
struction of such works were not spared, while later generations have
but too often wasted their powers upon undertakings which have left
no trace behind.

In order to comprehend the origin and, especially, the successful
execution of those miracles of architecture, according to one great
plan, we must remark that it was not individual architects, who,
with sometimes good, sometimes bad workmen, as in our times,
undertook such works, but they were accomplished by an association
of masons, distributed over the whole of Germany, and, indeed,
over the whole of Europe, who were bound together by religion,
honour, and discipline. Even among the Romans there were build-
ing societies of great extent, the remaining members of which re-
tired to the monasteries, and there occupied themselves chiefly
with the construction of churches, and created the more sublime
style of Christian architecture. Regular but temporal builders were
also received into the society, and when, in the eleventh century, the
vigour of the monachal system began to slumber in the indolence and
satiety of acquired riches, these temporal builders obtained by de-
grees the superiority, and eventually formed the grand associations
by means of which those wonderful works were executed. They
possessed and followed mysterious signs and customs, by which the
members of the body forming the class of the more sublime archi-
tecture were distinguished from the more simple artizans. Every

* It is, however, gratifying to observe as one among the many existing signs of the
progress made in our time in the fine arts, that the completion of this noble edifice
has been recently determined and commenced upon.

THE ARTS AND SCIENCES— ARCHITECTURE— PAINTING. 265

society had its protecting patron, from whom it was named, and
wherever a grand undertaking was to be executed they all came
from their various districts ^ and assembled on the spot, so that their
art, like a common possession, was beneficially distributed through-
out most Christian countries. These important societies received
from the reigning emperor and princes letters of license, and even
their own exclusive judicial courts, at which the chief architect pre-
sided as judge. Close to the spot on which was to be erected the
large building they were engaged upon, and which edifice perhaps
took centuries to construct, a wooden house or Hiitte, was generally
built, neatly adorned inside, in which the said chief architect, with the
sword of justice in his hand, sat under a canopy and pronounced judg-
ment. This hutte or court house, in Strasburg, derived a peculiar
importance during the period of the construction of the minster.
It was soon regarded as the most distinguished amongst all in Ger-
many ; its institutions were imitated, and the other court houses
frequently derived counsel and decision from it.*

But the noble principle of these associations ended with the de-
cline of the general spirit of the middle ages. The great architec-
tural undertakings ceased; the energies of men were divided in all
directions. War monopolised so entirely the resources of states, that
for great monuments of art but little more could be done, as will be
more particularly developed as we proceed in the course of our his-
tory.

Painting was also zealously practised for the decoration of churches
and other holy places, and our old cities are full of splendid speci-
mens of this art. German art in its entire character is grave, chaste,
and moral, abounding with depth of thought and expression, like
the nation itself. In the figures of the holy apostles and saints, as
well as of pious men and women generally, who are represented in
devout contemplation and prayer, we find expressed the profound
sublimity of thought and sentiment which would be vainly sought
for in the works of art produced by any other nation, although they
may, and do possess a superiority in finish, richness of colour, and
skilfully-deceptive representation. In their pictures, also, the Ger-
mans display that untiring industry which does not consider it too
trifling to carefully represent, with truth and fidelity, the smallest
and most minute decorations of the walls, furniture, or garments.
It is true that painting attained its culminating point much later, and
the names of the most celebrated German and Flemish painters, who
"worked in the same spirit, belong to the fifteenth and sixteenth cen-
turies ; although in earlier times, and by masters whose names are
unknown, splendid pictures of subjects taken from sacred history

* After Strasburg came, in 1681, under the dominion of France, all connexion be-
tween this principal Hutte and the others of Germany gradually ceased to exist; and
the consequent disputes which arose between these latter on the subject of each
other's claims to superiority were eventually put an end to in 1731 by an imperial
decree, by which aU distinctions of privilege between these associations and the com-
mon class of architects were abolished,

266 THE MIDDLE AGES.

were executed for the churches. The most celebrated of the later
artists were John Van Eyck, of Bruges, who died in 1441, and who
Is considered as the inventor of oil painting ; his countrymen, Hans
(John) Hemling, Martin Schon of Culmbach, in Franconia, Mi-
chael Wohlgemuth of Nuremberg, but above all others Albert
Diirer, who was born in 1471 and died in 1521, and whose works
are characterised by vigorous feeling and profound seriousness of ex-
pression; and, finally, Lucas Cranach, who was born in 1470, and
died in 1553.

As a third art in the list of the middle ages, poetry was one which
particularly nourished in the time of the Swabian emperors. This
derived its vigour from the inspiration of the whole period of the
crusades and was in high estimation among the higher and lower
classes. The celebrated singers who knew how to elevate the hearts
of men by their songs of the great deeds of ancient heroes, or by
their tender lays of lament — here and there, however, refreshed by
encouraging and energetic strains — were hospitably welcomed at
every festival, and richly rewarded, proceeded from the courts of
emperors, princes, and counts, to flourishing cities, throughout the
whole of Germany. Sometimes a contest of art was instituted, similar
to those wherein the knights disputed for the prize of arms, and, be-
fore an assembly of selected and competent judges, songs resounded
of the most inspiring and admirable nature. Some of the most ce-
lebrated poets and troubadours of this period are Henry of Vildeck,
about 1170, Wolfram of Eschenbach, Hartman of the Aue, Henry
of Ofterdingen, Godfrey of Strasburg, Walter of the Vogelweide, and
Conrad of Wiirzburg. But also emperors, princes, and noble knights
themselves practised poetry. All the Hohenstaufens from Frederick I.
have left us poems, besides Margrave Otho with the Arrow, of Bran-
denburg, Duke Henry of Breslaw, Henry of Meissen, Duke John
of Brabant, Count Rodolph of Neuenburg, Kraft of Toggenburg, and
many others. One of the greatest and most splendid collections of
German poems is that of the Niebelungen or Legends of Chivalry,
which although not originally composed in this period, still at that
time was collected together and formed into one entire work ; a poem
as sublime and grand as it is sweet and touching, and may be justly
compared with the Homeric lays themselves. The Heldenbuch, or
great book of heroes, which is derived from the Swabian period,
likewise contains the most beautiful poems ; and, about the year 1 300,
a counsellor of Zurich, Riidger of Manesse, collected the metrical
lays of one hundred and forty Minnesingers, or troubadours.

In the sciences, the period of the middle ages cannot, probably, be
compared with those of later times, however superior, on the
other hand, it may rank in the fine arts, inasmuch as the sciences
are a fruit of serious reflection and of long experience, and one
age can build upon the foundation laid by a preceding one ; whilst
art, on the contrary, is more a free blossom of nature, and a work of
happy inspiration, being not so much the result of deep research as
it is of the impressions aroused by an excited epoch. The sciences,

THE ARTS AND SCIENCES — POETRY AND LITERATURE. 267

however, were not despised, but, on the contrary, zealously promoted
by the Hohenstaufen emperors. When Otho, Bishop of Freisingen,
handed to the Emperor Frederick I. his Chronicles, the emperor
said : " I receive with extreme pleasure the Chronicles which you have
compiled so wisely in such good order, and which, hitherto obscured
and concealed, you have brought to light and harmonised; and I
rejoice always, when freed from the labours of war, to read them, for
I guide myself to excellence by the splendid deeds of the emperors."
We have already seen in the life of the Emperor Frederick II. how
much he estimated science. And although herein his care was di-
rected chiefly to his Italian states and universities, yet we must take
into consideration its subsequent reaction upon Germany ; for all that
we trace proves that Germany itself was occupied in the most active
development of science and art. No period of the middle ages can
in this respect be compared with that of the Hohenstaufens. The
mind of Frederick II., without doubt, worked both powerfully and
effectually among us for the promotion of this object.

Science, at this period, was chiefly confined to the ecclesiastical
body, the members of which, by their state of independence, were
called to be its true preservers. It has been customary to consider
monasteries as the seat of indolence and ignorance, hypocrisy and
sensuality, and, in fact, of many other vices. But this is an unjust
opinion, confounding the thing itself with its abuse; and what, in
the course of years, by the change of all things, was forced to pass
away, has been at the same time, wholly misunderstood in its earlier
and more active form. In times when rude force held its sway in
the world, and every one who could not defend himself was obliged
to succumb, or was cast to the ground, the cloisters were places of re-
fuge and retreat for thousands of men, who found therein, not only
desirable asylums for security and repose, but also that necessary
leisure for the calm and contemplative occupations of the mind, which
silently and progressively produced the sciences. Without the mo-
nasteries, we should have possessed but little of the treasures of
ancient literature, which they chiefly preserved for us; indeed, but
for them we should know almost nothing of our earlier records, and
possess, but a very meager and brief history of the events of former
times. Before the invention of printing, it was so difficult and
laborious to multiply copies of works, that without the leissure and
the industry of the monks in cloisters, who, with astonishing and
admirable patience, transcribed entire works in elaborate charac-
ters, and with illuminated letters, almost all traces would have been
lost of the primitive and middle ages. Besides which, ^ the authors of
nearly all the historical works were clergymen. Their names have
been mentioned at the commencement of this period, and when we
read their productions, we must be filled with equal esteem and ad-
miration for the ecclesiastics of the middle ages.

The warlike spirit of that epoch, however, had an important
effect upon the manners of the clergy. Christian, the Archbishop
of Mentz, who was frequently at the head of the armies of Frederick I.,

268 THE MIDDLE AGES.

in his expeditions to Italy, and conducted the very obstinate siege of
Ancona, in 1174, was as valiant a warrior as he was a zealous priest
and skilful statesman. He could speak six languages : the German,
Latin, French, Brabant, Greek, and Italian. When, as a clergy-
man, he stood before the altar, he was the true representative of the
minister of peace, in full priestly dignity; but when, again, he was
mounted on his warlike steed, he displayed an equally commanding
and elevated mien as a leader of the church militant. Under his
sacerdotal robe he wore a coat of iron armour, upon his head a splen-
did helmet of gold, and in his hand a massive three-edged club. It
is related of him, that in the different battles in which he fought,
he killed nine enemies with his own hand.

The monasteries, of the importance of which for the middle ages
we have already spoken, merit here still closer observation. They
owe their first origin to that pious spirit which prizes, by far, the
heavenlyabove all earthly possessions ; and which by severe self-denial,
repentance, and mortification, in all sensual gratifications, seeks to
make itself worthy of the blessings of a purer life. At first, minds
thus tutored sought to fly from the tumult of the world, and retired
into solitary and isolated places; and when several thus disposed
were collected together, they united themselves into brotherhoods,
with the resolution of practising, in a body, similar penance and
mortification. Thus those holy men, Antonius and Pachonius,
founded in this manner, in the middle of the fourth century, in the
deserts of Upper Egypt, the first monasteries. By degrees, their
example was followed in several places ; and also in Europe monas-
teries were founded, after the holy Athanasius brought the first
monks from Egypt into Home.

In the commencement of the sixth century (515), St. Benedict,
of Nursia, gave, by the rule he formed for his monastery at Monte
Cassino, and which was everywhere followed, an entire new form to
monastic life ; and this monastery, seated upon a high mountain in
the most beautiful part of Lower Italy, may be considered as the
model of all the others in western Christendom. It has existed and
operated during a space of thirteen hundred years, and above thirty
popes, and a great number of cardinals, bishops, and ecclesiastics of the
highest rank, have sprung from the order of Benedictines. Every-
where now arose monasteries ; partly because active monks settled them-
selves in previously uncultivated districts, made them arable, and thus
acquired a right to the land around ; partly because emperors, kings,
and princes, the high clergy, and noble families, as a pleasing work to
God, built abbeys, and endowed them with the ground upon which
they were erected. Monasteries also arose in cities and villages, and cities
formed and settled themselves around monasteries. The enthusiastic
zeal excited in ancient times for a monastic life, and the donations which
these institutions received are incredible; the monastery of Ebersberg,
in Austria, alone received as many as two hundred and twenty-eight
such gifts. It was thought that no better use could be made of earthly
possessions, than to give them to a monastery; and the monks had,

THE CLERGY— MONASTERIES, &c. 269

besides, at sick beds, opportunities enough to foster and maintain this
opinion. Economical management, and cheap and advantageous
purchases made at a convenient time, augmented these possessions,
and especially so at the period of the crusades. The nobles who were
not able to command the necessary means for the expeditions to those
distant countries, sold their estates, or borrowed money upon them;
and if they did not return, or could not pay back what they had
borrowed, the property remained in the hands of the monastery.
Subsequently too, in the time of violence or the Faustrecht, many
freemen gave themselves up, together with their possessions, into
the hands of the monasteries, to enjoy their protection. And
finally, the monasteries received from the pope, in the thirteenth cen-
tury, the privilege to retain for their own possession, the bequeathed
property of the deceased relatives of the brethren — a productive
source of wealth; whilst, likewise, it was made into a law, that
neither nuns nor monks could ever bequeath any thing to a third
party, but were forced to leave their whole inheritance to the monas-
tery they belonged to. The cloisters even bestowed upon many
rich persons the title of monk, in order to inherit their property,
and permitted them afterwards to live beyond the monastery, the
same as before. If we consider all this, it is very easv to compre-
hend how the convents, by degrees, acquired such large, and some
even immense riches. The example produced stimulation, and
their number increased incredibly. St. Bernard, of Clairvaux, who
lived at the period of the second grand crusade, founded alone one
hundred and sixty, and some cities contained even several hundred
monasteries.

The urgency displayed by applicants to be received in them
was extraordinary; many sought admission from a true spontaneous
impulse of the soul, many in order to find the means of living, and,
lastly, many were persuaded and forced into them by their relatives.
It is true, in order to remedy and prevent this latter abuse, the
canon law forbid expressly that any one should be forced to take
the vow, either by imprisonment or any other measure of compulsion ;
besides which, it was ordained that a year's noviciate should always
precede taking the habit; and, finally, that no male should take the
vow of monk before his fourteenth year, nor any female before her
twelfth year; but this age was evidently too early, for many cer-
tainly took the vow without knowing what they were doing.
Many orders fixed, also, a more advanced age.

The occupation of the lay brothers, according to the rule of St.
Benedict, consisted in agricultural labour, the sciences, instruction of
youth, transcribing of books, attendance on the sick, and the exercise
of prayer and religious worship. Their mode of life was very severe,
their dress very simple, whilst their food was restricted to merely the
most necessary diet, and frequent fasting was strictly enjoined.
Later orders, which took that rule as their foundation, ^but increased
its severity, imposed upon their members the most rigid penances,

270 THE MIDDLE AGES.

including corporeal castigation. The order of the Carthusians,
which was founded by a German, St. Bruno, previously a canon at
Rheims, in an inhospitable and desert valley near Grenoble, was
considered the most severe. Their raiment consisted not only of a
rough hair skin worn next the flesh, as in many of the other
orders, but the rule commanded expressly that it should be a prickly
one; and they were forbidden any covering for the head or the
use of shoes and stockings. They fasted three times in the week,
and during the eight holy weeks they took nothing but bread and
water, whilst fat of all kinds, butter, oil, &c., were wholly prohibited.
The religious exercises were not interrupted either by night or day,
and solitude and melancholy silence increased the rigidness of this
mode of life. And yet who could believe that notwithstanding this
severity of the order, it numbered, two hundred years after its origin,
no less than two hundred and eleven monasteries and nunneries?
Such examples may serve us as a proof that the spirit of monastic life,
far from being in contradiction with the manners, was much rather a
necessary feature of that age. Their subsequent degeneration into
worldly views, and the whole changed spirit of the period, must not
cause the judgment of history to err in its consideration of the origin
of these institutions.

The head of the monastery to whom a blind and unconditional
obedience belonged, was the abbot; under him stood next the prior,
then the deacon, the butler, the steward, the cantor, &c. In the
convents there were under the abbess similar female dignities.
But every convent of nuns had a prior for religious worship, for
preaching, confession, &c., because these functions could not be
transferred to women. Laybrothers were also found in monasteries,
who, without having taken the entire vow of monks, attended to the
external business of the monastery, in order that the others might
not be obliged to quit the cloister or enclosed space of the monastery.

The monasteries, according to the ancient order of church govern-
ment, stood originally under the jurisdiction of the archbishops and
bishops of the diocess, and the abbots were consecrated by them ; they
gave permission for the foundation of those institutions, authorised do-
nations, the purchase and sale of land, &c. But ambition and a desire
for greater independence became excited by degrees in the cloisters ;
they soon wished to be dependent only upon the popes, and the latter
were not unwilling to increase in this manner their immediate and ex-
tended influence. The same as with the cities in Germany and Italy,
who sought to make themselves free from the domination of princes,
and would only be subject to the emperor, so it was with the cloisters
with respect to the bishops and the pope. With the temporal clergy
also, the patrons and curators, the monasteries by degrees stood in
direct opposition. Originally they had nothing to do with the cure
of souls. Shortly, however, -many individuals turned to the monastery
to confess, to have children christened, &c. The clergy complained
of it and several popes prohibited these incursions upon the diocess.

THE CLERGY— MONASTERIES, &C. 271

But in the course of time the monks, by the favour of the bishops,
and subsequently of the popes, gained in this respect also greater
freedom, and exercised the clerical duties in a far more extended
circle around them.

A third great extension of their power originated in the circum-

J.T* A A ZV-^...« 4-1-. ^ 4-^-^. 4-1^ « ^-~1 l.1_ _ _ * 1 1 • , -l •

belonging to the different principal orders. In the year 910, arose that of
Cluny , from the monastery of that name in Burgundy, founded by St.
Odo ; in 1 0 1 8, that of the Camaldulensians, by Romuald ; in 1 086 , that of
the Carthusians; in 1098, that of the Cistercians; in 1122, that of the'
Premontratensians, &c. These orders received from the chief mo-
nastery one common central and superior direction. All monasteries
sent their deputies to the chief assembly held in this head cloister,
and here their common affairs were deliberated upon and arranged,
and resolutions fixed. The abbot of this head cloister, to whom,
the remaining abbots vowed obedience, was charged with the exe-
cution of these regulations, inspected the cloisters, regulated them,
and thus exercised episcopal rights and privileges.

These congregations were in reality very powerful associations, and
infused into the monastic life fresh vigour and strength. In the be-
ginning of the twelfth century, consequently two hundred years after
its foundation, there were 2000 other monasteries subject to the
parent monastery of Cluny. Its abbot received all the privileges of a
bishop, and placed in all the dependant monasteries priors only from
his own monks; and he himself was elected by them. In Cluny
itself there lived four hundred and sixty monks, and yet not one was
obliged to remove from his own cell, nor was any chamber appointed
for public use, required to be cleared when, in 1245, Pope Inno-
cent IV., with several cardinals and bishops, the King of France
with his mother, sister, and brother, the Emperor of Constantinople,
the sons of the kings of Castile and Arragon, all with their suites were
entertained as guests in this splendid and spacious monastery. The
order of Premontratensians founded by St. Norbert of Xante, at
Premontre near Laon in France, numbered, eighty years after its
origin, twenty-four provincial or district directors, one thousand ab-
bots, three hundred friars, and five hundred convents of nuns.
Norbert was afterwards Archbishop of Magdeburg, and introduced
his rule into the monasteries of Magdeburg, Havelberg, Branden-
burg, &c., and the order spread to Bohemia and Silesia.

In opposition and as a contrast to these rich orders, which by
their very wealth had developed the germ of degeneration and indo-
lence, there was established at the commencement of the thirteenth
century the order of beggar-monks, whose first law was to acquire
no fixed property beyond their monastic walls, and to seek their
support by receiving small gifts. Thus, they could never be troubled
with a desire after temporal possessions in their practice of self-
denial, poverty, and mortification — three essential virtues in this

272 THE MIDDLE AGES.

new order. Francis of Assissi, an Italian, founded, in 1210, the
order of the Franciscans, and Dominique Guzman, a Spaniard, that
of the Dominicans, in 1215, and it was to this Guzman that the
pope afterwards transferred in particular the inquisition. In 1238, the
Carmelites who had previously had their original seat upon Mount
Carmel, in the east, came to Europe, and about this time under Pope
Gregory IX., they assumed the rule of St. Augustine, and founded
the order of the Augustines. All these orders speedily, and at once,
spread themselves, but it was only in the following centuries that
their activity came into full operation.

In this manner the whole empire of the church had divided
itself into two portions ; on the one side the whole of the monastic
clergy, and upon the other the secular clergy. It is true they
were 'both united in their several grades, under their superior and
supreme head, the pope ; but this division of the church was not
beneficial. Envy, jealousy, and many vexatious disputes were
thereby produced. The closer inspection of the bishops might have
kept the monasteries in a better state of discipline and order. St.
Bernard of Clairvaux, who belonged to the order of the Cistercians,
the only order which recognised the jurisdiction of the bishops,
writes upon this subject thus: " The pope can by virtue of his
power withdraw the bishop from the jurisdiction of the archbishop,
and the abbot from that of the bishop, but it ought not to take
place, for the bishops would thereby only become more arrogant,
and the monks less restrainable. All superiority, all fear, would be re-
moved, and the whole structure of the hierarchy, which in wise order
ascends to the pope, would be undermined. Beneath their humble
demeanour and expressions are concealed the haughty dispositions of
the abbots ; they plunder the church in order to free themselves from
the superiority of the bishops, and they purchase their independence
so that they may escape from that obedience which should be their
richest ornament. Thence this desire of each to rank next to and
as immediately as possible after the pope, dissolves the entire bonds
of the hierarchy."

It has been shown how in the course of time these institutions which
had grown from, and were adapted to the necessities of the age, and
which, retained in proper limits, might afterwards, as at first, have con-
tinued to fulfil their object, degenerated from the moment that their
temporal exertions entirely outweighed their intellectual efforts, their
multiplicity having thus become ten, nay a hundred times too great.
For a proportionate number of men of really inspired minds, who, dis-
gusted with the world, desired the retirement of a monastic life, could
not possibly be found to inhabit the cloisters thus numerously distri-
buted. Thence thousands against their wills, or urged by base mo-
tives, had adopted the cowl, to which they were now for ever bound,
and this majority thus introduced the germ of ruin into every institu-
tion they entered. Complaints of the degeneration of the monks, of
their continued life of sensuality, dissipation, and other vices, became

THE CLERGY— MONASTERIES, &C.— -THE FAUST-RECHT. 273

more and more frequent. The ancient reverence which had hitherto
surrounded and hovered over these places of repose and pious medita-
tion, now gradually disappeared. The inhabitants of cities, who, for-
merly by presents and grants, had contributed to build and endow the
cloisters within their walls, became now their enemies, when they be-
held them stretch their arms too widely around them, and when among
other rights, they found them arrogate to themselves that of a free-
dom from all civil impost, not only for themselves but likewise for their
labourers and mechanics. Between the princes and nobles on one side,
and the monasteries on the other, there arose jealousy, contention, and
unj ust reprisals. In order to protect themselves against external power,
as well as to exercise their rights of freedom, which alone depended
on the empire, the monasteries were obliged to procure and establish
an authorised governor and protector (Schutz or Kast-vogt) selected
chiefly from among the powerful nobility of the neighbourhood, and
for which service they paid him a considerable tax. But between
the Vogt and the monastery disputes often arose, and thus many a
monastery was severely oppressed by the Vogt, its own chosen de-
fender. The contest often forced itself within the very walls of the mo-
nastery itself. The monks rebelled against their superiors, misused and
drove them away ; the lay brothers revolted against the whole monastic
brotherhood, and consequently violence and murderous scenes of blood
desecrated those walls originally consecrated to peace. Such is the
fate of every human institution as soon as it steps beyond the true
limits assigned to it for the legitimate attainment of its appointed
object.

Nevertheless, we must here observe, that this sad degeneration in
the monastic life occurred less in the age of the Hohenstaufens than
in the following centuries, when it becomes evident that all the insti-
tutions of the middle ages inclined, and in fact were hastening
towards their fall and ruin.

It remains now for us in this description of the middle ages to
speak of that which is made its greatest objection, the misuse of
power to obtain justice, or even without the least justice, to offend.
Upon this account these times are called those of the Faustrecht
(fist or club law), because the fist so generally decided instead of the
word, and force had all the validity of law. Every prince had his
fortified castle, every knight his strong tower, frequently upon an
inaccessible rock, and every city its protecting walls ; and confiding in
these places of retreat, every one mocked the demands of the other,
often when he was wrong, until he was obliged to yield to force, or
was himself destroyed. Little attention was paid to the sentence of
judges, and, frequently, even the emperor's word was not heeded,
and thus it was that while the empire enjoyed profound peace with
its neighbours, internally the most violent contests, small and great,
raged in different places at once, so that in what they called 'the
most ordinary state of these fatal times of anarchy in Germany,
thousands of individuals perished by the sword annually. Such a con-

274 THE MIDDLE AGES.

dition appears fearful to us, and we cannot comprehend how men
could, in sucli a state, be easy and cheerful as if in perfect security.
For it would seem that only those who were violently and rapaciously
inclined held dominion, whilst peaceful, tranquil men must have lived
in constant fear and dread of destruction. So severe a judgment,
however, would again be based upon a misconception of the spirit
of that age, whilst closer observation will only serve to soften and
mellow down the harsh and hideous colours of this sad picture.

The noble lived amidst his warlike arms and was always ready
at a moment's notice to resist force by force whenever he was attacked ;
and in so doing, he did not consider himself verging at all beyond his
ordinary sphere; it often, indeed, afforded him pleasure to be thus
occasionally aroused from a temporary state of lethargy. It was a
realising proof of that glory he was bound to sustain, and as it was
for honour's sake that the very best friends broke a lance together —
often in serious contest — in the tournaments, so likewise in the most
violent feuds honour was constantly the guiding star. They did not
oppose each other in battle with the animosity and absolute hatred
excited in enemies of later times, for very frequently their encounter
was only a more serious joust at arms, in which the opponents mea-
sured their strength with each other for life and death. It was an
ordeal of God, an open and energetic mode of deciding the quarrel
which reason and argument could no longer terminate, and this de-
cision was regarded as that of justice and good right.

We have already seen that besides this, the cities excited by these
continual wars of the Fehde or Faustrecht, between the princes and
nobility, were aroused to a full development of their powers, and that,
together with industrial activity, both manly virtue and the feeling
of civil honour had become firmly united, and more and more ener-
getically brought into action. When, therefore, the citizen was at
home, within the walls of his own city, he lived in perfect security and
full of confidence in the courage of his fellow- citizens; and when he was
travelling he protected and defended himself with his own arms,
assisted by his numerous suite, with which, whenever possible, he
took care to provide himself.

The peasant was forced to suffer most in these feuds, and his condi-
tion was sadly deplorable during this period. The battle was most
generally fought upon his ground, and thus his plantations became
destroyed, whilst he himself was defenceless and without arms, not
having even the right to bear them; being held unworthy of such
honour unless he was wholly or at least half freed. But, again,
in many cases he found a protection in the point of honour
established in chivalry, which did not permit an injury or offence
being offered to a defenceless man, whilst he likewise derived
considerable compensation from the security he possessed in being,
with his sons, exempt from military service. Besides which,
the evils of war were less in extent, and left much fewer and less
disastrous traces behind than in our days; for what are all those

THE FAUST-RECHT— JURISPRUDENCE. 275

minor mischances^ of the battle-field compared with the misery so
inexpressible and incalculable which a single war in the present time
disseminates !

We should also err very much if we thought that in this period
of the Faustrecht the law had no effect, that no judges were
appointed, or tribunals held, and that all was left to 'arbitrary
will. On the contrary, the Fehde-reclit, in its peculiar sense,
was connected with the dispensation of justice and the infliction of
punishment conformably with the spirit of the age. But to perceive
and comprehend this better, we must refer back to the primitive ju-
dicial system of the Germans, and prosecute its entire development
in the middle ages.

The German judicial system like every other, the object of which is
to furnish a civil community with order and well being, was based upon
the principle that peace should reign between all its members. Thus,
whosoever had broken the peace by murder, fire, robbery, &c., (so did
nature interpret and decree to the Germans — who desired not only jus-
tice but speedy justice,) it was not necessary to cite the criminal before
a tribunal, but the offended party was at liberty to prosecute retalia-
tion until the former made compensation, either by money or other-
wise. Thence this ancient and original right of the freed man served
to found the collective feudal system. The individual who had com-
mitted the crime might be himself attacked on the same day and
immediately after it occurred; but subsequently, when the feudal
code became better regulated a previous announcement of three days
was necessary. When, however, the offender offered reparation of
honour and right, that is to say a just restitution, there was then
no longer cause to seek justice by force of arms.

In the earlier periods of German antiquity when all justice pro-
ceeded directly from, and rested in the grand and mighty union of
all the freed men, there existed no other law but the common law
practised by the count together with the community of his Gau or
district, the Centgrave or centenary, and the Decanus or ty thing man,
at the head of the communities of their jurisdiction. Every judge held
regularly, and at certain periods of the year, his Echte Ding, or court
of session. Every defendant was compelled to appear, the complaints
were made, the judge required the verdict of the community, and
what these decided by their foreman, who was called on for that
purpose by the judge, the latter declared as sentence. The commu-
nity consequently founded the law which became absolute for all
similar cases subsequently, and every freeman took a part in its le-
gislation. Charlemagne first introduced the Sehoffen, whose office it
was to attend at every court held, in order to refer to ancient pre-
cedents. If the condemned refused to submit to the sentence, the
j judge himself, together with the whole judicial community, were
; obliged to see the sentence executed. Thus the whole system was
| based upon the equalised strength of the individuals, and the firm
union of the collective community. Charlemagne by his power

T2

276 THE MIDDLE AGES.

knew liow to maintain order, and prevent each from taking the law in
his own hands. Under his reign no private or distinct feud was heard
of. But Louis the Pious, with his sons, soon afterwards gave already an
example of violence, and under the later Carlovingians the count lost
all his judicial authority, and with it, likewise, vanished more and
more the power of the communities; for, on the one hand, the
clergy, the monasteries, and the high nobility, with their vassals,
began to assume to themselves particular privileges which removed
them from the ordinary jurisdiction of the communities, and, at the
same time, exempted them from the duty of making the disobedient
attend to the sentence pronounced thereby; and, on the other, the
necessary general equality of the community was destroyed by the
preponderating authority acquired by the princes, counts, and lords.

A superior power — that of a duke — became then requisite in order
to restore the vigour of the courts. Ever since the first emperors of
the House of Saxony, Henry and Otho, had created dukes and
raised them to their proper position, the judicial courts became also
re-strengthened and improved; inasmuch as they by their summons
issued to all their officials in the districts they ruled, and by the aid
of their own vassals were enabled to command the necessary re-
spect being shown to their authority. The first Salic emperors strove,
it is true, to weaken and overthrow the ducal authority in order to
procure a more immediate influence for the imperial power, but it was
exactly in the powerful authority invested in these emperors that
justice and order found their support. But the long and unfortunate
reign of Henry IV., who was continually at war with the Saxons,
as well as with his rivals to the imperial throne, and finally with his
own sons, was the cause of the abandonment of justice once more
and of its becoming a prey to violence.

Not but that the majority of the Hohenstaufens possessed dignity
and personal authority enough to re-establish order, but all their ener-
gies being directed towards Italy, the inclination so general in Ger-
many for the Faustrecht could therefore be put into practice more
easily, especially as the power of the dukes, by the jealousy of the em-
perors, and of Frederick I. in particular, was now destroyed. The
emperors, indeed, now sought to place themselves more immediately
at the head of the judicial power, and by maintaining its dispensation
themselves, endeavoured to cause its authority to be respected by
their princes and counts. For this purpose Frederick I. established
the Landfriede, or peace of the country, which was re-established
by Frederick II., in 1235; but the confusion in the rights and pos-
sessions of the princes being already too great, the individual princes
and nobles opposed each other in constant feuds. Those wars had
acquired even a more regular form by the ordinance of Frederick I.
which decreed that the declaration of war should be announced three
days previously, and thus each knight was enabled to find greater op-
portunity to secure himself against the judicial power of his superior.

After this law, opposition to justice, and private feuds which,

THE FAUST-RECHT — JURISPRUDENCE. 277

In earlier ^times, owing to the vigour and strength of the institu-
tions, existed only as exceptions, became now of regular and estab-
lished occurrence. The baneful spirit of disorder took the upper
hand at the period of the Interregnum, and spread its dominion
everywhere around, whilst the noble chivalric feeling of honour and
virtue which was still maintained under the Hohenstaufens, gra-
dually disappeared, and rude and brutal violence became more and
more intolerant and oppressive.

Several of the emperors, whom the next division of our history
will name, endeavoured to remove and overcome these evils. Ru-
dolphus or Rodolph of Hapsburg, renewed, in several diets, the law
for the Landfrieden (or peace of the country), and strove to strengthen
it by the association of several districts, as, for instance : Westphalia,
Lower Saxony, Thuringia, Hessia, Bavaria, and Swabia. This was,
in reality, a new mode of giving strength to justice, after it was
found that the authority of the courts, the dukes, and even that of
the emperors had successively lost all power. But in a country
which was divided into so many petty dominions, these unions only
fostered too easily a party spirit, and consequently led to much in-
justice. The temporal nobles and knights, especially in the south-
west of Germany, took advantage thereof, to oppose and make war
against all those powerful cities, which had also concluded alliances to-
gether. To which followed very speedily, continued dissensions and
disputes upon the subject of the election of the emperors, and claims
to inheritance in several countries : in Liineburg, Hessia, the Tyrol,
&c. ; during which the nobility received greater weight, and could
arrogate to themselves the right of justice. The Emperor Wences-
las and his successors endeavoured to unite all these various asso-
ciations into one grand alliance of a Rrischsfriede (or peace of the em-
pire), and thus restore a superior authority, but in vain. It was not
until towards the fifteenth century, when the nobility were obliged,
by degrees, to yield to the power of the territorial princes, and when,
especially, the vigour of chivalry was broken by the development of
a new epoch, that, at length, a solid and durable foundation was laid
for the dominion of justice, by the Emperor Maximilian's fixed law
of the Reichsfriede, which secured the public peace for ever.

We will now trace the prominent features of the forms of judicial
proceedings, and of the laws in the middle ages. Originally, the
superior court of jurisdiction was held only in the particular county
which, in the name of the king, or under the Konigsbann, exercised
high judicial authority over real property and life. In the cent-
graviates (which were called, in Lower Saxony and in Westphalia,
Gogerichte), there was only a petty court of justice, to which the
nobles (Semperfreien) were not subject; for, throughout the whole of
the middle ages, we find maintained the rule: that every one, to
whatsoever class he belonged, could be adjudged only by his equals ;
so that the general grand principle of the administration of justice
by the communities, from the highest to the lowest, continued to

278 THE MIDDLE AGES.

form the basis of all judicial proceedings throughout Germany.
The emperor could pass no sentence which the princes and nobles had
not approved; and in the class of peasants, even in the courts of
law, among feudatories and vassals, no lord and no superior au-
thority could adjudge capriciously^ and arbitrarily, inasmuch as it
was necessary to have the approbation of the community. Justice,
therefore, remained the living property of the people, and its code was
formed by custom and descent, from among themselves. Written laws,
indeed, were held in dread and suspicion, for then the proceedings
would have fallen into the hands of those learned in jurisprudence.
The church alone was ruled by written laws, and almost in every
thing by the Roman code. Wherever solitary written laws were found,
such as privileges, principles of jurisprudence and rights, for cities
or particular districts, they were of such trifling import in their
incomplete state that, far from being so constituted as to form sources
of right and fountains of justice, they only served as testimonies to
prove that the true law lived exclusively in the people.

The first collection of German laws was formed by a Saxon noble-
man, Epke or Eike von Repgow, between 1215 — 18, and which
is known under the name of Sachsenspiegel or Saxon Mirror. It
was a mere private labour; but as the collection was more complete
than the hitherto so-called laws, it came by degrees into general
practice, particularly in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The
compiler was totally ignorant of the Roman code, and did not therefore
adapt his composition to it, either in form or matter; but those
who revised it subsequently, introduced much of the Roman canon
law. Among the compilations, we must include the Schwaben-
spiegel or Swabian Mirror, and the Kaiserrecht or Imperial Code,
the latter of which, in particular, contains the feudal system.

The Roman law was evidently introduced by the clergy into
Germany, and was adopted in the ecclesiastical courts. It was only
in the fifteenth century that the municipal courts commenced re-
ferring to it. The re-awakened taste for the study of Roman an-
tiquity, in general, brought with it also a desire to investigate and
make researches into the Roman law-books, particularly in the
universities; and they commenced, in doubtful cases, to procure
opinions and legal decisions, as well from the doctors of the uni-
versities as from the superior courts. The influence which the gra-
dual introduction of the Roman law had upon the public affairs of
Germany, will become more and more evident as we proceed in the
course of our history.

Before we conclude our description of the state of judicial affairs
in the middle ages, we will contemplate one of its most remarkable
institutions, namely, that of the Vehm or Femgericht, (secret execu-
tive tribunal), which formed itself in Westphalia, and which gives
us a profound view of the spirit of that period. But for the sake of
connection, we must previously enter upon and anticipate the limits
of the immediate succeeding period.

THE VEHM-GERICIIT OR SECRET TRIBUNAL. 279

In Westphalia the jurisdiction of the princess and nobles was wholly
founded upon the Gogerichte or Centgraviates. The ancient tribunal,
however, of ^the Graf or count had also maintained itself, although
much diminished in authority, as the supreme and royal court.
The high nobility and the families comprising the original free land
proprietors, who had continued free from fiefs and had never be-
come the vassals of the dominant lords, could alone be chosen as
Sch'dffen or ministers in this court; they being called on that ac-
count Freischoffen, or free ministers and judges, and the court was
styled a free court or tribunal.

Again, as the rights of the free tribunals were attached to the
primitive rights of the ancient jurisdiction of the counties, so also
those of the Stuhlherr were connected with the Freistuhls or free
courts ; for the term Stuhlherr was applied to every prince, noble,
and knight, who as judicial lord possessed a jurisdiction which did
not depend upon the emperor. The Stuhlherr was appointed to watch
especially that justice was done. For this purpose he created a Frei-
graf or free count, who was invested with authority by the emperors,
or dukes, and, after the fall of Henry the Lion, he was appointed by
the Archbishop of Cologne, as inheritor of the Duchy of Westphalia.
The free count stood in the same affinity to the Stuhlherr as the
judge or judicial lord; the Freischoffen, however, were not servants
of the judge, but they represented the ancient community or jury,
and the free count was only the president or foreman who main-
tained order in the assembly. All the Frieschoffen present pos-
sessed the right to participate in pronouncing judgment; a less
number than seven members could not form a court, and if there
were too many to enable all to take an immediate part in the pro-
ceedings, the remainder formed the audience, of whom, in the later
and more splendid periods of this tribunal, there were assembled
hundreds and even thousands. Besides this, every free count had
his clerks who were called Fronboten, and were appointed to serve
him especially, taking no share in the decisions of the court.

The superior Freistuhl or tribunal was at Dortmund, that city
being a free city of the empire, and acknowledging no Stuhlherr
or judicial lord, owing, perhaps, to the antiquity and celebrity of
its tribunal, as well as the aboriginal privileges it had acquired in
the time of Charlemagne. In Dortmund all the free counts assembled
every year to meet a general chapter, where they founded Weis-
thumer, or principles of law, examined the judgments of the free
courts, and confirmed or put them aside when an appeal was entered.
As these tribunals drew their origin from those of the ancient
county courts, it will be readily perceived that they exercised a
jurisdiction over ordinary legal disputes which we call civil actions, as
also over penal cases, which pre-suppose a crime. But this last division
of their office, at that time so important, became still more so in, the
course of time, in order to enable them to exercise their whole power,

280 THE MIDDLE AGES.

in suppressing as much as possible the savage spirit existing so univer-
sally and amongst all classes, to commit the most serious crimes
against life, honour, and property. And as they adjudged in the
name of the emperor, and by the law of life and death, they thought
that in all criminal affairs they could extend their jurisdiction beyond
the limits of Westphalia, more especially as not another tribunal
existed throughout the empire so authorised, from which to obtain
justice against criminals. In fact, such influence did this tribunal
command, that at length no cases of contention, nor even purely civil
disputes arose which could not be brought before them for decision,
if the defendant refused to do justice and honour to the plaintiff;
for thence the crime became one absolutely confirmed against the
sanctity of the law.

Thus in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the power of the
Freigerichte extended over all parts of Germany, as far as Prussia
and Livonia ; whilst all complaints, even from the most distant districts,
were obliged to be brought before a Westphalian superior tribunal,
and it was upon Westphalian ground (styled in the judicial language
the red earth) that the cited person was forced to appear. Beyond
Westphalia no such Freistuhl could exist, and when the Emperor
Wenceslas endeavoured to introduce one into Bohemia, the free
counts declared that any one participating in such a Freistuhl
incurred the penalty of death. Thus originally it was Westphalians
alone, and of these only the ancient free born Sclwffen or Stulilfreien
that could be constituted judges in the tribunal ; but in the thirteenth
century it was the custom to receive also other free, irreproachable,
and honourable men as Schoffen, and when the court itself extended
its jurisdiction beyond the boundaries of Westphalia, every free
German could become a Freischoffe, and princes, counts, knights,
and citizens, strove to attain the honour of participating in the pri-
vileges of Freischoffen. A Freischoffe could be cited only before a
Freigericht or free tribunal, and great weight was laid upon his
word and oath. But they were very careful and strict in their
election of a Freischoffe ; he was obliged to prove that he was free
born, of a good family, not suspected of any misdeeds, and was in
the enjoyment of all his rights, and finally two Freischoffen were
obliged to become his security. The reception could take place only
in Westphalia. Even the emperor himself could make Freischoffen
only upon the so-called red earth, in this superior court. They had
among them a very ancient, secret sign and peculiar greeting, whereby
they recognised each other ; whence, or perhaps from their knowledge
of the laws, they were called the initiated, and in order to make any
one knowing or wise implied receiving him among the Schoffen of
the superior tribunal ; even emperors were subjected to this reception,
for in the year 1429 the Emperor Sigismund was solemnly received
among the initiated, at the Freistuhl of Dortmund. We may consider
these courts of justice in Westphalia at this brilliant moment of their

THE VEHM-GERICIIT OR SECRET TRIBUNAL. 281

existence, when almost all the princes, nobles, and knights, became
Freischoffen, as an absolute and important association, which in all
its ramifications spread over the whole of Germany, and which at a
time when all the other courts had lost their power, acted as a sub-
stitute, and constituted a barrier against the rude and brutal force of
crime. A solemn oath held all the members united, and not even
in the confessional were they suffered to reveal a secret of the Vehm
tribunal; neither were the clergy themselves admitted into it.

Originally the non-initiated were not taken at once before -the
secret tribunal, but before the ancient tribunal of the community or
jury court (the Eclite Ding), but that was formed by the same indi-
viduals ; the forms only were less severe, and likewise there every
one could be present. But if the cited individual did not appear, he
was then taken before the closed or secret court, so called because
only those initiated could be present, and any non-initiated one
venturing to introduce himself was immediately hanged. The term
secret here therefore implies closed court, and does not indicate those
terrible mysteries which dared not be exhibited before the light of
day.

It is equally as fabulous that these tribunals were held at night in
woods, caverns, and subterranean vaults, although in later times,
when this court had become degenerated, it may have occurred in
isolated cases. But the place of meeting was the ancient palace
court of the grafs or counts, generally upon a mountain or hill,
whence the eye could command a view of the entire country
around, under the shade of lime trees, and by the light of the sun.
The free graf or count ascended and presided on the seat of
justice; before him lay the sword, the symbol of supreme justice,
at the same time representing in the form of its handle the cross
of Christ, and the next to it the Wyd or cord as a sign of
right over life and death. The count then opened and closed
the court, that is, he called the Schoffen around him and assigned
to them their places. They were obliged to appear bareheaded and
without arms or armour. Upon the judges' declaration that the court
was opened, peace was commanded for the first, second, and third
time. From that moment the deepest silence reigned throughout
the assembly, no one ventured to argue or converse, for by so doing-
he transgressed against the solemn decreed peace of the tribunal. The
cited person, who was also obliged to appear without arms, stepped
forward, accompanied by his two sureties or bail, if he had any. The
complaint made against him was stated to him by the judge, and if
he swore upon the cross of the sword, the legal oath of purification,
he was free: " He shall then takeaKreuzp/ennifror farthing piece,"
says an ancient work on jurisprudence, " throw it at the feet of the
court, turn round and go his way. Whoever attacks or touches him,
has then, which all freemen know, broken the king's peace." Such
was the ancient proceeding with the genuine Freischoffen , who en-
joyed particular privileges, and who were presumed to have a strict

282 THE MIDDLE AGES.

love for truth and honour. In later times that simple straight-
forward way seems to have become quite changed, for we read in
other ancient codes that the plaintiff was entitled to oppose and
destroy the validity of the purifying oath of the defendant by three
witnesses, which, however, the latter could again oppose with six;
if the accuser appeared with fourteen, the defendant could swear
himself free with twenty-one, which was the highest testimony. If
the defendant acknowledged the crime, or if the plaintiff convicted
him by oath and witnesses, the Schoffen then gave judgment. If
the criminal received sentence of death he was executed immediately
and hanged on the next tree; the minor punishments were exile
and fine.

But if the defendant did not appear upon the third citation, and
could produce no satisfactory cause of absence within a stipulated
period, he was considered as having confessed his crime, or as one
despising justice and peace, and, therefore, having placed himself
beyond the pale of either, the sentence of the Vehm, which was equi-
valent to condemnation, was pronounced against him; and thence
these courts received the name of Vehmgerichte.

The sentence pronounced by the court was dreadful: " As now
N. has been cited, prosecuted, and adjudged before me, and who
on account of his misdeeds, I summoned before me, and who
who is so hardened in evil, that he will obey neither honour nor
justice, and despises the highest tribunal of the holy empire, I
verfeme, or denounce him here, by ah1 the royal power and force, as
Is but just, and as is commanded by the Konigsbann, or royal
ban. I deprive him, as outcast and expelled, of all the peace,
justice, and freedom he has ever enjoyed since he was baptised;
and I deprive him, henceforward, of the enjoyment of the four
elements, which God made and gave as a consolation to man, and
denounce him as without right, without law, without peace, without
honour, without security; I declare him condemned and lost, so
that any man may act towards him as with any other banished
criminal. And he shall henceforward be considered unworthy, and
shall enjoy neither law nor justice, nor have either freedom in,
or guidance to any castles or cities, excepting consecrated places.
And I herewith curse his flesh and his blood ; a*nd may his body
never receive burial, but may it be borne away by the wind, and
may the ravens, and crows, and wild birds of prey consume and de-
stroy him. And I adjudge his neck to the rope, and his body to
be devoured by the birds and beasts of the air, sea, and land ; but
his soul I commend to our dear Lord God, if He will receive it."

According to some customs, after he had cast forth the rope beyond
the walls of the court, the count was obliged to pronounce these words
three times, and every time to spit on the earth with the collective
Schoffen, as was the usage when any one was actually executed.
The name of the condemned criminal was then inserted in the
book of blood, and the count then concluded the sentence as fol-

THE VEHM-GERICHT OR SECRET TRIBUNAL. 283

lows: " I command all kings, princes, lords, knights, and squires,
all free counts, and all free, true Schoffen, and all those who belong
to the holy empire, that they shall help with all their power to
fulfil this sentence upon this "banished criminal, as is but just to the
secret tribunal of the holy empire. And nothing shall cause them
to withhold from so doing, neither love nor affection, relationship,
friendship, nor any thing whatever in this world."

The banished man was now in the condition of the criminal con-
demned to death, over whom execution lowered. Whosoever re-
ceived or even warned him, was also taken before the tribunal of
the free count. The assisting members of the court were bound by
a terrible oath, and by a heavy sentence of death, to conceal the
judgment which had been passed against any one; that is to say, to
make it known to nobody but one initiated ; and even if the con-
demned man was a brother or father, the member durst not warn
him thereof. Besides which, each initiated one to whom the sen-
tence was authentically conveyed, was bound to help to put it in
execution. Generally, a letter of outlawry was given to the
plaintiff, with the seal of the free count and seven Schoffen, that he
might pursue the guilty party ; the oath of three Freischoffen suf-
ficed to confirm the sentence. Wherever the Verfemte, or banished
man was found, whether in a house, in the open street, the high road,
or in the forest, he was hanged at the next tree or post, if the ser-
vants of the secret court could obtain possession of him. As a sign,
that he was put to death in execution of the holy Vehm, and was not
murdered by robbers, they left him all that he bore about him, and
stuck a knife in the ground close beside him. Besides this, the
Schoffen of this secret court possessed the privilege of hanging with-
out a trial every criminal taken in the fact, if, faithful to the laws of
honour, they took nothing from him which they found about him,
and left behind the sign of the Vehm.

We are astonished when we contemplate this terrific and mighty
power of the Schoffen alliance, and can at the same time easily com-
prehend how the most extraordinary traditions of this Vehmgericht^
or secret tribunal, based upon their nocturnal assemblies, their
mysterious customs, their initiation and course of justice, together
with their condemnation and execution' of the criminal, have been
preserved in the mouths of the people, for even the plain historical
descriptions thereof are sufficiently striking. An association of se-
veral thousand men spread throughout the whole of Germany, from
the highest to the lowest classes (for we find examples of common
freemen, mechanics, and citizens, being clothed with the dignity of
a free count, and that even princes and knights did not ^disdain to
assist as Schoffen under their presidency), such a society whose
members recognised each other by secret signs and by a solemn oath
were bound to support each other, who adjudged and punished in
the name of the emperor and the empire, who reached the criminal

284 THE MIDDLE AGES.

even after an elapse of years, and in whatever corner he might seek re-
fuge, and finally who were not subjected to give any account for what
they did if only the terrific knife was present as evidence : what power,
we repeat, did not this alliance command against the evil-minded, and
what a powerful support and guarantee might it not have been for
the peace and justice of the empire? The prince or knight who easily
escaped the judgment of the imperial court, and from behind his
fortified walls defied even the emperor himself, trembled when in the
silence of the night he heard the voices of the Freischoffen. at the
gate of his castle, and when the free count summoned him to appear
at the ancient malplatz or plain, under the lime tree, or on the bank
of a rivulet upon that dreaded soil, the Westphalian or red ground.*
And that the power of these free counts was not exaggerated by the
mere imagination, excited by terror, nor in reality by any means in-
significant, is proved by a hundred undeniable examples, supported
by records and testimonies, that numerous princes, counts, knights,
and wealthy citizens were seized by these SchofYen of the secret
tribunal, and in execution of its sentence, perished by their hands.

Such power placed in human hands without the protecting check
of publicity and responsibility could not long exist without misuse.
In the great development and extension of the association, it could
not be avoided, but that unworthy individuals should be received as
members who used the power confided to them for the sole satisfac-
tion of their revengeful and baser passions. At the end of the
fifteenth century many complaints arose in several parts of the empire,
and particularly on the part of the clergy, against these free courts ; and
we find that the whole spirit of modern times began to work against
them far more than these charges upon isolated events. The power of the
lords of the soil had now become increased and confirmed; they could
not endure that their subjects should be judged by a strange, although
originally imperial tribunal. Thence arose alliances of princes, nobles,
knights, and cities, against the Westphalian courts, and when the
law for the lasting peace of the land, the new imperial chamber of
justice, and a new criminal court were introduced, the study of law
and jurisprudence became substituted for a knowledge of the ancient
customs ; and when crimes against the peace of the land and against
obedience to the authorities ceased, then did the power of the secret

* We must add here, that the summons was executed by two Schoffen who were
the bearers of the free count's letter. If they did not succeed in finding the accused,
because he was living either in a city or a fortress, where they could not safely enter,
they were authorised to execute the summons in the night. They stuck the lett
enclosing a farthing piece, in the panel of the gate of the castle, and cut off th
chips from the same gate, which they handed to the free count as a testimony tl
they had delivered the summons, having, when leaving the gate, cried out to t
sentinel on the walls that they had deposited there a letter for his lord. If the
accused was a man without any regular place of residence, and if he could not be
met with, he was summoned at four different cross-roads, where at each point, the
east, west, north, and south, they attached a summons, enclosing in each the royal
petty coin.

THE VEHM-GERICHT OR SECRET TRIBUNAL. 285

tribunal evaporate of itself without any formal abrogation, so that it
is equally difficult to trace the last as it is to fix the first year of its

* In the sixteenth century, the association contended for its rights and privileges,
and the struggle still continued in the seventeenth century, although much weakened
and the scene confined to "Westphalia. In the eighteenth century there were left
only a few traces, the ruins of the past; its recollections and its signs, however, still
continue to exist amongst the peasants of certain provinces in Westphalia. At
Gehnien in Miinster the secret tribunal was only extinguished entirely by the
French legislation in 1811 ; and even to the present day, some of the free peasants
who have taken the oath of the Schoffen, meet annually at a particular spot
around the Freistuhl, and it has been impossible to extract from them the secret
oath. The principal signs are indicated by the letters S. S. G. G. which signify stock
Cstick), stein (stone), gras (grass), grein (tears); but we cannot trace the mysterious,
meaning these words convey in connexion with the Vehmgericht.

286

FIFTH PERIOD.

FROM BUDOLPHUS I. OF HAPSBURG TO CHARLES V.

1273—1520.

THE sources of the history of this period are again still more scanty than in that
of the Hohenstaufens, consisting chiefly of special chronicles rather than of general
historical works, constituting one entire and continuous representation of events,
added to which they are all, or for the greater portion, written in the Latin tongue.
The first we have to mention are those works of general history which appear in
the form of chronicles or annals, and which present but a meagre portion of German
history. The most important are:

1. Hermann, a monk of Attaich, known under the name of Henricus Sterv; Chro-
nicle 1147—1300.

2. Annales Colmarienses, 1211 — 1303; in the collection of Urstisius.

3. Matthias of Neuenburg ; Chronicle as far as 1353, continued by Albert of Stras-
burg ( Albertus Argentinensis) to 1378; in Urstisius.

4. JohnVitododuranus; Chronicle 1215 — 1348; in Eccard.

5. Gobelinus Persona, deacon of Birkefeld; Review of the World (CosmodromiumJ,
to 1418; in Meebom.

6. Dieterich Engelhusen; Chronicle to the year 1420; in Leibnitz and Menken.

7. Andreas, a presbyterian of Ratisbon; Chronicle to 1442; in Eccard.

8. Werner Rolewink of Laer, a carthusian monk in Cologne; Chronicle to 1476,
continued by Hans Lindner to 1514; in Pistorius.

9. Hermann Korner, Domin, inLubeck; Chronicle to 1435; in Eccard.

10. Hartmann Schedel, a doctor in Nuremberg; Chronicle to 1492; printed sepa-
rately.

11. John Nauklerus, professor in Tubingen ; Universal History, to 1500; printed
separately.

12. John of Trittenheim (Joannes Trithemius), from the vicinity of Treves,
Abbot of Sponheim and Wurzburg, who died in 1516: his works are very important
and have been edited by Freher. The most valuable among them is the Chronicle of
the Monastery of Hirschau in Wurtemberg (published at St. Gallen iu 1630: Chro-
nic. Hirsaugiense) 830 — 1514; in which the historian has interwoven the whole his-
tory of Germany.

13. Albert Kranz, canon in Hamburg, who died in 1517, wrote the history of
Northern Germany, in three parts: Metropolis, Saxonia, etVandalia; a learned man,
and, for his time, an independent thinker.

As especial and entire works on Germany may be mentioned:

14. The State letters of the Emperor Rudolphus I.; edited by Gerbert, 1772, and
Bodmann, 1806.

15. The Biography, &c., of the Emperors Rudolphus I. and Albert I., written by
Gottfried, of Ensningen, by desire of Magnus Engelhard, a citizen of Strasburg.

16. Albert Mussatus, professor in Padua, and who died in 1330, wrote De Gestis
Henrici VII. Imp., and History of Italy, after the death of Henry VII

17. Caroli IV., Commentarius de vita sua ad filios.

18. .(Eneas Sylvius Piccolomini, subsequently Pope Pius H., and who died in the
year 1464, produced:

a. The history of his own times from 1405-63, which he caused to be written by
his own private secretary, J. Gobelin, of Bonn.

RUDOLPHUS I. OF HAPSBURG.— CHARLES V. 1273 — 1520. 287

b. The history of the ecclesiastical council of Basle, written by himself ; as also

c. The history of the Emperor Frederick III., and,

d. Various minor works, amongst which the Descriptio de Ritu, Situ, Moribus et
Conditione Germaniae, and numerous letters, all of which have been collected and
repeatedly printed.

19. Pertz's Scripta rerum Austriac. contains many valuable sources for the history
of the Austrian emperors.

20. J. Joacli. Miiller has collected the most important transactions of the diets of
the Germanic empire, especially of those under Frederick III. and Maximilian L,
published in Jena 1709, and subsequently.

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries we find historical works in the German
language become more frequent :

21. Ottocar of Hornegk wrote a Chronicle in rhyme, which contains the entire
epoch of the Interregnum and the history of the Emperors Rudolphus, Adolphus,
Albert, and Henry VII., as far as 1 309 ; a work which although not strictly historical'
is nevertheless worthy to be referred to as a history of those times. It is reprinted
in Pertz's History of Austria.

22. Jacob of Kbnigshoven, an ecclesiastic in Strasburg, who died in 1420, wrote a
Chronicle of Alsace and Strasburg in the Swabian dialect, which was edited by
Schilter, and published with his notes in 1698.

23. Eberhard Windeck, of Mentz, private secretary to the Emperor Sigismund,
wrote a Biography of that monarch; in Menken.

24. J. Rothe, domin. in Eisenach, wrote a Chronicle of Thuringia, in the low Saxon
dialect, as far as 1434; continued by an anonymous writer to 1440.

25. The Limpurgian Chronicle from 1336-89, which contains much, especially of
the history of manners, customs, &c., and has been several tunes reprinted.

26. Conrad Bothe, chronicler of the Saxons to 1489, in the low German dialect;
in Leibnitz.

27. Diebold Schilling, about 1480, history of the wars of Burgundy; very well
written.

28. Melchior Pfinzing (of Nuremberg, born in 1481, Imperial Councillor, and sub-
sequently Provost in Mentz) sang the history of the Emperor Maximilian I. under
an adopted title : " Geuerlichkeiten und Geschichten des loblichen streitbaren Helds
und Ritters Tewrdanks." Nuremberg 1517, and subsequently often reprinted.

29. Marcus Treizsauerwein, private secretary to the Emperor Maximilian L, has
presented us likewise with a description of that monarch's great deeds in his work:
der Weiskunig, 1514; and for which the emperor himself furnished much of the
materials.

30. Bilibald Pirkheimer (of Eichstadt, born 1470, Councillor in Nuremberg, and
subsequently Imperial Councillor, died in 1530) wrote his: Hist, belli Helvetici, and
Currus triumphalis, honori Max. I. inventus; together with many other works.

31. Finally, we must mention two works by Sebastian Franks (born 1500, died
1545), the Zeitbuch 1531, and Teutsche Chronik 1538.

288 RUDOLPHUS I. — HIS GOOD AND NOBLE CHARACTER.

CHAPTER XII.

EMPERORS OF DIFFERENT HOUSES.

1273—1347.

Eudolphus I. of Hapsburg, 1273-91— Adolphus I. of Nassau, 1292-98— Albert I. of
Austria, 1298-1308 — Switzerland— Confederation of the Swiss— Gessler — William
Tell — Henry VII. of Luxemburg, 1308-13— Frederick of Austria, 1314-30 and
Lewis of Bavaria, 1314-47— Switzerland — The Battle of Morgarten, 1315 — The
Battle of Muhldorf, 1322— The First Electoral Alliance, 1333— Death of Lewis,
1347.

THE state of commotion in Germany continued to grow daily
more violent; and when, in 1272, Richard of England died, and
Alphonso took not the least interest in the German Empire, the
princes at length, in the year 1273, held an imperial diet at Frank-
fort, in order to choose an emperor who should meet the views of
every one. It was necessary that he should be great and wise, in
order that he might restore the imperial dignity ; but at the same
time not powerful, lest the princes should have reason of appre-
hension for the security of their own power. To unite both requi-
sites was a difficult matter; however, good fortune determined the
election to the advantage of the country. In Switzerland lived
Count Rudolphus of Hapsburg, whose territories and subjects were
not very extensive or numerous, but who by his valour, pru-
dence, and integrity, had obtained the respect of the higher or-
ders, and of the people generally. He had been formerly the com-
panion and friend of the Emperor Frederick II., who in the year
1218, had personally stood godfather to him, and in one of his cam-
paigns in Italy, possibly after the glorious battle at Cortenuova, had
conferred upon him the order of knighthood. During the tur-
bulent time of the Interregnum, he lived on his family estates, and
defended, to the utmost of his power, all who required his assistance
against the oppression and injustice of the rapacious knights. He
was for a long time the protector and governor of the cities of
Zurich and Strasburg, and of the towns situated at the foot of the
Alps of St. Gotthard. In his manners he displayed the natural sim-
plicity and frankness of a good and noble man ; and in a letter ad-
dressed to the pope, the Archbishop of Cologne, when speaking of
him, says: "He reveres the church, he is a lover of justice, a man of
prudent counsels and piety, beloved of God and man, possessing an
agreeable form and countenance, and which although of a stern
expression, still when he speaks is invested with an air of affa-
bility which inspires confidence ; he possesses besides, a hardy con-
stitution, and in his wars against the faithless he has always been
successful."

THE CORONATION — THE CROSS vice THE SCEPTRE. 289

^ He was more especially held in high esteem by Werner, Arch-
bishop of Mentz, for when on one occasion this prelate took a jour-
ney to Rome for the purpose of receiving his archbishop's robe,
deeming the passage through the mountains of Switzerland unsafe,
he besought Count Rudolphus to escort him from Strasburg to the
Alps and back. This Rudolphus did with all the chivalric faith of a
true knight. During the journey, the archbishop became gradually
acquainted with his great and rare virtues, and when he was about
to leave his noble defender, he said, that he only wished to live long
enough to be able in some degree to reward him for his services ; and
this opportunity had now arrived. He so urgently recommended
Count Rudolphus of Hapsburg for the imperial dignity, that the Ger-
man princes elected him at once to the throne of the empire.

Rudolphus, who little expected such an elevation, was at that
moment engaged in war with the city of Basle, in order to reinstate
in that city, that portion of the nobility who called themselves the
" Sterners," and who had been expelled by the other party, the
" Psittichers." It was at midnight that the Burggrave of Nurem-
berg, Frederick of Hohenzollern, Rudolphus's brother-in-law, ar-
rived at the camp, and brought the unexpected intelligence. Ru-
dolphus, at first, did not believe it; but when the marshal of the
empire, Henry of Pappenheim, arrived, he sent the Burggrave into
the city, with an offer of peace to the citizens, he being now, as he
said, the more powerful party. They accepted it with gladness,
and were the first to congratulate him upon his elevation. He then
went to Frankfort, and thence to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he was
publicly crowned. After the coronation, the princes present, ac-
cording to the ancient custom, rendered homage to the new emperor
for their estates. It so happened, that there was no sceptre at hand,
probably because, owing to the many foreign emperors, and the
consequent changes in the government, the state jewels were dis-
persed; great concern was, therefore, manifested, as to what the
emperor could possibly use for performing the ceremony of enfeoff-
ment. Rudolphus thereupon removed the difficulty, and snatching
up a crucifix, he employed that instead of the sceptre: " For," said
he, "a symbol by which the world was redeemed, may well supply
the place of a sceptre ;" language which pleased all present.

The new emperor began his reign with great rigour but at the same
time with such paternal benevolence, that the meanest of his subjects
experienced the good results therefrom: his new dignity effecting
no change in the greatness and firmness of his character; and even in
his outward appearance he remained as simple and unostentatious
as before. So little did he regard external display and magnificent
apparel, that he did not hesitate, especially in his^ great expeditions,
to wear, equally with his companions in arms, an inferior cloak, and
even with his own hands to repair his own doublet. Once only we
find, by his accounts, that he bestowed a large sum of money upon

u

290 RUDOLPHUS I. AND OTTOCAR OF BOHEMIA.

dress for himself, his consort, and children, which occurred on the
occasion of his first interview with the pope.

In order that he might at once heal and eradicate the disorders
of the kingdom, he sent the following communication to all the
vassals and loyal subjects of his realm: " I now intend, by the
blessing of God, to re-establish peace throughout this country so
long distracted, and to take under my protection against further
tyranny all those who have hitherto groaned under oppression; to
promote which object I confide in the efficient co-operation of my
estates."

He suited the action to the word, and travelled throughout the
countries of Franconia, Swabia, and the borders of the Rhine, and
wherever he met with a peace-breaker who would not conform to
order, he punished him with all the severity of the law. This was
the case especially with regard to the more petty robbers and dis-
turbers ; but Rudolphus clearly perceived, that if the imperial dig-
nity was to be clothed with its original and proper importance, the
great princes must likewise be compelled to perform their duties,
and pay him due homage. King Ottocar of Bohemia, however,
would hear nothing of any such subjection to the emperor; he was
a much more powerful prince than the Count of Hapsburg, pos-
sessing in addition to Bohemia, also the Austrian estates, which after
the extinction of the ducal house of Babenberg, he had obtained
partly by inheritance and partly by money and force of arms, and
he by no means felt bound to yield. Moreover, the Austrian estates
complained bitterly of liis tyranny and oppression. Rudolphus,
therefore, commenced by summoning Ottocar to appear at the im-
perial diet of Nuremberg, in 1274, there to take the usual oath
of allegiance. But the king came neither then nor to a second
diet at Wurzburg; and to a third held at Augsburg in the year
1275, he only sent Bernard, Bishop of Seckau, as his representa-
tive, who was, however, so daring as to begin a Latin speech in the
presence of the assembled princes, in which he endeavoured to prove
that the Emperor Rudolphus's election was not legitimate. Rudol-
phus however interrupted him, saying : " My lord bishop, if you have
any affairs to settle with my clergy, speak by all means in Latin, but
if you have to say ought touching me or the privileges of my empire,
speak as is the custom, in the language of the country," and the
princes, when they understood that he intended to impeach Ru-
dolphus's election to the empire, could scarcely refrain from turning
him out ; but the bishop saved them the trouble by departing of his
own accord, and he hastened away from Nuremberg.

The ban of the empire was now pronounced against the rebellious
Ottocar; but he'was so insolent, and faithless, that he ordered the
heralds, who had brought to him the declaration of the ban, to be
tied up at the gates of Prague. He, however, soon suffered the
punishment due to him. Rudolphus, in the year 1276, suddenly
made an attack upon Austria, and subdued the country as far as

RUDOLPHUS'S GREY DOUBLET — OTTOCAR'S HUMILIATION. 291

Vienna, which he besieged. Ottocar encamped on the opposite side
of the Danube, thinking himself secured by the width of the river;
but Rudolphus, to the astonishment of all, so quickly threw a bridge
across, in order to attack and capture the king in his stronghold, that
the latter, being greatly^ alarmed, immediately offered j>eace. He was
obliged to resign Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola. And for
the ratification of peace a marriage was contracted between the Bohe-
mian crown prince, Wenzeslas, and one of the six daughters of Ru-
dolphus, and another between a son of the emperor and a Bohemian
princess. Ottocar then came to Rudolphus, in his encampment, to
obtain the feoffment of his estates. This scene did not pass without
the humiliation and shame of the proud king. He had hoped by
the splendour of his royal retinue to eclipse the unostentatious em-
peror, but Rudolphus availed himself of this very circumstance in
order to humble him: " The king of Bohemia has often laughed
at my grey doublet," said he, "but to-day my grey doublet shall
laugh at him." Accordingly, arrayed in his plain and simple attire,
and seated upon the imperial throne, he received the king, who,
glittering in gold and purple, was now obliged, in the presence of
all the bishops and princes, to humbly supplicate on his knees for
pardon, and to do homage for his kingdom of Bohemia and Moravia.
Hereupon the princes of the empire, as usual after a terminated
campaign, returned home ; but Rudolphus, who by no means trusted
the proud king, remained in Austria with his faithful Alsatian and
Swabian knights, who continued attached to him from the time when,
under his orders as count of Hapsburg, they fought with him in so
many battles. And, in reality, very shortly afterwards Ottocar re-
commenced hostilities, thinking that Rudolphus had now no com-
petent forces with him. But the emperor with his small but valiant
band boldly marched against his adversary, and maintained a most
sanguinary battle, on the 26th of August 1278, at Marchfeld, on
the other side of the Danube. The victory was long doubtful, and
Rudolphus himself was in great danger, for amongst the Bohemian
knights, several had agreed and sworn to attack and destroy him.
One of them, Henry of Fullenstein, sprang upon him with his
couched lance, but the emperor avoided the stroke, and dexterously
thrusting the point of his own spear through the aperture of his an-
tagonist's helmet, he pierced his head and he fell dead from his horse.
At the same moment, however, a gigantic Thuringian knight, who
also belonged to the conspirators, stabbed the horse of Rudolphus,
which fell to the ground, and its royal rider with difficulty pro-
tected himself with his shield from being trampled under foot,
until one of his own knights brought him another horse. Being
again mounted, and his general, Berthold Kappler, bringing up now
the rear-guard, he once more dashed against the enemy, who could
no longer resist the attack, but was completely put to flight. Never-
theless, although deserted by his army, Ottocar, as Rudolphus him-
self testifies, fought bravely to the last; until, with his horse, he was

u 2

292 INTERNAL TRANQUILLITY — RUDOLPHUS AND ITALY.

struck to the eartli and killed by a knight of Styria, whom he
had formerly much injured and oppressed. When peace was re-
stored, the marriage between the two royal houses was celebrated,
and Bohemia was governed in trust for the children of Ottocar by
the margrave of Brandenburg.

Rudolphus, however, with the consent of the German princes,
transferred Austria, as imperial fief to his own house; it was in factr
a country reconquered by his arms for the German empire, and one
of the electoral princes in a letter he wrote in approbation of thi&
arrangement said: "That it was only just that Rudolphus should
convey over to his children, if he thought fit, that principality which-
he had reconquered for the empire with so much sacrifice of his own
blood." Accordingly, at an imperial diet, held in Augsburg in-
1282, the emperor took solemn possession thereof, and in the pre-
sence of all the princes and nobles of the empire, he gave to his
sons Albert and Rudolphus, the countries of Austria, Styria, Car-
niola and Vienna; but Carinthia he gave to Meinhard, Count of
Tyrol, whose daughter his son Albert had married. Thus the
Emperor Rudolphus became the founder of the powerful house of
Austria.

These affairs being settled, he was again, although far advanced in
years, zealously engaged in seeking to promote the tranquillity of
the empire. He required the counts, nobles, and cities of the.
several countries throughout the empire to take an oath to pre-
serve the public peace for the term of five years; and knowing
well that all who nourish evil intentions are never sufficiently bound
by their word, he himself journeyed through all the provinces, and
routing the freebooter knights from their castles and strongholds,,
completely destroyed them. Thus, on one expedition to Thurin-
gia, he razed sixty-six such places, and executed twenty-nine of
these brigand nobles; amongst those of the most troublesome
princes whom he punished was Count Eberhard of Wurtemberg, and
whose motto was: " The Friend of God and enemy of the world;"
him he besieged in his own city of Stuttgard, and forced him to
yield and to raze with his own hands the walls of that, his actual
place of residence. On the other hand, he suffered other persons of
rank to build fortresses for their defence against the freebooters, as
in the case of the Bishop of Paderborn, who in 1290 was permitted
to build two castles upon his domain.

Thence the Emperor Rudolphus was so fully employed in Germany,,
that he never seriously contemplated going to Italy in order to be
crowned king. He was also accustomed to say that " Italy re-
sembled a lion's den, in which it was true many traces might be
found of those emperors who had entered it, but very few, if any of
those who had quitted it." Nay, so little did he follow out the
plans of former kings with regard to Italy, that in a negotiation
with the pope, Gregory X., he ceded all the imperial right of in-
terference within the domain of the church as in the present day.

DEATH OF RUDOLPHUS I.— ADOLPHUS OF NASSAU. 293

Thence he could congratulate himself in beholding that destructive
cause of incitement removed which impelled the emperors to make
their expeditions into Italy.

Towards the latter end of his reign, Rudolphus was anxious, at an
imperial diet, held at Frankfort in 1291, to have his own son Albert
recognised by the princes as Emperor of Germany ; but the nobles,
jealous and tired of the government of Rudolphus, which had
already become too vigorous and firm for them — in as much as it pre-
vented them from following their own selfish interests — thinking that
Germany would cease to be an elective kingdom if the son were
allowed to succeed his father, refused their consent to the propo-
sal. Displeased with this ingratitude Rudolphus took his departure
in disgust, and proceeded to Basle.

He had now attained a great age, and suffered much from in-
firmity and disease ; so much so that during the last year of his life
his physicians had only prolonged his existence by artificial means.
One day, whilst he was sitting at the chess-board, they announced to
him the near approach of his death. "Well then," he said, " let us
away, my friends, to Spires, to the tomb of the kings !" Accord-
ingly he was carefully conveyed to the travelling equipage, and
with his train set off and journeyed along the Rhine; he did not,
however, reach Spires, but died on the road, at Germersheim, on
the 30th of September, 1291, aged seventy-four.

His memory was so universally revered throughout Germany, that
for a long time after his death it was common to say: " No, no, that
is not acting with the honesty of Rudolphus!" He was a warrior
from his boyhood, and one of his dearest wishes as a youth was
that he might have the command of a German army of 40,000 in-
fantry and 4000 cavalry, for with such a force, he said, he would
have marched against, and faced the whole world.

Several of the princes were not unfavourable to Albert of Austria,
the son of Rudolphus, but Archbishop Gerhard of Mentz understood
.so to arrange matters that his own cousin, Count Adolphus of Nassau,
was chosen emperor. Adolphus was indeed a brave and valiant
knight, and possessed many amiable qualities, but for such a station
he had neither sufficient tact, nor adequate power and influence. He
held only the moiety of the territory of Nassau, and his property was
so insignificant that he could not even cover the expenses attending
the coronation ; and when he tried to extricate himself from this diffi-
culty by imposing a tax upon the Jews in Frankfort, he was opposed
by the mayor of that city; Archbishop Gerhard, therefore, was
obliged to mortgage his ecclesiastical estates in his favour.

As emperor, he sought to follow in the footsteps of Rudolphus, by
maintaining the peace of the land, and at the same time endeavour-
ing to aggrandise his own house; but it was impossible for him to
succeed in either of these objects, and in the latter ^ especially he
employed such means as produced disaffection and disgust in the

294 DEATH OF ADOLPHUS — ALBERT I. OF AUSTRIA.

public mind. In the first place, in order to obtain money, he pro-
mised King Edward I. of England his aid in troops against Phillip
of France, in return for a considerable sum. This aid, however,
although the money was paid, was not required, as the war between
the two kings was suspended for that time. The money, however,
Adolphus devoted nevertheless to the purchase of fresh lands. Just
at this period a profligate Margrave, Albert the Base, held his sway
in Thuringia, and abandoned his amiable and virtuous wife Mar-
garet, the daughter of the Emperor Frederick II., in order to marry
Cunigunde of Isenburg. The unhappy mother, when obliged to
take leave of her children, in the anguish of separation, bit the
cheek of her son Frederick, who from this circumstance is styled in
history " Frederick with the bitten cheek." This unnatural and
truly base father sold the hereditary estates of his two sons by the
first marriage, to the Emperor Adolphus, and presented the money
to Albert, the son of Cunigunde. Subsequently, however, Frede-
rick and Dietzmann, the two sons of Margaret, having come to
manhood, fought bravely for their inheritance, their people having
remained faithful to them; so that the emperor found himself obliged
to wage an unrighteous war against them — he whose primary duty it
was to maintain with all his power and influence right and justice
towards all. The brothers, however, regained a portion of their lands.

Such unworthy proceedings had brought down upon Adolphus
the hatred of Germany; besides this, the fickle-minded Archbishop,
Gerhard of Mentz, was also dissatisfied with him, because he found
that he was deceived in the hopes he had cherished of making him
subservient to his own interests. At his suggestion, therefore, a new
diet of all the princes and nobles was held, and Adolphus was there
deposed: inasmuch as he had desolated the churches, received pay
from a prince (the King of England) inferior to himself, and had like-
wise diminished the empire instead of extending it, and finally had
not promoted and maintained the peace of the country. Albert of
Austria was therefore chosen to replace him. This was the first
instance in which the electoral princes, without the instigation of the
Pope, dethroned an emperor of their own accord. The two rival
sovereigns appealed to arms, marched against each other, and met at
Worms, where, in 1298, they fought the decisive battle. Adolphus
was completely overthrown, and fell in the contest mortally wounded
— as some say, by the hand of Albert him self.

This Albert was by no means of a kind, friendly disposition like
his father; on the contrary, he was a severe, austere, and despotic
ruler; besides, even in his external appearance he was disfigured by
the loss of an eye. It is true his severity towards the Archbishop
of Mentz was just, for the emperor not being disposed to consult
his will in every thing, the archbishop had menacingly said: "That
he had yet more emperors in his pocket;" and actually adopted
means for the election of another. But Albert very soon brought

SWITZERLAND-— ALBERT'S ASSASSINATION. 295

him to reason, and obliged him to sue for mercy. In other matters,
however, ^his actions were not always guided by justice. His aim
was to bring under his subjection several other countries, in which
he partly succeeded; and his eyes were now turned towards Thu-
ringia, Bohemia, and Holland, when all his enterprises were suddenly
annihilated by death. In the spring of the year, 1308, he went to
his hereditary estates on the borders of Switzerland, in order to re-
establish peace amongst the insurgent Swiss, and to levy great forces
to enable him to carry on the contemplated war against Bohemia.
He had with him also his young nephew, John of Swabia, the son
of his brother Rudolphus, from whom, although he was now out of
his minority, he withheld the share he inherited of the Hapsburg es-
tates. In vain did the ambitious youth repeatedly beg for his patri-
mony; the king always refused. Finding, therefore, all his just de-
mands in vain, he, with four knights, who also nourished a secret ha-
tred against Albert, determined at length to assassinate him. On the
l§t of May, 1308, and in the tenth year of his reign, the emperor set
out from Stein near Baden through Argau, in order to return to the
camp at Reinfeld, where his court was assembled. They came
through the deep valleys to the ferry across the Reuss at Windisch.
Here the conspirators pressed forward with the view of entering the
same boat with the emperor; and thus, having separated him from his
attendants, they crossed the stream together. Having reached the
shore, they re-mounted their steeds and proceeded for some distance,
through the vast cornfields, at the base of the hills, on the highest
of which towered the mighty castle of Hapsburg, when suddenly
rushing upon the emperor, Duke John of Swabia buried his lance
in his neck, loudly exclaiming: " Such is the reward of injustice!"
At the same time Rudolphus of Balm, stabbed him with his dagger,
and Walter of Esehenbach, divided his head with his sword. The king
sunk to the earth powerless and bathed in his blood. A poor woman,
who had witnessed the deed, hurried to the spot, and in her arms the
Emperor Albert breathed his last. The conspirators decamped and
separated from each other immediately after the tragedy ; and, tor-
mented by their guilty consciences, never afterwards met or saw
each other again. One of them, Rudolphus, of Wart, was taken and
broken upon the wheel on the spot where the deed of blood was
committed ; the others, as well as the duke himself, ended their days
in obscurity and misery.

It was during the year in which King Albert was murdered, that
the foundation of the Swiss confederacy was laid. The history of
tins vigorous, industrious, and freedom-loving people, who inhabit
many greater and smaller tracts of country at the foot of, and amidst the
lofty chains of mountains which run between Germany, France, and
Italy, belongs also to the history of Germany; for the origin of the
Swiss nation is entirely German, and it is only on the borders of this
country and France that the French language is spoken. _The chief
cities in the districts towards Swabia, Berne, Zurich, Freiburg, So-

296 GESSLER— THE SWISS CONFEDERATION.

leure, &c., were originally, and continued for a long period to be im-
perial free cities; and the Waldstadte, or forest towns, Schwyz, Uri,
and Unterwald, were likewise under the immediate protection of the
empire. Their form of government was very ancient, and seemed,
as it were, fresh from the hand of nature. The same as among the
ancient Germans, the whole community of free-men exercised, under
their Landammann or president, the greatest power; and the strength
of their constitution lay entirely in the combined will of the people.
The Emperor of Germany, however, as they belonged to the em-
pire, had amongst them his Vogts or intendants, who attended to
the collection of taxes, the coinage and stamping of money, and
matters by no means burdensome.

Albert, who was anxious to extend the power of his house, pro-
posed that they should renounce their connexion with the imperial
state, and place themselves under the protection of his powerful
house, possessing as it did such extensive patrimonial possessions in
their immediate vicinity, which meant, in other words, that, in-
stead of remaining longer Germans, they should become Haps-
burgians, or Austrians. They, however, regarding his acts with
a suspicious eye, refused to agree to his proposal; upon which the
emperor, in his turn, renounced them, permitting, and even encou-
raging the intendants to oppress and levy upon the people severe
and cruelly unjust exactions. He treated these comparatively little
known and obscure mountaineers with derision and contempt. He
appointed as his representatives two Vogts: Hermann Gessler, of
Bruneck, a haughty, overbearing nobleman, who possessed, near the
town of Altorf, in Uri, a castle or strong fortress, in which he used
to force the inhabitants of the neighbourhood to obedience; and
Beringer of Landenberg, who dwelt at the castle of Sarnen., in
Unterwald ; to those Albert added several other officers, who per-
formed the functions of unter-vogts or sub-intendants.

But three patriotic and noble-minded Swiss, who felt and deeply
participated in the misery endured by their native land, whilst de-
prived of its ancient freedom, united together in order to overthrow
and crush the tyrannical power of these imperial Vogts.

The names of these fearless and magnanimous men were : Werner
Stauifacher, of Schwyz, Walter Fiirst of Attinghausen in Uri,
and Arnold of Melchthal in Unterwald. They knew well that
their hardy countrymen, bold and undismayed in the defence of their
rights, would readily take part with them. Arnold of Melchthal
especially, however, had grievous cause for resentment, inas-
much as the intendant, Landenberg, for some very trifling cir-
cumstance, had most unjustly taken from him a team of fine oxen,
and when his father complained of it, Landenberg's officer replied,
contemptuously: " If peasants wish to eat bread, let them draw the
plough themselves." Arnold, incensed at the shameful act itself,
as well as indignant at the fellow's insolence, broke the servant's
arm with the stick he held in his hand, and knowing but too well

WILLIAM TELL — DEATH OF GESSLER. 297

the cruel character of the Vogt, took flight and secreted himself.
The tyrant, unable to find him, ordered the eyes of his venerable
father to be plucked out — an instance of savage cruelty but too fre-
quently presented at that time in this oppressed country.

These three patriots now uniting together, met regularly during
the silent hour of night at Riitli, a small meadow in a lonely place,
between high rocks on the banks of the Lake of Lucerne. At the
same time they were busily engaged in enlisting their friends into
the noble cause, and on the night of the Wednesday before Martin-
mas, in the year 1307, each brought with him to this place ten
fellow-patriots, men of upright, resolute mind. When these thirty-
three good and true men were assembled at the Riitli, filled with
the recollection of their former liberty, and united together by the
perils of the times in the closest bonds of friendship, the three leaders
lifted up their hands to heaven, and swore in the name of the Su-
preme Being, that they would manfully combine in defence of their
common liberty. The other thirty members following the example
of their chief, and raising their hands to heaven with equal ardour and
enthusiasm, pronounced the same oath. The execution of their plan,
however, was reserved for the first day of the ensuing new year ;
and separating now, they each returned to their cottages, where in
the mean time they preserved the most strict silence, and put up
their cattle for the winter.

Meanwhile, the Vogt or Governor, Hermann Gessler, was shot by
William Tell, a citizen of Uri, and a native of Burglen, son-in-law of
Walter Furst. How that free and brave man refused, at the command
of the cruel Vogt, to do homage to a hat, the symbol of his tyranny,
how he was obliged to shoot an apple from the top of his son's head,
and how he escaped from the threatened incarceration by leaping
out of a boat in the midst of a heavy storm, on the Lake of Lucerne,
and finally of his shooting Gessler at Klissnacht — all this is well-
known, and having continued to form the theme of universal praise,
has been celebrated by the poet and painter, both in ancient and
modern times, down to the present moment. And although this
event took place before the hour destined to liberate the country,
and without the interference of the oppressed people, it nevertheless
strengthened the courage of the confederates, and was hailed as the
harbinger of their emancipation by all the sturdy natives of that
noble and majestic country.

Early in the morning of the first day of the year 1308, when
Landenberg, the Vogt, was proceeding from the castle to attend mass
at Sarnen, he was met by twenty men of Unterwald with calves,
goats, sheep, fowls and hares, which, according to the custom of the
mountaineers, they brought for his acceptance as a new year's gift.
The Vogt, pleased with their present, desired the men to convey the
animals into the court of the castle. As soon, however, as these
twenty patriots had entered within the gates, one of them blew a
horn, at which signal each of them drew forth a steel blade concealed

298 HENRY VII. OF LUXEMBURG — HIS DEATH.

beneatli his doublet, and fixed it upon the end of his stick, whilst
thirty more of their comrades rushed down the hill through the wood
of Erlen, and joining them in the castle, they all took possession of the
place, and made the whole garrison prisoners. Landenberg, who
having heard the tumult, had fled from Sarnen, across the fields,
towards Alpnach, was pursued and taken; but as the confederates
had agreed to shed no blood, they having first made him swear to
quit Switzerland for ever, and never return to it, allowed him to
depart and seek refuge at the court of his emperor.

By similar stratagems to that employed in the taking of the
castle of Sarnen, many others were captured and demolished, and
the various imperial Vogts, with their dependants, sent beyond the
borders; so that messengers arrived from every quarter at the Lake
of Lucerne, with the good news of success. On the following
Sunday, the 7th of January, the Swiss met together, and again
pledged themselves to the ancient oath of confederacy. The next
and most immediate danger which threatened them was from King
Albert, who was resolved to avenge himself upon them for their
conduct. From this, however, they were in a few months rescued
by the arm of Duke John, of Swabia, and his confederates. Never-
theless, they had still to sustain some dreadful struggles for their
newly-acquired freedom.

After the death of Albert I. the German princes remained true to
their principle, not to choose several emperors from the same house
in succession, and therefore as chivalric virtues in their estimation
surpassed all other, they elected Count Henry of Luxemburg, who
was known to be a valiant, manly hero and knight. His reign in
Germany was too short to permit him to do much for its welfare;
nevertheless, brief as it was, he showed by his conduct that he pos-
sessed sufficient courage and nobleness of mind to render himself
worthy of the ancient imperial crown. He likewise made an expe-
dition to Italy,* whither no emperor had gone since Conrad IV. ;
and there he testified his noble and chivalric principles by effecting
a reconciliation between the Guelfs and the Ghibelins, thus again
uniting together, under the ascendancy of the government, those
whose minds had been distracted with hatred and discord ; but the
violence of the parties soon again broke forth, and Henry himself
sunk, probably their sacrifice. After being crowned at Rome, he
died suddenly in the midst of their contention, in an expedition
against Robert, King of Naples, at Buonconveiiti, near Sienna, on
the 24th of August, 1313, as was thought by poison.

He acquired for his house the kingdom of Bohemia, and by this
means laid the foundation of its greatness. In Bohemia, Ottocar's
grand daughter Elizabeth was left as the last survivor of the ancient
royal race. In a spirit of hatred to the Hapsburgian house, which,

* Dante was among the first to do homage to him on his arrival, and presented him
with a letter and a Latin discourse upon the imperial dominion, in which he, as a
Ghibelin, highly extolled it, and invited Henry to make a vigorous use of his power.

FREDERICK OF AUSTRIA AND LEWIS OF BAVARIA. 299

after this princess, possessed the next claim upon Bohemia, the no-
bility gave this heiress in marriage to John, the son of the emperor, and
with her the house of Luxemburg obtained the royal crown of Bo-
hemia, to which was afterwards added also the imperial crown.

In the new election of emperor the princes were far from being
unanimous; the one party, with the Archbishop of Mentz at their
head, chose Lewis of Upper Bavaria ; the other, led by the Arch-
bishop of Cologne, selected Duke Frederick of Austria, surnamed
the handsome, because of his fine and noble form. Lewis was
crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle and Frederick at Bonn, with the real
insignia of the empire. Thence a new war broke out in Germany ;
everywhere there was violent opposition. The greatest number of
towns, especially those in Swabia, were for Lewis, and, as might be
expected, the Swiss people also ; on the other hand, the nobility were
chiefly for Frederick of Austria. Moreover, Frederick had a power-
ful ally in the person of his brother, Duke Leopold, who was a
brave knight and a good general. This prince resolved in the first place
to avenge the honour of the Austrian ho use upon the Swiss people, and
he forthwith advanced into their country, accompanied by a numer-
ous retinue of knights. He threatened to trample these boors under
his feet, and provided himself with an abundant supply of ropes for
the execution of their rebellious chiefs ; for he had no idea of the
astonishing feats which an oppressed people are capable of perform-
ing in the cause of their freedom, however unskilled in the ordinary
tactics of war.

The duke divided his army into two divisions, and advanced
from Aegeri to Morgarten, towards the mountains of Schwyz.
The heavy cavalry, consisting of knights clad in complete iron ar-
mour, the pride and flower of the army, formed the van guard, for
the known heroism of the duke had attracted the whole of the
ancient nobility of Hapsburg, Lenzburg, and Kyburg, to join his
ranks, together with the Vogt of Landenberg, and the male branches
of Gessler's family, all burning to revenge his death.

But the confederates when they received the news that'the enemy
was approaching, did not in the least waver in their courage and
heroism, but prepared at once for battle. On that same night four
hundred men from Uri landed at Brunnen, in Schwyz, and a few
hours afterwards they were joined by three hundred men from Un-
terwald; they then all marched across the fields, and joined the
main body in Schwyz. There they were gladly welcomed by a
venerable patriot, Rudolphus Redin, of Biberegg, so aged and infirm
that he could scarcely totter, yet so skilled and prudent in war, that
the people, as he now drew up their plan of attack, gladly listened
to his sage advice, which they scrupulously followed: "Our grand
aim, my sons, must be," said he, " as we are so inferior in numbers,
to prevent the duke from gaining any advantage by his superior
force." He then showed them how they must occupy the heights
of Morgarten and the Sattel mountain, in order to surprise the

300 SWITZERLAND— THE BATTLE OF MORGARTEN.

duke's army in the narrow pass, and falling upon its flank, thus
divide and cut it off.

The small but united band of patriots, after they had knelt down,
and implored the help of God, according to ancient custom, went
forth to the number of thirteen hundred, and gained the summit of
the Sattel mountain, near the Einsiedeln boundary. Here they
were joined by an unexpected body of fifty men, who on account of
some dispute had been banished from Schwyz, but who on being
made acquainted with the danger that threatened their country,
forgot their quarrel, and repaired toMorgarten, resolved to sacrifice
their lives for their native land.

On the 16th of November, 1315, the host of well-accoutred
horsemen commenced the ascent of the mountains under the ruddy
rays of a morning's sun, in the reflection of which their forest of
glittering spears and lances extended as far as the eye could reach.
The van now entered the pass, and the avenue, which was hedged
in with mountains and water, soon became filled with the close
ranks of the cavalry. At this moment the aforesaid fifty exiled
Schwyzers, shouting aloud, rolled down from the heights of Mor-
garten hugh fragments of rock in quick succession on the enemy. When
the 1300 "Swiss who were posted on the summit of the Sattel moun-
tain, beheld the confusion now produced among the ranks of the
horsemen in the pass beneath (near the Lake of Aegeri), they quickly
descended, and in a firm, united body made an overwhelming at-
tack upon the enemy's flank, committing everywhere the most
sanguinary execution with their iron-pointed clubs and halberts.
Many of the nobles and knights, the flower of the Austrian no-
bility, fell, two of the Gesslers were slain, and Landenberg was
pierced to death. Duke Leopold himself narrowly escaped from
the vengeance of those hardy mountaineers, previously held by him
in such contempt, but now become his victorious pursuers, and was
with difficulty saved by a peasant acquainted with the roads, who
conducted him through narrow bye passes as far as Winterthur,
where he at length safely arrived in the greatest dejection and fa-
tigue of mind and body.

Thus the whole Austrian army, in spite of all its chivalric bravery
and superior discipline, was completely annihilated by a small body
of peasantry, who, however, although simple and rude by nature and
condition, aroused at length from their former state of slavery and
oppression, became at once ennobled by their innate love of liberty
and patriotism ; so that already within the short space of an hour and a
half, by their united courage and tact, they succeeded in trampling upon
their haughty and tyrannic foe, and obtaining over him a glorious
triumph. After this happy day the confederates renewed their
ancient bond of amity, whose basis, was that all should be ready in
defence of one, and one in defence of all; and the Emperor Lewis in
several letters confirmed the liberty of the Swiss.

In Germany, however, the war between Frederick of Austria and

THE BATTLE OF MUHLDORF— FREDERICK A PRISONER. 301

Lewis of Bavaria still continued with undiminished fierceness. Many
provinces were desolated with fire and sword, until at length in the
year 1322, a decisive action was fought at Muhldorf in Bavaria.
Frederick very indiscreetly allowed himself to be drawn into that
battle, without awaiting the arrival of his brother Leopold, who was
advancing to the spot with assistance. The battle commenced at
sunrise, and lasted ten hours. Frederick himself fought bravely at
the head of his body guard, equipped in a splendid suit of gold
armour, and bearing aloft upon his helmet, glittering in the sun's
rays, the imperial eagle ; whilst Lewis, on the contrary, did not appear
at all on the field of battle. At noon Lewis's brave and experienced
general, Sey fried Schweppermann of Nuremberg, ordered his army
to wheel round, and thus the Austrians had the sun, dust, and wind
full in their face, whilst at the same time, as directed by Schwepper-
mann, the Burggrave of Nuremberg fell upon them from behind with
five hundred cavalry. This body, for the purpose of deceiving the
enemy, carried Austrian colours and banners, so that Frederick and
those with him were so deceived that they felt assured Duke Leopold
had at that critical moment arrived with his desired aid. When,
however, they discovered their mistake, they were speedily thrown
into disorder and put to flight, and Frederick, whose horse was
stabbed, was, with his brother Henry, taken prisoner. When he was
presented by the Burggrave of Nuremberg to Lewis, he was received
by the latter with the words: " My cousin, we are glad to see you."
Frederick, however, made no reply, but with his eyes fixed upon the
ground remained completely silent. He was conveyed to the strong
fortress of Traussnitz, in the Upper Palatinate.* Lewis was now the
sole ruler of Germany, but Frederick's brother Leopold, and other
princes, would not recognise him, but still carried on war against
him ; whilst in addition to this. Pope John XXII. excommunicated
him for having taken part with the Duke of Milan, against him.
Lewis determined, therefore, in this emergency, to effect a reconci-
liation between himself and the house of Austria. Accordingly he
went in 1325 to Frederick, who was still imprisoned in the castle of
Traussnitz, and concluded a treaty with him, in which Frederick
renounced all claim to the empire, and agreed to some other severe
conditions, after which he was set at liberty, having, however,
through his imprisonment become so much changed in his appear-
ance, that his relations scarcely recognised him, whilst his wife
Elizabeth of Arragon had, during this interval of two years and a
half, so incessantly wept tears of grief and lamentation on his account,
that she had become totally blind. Frederick on his part employed

* It is related that the victorious army, after the battle, were without any provi-
sions, having merely a small supply of eggs, which, on being distributed among them,
left but one for each man. The Emperor Lewis on hearing this, exclaimed: " Well,
give to every soldier his egg, but to the brave Schweppermann give two!" as a proof
that to him alone was due the honour of the victory.

302 FREDERICK AND LEWIS— EXAMPLE OF FRIENDSHIP.

every means to carry into effect the stipulations of the treaty ; lie made
his abdication known throughout the empire by public documents,
and exhorted every one to submit to Lewis. Neither the pope nor
Leopold however felt themselves bound by the contract, but, on the
contrary, proceeded in every possible way to show their hostility to
Lewis. The two princes then gave an example of fidelity and friend-
ship, which redounds to their honour. Frederick maintained his
friendship with Lewis, paying no regard either to the representations
of his brother, nor to those of the pope, who even offered to release
him from the obligations of his oath to Lewis, the latter being ex-
communicated; whilst Lewis, appreciating this magnanimity of cha-
racter in Frederick, and remembering their mutual friendship in
early life, they having grown up together, resolved formally to share
the empire of Germany with him. Frederick came to him at
Munich, and Lewis offered, as he was just on the point of making an
expedition on behalf of his son Lewis in Brandenburg against the
Poles, to entrust the defence of his own country against Leopold to
his hands. That expedition, however, was not made, and the two
kings on the 5th of September, 1325, at Munich, entered publicly into
an alliance: " They would both conjointly bear the title of a Roman
king, call and regard themselves as brothers, and in their despatches
and other documents their signatures and seals should be affixed alter-
nately. They would grant enfeoffments in their joint capacity, and
would both together as one person preside over and govern the
Roman empire, over which they had been appointed and set apart."
The two friends pledged themselves anew, ate at one table, and lived
affectionately together, as they had done in their childhood.

Pope John, who knew nothing of the German character, and who
considered such good faith unprecedented, wrote to King Charles of
France, to whom it might appear equally novel: " This incredible
example of friendship and confidence was confided to me on the best
authority, in a communication from Germany."

Frederick, however, did not long continue to take a part in the
government ; for, greatly depressed by his many sufferings, he re-
tired into solitude, and spent the remainder of his life in quiet
meditation, at the castle of Guttenstein, where he died in the year
1330, his amiable and afflicted consort having preceded him a short
time before.

The house of Austria, as well as the pope, remained still inimical
to Lewis of Bavaria, and did all in their power to oppose him ; so
that his whole reign presented one scene of confusion and anarchy,
and this emperor, whose kind and noble, although less powerful
mind, would in happier times have rendered him an excellent ruler,
was not able, in the rage of such distraction, to direct the helm. It
is difficult to say what degree of blame attaches to him, or how
much was owing to the perplexity of his situation ; but his measures
appear to have been often indeterminate. At one time he adopted

THE FIRST ELECTORAL ALLIANCE. 303

the language of entreaty, at another he employed the means of re-
sistance; now, he united with the King of Bohemia, then with the
King of England, and at last even with the King of France; and,
in order to get rid of the anathema, he sent to the pope more than
seven ambassadors ; but all was in vain. For the popes resided no
longer at Rome, having for a considerable time held their seat at
Avignon in France; they were therefore in subjection to the kings
of France, who, not being upon good terms with Germany, were
rejoiced at the disunion which there prevailed, and prevented a re-
conciliation taking place between the pope and the emperor, as Pope
Benedict XII. himself privately acknowledged, with tears in his
eyes, to the German princes. In like manner, King John of Bo-
hemia, when he had secured himself against Austria, showed himself
hostile to the house of Bavaria, whose growing greatness he sought
to oppose as much as possible. This daring and adventurous prince,
who was incessantly traversing Europe an horseback, like a courier,
used his influence in throwing the torch of discord into Italy, pro-
ducing there the most sad dissensions, whilst he likewise succeeded in
confirming both the pope and the King of France still more strongly
in their hatred against the Emperor Lewis.

In the year 1388 the German electoral princes, in order to pre-
serve the security of the empire, held a diet at Reuse, on the Rhine,
and made there the famous treaty known by the name of the first
electoral alliance. In this they solemnly declared that as the holy
Roman empire had been, and still continued to be attacked in its
honour, burdened and oppressed in its rights and possessions, they
would unite to defend it, and courageously support it with all their
strength and power against every aggressor. Besides which, this
protest was solemnly approved by all the other estates in an imperial
diet, when it was declared: " That the imperial dignity and power
were immediately derived from and depended upon God, and that
as a matter of right and ancient custom, the moment an individual
was elected emperor, that moment he must, by reason of his election,
be regarded as a true king and Roman emperor, without any need
of confirmation by the papal see." This imperial decision was made
known to the pope in a special communication, and from this mo-
ment commenced the strong opposition made against the papal see.

Had Lewis now possessed sufficient firmness of character to have
availed himself of this declaration made by the diet, and thereupon
have based his power ; if, above all, he had understood how to con-
fide in the fidelity and constancy of all his subjects, as did in ancient
times his imperial predecessors, he might still, notwithstanding all
the hostility of foreigners, have enjoyed a prosperous reign. ^ But as
he was deficient in that greatness of soul, so necessary to bring into
happy realisation the great objects in view, the princes became more
and more inimical towards him, so that, at a diet held at Reuse in
1344, they again brought heavy complaints against him, and cen-

304 LEWIS DEPOSED— HIS DEATH, 1347.

sured Ms mal-administration of the affairs of the empire. This ill-
will, however, of the princes towards the emperor originated chiefly
in the jealousy with which they regarded the gradual aggrandise-
ment of his house. For by his marriage with the daughter of the
Count of Hennegau, Holland, Zealand, and Friesland, he had ac-
quired a title to all these countries, inasmuch as there was no male heir;
and, again, when the line of male descendants to the territory of An-
halt-Brandenburg became extinct, he made over, in 1323, to his son,
Lewis, the Brandenburg possessions, and afterwards gave this same
son in marriage to Margaret, of Maultasch, the heiress of Tyrol.
By this last acquisition he made the house of Austria still more hos-
tile towards him, whilst in the two previous cases he brought down
upon him the enmity of the Luxemburg-Bohemian house, and that
of the King of France.

The opponents of Lewis, especially Pope Clement VI., carried
their animosity at length to such an extent that a number of the
princes, at an assembly held in the year 1346, chose as German em-
peror, Charles, the son of John, King of Bohemia, who was also
Margrave of Moravia; a prince who was brought up at the French
court, his father having a great predilection for France. This em-
peror, however, proved to be no blessing to Germany. When after
being proclaimed at Reuse, he mounted the so-called imperial throne
erected there, in order to present himself before the people for the
first time, and whilst the Vivat Rex resounded on every side, the im-
perial banner, which had been elevated on the bank of the Rhine,
fell into its waters, and, in spite of every exertion made to save it,
sunk to the bottom — an event which was regarded by all as an evil
omen. Neither did he enjoy any popularity whilst Lewis lived; the
latter, however, in the following year, 1347, died of apoplexy whilst
hunting a bear. The spot where he fell from his horse, in the vici-
nity of Fiirstenfeld, near Munich, is still called the Kaiserwiese or
emperor's meadow, in recollection of the event. Lewis was the last
emperor excommunicated by the popes.

CHARLES IV.— HIS CALAMITOUS REIGN. 305

CHAPTER XIII.

EMPERORS OF DIFFERENT HOUSES.

1347—1437.

Charles IV. 1347-1378— Wenceslas, 1378-1400— Switzerland— The Battle of Sem-
pach, 1386— Leopold of Austria — Arnold of Winkelried — His Heroism and Self-
Devotion — Wenceslas deposed — Rupert of the Palatinate, 1400-1410 — Sigismund
1410-1437 — Grand Council of Constance — John Huss and the Hussite Wars-
Death of Sigismund, 1437.

AT this time there were in Germany three powerful houses,
which, ijf they had been united, could easily have subdued all the
others; but they were so far from acting in concert together, that
they, on the contrary, opposed each other. These were the house
of Luxemburg, which possessed in addition to Bohemia and Mo-
ravia, also part of Silesia and Lusatia; that of Bavaria, which had
acquired Brandenburg, Holland, and the Tyrol ; and that of Austria,
which, besides its hereditary estates, possessed likewise much of the
Swabian territory.

The house of Bavaria could not forget that Charles IV. had
been the enemy of Lewis; accordingly in conjunction with the
Archbishop of Mentz and other princes, it sought to procure and
establish a rival king in opposition, and at length, after King Ed-
ward of England, and the Margrave Frederick of Meissen, had rejected
the crown, it found in the person of Count Gunther of Schwarzburg
a brave, powerful, and upright man, who accepted it, as he declared,
solely for the welfare of the empire, and who would have been a very
important rival to Charles, if he had not suddenly fallen sick, and soon
after died — as he himself thought of poison. Charles, therefore,
now reigned alone and for a lengthened period. Much was ex-
pected from him as he was cunning and skilful in his enterprises,
and was likewise master of many languages. Nevertheless, how-
ever well he succeeded in promoting the interests of his hereditary
lands by various useful regulations, still he was, as it were, but a step-
father of the German empire, and his heart was not devoted to it.
The last existing remains of the imperial estates, which in some
degree still contributed to preserve the dignity of the empire, were
sold by him similar to the unworthy head of a family, who turns his
real property into money, in order that he may the more readily
enjoy it.

His reign presented a series of many great calamities, which
certainly could not be imputed to him, and were in fact beyond his
control. Already at its commencement, Germany, like many
other countries of Europe, was visited with the most terrible dis-
asters. The same as in the summer of 1338, ten years previously, in-

x

306 DREADFUL VISITATIONS — THE PLAGUE, &C. — THE JEWS.

numerable hosts of locusts had flocked from the east, and covered a part
of Europe so dreadfully, that they completely obscured the light of
the sun, and Hungary, Poland, Austria, and other places, became en-
tirely desolated, and famine raged amongst mankind, so likewise in
the year 1348, a succession of even still greater afflictions followed. On
the 17th of January in this year the sun was eclipsed, and on the 25th
a great earthquake was felt over nearly the whole of Europe. Cities
and villages were overwhelmed, and buried their inhabitants under
their ruins. The shocks during this year were several times re-
peated, and in the following one, a great plague, which was brought
into Italy by the ships trading in the east, raged throughout that
country, and soon extended its desolation over the whole of France
and Germany. History presents no parallel to the terrible scenes of
misery presented in this epoch. In the large cities the dead were
numbered by hundreds of thousands, and in many cases the sur-
vivors scarcely amounted to a tenth part of the previously exist-
ing population. Thousands of families became wholly extinct, whole
streets uninhabited and laid waste^ and no living being, nor even
domestic animal was to be found: nay some travellers who were
going from Italy to Bohemia, found whole cities and villages
without a single living inhabitant of any sort.

These calamities had the effect of awakening to reflection many
who were previously sunk in sin ; for the age which preceded this had
been extremely corrupt. In this state of despair, penances of every
description were again put into force, and especially the use of the
scourge, was again put in requisition. Hundreds and even thou-
sands went in procession from city to city, and practised their flagel-
lations in the market-places, walking with their backs bare, singing,
and at the same time flogging themselves and each other with knotty
thorny whips. The leaders of the procession were often obliged
themselves even to check by stern command the rage with which
the infatuated penitents lacerated their flesh. Even children were
infected with a passion for these inflictions, and took part in these
scenes. As these proceedings were found to be the result of mere
fanaticism and madness, accompanied by extravagances of every
description, the pope at last interdicted them on pain of excom-
munication ; but it was only with difficulty that they could be sup-
pressed.

Meantime, as if that epoch was to be one distinguished alone for
its wild disorders and excesses, the former persecution of the Jews
was also renewed. Among the people the opinion had become more
and more prevalent that the Jews had been the originators of the
late great plague, by poisoning the springs and rivers, for the pur-
pose of exterminating the whole of Christendom. The ancient
animosity was revived, and became more and more embittered ; the
authorities were unable to restrain the fury of the people, and.
throughout Switzerland, in all the cities along the Rhine, and gene-
rally throughout Germany, the massacre of the Jews was so dread-

THE GOLDEN BULL — CHARLES'S AGGRANDISEMENT. 307

ful, that many of them in their despair destroyed themselves in their
own houses. The mildest treatment they received was that of havino-
their property" confiscated, and being banished the country. The
princes, and especially the pope and bishops, at last interested them-
selves in behalf of this persecuted people, and saved those few as
yet left untouched. History, however, leaves unmentioned whether
the Emperor Charles contributed his share towards the general
good during this time of distress.

The most important work effected by him for Germany was
published in an imperial edict called the Golden Bull (thus called
from the seal of gold affixed to it), the institution of a fundamental
law of the empire, enacted in the year 1356, which determined and
regulated the rights and privileges of the seven electors, the mode
of precedence in electing the emperor in the diet of Frankfort, and
at the coronation at Aix-la-Chapelle, and some other regulations;
among the rest it was decreed that after a proclamation made three
days previously, the right of warfare should be declared and enforced.

But it was not by such regulations affecting the external and
less essential objects, that the dignity of the empire could be
restored; on the contrary, division, jealousy, and selfishness were
excited more than ever by the advantages which he secured espe-
cially to the electoral houses ; so that from the time of the Golden
Bull may be dated the dissolution of the imperial dominion, rather
than its re-establishment. The seven electoral princes who had
already, for nearly an entire century, exercised the right of voting,
included the Archbishops of Mentz, Treves, and Cologne, together
with the King of Bohemia, the Duke of S axe- Wittenberg, the
Margrave of Brandenburg, and the Count Palatine of the Rhine.

Charles laboured with ability and extraordinary success for the ag-
grandisement of his own house. By his first consort, Anna, Princess
Palatine, he secured to his house the upper palatinate, and by his
second wife, Anna, of Schweidnitz and Jauer, he again transferred to
it the possession of the entire south-west line of the beautiful territory
in Silesia, along the borders of Bohemia; whilst already his father
John and himself subsequently, having both gradually succeeded,
partly by fraud and partly by force, in subjecting all the other princes
of Silesia to the dominion of Bohemia, he, by a royal decree in 1355,
united the whole of Silesia and Lower Lusatia to Bohemia. In like
manner he became possessed of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from
the house of Bavaria, by which it had been only shortly before ac-
quired under the Emperor Lewis; for, availing himself of their weak-
ness and total want of energy, he induced the Margraves Lewis the
Roman, and Otho, to conclude a treaty, according to the terms of
which, passing over their cousins of the house of Bavaria, the mar-
graviate should be transferred to the house of Luxemburg in the
event of both margraves dying without any heir. Soon after Lewis
died, and the imbecile Otho made over, even during his life, in 1373,
the government of his own country into the hands of the emperor,
shortly after which, in 1379, the former died, despised and forgotten.

x 2

308 CHARLES IN ROME— PETRARC A— CHARLES'S DEATH.

Thus Charles, solely bent upon the aggrandisement of his house,
united Brandenburg to the kingdom of Bohemia, and by this means,

Siite contrary to all the institutions of Germany, he made one
erman electorate dependant upon another. Henceforth likewise,
he took as warm and paternal an interest in the newly acquired
country as he did in his own hereditary estates; ruling over a range
of beautiful tracts of country, extending from the confines of Austria,
near the Danube, to Pomerania. Nevertheless, Charles, as so often
happens to the selfish, was all this time working for strangers. His
son Sigismund already mortgaged the Margraviate of Brandenburg
to the family of Hohenzollern, and by that laid the foundation for the
greatness of that house; whilst the greater part of his other lands
fell to the house of Austria, which was destined to rise still
higher, after having been so much injured by him. At this time
also that house obtained a great increase of territory in the county
of Tyrol, where the Bavarian lineage, introduced by the Emperor
Lewis, had become extinct, and the house of Wittelsbach approached
its end.

Charles proceeded also to Italy, but not as it became the successor
of the great emperors, who had by their bravery obtained the so-
vereignty of that country; for he was obliged, in order that the pope
might confirm his election to the Germanic empire, to submit to the
disgraceful stipulation, that when he came to Rome in order to be
crowned, he would only remain one day in that city, and quitting
it before night, forthwith retire from the pope's territories. Ac-
cordingly he made his entry into Rome on Easter day, 1355, was
crowned, and under the pretence of going out to hunt, left the city
on the same day and hastened out of the country. The Romans,
not knowing the cause, were not a little astonished at his abrupt de-
parture, and Petrarca, the celebrated poet, who by his animated
letters had called upon him to reassume the ancient glorious imperial
sway, now wrote to him: " What would his ancestors, the ancient
German emperors, have said, if they had met him on the Alps re-
treating so ignobly?"

Towards the close of his life, his great fondness for France in-
duced him to visit that country once more; and, immediately after
his return to Germany, he died in the year 1378.

Charles IV. had already induced the princes to nominate as em-
peror after his death his son Wenceslas. But actuated in like man-
ner, as his father had been, by that egotism and avarice, which ever
aimed at his own interest, the son, although naturally endowed with
good qualities, but without energy and wholly given up to sensual gra-
tification, especially to drinking and the chase, achieved nothing
important either for Germany or even for his own hereditary lands.

The times were, at this moment, in a state of dreadful anarchy.
The imperial government had lost all its dignity. Religion was at
its lowest ebb, and Christendom was divided into parties; instead
of one. there were two popes, one at Rome the other at Avignon;

WENCESLAS— THE swiss ANB OTHER CONFEDERATIONS, 309

both thundered forth against each other their bans of excommuni-
cation ; and in their wrath, each anathematized whole communities
and countries that happened to adhere to his opponent. Long and
vainly did the most upright and judicious men of the day raise
their voices against the destructive vices of their time, which were
spreading far and wide, and all urged a general assembly of the
Christian council; but Wenceslas, whose business it was as empe-
ror to convoke such an assembly, had neither the will nor energy of
mind sufficient to enforce it.

Under his reign there arose throughout Germany an increasing
number of confederations among individual members of the empire
for mutual protection ; which was a proof of the prostration of the
supreme power, and served still more to weaken and destroy it. The
most powerful of these associations was that of Swabia, which con-
sisted of thirty-four, and afterwards, even of forty-one cities, including
likewise several princes. On the other hand, various similar so-
cieties, formed of the nobles, were not less flourishing, when, as
a matter of course, contests and battles upon a large as well as small
scale were the order of the day. The Swabian towns followed the
example of the Swiss confederacy, which became more and more ex-
tensive, including even in its alliance several of the chief towns of
Switzerland: Berne Zurich, Soleure, and Zug, and already adopted
the name of confederates. Thence, as in times of discord and
hatred, no class keeps within the bounds of moderation, or ad-
heres to justice, it is to be presumed that the complaints made by
the princes and nobility, viz.: that the towns had unlawfully de-
prived them of the services of such of their people as were bound
to serve them, by affording them protection and granting them
the privileges of citizens, were in many cases reasonable and
well founded. In consequence, therefore, of these grievances, a
new war broke out between the nobility of Austria and the
Swiss.

Duke Leopold of Austria, in heroism and arrogance equal to the
Leopold who fought at Morgarten, was incensed against the Swiss,
because in their alliance they had included several towns and vil-
lages which were subject to him, as for instance : Entlibuch, Sem-
pach, Meyenberg and Reichensee. There was certainly good foun-
dation for complaint, but Austria likewise was not free from blame ;
for these places had been severely oppressed by its avaricious and
inhuman agents; whilst the duke, contrary to the stipulations made,
had imposed taxes 011 the frontiers of the Swiss, which checked
their commercial intercourse. Duke Leopold vowed he would chas-
tise the whole of the inhabitants, the originators, and promoters of,
as he styled it, unrighteous and unlawful warfare, and swore to
destroy their offensive alliance. The hatred towards the free peasan-
try and citizens became so generally violent among the nobility, that
within a few days no less that one hundred and sixty-seven of the
nobles, both spiritual and secular, j oined in denunciations of war, breath-

310 DUKE LEOPOLD OF AUSTRIA — THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH.

ing utter destruction against the confederates. The letters of war were
brought to the assembled confederacy by twenty distinct expresses,
that their terror might be perpetually renewed. On the evening of
the day of St. John the Baptist, a messenger from the court of
Wurtemberg arrived with fifteen declarations of war; these letters
were scarcely read when the messenger of John Ulric of Pfirt, and
of eight other nobles arrived with letters to the same purpose, and he
had scarcely finished when the letters of the lords of Thurn and of
all the nobles of Schaffhausen came to hand. Finally, on the fol-
lowing day eight more messengers arrived with forty-three such
declarations of war.

The confederates had no other aid to look or hope for but that of their
own faithful union and persevering courage ; undismayed, however,
they awaited the commencement of the contest with indescribable
impatience. The cry of war and the din of hostile preparation, re-
sounded throughout the country, and already four days previously all
the population capable of bearing arms, were equipped and ready.
The term of the armistice having expired, the war between the
federal peasantry and their nobles now burst forth, and within a
week or two many a strong castle — so long the terror of the fron-
tiers— was levelled and razed to the ground by the brave confederates.

Duke Leopold now with a numerous force, including many dis-
tinguished knights and auxiliaries from all his states, marched from
Baden through Aargau by Sursee for Sempach, in order to
punish, as he said, with the rod of iron its citizens for their in-
flexible adherence to the confederates. But on his arrival there he
found the confederates already collected on the heights, prepared and
burning with impatience to receive him. Unwilling to await the ar-
rival of his foot soldiers, and afraid lest the cavalry might be thrown
into confusion in a mountain engagement, he commanded all the
nobles, knights, and the entire body of horsemen to dismount to the
number of several thousands, and joining their ranks as closely as
possible, like an impenetrable wall of iron, he ordered them to rush
forwards and charge the confederates spear in hand. When the
Baron of Hasenburg, a veteran warrior, perceived this order of
battle, and contrasted it with the position commanded by the Swiss,
he at once tried to dissuade the proud duke and his nobles from
adopting this plan of attack, adding as he cautioned them, that
pride never served any good purpose, " that they had better
wait until the infantry marched up." They, however, only derided
him,'and cried aloud, " Der Hasenburg hat ein Hasenherz !"* (Lite-
rally, " Hasenburg has a hare's-heart.") Some of his nobles having
represented to the duke how necessary it was that he should re-
strain his ardour, whilst they tried to persuade him to keep in the

* A play upon the baron's name, Hasenlmrg, hare's-stronghold, literally inter-
preted; Hase, hare; Burg, fort, or stronghold; and Herz, heart. Hasenherz, hare's-
heart, or heart of a hare.

ARNOLD OF WINKELRIED — HEROISM AND SELF-DEVOTION. 311

rear of the army, he only smiled a reply; but when they continued
to urge him to adopt their suggestions, he exclaimed impatiently:
" What ! shall Leopold be a mere looker-on and calmly behold his
knights die around him in his own cause ? Never ! here on my
native soil with you, I will conquer or perish for my people !" Say-
ing which, he placed himself at the head of his troops.

As long as the enemy remained on horseback, it appeared too
dangerous to the confederates to descend and stand the charge of
such a body of cavalry on level ground; but when they beheld
them quit their saddles, and form in ranks as foot-soldiers, the
mountaineers forthwith abandoned their elevated position, and
marched down into the plain below. Their numbers were: 400
men from Lucerne, 900 from the Waldstadten, and about 100 from
Glaris, -Zug, Entlibuch, and Rotenburg. Some were armed with
short weapons, others carried halberds, with which their forefathers
had fought in the pass at Morgarten; and some again, instead of a
shield, had only a small board bound to their left arm.

This small, but firm and united body of brave men, now fell upon
their knees and prayed to God, according to their custom, whilst
the nobles on the opposite side buckled on their helmets, and the
duke then created several knights. It was then the season of har-
vest, when the sun shone with full power, and the day was ex-
tremely sultry. The confederates now precipitated themselves with
great impetuosity upon the impregnable phalanx of shields ; but not
a man yielded to the shock. The Swiss fell one after another; and
the company of Lucerners, especially, fought with impatient and en-
thusiastic rage, seeking to make a road between the forest of spears,
but in vain. Numbers lay bleeding around, and their force began to
waver. The enemy then moved his extended body of men round in
the form of a half-moon, thinking to encircle the few courageous
Swiss. But the scene of this dreadful moment of approaching de-
struction to the confederates, was unexpectedly changed, by a brave
knight, Arnold of Winkelried, in Unterwald, who suddenly, in a
voice of thunder, exclaimed to his comrades: "I will open a pas-
sage to. freedom, faithful and beloved confederates ! Protect only
my wife and children ! " And with these words, rushing from his
ranks he threw himself upon the enemy, and seized with both arms
as many of the enemy's spears as he was able, buried them in his body,
and sank dead to the ground, whilst the confederates rushed forwards
through the breach, over the body of their heroic and self-devoted
compatriot. The Austrians gave way; and, in endeavouring to
stop the breach, became, in their confusion, so crowded, that many
of them died in their armour, unwounded, but suffocated and over-
whelmed with heat and terror. Meantime, the chief banner of
Austria was sinking for the third time to the ground, when
Ulric, a knight of Aarburg, seized it, bore it aloft, and defended
it, until, after a desperate struggle, he was mortally wounded, crying-
out with his last breath: " Save Austria, rescue!" At this mo-

312 DUKE LEOPOLD'S DEATH — THE swiss TRIUMPHANT.

ment, Duke Leopold, pushing through the crowd, received the
banner from his dying hand ; it once again appeared aloft, covered
with blood, waving in the hand of the duke. But he was now
surrounded by the Swiss, who pressing close upon him, he ex-
claimed, as he saw all his brave warriors falling around him:
** Since, then, so many nobles and knights have ended their clays in
my cause, thus let me also honourably follow them !" and, vanishing
from the sight of his few remaining adherents, he plunged, in the
madness of grief and despair, amidst the hostile ranks, seeking his
death. In the pressure of the crowd he fell to the earth ; and whilst
he was struggling in his heavy armour to raise himself upon his
feet, he was discovered 'by a citizen of Schwyz, to whom Leopold,
quite helpless, called out, " I am the Prince of Austria !" The
man, however, either did not hear or believe him, or, perhaps,
thinking that, in war, all distinctions cease, forthwith killed him.
The body of the duke was found by a knight, Martin Malterer,
who bore the banner of Freiburg in Breisgau ; he stood petrified,
and the banner fell from his hand. He threw himself upon the
body of the prince, in order that it might not be trampled upon
by friends and enemies, and in this situation he awaited and re-
ceived his own death.

The Austrian troops, in a state of utter dismay and terror, now gave
the signal for retreat, and all the cavaliers flew to regain their horses.
But they were too late ; their attendants had already mounted them,
and saved themselves by flight. All therefore that remained for
them now, oppressed with their ponderous armour, rendered still
more intolerable by the scorching rays of the sun, and exhausted
with thirst and fatigue, was to avenge their prince, and sell their
lives at as dear a rate as possible. Thus, there perished altogether
six hundred and fifty-six counts, barons, and knights, together with
thousands of their vassals.

Such was the issue of the great battle of Sempach, fought on the
9th of July, 1386; by this victory, and another at Na'fels, the con-
federates of Switzerland so weakened the power of Austria, that in
the year 1389, by the mediation of the imperial cities on the Lake of
Constance, a seven years' peace was agreed to, by which means the
Swiss preserved all they had acquired, whilst Austria retained only
its chief possessions in Aargau and Thurgau.

In the cities of Germany the passion for war was again awakenec
by the successes of the Swiss. The ancient hostility between tl
nobles and citizens was resumed, particularly in Swabia, on
Rhine, and in the Wetteraw. But these cities did not commanc
the favourable passes of the mountains, neither were the citizens
equal to the peasants of Switzerland. They were beaten in several
contests, among others by Count Eberhard, of Wurtemberg, between
Weil and Dofrmgen, also by the Count Palatine Rupert, near Worms.
In 1389 tranquillity was in some degree restored by the peace pro-
claimed at Eger. This was a sad period of disaster for Bavaria,

WENCESLAS DEPOSED— RUPERT OF THE PALATINATE. 313

Swabia, Franconia, and the whole of the Upper Rhine. It is re-
lated in the Chronicle of Konigshoven, that more persons were de-
stroyed at that time than had been for several centuries before.
Most of the country people were obliged to remain throughout the
winter in the fortresses and cities. In many parts not a single vil-
lage or house was to be found within ten miles of the cities and
strong castles : so much desolation had been produced by fire and
sword.

The Emperor Wenceslas had not sufficient energy and authority
to settle, by the imperial decision, the existing differences between
the nobility and the cities; besides which he came but seldom to
Germany, and after the year 1391, he only visited it at the end of
six years. The Bohemians, who were likewise dissatisfied with him,
owing to the cruel acts he had committed at various times, which to-
gether with his other infirmities, made him only the more hated and
despised, imprisoned him in the Castle of Prague, where he remained
until he was liberated by his younger brother John. This was an
additional cause of his downfal in Germany, and at length in the
year 1400, the princes proceeded to depose him. The charges
against him were: " that the holy Roman empire, the holy church,
and all Christendom, instead of finding in him comfort, protection,
and succour, had, on the contrary, been rent assunder, abused and
shamefully abandoned by him ; that all this had been repeatedly and
fearlessly represented to him, but he had neither restored peace to
the church, nor had he felt any concern at the many feuds and tu-
mults of the empire, so that no one knew where to seek redress, pro-
tection, and security. Since, therefore, all remonstrances had failed,
the princes could not do otherwise than conclude that he no longer
cared for the welfare of the empire, and thence they, the princes,
necessarily forbade him henceforward to have any share in the
government of the Germanic nation, and accordingly they deposed
him, the said Emperor Wenceslas, as negligent and unworthy."
On the following day they elected Rupert of the Palatinate, as em-
peror.

In the succeeding year, Wenceslas, who still held possession of
Bohemia, was again taken prisoner by his brother Sigismund, and
confined for nineteen months at Vienna.

Rupert, an active and brave man, endeavoured to re-establish the
imperial dignity ; but the existing state of disorder was already too great,
and his government of too short a duration to allow him to gain this
object. He was likewise unsuccessful in an expedition to Italy, and
he died, without having effected any thing of importance, in 1410.

The princes now elected Sigismund, the brother of Wenceslas, to
fill the imperial throne, and in certain respects, this emperor was
the most distinguished of the house of Luxemburg. His appear-
ance was majestic and graceful. He was tall and well-formed, and
his manly countenance, shaded by light brown ringlets, rendered
him one of the handsomest princes of his day. He possessed a lively

314 SIGISMUND I.— GRAND COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE.

spirit and an acute mind, and being master of six languages, may
be considered altogether as a monarch of superior intellectual ac-
quirements. He had a degree of open honesty and true hearted-
ness in his disposition, which won the hearts of all; combined with
a genuine love for all that was good and meritorious. Nevertheless,
with all these good qualities and brilliant endowments, his resolution
and power of action did not correspond in proportion. He was change-
able and undecided, and wholly incapable of realising and maintain-
ing the great designs he contemplated. Besides all this, however, he
was a bad economist, always squandering away what he possessed,
and consequently, perpetually in difficulties. Sigismund directed
his first attention to the great schism existing in the church ; there
being one pope in Italy, another in France, and a third in Spain,
whence each pronounced the ban of excommunication against his
opponent, and those who sided with him. Finally, in the year
1414, the celebrated council of the church was held at Constance,
and perhaps there never was a council more numerous and brilliant.
Besides the pope, there were present the patriarchs of Constanti-
nople, Grado and Antioch, twenty-two cardinals, twenty arch-
bishops, ninety- two bishops, one hundred and twenty-four abbots,
one thousand eight hundred of the lower clergy, numerous doctors
of science and masters of arts; as likewise the graduates of the
universities of Paris, Orleans, Cologne, Vienna, and others ; about
one thousand six hundred princes, nobles, counts, and knights,
with their retinues ; so that altogether the number that attended
this grand council exceeded 100,000.

Of the three popes, the only one present was John XXIII., from
Rome, who had convoked the assembly in the hope that his two
opponents would be deposed, and he himself confirmed. The
council, however, notwithstanding the opposition of the Italians,
determined at once to dispense with all three, that the evil might
be struck- at the root. It was agreed that not only bishops and
abbots should have a vote, as had been hitherto the custom, but that
likewise doctors of divinity, as well as of the canon and civil law, toge-
ther with the princes and their ambassadors, and lastly, all the priests
present, should share in this privilege ; and that the votes should not
be given individually, as formerly, but according to the nation ; so
that each of the four principal nations: Germany, England,
France, and Italy, should have each one vote ; (the Spaniards had
not yet arrived). For if the votes had been taken individually,
the Italians, whose number was by far the most considerable, would
have' outvoted all the others. The Germans, as is stated by a con-
temporary of that period, were distinguished on this important
occasion, for their determination, vehemence, and persevering
remonstrances in support of their claims ; the English for their
boldness and acuteness ; the French for their ostentation and self-
importance ; and the Italians for their finesse, stratagem, and par-
tiality.

THE THREE POPES — DEPOSED BY THE COUNCIL. 315

But the English and the Germans were united in their decision upon
the deposition of the popes, and the French soon afterwards joined
with them. John XXIII., being present, was the first to sign
the abdication ; he tried to avoid it, but at length he yielded, and,
kneeling before the altar, publicly read his consent to abdicate.
The Emperor Sigismund and all present were filled with joy; the
emperor even rose and kissed the feet of the pope, and thanked
him in the name of the Christian world, for setting such a glo-
rious example of self-control. But John had only yielded in ap-
pearance; for he had already conferred with his friend, Duke
Frederick, of Austria, and concerted with him the necessary mea-
sures for his flight. Accordingly, the duke made arrangements
for a grand tournament, which took place on the 20th of March,
1415; and, whilst the attention of all present was directed to the
festival, the pope hastened away, disguised as a postilion, to SchafF-
hausen, which still belonged to Austria. The duke followed him
quickly afterwards; and, during the night, several hundreds of
Italian and Austrian prelates likewise arrived. The pope hoped to
retain possession of his authority, even against the will of the
council. But the assembled fathers of the church from Germany,
England, and France, together with the Emperor Sigismund him-
self, were too serious in their decision. The council, under the
presidency of the Emperor Sigismund. declared : " That its power
being derived immediately from Christ, and being superior to the
pope, its decrees, without the authority of the pope, should re-unite
and reform the church." The greatest severity was shown to all
those who had taken their departure; Duke Frederick was excom-
municated by the council, and outlawed by the emperor; and
finally, at his command, the imperial troops under Burggrave Fre-
derick of Nuremberg, and the Swiss, seized the hereditary estates of
the duke, and deprived him of the chief portion of them. Aargau,
and the ancient castle of Hapsburg, were conquered by the Bernese.
About ten years after this, however, the emperor again received the
duke into his favour, and returned to him such of the lands as were
at the control of the empire ; the Swiss, however, never restored the
territories they had gained, but retained possession of Aargau and
all the rest.

The pope, who had been deprived of the protection of the em-
peror, was obliged to submit to the decrees of the council ; he was
brought back from Freiburg inBreisgau, whither hehad^fled^to the
small town of Ratolfszell, near Constance, there to receive his final
sentence, as follows: "That as he had publicly and criminally
availed himself of the privileges and estates of the Roman church,
and as he had moreover brought down scandal upon Christianity ^by
his immorality, he was thenceforth deposed from the papal chair."
John submitted to his sentence, was kept in custody until the. year
1419 at the castle of Heidelberg, and then at Mannheim, where

316 THE REFORMATION OF THE CHURCH— NEW POPE, MARTIN V,

lie was liberated, and soon afterwards died as cardinal-bisliop of
Frascati.

The second pope, Gregory XII., who was eighty-eight years of
age, and whose seat was in France, immediately declared his readiness
to resign his office, if the peace of the church required it ; and
accordingly he voluntarily resigned in that same year, 1415, and
was made cardinal-bishop of Porto.

But Benedict XIII. was not to be persuaded ; his seat was in
Spain. The Emperor Sigismund himself undertook, at the request
of the council, a journey to Spain for the purpose of inducing the
old man to yield ; but he failed. King Ferdinand of Arragon,
however, who had hitherto adhered to him, withdrew his protec-
tion, and now the council without further ceremony deposed him.

Thence was accomplished the grand and principal design of the
ecclesiastical council, and thus terminated the ruinous schism of the
church, which had lasted during forty years ; and they were now
able to proceed to the election of a new pope. But the assembled
fathers had another important object in view, viz., the reformation
of the church itself. Complaints were made about many abuses
which had crept in : the immorality of the clergy, simony, and espe-
cially the increasing pretensions of the papal chair, had now become
excessive. These abuses the assembled heads of the church were
anxious in the name of their several countries to sweep away,
whilst at the same time they were ready to secure to the pope all due
respect, obedience, and also many just revenues from all countries.

The Germans, and at their head the emperor himself, were ex-
tremely anxious for a thorough reformation of the church. But the
Italians, who derived the greatest benefit from the large sums of
money which poured into Rome from the other countries, endeavoured
to frustrate their design, and thought the best course they could
adopt for that purpose would be to induce the council, in the first
place, to choose a pope who might afterwards, as he thought fit, un-
dertake the reform of the church. The Germans, on the contrary,
who perceived what was meant by this artful proposal, very justly
required that the new pope should be chosen afterwards, and that the
first condition of his election should be, that he would abide by and
confirm the new constitution of the church. Their reasons were
perfectly just and rightly founded ; nevertheless, the Italians suc-
ceeded in winning over to their party the French and the Spaniards,
who had in the meantime arrived, and as the English had received
command from their king, to support the cardinals, the Germans
stood alone, and were of course at last obliged to yield.

The new pope was accordingly elected ; he was by birth an Italian,
Otho of Colonna, and took the name Martin V. He was an ex-
tremely clever man, and understood how to evade most ingeniously
almost all the regulations which the council had contemplated for the
curtailment of the papal power. The other powers now awakened from
their slumber, and the French, in particular, applied to the Emperor

THE UNIVERSITY OF PRAGUE— JOHN HUSS. 317

Sigismund to take up the matter. But he answered them : " When
we Germans desired the reformation to take place before the pope
was elected, you Frenchmen were not satisfied, but were determined
first to have a pope. Now you have one, as we have ; go and require
from him your reformation of the church."

The pope who knew well that in order to be conquered, enemies
must be first divided amongst themselves, began to negotiate with the
nations separately, since each nation had made its own proposals for
the reformation, and hence arose the particular concordates.

Thus the great object which the council had in view, viz. : to effect
the reformation of the entire constitution and administration of the
church and its clergy, was in a great measure defeated. How much
more happy would have been the results if the desired reform could
have been effected. People consoled themselves with the expecta-
tion that henceforth every ten years general councils would be held;
but what is not done at the right time remains for ever undone —
the projected decennial councils were never held.

When Pope Martin had thus obtained all his wishes, he, on the 22nd
of April, 1418, closed the council, and on the 16th of May, clothed
in a golden papal robe, with a white mitre, rode out of the city upon
a horse covered with scarlet, under a splendid canopy. Sigismund
went before, leading the horse by the bridle, and three princes, who
walked on either side of and behind the horse, bore its covering.
Such was the termination of the great Council of Constance, which
had continued nearly three years and a half.

This council also judged in another matter, and by its decision
produced the most important results.

The Emperor Charles IV. had founded the University of Prague,
and it was soon attended by students from all the neighbouring
countries. But Charles had granted to the Germans especially
many and great privileges there, with which preference the Bo-
hemians became dissatisfied, and thence KingWenceslas was induced,
in the year 1409 (he being then still King of Bohemia), to deprive
the Germans of those privileges. Exasperated at this, thousands of
foreign students with their teachers abandoned Prague, and established
or enlarged other high schools; amongst others Leipzig, Ingolstadt,
and Cracow. John Huss, the most zealous and learned of the Bohe-
mian professors, was at this time rector of the university. He soon
embraced and promulgated principles at variance with those hitherto
held, being those maintained by the celebrated divine, John Wycliffe,
who lived about thirty years before Huss. He preached against the
corrupt state of the morals of the clergy, and maintained that it was
contrary to scripture that they should have temporal riches; he also
rejected all monastic orders, and in his zeal condemned them severely.
These and similar doctrines were propounded by Huss ; he also reso-
lutely opposed indulgences, and being accordingly charged with heresy,
he was cited to appear before the judicial chair of the pope at Rome.

318 JOHN HUSS AT CONSTANCE— HIS TRIAL AND EXECUTION.

He did not obey the summons, and was excommunicated. But he
had already gained a large party of adherents, even the king, Wen-
ceslas himself, had for a time taken him under his protection ; and in
Prague, as in other parts of Bohemia, great contention arose, ending
in scenes of bloodshed; among others who took a prominent share
therein was Jerome, a professor of theology in Prague, and a strong
adherent and associate of Huss. Huss was now summoned before
the council at Constance, and this time he obeyed the call: the
Emperor Sigismund having at the request of his brother, Wenceslas,
furnished him with a safe conduct. But the emperor did not act in
this case as Charles V. in that of Luther at Worms did, a century
later ; on the contrary, he suffered himself to be persuaded that there
was no necessity for him to keep his imperial word, being told that
his word must not prejudice the interests of the Catholic faith, and
interrupt the spiritual judge in the performance of his functions;
also that he who opposed that faith forfeited every claim to protec-
tion. Sigismund accordingly suffered Huss to be arrested, and pro-
mised not to meddle with the affair at all.

They required Huss to recant all his doctrines on pain of being
condemned to die at the stake as a heretic. He chose the latter,
and was, on the 6th of July, 1415, like his friend Jerome of Prague,
eleven months afterwards, publicly burnt at Constance. They both
died with a fortitude admired even by their enemies. Their ashes
were cast into the Rhine, in order that they might not serve as an
object of veneration for the Bohemians.

The news of these proceedings created great excitement and tu-
mult in Prague, for the Bohemians attributed the execution of Huss
to the hatred of the Germans, and became only the more attached
to his principles. They even went still further; fresh teachers
published new doctrines to those advanced by Huss, and a certain
Jacob of Miess, in particular, who maintained that the sacrament
must be distributed in both forms, obtained many followers. The
partisans of this new doctrine met together upon a mountain, which
was afterwards called Mount Tabor, and whence they assumed the
name of Taborites. King Wenceslas did not venture to interfere
with these assemblies, for their members sometimes amounted to
as many as 40,000; and, as usually happens in similar cases, their
zeal increased in proportion to their growing numbers, and according
to the violence with which they were condemned as heretics by the
pope and church. Shortly afterwards they went in solemn procession
through Prague, .with the chalice carried before them, and Wen-
ceslas, who thought himself no longer safe, abandoned the city, and
died almost immediately after he had left, in 1419.

On one occasion, when the Hussites were marching through
Prague, and were just passing the senate-house, some one hav-
ing thrown a stone thence which struck one of their priests, they
furiously stormed the house, and threw out of the window thirteen of
the senators, who were received by the enraged mob on their pikes,

THE HUSSITE WARS — DEATH OF SIGISMUND I., 1537. 319

and murdered: such was the sanguinary signal of the revolt.
Under the guidance of Ziska, who had acted as leader in the storm-
ing of the senate-house, the multitude roamed about the country,
pillaging and destroying the monasteries, torturing the priests, and
laying waste the possessions of the Catholics.

Sigismund, who after the death of Wenceslas, had become the
legitimate King of Bohemia, demanded the assistance of the Ger-
man empire against the Hussites, and collected a considerable army.
He entered Bohemia in 1420, and besieged Prague; Ziska, how-
ever, repelled the attack bravely, and the king was obliged to con-
clude an armistice and quit the country. In 1427, the German
princes made another attack with four bodies of troops; but their
dread of the Hussites — rendered by their religious enthusiasm almost
unconquerable — had become so great, that the soldiers no sooner saw
them than they fell into confusion and retreated. Another army,
which was estimated at 100,000 men, and advanced upon them in
1431, met with the same fate ; it was so completely beaten at Riesen-
berg, that 10,000 men were killed upon the spot, all the artillery
and baggage lost, and Cardinal Julian himself with difficulty saved
his life ; being minus his cardinal's hat, his insignia, and the papal
bull against the Hussites. The Hussites, on the other hand, made
attacks upon Meissen, Saxony, Brandenburg, Franconia, Bavaria,
and Austria, and their career of desolation became more and more
fearful. One of the dogmas held by the Taborites was, viz. : " That
when all the cities of the earth should be burnt down and reduced
to the number of five, then would come the new kingdom of the
Lord; therefore, it was now the time of vengeance, and God was a
God of wrath."

At length, however, affairs changed for the better. Great en-
deavours were used to bring about an accommodation between the
church and the Hussites, and this was at length effected at a coun-
cil held at Basle. The Hussites were allowed to partake of the sa-
crament in both kinds of form, yet on condition that the priests
should teach the people that Christ was perfect in each.

The greater part of the Bohemian people cheerfully entered into
this arrangement ; but two parties, more exalted and fanatic, namely,
the Taborites and the Waisen, under the direction of Procopius the
Great and Procopius the Little, would hear nothing of moderation
or of any agreement. It came eventually to open war between
them and the moderate ones, when the latter gained a great victory,
in which the two leaders of the former perished, and the emperor
Sigismund succeeded at length in obtaining his recognition as King
of Bohemia; an event, however, accomplished only a few months be-
fore his death, which took place in 1437, he being sixty-nine years
of age : having reigned fifty- one years as King of Hungary, and
twenty-eight years as emperor of Germany.

This emperor, notwithstanding his numerous and wealthy posses-
| sions, was often in the greatest pecuniary embarrassment, produced

320 DEATH OF SIGISMUND I., 1437.

chiefly by his frequent journeys, which were enormously expensive.
On this account he mortgaged, in 1417, the territory of Branden-
burg (which, under Charles IV., had fallen to the house of Luxem-
burg), together with the elective franchise and the office of arch-
chamberlain, connected therewith, to the Burggrave of Nuremberg,
Frederick of Hohenzollern, for 400,000 gold florins, which sum the
latter had lent to him at various times. On the 8th of April, 1517,
the ceremony of enfeoflment was performed at Constance ; by which
the house of Hohenzollern became pessessed of that country, and in-
cluded among the great electorates. By similar means, Frederick the
Warlike, Margrave of Meissen and Landgrave of Thuringia, obtained
from the Emperor Sigismund, for 100,000 marks, the Saxon elec-
toral dignity, and the circle of Wittenberg, after that branch of the
house of Anhalt, which had possessed Saxony, Wittenberg, and
the electoral crown, had become extinct.

ALBERT II. OF AUSTRIA, 1438— HIS DEATH, 1439. 321

CHAPTER XIV.

THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA.

Albert II, 1438— 1439— His Death— Frederick in., 1440—1493— The Council of
Basle, 1448— JEneas Sylvius — The Turks — Belgrade — Defeat of the Turks— The
Diets — The Emperor besieged in Vienna — His Eesolution— His Brother, Duke
Albert — The Count Palatine of the Rhine — His Hostility — Defeats the Imperial-
ists— Albert of Brandenburg, the Achilles of Germany — Feuds of the Nobles and
Cities— Nuremberg — The Nobles Defeated — Austria and Burgundy — Charles the
Eash— His Ambition — Attacks the Swiss — Defeated at Murten — The Battle of
Nancy — His Death— Mary of Burgundy— Marries Maximilian of Austria — Her
Death — The Emperor Frederick a Fugitive — His Return — Maximilian, Roman
King — The Laws — Their Improvement — Frederick's Obstinacy and Refusal —
Maximilian Appealed to — The Swabian League — Death of Frederick III., 1493 —
Prussia — The Teutonic Knights — Their Decline and Fall— Prussia under Polish
Sway, 1466.

AFTER the death of Sigismund, the princes, in 1438, elected an
emperor from the house of Austria, which, with scarcely any inter-
mission, has ever since occupied the ancient throne of Germany.
Albert II. of Austria, who, as son-in-law of the late Emperor Sigis-
mund, had become at the same time King of Hungary and Bohe-
mia, was a well-meaning, distinguished prince, and would, without
doubt, have proved of great benefit to the empire; but he died
already in the second year of his reign, after his return from an ex-
pedition against the Turks. Perhaps there never was a sovereign so
lamented by high and low, rich and poor, as was Albert II.

In the year 1431, during the reign of Sigismund, a new council
was assembled at Basle, in order to carry on the work of reforming
the church as already commenced at Constance.

But this council soon became engaged in many perplexing contro-
versies with Pope Eugene IV., whom they even deposed, and in-
stead of whom they appointed Duke Felix of Savoy, under the title
of Pope Felix V. The principle that a general ecclesiastical con-
vocation was above the pope, and was the supreme legislative autho-
rity in the church, was most solemnly maintained at Basle, as it had
before been at Constance. The Germans, for a time, took no part
in the dispute; at length, however, under the Emperor Albert II.,
they formally adopted the chief decrees of the council of Basle, at a
diet held at Mentz in the year 1439. From the imperial states there
were present, the three spiritual electors in person, with the ambas-
sadors from the emperor and the remaining states ; besides these came
ambassadors from the kings of France, Castile, Aragon, and Por-
tugal, to advise with the Germans upon the constitution of the
church. The Patriarch of Aquileja appeared as representative of the
council.

Amongst the resolutions then adopted were such as materially

Y

322 FREDERICK III., 1440 — THE COUNCIL OF BASLE.

circumscribed the existing privileges of the pope. Instead of the
enormous sums of money which were annually paid by all the higher
clergy to Rome,* the pope was to receive a fixed income (provisio) ;
and the German princes contributed, as voluntary aid, only the eighth
part of that which had hitherto been paid into the papal treasury on
a vacancy occurring amongst the clergy. In like manner, the pope
in future was not to make any clerical appointments beyond his own.
territory, whilst the free elections were restored to the chapters. Fi-
nally, the council made regulations for the election of the pope, fixed
the number of cardinals, and determined the qualifications necessary.
The principle laid down was, that proportionally from every coun-
try in relation with Rome, the pope should be surrounded by an
equal number of cardinals, who, being especially acquainted with
the peculiarities of each nation, would be able to place the point in
debate in its proper light, " in order that," as the council expresses
it, " the cardinals may, in fact, be, what their name imports, the
hinges (cardines) upon which the doors of the church may rest and
move." At that time a great obstacle was already presented against
the establishment of peace between the people and the church, inas-
much as the cardinals, whose office it was to act as counsellors of the
pope in the direction of the Christian republic, were in the majority
chosen from among the Italians.

These and other decisions, calculated to give important privileges
and considerable independence to the German church, were, in a
great measure, annulled by Albert's cousin and successor, Duke
Frederick of Austria, who was elected by the princes after him in
the year 1440, as Frederick III., and by the Vienna Concordate
(formerly falsely called the Aschaffenburg Concordate,) with Pope
Nicholas V., in the year 1448; whence the council of Basle broke
up in the same year, after it had been assembled seventeen years,
without having accomplished its original object. The anti-pope,
Felix V., voluntarily abdicated his office. The man who was chiefly
instrumental in giving this turn to the affairs of the church, was the
former secretary of the Emperor Frederick, jEneas Sylvius, of the
house of Piccolomini, in Sienna, one of the most distinguished men
of his day. He had himself been formerly the secretary of the
council of Basle, and the most zealous vindicator of the rights of
the councils ; but if, when his ambition was flattered by the prospect
of a more splendid career in attaching himself to the papal chair,
he asserted its dignity against the danger which threatened it, he
showed himself well able to induce his emperor and several German
princes to favour the interests of the pope. He himself afterwards
became Pope Pius II., but soon after died in 1462.

Frederick, the emperor, was a prince who meant well but, at the
same time, was of too quiet and easy a nature; his long reign presents

* The Emperor Maximilian I. maintained, even in subsequent times, that the
pope drew from the German empire an income exceeding a hundred-fold that re-
ceived by the emperor himself.

THE TURKS — THE CRUSADE—THE TURKS OVERTHROWN. 323

but little that was calculated to distinguish Germany or add to its
renown. From the east the empire was endangered by the approach
of an enemy — the Turks, against whom no precautionary measures
were adopted. They, on the 29th of May, 1453, conquered Constan-
tinople, and put an end to the Grecian dominion, after it had main-
tained its sway nearly 1000 years longer than that of the Romans had
endured in the west. They then made their way towards the Danube,
and very nearly succeeded also in taking Hungary. Frederick, as well
as the p^ope, tried to raise a crusade against them, but these enthu-
siastic times had gone by, and none would now take the cross.

That any measures were at all taken against the enemies of the
Christian name, was to be attributed solely to the pope, Calixtus III.,
who fitted out, at his own expense, a fleet of 16 galiots, and for that
purpose did not even spare the riches of his treasury ; whilst his legate,
John Capistran, a man, who in appearance and glowing eloquence,
resembled Peter the Hermit, the preacher of the first crusade, suc-
ceeded in inspiring with holy zeal for the common cause of Chris-
tendom, at least some thousands of poor citizens, peasants, and
monks, and appeared with them in 1456, at that most critical mo-
ment, when the Sultan Mohammed II., with 160,000 men was be-
sieging the fortress of Belgrade. This fortress, once taken by the
enemy, Hungary must be lost, and the passage to Vienna opened
for him, as the young king, Wladislas of Hungary, as well as the Em-
peror Frederick and the German princes, were not prepared for war,
and instead of acting were deliberating. Then it was that Capis-
tran, with his forces very inadequately provided with pikes, flails,
and hay forks, which he had brought in boats, attacked the Turkish
fleet on the Danube, which surrounded Belgrade, and made his way
into the city. The Hungarian commander-in-chief, John Hunny-
ades Corvinus had also collected some forces, and with the crusaders
repelled the furious attacks of the Turks. However, he did not
venture to touch their well-intrenched camp, and even forbade
every attack upon it under pain of death ; but the ardent zeal of
the crusaders was not to be restrained, and Capistran, when he saw this,
placed himself at their head with a staff in one hand and a crucifix
in the other, and stormed three Turkish intrenchments one after the
other, whilst Hunnyades now coming up with the cavalry, fell upon
the rear of the enemy who was completely put to rout. Their in-
trenchments were, after a severe contest taken, together with all their
artillery and an immense booty, and Mahomet being wounded, fled
with such of his army as remained. Upwards of 20,000 Turks fell
in the battle, and the sultan's power was for many years crippled.

This deliverance Christendom owed to the enthusiastic courage and
the patriotic valour of a monk and a Hungarian nobleman, whilst
the kings and princes remained inactive or engaged in petty nego-
tiations. If this victory had been followed up by the union of vigor-
ous force, the Turkish power might, perhaps, have been wholly de-
stroyed ; but nothing was done, and even the two heroes who might

y 2

324 HUNGARIA — BOHEMIA — THE DIETS.

have achieved something more, died in the same year, 1456, ex-
hausted by their super-human exertions.

The Hungarians, on the death of the son of the Emperor Albert
II., Wladislas Posthumus, in the year 1457, without leaving an heir
to the throne, chose Matthias, the son of JohnCorvinus, as king, being
resolved not to elect one from amongst the Austrian princes. The
Bohemians likewise selected a private nobleman for their king, George
Padriabrad, and thus the Austrian house found itself for a time re-
jected from holding possession of either of these countries. " Sin-
gular, is the fact," says ^Eneas Sylvius in his Bohemian history,
" that both those kingdoms should have become transferred from
the most noble princely houses to those of common noblemen !"

In Germany, meantime, there existed numberless contests and
feuds, each party considered only his own personal quarrels, or pur-
sued his own private interest, and when a diet was resolved upon and
assembled for determining an expedition against the Turks, they
were for some months discussing how much money, and how many
troops each was to contribute, ultimately postponing the whole affair
until the next year. Generally, at the German diets, little was done
of any importance. The emperor and princes were seldom person-
ally present, but sent their ambassadors, whose chief concern was not
to forego any thing for the interests of their masters. Frequently
many of those were sent who were well versed in the Roman law,
which was now very extensively studied ; these came with their
specious speeches, and already prepared with a hundred different
reasons, by which to prove that too great a portion of the burden of
the whole was laid upon the particular prince or imperial city they
represented. They were engaged in discussing who should contribute
least towards the welfare of Germany; and, therefore, nothing that
was great or noble could be accomplished. Then began, also, the un-
happy practice of no longer speaking intelligibly, briefly, and pithily;
but communicating by tedious writings and counter-statements. And
when it was thought that an affair was at length settled, perhaps an am-
bassador would rise and say, as an excuse for not concluding the busi-
ness, that he had no further instructions, and thus, until his new in-
structions were received, a delay of many months might intervene.
Thence it happened, that from that time, scarcely at any diet a single
valid, conclusive resolution was adopted; they were always postponing
the business in hand for the decision of a future assembly, and even
then another final meeting was adjudged necessary. How different,
and far better was it, when the princes in former times were pre-
sent in person, and when more was done in one hour's cordial con-
ference than in after years in weeks and months. What, however,
had operated much to change the form of the diets was, that instead
of that equalised right enjoyed by those who formerly attended, there
was now introduced three gradations of form : that of the electors,
the princes, and the cities. By the Golden Bull, the first college
had acquired very important privileges, and was wholly separated

FREDERICK BESIEGED IN VIENNA—RELIEVED. 325

from that of the princes and cities; whilst the latter, for a long
period, commanded only a vote in the council, but no co-determi-
nating voice.

The emperor could not give any weight to public measures;
scarcely could he maintain his dignity amongst his own subjects.
The Austrian nobility were even bold enough to send challenges
to their sovereign ; whilst the city of Vienna revolted, and his
brother Albert, taking pleasure in this disorder, was not backward
in adding to it. Things even went to such an extremity, that, in
1462, the Emperor Frederick, together with his consort and son,
Maximilian, then four years of age, was besieged by his subjects in
his own castle of Vienna. A plebeian burgher, named Holzer, had
placed himself at the head of the insurgents, and was made burgo-
master, whilst Duke Albert came to Vienna personally to superin-
tend the siege of the castle, which was intrenched and bombarded.

The emperor, on this occasion, showed himself firm and resolute ;
he encouraged his small garrison of 400 men to make the bravest
resistance, and called aloud from the walls, " This spot will I defend
until it becomes my grave !"

The German princes., however, could not witness with indiffer-
ence such disgraceful treatment of their emperor, and they assembled
to liberate him. George Padriabrad, King of Bohemia, was the first
who hastened to the spot with assistance, set the emperor at liberty,
and effected a reconciliation between him and his brother. The
emperor, however, was obliged to resign to him, for eight years,
Lower Austria and Vienna. Albert died in the following year,
after he had inflicted the merited punishment upon the burgomaster
Holzer, who had endeavoured to betray him to the emperor ; the
traitor was quartered alive.

In the Germanic empire, the voice of the emperor was as little
heeded, as in his hereditary lands. Frederick the Conqueror, Count
Palatine of the Rhine, who, by success of arms, had enlarged the
palatinate by one third, after Frederick had pronounced the ban of
the empire upon him, was suffered to build at his castle at Heidel-
berg, a strong tower, which he called his " Defiance to the empe-
ror." (Trutz Kaiser.) This very Count Palatine ventured publicly
to take under his protection, Diether, Archbishop of Mentz, the
head of the party in Germany who sought to curtail the privileges
of the pontiff, after Pope Pius II. had deposed and excommunicated
him. The Emperor Frederick, on the contrary, wished to carry
into effect the sentence of the pope, and committed to the Mar-
grave, Albert of Brandenburg, and Count Ulric of Wurtemberg, as
his generals, the direction of the imperial war against the count
palatine and his confederates ; the two generals, however, failed.
The army of the Wurtembergian chief was totally routed by the
count palatine, near the village of Seckenheim, and Ulric himself,
•with the Margrave of Baden, taken prisoner ; and in the same
year, the ally of the count palatine, Duke Lewis of Bavaria, at-

326 ALBERT OF BRANDENBERG — CHARLES OF BURGUNDY.

tacked Albert of Brandenburg with equal success, not far from Gien-
gen, in Swabia, and captured the imperial banner. The Archbishop
Diether, however, subsequently submitted of his own accord to the
sentence of the pope, and resigned the archbishopric into the hands
of Adolphus of Nassau, who had been nominated by the pontiff.

Another memorable feud during the reign of Frederick, was that
of many princes and nobles, under the leadership of the aforemen-
tioned Margrave Albert of Brandenburg, (who from his strength
and prowess, was called the German Achilles,) against the city of
Nuremberg in Franconia.

Nuremberg was then one of the most flourishing and powerful
cities of entire Germany ; the ancient animosity between the free
citizens and knights broke out in the year 1449, into a great war.
Seventeen of the greatest princes of the empire, the Electors of
Brandenburg and Mentz, William of Saxony, Otho of Bavaria, Al-
bert of Austria, &c., declared war against the city. On the other
hand, seventy-two imperial towns took part with Nuremberg, and
the Swiss also sent 80.0 men. This desolating war, which especially
affected the rural districts, wherein two hundred villages were burnt
to the ground — lasted eight years. Eight times were the nobility
victorious ; but in March, 1456, the army of the margrave was
totally beaten near Pillerent ; the victory being mainly gained by
the Swiss ; and the margrave, who now saw that even princely power
availed not against the strong walls and opulence of the cities, gladly
made peace with Nuremberg.*

The feudal system raged under Frederick's reign to such an
extent, that it was pursued even by the lower classes. Thus, in
147 1 , the shoeblacks in Leipsic sent a challenge to the university
of that place ; and the bakers of the Count Palatine Lewis, and
those of the Margrave of Baden defied several imperial cities in
Swabia.

The most important transaction in the reign of Frederick, was the
union which he formed with the house of Burgundy, and which laid
the foundation for the greatness of Austria.

Charles the Hash, Duke of Burgundy, was one of the richest and
most celebrated princes of his time. He governed the beautiful countries
which are situated at the mouths of the rivers Rhine and Scheldt, and
which are known by the common name of the Netherlands ; he also
held dominion over the territory and dukedom of Burgundy. This
prince might have rendered himself the most happy of all his royal
cotemporaries. But his proud, ambitious mind aimed at greater
things, even the imperial crown itself; he was glad, therefore,

* This battle is celebrated in a poem, called " The Battle of Nuremberg," written
by Hans Eosenpliit, a heraldic painter of Nuremberg. The warlike, intrepid spirit
of the free citizens is there vividly expressed, and the description of the princes
taking to flight, does not want for point and ridicule. A Low-German poem of the
time commemorates the celebrated battle of Soest, in 1444, when Dietrich, the Arch-
bishop of Cologne, with 70,000 men, made an attack upon that city, but was at last
obliged to retreat in disgrace.

HIS CONFERENCE WITH FREDERICK — MARY OF BURGUNDY. 327

wlien the Emperor Frederick III. proposed to give his own son,
Maximilian, in marriage to his only daughter, Mary, who afterwards
became the heiress of the beautiful lands of Burgundy. But when
he perceived that the emperor did not intend to sacrifice to him the
succession to the empire, he demanded of him, at least, the royal
title ; preceding emperors having also made kings of the dukes of
Bohemia, as feodal-princes of the empire. For the purpose of
negotiating this matter, they agreed upon a conference at Treves,
in the year 1473. The rich duke appeared with more than impe-
rial splendour, and Frederick, who, through the disordered state of
his finances, was reduced almost to penury, met him in a very
poor and mean condition. This striking contrast in their appearance,
was, no doubt, mortifying to the emperor ; and he, especially, was
displeased with the proud, assuming behaviour of the duke; for sox
certain did the latter feel of obtaining the royal title, that he had
actually brought with him the jewels for his coronation, and had
made great preparations for the august festival. But how must he
have been shocked, when the emperor suddenly, without having
crowned, nay, without even having taken leave of him, took his
departure from Treves, under the cool pretext that his presence was
urgently required at Cologne, on account of the disagreement there
existing between the archbishop and his chapter. Full of indigna-
tion, and now byiio means disposed for the projected marriage with
the house of Austria, the duke likewise left Treves immediately af-
terwards.

Nevertheless, this meeting was not attended without its important
effects. Charles had, on this occasion, become much prepossessed in
favour of the young, chivalrous son of the emperor, and on his return
lie gave his daughter a description of his merits, in the most glow-
ing colours ; her heart was so captivated, that without having even
seen Maximilian, she, from this time, cherished a secret attachment
for him, and soon afterwards, in a letter she sent direct to the young
prince, she betrothed herself to him.

The dispute between Archbishop Rupert of Cologne, and his
chapter, had become so serious, that the latter now fixed its seat in
the city of Neuss, and openly opposed him. The archbishop sought
the assistance of Charles the Rash, and, he, gladly embracing the
opportunity, and no doubt already considering himself as Prince of
the Rhine, inarched forth with an army of 60,000 men, and en-
camped before Neuss. The city, however, defended itself with the
greatest heroism and glory ; eleven months did the duke remain
before it, during which he made fifty-six vain assaults, and lost
upwards of 15,000 men; and, at last, when the Emperor Frederick
approached with an imperial army to succour the city, and Charles
was unable to effect any thing by nine more assaults, which he made
in one day, he was obliged to conclude a treaty through the means
of the pope's legate, which, although unattended with any Advan-
tage, brought him nevertheless no disgrace. Neuss yielded to him, but

328 CHARLES AND THE SWISS — BATTLE OF MURTEN.

only in appearance ; for he withdrew the same day he entered, and
resigned it into the hands of the legate of the pope, who was to hold
dominion over it until affairs were settled between the archbishop
and the chapter.

The restless duke soon afterwards attacked Rene, Duke of Lor-
raine, whose country he wished to annex to his own He conquered
the chief city, Nancy, was there acknowledged, and wished now to
direct his arms against the Swiss, so that his dominions might de-
scend from the sources of the Rhine to its mouth. In vain did the
Swiss represent to him that their entire country was not so valuable
as the trappings of his horses ; regardless of their remonstrances, he
invaded Switzerland and made so sure of a victory, that he ordered
the garrison of Granson, which he had taken, to be suspended on
the trees. The Swiss then advanced against him, and took heavy
vengeance for this act; for although his army was three times more
numerous than their own, they totally defeated it, and captured his
entire camp, filled as it was with implements of war and immense
treasures.* He fled from the field, accompanied by only five of hia
remaining attendants. Enraged at this defeat, he equipped a new
army of 60,000, and in the same year, 1476, he marched a second:
time against them.

The armies met at Murten. Hans of Kallwyl, who led the con-
federates, ordered them, before the battle, to kneel down and offer
up their prayer, as their fathers had been accustomed to do ; and
whilst they were praying, the dense clouds which had hitherto over-
hung the sky with blackness, now parted, and the sun cast its
bright genial beams on the suppliant multitude. This luminary
appeared to them at this awful hour as a messenger from Heaven, and
a sure pledge of victory, and in this assurance, rendered more strong
and intrepid in the cause, they fell so bravely upon the enemy that
he was put to the rout, and the field was covered with the bodies
of 20,000 Burgundians, which were collected and deposited in
the charnel-house of Murten, with the superscription, " This me-
morial has been left behind by the martial host of the mighty Duke
of Burgundy."

* In order to show the wealth of the proud duke, we will just specify some oft
principal spoils made by the Swiss. In his tent, which on the outside was hun
with armorial shields of gold and pearls, they found the golden throne upon whic
he sat on solemn occasions; his ducal hat of yellow velvet, thickly studded with the
most precious jewels and pearls, the golden fleece, the order which his father h
instituted, the great seal of Burgundy, in gold, weighing a pound; together with t
golden chaplet of his father, having jewel drops, cabinets of relics, a valuable prayer-
book, &c. The dining-room was well stored with golden and silver goblets, dishi
and plates, besides four hundred travelling trunks, containing the most precio
golden and silver embroidery, which the soldiers sold for a few pence. The gold was
distributed in hats. The largest of the duke's jewels, equal in size to the half of a
walnut and the value of which he estimated at the price of an entire province, was
picked up on the road by a Swiss, and sold by him for a florin. Pope Julius II.
purchased it afterwards of the citizens of Berne for 20,000 ducats, and it yet shines
as the chief jewel in the papal crown. A second jewel of the duke, which was
taken, is in the French crown, and a third is in the imperial treasury at Vienna.

NANCY— CHARLES'S DEFEAT AND DEATH. 329

In the following year, 1477, on the 5th of January, a cold win-
ter's day, there was another sanguinary battle at Nancy, in which
the warlike duke at last met with his death.

The united armies of Lorraine and Switzerland completely de-
feated his troops; and he himself, who, in the din of war, after fight-
ing bravely and honourably for his house, had been struck down, "was
found, scarcely known, among the slain, late on the following day.

His death inspired the crafty French king, Lewis XL, with the hope
of acquiring new and more glorious countries ; he employed every
means to gain for his eldest son, Mary, the heiress of Burgundy;
but the people of the Netherlands held in bitter dislike every thing
French ; and when the ambassadors from the Emperor Frederick
arrived, and to the astonishment of every one, presented the auto-
graph letter and ring, which the Princess Mary had previously sent
to the Archduke Maximilian, the people were delighted, and Mary
declared openly and freely: " Him have I fixed upon in my mind,
him will I have for my husband, and none other." Thereupon, Maxi-
milian went to the Netherlands and was united to Mary of Bur-
gundy. He soon found opportunity to prove to his new subjects
his valour and discretion in their wars against the French king ;
for the latter j who regarded the young prince as an insignificant
adversary, and relied upon his own superior power, had by force of
arms made a conquest of various parts of Burgundy. Maximilian,
however, bravely made head against him, and defeated his avari-
cious enemy at Guinegast, in 1479, and would to a certainty have
reconquered from him every portion of the estates of Burgundy still
in his possession, but for the sad loss he sustained in his beloved
Mary, who died in the year 1482, in consequence of a fall from
her horse whilst chasing herons. The zeal of the Netherlanders
then grew cold in the protracted war, and Maximilian was obliged
to leave his beautiful inheritance in the hands of the French.

In these battles the Emperor Frederick could afford his son no
assistance ; he was hard pressed in his own hereditary lands, partly
by the Turks who made their way into Carinthia and Carniola, and
even to Salzburg ; and partly by Matthias, King of Hungary, who,
in 1485, took possession of Vienna itself; and all regard for pub-
lic honour being now diminished, the Germanic empire could with
great difficulty be induced to make any exertions on behalf of
its emperor. The latter having made his escape, was compelled
to wander a fugitive through his land, seeking a temporary asylum
in some of the convents and cities, where he was charitably fur-
nished with the necessities of life; nay, sometimes he was glad
to beg a lift on the high road from some peasant driving his team
of oxen. Nevertheless, even in this state of degradation, his feeling
of dignity never forsook him ; by himself, and those few scattered
sympathising subjects by whom his sovereignty was still acknow-
ledged, he was regarded as the source of justice and authority in his
extensive empire. This undauntedness of opinion and conviction

330 FREDERICK A FUGITIVE — HIS RETURN.

now gradually operated in his favour, and produced once more a union
of the princes of the empire, whilst he succeeded in effecting what
his great ancestor in all the fulness of his power had been unable
to accomplish; inasmuch, as in the year 1486, the whole of the as-
sembled princes, influenced especially by the representations of the
faithful and now venerable Albert, called the Achilles of Branden-
burg, elected Maximilian, the emperor's son, King of Rome.

Indeed, about this period a changed and improved spirit began to
show itself in a remarkable degree in the minds of many throughout
the empire, so that the profound contemplator of coming events
might easily see the dawn of a new era. Universally was it felt that
the time was come for the re-establishment of the imperial power on
stronger foundations. But as this power could alone no longer sub-
sist as a central point of dominion over the Christian world, it was
necessary to rest it upon the basis of a constitution, for which indeed
all the elements of a grand system of community were already at
hand, could they only be brought to bear in happy combination.

The diets were regarded as the focus of jurisdiction and adminis-
tration; an imperial court of justice was already established; a re-
gister, by which every member of the empire was bound to give his
name for the general defence of the empire, had been established in
the war against the Hussites. Thus, if these institutions could only
be brought into thorough operation, good order, and the proper go-
vernment of the empire would be secured.

In order to promote this grand object great activity was shown,
especially towards the latter part of the reign of the Emperor Frede-
rick. In the year 1486, the decree of the Landfriede, or peace of
the country, was renewed, although still accompanied with certain
clauses which in many cases sanctioned self-defence or private war-
fare. In the year 1489, the forms of council at the diets were more
firmly regulated and fixed, according to the three colleges in rota-
tion, viz. : the electors, princes, and cities.

It was held desirable likewise, that to the imperial tribunal there
should be added another imperial chamber, furnished with the vi-
gorous power of the executive, in order to maintain the law of the
jLandfriede, possessing equally with the emperor himself the right of
pronouncing the imperial ban against all disturbers of the peace of
the country, with authority to adopt and regulate the necessary
measures for its execution. But on this point the old emperor, who
clung to the ancient system, remained extremely obstinate, being de-
termined not to yield any portion of his own power and authority.
The colleges were therefore forced for the present to wait and be
satisfied with receiving from his son, Maximilian, the recently elected
King of Rome, the promise that he would use every exertion with
his father to bring into operation the proposed institution. It was
well known, of course, that he would not succeed in gaining the ob-
ject desired; but it was believed, that by this expression of feeling,
he himself would, when he came into power, feel bound to bring it

THE SWABIAN LEAGUE—DEATH OF FREDERICK III., 1493. 331

into effect. How lie acted in this respect we shall find in the history
of his reign; all, at least, were satisfied in having only gained some-
thing.

It was at this period, likewise, that in another respect, a very
powerful alliance was formed, by which in the municipal territories
of Germany the preservation of peace would be materially promoted.
This was the Swabian league, which, in 1488, under the mediation
of the emperor, was effected with the more immediate object of
opposing the violent and overbearing power of the Dukes of Ba-
varia, who had seized and held possession of Ratisbon, and by
whom several other imperial cities were now threatened. At first,
a considerable body of knights and many of the cities combined
together, under the direction of a select council of the confede-
rates, for common defence against every enemy, and for the preserva-
tion of the peace of the country. These were soon joined and
headed by the neighbouring princes, especially Wurtemberg and
Brandenburg. Against this formidable body Albert of Munich
soon found he was unable to contend, and accordingly, he was forced
to give up Ratisbon, and, indeed, soon afterwards joined the league
himself.

These last years were the best in the whole life of the emperor, and
yielded to him in return for his many sufferings, that tranquillity
which was so well merited by his faithful, generous disposition. He
died on the 19th of August, 1493, after a 'reign of 54 years.

The emperor lived long enough to obtain, in the year 1490, the
restoration of his hereditary estates by the death of King Matthias,
by means of a compact made with Wladislas, his successor.

Frederick was the last emperor who was in person invested with
the Roman imperial crown in Rome ; this took place on the 19th
of March, 1452.

During the reign of Frederick III., a neighbouring country,
which was conquered and peopled by the Germans, and which sub-
sequently became more closely united with the German empire; viz.,
Prussia, became subject to the sovereignty of Poland. How, during
the reign of Frederick II., the knights of the Teutonic order en-
tered Prussia, and there founded a government under which the
cities and country gloriously flourished, we have already seen.

This prosperity continued until the fifteenth century. The com-
mercial towns of Danzig, Thorn, and Elbing, obtained such great-
ness, that the first-mentioned town could (according to jEneas Syl-
vius) command a force of 50,000 men, and the chronicles also relate
of a peasant, who when, about the year 1400, he entertained the
grand-master of the order, Conrad of Jungingen, placed round the
table as seats, twelve tuns, of which eleven were completely, but
the twelfth only half filled with gold. He even offered them to the
grand-master as a present, who, however, ordered the twelfth, to be
quite filled, in order that it might be said, that in Prussia there ex-
isted a peasant who possessed twelve tuns filled with gold.

332 PRUSSIA UNDER POLAND — MAXIMILIAN I., 1493.

But already, under this grand-master, the dominion of the order
began to fall into decay. It had become too rich — luxury and vice
enervated the prowess of its members; injustice and oppression es-
tranged the people from their rulers, and when now the rising power
of the Polish kings was directed against the order, they exhibited
a total relaxation of their ancient power. In a great battle at Tan-
nenberg, in 1410, the knights were completely beaten by King Wla-
dislas Jagello. It is true they obtained moderate terms at the peace
of Thorn, in 1416; yet the old evils continued. Besides this there
were internal broils ; the nobility and cities of the country entered
into an alliance against the knights, and chose, in 1454, Casimir III.
King of Poland for their protector. After a war of twelve years,
at the second peace of Thorn in 1466, the order was obliged to re-
sign to Poland part of the country, together with Culm, Marien-
burg, Elbing, and other places ; and to acknowledge for the portion
left to them the feodal right of the Polish crown. The country
had suffered indescribably from the desolating war ; of twenty-one
thousand large villages, only three -thousand were left, and the order
had become reduced to a mere shadow of its former greatness.

CHAPTER XV.

Maximilian I., 1493 — 1519 — His Mental Acquirements and Chivalric Character —
His Government — Italy — Charles VIII. and Lewis XII. of France — Switzerland
—The Venetian Republic — The League of Cambray — Maximilian's Honourable
and Consistent Conduct — The Battle of the Spurs — Union of Hungary and Bo-
hemia— Internal Administration of Affairs — Perpetual Peace of the Land — End
of the Faust-Recht — The Imperial Chamber and Aulic Council — Opposition of
the States— The Emperor Triumphant— State of the Country— The Nobles, Cities,
and Peasantry — Gotz of Berlichingen, &c. — Death of the Emperor Maximilian,
1519 — Events of his Keign, and End of the Middle Ages— Discovery and Use of
Gunpowder — Artillery and Fire-arms — Invention of Printing, 1457.

DURING the preceding century Europe had become fully prepared
for great changes, which, when they had once unfolded their results,
would produce a complete revolution in the condition of nations.
The invention of gunpowder had already begun so to alter the
science of war, that chivalry, which for centuries had predominated
throughout the middle ages, was now approaching its end. The art
of printing, in connection with the invention of paper, had created
a new medium for the communication of thought, by which, with
the rapidity of lightning, the human mind might be agitated from
one end of Europe to the other. The discovery of a new quarter of
the globe, and a sea passage to the East Indies, altered entirely
the former course of commerce, and tranferred the great power
thereby gained to nations, which, amongst the rest, had hitherto been
but little mentioned or known. Finally, political economy as it now

HIS MENTAL ACQUIREMENTS AND CHIVALRIC CHARACTER. 333

arose, and came especially from France and Italy, assumed quite ano-
ther form — it made honour and good faith give way to interest; and
this was^now the principle upon which states acted in their alliances,
so that in the conduct of nations towards each other there appeared
to prevail a law different to that which is recognised by individuals.

During this period of fermentation, so fertile in invention, it may
be said of the Emperor Maximilian, that he stood forth amidst the new
forms as a dignified image of olden time, since in him again, and for
the last time, was personified chivalry in all its glory. As this in its
great features was equally elevated and amiable, so did Maximilian
unite with bravery, dignity, and decision of character, the gentle-
ness of a child ; and as the warm imagination of the middle ages
prompted to the most astonishing and unprecedented adventures, so
also in the exploits of Maximilian we find predominating valour, en-
thusiasm, and sometimes temerity.

One of his most favourite, because the most daring, pastimes was
that of hunting the chamois, and on these excursions he often ran
into such hazard that his friends trembled for his life ; in like man-
ner did he sport with danger in wrestling matches, where, with his
own hand he conquered the very lion itself, the same as on the field of
battle where many an antagonist was doomed to lie at his feet. At
the same time, the emperor, amidst his other avocations, found time
for the arts and sciences, and acquired knowledge to a degree which
would excite admiration, even from those whose whole life is directed
to such pursuits. He spoke nearly all the European languages then in
vogue, and left behind him several works which he had written in
German. He acquired the art of forging armour, which he did with
his own hand ; was much attached to all that was learned and sci-
entific, and in conversation he was so intellectual, affable, and kind,
that every one recognised in him the accomplished man. He was
never known to allow an oath or a blasphemous word to pass his
lips, whilst his noble mind and heart were constantly, even amidst
the most bitter insults, inclined towards mercy. His outward ap-
pearance was also in perfect keeping with the character here depicted,
being tall and muscular, and of a truly royal carriage. In his younger
years his flaxen hair flowed in ringlets down to his shoulders, his
blue eyes expressed glowing ardour, mixed with kindness, and his
high forehead and aquiline nose, finished the expression of majesty
in his features. His natural fervour and vivacity of character Maxi-
milian derived from his mother, Eleanor of Portugal, a princess en-
dowed with an amiable and noble disposition, but who died unhap-
pily too soon, being scarcely thirty years of age. It must also be
said to the honour of his father, that he bestowed great care upon
the education of his son from childhood upwards, by providing for
him excellent masters, as well as by his own personal instructions.

Maximilian's first appearance in public life resembles the opening
of a romance of chivalry. Love and honour called him forth, while
yet a youth, to the field, and he then already gave signs of his noble

334 DECLINE OF CHIVALRY.

and courageous disposition in a contest at arms which he maintained
in the most honourable manner, with the artful and more experienced
King of France, Lewis XI. But in the course of his career, all did
not succeed as this his first essay in life. The time was gone by, when
a bold chivalric venture brought with it the necessary successful re-
sults. Instead of, as in ancient times, rushing into an enemy's country,
accompanied by vassals, summoned at a moment's notice, and after
the termination of a short but glorious campaign, speedily return-
ing home, it was necessary now to keep up a mercenary army. It
was no longer the preponderance of spirit and individual strength,
which ensured success to great enterprises, but all was decided
by the superior command of external resources; and our valiant,
noble-minded emperor, who at an earlier epoch would have go-
verned as gloriously as the most renowned and powerful of his
ancestors, now, for want of these advantages, stood far behind the
artful, cold-calculating kings of France and Spain. He knew not,
as they did, the importance of such external resources, and espe-
cially money; he wasted large sums away without reflection, so
that whenever a critical and decisive moment arrived, these means
were wanting, and his troops for lack of pay were disbanded.*

These observations explain Maximilian's life, and his incongruity
with the age in which he lived; nevertheless mindful, however, of
the ancient honour of the imperial dignity, he pursued the grand
object of maintaining, so far as he was able, justice, peace, and
order throughout Europe, and that, too, less by force of arms, than
by the dictates of wisdom and reason; of protecting the church, and
finally, directing the united power of Christendom against the uni-
versal enemy, the Turks. And truly did he succeed in adding
more influence to the imperial dignity than it had possessed for cen-
turies : he even contemplated the bold design of attaining the papal
crown, and thus, by uniting in his own person the two chief dig-
nities of Christianity, promote the peace and welfare of the world.
This is no fiction, for it is proved by documents and the autograph
letters of the emperor, which show that in the year 1511 he had
made serious preparations for his election as pope in the event of
the death of Pope Julius II., who was then dangerously ill, but who
afterwards recovered. And if we duly consider the actual state of
the world at that time, the idea of the emperor was not so chime-
rical and impossible as it might at first appear; besides which, a
main difficulty that might have presented itself from the fact of his
marriage, was obviated by the recent death of his second consort
Bianca. Maximilian, however, in this case, as in fact in almost all
the other acts of his life, did not duly estimate the extent of his

* While yet a boy, Maximilian once expressed this disposition, when his father
presented him with a plate of fruit and a purse of money. Maximilian kept the
fruit, and gave the money away to his servants, " That boy will become a spend-
thrift!" sighed his father. But Maximilian replied: " I wish not to be a king over
money, but over the people, and all those who possess money."

ITALY— CHARLES VIII. AND LEWIS XII. OF FRANCE. 335

external resources; the idea was too grand in contrast with the
limited means of accomplishment, and thus his enterprises generally
did not succeed, as the history of his life will now more parti-
cularly show.

The external operations of Maximilian were directed almost ex-
clusively to Italy. Here the French kings, whose power had ma-
terially increased by the total expulsion of the English from the
French territory, as well as by annexing to the crown the great fiefs
of Burgundy, Brittany, Provence, and Anjou, persisted in their
efforts to withdraw that country, broken up already by factions,
from its allegiance to the emperor, and, as much as possible, to bring
it under French subjection.

Hence Charles VIII. sought out and produced the ancient claims
of the house of Anjou to the kingdom of Naples, where a collateral
lineage of the Arragonian family reigned. With an army which he
had levied hastily he invaded Italy, and in 1495 speedily gained
possession of Naples. This success was greatly owing to the use of
metal cannons, which, drawn by horses, followed the troops; those
hitherto used being only of heavy iron, employed merely in sieges.

As soon, however, as the Italians had somewhat recovered from
their first alarm they united together, friends and foes, against the
French ; the emperor, the pope, and the King of Arragon, Ferdinand
the Catholic, promised also their aid; so that the King of France
was forced to abandon his conquest as quickly as he had made it.
It was on this occasion that the Emperor Maximilian negotiated and
settled definitively the highly important marriage of his son Philip,
who already possessed the Netherlands, with Joanna, the daughter of
the King of Spain, This son, Philip, had been born to him by his
beloved Mary of Burgundy, and the issue of Philip's marriage with
Joanna of Spain, was the subsequent emperor, Charles V., who re-
united and held the half of Europe under his sway.

The French, however, would not allow themselves to be entirely
discomfited by the failure of their first attempt upon Italy. The
successor of Charles VIII., Lewis XII., resolved to conquer Milan,
to make up for the loss of Naples. He founded his claims upon
ancient family alliances with the house of Visconti, and made a
hostile attack upon the reigning duke, Louis Moroni. With the
aid of the Venetians, to whom he promised a portion of the booty,
he, in the year 1500, soon made a conquest of the entire duchy, and
the unfortunate duke was obliged, after ten years confinement, to
end his days in a dungeon in France. The king now directed his
attention again to Naples, united with Ferdinand of Arragon, and
both shared together that kingdom, to which neither had any right.
On this occasion, however, Lewis was forced to experience that one
artful man may be cheated by another more artful than himself, in-
asmuch as the Spanish king, by means of his general, Gonsalvo of
Cordova, soon expelled the French from Naples, and retained the
kingdom for himself.

The emperor was wrong to allow foreign nations thus to run loose

336 MILAN — THE VENETIANS — LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY.

upon Italy; that unhappy country, unable to maintain its indepen-
dence, ought at least, under imperial protection, to have been se-
cured against such arbitrary treatment. And, indeed, Maximilian
would gladly have asserted his ancient rights of sovereignty, but
unhappily he was not supported by the Germanic empire, and his
power was too much restricted. He was compelled, therefore, to
allow King Lewis to hold possession of Milan, who, however, so far
honoured the imperial dignity as to consent to retain the duchy as a
fief of the empire.

Whilst the French established themselves in Italy, Maximilian
made another attempt — the last that was made — to bring the Swiss
once more under the dominion of the empire. The ancient hatred
of the nobility, especially in Swabia, became now again manifested
against the Swiss peasantry. This time it was called forth by an
insignificant quarrel of the Austrian government in Tyrol with the
confederates of the Orisons. The chief cause, however, was, viz.,
that the Swiss had become the allies of the French kings, and gave
them assistance in their expeditions against Italy — an act regarded as
a breach of their obligations to the empire, they having always been
looked upon as included in the imperial alliance. But the war which
was waged against them, in 1499, was disgraceful to Germany. The
Swabian nobility were in several skirmishes severely beaten ; a nu-
merous and well-appointed army, which Maximilian himself collected
in Constance, was, in consequence of the reluctance of the princes to
join in a battle amongst the dangerous mountains of Switzerland,
forced to turn back, retreating through the passes on the confines of
the country of Berne. The grand marshal of the emperor, Count
von Fiirstenberg, who was ordered to conduct the army of the princes
of the Rhine, through Alsace, by Basle, into Switzerland, was sur-
prised and overthrown by the Swiss at Dorneck, with the loss of
3000 killed, and all his ammunition. They were obliged to make
peace and leave to the Swiss their independence, although the latter
did not as yet expressly dissolve their connection with the empire.
Soon afterwards, Basle and Schafhausen, which had hitherto re-
mained imperial cities, were included in the Swiss confederation.

Maximilian very soon again found employment in Italy. Here,
at this time no state was more flourishing than that of the Venetians.
By their extended commerce they had acquired immense wealth, a
great part of Upper Italy had by degrees become subject to them, and
they aimed at still greater power.

But their pride and insolence excited the hatred of their powerful
neighbours, who besides laid claim to various parts of their territories;
the principal portion of what they possessed in Upper Italy, except-
ing their old country, having formerly belonged to the empire, and
other portions to the papal dominions ; whilst in Lower Italy, they
had taken places to which Ferdinand the Catholic, as King of Naples,
laid just claims; and finally, France wished to obtain those posses-
sions immediately bordering upon Milan.

Hence arose, in 1508, the famous league between Spain, France,

MAXIMILIAN'S HONOUR AND CONSISTENCY. 337

the warlike Pope Julius II., and the emperor, against the republic of
Venice, known under the name of the league of Cambray, threaten-
ing instantly to crush that free state, which although rich, was still in-
significant when compared with such great powers opposed to it.
But as this is the first great league of the kind in the history of the
more modern states of Europe, it has also become the prefigure of
most of those which have succeeded it, and seems as a sort of mirror
in which is reflected the instability of the political relations of these
states, which being grounded in selfishness and self-aggrandisement,
without having a hold in the moral dignity of the people, again dis-
solved like an empty vapour, as soon as the cards of fortune were re-
shuffled, and thus became an object of derision for the whole of
Europe. For the artful republicans so well knew how to divide the
allies by dazzling before the eyes of each the tempting bait of self-
interest, that those who were friends before became hostile to each
other, whilst they themselves retired unhurt from their conflict with
the most powerful princes.

Of the Emperor Maximilian himself history records, that he was
most sincere in his dealings with his allies, and maintained the honour
of his word. Louis XII. was the first to hasten to the scene of
action in the year 1509, and in a few weeks made a conquest of all
that the league had promised him as part of the booty ; and when
Maximilian also arrived, and with his troops took one place after
another, the Venetians begged from' him peace, offering to make over
to him all that they had ever taken from the house of Austria or the
empire ; thus an opportunity was presented by which he might have
made a very advantageous treaty with them. But he refused ; the
allies having solemnly agreed only to grant peace conjointly. The
others, however, did not act equally conscientious. Ferdinand the
Catholic, as he was sure of his possessions in Lower Italy, took no
further part in the war, and Pope Julius II. abandoned the league
altogether, out of hatred to the French, and joined the Venetians.
Ferdinand soon afterwards did the same, and the three allies called
their union the holy league. The French were now expelled from
Milan. Their policy then quickly took a turn ; the first calculation
having failed, they entered into an alliance with their former ene-
mies, the Venetians ; whilst, on the other hand, the Spaniards again
united with the emperor and with the King of England, Henry VIII.,
against both the others. Thus, in the course of a few years, friend-
ship gave way to hostility, and the latter again yielded to the
former; Spain, for instance, from being first hostile, had become
allied with, but was now again hostile to Venice; and throughout
the whole of this game treachery appeared to pass for wisdom, whilst
honour was treated as nothing.

The French, however, were not benefited by this new calculation ;
in the battle of Novarre, in 1513, they were driven completely out of
Italy, in which affair the Swiss fought against them; and as they
were hard pressed also in their own country by the imperial and the

z

338 BATTLE OF THE SPURS— HUNGARY AND BOHEMIA UNITED.

English troops, who in the same year, under the personal command
of Maximilian, gained the battle of Guinegate (which on account of
the hasty retreat of the French was called the battle of the spurs),
Louis found it necessary to renounce for a time his claims to Milan.
Maximilian gave Milan as a fief of the empire to Maximilian Sforza,
the son of Louis Moro ; but he did not possess it long.

When Louis XII. died in the year 1515, he was succeeded to the
French throne by the youthful, daring, and ambitious Francis I.,
and in order that he might commence his reign with some brilliant
act, he sallied forth, in the same year, with an army to Italy, and re-
captured Milan. The Swiss who came to the assistance of the city,
and incautiously attacked the enemy, were, after a severe engage-
ment, which lasted two days, completely defeated at Marignano.
This was the first great battle in which they had lost the field.

The French artillery and the German lanciers who served on
French pay, and were ever after considered the best infantry, gained
the victory. The emperor, indeed, made an expedition once again
in the following year into Italy, and besieged Milan, but increasing
age and so many futile efforts made him disposed for peace ; more-
over, his forces soon dwindled away for want of pay. By a treaty
made at Brussels in 1516, he resigned to the King of France the
duchy of Milan, and, what was still more galling to his feelings, he
gave back to the detested republic of Venice the important city of
Verona.

Thus was concluded, after a great variety of changes, the war of
Italy, in which the best exertions of the emperor had been required.
This contest had withheld him from pursuing that object so important
to the empire, and for which his chivalric spirit so naturally dis-
posed him, namely, in making war against the Turks, and if possible
banishing them from Europe. This wish he constantly cherished,
and even expressed most ardently but a few months before his death,
at his last diet held in Augsburg, in a proposition he made to the
states of the empire, to undertake an expedition against the Turks;
but the petty and selfish spirit of the day was not favourable to such
an enterprise.

Amongst the other external arrangements of the emperor, one
most worthy of remark was the ratification of the reunion with
Hungary and Bohemia. Besides the grandson, who afterwards be-
came Emperor Charles V., he had of his son Philip, who was already
dead, and Joanna of Spain, another grandson, afterwards Ferdinand
I.; him he gave in 1515 in marriage to the daughter of Wladislas,
King of Hungary, and thereby laid the foundation for the direct
connexion of Hungary and Bohemia with the countries of Austria.

Already during the last few years of the reign of the Emperor
Frederick III., as before mentioned, great efforts had been made by
the states of the empire to establish public tranquillity, and to render
it secure by a legislative institution. Immediately after the com-
mencement of the reign of the new emperor these exertions were

INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION OF AFFAIRS — LANDFRIEDE. 339

perseveringly continued. The most active and zealous promoter of this
grand object was Bertold, the Elector ofMentz, and Count of Hanne-
berg, one of the most extraordinary men of his day. From the period
when, under Frederick III., in 1486, as first spiritual elector, he stood
at the head of the states of the empire down to the present moment,
he had continued to be the advocate and warm supporter of all the
operations tending to improve the institutions of the country; in-
defatigable, free from all personal motive, and having the cause of
his country alone in mind and heart, he was continually at work
to promote its welfare.

At the first diet held by the new emperor at Worms, in 1495, the
subject of the Landfriede, or peace of the country, and the proposed
Kammergericht, or imperial chamber, were immediately taken into
discussion. The emperor, who likewise heartily desired that peace
should at length reign throughout the empire, in order that its
strength might be more effectually brought to bear against the hostile
power of France, zealously joined in the grand undertaking, and
thus was completed and brought into operation the institution for
the perpetual peace of the country — a work which gained for this
diet the greatest praise and renown. And although this Landfriede
was still shackled with certain restrictive clauses, and the feudal system
did not altogether cease its operations, still the new law possessed
this advantage, viz., that legally club-law must henceforth entirely
terminate, and the authority of the law in its normal form take its
place; a system which, in the course of time, after it had come more
and more into operation, was universally adopted. When we con-
sider the incalculably important consequences which attended this
change of things amongst the middle and lower classes of the people,
we must assuredly acknowledge the year 1495 to be one of the most
momentary and striking in our history, whilst we must regard the
Emperor Maximilian as one of the greatest benefactors of the nation.

Still in respect to the more enlarged plan of the Elector Bertold
and the states, which embraced the strengthening of the imperial
government and the imperial chamber, Maximilian did not so
easily yield his sanction ; like his father, he was very reluctant to
give up any portion of the imperial rights, however incapable he
might be, through his important affairs abroad, of fulfilling the
duties they imposed upon him. He was, however, at length pre-
vailed upon by the states to yield in the main to the general desire,
especially when he was reminded of the former promise he had
partially made when they elected him King of Rome in 1489, and
which he could not retract. The imperial chamber was to be per-
manently established for the purpose of equitably deciding the dis-
putes between the states of the empire, which had hitherto always
been settled by an appeal to arms, and what is still more important,
it was authorised to pronounce in the name of the emperor the im-
perial ban of excommunication against all who opposed it. In its
entire construction, likewise, it was no longer to form merely an espe-

z2

340 THE IMPERIAL CHAMBER AND AULIC COUNCIL.

cial imperial tribunal, "but in reality a tribunal of the empire. The
emperor appointed only the president or chief judge; the fifty
assessors were presented by the states, whilst the cities, likewise,
were allowed to nominate a few. The emperor opened the court
himself, and handed to Count Eitelfried von Zollern the judicial
sceptre, as chief judge of the chamber. The first court was held
on the 3d of November, 1495, in Frankfort.

The progress, however, made by this institution, was equally
slow with that of the Landfriede ; the idea was good, and the plan
laid out with great wisdom ; but in respect to the execution thereof,
many difficulties and insurmountable obstacles stepped in to prevent
a successful issue. Many would not attend to the decrees pronounced,
and the power of enforcing them was wanting, inasmuch as the em-
peror was occupied in foreign countries, and besides which he felt but
little real desire to promote a tribunal rendered independent of his
own especial sway. Then followed the non-payment of the neces-
sary fees and salaries, as the contributions from the various members
of the empire came in very irregularly or perhaps not at all; so that
the court often sat and broke up without effecting any thing.
At last it became so neglected, that the emperor was himself forced
to reconstruct it, and supply the necessary funds ; and thus made it,
as in former times, wholly dependent upon himself. The discontent
thence produced between the emperor and the states increased
more and more, until at length the Elector of Mentz brought for-
ward twenty-two points of accusation against Maximilian, to which
the latter replied by twenty -three articles in opposition. A most
angry and bitter correspondence ensued between the emperor and
the elector ; but the scale of balance on the side of the former be-
came only more and more on the ascent, and turned completely
against him.

But, as often happened in Maximilian's varied career, the scale
dropped once more in his favour. He contrived, although the
body of electors were inimical towards him, to enlist friends on his
side from amongst the temporal and spiritual princes. He filled up
various vacant bishoprics, with the co-operation of the then friendly
papal authority, with his friends. Amongst the temporal princes
were at that time many young, warlike lords, who all glowed with
military ardour under his command ; and the gay, chivalric emperor,
continually engaged in some enterprise, perfect master in all military
exercises, combining true genius with a generous and friendly dis-
position, knew well how to enchain them to him. We have already
seen how Duke Eric of Calenberg fought with so much glory in
the wars of Austria, and that the entire house of the Guelfs adhered
to that dynasty. So likewise did the Dukes of Saxony, Mecklenburg,
Pomerania, and Cleves; whilst the emperor gained Wurtemberg,
by granting the earl's claims, and conferring upon him the title of
duke. The Margraves of Brandenburg were secured by the faithful
adherence of their ancestor Albert, the German Achilles. Thus by

THE EMPEROR AND STATES— EMPEROR TRIUMPHANT. 341

rewards and promotions of various kinds, the emperor, in order to
augment his party, availed himself of the remnant left of imperial
privileges. Indeed he had become in the year 1504 so strong, that
he was enabled to bring to a successful issue, and according to his own
wishes, a very important contest originating in the inheritance of
George, Duke of Bavaria-Landshut. The Dukes of Bavaria, Mu-
nich, and the Palatine Rupert stood opposed to each other ; and
Maximilian himself laid claim to a portion of the lands. As the Pala-
tine refused most obstinately to submit to the decree pronounced
by the imperial chamber, the emperor at once adjudged the ban of
excommunication against him. With the aid of the afore-mentioned
allied princes, together with the Swabian league and his own imme-
diate adherents, he executed the sentence successfully; the palatine
was forced to submit, and Maximilian himself gained no inconsider-
able portion of the possessions.

His position in judicial affairs was rendered still more favourable
by the death of the leader of the electoral opposition party, Ber-
told of Mentz, who died in the year 1504. He was now enabled, in
the two following years, at the diets held at Cologne and Constance,
to bring into effect the preponderating power he possessed, inas-
much as he substituted the organic regulations of the empire in ac-
cordance with his views for those which had previously existed and
had originated in the visionary project of realising a national unity.
It was not now simply a question of combining the regulation of
the empire with almost imperial power; but, also, of restoring the
imperial chamber according to the resolutions fixed at Worms; to-
gether with the establishment of a register by which the contributions
for the expenditure of the country and the contingent of troops in
the wars of the empire were divided among the states according to
their power : these were the too important results of the diet of Con-
stance in 1507. Both continued in force during a period of three
centuries and, in spite of the independent territories, represented the
unity of the Germanic empire.

It was after the foundation of these happy internal regulations of
the empire, that Maximilian proceeded into Italy, as before men-
tioned, on his great campaign against the Venetians; and his hopes
were so strong, that in the February of 1508, in Trieste, he assumed
the title of Roman king elect, without waiting to be crowned in
Rome. This act was of great importance to future times, Maxi-
milian's successors having afterwards assumed the imperial title, im-
mediately after their coronation in Aix-la-Chapelle ; and during the
whole of the subsequent periods, only one emperor was crowned by
the pope.

At the diet held in Cologne, in 1512, the emperor introduced an
important proposition, touching the internal peace of the empire,
viz.: that the decisions of the imperial chamber should, by -a defi-
nite authority, be enforced and carried into effect in every part of
the empire ; without which they were of little or no avail. It was

342 DISTRIBUTION OF THE CIRCLES — STATE OF COUNTRY.

proposed, therefore, that the division of the circles, which had
been hitherto brought into operation for the purpose of returning
deputies to officiate in the imperial chamber, should now be made
available in this case, and be rendered efficient accordingly. At
first they consisted of six circles: Bavaria, Swabia, Franconia, the
Rhine, Westphalia, and Lower Saxony; now, however, it was re-
solved to add four more : the Lower Rhine, including the four elec-
torates ; Upper Saxony, embracing its electorate and Brandenburg ;
Austria; and Burgundy.

Each circle was to be regarded as one distinctly organised and
comprehensive body, and all matters of peace and war to be super-
intended by a military chief. Notwithstanding great contention
ensued between the emperor and the states upon this question, a
resolution was passed, and accordingly a decree for its adoption was
agreed to by the states of the empire. Its execution, however, was
not brought into force immediately, for it was only after some
ten years had elapsed, that this division of circles was at length
effectually established.

Besides the foundation thus laid for these organic institutions,
which, if not emanating from Maximilian alone, were at least pro-
duced with his co-operation, Germany has to thank him especially
for the introduction of an entire new system of discipline in the
army, which he remodelled completely, by dividing it into regi-
ments ; and finally, it was by him that a system of posting was first
introduced.

We must not, however, deceive ourselves in the character of this
period, which is more especially distinguished in our history as a
period of transition. Such epochs are marked by the most contra-
dictory phenomena, more especially, however, by a universal rup-
ture and fermentation of all relations, calling forth at every moment
the feeling that we are, as it were, standing upon undermined
ground, where are raging in all their unrestricted fury the elements
of new creations. As yet the seeds only were strewed, the full
growth and fruit of which were reserved for after-times.

At present on neither side was contentment to be found; the
mutual privileges and duties of the ruler and the states had be-
come more than ever fluctuating. Innumerable representations
(reclamationen) were made against the assessments of the register ;
princes had been included who were no longer in existence; many
states had been inscribed as immediate which had become mediate,
and were now claimed back again by the sovereign lord, especially
among cities. Thus, it was urged by the ambassador of Denmark
and Holstein, that amongst others, a city (Hamburg) had been marked
as an imperial city, but that, as it was situated in Holstein, it must
be reclaimed by his sovereign and restored, as part of his patrimo-
nial possessions, he being lord of the manor by natural succession.
He, however, did not succeed in his claim, as the imperial freedom
of the city was nevertheless acknowledged.

THE NOBLES, CITIES, AND PEASANTRY. 343

The aulic council of the imperial chamber, with its decrees, met
with great opposition from all sides. It roused, generally, a desire
for independence, and which, in fact, broke forth in such a series of
cruel and barbarous acts, that the commencement of the fifteenth cen-
tury again presented scenes of sanguinary contention in many parts
of the empire.

1. The princes resorted to open war in order to extend their ter-
ritorial dignity. The countship of Hoya, amongst the rest, was, in
1511, invaded by Brunswick, Liineburg, Bremen, and Minden;
whilst the remaining body of free Fresians were, in 1514, also at-
tacked by Brunswick, Liineburg, Calenberg, Oldenburg, and George,
Duke of Saxony; and in these, as in all other cases, the superior
power triumphed.

2. The whole body of knights in every quarter feeling themselves,
as it were, penned in by the princes, formed a close alliance and de-
clared open war. The depredations of the freebooter-knights, on the
high roads, and their attacks upon the merchants and dealers to and
from the fairs, were again resumed, and continual scenes of robbery
and murder, by day and night, occurred throughout the land. It was
about this time that the celebrated Gotz of Berlichingen, Franz of
Selbitz, but more especially the noted Franz of Sickingen, who was
enabled to collect and march whole armies against the princes, were
actively engaged in the cause they espoused.

3. The cities, although overrun and oppressed on every side, still
retained their ancient strength to a certain extent; they now de-
fended themselves against the assaults of the knights with the same
success as when formerly attacked by the princes; and woe to the
nobleman or knight who once fell into their hands ! For no peti-
tion, either from his family or friends, nor even the intercession or
remonstrances of any of the princes, were of any avail to save him
from the axe of the executioner. In the north, Lubeck especially
stood most prominently at the head of the Hanse Towns. In the year
1509 they attacked John, King of Denmark, captured all his ships
at Elsinore, returning home loaded with booty. In the battle of
Bornholm a Lubeck vessel beat off three Danish ships by which she
had been grappled, and even made one of them a prize.

At the diets the cities still maintained a very important position.
Their commercial associations, by which they were enabled to trans-
act the most extensive business and embark in the most profitable
enterprises, produced for them such opulence, and with it its pre-
ponderating influence, that the jealousy and envy of the princes be-
came more excited, until, at length, they combined together in pro-
posing at several diets, held about this time, such resolutions as
should, if not wholly destroy, at least reduce the great power they
possessed by taxation, and certainly there was great foundation for
these measures, inasmuch as the complaints made against the enor-
mous prices demanded by the merchants for the goods supplied be-
came more and more general.

344 THE SHOE LEAGUE — POOR CONRAD LEAGUE.

Within the cities themselves the turbulent spirit of the times was
not less conspicuously shown. The municipal authorities became
seriously oppressed and overpowered by the communities and the
heads of the various guilds and societies — now considerably aug-
mented in number and influence — who would no longer submit
either to be governed by a select and limited body of patricians or
be taxed at the high rate hitherto levied. The records of many of
these cities, at the commencement of the sixteenth century, are filled
with the most sanguinary scenes of discord and civil war.

4. But the state of the peasantry and the rural districts presented
at this period a far more melancholy and serious spectacle than that
of either of the classes mentioned. With them reigned universal
fermentation throughout the whole empire. The demands of the
territorial lord, as well as those of the lord of the manor, were in-
creased, because each sought to transfer the burdens of the empire
to the shoulders of the lower orders. On the other hand, the latter
had now learnt to know their strength in the use of arms, and soon
from amongst them issued the formidable bodies of the Landsknechte,
or foot soldiers. The example presented by the Swiss peasants, who
had now almost entirely thrown off the yoke of the empire and made
themselves independent, produced its exciting effects among the Ger-
man peasantry, and more especially in Upper Germany.

Towards the end of the fifteenth century, in 1493, there was
formed in Alsace, near Selestadt, a secret union of discontented pea-
santry, who, in the depth of night, journeying along almost impas-
sable roads amongst the mountains, assembled together in a retired
spot, and there, by a solemn vow, swore, under heavy threats to him
who proved a traitor, as follows: — "That they would be taxed only
according to their own free will and consent; that the imposts should
be removed altogether, as likewise all spiritual jurisdiction; that no
ecclesiastic should receive a higher salary than forty florins ; that the
Jews should be put to death, and their possessions divided equally
among the confederates," &c., &c. This confederacy, which adopted
the sign of the shoe (the shoe of the common German peasant) upon
their banner, extended its operations very considerably.

A similar union arose in Wurtemberg in 1514, under the name
of the Poor Conrad league. Both originated in a hatred towards
the nobility and clergy, and which, in fact, appeared to be the prin-
ciple upon which they acted. It is true, the shoe-league was, by
force of arms, eventually destroyed in 1502, as was likewise the
Poor Conrad league soon after its formation ; but the seeds of revolt
were left behind, and at the diets the subject of a revolution among
the peasantry was often discussed with some anxiety and dread. At
the diet of Mentz, in 1517, in which several of the members advised,
on account of the disordered state of the empire, that a summons
should be issued for every fiftieth man to take up arms in its defence,
the states would not venture to adopt a measure which must be so
generally felt as tyrannical: " The common peasant, already suffi-

DEATH OF THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN I. 345

ciently suffering from dearth and hunger, would, in his present dis-
content, only be still further excited to the most desperate acts, and
thence the glimmering sparks of private indignation would burst
forth into one universal flame throughout the whole country."
Such was the opinion expressed by the states, and the general feel-
ing was in favour of rather quelling by mild means the turbulence
which already began to agitate the empire. Nevertheless we shall
shortly read in the history of the Reformation, how, after the lapse
of another year, the destructive elements did break forth in all their
fury.

The emperor, however, was not doomed to witness or share in
these revolutions; the course of his career was nearly ended, and his
powers of mind and body, exercised in so many toilsome and, to a
certain extent, fruitless struggles, became now gradually exhausted
and consumed.

At the diet of Augsburg, in 1518, he used every endeavour to
prevail upon the states to elect, as King of Rome, his son Charles,
already seated on the Spanish throne ; his anxious wish, however,
was not fulfilled, inasmuch as the pope, and a portion of the electoral
princes, in their fear to bestow too great a power upon his son, hesi-
tated and refused to yield to his wishes. Indignant and mortified,
Maximilian quitted Augsburg and died on his journey at Wels in
Upper Austria, on the 12th of January, 1519, in the 5 9th year of his
age, and was buried, according to his wish, beneath the altar-stone of
the church at Neustadt, by the side of his beloved mother, Eleanora.

It is said, that he had for several years, carried about with him
his coffin. Thus, as in his earlier life, when in all his vigour he had
often bid defiance to death, so now in the latter years of his exist-
ence, did he hold familiar council with it, and view its approach
with religious confidence and resignation.

We have already had occasion to consider in the preceding chap-
ters various important changes, for which Germany had been ripen-
ing during the last century. With Maximilian, as their last re-
presentative, the middle ages had passed away; a new period, of
which the germ had long been sown, now gradually developed itself
and became established. We will just glance at the signs which
characterised this new age, and at those great discoveries which con-
tributed chiefly in producing it.

Where and when gunpowder was first invented cannot be posi-
tively ascertained; it appears probable that the Chinese were very
early acquainted with it, and that it came from them to the Arabians,
and thence to Europe. But it was not as yet employed in war, and
could not therefore with strictness be called ^wra-powder. It is not
found to have been used for that purpose earlier than in 1350, and
the discovery of this application of it is ascribed to a German monk,
Bertold Schwarz. He had, it is said, pounded a mixture of. salt-
petre, sulphur, and coals, in a mortar, when by accident a spark
dropped into it, the mass ignited, and forced with great violence the

346 DISCOVERY AND USE OF GUNPOWDER — ARTILLERY.

pestle into the air. This accident led to the thought of making great
metal mortars for the purpose of war, from which stones and balls
might be thrown against a hostile city, and thus was produced the
heavy artillery, which about the year 1400 was pretty generally used.
The first time we hear of its being practised, is at the battle of Crecy,
between the French and English, in 1346. The smaller fire-arm, or
arquebus, was invented somewhat later; this weapon, however, is
mentioned in a record of 1381, when the city of Augsburg undertook
to send thirty men armed with guns to the war which the cities then
waged against the nobility.*

By these newly discovered instruments of destruction the whole
system of war and military tactics became changed. In ancient
times the hostile encounter was almost always maintained man to
man, and hand to hand, with lance and sword, whence individual
force, dexterity, and prowess decided the victory. In case either one
of the armies did not at an early stage cowardly turn round and flee,
the battle was never decided before the field was strewed with the
bodies of the greater portion of the combatants. The contests were
sanguinary and decisive. But since the new plan now adopted
was to fight at a distance, and the individual no longer had his an-
tagonist face to face — leaving it to chance to decide whether his
ball should contribute towards the success of the action, or waste itself
in the air — and as the warrior had thus become more and more the
mere simple machine employed by the calculations of the general,
whose genius and judgment were now rendered sufficient to decide
the battle, accordingly by this new method of war the spirit of
chivalry became gradually annihilated. The latter in fact was based
upon the greatest development of personal strength, which gave to
the individual such a superiority, that a whole troop of common foot
soldiers were not able to resist the attack of the knight when, mounted
on his barbed steed, and armed at all points, he dashed amongst
them ; whilst now the most cowardly disposed man might with his
firelock bring down the bravest warrior at a distance. The nobility
for a length of time continued to oppose and contend against the use
of this new arm of war, which they characterised as dishonourable,
degrading, and perfidious to employ; but when it finally obtained
the superiority, the cavalier of the martial field of olden times
forced to succumb and resign his battle axe and lance.

This change, however, did not come into operation all at once,
for long after the invention of fire-arms, whilst those who bore thei
formed but a small part of the army, and heavy cannon was onh
employed in sieges, the mailed cavalry continued to compose

* These guns, however, were merely simple tubes, which like the cannons were
ignited by a match. But as this was tedious and troublesome, and impeded the
power of taking aim, German ingenuity discovered, in 1551, at Nuremberg, the im-
proved arquebus, in which the spark was produced by a steel wheel being made to
strike in its revolution the flint; and afterwards in France this invention was brought
to the perfection of the present musket.

FIRE ARMS — END OF CHIVALRY — THE LANZKNECHTE. 347

elite of the troops, and the nobility still preserved and maintained
their military discipline. The tournaments still continued to form
their principal festivals, where the youth of the nobility learnt at an
early age to play with danger ; and all the prohibitions of the popes
and ecclesiastical councils issued against those who took part in them,
on account of the danger attending them — for they frequently ran
with pointed lances — and all the punishments which the church in-
flicted upon those who engaged therein, as viz., that none who died
in a tournament should receive Christian burial, were not sufficient
to eradicate the enthusiastic attachment to these festivals. And
even down to the fifteenth century there was scarcely a single princely
family in Germany which had not lost some of its members in these
essays at arms. Of Albert, Margrave of Brandenburg, the German
Achilles, it is related that he had thus tilted at more than seventeen
tournaments with the pointed lance, and even the Emperor Maximi-
lian had entered the arena several times. Thus the historian of the
house of Austria, Fugger, relates, that at a diet of Worms, in 1495,
a French knight, Claudius Barre, appeared and challenged the
whole German nation to a trial of arms at single combat. The
Emperor Maximilian on this occasion took upon himself the right
to fight for the honour of his people, and which he maintained
by eventually overcoming the foreign knight with the sword,
after their lances had left the combat undecided. Whilst this emperor
is properly so-called the last of the chivalric emperors, and as the
period of his reign concludes the middle ages, we find in some of his
contemporaries, such as Gotz of Berlichingen, Franz of Sickingen,
and Ulric of Hutten, the contest for the ancient splendour of their
order against the mighty revolutions of time, again maintained —
until their death. Even amongst the clergy of these chivalric
times the warlike disposition of knighthood is occasionally apparent.
When Frederick III. went forth against Charles the Rash, to deliver
Neuss, the valiant Bishop of Miinster, Count Henry of Schwarzburg,
was the first to land an army, consisting of Westphalians, Nether-
landers, and Lower Saxons, and exhibited a greater degree of warlike
zeal than even was shown by the imperial general, the Margrave
Albert (or Achilles) of Brandenburg himself; nay, he even cherished
the hope of meeting the proud Duke of Burgundy in battle, and
engaging with him hand to hand in mortal combat. But as ^no
battle took place, a truce having been determined upon, during
which the Munsterians had a hot engagement with the duke's Pi-
cardians, the bishop, who could obtain no satisfaction for the insult
offered to his army, challenged Duke Charles to fight a duel, but
which the Emperor Frederick prohibited. The army, however, ad-
judged that in this expedition it was not the Margrave of Branden-
burg, but the Bishop of Miinster who had merited the title of the
German Achilles.

Meantime the 'whole system of military tactics underwent the
most important changes. Instead of the ancient levies of the ban,
there were now introduced Lanzknechte, or mercenary troops, and

348 BRUTAL CHARACTER OF THE LANZKNECHTE.

thus, with this change arose the entire distinction made between the
martial and the civil order. In former times the imperial vogt, or in-
tendent, who administered the judicial and civil affairs of a district,
was, at the same time, the military chief or commandant of the city
and burgh, and the leader in the field, as were all the counsellors
and officials of the princes. All the departments so administered
throughout the land harmonised and were conducted with equal
energy in every part. Now, however, they were separated, and
war became a distinct mercenary profession.

But the worst part of this change was, that when the princes
could not maintain their mercenaries in times of peace, the latter
then, having neither the disposition nor ability to return to the
employments of civil life, became a pest to society. The chronicle
of Sebastian Frank complains bitterly against this: " The destruc-
tive lanciers," he says, " are a shameless race, and of use to nobody;
when they are not in pay or enrolled they run loose upon society,
demanding war and misery. An unchristian and lost set, whose em-
ployment is murder, rapine, incendiarism, gaming, drinking, blas-
pheming, wantonly making widows and orphans, yea, whose only de-
light is iii the calamities of the people, feeding upon the vitals of man-
kind, and whether in or out of war, tormenting the peasantry. The
state of matters, alas ! is come to this, that as soon as a man becomes
a lancier, and from the moment he has taken the oath, and places a
lance on his shoulder, henceforth to the end of his life he abandons
all other work. Formerly, when a prince carried on a war, he
fought with his own people; now, that these worthless fellows are
employed, each adversary strives to outdo the other in the number
of his soldiers and extent of his preparations for the war, so that it
now costs more before it is begun and these hirelings are equipped,
than formerly it cost to commence and finish it altogether. Were it
not for these mercenary troops, there would be much less war, and
although a prince might be forced to fight with but as many hun-
dreds as there are now thousands employed, he would still effect
more glorious results ; for these rascals do all in their power to pro-
tract the war, and sorry would they be, indeed, if they beheld it
terminate and peace restored. Thus the country is exhausted to an
extent that there is scarcely a prince or peasant who has any more
money."

The same chronicle makes honourable and clear distinction be-
tween these mercenary troops who served any body that would give
them pay, and those warriors who fought only for their country.
" Those subjects," he says, " who in obedience to their princes enlist
at their summons, and when the battle is over return to their work,
I do not call mercenary Lanzknechte, but brave and faithful war-
riors." Meantime, however, these lanciers, whose insubordination
has called forth such complaints, were excellent soldiers in battle.
Armed with lances eighteen feet in length, and protected by a hel-
met and cuirass, they stood like a firm wall, and their presented

INVENTION OF PRINTING, 1457— FIRST BIBLE, 1462. 349

lances resembled an impassable forest, whence their battle array was
called by the French the Herisson, or porcupine-phalanx. The
Emperor Maximilian greatly improved their discipline. They
eclipsed even the glory acquired by the Swiss, and now completely
destroyed the superiority hitherto commanded by the chivalric
cavalry, whose importance had already been diminished by the
Hussite and Swiss infantry.

Equally as important as the invention of gunpowder was for war,
was also the discovery of the art of printing for the objects of peace.
This also is the work of German ingenuity ; not, however, originating
in accident, inasmuch as it was found out by a process of profound
study, and became perfected by degrees.

There had been in use long previously, after the manner of the
little figures which were carved in wood, and printed, a certain de-
scription of wooden boards, upon which were cut all the letters
necessary for the page of a book, there being as many such boards as
pages in the books from which impressions were taken, whence the
entire book was completed. Although this operation was much
more troublesome than copying, yet with these boards they were
enabled to print a book many hundred times, which repaid their
labour. Great improvements, however, could yet be made; and
thus thought John Guttenberg. Born in 1401, at Mentz, of an an-
cient noble family, he, with all the powers of his mind, prosecuted
the idea of cutting out the letters singly, of an equal size, on the
end of small wooden sticks; and after composing these into words,
taking therefrom an impression, when he again took them to pieces,
and used them for composing the next page. After many experi-
ments, he succeeded. He entered into partnership with his towns-
men, John Faust, and Peter Schoffer, of Gernsheim ;* and this asso-
ciation enlarged the discovery by composing the letters of a mixture
of metals, inventing the press, and preparing printers' ink. Thus
they were prepared to print. Their first attempt was the Bible;
but the real inventor, Guttenberg, did not enjoy that fruit of his
labours which he so richly deserved, inasmuch as Faust, the gold-
smith, who had advanced him money, after he had spent his fortune
in making the necessary experiments, deprived him, by legal pro-
cess, of all his instruments and property, and excluded him from the
concern. Thus the inventor of the most important and valuable art
of ancient and modern times, was obliged to spend the remainder of
his days dependent upon the bounty of the Elector of Mentz, and
died in 1468.

In the year 1457, the first book, the Latin Psalms, was completed
by Faust and his associates, and in 1462 the entire Bible. So great
a difference was even then perceptible between the price of such a

* The prevailing opinion that Schoffer was a clergyman is incorrect. The name
of Clericus, which he took, signifies also calligraphist, or one who devoted himself to
the copying of books.

350 LINEN PAPER MADE IN 1318 — AMERICA— EAST INDIES.

work and the expense of transcribing, that a Bible, which, when
transcribed, cost from 400 to 500 florins, was to be had for 30
florins. Arid thus did these men lay the foundation for the im-
mense advantages subsequently derived by this great discovery, and
by which every degree of knowledge which raises the intellectual
character of man is no longer the peculiar privilege of the few, but
may become not only the possession of whole nations, but of the
entire world. Thence it is that the art of printing exerts a most
wonderful influence in the development of mankind. The law of
this development, as is most evident from the observation deduced
from all history, down to the present day, is, that the cultivation and
intelligence of the human mind progressively enlarges its boundaries,
and in its widening circle embraces an increasing number of our fel-
low-creatures. Although it may admit of dispute whether, upon
the whole, we are further advanced in the arts and sciences than
many nations of antiquity and the middle ages, the progress in the
more universal spread of knowledge can admit of no question, and
it is the noble art of printing, which, as the great lever, has effected
this glorious object.

Of great importance to the extraordinary results of the art of
printing was also the previous discovery of linen-paper. Formerly,
parchment was used, which, however, was too expensive and too
thick ; then cotton-paper, which was not sufficiently durable. Paper
made of linen, which is also probably a German discovery, first ap-
pears in a document of the year 1318, at Kauffbeuren.

We close our general reflections upon the age just passed, with a
few words upon the results produced by the discovery of America
and a sea passage to the East Indies.

They did not indeed originate in Germany, but they exerted a
great influence upon that country; not only by enlarging the em-
pire of the mind, which must be one result, but also more particu-
larly in producing a change in commerce. Until that time East
Indian produce, of which Europe required annually a vast supply,
had been brought by various channels through Asia to the Mediter-
ranean Sea, and thence taken especially by the maritime states of
Italy and conveyed further. The transit by land to the north was
made, as has been before stated, through Germany. But now that
the Portuguese, in 1498, had found a passage by sea round Africa,
they were able, from the great profits of freightage, soon to monopo-
lise the whole East Indian trade ; Venice and the other Italian mari-
time states declined, and Germany also very soon indirectly felt the
effects. Its trade became depressed in proportion as that of Portu-
gal and Spain rose; and in consequence of this great reverse, the
Hanseatic League was dissolved, although their commerce extended to
many other wares. The German cities were from the sixteenth
century no longer able to maintain their ancient elevation in wealth
and power, and thus also in this respect the way was paved for the
rising power of the princes.

351

SIXTH PERIOD.

FROM CHARLES V. TO THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA.

1520—1648.

Amongst the MS. documents relating to this period the " Transactions of the
Imperial Diets," as preserved in the archives of the various individual states, are the
most important, inasmuch as the diets never exercised so much influence at any
period of our history as from the commencement of the fifteenth century until the
war of thirty years. Meantime, the newly discovered art of printing promoted es-
pecially the composition and circulation of historical works, and we find that, with
every ten years, their number increased accordingly to a considerable extent. At
the same time the awakened desire for scientific research and the taste for the study
of ancient authors became more and more generally diffused and appreciated.

Amongst the writers, who treat upon the general history of this period, are in-
cluded :

1. Paul Jovius, (born at Como, 1482, died as Bishop of Nucerie, 1552,) Historia
sui Temporis, from 1494 to 1546.

2. J, A. Thuames,or de Thou, (born in Paris, 1553, died 1617, as President of the
Parliament and chief librarian to Henry IV. ; very learned and esteemed,) wrote like-
wise a Historia sui Temporis, 1543 to 1607.

3. John Genesius de Sepulveda, (a Spaniard, born 1491, died 1572, historian of
Charles V.,) De rebus gestis Caroli V., Colon, 1657.

4. Amongst the Spanish historians may be added: Petrus Salazar, Prudentius de
Sandoval, Alphonso de Ultoa, and Antonius de Vera et Zunniga.

5. Amongst the Italians: Louis Dolce, Gianbattista Adriani, and Gregorius Leti.
Adrian i is especially important.

6. Several separate and, in part, important writings, referring to the time of Charles
V., in number about sixty-two, have been collected together by Simon Schard, in the
second volume of his Script, rer. Germ., and by Freher, hi the third volume of his
Script.

For the History of the Eeformation we have —

7. The writings of the reformers themselves and of their partisans, which are of
the highest importance; containing, at the same time, much in explanation of the
political history of their time. The works of Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, and Cal-
vin need not be here especially enumerated.

8. The works of Erasmus of Kotterdam, (born in 1467, died in 1536,) partly in
accordance with, partly against the sense of the Reformation, are likewise important;
also —

9. The writings of Ulric of Hutten, (bora in 1480, died in 1523,) who came forth
with glowing zeal and acute mind in the cause of the new ideas advanced.

10. John Sleidanus, (born, in 1506, at Sleida, died in 1556; professor of laws at
Strasburg, and historian of the league of Schmalkald,) Commentarius de Statu Ee-
ligionis et Reipublicae Carolo V., Caesare. An important work; continued by Lon-
dorp from 1555-64.

11. George Spalatin, (born in 1482, died in 1545, court chaplain and secretary to
the Elector Frederick the Wise, who took a great share in the diet at Augsburg in
1530,) Annales Beformationis, besides his Lives of the various Popes of his times,
and some minor works, collected together in Menken's Script, rer. Germ..

12. Veit Lewis of Seckendorf, (born in 1626, died in 1692; who, although not a
contemporary, is, nevertheless, a source of good authority, inasmuch as in his office
as minister of Saxe-Gotha, he collected largely from the documents in the Archives
of Gotha,) Comment, hist, et Apologeticus de Lutheranismo, in reply to the Hist.

352 CHARLES V. TO THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA, 1520—1648.

Lutheranismi of the Jesuit Lewis Hamburg, (born at Nancy in 1610, died in 1686,)
which merits observation also.

13. The acts relating to the History of the Reformation were completed subse-
quently, at the commencement of the eighteenth century, from manuscripts pre-
served in the archives, by J. J. Muller, Valentin Loscher, C. Lehmann, &c., &c.

The History of the Confession of Augsburg is especially treated upon by —

14. David Chitraus, (born in 1530, died in 1600, professor at Wittenberg, Rostock,
and Helmstadt, who was commissioned by Maximilian II. to establish a plan of dis-
cipline for the Protestant church in Austria, and contributed towards the Formula
Concordiae,) in his Hist. Confess. Augustanae. He wrote, likewise, Lectures upon
Charles V., Ferdinand I., and Maximilian IL

15. George Coelestin (senior court chaplain to the Elector of Brandenburg, died
1576) wrote Hist. Comitior. Augustas, 1530, celebratorum.

Upon the War of Schmalkald:

16. Louis d'Avila, a Spaniard, and general of Charles V., wrote his Comment, de
Bello Germanico a Carolo V. gesto, 2 vols. Antwerp, 1550. He writes very much
in favour of Charles V. On the other hand,

17. Fred. Hartleder (born in 1579, died in 1640, a privy councillor of Weimar,) in
his Transactions and Development of the Causes of the War against the League of
Schmalkald, Frankfort 1617, and Gotha 1645, embraces warmly the Protestant
cause. His work is based upon the documents contained in the archives of Weimar.

Upon the Council of Trent:

18. Paul Sarpi (born at Venice 1552, died in 1626, a monk and councillor of that
city), History of the Council of Trent, written in Italian, and published in London
in 1619 under the title of Petrus Suavis ; translated into German by Rambach,
HaUe 1761.

d 9. In reply to Sarpi, whose writing is too free, appeared another History of the
Council of Trent by the Jesuit Sfortia Pallavicini (born at Rome in 1607, died in
1667).

Biographies of celebrated men of that period:

20. Adami Reisneri Comm. de vitaet reb. gest. Georgii et Casp. Frundsbergiorum.
Frankfort, 1568.

21. Joach. Camerarius (born in 1500, died in 1547, a friend of Melanchthon, and
professor of Tubingen and Leipsic) Vita Melanchthonis and Vita Mauritii Electoris.

22. Gotz of Berlichingen (died in 1562), Memoirs by himself; edited by Pistorius,
Nuremberg 1731 ; and by Biisching and Van der Hagen, 1813.

23. Sebast. Schartlin of Burtenbach (General of the Cities in the war of Schmal-
kald), Memoirs by himself.

Original sources for the History of the Reigns of Ferdinand I. and Maximilian II.

maybe found in:

24. Script, rer. Germ, by Schard; vols. 3 and 4.

In reference to the period continued beyond the reign of Ferdinand II., and especially
the Thirty Years' War:

25. F. C. Count Khevenhiiller (Imperial Councillor and Grand Master of the
Court, died in 1650), Annales Ferdinandei, from 1578 to 1637.

26. N. Bellus, Affairs of Germany in peace and war, under Matthias and Ferdi-
nand IL, from 1617-40.

27. W. Lamormain (a Jesuit and Confessor of Ferdinand IL, died 1648), Virtutes
Ferdinandei; Vienna 1637.

28. P. B. Burgus (of Genoa, and a witness of the deeds of Gustavus Adolphus —
accordingly in his favour), Comment de Bello Suecico, from 1618-32.

29. Eberh. Wassenberg (of Emmerich, Historian of Wladislas, King of Poland),
Florus Germanicus de Bello inter Ferd. II. et III., et eorum hostes ab ann. 1618-40
gesto ; very zealous against the Protestants; as likewise,

30. The Italian Historians of the War of Thirty Years; viz., J. Ricci, J. Damiani,
Galeazzo Gualdo, and others.

On the other hand, in favour of the Protestant party, are:

31. P. von Chemnitz (Swedish councillor and historian, died 1678, who wrote the
Swedish-German war, in nine parts, but of which only two were printed. The
others, preserved in the royal archives of Stockholm, have, no doubt, been used by :

32. The celebrated Samuel PufFendorf (councillor and historian at Stockholm,
subsequently privy councillor, died in 1694), hi his work De rebus Sueci^s si
Gust. Adolpho usque ad abdicationem Christinae.

CHARLES V. TO THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA, 1520 — 1648. 353

33. Tobias Pfanner (Councillor of Saxony, born in 1 640), in his Hist. Pacis Westph.

34. And, commencing with the year 1617, the voluminous work, Theatrum Eu-
ropaeum, in 19 vols., by various authors, and of very unequal, sometimes inferior,
merit.

Finally, in reference to the lives of two other distinguished men of this period,
Bernhard, Duke of Weimar, and Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland, we have:

35. The Achievements of Bernhard, Duke of Weimar, collected from the archives
by E. S. Cyprian. Gotha, 1729.

36. The Life of Wallenstein, by G. Gualdo. Lyon, 1643, and

37. The Original letters of Wallenstein, from the year 1627 to 1634, throwing a
new light upon his life and character. Edited by Fr. Forster; Berlin, 1828.

2 A

354 STATE OF THE EMPIRE— INTERNAL ANARCHY.

CHAPTER XVI.

State of the Empire — Internal Anarchy — Charles V. of Spain, and Francis I. of
Trance — Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony— Charles V. elected Emperor of
Germany — His Character — Jealousy and Discontent of the Spaniards — Try to
dissuade Charles from accepting the Imperial Crown — New Spam — Discovery of
Mexico — Arrival of Charles in Germany — His Coronation, 1520 — Schism in the
Church — Causes which produced it— Ignorance of the Clergy — Their Vices —
Murmurs and Discontent of the People — A Reformation in the Church uni-
versally demanded — Scholastic Wisdom — Theology — Enlightenment of Science —
John Reuchlin.

ice —

ian,
,ust-

THE imperial throne, now vacant by the death of Maximilian,
required a successor. The general agitation throughout Europe
well as the confusion prevalent in Germany itself, where the Fai
recht appeared immediately after the death of the emperor to resume
its sway, demanded a monarch, endowed with energy and consequent
power, in order to maintain the necessary equilibrium between the
internal and external government. The war still continued between
Spain and France upon the subject of Italy, although neither of these
powers possessed the right of decision in the cause of a country which
knew not how to govern or even help itself, such decision being vested
in the hands of the emperor alone. In the east the Turks again threat-
ened to devastate the country; and Hungary, reduced by malad-
ministration 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, two grand contentions arose at
this moment and raged with all their ungovernable fury. Duke
Ulric of Wurtemberg, having cause to revenge himself upon the
free town 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 Maxi-
milian, in order to maintain the tranquillity of the land, finding the
duke paid no respect or attention to their repeated summons to sur-
render the town, advanced at once against him, and by their superior
force not only regained possession of the place, but pursued the duke
throughout his own territories so closely that he was compelled to
quit them for safety.

In Lower Saxony again another still more sanguinary struggle
raged, the so-called bishop's feud of Hildesheim. Two noblemen,
lords of Saldern, but vassals to John, Bishop of Hildesheim, pro-
claimed war against him, in which they were supported by the
Dukes of Wofienbiittel and Calenberg; whilst, on his side, the

CHARLES V.— FRANCIS I. OF FRANCE. 355

bishop found assistance from the Duke of Liineburg, and the Counts
of Lippe, Hoya, and Diepholtz. On the 28th of January, 1519, both
parties met on the plain of Soltau in Liineburg, and after a most
obstinate and sanguinary battle, the victory was gained by the bishop,
although severely purchased, whilst on the other side the valiant
Duke of Calenberg with other nobles were taken prisoners, and four
thousand of their men were left dead on the field of battle. The
continued repetition of such scenes could not but produce the most
dangerous consequences, since, although the Landfriede had happily
succeeded in putting an end to the feuds and robberies of the lesser
nobility and freebooter knights, it became more and more evident
that in order to prevent the princes from following in the same steps,
and thus by force of arms seeking to add by conquest to their pos-
sessions, it was rendered necessary to elect an active and strong-
minded emperor, who should maintain and protect the authority of
the laws.

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 sove-
reign 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 pro-
vinces, and all the patrimonial territories of Burgundy in the Low
Countries. If to so much splendid power the additional lustre ac-
quired by the possession of tlie 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 destroying the liberty of the German princes,
and seek accordingly, to render the empire, without limitation, here-
ditary 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 pope
was in favour of his election, at least he appeared to be so ; in addi-
tion to which this young sovereign had gained a great reputation by
his first expedition to Italy, where, for his valiant and chivalric bear-
ing, especially in the victorious battle of Marengo, he was extolled —
particularly by his own nation — to the very skies. The ambassadors
from France presented to the assembled princes at Frankfort a docu-
ment 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 confide 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

2A2

356 THE ELECTOR OF SAXONY— CHARACTER OF CHARLES V.

magnanimous observation in excuse — u 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 young 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 accordingly 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 ; 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 main-
tained so much independence ; that he shall not pronounce the im-
perial 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 prin-
cipal 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 youthful monarch had occupied the Spanish throne about
two years ; but as yet he was unknown to the world. Hitherto the
majority hoped but little from him. The premature death of his
noble and chivalric father, Philip the Handsome, the insanity of his
mother, Joanna, his separation from his brother, Ferdinand, who
had been educated in Spain, whilst he himself had been brought up
entirely amongst strangers in the Netherlands — all these circum-
stances acted unfavourably upon his mind, and produced that retiring
exclusive disposition which made him shrink from the world and
live in the privacy of his own mind. Added to this, it was but
slowly that he arrived at that clearsightedness and independence of
action which subsequently produced his greatness; it appeared in-
deed, as if he were to be guided and ruled entirely by his councillors.
Those alone who commanded a profound knowledge of human
nature were capable of observing and interpreting the movements by
which his soul was actuated. At a grand tournament in Valladolid,
the young king, who from his childhood was warmly attached to
chivalric exercises, entered the lists completely equipped, and ex-
changed a few courses at arms with his chief master of the horse.
He broke three lances with him, and each time the air was filled
with shouts of applause from the assembled multitude ; for the youth,
who had not attained his eighteenth year, and had always been con-

JEALOUSY OF THE SPANIARDS — MEXICO DISCOVERED. 357

sidered as weak, both in body and mind, and of easy persuasion, ap-
peared here in the most undaunted and noble character, and with all
the vigour of a knight, whilst on his shield he bore the motto:
" Nondum. !" (not yet). Those who knew and understood the mean-
ing of the word, awaited with impatience the moment when he
would be enabled to corne forth before the world uncontrolled and
independent.

That moment had now arrived. He was chosen emperor of Ger-
many, and it was for him now to decide promptly whether or not
he would abandon Spain in order to seize the reins of government in
his new empire. The important announcement appeared to produce
no change whatever in our young prince of twenty years: " Our
king, who is now emperor," says an eye-witness, " seems to regard
this, the greatest fortune that can happen to mortal, as nothing ; his
greatness of mind and gravity of expression are so extraordinary,
that any one would suppose from his appearance, that he was play-
ing at football with the universal globe." The resolution he was
called upon to adopt would have proved to any ordinary mind a
matter of extreme difficulty. Spain at that time was in a state of
great fermentation, and almost ready to burst into full flame ; for
strong and influential parties stood opposed to each other face to
face : the royal authority, a powerful nobility, and proud and wealthy
cities. In Germany again he would find an agitated empire, in com-
plete anarchy, and above all, the grand contest which raged upon
the subject of religion, and to which all eyes were at present directed.
The Spaniards themselves were discontented at beholding their
sovereign invested with the imperial dignity ; they feared they might
in consequence be reduced to the form of a secondary kingdom, sub-
ject to the rule of arbitrary governors. " What else had the em-
pire now become," they said, " but the mere shadow of an im-
mensely 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
uncertain, and at least difficult to maintain; but his genius saw and
acknowledged that this very circumstance paved the way for bold
and independent action; he found himself summoned as it were to a
career of glory, and he followed his destiny without fear or hesita-
tion. 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 im-
portant news arrived announcing the acquisition made in his name of
a second empire, that of Mexico, then just discovered in the new
world. A more common mind would have been overcome with the
weight of such great events ; but the effect they produced upon the
young and mighty emperor was only such as to accelerate the- ma-
turing of his mind. His care and solicitude were now claimed by
one entire moiety of the universe, and from that moment he showed

358 SCHISM IN THE CHURCH— ITS CAUSES.

in all his actions the character of a clear-sighted, truly energetic, and
comprehensively-minded ruler.

Charles landed in the Netherlands and continued his journey on
to Germany. He was crowned on the 22nd of October, 1520, at Aix-
la-Chapelle, 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 brilliant that
had ever been held ; it was attended by six electors and a numerous
body of spiritual and temporal princes. The most important trans-
action that occurred on this occasion was the trial of Martin Luther.

The church had for centuries been subject to violent agita-
tion and disorder in every shape, and the reckless abandonment of
all external discipline had operated materially to shake the faith of
numerous Christians, as well as to corrupt the morals of the people
generally. Complaints of the decline of the church, and the desire
for its general reform had long been growing loud and more urgent
in expression. There are none, let them belong to whatever doctrine
or sect they may, who, knowing the history of those times, will not
admit that these complaints were at that period too well founded.
They were raised in the name of entire nations, and proceeded more
especially from the mouths of the faithful adherents of the ancient
church, as well as the venerable bishops themselves, together with
the most learned and profoundly-minded men of the church and
state.

At the time of the great schism, from the year 1378 to 1414, when
several popes disputed the possession of the holy chair of St. Peter, each
rival claimant excommunicated the other in turn, together with all
his partisans ; so that all the countries of Christendom found them-
selves subject to the ban of the church, either by the one pope or the
other, and all religious and pacific minds were at a loss to know where
in reality they should seek and find the true peace of God. At such a
period, and under the influence of such violent and furious passions,
it was to be expected that that veneration hitherto felt for the name
of the pope would be sensibly weakened, and the invisible and sacred
bonds raduall loosened.

To this was added a state of ignorance which prevailed throughoul
the spiritual body, or at least amongst the majority of its members
for it was not possible for a few individual men of learning to sue
ceed in dissipating the darkness that overspread the mass. And as
darkness of the mind always brings with it its consequent vices, whicl
can alone be extirpated by divine light, a number of the clergy wen
at that time clothed in sin, an abomination in the eyes of the good,
and a scandal to the people generally. In the 1503, accordingly,
some time before the appearance of Luther in the field, one of the first
theologians of Germany represented this degenerated, fallen state of
the church in strong terms :

" The study of theology," he says " is despised amongst us, and the
gospel of Christ, as well as the excellent writings of the holy fathers

IGNORANCE AND VICES OF THE CLERGY. 359

are completely neglected ; faith, piety, moderation, and all the other
virtues, so much praised and valued by even the pagans themselves,
the wonders of God's grace and the merits of Jesus, all these are
doctrines upon which the most profound silence is maintained by
them. And such people too, who understand nothing of either the-
ology or philosophy, are elevated to the highest dignities of the
church, and become the guardians of our souls ! Thence the melan-
choly decline of the Christian church, the hatred towards the clergy,
and the total absence of all good and salutary instruction ! The pro-
fligate life led by the ecclesiastics, shock the feelings of well-minded
parents, and prevent them from allowing their sons to devote their
lives to that once holy service. They omit entirely all search into the
Holy Scriptures, and they corrupt their taste to such an extent, that
they no longer feel their beauty and force ; they become lukewarm
and lazy in their duty, and are only too glad when the service is
speedily at an end, the chant and sermon hurriedly concluded, and
their presence no longer required ! They discourse more gravely and
impressively with the mortal upon whom they may have a claim for
money, than with their divine master and creator. Instead of de-
voting their leisure time to study, they pass it in gambling, de-
bauchery, and licentiousness, without caring in the least, or having
any consideration for the disgust their conduct everywhere produces.
How then is it possible that in this shameful state of things, the laity
can feel respect for them or religion itself ? The gospel tells us that
the path to Heaven is narrow and difficult, but they only strive to
make it broad and easy."

That this description is not too strongly coloured, is proved by a
hundred other undoubted witnesses; and although the monks ac-
cused the learned professor, who as we have just seen, reprimanded
them so severely, before the pope, Julius II., still he had truth so
much on his side, that the papal commissioners themselves pronounced
in his favour. The pious Bishop of Augsburg, Christopher of
Stadion, in a synodal charge to his clergy, coincides exactly in all
these complaints, and reproaches them bitterly for their vices, which,
lie says, could not fail to produce the most corrupt and destructive
effects upon the church and the public ; and Hugo, Bishop of Con-
stance, although inimical to the doctrine of Martin Luther, com-
plains equally in the same strain, together with many others of the
chief members of the Catholic church of that time.

But how could it be otherwise, when the investiture of the spi-
ritual offices was regulated by the amount of purchase-money, with-
out any regard to the qualifications and real character of the indi-
vidual chosen, and when, as has already been shown, only the smallest
portion of the clergy in reality possessed any knowledge of the word
of God. To such a degraded state indeed had the church become
reduced, that according to well authenticated evidence, we are assured
that out of all the principal and leading members of the clerical body
throughout the Swiss confederation, at the commencement of the

360 DISCONTENT OF THE PEOPLE — REFORMATION DEMANDED.

sixteenth century, there were not three who had ever read the Bible ;
and when the people of Valais received about this time a letter from
Zurich, in which was quoted a sentence from the sacred volume,
only one man was to be found who knew the book, and even what
he knew was by hearsay !

How deplorably great and universal must have b^en the ignorance
existing at this period through the negligence of the clergy, when
we find not only that men were unacquainted with the source itself
of religious devotion and Christian virtue, but that its very name
was scarcely known to them !

In Italy, and especially in Rome, this want of faith and knowledge
in divine matters was still more strikingly evident and notorious.
Under the pontificate of the accomplished Leo X., from 1513 to
1521, the arts certainly flourished in the capitol to a remarkable
degree ; but whilst these ripened forth from their rich and fertile
soil, they smothered the simple germs of the true religion of God.
The enjoyment of the senses was valued above every thing as the
greatest treasure ; the belief placed in the existence of a higher in-
visible world, could not co-exist with such principles, and the calm
and silent piety of the heart became in the eyes of the world a sub-
ject of ridicule and contempt. The usages and forms of divine wor-
ship appeared to be retained and practised in order to serve rather as
a check upon the mass of the people, whence they soon became re-
garded in the character of purely external ceremonies.

In proof of this we will refer to the opinion expressed by the
pious Pope Adrian VI., in his letter addressed to his nuncio at the
diet held at Nuremberg, in 1522 : " We know," says he, " that in
this holy see much corruption has continued to abound during many
years, great abuse in all ecclesiastical affairs, as likewise in all that has
emanated from our chair, and in one word, a depravation in every
thing. Thence it is no wonder if the disease has transferred itself
from the head to the other members — from the pope to the priests;
therefore, we promise, as far as lies in us, to devote all our attention
and care towards reforming first of all our chair, whence perhaps all
this evil has originated, in order that as the destruction has issued
thence to descend to the inferior grades, the cure and renewed en-
joyment of health may likewise find their source there."

The feeling of the necessity existing for a thorough reform in the
church, had long since become so generally acknowledged througl
out all ranks of society, that the lower orders had continued, eve
from the middle of the fourteenth century to the present time,
nourish the false hope of the return of the Emperor Frederick II
(then dead since more than a hundred years,) assured that he wou
come forth as the desired reformer. We have also observed whs
urgent representations were made by the Germans, the English, anc
French, when assembled at the councils of Constance and Basle; an
in the year 1510, the diet at Augsburg raised once more its voi<
against the state of the church, having drawn up and established '

PERVERTED SYSTEM OF DOCTRINE — SCHOLASTIC SYSTEM. 361

heavy charges, in reply to the pretended and assumed rights of the
popes, and by which the schism of the church was already pro-
claimed: "For if the causes for these complaints," said the diet,
" are not removed or remedied, there is good reason to believe that
a general persecution against the priests must shortly arise, or, accord-
ing to the example already set by the Bohemians, one universal aban-
donment of the Roman church will, perhaps, inevitably take place."

Thence we perceive that, at this time, the ancient, sacred edifice
of the hierarchy, which had existed during so many centuries, and
which, according to its fundamental object, was well and indis-
pensably calculated for the unity of the Christian nations, was now
undermining itself, and produced, by its own means, its tottering
condition; inasmuch as it had lost all respect and consideration
among the people, because its leading members, living in proud and
haughty security, paid no regard to the spirit of the times.

However evident all we have just related must appear to the
minds of all men, we must, nevertheless, once more strictly examine
the operating causes of the mighty change produced in the world,
in order to perfectly comprehend it.

A little good- will and gradual amelioration would have sufficed to
satisfy and remove all the charges referred to — inasmuch as they re-
lated chiefly to the external forms and administration of the church
— had there only been, at the head of religion itself, a genius in
possession of clear-minded views, an active spirit, and energetic
powers. But such a leading genius was no longer to be found in
the clerical body ; religion itself no longer maintaining its pure spirit.
Not only the ignorance of which we have before spoken, but a com-
pletely perverted system prevailed in almost all the doctrines of reli-
gion. They set a great value upon a certain class of school wisdom,-
which they styled scholastic science, and which, in ancient times,
had originated in the mixture of philosophic principles with the
doctrines of Christianity. The plain and simple truths of the Holy
Scriptures, so intelligible and clear, even to the mind of the most
ignorant and juvenile reader, were clothed in obscure and erudite
words, and these words were regarded as the principal object; they
soon proceeded to discuss their interpretation, and of the disputants
he who carried on the contest in the most sharp and refined style of
language was held to be the most learned. Thence, as it often hap-
pens, that both spirit and truth become lost in the crowd of many
words, so likewise the gentle, simple, and beneficent light of Chris-
tian i'aith vanished more and more from the science which they called
their theology. With the fifteenth century, however, a new epoch
opened upon the sciences, and the human mind became increas-
ingly enlightened ; the darkness in which it had hitherto been en-
veloped, now yielded before the divine light of knowledge. Before
its overpowering rays, the scholastic sophism, with all its shallow
pretensions to its important interpretation of words, could no longer
maintain its ground ; a few select and distinguished men of the day

362 ENLIGHTENMENT OF SCIENCE— JOHN REUCHLIN.

now came forth and attacked it with the irresistible weapons of rea-
son and sarcasm, exposing it to the world in all its bareness. Its dis-
ciples, however, on the other hand, whilst thus overwhelmed by the
force of their adversaries, would not in their retreat endeavour to
redeem their character, by seeking to find the necessary light even
in their own doctrine — which might have operated in their favour,
and have served as their only protection — but with blind zeal and
defiance they sought to extinguish and destroy at once the dawning
rays which announced the coming of the glorious day— a vain and
futile effort, which has, at all times, only been attended with disgrace-
ful defeat, and ever fallen powerless to the ground.

In Germany this new light in the sciences was more especially
promulgated by John Reuchlin (born at Pforzheim in the year
1455), one of the first and most distinguished men of learning that
our country ever produced, possessing the most erudite knowledge
of the Latin, together with the Greek and Hebrew languages — a
man endowed with a mind so vast and comprehensive, that it was
said of him, that in his mind was combined all the scholarship, all the
knowledge of the arts and sciences, together with all the learning
then to be found in the Christian world. Many of the theologians
vented all their rancorous passions against him, although he lived
before the time of the Reformation, and accordingly took no share
in it. We must not, however, include all the leading members of
the clergy amongst those so plunged in darkness, for the before-men-
tioned Christopher of Stadion, Bishop of Augsburg, did not think
it beneath his dignity to undertake a journey of seven days to Frei-
burg, in order there to become acquainted with the celebrated
Erasmus of Rotterdam, whilst John of Dalberg, Bishop of Worms,
formed a library containing the works of the most distinguished
writers, and was so attached to the sciences, that he became a mem-
ber of the Rhenish society of learned men, founded by the poet Conrad
Celtes. But the number of these better-minded men was too limited
to cope with those whose blind and furious zeal in their hatred to all
enlightenment, confounded together the good with the bad, and pro-
duced accordingly, the destruction of their own empire.

OUTBREAK OF THE REFORMATION, 1517. 363

CHAPTER XVII.

Outbreak of the Reformation,! 5 17— Abuses in the Church— Letters of Indulgence—
Martin Luther the Reformer— His Exposure and Condemnation of these Pro-
ceedings—Is summoned to appear in Rome — Withheld from going by the Elector
of Saxony— The Pope's Nuncio, Cardinal Cajetan and Luther at the Diet of
Augsburg, 1518 — Refusal of Luther to retract— Luther's Appeal to the Pope for
a fair Hearing— Controversial Discussion between Luther and Dr. Eck— Luther
maintains his Ground— The Pope's Bull against Luther— The Reformer burns
the^Bull with the Canon Law and Eck's Writings — Propagation of the New Doc-
trine—Luther addresses the People— Ulric of Hiitten and Francis of Sickingen—
Frederick the Wise of Saxony and the Princes in Favour of Reform — The Grand
Diet at Worms, 1521— Charles V.— The Pope's Legate, Cardinal Alexander-
Luther's Appearance and Examination there — Solemn Refusal not to retract —
The Emperor's Declaration — Luther excommunicated and his Writings burnt —
Conveyed by the Elector of Saxony for Safety to the Castle of Wartburg— His
Translation of the New Testament — Tumults and Revolutions of the Peasantry
— Miinzer the Fanatic — Battle of Frankenhausen — Miinzer's Death-— Tranquillity
restored.

WE have in the preceding chapter endeavoured to develop the
causes which during several centuries had prepared the way for the
schism of the church ; but that which more immediately hastened
its accomplishment was the abuse so universally practised, in the
declaration and distribution of indulgences.

The agents of the papal court were authorised to offer letters of
the indulgence in every country that recognised the pope, by which
those who obtained them received from the church remission of the
punishment they had merited by their sins. Such letters of indul-
gence, however, were not of recent origin, inasmuch as in the early
ages of the church when it punished public crime by severe and
public penitence, by exclusion from divine worship, often for the
space of years, &c., there were many penitents, especially those
who distinguished themselves by their zeal in the practice of re-
pentance, whose term of trial was abridged by the bishop, or the
punishment altogether remitted, and the performance of pious acts
of gifts or endowments substituted. At the time of the crusades,
the popes accorded to all who undertook to encounter the dangers
and fatigues of these expeditions, the remission from all the punish-
ment of the church to which they would otherwise have been
obliged to submit. Subsequently, the same indulgence was granted
to all those who, in lieu of taking part in these holy wars per-
sonally, contributed their aid in money instead. After this period,
the object of these expiatory acknowledgments was extended to
other pious works, such as the building of churches, schools^&c.;
and when Europe was threatened by the Turks, the expeditions
against their armies presented numerous opportunities to the popes

364 ABUSES IN THE CHURCH—LETTERS OF INDULGENCE.

to distribute their letters of indulgence. Very soon, however, the
belief that these letters of indulgence absolved the hearers from sin.
itself — an error quite in keeping with the coarse and depraved
state of feeling in those times — became more and more promulgated
amongst the people, and was supported generally by the prelates
themselves ; whilst, on the other hand, suspicions were increasingly
nourished and murmurs loudly expressed with respect to the em-
ployment of the sums professedly collected for the exclusive object
of works of piety. Thence, at length, both the princes and the
people united their voices in complaint against the existing abuse
of indulgences, and subsequently the council of Trent issued a
decree against the criminal agents of the church, "who availed
themselves of the word of God in order to fill their own pockets
with lucre."

In order to draw from these indulgences as much profit as pos-
sible, the sale thereof in entire provinces was let out to the highest
bidders or farmers-general, and these again appointed several sub-
farmers, who, for the sake of gain, committed the most shameful
abuses. To promote the sale of these letters of indulgence, they se-
lected men who, possessing eloquence and impudence, might suc-
ceed in exciting the minds of the people and induce them to pur-
chase them by wholesale; and truly, the shameless proceedings of
some of these men exceed all belief. They sold, indulgences for the
most heavy crimes committed: for pillage of churches, perjury, and
murder; nay, the promise of indulgence could even be obtained
before the commission of the contemplated crime.

But additional evidence to prove the destructive influence with
which such an abuse of religion must operate upon the morality of
mankind, is superfluous. Suffice it, that the long nourished feeling
of discontent at length burst forth. Leo X. having, in the year 1516,
announced fresh indulgences in order to complete the building of
the church of St. Peter in Rome, commenced by his predecessor,
Julius II., it was generally believed that an important share of the
money collected, viz., that contributed in Saxony and the countries
as far as the Baltic, was not to be devoted to the building of the
church of St. Peter, but was intended for the pope's sister. In ad-
dition to which, the clerical agents employed on this occasion,
pecially a certain Bernard Samson, and John Tetzel, the former
Switzerland, and the latter in Saxony, excited by their shameft
conduct the greatest indignation.

It was at this moment that Martin Luther, born in 1483, at Eis
leben in Thuringia, an Augustinian friar, and professor of theolo^
in the University of Wittenberg, came forth and publicly condemne
these indulgences; and on the eve of All Saint's day (the 31st
October, 1517), in the church of the palace of Wittenberg, he r<
ninety -five theses in which he bitterly inveighed against the traffic oi
indulgences, and challenged all the most learned men of the day
contest them with him in a public examination. Similar public as-

MARTIN LUTHER — DIET OF AUGSBURG. 365

sertions on certain articles of faith were not of unusual occurrence,
but those expressed by Luther were conveyed in a language so
bold, and in a spirit of such independence, that they excited forth-
with the greatest sensation, and were read throughout Germany
with the most eager curiosity and interest. Therein he maintained,
" that the pope possessed no power to remit sins himself, but only to
pronounce their remission by God ; that whatever power herein the
pope might possess was equally shared by every bishop and prelate ;
that whoever sincerely repented of his sins, would receive remission
from punishment without the indulgences ; that the treasures of the
Saviour and the church were so equally distributed and shared in by
the faithful, that the pope could not impart to them any fresh
claim," &c. At the same time he did not at all contemplate attack-
ing either the authority of the pope or that of the ancient church.
The doctrine, however, which he published upon the indulgences
could not but excite the most violent opposition on the part of Tet-
zel and his friends, especially the Dominicans, who for a long time
had been opposed to the order of the Augustinians ; they denounced
him as a heretic, and they already threatened him with the sword
and burning pile.

Meantime in Rome itself the most strict silence was maintained,
although the disputes had now continued for nearly nine months.
The whole matter, however, was not the less known there, but the
pope perhaps regarded it merely in the light of a monkish dispute ;
besides which, in Rome they were totally unacquainted with Ger-
many. They considered it to be still a half-savage country, its po-
pulation patient, accustomed to obedience, and slow in forming a
resolution. But this ignorance and depreciation of our nation proved
fatal to the pontifical chair, and brought down likewise upon our-
selves the most disastrous consequences.

At length, in the month of August, 1518, Luther was sum-
moned to appear at Rome, there to justify himself before the tribu-
nal of the Holy See. But the Elector of Saxony, as well as the
University of Wittenberg, which but recently founded, owed its
rapidly flourishing state entirely to Luther, would not suffer him to
make the dangerous journey. By their mediation he received per-
mission to adjust the affair in Germany, and with this object to
present himself at the end of October, 1518, before the pope's
nuncio, Cardinal Thomas de Vio of Gaeta (usually known under
the name of Cajetan), at the diet of Augsburg. The latter, who as
a Dominican friar, had already been an opponent of the theological
views and opinions of Luther, demanded from him a retraction of
his sentiments. Luther declared his willingness to make it, pro-
vided what he had advanced could be refuted by the Holy Scrip-
tures. The cardinal, however, who considered it beneath his dig-
nity to hold argument or dispute with a monk, abruptly dismissed
him with the words : " Retire hence, nor come again before us, unless
it be that thou wilt retract."

366 LUTHER AND DR. ECK — LUTHER UNSHAKEN.

Luther now composed and handed in to the nuncio a letter of
justification, in which he acknowledged he had acted too impe-
tuously, and had not spoken of the pope with sufficient respect, pro-
mising henceforth to maintain complete silence, if on their side his
opponents were subjected to the same restraint towards him. As,
however, he received no reply to this document, he held himself
bound to address the pope personally, and with the aid of a notary,
in the presence of witnesses, drew up in Latin an appeal against the
unjust judgment pronounced, requiring that a more fair and just
inquiry and decision should take place before the pope himself; this
paper he caused to be affixed publicly on the gate of the cathedral
church in Augsburg, and immediately afterwards quitted that city.
This document proves, that Luther at that time had not yet formed
the resolution to separate himself from the Romish church ; but the
pressure of circumstances and the warmth of controversy with his
adversaries impelled him from one step to the other.

A professor of theology at Ingolstadt, in Bavaria, Dr. John Mayer,
of Eck, usually called Dr. Eck, one of the most zealous and talented
partisans of his church, a man of comprehensive scientific knowledge,
the exercise of which he always had at command, and to which he
added an imposing figure and a powerful, penetrating voice, chal-
lenged Luther and another professor of Wittenberg, Andrew Carl-
stadt, in the year 1519, to meet him at a public dissertation upon
subjects of faith in Leipsic, which formed part of the territory of
George, Duke of Saxony. They both appeared there, accompanied
by a pupil of Reuchlin, Philip Melanchthon, afterwards so celebrated,
and at that time professor of Greek at Wittenberg ; the meeting was
likewise honoured with the presence of the Duke of Saxony himself.
The controversial trial lasted from the 27th of June to the 13th of
July, 1519; they discussed at great length the subjects of the prin-
cipal articles of faith and the respect due to the pope ; but as always
happens in all disputes, when carried on with zealous spirit, words of
bitter and acrimonious import were exchanged between the two parties,
whilst, however, it became more and more evident in the course of
the contest that Luther successfully maintained his position, in not
only rejecting the infallible authority of the pope, but likewise that
of the councils, until at length Eck exclaimed: " Reverend father, if
you then really do believe that a lawfully assembled council can err,
then must I regard you as a gentile and publican.'5* Saying which he

* In this celebrated controversy at Leipsic, which forms a criticial point in the
great development of the history of those times — Duke George of Saxony himself
regarding it as such, he having proposed that the decision of the dispute should be
transferred to the consideration of other universities — two peasants' sons represented
the conflicting ideas that characterised the present and future times, and their
unity or still greater division could not but produce the most important consequences.
Whilst Luther on the one hand was the descendant of a peasant family, living at
the foot of the Thuringian forest in Moravia, Eck, on the other, was the son of
Michael Mayer of Eck, a peasant, and afterwards mayor of that place, (similar to Lu-
ther's father, who became a councillor of Mansfeld, J whither he had wandered to work
in the mines — he, as younger son, not having any patrimonial claim to the farm.

THE POPE'S BULL BURNT — THE NEW DOCTRINE. 367

quitted the assembly, and proceeded at once to Rome, and demanded
that the heretic should be visited with the utmost rigour of the
apostolic power.

Accordingly he soon re-appeared in Germany armed with a bull
from the pope, in which forty-one propositions selected from
Luther's writings, were designated as heretical, whilst he himself,
unless he publicly retracted them within sixty days, was declared
under the ban of the church ; and which the zealous agent endea-
voured to circulate throughout all the cities of Germany. But it
found admission only in a very few places; the magistrates gene-
rally forbidding it to be made public, and where the document did
find a place upon the walls of any town, it was immediately torn down
by the people — such was the respect in which the principles of the new
doctrine were already held. Luther now proceeded without further
hesitation to perform an act which rent asunder for ever the ties
which bound him to the ancient church. He convoked by public
summons the whole of the members of the University of Witten-
berg, to meet on the 10th of December, 1520, before the Elster
gate of the town, when all the students having erected a funeral
pile, one of the magistrates set fire to it, and Luther, amidst the
loud acclamations of the assembly, cast into the burning mass the
popish bull, together with the canon law and Eck's writings.

• It is impossible to describe the rapidity with which the new doc-
trine spread from one end of Germany to the other, extending
even far beyond the frontiers of the empire.* Such celerity can-
not be conceived by those who form their calculation by the scale of
sensuality; for it is only the vivid flash communicated by the light-
ning of the mind which ignites in millions the inflammable mate-
rials already prepared, that can produce such mighty results.

When an age is ripe for great changes, the signal alone is wanted
to rouse the whole community into action as if struck by the wand
of magic ; and he who has thus supplied that want, and proclaimed it
aloud, is appreciated by all as the great author, although he has only
pronounced with his voice that which has long since existed in the lap
of time and has become already matured within the souls of all. Mean-
time we have seen in the preceding chapters, how the progress that
science had already made, together with the great inventions of the
preceding century, more especially the art of printing, now the
means of at once communicating to thousands information that other-

* The ninety-five propositions of Luther against the indulgences were distributed
throughout 6-ermany within a fortnight, in the course of from four to six weeks
they were known by the whole of Europe, and the universal excitement they must
liave produced may be easily conceived. In 1520, Luther's writings were translated
in the Netherlands into Spanish, and in 1521, a traveller found and purchased them
in Jerusalem. When Herr von Miltitz, a distinguished Saxon, travelled, in 1519, from
Italy to Wittenberg, deputed by the pope to prevail upon Luther to make con-
cession and to promise to maintain silence, he himself acknowledged to the great
reformer that throughout his journey in Germany he had found on the average
three voices to one in his favour, and at this time Luther had only been, two years
upon the scene.

368 LUTHER AND THE PEOPLE— THE NOBILITY.

wise had remained limited to tlie possession of a few — perhaps locked
up within the walls of the monasteries — how, we say, all this com-
bined to prepare the world for the coming changes we have already
seen. On the other hand again, this very rapidity shown in the pro-
pagation of the new doctrine is an irrefragable proof of the great fall
of the religious and moral spirit of that epoch. For attachment to
the customs, more especially to the faith, of his fathers is so powerfully
and deeply rooted in the heart of man that to separate himself from
this as long as he at all sincerely feels its inspiration, is contrary to
the laws of human nature ; it can only occur when that which should
constitute the most ardent and fervent feeling of the heart has become
cold and torpid, and reduced to a state of mere external display.

Many other causes existed amongst the citizens and people gene-
rally, which throughout the empire operated materially to hasten the
crisis. Up to the present moment the great majority of the common
free people had been completely neglected and despised ; nothing
had been done to raise them from their state of ignorance, and thus
all their mental energy was left to perish in uninterrupted barbarism.
Luther now came amongst them as their great national teacher ;
promising them instruction, nay, making them his arbitrator in his
dispute. And this he undertook and performed in a language so ener-
getic and penetrating, that it struck upon the ears of the people in
tones hitherto unknown to them.

The external condition of the people likewise promoted Luther's
exertions. The peasantry, it is true, had gradually acquired a state
of greater freedom than had existed in former times ; but the services
they were condemned to perform were nevertheless even now very
oppressive. They were still forced to bend under the weight of
burdens inflicted upon them by all the other states, and hitherto their
rights as men continued, generally speaking, unrecognised by knights,
lords, and princes, and by many of these they were overwhelmed
with the most unjust severity. Now, however, the word : " Christian
liberty I" resounded and was echoed forth even to the huts of these
oppressed peasants. This magic word which was not interpreted by
them in its spiritual and moral sense, but in that of its action upon
their external condition, excited within them new and great hopes,
producing, unhappily at first, as we shall learn, the most calamitous
disorders and turbulence. For, in the universal commotion of one
entire generation, as is demonstrated in the history of all nations,
it is difficult to preserve the just limits of moderation.

Equally prompt with the people, the nobility of Germany were
soon forced to join in the newly-created excitement. They were still
animated with enthusiasm for the liberty and honour of their country ;
and as Germany was now regarded and treated with open contempt
by Rome, this was cause sufficient to enlist them on the side of him
who came forth to attack the power of the Romish see. On the other
hand, the revived love for science had also made considerable pro-
gress amongst the greater and better portion of the nobility; and

ULRIC OF HUTTEN— FRANCIS OF OF SICKINGEN. 369

since the invention and introduction of gunpowder had given a death
blow to chivalry, the practice of the sword was no longer the only
occupation of the young nobleman ; the more noble exercise of the
mind enlarged his views, and prepared him for new and more ele-
vated thoughts ; and, finally, Luther in his celebrated work, addressed
" To the Nobility of Germany," had more especially made an appeal
to them, and called upon them to devote themselves to his cause.

Amongst the most zealous of his proselytes was included Ulric of
Hutten, a leader of the people, such as are ever produced in an age
of excitement and revolution ; keen and energetic either with the
sword or pen, at once a warrior and a scholar, full of wit and per-
suasive eloquence, he was ever ready for the most perilous enterprise.
Once when in his presence he heard four Frenchmen speak in dis-
honourable terms of the emperor, he forthwith threw down his
gauntlet at their feet, and challenged them in the name of Ger-
man chivalry to mortal combat; he fought and overthrew them all.
He was equally successful with his pen as with his sword, when he
employed it in condemnation of the monks, the abuses of religion,
and against all those who opposed enlightenment and civilisation. A
satire which he wrote in the Latin tongue — now more and more
generally cultivated — created so much interest that it was soon cir-
culated throughout the principal cities of Europe. This extraor-
dinary man, possessing a soul of fire, joined Luther's party, less per-
haps from a zeal for religion than from an interest excited by the
bold and dangerous character of the reformer's cause; he wrote upon,
and devoted all his eloquence to, the subject, and would have gladly
promoted it with his sword as well, had he been permitted.

Another man of rank, and equally important, Francis of Sickingen,
in Franconia, warmly espoused the principles of Luther. His cha-
racter was so highly estimated, and he was so much distinguished
for his valour and noble qualities, that he was at one time considered
by many of the princes and nobles, even worthy to wear the impe-
rial crown itself. He generously offered his friend Luther an asylum
in his castle, and the protection of himself and friends against any
persecution he might experience. Luther, however, gratefully de-
clined his proffered aid ; and when the ambitious nobleman — whose
active mind would not allow him to remain quiet, but urged him
continually to carry out some great project — commenced hostilities
against Richard, Archbishop of Treves, and declared open war
against that prelate, Luther in vain endeavoured formally to oppose
it. This enterprise was one of the last demonstrations made of the
effects produced by the Faust-recht in Germany, inasmuch as, on
this especial occasion, this single knight, with his friends, raised an
army of twelve thousand men, and, in defiance of the interdictions
of the imperial diet, marched forth against a powerful prince of the
empire, fell upon his territories, devastating with fire and sword the
entire land, and only withdrew therefrom, and slowly marched back
to his own strong castle, after two other princes, Lewis, Elector of

2 B

370 FREDERICK OF SAXONY AND THE PROTESTANT PRINCES.

the Palatinate, and Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, having come to the
aid of the archbishop, were seen advancing with their united forces
against him.

In the following year, however, the valiant knight was himself
closely besieged by these same troops in his fortress of Landshut,
and, after defending himself bravely for a considerable time, he was
mortally wounded and taken prisoner. He died a few days after-
wards, and even his enemies could not withhold from him their
admiration, whilst they joined in the regret so universally felt, that
such great powers of mind and body as those possessed by the fallen
hero, should thus have sunk without having been able to develop
themselves in a more extensive sphere of action.

The death of Sickingen, however, produced nothing unfavourable
to the cause of Luther, inasmuch as he was strictly careful in main-
taining it exclusively independent, and free of all those external po-
litical demonstrations with which that knight and others were so de-
sirous to invest it. And this, indeed, was the principal reason for the
duration of its institutions ; for had it been abandoned to the chances
of this outward struggle, all the active, zealous strength of the
nation would have consumed itself, and the whole excitement of the
times would have passed away, and left but little or no trace of the
contest.

Among the princes of Germany, Frederick the Wise, Elector of
Saxony, took the most active part in, and supported with great zeal
the cause of Luther. He did not at first advance to his aid, neither
did he defend him ; nevertheless, he would not let him be delivered
up to his enemies before he had been brought to a conviction of his
error. After the diet of Worms, however, he decided at once in
his favour: "The affairs of Germany," said he, in 1523, in Nu-
remberg, " have advanced so far, that it is no longer in the power of
man to lead them in a good direction ; God is alone capable of per-
forming this, and to Him we must commit this important contro-
versy, which is beyond our strength."

By degrees several of the other princes declared in favour of the
new doctrine; some no doubt from sincere conviction, whilst others
were charged by their adversaries with being allured to their conver-
sion by the spoil they obtained from the ecclesiastical territories. Still,
even such inducements would not have sufficed to explain such great
and important results. The principal motive which operated so
powerfully in the cause of reform, originated in the spirit now roused
throughout the German nation, which sought to strike out a new
and more level course in each of the three principal elements of life :
the state, the sciences, and in religion, in substitution for that which
had grown old and obsolete. The leaders and promoters of this new
epoch felt conscious that in it was involved the commencement of a
grand change in the world. On the other hand, however, the
friends of the old system armed themselves more and more zealously
to battle for its protection and preservation.

THE GRAND DIET AT WORMS, 1521. 371

It was resolved that at the grand diet of Worms these religious
disputes, which at this moment kept the minds of all throughout the
empire in great suspense, should be brought to a termination. There
the pope had now sent his legate, Cardinal Alexander, in order to
prevail upon the emperor and the princes to employ the arm of tem-
poral authority against Luther. To his great astonishment, however,
the nuncio on his arrival discovered that all classes of the people were
universal in their declarations of antipathy against the pope. Every-
where he found distributed, writings, songs, and pictures, in mockery
and contempt of the pope ; and he himself, although in the suite of
the emperor, was compelled to witness his appearance greeted with
every mark of derision, and at times even his own life endangered.
At the diet he demanded, in accordance with his instructions, the
adoption of the most severe measures against the man who was al-
ready condemned as a heretic, laying, at the same time, before
the princes, a long list of propositions selected from Luther's works,
in order to prove how much he really deviated in the articles of
faith from the doctrines of the church, and especially in those of the
council of Constance. The Elector of Saxony now, however, rose
in opposition to the legate, and insisted that Luther himself should
be heard in order to learn from his own lips, whether these proposi-
tions were or were not correctly and faithfully copied from his
writings, and whether he acknowledged them as such. In this opinion
he was supported by the emperor and all the princes ; the cardinal,
however, opposed it, saying, " that what had been already decided by
the pope, could not be subjected to examination before a diet com-
posed of spiritual and temporal members." In reply it was stated to
him, that they did not desire to examine the faith of Luther, but
merely to hear from his own mouth whether or not he had actually
written and taught that for which he was condemned; therefore, for
this reason, it was necessary he should be summoned before the diet.
This, in fact, was one of the most important acts in the history of
the Reformation ; for thence the cause of Luther had become an open
and national affair.

His friends, and especially the Elector of Saxony, now demanded
for him the imperial and inviolable safe-conduct ; this was granted,
and Luther immediately set out from Wittenberg on his journey to
Worms. As he proceeded on his route, he soon learnt to know the
strength of his party; for the people flocked in thousands from every
quarter to behold and welcome him ; and when, on the day after his
arrival at Worms (the 17th of April), he was conducted to the diet,
the grand marshal of the empire was obliged to lead him a by-way,
across gardens and obscure parts ; so numerously thronged was the
whole town. His appearance, on entering the hall in which the
diet was held, produced no great effect ; the emperor himself, is re-
corded to have said, as he turned to his neighbour: " This man
would never succeed in making a heretic of me." And truly, Luther
was at this moment very pale, and, as he was only just recovering from

2 B2

372 LUTHER'S EXAMINATION — REFUSAL TO RETRACT.

a severe fever, presented a rather emaciated and feeble appearance.
In this weak state, his feelings were at first not a little affected when
he found himself unsupported by a single friend, standing alone in
the august presence of the emperor himself, and so numerous a body
of the princes and nobles of the empire.

A vicar of the Archbishop of Treves now put to him the question
in the name of the emperor and the diet there assembled, whether
he acknowledged as his own the writings then shown to him, and if
he persisted in maintaining the propositions therein contained? To
the first part he replied, yes; but with respect to the latter he begged
to have a short time granted him for consideration before he returned
an answer. Accordingly he was allowed until the following day.
He then re-appeared before the assembly, and publicly declared :
" That his writings were of three kinds; some treated upon the sub-
ject of articles of faith and good works, which his enemies did not
in any respect find offensive — he could not, therefore, retract them
without injury to his conscience; that others attacked the power of
the popes and their decrees, and if he retracted them he should only
thereby confirm their tyranny in the face of the whole world ; the
rest were directed against those who defended papacy, and had at-
tacked him in their writings ; he confessed that therein he had used
severe and bitter language, but which must be ascribed alone to the
treatment he himself had received from his adversaries." He then
concluded, saying: " If they could convince him from the Holy
Scriptures that he was in error, he was ready forthwith with his own
hands to cast the whole of his writings into the flames."

The chancellor replied, that they were not there to dispute with
him, but to hear from his own lips whether or not he would retract.
Upon which Luther declared with the most solemn determination,
that his conscience forbade him doing so; whereupon he was dis-
missed.

On the following day an especial conference took place with Luther,
in which the Elector of Treves himself took a very active share ; but
all attempts to bring him to a retraction were in vain ; and when
eventually the elector demanded of him whether he knew of any
means by which all might be restored to order and tranquillity, his
last words in reply were : " If this work is a human work then it will
disappear of itself; but if it comes from God, then you cannot dis-
turb or arrest its progress."

The emperor on the other hand, declared to the princes in decided
and serious terms: " That he was resolved to consecrate all he pos-
sessed, his empires, kingdoms, states, friends, his body and blood,
nay, life itself, to check at once all further progress of that impious
and ungodly spirit, which otherwise must involve himself and the
whole German nation in eternal shame and disgrace; that his an-
cestors, the Christian German emperors, the Catholic Kings of Spain,
and the Dukes of Austria and Burgundy, continued, to the latest
period of their lives, faithfully attached to the Roman church; that

LUTHER EXCOMMUNICATED. 373

he had received from them as an inheritance the Catholic doctrine
and discipline of the church, in the faith of which he would live and
die ; that, consequently, he would no longer listen to Luther, but
dismiss him at once from his presence, and treat him as he would a
heretic."

This declaration of the emperor was of grave and serious import.
If the question had been limited to the mere curtailment of the
pontifical power, he might not, perhaps, have beheld this generally-
increasing agitation without some degree of pleasure ; but when he
had reason to believe that it involved the apostacy of the ancient and
eternal faith, to which he was so much and so sincerely attached,
and that thence the unity of the church was menaced, he felt him-
self justified in expressing, in the strongest terms, his fixed determi-
nation to oppose it. His penetrating, comprehensive glance, which
embraced and recognised acutely the great relations of the world,
quickly beheld and measured in advance the mighty consequences of
these changes : he foresaw the dissension and irritation that must be
produced in all minds, and the contest of opinion, which so soon and
so easily converted into a contest of arms, would terminate in the
dreadful realities of a religious war. All this danger it was Charles's
firm opinion he could smother in its birth, and he felt that his dig-
nity of emperor and protector of the church imposed upon him this
duty. And, assuredly, had he been supported everywhere by the
same invariable and firm will, had not so many impure, worldly-
views been brought into operation against it, and produced their
baneful influence ; but more especially, had the truly honest and
sincerely-disposed Pope Adrian VI. — who reigned in the years 1522
and 1523, and whose serious wish and intention it was to reform
the church — lived but a short time longer, then, perhaps, our coun-
try would have been spared the infliction of the dreadful scenes it
was doomed to endure.

In his hereditary lands, where he was sole master, Charles cer-
tainly did endeavour to extirpate with great rigour the new doc-
trine ; he considered it was here especially his right and duty to do
so; and the decrees of his council, the voice of his people, and par-
ticularly of the Spanish nation, together with the Neapolitans, all
combined to demand this severity from him. But in Germany, on
the other hand, where he had to treat with a number of independent
princes and a nation in a state of general excitement, where he was
bound by the stipulations of his election, and where every violent act
was regarded as an attempt to acquire the independence of the imperial
power, he proceeded for a considerable time to act with the greatest
moderation. The preservation of peace appeared to him of para-
mount importance, and he was very desirous to bring the parties to
mutual concessions. For this very reason he was closely watched
by the Spaniards throughout his whole existence, from a fear that
he might be infused with heretical principles by his connexion with
the Germans.

374 LUTHER AT WARTBURG — FIRST GERMAN NEW TESTAMENT.

Several of Luther's bitterest enemies sought to persuade the em-
peror to the adoption of violent measures against him, grounding
their arguments upon the same principles which had operated in
bringing Huss to the stake; but Charles replied, that his imperial
word was inviolable, and he granted Luther an extension of his safe
conduct for twenty-one days, during the period of his return home.
Nevertheless, many of his friends still trembled for his life, dreading
some secret treachery ; and on his arrival in Thuringia, his royal
protector, the Elector of Saxony, caused him to be removed from
his carriage, as if by violence, by several disguised knights, and con-
veyed at night through a deep wood, to the strong castle of Wart-
burg, near Eisenach. There it was arranged he should remain con-
cealed, until the fury of his enemies became appeased.

Meantime, in Worms, the imperial ban of excommunication was
pronounced against him, as well as against his adherents and pro-
tectors. His books were condemned to be burnt wherever they
were found, and he himself was adjudged to be taken prisoner, and
delivered up to the emperor; such was the edict of Worms, dated
the 8th (26th) of May, 1521. In Rome, great rejoicings took place;
and even in Germany itself it was generally believed that the whole
affair was now settled and at an end. But a Spaniard, Valdez,
wrote from the diet itself to one of his friends thus: " Far from be-
holding the termination of this tragedy, I only see its commence-
ment; for I find that the minds of the Germans are especially
excited against the pontifical chair." And even whilst the emperor
was still in Worms, after the writings of Luther had been publicly

burnt, some copies which had escaped that fate were openly offered
P *

lor sale.

Luther himself continued solitary and uninterrupted in his isolated,
but secure asylum in the Castle of Wartburg, and devoted those tran-
quil moments to translating the New Testament into German, so that
it might be read and understood by every one throughout the em-
pire. Whilst thus employed, he was informed that, through mistaken,
zeal, serious riots had broken out in Wittenberg, where the people
had forced open the churches, committing the most serious injury
by destroying all the holy figures and pictures contained therein,
together with their altars and confessionals ; and he was grieved to
find that these furious and blindly zealous rioters were led on by his
friend, but violent enthusiast, Carlstadt. Casting aside all fear,
Luther at once abandoned his place of refuge, and, without having
waited until he received the permission of the elector, he appeared
in Wittenberg, in March, 1522, where he preached to, and remon-
strated in severe terms with the people, upon their outrageous con-
duct, and succeeded in again restoring peace and order.

Shortly afterwards, however, events of a far more serious nature
occurred, which threatened to destroy all order in the civil state of
Germany. We have already shown, at the close of the government
of Maximilian I., what discontent existed amongst the peasantry

TUMULTS AND REVOLTS OF THE PEASANTRY. 375

throughout the empire, and that the leagues formed in Alsace and
Swabia, were only put down by force of arms. Some sparks, how-
ever, still glimmered amidst the ashes, and, in the course of a short
time combining their whole force, burst forth once more into one
universal flame. The rural population considered themselves entitled
to an equality of rights with those hitherto their lords and masters,
and in south Germany especially, where the sight of the prosperity
and independence enjoyed by their neighbours, the Swiss — strikingly
contrasting with their own condition — acted powerfully upon the
mind, the indignation of the people was first roused, and the flame
of discord and revolt again produced its devastating effects.

The first that rebelled were the peasantry of the Abbot of Kemp-
ten and those of the Archbishop of Augsburg. Twelve articles,
containing all the rights and demands made by the whole body,
were drawn up in Swabia, and distributed and made known through-
out the whole of Germany with astonishing and almost incredible
rapidity, viz.: "That the peasants should be allowed to choose for
themselves the ministers who were to preach to them the word of
God, pure and without the introduction of any worldly matter ; that
in future they should not pay any other tithes but that of corn ; that
they had hitherto been treated as slaves, although by the blood of
our Saviour all men had been made free, and, although they desired
not to live independent of all superior authority, they were, never-
theless, resolved no longer to continue in this state of slavery, un-
less it could be proved to them by the Holy Scriptures that they
were in error. That, finally, they had to complain of many things,
but that they would observe silence in the hope that what they
claimed would be yielded, and that their lords would treat them in
accordance with the counsel and precepts of the gospel, and whilst
they moderated the oppression they had exercised from the earliest
times down to the present moment, they, their lords, should likewise
abstain from adding thereto daily fresh burdens."

There can be no doubt but these demands were just, and, at the
same time, moderate; but when the accomplishment of the object
demanded was left to the charge of the brutal mass, then the pas-
sions soon overcame the weak and subdued voice of moderation, and
bursting through every barrier, became deaf to reason, and their fury
knew no bounds. As is the case in all such riotous proceedings, the
complainant became the judge in his own cause, and exercised the
very same injustice by which he himself had been previously op-
pressed. The peasantry, collected together in various strong bodies,
commenced with attacking the castles of the nobles and the rich
possessions of the clergy, burning and destroying every thing, and
often putting to death the owners. These troops soon increased to
armies, of which Swabia alone supplied three. In Franconia the
riots grew more and more serious, extending even to Wiirtzburg,
which city combined with the peasantry against its bishop and the
rest of the Franconian nobility. Already, indeed, a great number of

376 MUNZER THE FANATIC — LUTHER AND THE PEASANTRY.

the cities throughout Upper Germany had joined in league with the
peasants, whilst several princes and nobles, such as the Elector Pa-
latine, the Counts of Hohenlohe, the Bishops of Bamberg and
Spires, &c., had entered into negotiation with the rioters, and had
been forced to promise a removal of their burdens based upon the
twelve articles aforesaid.

In Thuringia the hallucination of this excited period was shown
in another form, although not altogether dissimilar in spirit, inasmuch
as it was founded upon religious enthusiasm. A secular preacher,
Thomas Miinzer, formerly one of Luther's first adherents, pretended
that he was gifted with especial divine visions from God, by which
he was enabled to reveal the essence of Christian liberty with much
more clearness than Luther. "God," he said, "had created the
earth as an inheritance of the believers, and all government must be
regulated only by the Bible and divine revelations. There was no
necessity, whatever, for the princes, superior authorities, the nobi-
lity, or the priests, and the distinction which existed between the
rich and the poor was altogether unchristian; inasmuch, as in the
kingdom of God all men must be equal." Such doctrine, however,
caused Miinzer to be banished from Saxony, and he repaired to
Mlihlhausen in Thuringia, where he gained over the people, and
caused them to upset all authority, and make him their preacher
and governor of the town. His principles of the equality of all
inen, and of the community of possessions, which he introduced
after he had driven all the more wealthy inhabitants from the town,
augmented the number of his partisans considerably, and extended
his influence to a great distance beyond his seat of government.

The whole of Thuringia, Hesse, and Lower Saxony were in
danger, and as now the war of the peasantry raged likewise in the
south of Germany, there was too much reason to fear that the fa-
natics of every part would combine their forces, and thus, like
rushing torrent, march through the whole empire destroying ar
sweeping all before them. In this state of peril into which the whol(
community was about to be ingulfed, a deputation from the pe£
santry waited upon Luther and submitted to him the twelve article
for his approbation ; at first he agreed that several of their demanc
were just, and condemned the oppression of the princes and nobi-
lity ; he then, however, reproached the people for their violent an<f
riotous proceedings, representing to them that Christian liberty wai
a spiritual liberty ; and when now the Miinzer revolution arose, h<
himself, in order to remove at once every impression that sucl
outrages were at all connected with his doctrine, called upon
princes to draw the sword against the revolters. And truly it
high time to make this appeal ; inasmuch as the castles of the noble
and the monasteries in Thuringia, Franconia, Swabia, and aloi
the banks of the Rhine as far as Lorraine itself, were now alread]
demolished, and presented one universal mass of smoking ruins.
Accordingly the princes, at Luther's urgent exhortation, united

BATTLE OF FRANKENHAUSEN— MUNZER'S DEATH. 377

their forces against the rebels in Thuringia, led on by the Elector
John of Saxony — Frederick the Wise having recently died, after
having beheld with sorrow the commencement of these sad scenes —
George, Duke of Saxony, the Landgrave, Philip of Hesse, and
Henry, Duke of Brunswick. A division of their army, under Philip
of Hesse, marched at once against a body of the peasantry near Fran-
kenhausen, in Thuringia, on the 15th of May, 1525.

The princes, in order to bring the rioters to terms by lenient
measures, promised them pardon if they would retire peaceably and
give up their leaders. Munzer, however, in order to avert the danger
from his own person, took advantage of the appearance of a rainbow
which at the moment presented itself in the heavens, in order to ex-
cite anew the mad enthusiasm of his partisans, declaring to them
that it came as a messenger to him from God. For the moment he
succeeded in his object, for, roused by his inflammatory language,
the fanatics rushed upon the ambassadors of the elector and stabbed
them with their daggers ; and fortifying themselves in their entrench-
ments, they prepared for a vigorous defence. In a very short time,
however, their blind and desperate courage sunk, and they looked in
vain for the appearance of the troops of angels which had been pro-
mised to them by Miinzer; he himself was one of the first who
fled, whilst the greater part of his army was put to the sword. The
fugitive leader took refuge in the loft of a house in Frankenhausen,
but was soon afterwards discovered, dragged forth and beheaded,
dying without evincing the slightest courage or fortitude.

Just about the same time, the wars of the peasantry in the south
of Germany were likewise brought to an end. The Swabian league
which had been renewed, collected an army, and under the leader-
ship of George Truchsess of Waldburg, attacked and destroyed the
various troops of peasants in Swabia and Franconia with the same
success as in Thuringia. Everywhere the most dreadful retribution
was now inflicted by the conquerors upon all those who had taken
a share in the revolutionary scenes, and the most revolting cruelties
were perpetrated.

Thus these terrible and sanguinary commotions which might
have produced the complete overthrow and destruction of the in-
stitutions of Germany, had these excited powers been brought into
effect by the influential direction of skilful men, were once again
promptly subdued. As it was, however, they occasioned a sacrifice
of much blood; it being calculated that more than 100,000 of the
peasantry perished in these contentions.

378 FOREIGN RELATIONS OF CHARLES V.— FRANCIS I.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Foreign Relations of Charles V. — Francis I. of France — War between these two rival
Monarchs — Italy — Milan — The Duke of Bourbon— The Chevalier Bayard— The
Battle of Pavia, 1525 — Defeat of the French — Francis I. taken Prisoner — Madrid
— The King of France liberated — His dishonourable Breach of Stipulation — The
Imperalists in Rome — The Pope a Prisoner — His Ransom — War with France re-
sumed— Andrew Doria — Peace of Cambray, 1529 — Charles V. crowned Emperor
and King of Lombardy in Bologna — His Generosity — Return to Germany — First
League of the Protestant Princes, 1526— The Augsburg Confession, 1530 — Me-
lanchthon — His Character of Charles V. — John, Elector of Saxony — His determina-
tion—The Imperial Council — The Emperor's Declaration— Reply of the Protestant
Princes — Ferdinand, King of Rome, 1531 — Religious Peace — The Turks in Hun-
gary— Their Defeat — Ulric, Duke of Wurtemberg — Restored to his Possessions by
Philip of Hesse — Insurrection of the Anabaptists — Their Defeat — The Emperor in
Africa — Tunis — His Triumph and Liberation of 22,000 Christian Slaves — Francis
I. attacks Italy — Charles V. enters France — Suspension of Arms — Interview
between the two Monarchs at Aigues-Martes — Revolt in Ghent — Progress of
Charles V. through France and Ghent — Hospitality received — Peace restored in
Ghent — The Diet at Ratisbon, 1541 — Charles V. in Algiers — Disastrous Expedi-
tion— His Fortitude — Return to Italy— Francis I. resumes Hostilities — His Hi-
success — Charles V. on the Rhine — Attacks the Duke of Cleves — Overcomes and
Pardons him — Marches into France — Advance upon Paris — The Peace of Crepi,
1544.

DURING this interval 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 neigh-
bour and rival, availed himself of every opportunity to gain some ad-
vantage over him. It would be useless to investigate the particular
causes of jealousy between these two monarchs ; in their character as
men, and their political relations to each other as rulers, ample foun-
dation existed for this rivalship. Charles, like Francis, was ruled by
ambition and pride, but in him, these passions assumed a more en-
nobling character. Both had been rivals for the imperial throne, and
Francis, who claimed superiority not only in years but in reputation
as a knight, and in personal endowments, was highly mortified when
he found the latter elected in preference to himself. At the same
time the duchy of Milan which had been conquered by Francis and
held by him as a fief of the empire, served as an inevitable cause of
dispute, inasmuch as Charles felt himself bound to recover it by force
of arms, and restore it under the imperial sway ; whilst, on the other
hand, the preponderance of Charles's power in Europe, now assuming
a more threatening aspect, excited the fears of the other rulers, and
Francis, who, next to the emperor, possessed the most powerful do-
minion, considered himself called upon before any other to enter

HOSTILITIES — MILAN — DUKE OF BOURBON. 379

the field against him. He had turned his attention more especially
towards Italy, in which country he had already made one successful
expedition ; and it was there that Charles's power should be weak-
ened and destroyed, for which purpose the French king sought to
revive all the claims he derived from his ancestors to the kingdom
of Naples, in that quarter. Charles meantime had augmented his
power by an alliance with Henry VIII. of England, whose vanity had
been offended by Francis, and thus the war which had already com-
menced in the year 1521, was carried on by the English and Flem-
ish troops from the Netherlands as far as Spain ; but in Italy more
especially the contest was maintained with the greatest obstinacy.
What operated much to Charles's disadvantage, was the wide dis-
persion of his possessions, which produced a necessary division of his
forces ; whilst Francis, on the other hand, from the central point on
which he had rallied his troops and formed them into one united
mass, was enabled to dash forwards and at once strike the blow in
whatever direction he pleased. But that which principally charac-
terised the superiority of Charles, and which, in reality, constituted his
power and shed over him so brilliant a lustre, was that he had been
enabled to collect around him a body of the most distinguished men of
the day, from among whom his penetrating eye at once singled out
the general best qualified to lead his army against the foe, the am-
bassador whose diplomatic talent could best loosen the complicated
knot of political intrigue, and the councillor whose prudence and
superior judgment rendered him the most efficient adviser. It is
by the intellectual powers that the world should be governed, and
Charles knew how to enlist them in his service.

Charles, Duke of Bourbon, a valiant and distinguished general of
the French army, having been deeply injured by Francis, came over
to the emperor's side. He was received by that monarch with open
arms, and was at once appointed leader, in conjunction with the Vice-
roy of Naples, Launoy, and the Marquis of Pescara, at that time
the most distinguished warrior of the imperial army in Italy. The
King of France, on the other hand, lost about this time (in the year
1524), one of his most brave and loyal knights, the Chevalier Bayard,
who, in the retreat from Italy, saved the army by his heroic courage
on the bridge of Sesia, but receiving a mortal wound, fell a sacrifice
to his patriotic devotion. The advantages of the war appeared now
wholly on the side of the emperor; Milan was retaken, and the
French driven out of Italy. But Charles having resolved to attack
France itself, marched with his army into Provence," and^ laid siege
to Marseilles ; there, however, he nearly lost the superiority he had
gained. He found that to take France from this side was more
difficult than he had calculated; the city itself was not to be con-
quered, and the whole country around having been laid waste by
the enemy himself, Pescara was forced to retreat. It required, in-
deed, all the ingenuity of that great general to save the army in its
dangerous march back, for the French monarch followed at his

380 BATTLE OF PAVIA— FRANCIS I. A PRISONER.

heels, and again taking possession of Milan, proceeded to attack
Pavia. The imperial generals found their situation at this moment
very embarrassing; for in front of them was an enemy of superior
force, who threatened one of the chief cities; behind them was the
territory of the pope, who had just formed an alliance with Francis;
and finally, their own army was in a most distressed condition, a
feeling of langour and depression, produced by the late retreat, per-
vading the spirits of all. Nevertheless, the courage, wisdom, and
good fortune of the leaders, soon effected a change for the better.

The commandant who defended Pavia, Don Antonio de Leyva,
not discouraged for a moment, most obstinately maintained his
position against the besiegers during the entire winter until the
February of 1525. By this time the imperial army was reinforced
by a strong body of 15,000 lancers, who marched to their aid from
Germany, under the command of the brave warrior, George of
Freundsberg, or Frundsberg, and a combined attack was made upon
the French king near Pavia. The quick, experienced eye of Pes-
cara selected the point of attack in a quarter least expected by the
king, who was consequently wholly unprepared for it. He fancied
his rear to be perfectly secured by a wood enclosed by an extensive,
strong wall ; Pescara, however, caused a road to be cut through the
entire forest during the night, and with the dawn of morning his
troops rushed upon the surprised enemy, and completely overthrew
them at this point. At the same moment Leyva made a sally from
the citadel itself, whilst Launoy and Bourbon made an attack in
another quarter, and the entire French army, thus overwhelmed, was
soon put to rout. The Swiss auxiliaries, a circumstance unusual with
them, were the first to yield and take to flight, whilst the German mer-
cenaries, although they fought with great courage, were overmatched
by the valour of the Germans under their brave leader, George of
Freundsberg, and to whom in fact the imperialists were chiefly in-
debted for the victory, for burning with indignation to find their fel-
low-countrymen fighting in the ranks of the French army, they cut
them down almost to a man. Francis had his horse killed unde
him, and he continued fighting on foot, defending himself against
host of Spaniards who had surrounded him without knowing th
royal, chivalric warrior they endeavoured to overcome. Fortunately
for the king, a French nobleman, Pomperant, belonging to the suite
of the Duke of Bourbon, came up at this moment, and recognising
the sinking monarch, summoned him to yield himself a prisoner t<
the duke, his master; this he refused to do, but with reluctance,
ordered him to send Launoy to him. The combatants paused until
the general arrived, when the king resigned his sword into his hands,
Launoy received it kneeling, and giving the monarch his own in ex-
change, said: " It suits not that so great a king should stand un-
armed before a subject of the emperor." A fortnight after this de-
cisive battle no enemy remained in Italy.

Charles was almost discontented with his too great fortune which

MADRID — FRANCIS I. LIBERATED — HIS FALSEHOOD. 381

left him without an object to pursue: " Since you have made a
prisoner of the Kin^ of France for me," he says, in a letter to
Launoy, " I find nothing more to do but to fight against the infidels.
This I have always felt a great desire to do, and now more than
ever. Arrange matters, therefore, so that I may be enabled before
I grow too old to perform deeds that may promote the service of
God, and not be unattended with glory to myself."

The King of France was conveyed a captive to Madrid and
closely guarded. Great difference of opinion was expressed by the
council of the emperor respecting the manner in which he was to
be treated, and the means of availing themselves of their present
good fortune. One party, at the head of which was Launoy, ad-
vised the emperor to act with generosity towards the king, and
thus destroy, perhaps for ever, the seeds of discord and enmity be-
tween the two monarchs; whilst another party, headed by the Chan-
cellor Mercurinus Gattinara, sought to derive every possible ad-
vantage from the circumstance. The emperor chose the middle
path between the two parties, and lost the entire fruit of his good
fortune. He approved of the plan proposed by the chancellor,
viz.: to demand from the captive monarch, as the price of his
liberty, the restoration of the Duchy of Burgundy, which France
had unjustly wrested from his grandmother, and to which he at-
tached great and especial value ; but he considered the detention of
the king as prisoner until the fulfilment of this condition — as advised
by his chancellor — too harsh and unworthy of the imperial dignity.
He trusted, therefore, to the promise of the king ; but that promise,
with whatever chivalric importance Francis may have invested it,
was never sincerely given nor eventually performed. Before he
signed the treaty, he secretly summoned to his presence some con-
fidential agents in Madrid, and before them, in the presence of the
pope's nuncio, declared that he was not bound to perform the pro-
mise he should make as a prisoner, and that the pope, Clement VII.
himself, had absolved him from the performance of any engage-
ment into which he might enter. The voice of conscience being
thus quieted, he knelt before the altar and swore on the Holy Bible
itself faithfully to fulfil the conditions to which he had agreed. At
the same time he pledged his royal word to return and surrender
himself again a prisoner within six months from that time in the
event of his not being able to execute the said conditions.

Francis I. was accordingly set at liberty, in the year 1526, after
an imprisonment of one year — but never kept his word. The ex-
cuse he made for such a breach of honour was, that his states would
not by any means admit the abandonment of Burgundy, whilst at
the same time he offered a considerable sum as a ransom for his two
eldest sons whom he had sent to Spain as hostages. Charles, how-
ever, returned for answer: " That he had violated faith and^truth,
both of which he had solemnly and publicly sworn to maintain;
that he had not acted as became a man of noble birth and a sovereign

382 THE IMPERIALISTS IN ROME— THE POPE A PRISONER.

prince; and that he, Charles, was ready to support the charge with
the sword in single combat." Francis accepted the challenge, but
only with words; for subsequently he avoided the meeting under
various pretexts, and thus the people were once more forced to
terminate with their own blood the contest produced by the ambi-
tion and folly of their monarch, and war was once more declared
between Charles V. and Francis I.

Just at the commencement of this war, however, a most unheard
of event took place in Italy. The Duke of Bourbon had succeeded
to the chief command of the imperial army in Milan, after the death
of General Pescara. The country was completely devastated, and the
generals without money, whilst the troops became more and more loud
in their demands for their pay. All means having been employed in
vain to appease them, the army suddenly broke up in the month of
January, 1527, and advanced in forced marches against Rome, with-
out, however, having received any commands from the emperor ; nei-
ther is it known for certain whether it was by the order of the Duke
of Bourbon, who, perhaps, may have formed some grand projects of
ambition, or whether it was the result of some sudden determination
of the army itself, which calculated on finding in Rome abundance
of supplies and a rich booty besides. Be this as it may, Bourbon
arrived with the army before the city, after a most difficult march.
On the 6th of May the command was given for a general assault
against the ancient capital of the world, and Bourbon was one of the
first upon the walls, his example serving to inspire the whole of the
besiegers ; but he had scarcely got his footing on the ramparts when
he was mortally wounded by a shot from an arquebusier. His troops,
nevertheless, forced their way into the city, and, for several days, a
scene of pillage and devastation was continued, equalled only in the
time of the Vandals. The Pope, Clement VII., with his court, had
taken refuge in the Castle of St. Angelo, where he was besieged for
several months, until, forced by necessity, he promised the impe-
rialists a sum of 400,000 ducats, in order that the whole army might
be paid their full arrears.

Meantime the Emperor Charles sent letters to all the princes of
Christendom, in which he took especial care to exonerate himself in
their eyes in respect to these excesses, which took place without his
wish or knowledge ; nay, during the time that his generals kept the
pope a prisoner in the Castle of St. Angelo, and laid siege to that
place, he ordered public prayers to be offered in all the churches
throughout Spain for his deliverance. He has been reproached with
hypocrisy for doing this; but it is, no doubt, a fact, that his muti-
nous troops would no longer obey his orders until they had received
the arrears due to them. It was only then, at the end of eighteen
months, that the army was once again brought into a state of dis-
cipline, and, at his command, marched towards Naples. But owing
to the excesses committed in Rome, it had become so reduced, that
when the King of France, in the year 1527, once more invaded Italy,

WAR WITH FRANCE— PEACE OF CAMBRAY, 1569. 383

Ms army, under the command of Lautrec, was enabled to penetrate,
without opposition, as far as Naples itself, to which place it laid siege.
The sudden defection of the celebrated naval hero, Andrew Doria, who,
with his fleet, came over to the emperor's side, together with the sick-
ness which prevailed throughout the Frencharmy, combined, however,
to turn the scale in Charles's favour ; the French were forced to give
up the siege, and also to abandon Milan. Both parties, equally tired
and worn out by the war, agreed to sign a treaty of peace at Cam-
bray, in the year 1529, and which was styled the ladies' peace, inas-
much as it was negotiated by the emperor's aunt and the king's
mother. Francis paid two millions of crowns for the deliverance of
his two sons in Spain, renounced all claims to Milan, Genoa, Naples,
and all the other countries beyond the Alps, and married Eleonora,
the sister of Charles ; whilst the emperor, on his part, without re-
quiring the immediate secession of Burgundy, still retained his an-
cient rights.

The time had now arrived when the emperor was enabled to ap-
pear with dignity in his Italian States, where, in fact, he had hitherto
never shown himself. He landed in 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 alto-
gether forgotten ; the emperor, following the example of his ances-
tors, 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 power-
ful monarch who had borne the crown since Charlemagne, and who
was, likewise, the last emperor who visited 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 veneration. The emperor
would not even retain Milan for himself, but, before he left Italy,
restored it into the hands of Francis Sforza, who received it as
a fief of the empire. Having accomplished this, Charles now has-
tened to return to Germany to preside at the grand diet of Augsburg.

In Germany many of the princes had now openly introduced the
new doctrine into their various territories. One of the most zealous
amongst them was the young Landgrave of Hesse, Philip the Ge-
nerous; he urged the other princes who joined with him in opinion,
to form an alliance for mutual defence, in the event of the adverse
parties seeking by violent measures to execute the edict of Worms.
Nor was his anxiety without foundation. Several of the Catholic
princes had already held a meeting at Leipsic, and had deliberated
together upon the" necessity of making common defence against the
dissemination of the new faith ; and for this purpose they had claimed
the assistance of the emperor, who in his reply promised the extirpa-
tion of all the errors of the Lutheran sect. Accordingly a league
was formed at Dessau by these princes, at the head of which were

384 LEAGUE OF THE PROTESTANT PRINCES.

the Electors of Mentz and of Brandenburg, and the Dukes of Wolf-
enbiittle and Calenberg. On the other hand an alliance was formed
on the 4th of May, 1526, at Torgau, between the Elector of Saxony,
John the Steadfast, Philip of Hesse, the Dukes of Grubenhagen and
Celle, Duke Henry of Mecklenberg, Prince Wolfgang of Anhalt,
Counts Gebhard and Albert of Mansfeld, together with the imperial
free city of Magdeburg. Albert, Margrave of Brandenburg, formerly
grand master of the Teutonic order, but who on embracing the new
faith, and with the sanction of the King of Poland as chief feudal
lord, secularised the territory of the order into a dukedom of Prussia,
concluded an especial alliance with the Elector of Saxony. The firm
position maintained by the allies at the diet held in Spires in 1526,
presided over by Ferdinand, produced for them the favourable reso-
lution: " That the states of the empire in affairs referring to the
edict of Worms, should so decide and rule among their subjects as
to be able to render good account of their conduct before God and
the imperial majesty." Thence it was left to the conscience of each
authonty to proceed in religious affairs as far as he might deem
requisite.

During this time the emperor had been occupied with his royal
prisoner, Francis I., against whom, however, he afterwards had to
maintain another war, but now was urgently appealed to by the
German princes to exert his authority in settling their differences;
and only succeeded in allaying their impatience by promising them
to hold a new diet as soon as he was at liberty to come to them.
Meantime he summoned a provisional diet in Spires, in 1529. The
result of this meeting, however, was only still more to widen the
breach between the two parties by giving a permanent name to the
partisans of the new doctrine, inasmuch as the majority of the
states being Catholic, decreed: " That the essential edicts of the diet
of Worms should be retained ; that the celebration of mass should be
preserved ; that all those who had been gained over to the new doc-
trine should abstain from further innovations; and that no subject
of the empire should be permitted to give protection to a co-reli-
gionist against the authorities." The Lutheran party, dissatisfied with
these resolutions of the diet, drew up accordingly an instrument in
opposition, in which they protested against them3 whence they took
the name of Protestants, declaring at the same time that they would
continue in all their proceedings to act up to the decree of the year
1526. The Protestant party included the whole of the princes who
joined the league of Torgau, together with George, Margrave of
Brandenburg, of the Salian house, and the cities of Strasburg,
Nuremberg, Ulm, Constance, Reutlingen, Windsheim, Memmingen,
Lindau, Kempten, Heilbronn, Issny, Weissenburg, Nordlingen,
and St. Gallen.

In the following year, 1530, the grand diet was held in Augs-
burg, to which the emperor himself repaired from Italy as he had
announced. Even before he arrived, he was mot on the road by

AUGSBURG — MELANCHTHON AND CHARLES v. 385

several deputies from both parties, who sought to gain his pre-
ference; he referred^ them, however, to the approaching 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 years before he first appeared in Germany, the emperor
at this moment stood unrivalled by any cotemporary monarch,
unsurpassed by his predecessors since the dominion of the great
Charlemagne, and admired universally for his distinguished qua-
lities. In Francis I. of France he had humbled one of the most
haughty and ambitious of his foreign enemies, and Rome itself had
not been able to withstand his mighty power. His noble figure and
dignified carriage produced 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 fortune, which seems to come at his bidding; for nei-
ther by action nor word does he indicate in the slightest degree the
effect it may have upon his feelings. What emperor or king can
you show me in the records of their reign in whom success has
not produced some change? With him, on the other hand, nothing
appears to operate upon his feelings; no trace of passion, hauteur or
cruelty, is ever visible in him. To omit other examples I will in-
stance what has occurred in our case. Although in these religious
disputes our enemies have employed every art to render him hostile
to us, he has ever condescended to listen attentively to the argu-
ments of our party. His domestic life abounds with instances of
abstinence, moderation, and temperance. That system of household
discipline, so rigidly exercised in former times amongst the German
princes, is now confined exclusively to the imperial palace. Neither
are the traces of vicious nor licentious men to be found within its
walls; whilst as friends he selects amongst his court only those dis-
tinguished for their genius and virtues. Whenever I behold him,
methinks I see before me one of those heroes or deim-gods who in
ancient times were wont to mix with men. Who, therefore, ought
not to rejoice in witnessing such a combination of noble qualities
in one man?"

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 Catholic princes generally, the Protestant
princes, who were all present, maintained their ground of oppo-
sition with so much determination and firmness, that they succeeded

2 c

386 JOHN, ELECTOR OF SAXONY—HIS FIRMNESS.

in effecting their object even in matters of merely external cere-
monies 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 dis-
tinguished 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 maintained his position. This
prince, the last of the four excellent sons of Ernest, 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?" and the answer to which re-
moved all doubt from his mind and heart. He was likewise much
encouraged and confirmed in his conviction by the letters of Luther,
who, on account of the ban still in force against him, was able to
proceed only as far as Coburg, from which place he watched the
important proceedings that were taking place in Augsburg with the
greatest anxiety and expectation ; but, at the same time, with an indo-
mitable resolution inspired by his faith and zeal in the great cause.
It is said that at this time he composed his beautiful hymn "Eine
starke Burg ist unser Gott" (A mighty rock is our God). When
now the question of the religious disputes was at length discussed
before the diet of Augsburg, the Protestant princes laid before the
assembly their confession of faith, exhibiting in succinct, but com-
prehensive language all the articles in which the new church differed
from the old. This was completed by Melanchthon from the se-
venteen articles prepared by Luther at Schwabach, and from other
writings which the Protestant princes had brought with them ; thus
was produced the Augsburg confession which from that moment
has formed the basis of the Protestant 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 emperor then re-

THE IMPERIAL COUNCIL — DECLARATION OF CHARLES V. 387

plied to the Protestant princes, through Frederick, the Count Palatine,
"That he would take into consideration that important and re-
markable document, and make known to them his determination."

In the council of Charles, as well as in that of the Catholic princes,
opinions were very much divided. The popish legate, as well as
George, Duke of Saxony, William, Duke of Bavaria, and the ma-
jority of the bishops, required that Charles should force the Pro-
testants to abjure at once their doctrine ; others again, amongst
whom was the Cardinal- Archbishop of Mentz, were more moderate.
They observed that such a proceeding must inevitably be attended
with great bloodshed, and produce civil war; they referred to the
dangers to be dreaded from the Turks, who only recently, in 1529,
had ventured to attack Vienna itself, although happily without suc-
cess ; and they recommended either that the Protestants should be
brought to return to the church through conviction, produced by
mild treatment, or that the question should be settled with a view
to preserve, at least, the internal tranquillity of the empire.

In accordance, therefore, with this latter opinion, a refutation of
the Augsburg confession was drawn up by several Catholic theolo-
gians, headed by the celebrated Dr. Eck, which was forthwith read
to the Protestants with the intimation that they should quietly
acquiesce therein ; and when they declared at once that they could
not do so conscientiously, various other attempts at reconciliation and
accommodation were made, for many of the more moderate of both
parties still thought this result attainable. Melanchthon himself
wrote to the pope's legate 'to this effect: " There still remains a
slight difference only in the usages and forms of the church which
appears to interfere with the accomplishment of a reunion, and the
ecclesiastical canons themselves admit that, notwithstanding this
discrepancy of opinion, the unity of the church may yet be main-
tained." But the more zealous partisans of both sides opposed many
obstacles in the way of a conciliatory investigation, and what was
conceded did not at all affect the principal points of dispute. In
addition to this, various Protestant princes and free cities became
influenced by worldly considerations when they found the question
arise : whether or not the episcopal power should be re-established in
their different territories ; whilst on the Catholic side they now, more
obstinately than ever, held to the strict performance of the articles in
respect to which indulgence had formerly been granted, for instance,
to the Greek church and the Hussites; these articles had reference
to the prohibition of the marriage of priests, and of the administra-
tion of the holy communion to the laity under both forms. Thus
were defeated all those attempts to produce the desired reconciliation,
and the two parties, instead of approaching each other more closely
on terms of mutual peace and concord, became now more and more
widely estranged. The emperor, at length, issued the following
declaration to the Protestants: " That they should consider and

2 C 2

388 REPLY OF THE PROTESTANT PRINCES — SCHMALKALD.

determine by the ensuing 15th day of the month of April, whether
or not they would unite in favour of the articles in discussion with
the Christian church, with the pope, the emperor, and the other
princes, until they were more amply explained in a council to be
assembled at an early future day; that during this period of peace,
they should not print any thing new in their various territories, nor
seek to strengthen their party by receiving fresh adherents from
amongst their own subjects or strangers ; that, as many abuses and irre-
gularities of every kind had, for many years down to the present mo-
ment, become more and more prevalent throughout Christendom,
the emperor would use all his endeavours, with the pope and the
other princes of Europe, in order that a general council should be
convoked within a period of six months, or at latest within a year
from the present time."

To this the Protestants replied, as usual, that their dogmas had
not as yet been refuted bv the Scriptures, that their conscience
would not, therefore, permit them to consent to this decree of the
diet, by which they were prohibited from propagating their faith.
At the same time they handed over to the emperor a defence of
their confession, and all who still remained in Augsburg immediately
departed. The rupture between the two parties was now formally
declared. In the resolutions of the diet subsequently made public,
the Lutheran doctrine was treated as heresy, and characterised as
such in the most severe and condemnatory language ; the restoration
of all the confiscated convents and religious establishments strictly
ordered ; a censorship over all writings on subjects of religion was
rigidly enforced, and all those who contumaciously acted against
these decrees were threatened with the severest punishment.

The Protestant princes, at the end of this year, assembled together
in the city of Schmalkald, and there renewed their alliance more
firmly. Some among them were even anxious to commence the
struggle, and appeal to arms at once; but others, again, still retained
their ancient religious dread of civil war and veneration for the
sacred person of the emperor, as expressed by themselves; whence,
as this feeling of the majority exercised its predominating influence
upon all, their league was saved from incurring the reproach of
having been, without necessity, the first to kindle the flame of a re-
ligious war. The Catholic electors and princes likewise, on their
part, and with equal merit, checked the feeling so prevalent among
them for warlike measures — a desire so much encouraged in Rome,
and by which the emperor himself already appeared to be somewhat
influenced. They would not allow the ban of the empire to be pro-
nounced against the Protestant party, because they were reluctant
to furnish the emperor with full powers for war ; they wished, as
they expressed themselves, to contend, but not with the sword's
point, and they hoped, by means of the imperial chamber of justice,
which with this object had been cleansed of all its anti-Catholic

FERDINAND, KING OF ROME—RELIGIOUS PEACE. 389

elements, and strengthened by the addition of six assessors, to bring
the decree of the grand diet into full operation. But we shall very
soon see that these means likewise proved totally inadequate.

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 he-
reditary lands in Austria — and who, since the extinction of the royal
house of Bohemia and Hungary, in the person of Lewis II., who was
killed when fighting against feoliman II., in the battle of Mohacz,
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 ; 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 in matters" of reli-
gion, the princes of the Schmalkaldian 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
tranquillity in Germany, as his new kingdom of Hungary was at
this time hard pressed by the Turks, and his chief source of assist-
ance must be derived from the German princes. The Protestants,
however, refused to give their co-operation until peace had been
secured to them in their own country, and its continuance sworn to
be maintained. The emperor accordingly now concerted fresh mea-
sures, 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 pro visionary religious peace of Nuremberg, in
1532. The emperor declared, in contradiction to the opinion of the
Catholic majority: " That, in virtue of his imperial power, he would
establish a general peace, according to which no person should be
attacked or condemned on account of his faith, or any other religious
matter, until the approaching assembly of the council, or the meet-
ing of the estates of the empire." Nay, he promised likewise to
suspend all proceedings taken by his 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 Protestant 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 four points; and to op-
pose him, the emperor had only seventy-six thousand men at com-
mand. However, the first attempts they made very soon showed
the Turks with what men they had to deal. Ibrahim Pasha, who led

390 THE TURKS DEFEATED— ULRIC OF WURTEMBERG.

the vanguard, considered he was bound for honour's sake to punish
the little town of Gunz, in Hungary, which to his mortification had
closed its gates against him, thinking that it would easily fall into
his hands on the first assault; but its brave commandant, Jurischtisch,
with his small garrison repulsed all his attacks, and kept him before
the walls for the space of a fortnight. At this sudden and unex-
pected check upon his march, Soliman calculated what the great
city of Vienna might cost him, especially as now the emperor had
come to its aid; and perceiving, in addition, that the German princes,
whom he thought to find in a state of dissension, had now become
reunited, he resolved at once to sound a retreat. Thus the whole
of Europe, to their great surprise, found the great Soliman quickly
abandon an expedition which it had cost him three years to prepare.

The emperor was now enabled to turn his attention to other
affairs, and proceeded, first of all, to Italy for the purpose of ar-
ranging with the pope upon the subject of the convocation of the
grand council. But he found that the pope was by no means in
earnest about the matter, neither was it, at this time, at all desired
by the papal court; and Charles accordingly departed for Spain
without doing any thing.

During the absence of the emperor in Spain, and whilst Ferdi-
nand was engaged in employing all his means to establish his domi-
nion in Hungary, the doctrine of the reformers spread more and
more in Germany, and party spirit daily increased. The Protestants
went so far, in the year 1534, as to declare to the imperial chamber
that they would no longer obey its decrees; because, contrary to
the conditions of the treaty of Nuremberg, it pronounced judgment
against them in cases which referred to the restitution of confis-
cated church property; and which proceeding rendered completely
invalid, the laws for the perpetual peace of the country as esta-
blished by the Emperor Maximilian. Another subject of dispute
was the territory of Wurtemberg. We have already had occasion
to refer to the circumstance of Ulric, Duke of Wurtemberg,
having, 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 Reutlingen. 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 for ever a
portion of the Austrian possessions ; but the deposed duke who
now wandering through the empire a fugitive, seeking to enlist
friends in his cause, found at length a protector in his relation Phili
Landgrave of Hesse. Ulric had already adopted the Luth
faith, and Philip now formed the determination to re-establish 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 Wurtemberg, defeated the Austrian governor of the

HIS DUCHY RECONQUERED—THE ANABAPTISTS, 391

country at Lauffen, in 1534, and restored the re-conquered duchy to
Ulric. It was expected that this bold act would have produced a
sanguinary war ; but this time the storm passed over. Charles and
Ferdinand were both too much occupied elsewhere, and perhaps they
may have felt it ungenerous and unworthy to augment their already
extensive power by the addition of a foreign country; whilst, on the
contrary, the other members of the Schmalkaldian league, who had
taken no share in this act of the landgrave, 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 Bo-
hemia, by which Duke Ulric received back his land as an arriere fief
of Austria; the religious peace as signed at Nuremberg was con-
firmed, and Ferdinand was formally acknowledged King of Home
loy the Elector of Saxony and all his family. And in order to main-
tain at least the imperial sovereignty, it was decided that the land-
grave and Duke Ulric should ask pardon of the emperor personally,
and of the King of Rome 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 Minister, in 1534
and 1535. The principles 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 Harlem, 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 ecclesi-
astic, 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 magistrates, 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 orna-
ments, pictures, and images, and all the books they contained,, except
the Bible, were publicly burnt. Everywhere, as in all such scenes of
fanaticism, the most licentious acts were committed, and passions, the
most violent and brutal, raged throughout the city. Under the sanc-
tion of their creed of Christian liberty, each man was authorised to take
to himself several wives, and their chief, John of Leyden, set the ex
ample 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 king 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 doc-

392 THEIR REVOLT AND DEFEAT— CHARLES V. IN AFRICA.

trine to the whole world, and to bring the inhabitants thereof to ac-
knowledge the newly appointed king. These agents, however, wher-
ever they arrived, were immediately seized as rebels and executed.

The Bishop of Miinster, supported by the Landgrave 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 day 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 market-place, because she gave vent to the ex-
pression, that she could not possibly believe that God had condemned
such a mass of people to die of hunger, whilst the king himself was
living in abundance. At length, however, after a great number had
really perished through starvation, two citizens led the bishop's troops,
on the night of the 25th of June, 1535, into the city; and after a
sanguinary battle, John of Leyden, and his executioner, Knipper-
dolling, together with his chancellor, Krech ting, were made prisoners,
and having been publicly exhibited in several cities of Germany as a
spectacle, they were tortured with burning pincers and put to death
by piercing their hearts with a red hot dagger. Their bodies were
then placed in iron cages, and suspended from the steeple of the
church of St. Lambert, in the market-place of Miinster, and the form
of Catholic worship, and the authority of the bishop, were im-
mediately re-established in that city.

Meantime the emperor had proceeded upon an expedition the re-
sults of which crowned him with lasting honour and fame. A
pirate, Haradin Barbarossa, born of obscure parents in the island of
Lesbos, but one of the most daring and extraordinary men of his
day, had established himself on the north coast of Africa. To join
him in his depredations he had gained over a numerous body of
Moors, who, driven out of Spain by King Ferdinand the Catholic,
burned with the desire of revenging themselves upon the Christians,
and thus strengthened, this desperate pirate infested the Mediter-
ranean seas in every direction. His cruelty and audacity rendered
him the terror of all the inhabitants along the coasts ; whilst in the
African peninsula he held in his possession Algiers and Tunis, and
the Turkish sultan, Soliman, himself had confided to his charge the
whole of his fleet, in order to employ it against the Christians, of
whom already some thousands languished as captives in the hands of
the barbarians.

As protector of entire Christendom, Charles felt he could no longer
endure the existence of such outrage and cruelty, especially as the
fugitive and rightful King of Tunis, Hascen, had come to him for
protection. He embarked, therefore, with an army of thirty thou-

HIS TRIUMPH— FRANCIS I.— ITALY. 393

sand men, including eight thousand German troops, under the com-
mand 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 Tunis in the summer of 1535, and captured the citadel
of Goleta, which defended the port, on the first assault; all the am-
munition was seized, and more than two thousand Turks put to the
sword. The army of Haradin 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 pri-
sons of their suffering fellow-Christians; and Charles, to his inex-
pressible 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, Hascen, to his throne of Tunis; but, at the same time, prohi-
bited him from all capture or imprisonment of Christian slaves, and
as a pledge of his obedience, the emperor retained possession of the
citadel of Goleta. Haradin, after his defeat, had flown to Algiers,
whither Charles resolved to pursue him in the ensuing year.

A fresh war, however, with the King of France prevented him
from executing this intention. This prince, on the death of Francis
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 of 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
of Bourbon, he undertook another in 1536, and having advanced as
far as Marseilles he once more laid siege to that city. He however
found that it was much too strongly fortified to hold out any
chance of success, whilst the whole of the neighbouring country
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 ammu-
nition 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 ;

394 HOSTILITIES SUSPENDED— CHARLES V. IN FRANCE.

and although the imperial council considered it unsafe for the em-
peror to trust himself upon French ground, Charles, notwith-
standing 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
him ashore. Here a splendid dinner was prepared and served up,
which was followed by a grand fete, at which the royal personages
presided until midnight. On the following .morning the dauphin
himself attended upon the emperor and handed him the water and
towel for his toilet, and, indeed, both sides rivalled each other in
marks of mutual friendship and civility. And in 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 circum-
stance to the emperor himself, and proposed at the same time, in order
to reach the scene of contention in Flanders 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
proceeded on his journey through the kingdom he was everywhere
received with the greatest honours, and at every city or town he en-
tered the keys of each place were presented to him, whilst in Fon-
tainebleau, 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 entertained 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
Germanv, hoping that he would quickly re-appear in that country,
where his presence was become more necessary than ever, in 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. We shall relate in the succeeding chapter
how, on this occasion, and subsequently, for several years, he en-
deavoured by writings, religious discussions, and his own persuasive
eloquence, to reunite the contending parties; and how, 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. Here it only remains for us to throw a glance at the pi
gress made by the emperor in his foreign relations, until the period
when, at length, he found his entire thoughts and labours absorbed
in the interests of his Germanic empire.

Charles quitted the diet at Ratisbon, and proceeded to Italy,
whence he set out on his expedition to Algiers, as previously deter-

ALGIERS— DISASTROUS EXPEDITION— FRANCE. 395

mined upon. His enterprising mind, ever delighting in new and bril-
liant 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 accomplishment of which he now
felt himself especially called upon to effect, inasmuch as the auda-
cious 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 navigation of the Mediterranean had already become extremely
tempestuous, and the experienced admiral, Andreas Doria himself,
prognosticated a disastrous voyage. Charles, however, would not
consent to its being postponed, and they accordingly, set sail. The
fleet arrived on the 20th of October, 1541, before Algiers, and the
troops were forthwith landed. Towards the evening, however, be-
fore 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.

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 follow-
ing day and pressed hard upon the ranks of the jaded troops. In this
trying and dangerous moment, however, the Emperor Charles dis-
played 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 of
Metafuz, where the remnant of the dispersed fleet had assembled.
Without 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's absence in
order to renew hostilities. All his experiments of friendly under-
standing with Charles would not suffice to banish from his recollec-
tion the duchy of Milan; and now he thought the moment had
arrived when he must succeed in re-conquering it, and for this pur-
pose 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 superiority 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 were forced
to return home dispirited and disappointed.

In the following year, 1543, Charles set out for Italy, and thence,

396 THE DUKE OF CLEVES— FRANCE— PEACE OF CREPI.

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 encourage the doctrines of Luther,
was selected as the first to feel the imperial authority. The appear-
ance 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 every thing
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 reck-
less of all danger, when making an assault on a fortified town, usually
fixed their daggers or lances in 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 in-
troduced should be immediately abolished, and the original regula-
tions 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 Spires, 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 Germans, the result of the good
understanding which the emperor had established at this last diet
between himself and the Protestant princes, and more especially
the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave Philip. The first place
he took was Saint Dizier, whence he marched direct for Paris, and
having taken possession of Epernay and Chateau-Thierry, he was
within a march of only two days from the capital, whence the inha-
bitants, 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

RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS IN GERMANY, 1534—1546. 397

grew more and more complicate, and, on tlie24th of September, 1544,
the peace of Crepi 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 pos-
session of France, and Milan^was retained by the emperor. Francis,
however, pledged himself this time to support the emperor not only
in checking the Turks, but in restoring the unity of faith.

CHAPTER XIX.

State of Religious Affairs in Germany, from 1534 to 1546— Vain Attempts at Recon-
ciliation— Rapid Propagation of the New Doctrine — Henry, Duke of Brunswick —
Death of Martin Luther, 1546 — Charles V. and the Pope— Their Alliance— Pre-
parations for War— The League of Schmalkald — The Elector of Saxony and the
Landgrave of Hesse — Their Characters contrasted — Maurice, Duke of Saxony —
His extraordinary Genius — His Adherence to the Emperor— The Pope's Bull—
The Holy War— The Schmalkaldian Army, 1546— 1547— General Schartlin—
Division among the Protestant Leaders — Inglorious Eesults — The Imperial Camp
besieged— Charles Triumphant— Duke Maurice and the Elector of Saxony —
Treachery of Duke Maurice — The Emperor in Upper Germany — Conquers the
Imperial Free Cities — Saxony — The Battle of Miihlberg — The Saxons defeated —
The Elector taken Prisoner — Deposed and condemned to Death — The Game of
Chess — The Elector's Firmness and Resignation — His Life spared — Duke Maurice
made Elector of Saxony — Wittenberg— Charles V. and Philip of Hesse — The
Landgrave's Submission and Humiliation — Detained a Prisoner, and his Lands
seized by the Emperor— The Elector Maurice — His Mortification and Projects
against the Emperor — The Spanish Troops in Germany — Their Insolence, and
Oppression.

IN Saxony, the Elector, John the Steadfast, since the year 1532,
had been succeeded by his son, John Frederick, a prince of just and
honourable principles, but of a reserved mind, and in this respect
quite the opposite of the bold and active Landgrave Philip of Hesse,
who continued to march at the head of the Protestant princes as one
of the most energetic and effective among them. Not only this con-
trast of character presented in the two leaders, but other causes had
operated to produce a division amongst the body of Protestants them-
selves. Already, in the tenth year of the Reformation, a dispute
had arisen amongst them with respect to the doctrine of the com-
munion, in which at first Luther stepped forward to resist Carlstadt,
and afterwards extended his opposition to the reformer of Switzer-
land, Ulric Zwingli, with whom he had a religious conference at
Marburg, in 1529, but which led to no satisfactory result. They
parted, it is true, with an improved opinion of each other's merit,
and Luther himself was in hopes that the violence of spirit, which
had hitherto breathed throughout their controversial writings, would
now become softened down; but the primary subject of division still
retained its influence, and presented an obstacle even to the external
union of the parties in a common alliance ; so that in fact it might

393 TEE NEW DOCTRINE— -RAPID PROPAGATION.

have led to the total destruction of the new church if the Catholics
had availed themselves of the existing schism between them.

But amongst the latter, likewise, dissension prevailed to such an
extent that, as we have already seen, the Dukes of Bavaria had even
joined the Schmalkaldian league. And, subsequently, when these
princes separated from it, and the new church was thus threatened
with greater danger, the strict Lutheran party, by the advice of their
chief himself, became reconciled, for a time, with the Swiss, by a
concordate of Wittenberg, and the towns of Switzerland, as well as
several others of Upper Germany, joined the league. This was one
of the most important events towards the development of the
evangelical church.

The propagation of the new doctrine increased rapidly from day
to day. Several bishops even, including those of Liibeck, Camin,
and Schwerin, embraced the new form of worship, and the venerable
Hermann, Elector of Cologne, of whom we shall speak more in d(
tail as we proceed, made serious preparations to follow their example.

One of the most important changes, however, took place at tl
time in the Saxon territories. The moiety of these provinces,
gether with the cities of Dresden and Leipsic, belonged to Duke
George (by-named "the bearded"), who was a zealous adherent and
defender of the old church, and who employed every means in his
power to prevent the introduction of the new doctrine into his es-
tates. His two sons, however, died before him, and his brother,
Henry of Altenburg (father of Maurice, the subsequent duke an<
elector), his immediate inheritor, was, on the other hand, devot
with his whole soul to the doctrines of Luther. When, therefoi
his brother George died, in April, 1539, the first act of Henry's gc
vernment was to introduce the Reformation everywhere throughout
his land. The majority of his subjects submitted willingly ; the
university of Leipsic itself, after a slight opposition, became com-
pletely changed, and the most zealous of the Catholic theologian prc
lessors, having been removed and discharged from their offices, wei
replaced by the partisans of the new doctrine.

A similar change took place in Brandenburg nearly about th<
same time. Prince Joachim I., a zealous Catholic, having died ir
1534, was succeeded by his son Joachim II., who had been edu-
cated by his mother, a princess of Denmark, in the principles
Luther. Encouraged by the example set by the Bishop of Bran-
denburg, Mathias Jagow, this prince subscribed to the Augsburg
confession and introduced into his country a church service whic1
retained some portion of the old form of worship, but in the chi(
points was strictly conformable with the principles of the reformc
church.

The superiority which the new doctrine was now gaining in tl
north of Germany, induced the venerable Cardinal Albert, Arch-
bishop of Mentz, a prince of the house of Brandenburg, to abstain from
making further opposition to its progress in his two bishoprics of Mag-

VAIN ATTEMPTS AT RECONCILIATION. 399

deburg and Halberstadt, and withdrawing to Mentz, he granted per-
mission to the states and cities of those provinces, in return for the
payment of a considerable sum of money, to establish their new
doctrine and build churches as they might deem best and most
advantageous.

After this, the more evil the state of things became, the more
strenuous were both the emperor and his brother Ferdinand in
their endeavours to reunite both parties, and for this object they
established from time to time successive religious conferences : at
Hagenau, in 1540; at Worms, in 1541, where Melanchthon and Eck
stood opposed to each other; and in the same year likewise at
Ratisbon, at which the emperor himself presided and took an active
part therein. All, however, was in 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 dis-
tractions of that period, it was impossible to obtain for the subject
that calm and profound investigation so necessary and so desirable.

These attempts at reconciliation producing little or no result, 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's expedition to Algiers; thus likewise at Spires, in 1542, by
the mediation of Ferdinand and the Elector of Brandenburg, in
order to collect together 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,
and of which we have already spoken. The personal relations be-
tween the emperor and the two Protestant leaders, John Frederick
of Saxony and Philip of Hesse, had never been upon a more fa-
vourable footing, so much so indeed, that the question of a mar-
riage between a son of the elector and a daughter of Ferdinand had
already formed a subject of discussion, whilst the landgrave received
from the emperor a promise that in the next campaign against the
Turks he should be appointed commander-in-chief in lieu of him-
self. 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 Brunswick, a zealous Catholic, and of impatient and
violent spirit, was at enmity with the Elector of Saxony and the
Landgrave of Hesse, more particularly on account of their religion ;
and each party attacked the other in fierce pamphlets abounding 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 Schmalkald, invoked the protection of the Protestant provinces
against their own duke, who oppressed them in every possible way,

400 DUKE HENRY OF BRUNSWICK— HIS DEFEAT.

and whom the emperor himself as well as King Ferdinand had re*
peatedly, although in vain, reproached for his unjust violence
against those towns. At length, in 1542, the league raised an
army, invaded the territory of the duke, conquered and drove him
from the country, and held possession thereof. The duke appealed
to the emperor for succour; he, however, only referred the matter
to the consideration of the next diet.

Accordingly at the diet of Worms, held in 1545, it was decided
that, until the affair was equitably adjusted, the emperor should hold
the estates of Brunswick under his own immediate dominion. This
arrangement, however, by no means accorded with the demands of
the impatient 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 hunt-
ing with a dead falcon." In his zeal he was misled into an act for
which he stood committed in the eyes of Francis I., King of France.
This monarch had confided to his charge a considerable sum of money,
for the purpose 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 Landgrave 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 in his camp of Calefeld, near
Nordheim, that he was forced to yield himself a prisoner, together
with his son. The landgrave 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 accord-
ing to their rank as princes.

Meantime the before-mentioned diet of Worms, although it ope-
rated once more towards the maintenance of religious peace, pre-
sented, 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 eccle-
siastical 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
Catholics 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 council of the church, was now inef-
fectually 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 Tyrol, which
Avas solemnly opened on the 13th of December of the same year.
The Protestants, however, refused to recognise its authority for de-

THE CATHOLIC PRINCES— COLOGNE. 401

ciding 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, ^resided 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 propo-
sition which might have produced advantageous results if every one
had been animated with good faith and influenced by pure prin-
ciples. He proposed, viz.: " to convoke a national or general coun-
cil of Germany, and to transmit to Trent the convention therein
concluded between all parties, as being the opinion of the entire
body of the German nation." The same idea had been vainly sug-
gested, even prior to this, by John Frederick of Saxony, who pro-
posed that the said council should meet in Augsburg. This expe-
dient, 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 benefi-
cial and have led to a conclusion of religious disputes.

The anxiety felt by the emperor and the Catholics, lest the Pro-
testants should acquire a superiority throughout the empire was not
without foundation. Three out of the four lay electorate princes in
the imperial council, had already adopted the new doctrine, (al-
though the Elector Palatine and the Elector of Brandenburg had not
as yet joined the league of Schmalkald), and now even one of the
three prelates, Hermann, the venerable Elector of Cologne, declared
himself more and more 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, how-
ever, 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 ac-
tive part in the dispute against the humanists — the professors and
restorers of the study of the ancient languages, and especially
against Reuchlin ; whilst it was one of the first to condemn the
dogmas of Luther.

In this increasing complication of affairs, where no longer the least
hope of conciliation remained, the emperor, more and more urged
to hostile measures by Rome and Spain, (the Duke of Alba having
now arrived in Germany from the latter country,) considered him-
self at length called upon — however much hitherto an inward

2 D

402 CHARLES V. AND THE POPE— THEIR ALLIANCE.

warning voice might have restrained him — to employ as a last re-
source, the force of arms, and thus promptly and definitively to
decide the question. His chancellor, Granvella, held, therefore,
secret council with the pope's legate, Cardinal Farnese, on the pos-
sibility of carrying on a war against the Protestants ; he gave him
to understand that the pope must necessarily join in active co-ope-
ration, as the emperor himself was exhausted, and the Catholic
princes without energy; and the cardinal in his joy to find the em-
peror now seriously determined to proceed to extremities, made the
most flattering promises. In order to be unoccupied with any
foreign enemy, Charles now concluded a truce with the sultan, and
with Francis I. he likewise made peace.

We are now arrived at a critical period of Charles's life. In
forming the resolution to accomplish with the sword that which he
had so long endeavoured to effect by peaceful means, he fell into
a great error ; falsely imagining that the mighty agitations of the
mind could be checked and held in chains by external power. From
that moment, on the contrary, he was himself vanquished by. that
very overwhelming epoch, the course of which until then he had
appeared to direct and hold in rein ; it was henceforward no longer
in his power to restrain its career. His genius, impaired with in-
creasing years, and over which about this time the Jesuits had gained
an influence not to be mistaken, became more and more clouded
and prejudiced against all that was new and vigorous in life, and
thus in his gloomy and morose spirit he thought he was able to cut
with the sharp edge of his sword the knot he found it so difficult to
loosen. This mistaken idea of the Emperor Charles at the closing
period of his reign resembles a tragedy, in which we find a noble
mind forced to bend and sink beneath the heavy burden to which
fate has subjected it. These latter years, it is true, may be included
amongst the most brilliant of his life, by their external successes pro-
duced so rapidly ; but it was precisely this good fortune which made
him lose sight of the exact point of moderation which, down to this
moment, he had so happily maintained, and whence he was soon
laid low by the iron hand of destiny, and all his plans, formed with
so much trouble and anxiety, completely annihilated. Nothing else
now remained for him, but to collect his reduced powers in order to
withdraw in time from the whirlpool before him, and whilst he threw
aside the shining brilliancy of earthly grandeur, to preserve at least
the independence of his spirit. And, assuredly, by this last resolu-
tion, of which subsequently we shall speak more fully, the Emperor
Charles secured to himself his dignity as a man whilst he conciliated
the voice of posterity.

Shortly previous to the commencement of the sanguinary war of
religion, Luther, the founder of the grand struggle breathed his last.
He had used all the weight of his power and influence in order to
dissuade his party from mixing external force with that which ought
only to have its seat within the calm profundity of the soul j and,

DEATH OF LUTHER, 1546— LEAGUE OF SCHMALKALD. 403

indeed, as long as he lived, this energetic reformer was the warm
advocate for the maintenance of peace. He repeatedly reminded
the princes, that his doctrine was foreign to their warlike weapons,
and he beheld with pain and distress, in the latter years of his life,
the growing temporal direction given to the holy cause, and the
increasing hostility of parties, whence he augured nothing good;
Providence, however, spared him from witnessing the final and dis-
astrous course of events. He had suffered from severe illness for
several years, and during a journey he had undertaken, in the year
1546, to Eisleben, in order to settle a dispute between the Earls of
Mansfeld, he was seized with a fresh stroke of illness, and died on
the 16th of February of that year, at the age of sixty-three, after
having repeated once more with his dying breath, that he had lived
and now died in the firm belief of Christ, the Saviour of the world.
His body was conveyed in solemn state to Wittenberg, where it was
placed in the vault of the royal chapel of the castle.

Whilst the diet of Ratisbon was still sitting, in 1546, where for
the last time the Protestants urged, viz: " A lasting peace and equal
rights for the evangelical and Catholic estates, together with an equit-
able council of the German nation," the emperor had already col-
lected an army, and concluded a treaty of alliance with the pope.
He determined, in combination with the Holy See, to adopt extreme
measures against Hermann, the Archbishop of Cologne, who was at
once formally deposed from his electorate. This and other acts
alarmed the confederates of Schmalkald; and they demanded from
the emperor the object of his military preparations. He replied
briefly: " That all those who submitted to his authority would find
him influenced by the same gracious, paternal, and good intentions
he had hitherto shown ; but on the other hand, all such as acted
in opposition to him must expect to be treated with the greatest se-
verity." And shortly after this, when the messenger returned from
Rome with the treaty signed by the pope, he issued his declaration
of the 26th of June, 1546: " That as hitherto all the diets had pro-
duced no effect, it was his desire that all should await with patience
the determination he might adopt upon the subject of religion,
whether for peace or war." This declaration showed evidently that
it was the emperor's intention to have recourse to war, and the
1 Schmalkaldian 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 any thing external beyond it,
.would not for a moment admit any political calculation to connect
iitself 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
Ithey both appeared to him unworthy to defend the doctrines he
held to be the most pure, and he even considered that he was bound

2 D2

404 THE ELECTOR OF SAXONY AND THE LANDGRAVE OF HESSE.

to refuse the co-operation of the Swiss, because they deviated from
him in their belief of 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 vene-
ration for the ancient, sacred name and person of the emperor.
And, indeed, had it not been for his able chancellor, Bruck, to whom
he confided every thing, and who, fortunately, knew better than him-
self how to bring into connection the maxims of state policy with
the strict principles 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 connexion with the imperial throne, he would
doubtless have occupied a distinguished position amongst the coun-
cillors 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 ; and 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 Ulric
of Wurtemberg, and at another against the Duke of Brunswick ; but i
whenever he urged the policy of undertaking more extensive ex-
peditions, 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 Schmalkaldian league ; but for this,
its power under good and wisely concerted direction, would have
been sufficiently effective 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 foreigners,
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 with-

MAURICE OF SAXONY— HIS EXTRAORDINARY CHARACTER. 405

out having recourse to the dishonest artifices of that policy which
honours truth in proportion only as it accords with its own interest.
But the league was unhappily devoid of unity of action and cordial
co-operation, as well as in fixity of purpose in the execution of its
plans. A considerable number of princes had refused to join its
ranks, and even opposed it by attaching themselves to the emperor's
party. Maurice, the young Duke of Saxony, although himself a
Protestant and cousin of the elector, as well as heir to the Landgrave
Philip, was in secret communication with the emperor; whilst the
Margrave of Brandenburg, John of Kiistrin, abandoned the league,
and Albert of Baireuth also openly entering the service of the em-
peror, acted with him in concert against it.

Maurice of Saxony was one of the most remarkable and distin-
guished men of his day. Young, bold, and active, he already pos-
sessed the keen glance and quick conception of the more experienced
warrior, and had at command that searching, comprehensive view of
j circumstances which enabled him to execute his purposes with
I characteristic promptitude. His whole appearance, likewise, dis-
l played the perfect man ; and his eye of fire and penetration, together
i with the entire expression of his noble, daring countenance, indicated
| his heroic character. The Emperor Charles himself, who always
ranked the Germans far behind his subjects of the southern climes,
and accordingly held but few of them in much respect, soon learnt
to know the young duke's character, and quickly penetrating into
all that was grand and noble in his nature, he singled him out at
(once as worthy of especial regard and esteem beyond all his other
courtiers.

Maurice, whose keen glance penetrated far more deeply into future
(events than that of his cousin the elector, discovered very soon that
the latter could not possibly maintain the contest against the superior
(address and tact of the emperor, and he accordingly formed at once
the resolution of making himself the chief of the house of Saxony.
(In doing this, he may, perhaps, have justified himself by the plea,
jthat there was no other means of saving it; still his justice and truth
(were put thereby severely to the test. He would not join the league
|of Schmalkald because he wished to attach himself to the emperor
land preserve his alliance until, by the attainment of his object, he
should be at liberty to act with independence.

On the formation of the league he gave his advice against it, and
when invited to join it, he refused and declared that he would only
take up arms in defence of his own lands. He was, however, already,
at the moment he made this declaration, in secret understanding
ivvith the emperor; but to what extent and how closely he was allied,
ind under what stipulations, has not been clearly shown: unfor-
tunately, however, there is every probability to suppose that the re-
ward held out to him was the prospect of receiving the electorate.
[Such being the case, what an inward struggle must it have cost him,
ind how painfully must it have agitated his whole soul, when the

406 THE POPE'S BULL— THE HOLY WAR.

unsuspecting elector, just before he set out on his expedition against
the emperor, confided into his hands the whole of his lands, in order
to protect and watch over them as his substitute during his absence,
to be faithfully restored to him on his return ! Nevertheless, no ex-
ternal sign betrayed this inward contention, and wisdom triumphed
over truth; and in order not to betray himself, he accepted the pro-
tectorate of the electoral territories.

The emperor exerted every effort in order that the approaching war
should not assume the character of a purely religious war. In a pro-
clamation to the principal Protestant cities, Strasburg, Nuremberg,
Augsburg, and Ulm, printed in Ratisbon, he assures them posi-
tively: " That the preparations for war made by his imperial majesty,
were by no means adopted for the purpose of oppressing either religion
or liberty, but solely in order to bring to submission a few obstinate
princes, who, under the cloak of religion, sought to seduce over to
their party other members of the holy empire, and who had lost all
sense of justice and order, as well as respect for the imperial dignity."

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 overthrow of the princes. They held
themselves, therefore, firmly attached to their league with the Pro-
testant states. An unexpected event which now took place ren-
dered 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 emperor's expedition as a holy undertaking for
the cause of religion: " The vineyard of the Lord," it says therein,
" shall now be purified, by fire and sword, of all the weeds which
have been sown by the heretics throughout the Germanic empire."
By the terms of the compact itself, the pope promised to assist the
emperor with twelve thousand Italian foot soldiers, and fifteen hun-
dred light cavalry troops, which he undertook to maintain at his
own cost for the space of six months. Besides this, he gave two
hundred thousand crowns towards the general outlay of the war,
and authorised the emperor to draw the moiety of the revenues from
the ecclesiastical possessions in Spain, and to dispose of Spanish
monastic property to the amount of five hundred thousand 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 holy father,
he would enter into no treaty with those of the new heresy, that
might be disadvantageous or injurious to the Romish church."

Thus this manifesto, contrary to the wish of Charles, gave a
religious character to the war, and such was the pope's desire. In

THE SCHMALKALDIAN ARMY— GENERAL SCHARTLIN. 407

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 his Spaniards and Italians,
must have been completely overcome. For the other German princes,
and even the Catholic princes, held themselves generally quiet ; dread-
ing lest, after overthrowing the Protestants, the emperor would
exercise sole dominion over the whole empire.

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 Schartlin, 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 manreuvred 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 ravia and
the storming of Rome under the Duke of Bourbon. He was now
soon joined by the corps of Ulric, Duke of Wurtemberg under the
command of the brave John of Heydeck. Schartlin speedily drew
I up his plan of the war, according to which he commenced ope-
rations by at once seeking to annihilate the emperor's forces at the
very onset of their formation; for Charles, who still remained sta-
tionary in Ratisbon, had as yet at the utmost only from eight to ten
thousand men, whilst he still awaited the troops collecting in Ger-
many and those that were marching to his aid from Italy and the
Netherlands.

Schartlin advanced against the town of Fuessen on the river
Lech, in Swabia, one of the principal military depots of the em-
peror; but the troops on his approach evacuated the place, and re-
tired 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 neu-
tral power. The house of Bavaria had threatened to join the em-
peror in case they did not leave his country unmolested ; at the
same time it may be observed, that if it was resolved to remain en-
tirely neutral, it ought assuredly 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 little pain
and mortification that Schartlin found himself thus suddenly
checked and forced to make a halt on the very banks of the river
Lech, without being 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 being his determination,
after having defeated the troops now before him, to have proceeded

408 DIVISION AMONG THE LEADERS — COUNTER ORDERS.

by forced marches on to Ratisbon itself. The army there collected
being but small, the emperor would have been forced to take to
flight, in which case he must have lost the whole of Upper Ger-
many. Referring to this subject Schartlin wrote: " That assuredly
Hanibal himself had not experienced greater regret and morti-
fication, when compelled to withdraw from Italy, than he had en-
dured when forced at that moment to retire from the Bavarian
territory."

The brave Schartlin now proceeded at once to carry into execu-
tion the plan he had formed immediately after the failure of his first
project, and 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 sol-
diers, under chiefs long distinguished for courage and experience,
being all united in one zealous, enthusiastic feeling against the Pro-
testants. Schartlin, by forced inarches, soon gained the passes and
made himself master of the important defile of Ehrenberg. Thence
he marched against Inspruck, and had he been allowed to proceed,
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
King Ferdinand, to whom it belonged, had not as yet declared war
against the Schmalkaldian league. Thus was evinced already, even
at the commencement of operations, all that doubt and fear amongst
the confederates whence might easy 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
himself of the advantages he already possessed, or might at any
future period gain.

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 as follows: " That they were not conscious of having com-
mitted any act of disobedience, for which they had been accused by
the emperor. If, however, 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 doc-
trine 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 disse-
minated throughout the world. This one sentence, if it was held to
be truly expressed, must have produced a startling change even in

INGLORIOUS RESULTS— THE IMPERIAL BAN. 409

the Roman Catholics themselves, have subdued all their zeal, and
rendered them less desirous to behold the emperor succeed in over-
coming his adversaries.

Charles, indeed, immediately afterwards, by committing a most
rash act, appeared to confirm the accusation thus made against
him; for when the 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 design to
" deprive him of his crown, his sceptre, and all authority, in order
to invest themselves therewith, and finally to subjugate every one to
their tyrannical power." He called them " rebels, perjurers, and
traitors," and absolved their subjects from all obligation of homage and
obedience to them." Thus severely did he express himself in reply
to their address, although quite in conformity with the excitement
and violence of that turbulent period. By this, his last act, how-
ever, the emperor violated the ancient rights of the empire, accord-
ing to which he was not empowered to declare the ban against any
state, without the council and judgment of the princes. No exact
estimate, 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 practi-
cable, and Charles accordingly was cautious in not attempting to do
that which he could not complete. He held the sway over so many
extensive states, and had opposed to him so many powerful adversa-
ries in Europe, that he felt it quite impossible to devote that con-
tinual and exclusive care to Germany, which a plan of absolute
sovereignty, to be carried out successfully, strictly demanded; whence
he wisely abstained from the attempt. Nevertheless, Charles gave
ample evidence of his character as a proud and mighty emperor, and
the ruler of half the world, by acting in particular circumstances,
when every thing 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 Schmalkal-
dian war in conscious superiority of mind and true heroic independ-
ence. Although having 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 Germany 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

410 THE IMPERIAL CAMP— RETREAT OF THE ALLIES.

that lie 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. Schartlin with the municipal
troops had now joined the army of the two disunited princes. The
citizen -general now advised that they should march with their com-
bined 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 con-
trary, 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 auxiliary 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 wait 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, con-
ducted with prompt and energetic effect, would have produced for
the allies an easy, but complete and glorious victory. For the em-
peror was far inferior in force, and his camp was as yet only de-
fended by a simple trench. The idea of such an assault was not un-
thought of by the allies ; according to some accounts the Landgrave
Philip, according to others General Schartlin, had suggested it at
the very moment when the fire from his twelve heavy cannons was
dealing destruction amongst the emperor's Spanish arquebusiers,
and sent them back flying into the camp. But again this time irre-
solution and disunion among the leaders rendered futile the decision
which ought to have been put into force immediately. The em-
peror, who with the greatest sang froid encouraged his troops, and
himself defied all danger, now gained time to complete the forti-
fications of his camp, and was soon enabled to witness in perfect
security how vain were the efforts of the enemy to point their can-
non with any effect against him. From this moment Schartlin, as
he himself relates, placed no longer faith in this war, " for he saw
no serious efforts made to render it an honourable and legitimate
war."

The princes continued during five entire days to cannonade the
imperial camp, without producing any desired result; and when
they heard that Count Buren, with his auxiliary troops from the
Netherlands had already crossed the Rhine, they raised the siege.

THE IMPERIAL FREE CITIES—SAXONY. 411

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 any thing, and mounting his horse he rode out of his camp
escorted by the Duke of Alba 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 Augsburg, the citizens
summoned their general, Schartlin, to their aid and protection. 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 dis-
ease 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 Swa-
bian 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 any thing. 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 triumphantly, the emperor commanded the docu-
ment to be read before the whole army drawn up in order of battle,
and in full of all reply, he briefly announced to the princes, through
the Margrave of Brandenburg: "That his majesty knew of no
other way by which peace was to be restored, except by the submis-
sion of the electors themselves, and their adherents to the imperial au-
thority, together with their entire army, their lands, and subjects."

Upon receiving this reply, the allied princes broke up and sepa-
rated 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 Ferdinand, as King of
Bohemia, to execute, in conjunction with Duke Maurice, the sen-
tence of the ban adjudged against the elector; and such was the

412 DUKE MAURICE, ELECTOR— THE CITIES SURRENDER.

position of affairs, that it appeared, if Maurice did not himself take
immediate possession of the electorate, it would most probably be
lost for ever. Such at least was the representation made by Maurice
when he summoned together the states of the country, in order to ob-
tain their sanction for such proceeding ; for without that he could not
have commenced upon such an important undertaking. He em-
ployed all his powers of speech and argument, in order to give his
conduct and wishes the semblance of right and justice. The sudden
arrival, however, of Ferdinand, with his Hungarian light cavalry,
which he had brought with him from Bohemia, produced the de-
cided effect ; their savage 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, returned to Saxony,
full of sadness and dejection. He soon succeeded, however, in re-
conquering his lands, and in seizing a portion of the duke's territory,
after he had overthrown and taken prisoner in Rochlitz, Albert,
Margrave of Brandenburg, who had been sent to the aid of his
friend, Duke Maurice, by the emperor. Maurice was likewise left
without any assistance from Bohemia, as the estates of that country
refused to tight against their co-religionists in Saxony, referring, at
the same time, to a treaty of inheritance which existed between the
crown of Bohemia and the electoral house of Saxony ; whilst Ferdi-
nand 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 together a con-
siderable army, in order, as they pretended, to protect the Bohemian
territory against the attack of the unchristian Spanish and Italian
forces. Whence it resulted that Maurice, of his own land, only re-
tained possession of the towns of Dresden, Pirna, Zwickau, and
Leipsic, and he was reduced to place all his hopes in the Emperor
Charles.

Meantime Charles was occupied in bringing to subjection the
Protestant cities in the south of Germany. This, however, was
deemed no easy undertaking, these places being exceedingly strong,
and might have resisted 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 campaign.
It seemed, however, as if both courage and resolution had suddenly
deserted them altogether; for wherever the emperor presented him-
self the cities submitted to him at once without offering any resist-
ance. Bopfingen, Nordlingen, Dunkclsbiihl, and Rothenburg,

AUGSBURG— SCHARTLIN—ULRIC OF WURTEMBERG. 413

threw open their gates without its being necessary for him to un-
sheath 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
allies,) and paid over to him as a fine 100,000 florins. 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 almost in-
vulnerable, mounted with two hundred pieces of artillery, and pro-
vided with a strong garrison, and a warlike population; if, there-
fore, 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 mu-
nicipality 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 con-
ditions exacted, viz.: that the city should pay a sum of 150,000
gold florins; that it should receive a Spanish garrison and banish its
brave commandant Schartlin. The latter employed every effort to
prevail 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 dis-
charge him. They, however, only replied, by begging him with
tears in their eyes, for God's sake 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 pos-
session. The cities, indeed, had reason to congratulate themselves
upon having the permission granted them to retain the same privi-
leges in respect to religion as were enjoyed by Duke Maurice and
the house of Brandenburg; although this arrangement did not cer-
tainly accord with the promise made to the pope.

Besides the cities, two princes in Upper Germany had taken an
active part in the war : Ulric, Duke of Wurtemberg, and Frederick,
Elector of the Palatinate. The latter was not a member of the Schmal-
kaldian league, and had only, in accordance with an hereditary treaty
between him and Duke Ulric, furnished the latter with a subsi-
diary force of three hundred cavalry and six hundred foot soldiers;
added to this, he had been a juvenile companion and playmate of
the emperor when together in Brussels as boys, whence he easily
obtained a pardon. The Duke of Wurtemberg, however, was
obliged, together with his council, to beg for pardon on their knees,
as 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 Schmalkaldian league in Upper Germany was speedily
destroyed, and the emperor resolved at once not to allow his army

414 CHARLES V. IN SAXONY— MEISSEN— ELECTOR PURSUED.

any repose, but to bring matters in the north of Germany to an
equally prompt and decisive termination. He himself stood, indeed,
much in need of rest; his hair during this war had become quite
gray, his limbs were completely lamed from gout, whilst his coun-
tenance was so deathly pale, and his voice so weak and tremulous,
that he could hardly be recognised or understood. His spirit, how-
ever, still reigned with all its original power within that infirm
body; and he was now urged on by necessity to obtain his object,
inasmuch as he was anxiously expected at Eger by King Ferdi-
nand and Duke Maurice, who there tarried like two fugitives driven
from their possessions until he came. He joined them at length,
011 the 15th of April, and they celebrated together the Easter fes-
tival; 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 .time, believe it possible that
Charles was marching against him ; but now, when to his no little
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 most important that an
immediate attack should take place, by which 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 Muhlberg, whilst the emperor, very late at night,
once more lode 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 Alba, 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 hundred crowns, made
him by Duke Maurice, with the promise of two other horses to re-

Elace those taken from him, determined him to serve the enemies of
is 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

BATTLE OF MUHLBERG— THE SAXONS DEFEATED. 415

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 suc-
ceeded in repairing whilst the cavalry forded the river, each horse-
man 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 Alba, with the rest of the imperial
suite.

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 messenger 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 could not, 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 Witten-
berg, but he directed the cavalry to keep the enemy at bay by
skirmishing; the artillery having already been sent in advance to
Wittenberg. The imperialists, however, pursued the Saxons with
such speed that they overtook them on the plain of Lochau ; and al-
though his artillery and the greater portion of the infantry still re-
mained behind, the emperor, nevertheless, by the advice of the Duke
of Alba, gave orders for an immediate attack. The Spanish and
Neapolitan troopers clashed 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, hold-
ing in his right hand a lance, and wearing a helmet and cuirass
gorgeously decorated with gold, his eye beaming with warlike
ardour. The imperial cavalry, with their terrific shout of " His-
pania! Hispania!" broke now through the ranks of the Saxon in-
fantry, which were completely put to rout. All now took to flight;
everywhere was confusion and terror. As they flew across the
plain, the fugitives were overtaken and struck down by their pur-
suers, covering with their bodies the whole line of road from Koss-
dorf 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 just coming up 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 in-

416 THE ELECTOR TAKEN PRISONER— WITTENBERG.

fantry?" and he remained on the field of battle. In the heat of
action he had quitted his carriage and mounted a powerful fresian
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 an Hungarian trooper. The blood
streamed all over his face, but even in this sad condition the un-
daunted warrior would not yield, until a Saxon knight in the suite
of Duke Maurice, Thilo of Trodt, penetrated through the Hun-
garians 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 Alba, 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 com-
passion and sympathy of all around; his wounded face still stream-
ing with blood, and his cuirass likewise being covered with spots of
gore. He was assisted to dismount by the Duke of Alba, and was
about to drop on his knee before the emperor, taking off the gaunt-
let 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 is long since you styled me thus !" The elector con-
tinued: " I am your imperial majesty's prisoner, and beg to receive
the treatment due to me as a prince." " You shall receive the re-
spect you merit," concluded the emperor. The elector was now
conducted to the camp by the Duke of Alba, together with Ernest,
Duke of Brunswick-Liineburg, who had also been taken prisoner.

Thus was that day brought to a successful close for the emperor,
on the subject of which, in the style of Caesar, he writes: " I ap-
peared, I fought, and God vanquished."

After a repose of two days, Charles marched on to Torgau, which
surrendered forthwith, and thence he proceeded to Wittenberg, the
capital of the country. The place was defended by a strong fort
and a good garrison, whilst the citizens themselves assisted with de-
termined courage and loyalty ; had they continued to make resist-
ance 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

ELECTOR CONDEMNED TO DEATH— LIFE SPARED. 417

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 unchang-
ing 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 defini-
tively 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 powers of eloquence with the emperor to
prevent, by some mediatory accommodation, the fulfilment of the
sentence. He succeeded at length in his object, but under condi-
tions 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 immediate charge of the Infant Don Philip.
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 condi-
tions it was proposed, that the elector should even promise in ad-
vance, to accept of every thing that might be decreed by the coun-
icil of Trent and the imperial power in religious matters — but to
that the resolute prince would by no means be brought to agree, and
•n this point he remained so firm and immoveable, that the emperor

2E

418 WITTENBERG — THE ELECTRESS — CHARLES'S MAGNANIMITY-

was obliged to yield ; lie struck out the passage with his own hand,
and the Spaniards themselves even acknowledged the firmness of the
elector to be both honourable and praiseworthy.

When it became known in Wittenberg, that its city was to be
delivered up to the emperor, although in religious worship it was
guaranteed the free exercise of the Augsburg confession, con-
siderable 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 gar-
rison. Accordingly on the 23d of May, 1547, the Saxon soldiers
marched out and the imperialists 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
Alba, where he was waited upon and treated with the greatest dis-
tinction and reverence by the Spaniards. The electress herself and
her children, dressed in complete mourning, were led before the em-
peror 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, grant-
ing 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 throughout 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 learnt, that
on his arrival the Lutheran form of divine service had been pro-
hibited 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 Ger-
many, 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 — it is said the Duke of Alba and the Bishop of Arras, the son

PHILIP OF HESSE — HIS SUBMISSION AND HUMILIATION. 419

of Granvella — advised him " to have the remains of the heretic re-
suscitated and publicly burnt;" but Charles replied: "Let him re-
pose 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 in-
dulgent towards the Wittenbergians : " 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 imperialists 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 ob-
stacle to the plans he had formed. From Wittenberg he marched
on to Halle, in order to attack the second leader of the Schmalkal-
dian league, the Landgrave of Hesse, and the latter having now no
longer any hope of deliverance but through the grace and pardon
of the now all-powerful emperor, employed every effort by means of
his son-in-law, Duke Maurice, and the Margrave 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 landgrave 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 imprison-
ment." Thus it is expressed in a copy, recently discovered, of the
transactions of that period. The mediators, however, either did not
well weigh the last sentence of the declaration, and imagined it was
meant to convey that the prince should suffer no imprisonment, or,
as they themselves admitted, some months afterwards, at the diet of
Augsburg: "In their verbal negotiations with his majesty's coun-
cillors too great confusion and misunderstanding existed through
ignorance or misconception of language;" enough, they pledged
their word of honour with the landgrave to give themselves up pri-
soners 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 conspicuous Henry, Duke of Brunswick,
lately the landgrave's prisoner, but whom he had been forced to re-
lease and who now triumphed in his late conqueror's humiliation.
With dejected and mortified mien the landgrave 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 re-

2 E2

420 DETAINED A PRISONER — UNJUST PROCEEDING.

lates, that in tlie excess of sliame 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 feel-
ing of shame by which he was so painfully tried. But this expression
did not escape the lynx-eyed monarch ; he held up his finger menac-
ingly, and said in his Netherland dialect — for he spoke the Ger-
man very badly — " Weil, ick soil di lachen lehren!" (Ay, ay,
I will teach you to laugh.) The imperial chancellor, Dr. Seld,
then read the emperor's reply: "That, although, the landgrave,
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 excommuni-
cation pronounced against him, and granted him the life he had by
his acts forfeited." After this document had been read, the land-
grave 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
Margrave of Brandenburg, in the quarters of the Duke of Alba;
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 landgrave's liberty; but Charles denied having pro-
mised him remission from all imprisonment — as the mediators had
falsely understood — 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 in-
tended to grant; or that in the ignorance of the chancellor Gran-
vella and his son of the German, and of the two electors of the
Spanish and French languages, an error may have arisen in the cor-
respondence.

Still it w*ould have been more noble and manly to have fulfilled
the engagement to which the two princes had pledged themselves
towards the landgrave. On the other hand, it was certainly very
important to the emperor that he should hold the leaders of the
Schmalkaldian alliance his prisoners until he had completed the
whole of his contemplated arrangements for the settlement of the
religious affairs of Germany ; for he still believed in the possibility
of effecting a reunion of parties, and these two imprisoned princes
were the most obstinate and violent opponents to such a measure.
But Charles did not consider that honesty and generosity became
much more the sovereign, and led more securely to the attainment

MAURICE'S MORTIFICATION— GENERAL DISCONTENT. 421

of the object in view than cold, calculating caution; and forgot that
when this is once established as a law, the ingenious and clever poli-
tician may, in the course of time, be overreached by one still more
cunning, and thus all his gains slip through his lingers. Duke
Maurice, who was now unable to fulfil his engagement, and appeared
in the character of a perjurer towards the landgrave, felt, no doubt,
from the moment that the emperor would not acknowledge the
pledge he had given to the landgrave in such good and confiding faith,
that he was himself released from all obligations of gratitude and
fidelity towards that monarch ; and thenceforth he considered that
in their relations together they must be governed alone by skilful
and sagacious policy, and in this respect, at least, the duke needed not
to yield in any thing to the emperor.

The deposed elector and the landgrave were therefore obliged to
follow as prisoners the court and camp of the emperor wherever he
proceeded. Besides this, all the Hessian castles and strongholds,
from Cassel to Ziegenhain, were razed, all the cannon and ammuni-
tion seized and taken away, and the states of that country forced to
pay a line of 150,000 florins. The Emperor Charles, in his treaties
with his adversaries, followed the principles of the Romans in the
time when they contemplated the conquest and sovereignty of the
whole world. For in the same way as they had then exacted from the
Carthaginians, and the Kings of Macedonia and Syria large sums of
money, together with the extradition of all their ships of war,
warlike machines, and elephants, so also now Charles disarmed and
rendered powerless his enemies, by forcing them to dismantle and raze
their fortifications, to surrender all their heavy artillery, which at
that period it was seldom possible to replace, and finally to pay him
heavy sums of money to enable him to undertake new enterprises.
In his treaties with the cities of Upper Germany, the Duke of Wur-
temberg, the Elector of Saxony, and the Landgrave of Hesse, he
gained more than five hundred pieces of cannon, which he caused to
be conveyed 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 haughty foreigners, animated as they
were by their religious hatred, were insupportable, whilst it was not
forgotten that the emperor, in the stipulations of his election, had
promised not to bring or introduce any foreign troops into the em-
pire.

422 COUNCIL OF TRENT — THE CARDINALS — BOLOGNA.

CHAPTER XX.

The Council of Trent— Rupture between the Emperor and the Pope — The Interim
or Temporary Code of Doctrines — Its Condemnation by both Parties — The Cap-
tive Elector of Saxony — Refuses to adhere to the Interim— His Declaration —
Shameful Treatment in consequence — The Elector Maurice — Magdeburg — Maurice
marches against that City — The Emperor and Maurice — Maurice deserts the Em-
peror, and with Albert of Brandenburg joins the Protestants — Their Declaration
against the Emperor — His Reply — Albert's Depredations — Maurice's Separation
from him — Charles V. at Inspruck — Pursued by Maurice — The Emperor a
Fugitive in the Mountains of the Tyrol — His desolate and forlorn Condition — His
return to Augsburg — Release of the Elector John Frederick — His welcome
Home — Jena— Treaty of Passau — Liberation of Philip of Hesse — Charles V. in
France — Metz — Unsuccessful Campaign — Albert of Brandenburg — Defeated at
Liineburg by Maurice — Death of Maurice and Albert — Religious Peace of Augs-
burg— Final Separation of the two Religious Parties — Abdication of Charles V. —
Retreat to a Hermit's Cell — Rehearsal of his Funeral Procession — His Death,
1558.

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 consisted altogether of Italians and Spaniards, they could
not possibly be regarded as the representatives 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 acknow-
ledge 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 examination and revision."

The papal party, on the other hand, would not consent to these
demands, although the princes of Germany, including even the
Catholics, urgently demanded that the states who had assisted at
the confession of Augsburg should be admitted to join the council.
Nay, the cardinals themselves, viewed the circumstance of its being
held at Trent with a very unfavourable eye, and they strenuously
endeavoured to have it transferred to the interior of Italy ; for they
were afraid that if the aged pope, Paul III., died during the period
of its being assembled, the council, supported by Charles, would
take upon itself the office of electing a new pope in opposition to
the rights enjoyed by the college of cardinals, and by which the
interests of that institution must be materially affected. At length,
a case of fever came fortunately to their aid and seconded their
wishes; and although it was feared that the disease would have
proved more generally fatal, still one only of the bishops became its
victim. This, however, was sufficient to produce the accomplish-
ment of their object, and on the 9th of March, 1547, the council

THE EMPEROR AND THE POPE — RUPTURE — THE INTERIM. 423

was removed from Trent to Bologna. The emperor, on hearing
it, was highly indignant, and flew into a most violent passion, whilst
the pope approved of the step taken by his legate ; whence the di-
vision already existing between him and the emperor, owing on the
one part to the former having withdrawn his troops from Germany
immediately after the expiration of the agreed term of six months'
service, and on the other to the latter 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 language: " It could not be expected that
the Protestants, who were willing to submit to the council, would
themselves repair to Bologna, or even pay 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 every one, 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 were the angry terms in which Charles, against 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 Ger-
man 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.

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 con-
ference, to which, on the side of the Catholics, two moderate men
were appointed : the Bishop of Naumburg, Julius Pflug, and the
Grand Vicar of Mentz, Michael Helding ; whilst the court chaplain of
the Elector of Brandenburg, John Agricola of Berlin, was selected
on the part of the Protestants. They applied themselves to the sub-
ject with great industry and zeal, and marked out a plan of re-
union 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 for his own party, the admis-
sion 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 sub-
ject. As to the rest, he recognised the authority of the pope, the
celebration of mass, and the Catholic church and its signs of faith
generally ; whence it was easy to foresee that great discontent and
opposition must arise. As, however, the Elector of Brandenburg, and
likewise the Elector Palatine, engaged both to sanction and adopt it,
Charles considered he should now be able 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 the work in

424 THE CAPTIVE ELECTOR REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT.

question which was entitled: " Declaration of his imperial and
royal majesty, which determines how religion shall be exercised and
maintained within the holy empire until the decision of the general
council shall be pronounced." After the reading, and a short dis-
cussion had taken place between a few individual members, but
which led to no result, the Elector of Mentz rose, 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
concluded 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 principle observed
throughout his entire reign; viz., to restore the importance and dig-
nity of the ancient empire, as had formerly been projected, and in
part effected by the great Charlemagne, the Othos, and other high-
minded emperors. His aim was to render the empire replete with
spiritual and temporal power. The emperor, according to Charles's
plan, was to be made in reality the chief authority of entire Christen-
dom ; with his temporal power he was to unite a material and effec-
tive influence over the church, and not only protect, as a machine
of the spiritual power, the order of the church, and assist in enforc-
ing duty to its commands, but he was to have an important share
and interest in its councils and resolutions. Like Charles the Great,
who presided at the synods of his bishops, and whose decrees
were sanctioned by his signature, so, likewise, it was the desire of
Charles V. to partake in the direction of the general council, or at
least maintain next the pope, and as the central point of the eccle-
siastical order of the Germanic empire, the dignity with which he
was invested.

The emperor was well aware that a most 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, Granvella, and
his son, the Bishop of Arras, together with the Vice-Chancellor
Selb, to submit to him the proposals to accept that code of doc-
trines, 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; viz., " That the educa-
tion 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 apos-

HIS DECLARATION — HIS BOOKS, WITH HIS BIBLE, SEIZED. 425

ties, 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 in many
articles upon which his immortal happiness depended, and sanction
with his lips what in his heart he held to be completely contrary to
the doctrines of the holy scripture; in doing this he should con-
sider he was shamelessly 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 of 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 immoveable; and as during the
discussion they were interrupted by a loud peal of thunder, the elec-
tor 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 inva-
luable treasures, he said, resignedly: " You may take the books;
but that which I have learnt from them you can never take or even
tear from my heart."

The sons, following the example of their father, refused to intro-
duce the " Interim" into their territory, and, in fact, the emperor
soon found himself deceived in his hopes of succeeding to bring 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; viz., in
Augsburg, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Ulm, Frankfort, and other
j 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 pretended that it should
be put into practice amongst them. The Catholic church would

426 THE INTERIM CONDEMNED— ELECTOR MAURICE.

have reaped the greatest advantage therefrom ; for if the emperor had
succeeded in his plan, the reunion of both would have been a ne-
cessary consequence. Thence their opposition can only be inter-
preted 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 continual complaints from Germany; his " Interim" was
only acknowledged outwardly 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 theologians,
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 com-
pleted what was called " the Leipsic Interim," and which, certainly,
deviated in many points from, but as a whole adhered to the Pro-
testant faith. It was introduced in several parts of the north of
Germany, although here and there with considerable alterations;
but, on the other hand, in many other parts of the country the
greatest stand was made against any change whatever. The cities
of Constance, Bremen, and Magdeburg especially, declared them-
selves most firmly opposed to it, and refused to submit to the im-
perial order; whereupon the emperor pronounced the ban of the
empire against them, and the two former places returned to their
obedience. But Magdeburg continued obstinate, 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
Elyricus, 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. How-
ever, 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 appear-
ance and manner of the prince could not possibly operate in his
favour among the Germans. His father, therefore, saw himself
obliged to send him back to Spain, whither Philip indeed was too
glad to return, for he was more attached to that country than any
other.

The emperor, at the conclusion of the diet, left Augsburg for
Inspruck, 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.

PLANS AGAINST, AND DESERTS THE EMPEROR. 427

Meantime the new Elector of Saxony nourished in his heart a
most bold and determined design against the emperor, the imme-
diate motives for which, however, we are not able to define, inas-
much 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 : firstly, the
severe and unjust confinement of his father-in-law, the Landgrave 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 arguments nor prayers resorted to by him had the least
effect upon the emperor ; and, secondly, the sad condition of the
Protestants in Germany. These latter felt more and more con-
vinced that the emperor only waited now for the resolutions 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 account of the " Interim," so likewise, as
soon as he had collected fresh troops, it might be expected that he
would 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 were 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 Schmalkald, and it was through him that John Frederick
of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse were now suffering impri-
sonment. 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. The moment had
now, indeed, arrived, when with one grand and mighty stroke he
might expunge all recollection of the past and regain the public
opinion. Maurice was not long in deciding the course he should
take, and he determined to put his plan into execution at once. He
availed himself of the opportunity presented in the expedition
against Magdeburg, to collect, without exciting suspicion, a nu-
merous body of troops, whilst at the same time, in accordance with
the object in view, the siege of the city itself was conducted as tar-
dily 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 lat-
ter— whilst, however, he took care not to discharge his troops on
this account. He secretly despatched his early friend and compa-
nion, Albert, Margrave of Brandenburg-Culmbach, to the court of
Henry II., Bang of France, the son of Francis I., in order to con-
clude an alliance with him, and he immediately engaged in his ser-
vice the leader of the Wurtemberg troops, John of Heydeck, who,
together with Schartlin, had been previously placed under the im-
perial ban. These proceedings, however, had not escaped observation,
and were communicated to the emperor ; but Charles remained deaf to

428 THE EMPEROR WARNED IN VAIN — MAURICE'S DECLARATION.

all tlie 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 Margrave Albert,
to act inimically towards him, but, on the contrary, had shown to
both great proofs of his favour and consideration, he could not be-
lieve 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 honour-
able line of conduct for which the German nation had ever distin-
guished 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 impossible
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 Fran-
conia, augmenting his forces with those of the Landgravite of Hesse
and the troops of the Margrave 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 com-
menced. They complained of the prolonged imprisonment of the
landgrave, 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 language and 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, " in-
troduced into the country foreign troops, who pillaged and ruined
the unfortunate inhabitants, whom they likewise abused and ill-
treated in 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 was not speedily and effectually checked, pos-
terity itself would have too great reason to abominate the negligence
and cowardice of the present generation, during which the liberty
of our fatherland — its greatest and most precious treasure — had been
allowed to fall a sacrifice."

Although in many of these reproaches there was much exaggera-
tion, still we find therein reflected, in the most striking and glaring
colours, the great and especial evil in Charles's character and to which
his unjust treatment of the Germans is to be undeniably traced.
This great error he evinced in the contempt he expressed for the na-

THE EMPEROR'S REPLY — MARGRAVE ALBERT. 429

tion, whilst on the other hand he showed the greatest preference
and favour towards his Spaniards and Netherlander, of whom the
former, more especially, by their proud and overbearing conduct,
together with the cruelty practised by their common soldiers, brought
down upon themselves the just indignation and hatred of the coun-
try. The love of the nation Charles never could possess, for he
himself cherished none towards the people; condescension was the
utmost his pride would allow him to vouchsafe to the Germans.
But this cold and formal display of affability is more insupportable
to a brave and loyal nation than even arrogance and tyranny ; whilst
the discontent and mortification expressed by the princes when they
saw that a haughty foreigner, like Granvella, was installed in his
office as chancellor, and had thus confided to his charge the entire
control of the government, were but too well founded. It was,
however, less the acts than the disposition of the emperor as evinced
against the Germans, which drew upon him this humiliating war with
Maurice. The Margrave Albert, in his declaration to the emperor,
introduces an accusation, the nature of which appears still more strik-
ing, but which had its origin in that very arrogance then so openly
and directly displayed by these foreigners towards the nation. Al-
bert, in his furious indignation against the historian of the Schmal-
kaldian war, Louis d'Avila, bestows upon him the epithets of " liar
and villain," inasmuch as in his work he speaks of the Germans
being a savage and unknown people, " devoid of all honourable,
manly, and noble virtue, and of whose descent and origin nothing
was known."

The emperor again, whose actions were better than as in these de-
clarations they were represented, in the feeling of his dignity made no
other reply than : " That the accusations of the two princes being so
childish, unconnected, and absurd, they only contained in them-
selves their own falsehood and want of foundation, whilst they laid
bare in ample evidence the mischievous character of those who had
invented them.1'

The enterprise of the two princes, however, very soon lost cha-
racter in public opinion through the conduct of the margrave him-
self, who, with his people, committed violence and devastation,
(equalled only by the most lawless band of freebooters and incen-
diarists, everywhere throughout the flat portions of the country.
Thence Maurice and the young Landgrave William of Hesse, both
of whom had nobler objects in view, were forced to separate from
him 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 Maurice. As, however, they led to no result, and
iMaurice easily perceived that the design of Charles was to gain

430 INSPRUCK — CHARLES'S FLIGHT — TYROL.

time, lie 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 an-
nouncement 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 Inspruck in time to have surprised the em-
peror there and taken him prisoner. Charles, however, was thus
enabled to escape on the previous night (of the 19th May), during a
most dreadful thunder-storm, and arrived in safety at Trent; he
himself was conveyed there upon a litter, being at the time
extremely ill, and his brother Ferdinand, 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 mountains —
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 Inspruck was evacuated, turned
back again, after he had distributed amongst his troops the imperial
booty collected, and marched on to Passau, whither an assembly of
the princes had been convoked.

Meantime it cannot be doubted but that these reverses of fortune,
which together with his bodily afflictions had humbled the proud
heart of Charles in these days of disgraceful flight, were sent by Pro-
vidence for his justification. It was, no doubt, during this trying
period that he formed the resolution of voluntarily laying down his
crown as soon as ever he had quelled this new war, and, renouncing
the world's pomp, to retire into solitude, and devote his remaining
days to the exclusive service of the eternal and immutable Creator.

He 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 beheld him, the former conqueror, sick and
helpless, traversing almost impassable mountains as a fugitive, and pur-
sued, too, by another Elector of Saxony, whom he in his days of pride
and glory had himself promoted and rendered powerful. What, how-
ever, afflicted the emperor more than any thing else, was to find him-
self deserted by all his states, — not even being aided by the Catholics
— whilst they all preferred submitting patiently to be plundered by the
Margrave Albert rather than uniting together for the succour and
protection of their emperor. Then it was that he but too truly felt the

AUGSBURG — THE ELECTOR RELEASED — PASSAU. 431

conviction at heart, that it is only in the love of his people that
a sovereign can hope to find a sure protection in the hour of
danger.

In Augsburg, the Elector John Frederick took leave of the em-
peror, who, in their parting scene, testified much respect and even
emotion towards the prince. The latter left Augsburg imme-
diately, and hastened to return to his own lands. As he proceeded
he was everywhere welcomed and received with sincere and hearty
respect and congratulation ; and when he approached Nuremberg he
was met on the road by a train of fifty deputies from the magis-
trates of that city on. horseback, and the whole populace greeted
him with shouts of joy, whilst at the same time many were affected
even to tears. ^When, at length, he arrived at his own town of
Coburg, his beloved wife Sibella — who had now thrown aside the
mourning robes she had worn during the entire five years — on
finding that the wish she had so often expressed had now become
fulfilled, viz., that before she died she might see her husband re-
leased from his captivity, was so overpowered that she fell into his
arms completely insensible. On his arrival at Jena, where his sons
had built a university in lieu of that taken from them at Witten-
berg, he was especially rejoiced in meeting and once more holding
communion with the learned professors and their students. His old and
faithful friend, Lucas Cranach, the painter, together with the eldest
of the princes sat in the same carriage with him: " Behold!'' ex-
claimed the delighted elector to his son ; " this is the true fraternal
study of the sciences;" and the entire body of professors having now
advanced to welcome him with an address of congratulation, the
gratified prince listened to it with uncovered head. Such was the
reception experienced, and such were the feelings produced on the
reappearance of this truly German prince among his subjects, by
whom he was regarded in the light of a, father. Charles V., how-
ever, was unfortunately never so received in Germany.

The emperor meantime left it to his brother Ferdinand to negotiate
with Maurice at Passau. He himself had a great objection to
the whole transaction, 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 Landgrave 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 Schmalkald 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

432 PHILIP OF HESSE RELEASED — DEATH OF MAURICE.

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 de-
stroyed 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 com-
manded it at the siege of Mentz. 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, however, 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 achieve-
ment 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 un-
interrupted enjoyment — the turbulent Margrave Albert of Bran-
denburg. 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 daring, and as at
length all the warnings given to him were of no avail, Duke Mau-
rice, to whom the peace of Germany had now become more and more
dear, united with Henry Duke of Brunswick, and both made a com-
bined attack upon the margrave, in 1553, on the plain of Luneburg,
near Silvershausen; he having by this time extended his depreda-
tions even to Lower Saxony. The battle was severe and bloody;
the margrave, however, was completely beaten ; but two sons of the
Duke of Brunswick, a prince of Luneburg, 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 re-
ceived the captured banners and papers of the margrave, 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

DEATH OF ALBERT— AUGSBURG— FERDINAND. 433

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 pro-
motion 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 pro-
ceedings, and conciliated the critical voice of public opinion. He
was succeeded in the electorate by his brother Augustus.

Albert, the restless margrave, in whom the turbulent spirit of the
times of the Faust-recht 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 ex-
tremity, 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 cam-
paign— or rather series of depredations. Happily, however, his death,
which occurred suddenly amidst his warlike preparations, prevented
him from committing further devastation. He was likewise a prince
of extraordinary powers, and resembled very much his ancestor
Albert, the Achilles of Germany; but the innate wildness of his
disposition and character generally, combined with the disordered
state of those times, which destroyed all principle, however firmly
based, had operated to give to his energies a direction fatally de-
structive.

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 its assembling with great zeal, 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 — and who could blame him — 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 dis-
couraged 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, Ba-
varia, Brandenburg, Wurtemberg, Eichstadt, Strasburg, Juliers,
Augsburg, and Weingarten, and they all worked with sincere and
laudable industry in the great cause. The Roman king aided them
i therein most strenuously; he removed every external difficulty pre-
senting itself in the progress of their task, and when ^he learnt,
I amongst other things, as is related by his chancellor, Zasius, " that
i several of the spiritual princes were engaged in fruitless disputes,
that they were occupied in strewing the path with every sort 'of
'disquisition and difficulty, adapted more to destroy altogether even

2F

434 RELIGIOUS PEACE, 1555 — MUTUAL CONCESSIONS.

to the foundation, the building they were engaged to re-con-
struct, whilst such proceedings must produce on the other side bitter
and inimical feelings," he despatched Zasius and his vice-chancellor
Jonas to them, and warned them in most grave and solemn terms,
to desist from such a line of conduct; and in thus acting he effected
his object.

And by proceeding in another circumstance, to act with equal
firmness towards the Protestants, he caused them likewise to yield to
his wishes. The point was one of great importance, inasmuch as they
demanded that the ecclesiastical body of Germany should be at
liberty to adopt the Augsburg confession, and retain at the same time
their offices and lands ; but the Catholic party rose in strong op-
position against it: " If this demand," they declared, " was conceded,
the whole of the ecclesiastical possessions in Germany would very
soon be transferred into the hands of the Protestants. Much rather,
on the contrary, ought the law to be thus : that as soon as a spiritual
prince, in his own person, passed over to the new doctrine, he should
be forthwith succeeded by a Catholic." Eventually the Protestants
were obliged to cede the point for the moment, but they held it in re-
serve, meantime, to be discussed on a future occasion : a subject of dis-
pute which became important under the title of the " Ecclesiastical
Reservation." Thus was concluded at length, on the 26th of Sep-
tember, 1555, at Augsburg, the religious peace which for a time put
an end to the long contest. Free exercise of religion was granted
legally to the Protestants throughout the whole of Germany, and they
retained possession of all the revenues hitherto received from the ec-
clesiastical institutions. Neither Protestants nor Catholics were al-
lowed to seek proselytes at the expense of either party, but every
person was permitted to freely follow his own faith. And whilst
every reigning prince was privileged to fix and establish the religion
of his dominions, he was not at liberty to force any of his subjects to
adhere to any one church beyond another; on the contrary, it was
left open to any one, who might desire to do so from religious mo-
tives, to remove from one territory into another. Hence, in this re-
spect, the progress of reform had not as yet attained that degree of
intolerance which allowed the subject professing a faith different to
the established creed of the country, equal rights with those enjoyed
by all the rest of his fellow-subjects. Another law, however, by
which the interests of the Protestants were beneficially promoted,
was that their co-religionists became now likewise members of the
imperial chamber of justice.

After the conclusion of this religious peace, the subject-matter of
the accusations brought by Prince Maurice against the emperor came
on for discussion in the college of the electoral princes; but to the
satisfaction of Charles, none of the other states of the empire would
join in the investigation, and consequently the whole question was
abandoned.

The division of the two religious parties in Germany was now

ABDICATION AND FAREWELL ADDRESS OF CHARLES V. 435

established for ever by this peace. Charles, who had devoted a
great portion of his existence and power towards their reunion, ex-
perienced little or no satisfaction when he contemplated the present
state of things — so different to the objects he had in view — and,
consequently, Germany had now become to him a country more and
more indifferent and estranged. Meantime, the war with France
proceeded at a very slow and unsatisfactory pace, and Charles was
forced to witness how increasingly that power interfered in the
affairs of Germany, whilst his genius saw beforehand the influence
that government — to him so hateful — would gain over Europe, when
once the power of the Spanish- Austrian house became divided, and
which even now, whilst united under his reign, had scarcely been
able to confine that ambitious nation within its boundaries. Hence
he already beheld all the grand plans created within his comprehen-
sive mind, either incompletely executed or altogether destroyed, and
accordingly, the greater his desire to bring them to bear, the greater
was the mortification he was forced to experience in the contempla-
tion of their failure, and more especially did he feel this in his pre-
sent afflicted state of body. On the other hand, the country towards
which he had ever turned his eye with pleasurable, genial feelings —
Spain — had now found in his son, Philip, a protector who possessed
the general confidence of the nation. Accordingly, every thing
now combined to strengthen the motives for the plan determined
upon by Charles, and which, in imitation of Diocletian, he had
some time had in contemplation, viz., to abdicate his throne, and
end his days in the retirement of a monastic life.

In the autumn of 1555, he summoned his son Philip, who had
shortly before married Mary, Queen of England, to Brussels, and
on the 25th of October of the same year, he solemnly transferred
into his hands the dominion of the Netherlands. This ceremony
took place in the same hall in which forty years before Charles had
been declared of age. Here, when all were assembled, the invalid
emperor, having with great difficulty risen from his seat, and sup-
porting himself upon the shoulders of Prince William of Orange,
addressed the princes and nobles in a speech so touching, that all
were deeply affected, some even to tears. He declared, "that since the
seventeenth year of his age, his whole thoughts had been occupied in
promoting the glory of his empire; that he had been always anxious
to be personally present in all his undertakings, that he might be an
eye-witness of their progress and results, for which reason his entire
reign had been almost one uninterrupted scene of pilgrimage and
travelling; that he had been nine times to Germany, six to Spain,
four to France, seven to Italy, ten to the Netherlands, twice to Eng-
land, twice to Africa, and, finally, that he had made eleven voyages
by sea. That now, however, his sinking body warned him to with-
draw from the tumult and vexation of temporal affairs, and to trans-
fer the burden of all these cares to younger shoulders. That if, 'dur-
ing his many long-tried efforts, he had neglected or imperfectly

2 F2

436 THE EMPEROR A HERMIT — FUNERAL REHEARSED.

settled any matters of importance, he earnestly besought the pardon
of those who might thereby have suffered ; and that, finally, he
himself should always remember his faithful Netherlander with
love and affection to the end of his life, and continue to pray to God
for their prosperity." — He then turned to his son Philip, who had
dropped upon his knees and kissed the emperor's hand, and exhorted
him in the most urgent and impressive manner to seek by every
effort in his power to render his reign one replete with glory; and
overcome with fatigue and emotion, he sunk down exhausted upon
his chair.

On the 15th of January, in the ensuing year, 1556, his abdication
of the crowns of Spain and Italy, in favour of his son Philip, took
place in Brussels with equal solemnity ; and in the following August,
that of the Germanic empire, in favour of his brother Ferdinand,
was effected by an embassy, at the head of which was Prince Wil-
liam of Orange. Ferdinand assumed the government from that
moment on his own authority, but was only formally acknowledged
by the body of electoral princes in the beginning of the year 1558,
at Frankfort, where he swore to the stipulated terms of his election,
and the imperial crown was solemnly placed on his head by the
arch-chancellor of the empire, the Elector Joachim of Brandenburg,
which, together with the sceptre, had been brought from Brussels at
Charles's desire, by the imperial deputation.

Charles embarked with his two sisters for Spain, on the 17th of
September, 1556, and he kept them with him until he reached
Valladolid ; there he parted from them, and now, left entirely alone,
he proceeded to a small building near the convent of St. Just, be-
longing to the order of St. Jerome, situated in the beautiful country
of Estremadura, and which he had caused to be built expressly for
himself. Here he now dwelt until his death, two years afterwards;
living quite alone, not even seeing his sisters. His hours were di-
vided between pious meditation and mechanical inventions, to which
latter occupation he was much attached ; he, however, still continued
in correspondence with his son, and interested himself in the affairs
of Spain. He, likewise, employed himself in his garden, which he
took great pleasure in cultivating. It is related of him that he once
made two watches, upon which he bestowed much ingenuity and
labour, and placing them together on the table, he endeavoured to
make them go exactly alike. Several times he thought he had suc-
ceeded in his object, but all in vain — the one went too fast, the
other too slow. At length, he exclaimed: " Behold, not even two
watches, the work of my own hands, can I bring to agree with each
other according to a law, and yet, fool that I was, I thought I should
be able to govern, like the works of a watch, so many nations, all
living under a different sky, in different climes, and speaking a dif-
ferent language !"

Finally, shortly before his death, in order to celebrate in the most
awe-striking manner the renouncement of life, and the mortification

DEATH OF CHARLES V., 1558 — FERDINAND I. 437

and corruption of all sense and feeling, lie caused a solemn rehearsal
to be made of his own funeral. Being placed in the coffin he had
already prepared, the monks of the neighbouring convent carried
him in solemn procession to the church, where they performed over
him the service of the dead. It was now that the mortal fever
which had been so long raging in his body broke out. Medicine it
was useless to offer him, his only desire being now to take the holy
sacrament, which he received from the hands of the Archbishop of
Toledo. Shortly afterwards he died, on the 21st of September,
1558, in the fifty-sixth year of his age.

In his youth, and before he was bowed down with illness, Charles
was of a noble, manly figure, full of majesty and dignity. He spoke
but little, and a laugh or smile was rarely seen upon his countenance,
which was extremely pale ; the colour of his hair was blond, and his
eyes blue ; and in his whole appearance there was a mixture of the
Flemish and Spanish character.

CHAPTER XXI.

Ferdinand I., 1556 — 1564 — His industrious Habits — Moderation and Tolerance —
The Calvin ists and Lutherans — Their Hostility towards each other — Ferdinand
and Protestantism — The Foundation of the Order of Jesuits by Ignatius Loyola,
1 540 — Its rapid and universal Dissemination — The Council of Trent — Ferdinand's
Ambassadors — Their Propositions refused — Their Letter to the Emperor — Death
of Ferdinand 1, 15 64 — Maximilian II., 1564 — 1576 — His Qualifications and good
Character — Bohemia — Poland — State of Tranquillity — William of Grumbach in
Franconia — His Revolt and Excommunication — Gotha — The young Prince of
Saxony — Joins Grumbach — His perpetual Captivity and Death in Styria — Grum-
bach's Execution — The mercenary Troops — Evils they produce— German Soldiers
in Foreign Service — Death of Maximilian II., 1576 — Rudolphus H., 1576 — 1612 —
His Indolence and Irresolution — Bad Councillors — Eeligious Excitement re-
newed— The Netherlands — The Duke of Alba — The Elector Gebhard of Cologne
and Agnes of Mansfeld, Canoness of Gerresheim — Gebhard excommunicated —
John Casimir the Count Palatine — Calvinism — Donauwerth — Austria — Ru-
dolphus against the Protestants — Deprives them of their Churches — Hungary —
Revolt of Stephen Botschkai — The Emperor an Astrologist and Alchymist —
Neglects his Government more and more — Tycho Brahe and Keppler — Rudolphus
resigns Hungary to his Brother Matthias — Bohemia — The Letter of Majesty —
The Palatinate — The Evangelical Union — Juliers — Henry IV. of France joins the
Union— The Catholic League— Prague — Revolt— The Emperor a Prisoner — His
Death, 1612.

FERDINAND, when he became sovereign, continued to exhibit
the same spirit of peace and justice he had shown during the reign
of Charles V. All his actions and his whole character expressed
a special goodness of heart, and the most kindly inclinations. Expe-
rience had rendered his mind more and more mature and settled,
whilst he never swerved from his word, and occupation and activity
were to him so necessary, that his vice-chancellor, Waldersdorf, says
of him: " His club might have been more easily wrested from the

438 HIS INDUSTRY— MODERATION AND TOLERANCE.

hands of Hercules, than affairs of business from the emperor." He
had read with great attention when a youth, the celebrated work
by Erasmus on the education of princes, and he knew almost by
heart the treatise of Cicero on our duties.

This excellent prince, who was a Catholic with his whole soul,
and in his last will addressed the most urgent exhortations to his soi
to be firm and constant to the ancient and true religion, as the
ancestors had been before them, including the Roman emperors and
kings, as likewise the glorious princes of Austria and Burgundy, to-
gether with the kings of Spain — whence they had drawn down upon
themselves the blessing of God — this prince, nevertheless, maintained
and cherished within his heart a firm and unchanged tolerance and ge-
nerosity towards those of a different opinion, which is innate in every
well-disposed mind. In his own hereditary lands the new doctrine
spread more and more, owing principally to the great want felt there
for educational institutions, which obliged all those who were desirous
of giving education to their children, more especially the nobility
and higher classes, to send them in foreign countries, and generally
in preference to the University of Wittenberg, which was distin-
guished above all the rest for its learning and science. Nevertheless,
it never for a moment entered the mind of the emperor that it was
necessary to prevent this from taking place; on the contrary, he
only sought the means to produce reconciliation and union, and foi
this purpose he was especially anxious to avail himself of the counc
of Trent.

Religious peace had, it is true, restored the tranquillity of the
empire externally; but internally, after such mighty storms, it coul
onty proceed with difficulty and by slow degrees. The two part
continued to watch each other with fear and doubt; and the me
absurd reports as to their hostile intentions were eagerly caught
and believed by either side. " If a prince happens to take into ]
service," says Zasius, the emperor's chancellor, " either a general
a cavalier, then distrust is immediately awakened ; and every rust" "
leaf gives rise to suspicion."

The division among the Protestant party added materially to
already existing in Germany. The Calvinists, who coming froi
Switzerland and France, became more and more distribul
throughout the empire, gained increasing numbers of adherents,
were objects of hatred to the Lutherans, whilst the latter w(
equally so to the former. Amongst the princes the elector-palatii
was the first to declare in their favour. The Lutherans, howevei
divided themselves into two parties, that of the moderate and that
the extreme party. The former followed the spirit and principles
Melanchthon, the latter held to the very letter the doctrine
Luther, for which they battled with fiery zeal, because they vene
rated that alone, and believed they possessed its whole nature
words and forms. All those who at this time raised their voices
loudly in the Protestant church, only gave another proof how

THE CALVINISTS AND LUTHERANS — JESUITS, 1540. 439

cult it is for the human mind to maintain itself within the strict
limits of moderation, and when it has exceeded them to resume its
former equanimity. Instead of entering upon those calm and
peaceful researches so desirable to enlighten the mind, or those
Christian discussions in which the first principle is to pay homage
to truth, they rendered Christianity the vehicle of the most furious
passion, and employed it as a vent of the severest language against
each other — produced often by the criticism of a sentence and even of
a word. The Emperor Ferdinand was but too correct, too well justified
when, in his will, to which we have already referred, he thus expressed
himself to his sons upon the subject of the numerous Protestants of
his time : " Whilst, instead of being of one mind amongst each other,
they are so disunited, so unenlightened in their opinions and feelings,
how can they be assured that what they put so much faith in is
good and just? It is not the many beliefs but only the one that can
hold good. As they themselves, therefore, do not deny that they
have among them so many different beliefs, the God of truth cannot
surely be with them."

It has often been matter of astonishment, that the Protestant doc-
trine did not spread with equal rapidity^ throughout the whole of
Germany, considering the favourable disposition evinced by the
people to receive it; but the enigma is in a great measure explained
by the speedy degeneration of Protestantism itself. How was it to
be expected that a doctrine which so soon dissolved into a frivolous,
spiritless dispute of words, and the converts to which overwhelmed
each other with maledictions, could possibly succeed in gaining the
hearts of the multitude? On the contrary, many parties were found
in various directions, who, having gone over to the cause, in the
course of a short time abandoned it, and returned to their ancient
faith.

Another great obstacle to the rapid progress of the stream was,
at this moment, presented in the institution of the order of Jesuits,
founded in 1540 by a Spaniard, Ignatius Loyola, a man glowing
with zeal, and of a very profound mind. This order, which was
established more properly with the object of supporting the pontifi-
cal chair, spread its principles more and more widely throughout
the whole of Europe. Its constitution was based upon the unity
and powerful co-operation of its members, and the most rigid obe-
dience was its law. The head of the order lived in Rome ; to him
were addressed, with the most minute detail, the reports made by the
directors or chief agents established in the provinces, and who again
had under their control many sub-agents: thus descending gra-
dually to the last member, whence the entire fraternity were governed
by one spirit. The superiors examined each member's qualifications
strictly, and during a sufficient length of time to enable them to
place him in the office considered by the order as the most calcu-
lated to promote its views. Thus was formed a finely woven
net, the meshes of which were laid with cunning and saga-

440 THEIR INFLUENCE ON AFFAIRS — COUNCIL OF TRENT.

city, and extended all over Europe. When, in 1540, Loyola re-
ceived the approbation of the pope, he had ten disciples; in 1608,
they numbered more than ten millions, and in 1700, they had aug-
mented to twenty millions. As the members of the order were
exempt from all ecclesiastical functions, and, indeed, even from
clerical duties altogether, they were enabled to devote their whole
time to science, and thus it resulted that they soon included in their
ranks a considerable number of excellent teachers and writers, dis-
tinguished preachers, enthusiastic missionaries, and professors of
every department of science. It was they who were enabled to enter
the lists against the Protestants, defending the Catholic system with
all their zeal, and rivalling them in powers of spiritual eloquence
from the pulpit. All their eiforts were directed against the new
doctrine ; they worked against it, whether in the character of con-
fessors and governors of princes, or teachers among the people ; and
the efficient management, produced by the cordial co-operation
so zealously exercised by the order, rendered their exertions success-
ful. This institution, indeed, promoted materially the development
of modern ages. It must not be forgotten that, in its day, this order
rendered essential service in the education of youth; and if the
civilisation of the Catholic world in subsequent times has become
far more perfect, and has ranked far above that existing at the end
of the middle ages, it is to be ascribed alone to the exertions of the
society or order of Jesuits. If, therefore, the operations of its mem-
bers had been less devoted to external matters; if they had been more
limited to the dominion of the mind; if the morality of the order
had been equally simple and sincere in proportion as its wisdom was
great and comprehensive; and if it had not attempted to grasp with
invisible hand at the direction and government of states, then the
entire world of Catholicism would have had just cause to bless
unanimously its memory. We shall have occasion more than once
in the course of our history to refer to the influential actors belong-
ing to this order, whose operations in important moments produced
great effect.

The Emperor Ferdinand already learnt to know their influence in the
most clear and decided manner at the Council of Trent, although to
his disadvantage. Matters did not proceed here as he wished. In
order to appease the minds of his subjects in his hereditary lands,
and in the hope, perhaps, of being able to avoid all division, he
caused his ambassadors at the council to argue with great zeal in
favour of certain propositions, whence he anticipated the most
happy results. These points embraced the service of the holy com-
munion under both forms and the marriage of priests, the sanction
of which depended, as he said, only upon the indulgence of the
church. The ambassadors, likewise, of France and Bavaria spoke on
the same side, and the latter especially, concluded their arguments
thus^" We can assure this assembly, with the most sincere and
conscientious feeling, that nothing could or would prove more ser-

THE EMPEROR'S AMBASSADORS— ILL SUCCESS. 441

viceable and beneficial at the present moment, towards reconciling
the minds of Christians with each other, terminating the disputes
of religion, preserving our own party in their faith, and restoring to
it those that may have deserted from it, than the accordance of these
legitimate and Christian demands of the emperor's ambassadors."
But an equitable and acute judgment upon the subject of our
affairs was not to be expected from an assembly composed for the
greater part of foreigners and men totally unconversant with that
which was peculiar to Germany, and what was best adapted for
it under those circumstances; this, indeed, is sufficiently confirmed
by the reports made to the emperor by his ambassadors, amongst
whom were four bishops: " We now behold quite clearly," they
write, " and the facts stare us in the face, although we can "scarcely
bring ourselves to acknowledge it without real pain and mortifica-
tion, that nothing can be effected here without having recourse to
intrigue. The Spaniards will not swerve an inch from the instruc-
tions of their king, whilst the Italians watch with eager eye the
slightest signification made by the pope and his cardinals. The
bishops from the other countries, wTho perchance are best aware of
the present state of things, comprise the minority, and consequently
can do nothing; because the majority of voices decide all things.
From Germany itself we have only had the Bishop of Louvaine,
who attends in the name of the Archbishop of Salzburg, and a few
days since he was joined by the grand vicar of Eichstadt. On the
other hand, the Italian archbishops and bishops continue to arrive
in troops, especially such as are highborn and wealthy. All, how-
ever, are dependent upon the nod of the pope's legate Simonetta ;
whilst it is generally known that a few good and pious bishops
who spoke warmly in favour of a reform in the church, have, in
consequence, been marked down in Rome on the condemned list.
If, therefore, no end be put to these secret machinations and hu-
man passions, truly we know not what good can be expected from
this quarter."

Such complaints were repeatedly made, and thence this last effort
made by the Emperor Ferdinand to restore the peace of Christen-
dom by a searching investigation of ecclesiastical affairs, made under
the sanction of the church, completely failed. The cause of this ill
success, however, was the same as that which had prevailed at Con-
stance, and which rendered all attempts of the same kind — suggested
by the German representatives with the most sincere and honest in-
tentions— perfectly useless. This evil consisted in the mixture of
foreigners presiding at these councils, whose knowledge of our na-
tion was little or nothing, but whose influence, from the commence-
ment of our history, in all external as well as internal affairs, always
deprived us of peace.

Meantime, however, the council of Trent, besides a great number
of dogmatical decisions, has pronounced some most excellent princi-
ples upon the morals of Christianity which operate even to this day

442 DEATH OF FERDINAND I.— MAXIMILIAN II.

as rules in the doctrine of the Catholic church. It is in this field of
the service of God that all parties are united ; it is the same for all,
and indicates equally to all the means by which they may show
themselves to be true Christians in mind, word, and deed.

The council closed its sitting on the 9th of December, 1563; and,
shortly afterwards, the Emperor Ferdinand died, on the 15th of
July, 1564, in the sixty-second year of his age. The convincing
testimony in his favour recorded in history is, that during the diffi-
cult period when hatred and violence so often decided opinions,
he, nevertheless, carried with him to his grave the glory of being
praised as an excellent monarch by all parties, Catholics as well as
Protestants.

Ferdinand had already proposed his eldest son, Maximilian, as
his successor, at the assembly of electoral princes in Frankfort, in
1560, and they had acknowledged him as such. The father recom-
mended his son in language worthy of record : " Endowed," he
says, "with considerable intellectual powers, great address, mild-
ness, and goodness of heart, he is likewise gifted with all the
other princely virtues and good morals; possessing a disposition
open to all that is truly just, good, and honourable, together
with a sincere love for the holy empire of the German nation,
the glory and prosperity of which it was his earnest desire to
promote. Finally, he was master of the six principal languages
usually spoken in Christendom, and was consequently enabled
to regulate in person all transactions with foreign powers." Ano-
ther honourable testimonial was rendered him by his Bohemian sub-
jects when they recommended him to the Poles as their king:
" Our Bohemia," they said, " is far better under his government
than if it were ruled even by a father born among us ; our rights, our
liberties, and our laws are protected by him ; he allows every thing
to take its course without making any change. And what we
justly regard as almost a work of miracle, is the generous impartiality
and tolerance he evinces towards all classes of believers by which he
leads them to reciprocal love and harmony.5' And let it be remem-
bered, that he exercised this spirit of peace in a period when the .
word tolerance was scarcely understood or perhaps known ; nay, he
publicly avowed the principle, " that God alone could hold domi-
nion over the conscience." Such was the glorious character of this
emperor, and it was by meritorious and praiseworthy conduct such
as this, after the example of his good father, that he happily suc-
ceeded in establishing generally, throughout Germany, that tranquil-
lity which, until that moment, it had never enjoyed since the reli-
gious divisions; a circumstance rendered still more striking, as it
was effected at a period when, in the cause of religion, violent and
sanguinary scenes were taking place in the Netherlands, and more
especially in France, where the most dreadful acts were committed,
and the universal massacre — on the eve of St. Bartholomew — of
the Protestants, excited a feeling of horror throughout Europe.

THE FAUST-RECHT — WILLIAM OF GRUMBACH. 443

The imperial chamber of justice, originally instituted for the pur-
pose of eradicating the system of the Faust-recht now succeeded
completely in gaining the upper hand, and abolishing for ever that
brutal law. We find that the last expiring effort made to exercise
its power was attempted about this time by a Franconian knight,
William of Grumbach, who, with the remains of the savage horde
formerly collected by Albert of Brandenburg, resumed operations in
Franconia and spread devastation in different parts of that country.
His attacks were more especially directed against the territory of
the Bishop of Wurzburg, and which prelate he actually shot in his
own city. The imperial chamber pronounced the ban of the em-
pire against the murderer, who took to flight and sought refuge in
Gotha at the hands of the son of the unfortunate Elector John Fre-
derick. He had succeeded, it appears, in filling that young and
weak-minded prince with hopes of being able to reconquer for him
the electorate of Saxony, and he was thus the means of leading the
young duke to experience a fate far more distressing than that un-
dergone by his father. The elector, Augustus, the brother of Mau-
rice, marched with his army to execute the imperial ban, laid siege
to Gotha during the entire winter, until both the duke and Grum-
bach were reduced to the necessity of surrendering themselves. The
young prince was conveyed a prisoner to Vienna, where, on his ar-
rival, a straw hat was placed on his head, and he was led through
the streets in an open cart as a show, amidst the mockery and deri-
sion of the populace. He was then taken to Styria, in Austria, where
he died after a close imprisonment of twenty-eight years; Grumbach,
however, was executed at once by being torn into quarters by four
horses, after having previously undergone the most dreadful torture.

In lieu, however, of the Faust-recht, which contributed so much
to degenerate the art of war under the feudal system, other evils,
caused by those who regarded war merely in the light of a lucrative
employment, now produced much calamity throughout the empire,
as if to make the people feel the injurious results of all military in-
stitutions in which every free man is not required to arm and fight
for his country. Those troops of mercenaries whose reckless ravages
commence the moment they have sold themselves to a particular
standard ; the numerous depots established for recruiting and muster-
ing the men ; the continual marching to and fro in all parts of the
land ; together with the billeting of the wild and uncouth men thus
suddenly collected together — all combined to create great discontent
and irritation. The same complaints were now made as in the time of
Maximilian I. In the representations made by Maximilian II. to the
diet, he says: " The present system pursued by our German soldiers —
in former times, distinguished beyond those of any other nation for
their discipline, loyalty, and devotion — renders them more fit to be
regarded in the character of barbarous savages ; so much so that in
the end their wanton and dissolute conduct will be carried on to such
an extent that no honest man will be able to remain in his dwelling,

444 DEATH OF MAXIMILIAN II. — RUDOLPHUS II.

nor will either house or farm be left longer in possession of their
owner."

These complaints were met by creating new and more stringent
laws for the discipline of the army; but the adoption of the most
essential means of reform, and which had been suggested by the em-
peror himself, viz., the prohibition against the enlistment of troops in
Germany by foreign princes, was not agreed to. The princes main-
tained: " That from time immemorial to serve for the honour and
distinction of accomplishing chivalrous feats at arms in the armies of
foreign princes, had ever continued to be regarded as an honourable
privilege of national liberty, so long as such practice caused no in-
jury to their native country ; and that if this custom was abolished,
the warlike spirit of the empire would be annihilated at once, and
in the moment of danger no warriors would be at hand to aid in the
general defence." In this language may be traced that of the time of
Tacitus, when the youth of Germany during the period of peace in
their own tribe, incited to deeds of valour, entered the ranks of such
other races as at that moment were engaged in war with each
other.

In 1575 the Emperor Maximilian succeeded in having his son
Rudolphus elected King of the Romans, and he died in the following
year in Ratisbon, on the same day and in the same hour that the
conclusion of the imperial diet was made public.

The long reign of his successor, Rudolphus II., whose government
accumulated over Germany fresh tempests and violent disorder,
serves as another melancholy proof, that in difficult times irresolution
and indolence may operate with greater evil than is produced even
by a disposition the most wicked. The Emperor Rudolphus can-
not certainly be reproached with the latter feeling, neither can he
be charged with ignorance or mental incapacity, but his mind was
much more occupied with other subjects than the duties he had to
fulfil as emperor, and consequently, almost every thing that occurred
took place without his knowledge, and often against his wish. He
was in fact in the hands, and entirely under the influence of bad
councillors.

The state of excitement on the subject of religion which had re-
cently become somewhat allayed, began now to resume its former
violence when the Catholic princes, by the advice of the Jesuits, com-
menced the task of reforming their own dominions by forcing their
Protestant subjects either to return to their ancient faith or quit the
country. According to the treaty of the Augsburg peace of re-
ligion, the other princes could not venture to reproach or condemn
them for this proceeding ; at the same time, however, the Protestants
perceived but too clearly that in so acting the Catholics had made a
violent attack upon their liberty of conscience, and had given a fresh
proof of their hostile intentions towards the Protestant party . France
and the Netherlands presented a melancholy instance of the result to
which these inimical acts must lead. The contest carried on by the

RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENT — COLOGNE. 445

latter country against Philip and the merciless Duke of Alba,* for
the sake of its religious liberty, produced not only the greatest ex-
citement throughout Germany, on the frontiers of which the most
dreadful scenes took place, but transferred by degrees the horrors of
war and rapine to the empire itself, whither the Spanish army, im-
pelled by disease and want, took refuge, and retreating from the
Netherlands, marched into the Westphalian territory, where it ex-
tended its devastation throughout the land.

In addition to this, serious events took place at this moment in
the German portion of the frontier countries. At Aix-la-Chapelle a
body of emigrants from the Netherlands with their Protestant minis-
ter, had augmented the number of their adherents to such an extent,
that, ennobled by their success, they considered themselves justified in
claiming the same rights as those enjoyed by the Catholics. They
chose from among their number two burgomasters, and when their
adversaries refused to acknowledge their authority, they flew to
arms, and making themselves masters of the arsenal they succeeded
in obtaining what they demanded by force. In the neighbouring
district of Cologne scenes of still greater revolt took place. The
Elector Gebhard was at this time enamoured with the beautiful
Agnes of Mansfeld, Canoness of Gerreshein, and in order to make her
his wife, he adopted the Protestant religion, a proceeding insisted
upon by the counts, her brothers. The chapter of the cathedral and
the corporation of Cologne, immediately appealed to Rome and the
emperor, and obtained from both the ban of excommunication against
the archbishop. As his successor, the chapter selected Prince Ernest
of Bavaria, who, by means of the Bavarian and Spanish troops, took
immediate possession of the land.

Gebhard took refuge at first in the Netherlands, and subsequently
he removed to Strasburg, where he became dean of the chapter, and
died in 1601. The Protestant princes quietly submitted to his
deposition and expulsion, although the acquisition of a new vote in
the electoral council would have been to them of the utmost con-
sequence. Possibly, they may have been induced to act this neutral
part from their respect for religious peace, a principle both ho-
nourable and noble; but the public voice reproached them with
having refused to assist Gebhard, because being themselves strict
Lutherans they disapproved of his adopting the Calvinistic doctrine,
which they hated almost as much as Catholicism itself. However
this may be, it is quite certain that only one prince — a Calvinist —
stepped forward to assist Gebhard : John Casimir, the count pala-
tine, who advanced with a few troops against Cologne, and blockaded

* The Duke of Alba boasted on his return to Spain, that he had put to death with
the sword more than eighteen thousand men in the Netherlands, and he vowed that
he would willingly, old as he was, sacrifice one of his own legs if the king — who was
not endowed with too much indulgence — would only show a greater desire for war
and its sanguinary accompaniments.

446 CASIMIR, COUNT PALATINE — CALVINISM.

that city for a short time, but the return of the Bavarians and the
want of money to pay the men very soon produced their dispersion.

This prince, John Casimir, was a zealous partisan of his church, and
would hear nothing of the Lutheran doctrine, refusing it admission
altogether into his territory ; whence no part of Germany suffered so
much from the melancholy effects of the hatred of the Protestant
parties as this palatinate. The Elector Frederick III. had, previous
to his decease, gone over to the Calvinists; and of his two sons, the
younger and before-mentioned palatine, John Casimir, adhered to
his father's principles, whilst the elder, Lewis the Elector, was so
devoted to the Augsburg confession, that he would not even allow
the Calvinistic chaplain of his late father to pronounce the funeral
oration over his remains. In accordance with this hostile feeling,
he deprived the Calvinists of all their churches, and sent all their
clergymen as well as teachers out of the country: their number
amounting to more than two hundred. At the premature death,
however, of Lewis, the guardianship of his son, Frederick IV., de-
volved upon John Casimir, whence every thing underwent an
entire change; the Lutherans in their turn were treated as his bro-
ther had treated the Calvinists, and young Frederick, then only
nine years old, was forthwith removed from all connexion with
Lutheranism, and strictly educated in the catechism of Calvin.
This was called Christian zeal of faith ! Through such zeal, how-
ever, the palatinate was forced to change its religion three times in
the course of sixty years. No wonder, therefore, if the old church felt
itself justified in proceeding as it did against the new one, since the
latter was so zealous against its own disciples. Subsequently, indeed,
this very dissension of Cologne produced a similar contest in Stras-
burg, whither Gebhard had withdrawn with three canons of his
chapter, Protestants like himself; and the town of Donauwerth,
which until then had remained a free imperial town, and had
adopted the reformed principles of faith, brought upon itself the
ban of the empire on account of its religious disputes, and, in 1607,
fell into the hands of the Duke of Bavaria, who executed the sen-
tence of excommunication pronounced against it.

But, during the reign of Rudolphus II., Austria itself was more
especially the scene of great agitation and discord. Maximilian II.
had granted to the Protestant states the free exercise of their reli-
gion, and had even allowed them to supply themselves with a form of
church service which was prepared for them by a theologian of Ros-
tock, David Chytraus ; as, however, the emperor wished at the same
time to exclude their style of worship from Vienna altogether, he fur-
nished them with various churches situated in the vicinity of that
city. Their number became very soon considerably augmented,
several of their teachers, particularly a certain Doctor Opicius, were,
very unjustifiably, most zealous in their endeavours to gain over to
their side all they could of such as were of an opposite or different

HUNGARY — INDOLENCE OF RUDOLPHUS II. 447

faith ; and the complaints against them, growing more and more
numerous, Rudolphus, swayed as he always was by the influence of
party councillors, proceeded in his measures against the Protestants
to such extremes, as to deprive them altogether of the churches so
recently given to them, and withdrew from them even their right of
citizenship throughout all the towns of Austria. These proceedings,
however, very soon excited so much discontent and indignation,
whilst, on the other hand, the internal disorders of Hungary, toge-
ther with the troubles produced by the presence of the Turks in
that country, were so great, that he was forced to return to measures
of a more mild and pacific nature.

In Hungary itself great discontent was produced by his govern-
ment, partly because he paid little or no attention to the affairs of
that country, but more especially because he not only never attended
in person at any of the states' assemblies, and had never even
once visited that kingdom, but permitted his German soldiers to
commit every sort of insolence and violence without control.
Thence, at the commencement of the seventeenth century, a most
serious revolt took place there, at the head of which was a noble--
man, Stephen Botschkai, who united with the Turks, and took pos-
session of the greater portion of the country. Nevertheless, in
spite of this dangerous state of his kingdom, the emperor grew
more and more indifferent and negligent, and took no longer
the least interest in its government. Celestial and natural science
occupied his attention much more than the affairs of his dominion,
and this application very soon brought him into the association of
those who pretended to teach him the prophecies of the stars and the
art of making gold. Thence, whilst his court comprised a mixture
of such deceivers, and the most learned men of the day, — such as
Tycho Brahe and Keppler, — so likewise in the mind of the em-
peror, trivial and puerile indications became proportionably con-
founded with sentiments of a nobler nature. Productions of an-
cient art, statues, chiselled stone work, as well as pictures, were
ts of his greatest delight, and he devoted large sums of money
in their collection; whilst, however, on the other hand, his alchy-
mical laboratory, where he sought to produce his manufacture of
gold, possessed no less attraction for him, and such members of his
government as wished to communicate with him upon important
and pressing affairs connected with the empire, were often forced to
extend their researches after him to the retirement of his stables,
where he was accustomed to pass a portion of the day. This in-
activity and carelessness, the revolution in Hungary, together with
the disorders prevailing in the hereditary Austrian provinces them-
selves, could not be regarded with an eye of indifference by the
brothers and cousins of the emperor, more especially as he himself
had no family. They accordingly deliberated together what was
best to be done for the well-being of their house, and they finally
concluded a treaty, in 1606, according to the terms of which Mat-

448 BOHEMIA — THE EVANGELICAL UNION.

thias, the eldest brother of the emperor, was empowered to restore
order forthwith both in Hungary and Austria. At first, the em-
peror was much dissatisfied with this arrangement; after a few
years, however, he yielded his consent, and voluntarily resigned to
Matthias the upper and lower portions of the Austrian territory along
the Ens, together with the kingdom of Hungary: " in order that
this country, which in the absence of the emperor, had endured so
much during a war of sixteen years, might, under the govern-
ment of Matthias, recover its tranquillity and prosperity." And, in
reality, this prince did succeed in restoring peace in Hungary, and
shortly afterwards, on the death of Botschkai, in subjecting it alto-
gether to his authority.

Beyond his imperial dignity, nothing was now left to the Em-
peror Rudolphus but the kingdom of Bohemia. The Protestant
states of this country, anxious to avail themselves of the favourable
moment in which their sovereign was placed without power, and
at variance with the other members of his family, left him no peace
until they at length obtained from him, in 1609, the permission for
the free exercise of their religion, the establishment of their own
consistory, the surrender of the academy of Prague, together with
the right of building fresh churches and schools in Bohemia, in ad-
dition to those they already possessed. This important document
is called the letter of majesty, and it was this said document which
formed the first pretext for the thirty years' war.

Feelings of distrust and doubt had now gradually resumed their
sway amongst the religious parties of Germany. At the same time
the division existing in the house of Austria, which had been the
support of the Catholics, produced a more immediate alliance between
the Protestant states, and urged them to form a new league, of-
fensive and defensive. The palatine house was more especially
active in the promotion of this object, and zealously contributed all
its influence ; their efforts in the cause, however, only produced a
fatal result to the league, for as the palatinate adhered so closely
to the Calvanistic doctrine, the Lutherans were induced to think
unfavourably of the alliance, and the majority of their party refused to
join it. When, therefore, Frederick, the elector palatine, succeeded
in the year 1608, after great exertion, in constituting a new alliance,
to which the name of the Evangelical Union was given, he found
himself joined only by the Margraves of Brandenburg, the Count
Palatine Philip Lewis, of Neuburg, the Duke of Wurtemberg, and
the Margrave of Baden, together with the three principal cities : Stras-
burg, Nuremberg, and Ulm. This union was based upon the prin-
ciple of mutual support in council and arms, and its especial object
was to protect religion ; the palatine to have the direction of affairs
during peace, and its term to extend to ten years. Endeavours
were made to enroll several other members, and the Elector of
Brandenburg was not altogether unwilling to join it, but Saxony
was most decided in its refusal to do so, replying, " That if the

JULIERS— HENRY IV. OF FRANCE A UNIONIST. 449

nature of the affair was gravely considered, it would be found, on
the one hand, that the union was not at all necessary; and on the
other, that in reality its results must be nothing else but a separa-
tion and dissolution of the whole empire." In truth, if the palatine
house was really influenced in the affair by ambitious and im-
pure motives, it had, subsequently, but too much reason to regret
it, for it suffered severely in consequence.

In the following year, 1609, an event took place in which
the Evangelical Union took an immediate and active share. Duke
John William of Juliers, who possessed the beautiful lands of
the Lower Rhine, Juliers, Cleves, Berg, and Mark, died the
25th of March in that year, without leaving any children.
He had four sisters, who were all married to German princes, and
not only their husbands, but likewise other distant relations, laid claim
to the inheritance. Two of the claimants, however, the Elector of
Brandenburg, and the Count Palatine of Neuburg, took first pos-
session and signed a treaty at Dlisseldorf, by which they agreed to
govern the country in conjunction until the matter was definitively
settled. The emperor, however, displeased with the arbitrary con-
duct of these two princes, sent his brother, the Archduke Leopold,
Bishop of Passau, in order to take possession of the land as a vacant
fief of the empire. He arrived with some troops, but could gain
nothing more of the country than the city and fortress of Juliers,
where he was admitted by the governor; he, however, caused fresh
bodies of soldiers to be raised in Alsace, and resolved to maintain
the rights of the emperor by force. The Evangelical Union, finding
the house of Austria mixing itself up in this affair, came forward and
prepared to march to the aid of the two princes thus threatened;
whilst Henry IV. of France now joined the league, and promised to
give the cause his support. It is well known with what grand pro-
jects this monarch was constantly occupied, even to the entire trans-
formation of the whole of Europe, and how desirous he was to re-
duce the Austrian house in order to form Europe into a federative
republic, which it was his intention should furnish one common army
I wherewith to drive the Turks out of Europe. His alliance with the Evan-
gelical Union had these objects in view; and he fixed the year 1610
for the commencement of his plans against Austria. The army of
the union accordingly marched into Alsace in the spring of this same
(year, attacked and defeated the few thousands collected there by the
! Archduke Leopold, and, in order to justify these proceedings, accused
I the emperor of having acted illegally in the affair of Juliers. The
i emperor, it was said, according to the ancient right of the empire,
sought not to have attempted to decide this matter alone, but in con-
junction with an appointed number of electoral and other princes.

The sudden assumption of arms, and the hostile measures pursued
by the union wherever their army appeared throughout the territories
of the spiritual princes, excited the most bitter feeling among the
Catholics ; for their troops had now distributed themselves through-

2 G

450 CATHOLIC LEAGUE — PRAGUE — DEATH OF RUDOLPHUS II.

out all the sees of the Rhine: Mentz, Treves, Cologne, Worms,
Spires, and others, levying contributions, and exercising the greatest
violence in every direction. The Catholics, however, now determined
to unite together likewise, and concluded an alliance at Wurzburg,
in 1610, for nine years against the union, which they called the
Catholic League. The members it comprised included all the spiritual
princes, together with the princes of the house of Bavaria; and in
order to insure uninterrupted unity among them, the chief direction
over the entire body was confided into the hands of Maximilian,
Duke of Bavaria. Thus this Catholic League was rendered much
more firm than the Evangelical Union, which, not having any especi-
ally chosen head during the war, was forced to appointa general, to
which honour, as they all consisted of lay princes, each considered
himself entitled. In other respects the Catholic League was based
nearly upon the same principles as the Evangelical Union.

This league now took to arms likewise; but as Henry IV. of
France was assassinated about this time, the members of the union
showed themselves more disposed to terminate matters in an
amicable way, and both parties shortly^ afterwards laid down their
arms.

The old emperor embittered his few remaining years with vexa- |
tious quarrels with his family. He was much dissatisfied with his
brother, Matthias, nor was he indeed attached to any other of his
relations except the aforesaid Archduke Leopold, Bishop of Passau. i
He felt, therefore, desirous of giving him his kingdom of Bohemia
— the last in his possession — and in the year 1611, according to a
plan calculated very badly for the promotion of his object, he em- i
powered him to march with his troops from Passau and enter
Bohemia at their head. The states of the kingdom, who naturally
imagined that in this proceeding hostile intentions were directed
against their religion, took to arms, and making the emperor a
prisoner in his own castle of Prague, they summoned to their aid
Matthias, who for a considerable time had calculated upon the
crown of Bohemia. He obeyed their call at once, and entered the
city amidst their acclamations, whilst Rudolphus was obliged, after a
bitter and mortifying negotiation, to yield the crown to his brother.
It is said, that during this time of trouble, and in the irritation of
the moment, he burst open the window of his room and exclaimed,
in words fatally prophetic — as they turned out : " Prague, ungrateful
Prague ! through me you became elevated, and to-day you ungrate-
fully desert and turn your back upon your benefactor ! May you
be pursued by the vengeance of God, and may His curse fall upon
you and throughout Bohemia 1"

Of all his crowns, the last and only one remaining to him now
was that of the empire ; death, however, which soon afterwards deli-
vered him from all his troubles, saved him likewise from the final
disgrace of resigning this, which mortification, it is but too probable,
he would have been forced to undergo; he died on the 20th of
January, 1612, aged sixty years.

MATTHIAS I., 1612— 1619— HIS CORONATION. 451

CHAPTER XXII.

Matthias L, 1612-1619 — His Coronation — Its Pomp and Splendour deceptive — The
Protestants — Increase of General Discontent — Austria — Aix-la-Chapelle — Cologne
—The Prince-Palatine Wolfgang William, and the Elector of Brandenburg — Their
Quarrel — Box on the Ear — Baneful Consequences — Foreign Allies — The Young
Archduke Ferdinand — Elected King of Bohemia — His Character — His Devotion
to Catholicism and Hatred of the Protestants — Banishes the New Faith from his
Lands — The Electoral Princes — Ferdinand warned against his Proceedings by
the Elector of Saxony — Bohemia — The Letter of Majesty shamefully infringed —
The Protestant Churches destroyed — Indignation and Kevolt of the Protestants —
Their Defender, Count Matthias of Thurn— Counts Martinitz and Slavata — Their
Hostility to the Protestants — Prague — The Council-Hall — Martinitz and Slavata
thrown out of the Window — General Kevolution — The Emperor's Alarm and Desire
for Peace — Ferdinand's Declaration in Eeply — Commencement of the Thirty Years'
War— Count Ernest of Mansfeld, the Leader of the Protestants— His Great Mili-
tary Genius and Heroic Character — Death of Matthias I., 1619 — Ferdinand II.,
1619 to 1637 — Count Thurn and the Bohemians in Vienna — Surround the Empe-
ror in his Palace — Ferdinand unexpectedly rescued — The Bohemians depose him
—The Elector-Palatine Frederick V., Son-in-law of James L of England, King of
Bohemia, 1619 — His Irresolution and Pusillanimity — Ferdinand and Maximilian
of Bavaria — Their Alliance — Superiority of the Imperialists over the Bohemians
— Battle of Weissenberg, near Prague, 1620— The Bohemians defeated and their
King put to flight — His Abdication — Prague capitulates — Bohemia severely
punished by Ferdinand — Thirty thousand Families banished the Country.

MATTHIAS, the eldest brother of the late emperor, was now

Jhosen successor to the imperial crown, and was crowned at Frank-

brt on the 24th of June, 1612. The ceremony was performed

imidst a display of stately pomp and splendour such as had not been

witnessed for a length of time — if, perhaps, at all. All the electors,

jxcept the Elector of Brandenburg, were present, and a host of the

)ther princes of the empire. " It seemed," says an historian, " as if

hey had assembled in such numbers in order to take a final leave of

icn other, for after this occasion they never again collected in a

>ody so numerous." Matthias himself had in his suite alone three

jhousand persons, two thousand horses, and one hundred carriages,

pawn each by four horses ; and the other princes appeared equally

yell attended, in proportion to their means. Festival succeeded

festival, and foreigners, witnessing all the grand and brilliant scenes

pat passed, and all the joy and hilarity that everywhere prevailed,

bust have regarded Germany as the first country in the world, espe-

ially when they beheld this assemblage of all its princes thus met in,

pparcntly, friendly association. But behind this galaxy of royal

nd noble personages hovered the spirit of dissension ; the pro-

nmd observer might have recognised in the joy expressed by the

Catholics the hopes they entertained for their party, based upon the

ptivity and firmness of the new emperor ; and in the delight evinced

y the Protestants, he might have perceived the expectations they

2 G2

452 ELECTORS OF COLOGNE AND BRANDENBURG.

formed, founded upon the illness expressed in his appearance.
Prince Christian of Anhalt, one of the most active among the latter
party, made rather a humorous observation in reference to the
double meaning in which this festival must be regarded: " If it
should come to a dance, our Emperor Matthias will make no very
high springs."

In truth, the new emperor did not by any means show the acti-
vity and energy which had been anticipated from him ; it appeared
as if he had only compelled his late brother to resign his crowns in
order to perpetuate his indolence and irresolution. On the other
hand, the passions of the multitude continued to operate more and
more seriously, and prepared the way for those violent and disastrous
eruptions which burst forth again even during the reign of Matthias.
In the Austrian territories, the religious parties, excited by their
preachers from the pulpit, resumed their violence towards each other
with redoubled fury, all human relationship between the contending
parties disappeared and became annihilated, for such hatred as
adheres to that which is held most sacred in man remains the most
implacable of all.

In other parts of "Germany, some very serious occurrences took
place about this time. Fresh disturbances broke out in Aix-la-
Chapelle as well as in Cologne, between its inhabitants and the two
princes, governors of the territory of Juliers, because the latter, to
the injury of the former, had raised the small town of Muhlheim,
on the Rhine, to the rank of a city. In both these cases, the em-
peror decided in favour of the Catholic party, and consequently ex-
cited fresh anxiety in the minds of the Protestants. His judgment,
however, in the cause of the Muhlheim dispute would have produced
but little effect had not both the princely houses who had possession
of the patrimonial estates of Juliers, become divided with each other.
The prince-palatine, Wolfgang William, had been accepted as the
future husband of a princess of the house of Brandenburg, and he paid
a visit to the court of Berlin upon business connected with this affair.
There, however , whilst at dinner, and heated with wine, a dispute arose
between him and the elector ; both forgot each other, and the latter
gave the prince-palatine a blow on the ear. Never, perhaps, did such
an insignificant circumstance produce more grave and serious results
in the history of the country ; they operated upon the whole system
of the empire down to the latest period of its records. The indig-
nant prince quitted Berlin immediately; and out of hatred to the
house of Brandenburg, he allied himself with the house of Bavariar
by marrying one of its princesses, and adopted the Catholic religion.
The Elector of Brandenburg, on the other hand, who was in dread
lest Wolfgang William, with the aid of the league or the Spaniards,
should attack his portion of the Juliers territory and wrest it from
him, claimed the assistance of the Netherlanders, who were still at
war with the Spaniards ; and in order to satisfy them and ensure
their aid, he abandoned the Lutheran church and adopted that oi

FERDINAND OF AUSTRIA KING OF BOHEMIA — CHARACTER. 453

tlie Calvinists. Accordingly, the Juliers possessions were attacked by
the allies of both sides ; the Netherlander occupied Juliers itself,
and the Spaniards, commanded by Spinola, held possession of
Wesel ; and thus both these armies brought into effect the decree of
the emperor pronounced against Aix-la-Chapelle and Miihlheim.
Accordingly, the dissensions throughout the empire became more and
more confirmed in their hostility, and the German states commenced
forming alliances with foreign countries.

The uneasiness and anxiety of the Protestants became now much
increased by the selection which was made of a successor to the
imperial throne. Matthias himself, as well as his two brothers,
Maximilian and Albert, were without any children, and as the af-
fairs of the empire presented no attraction sufficiently great to in-
duce the latter princes to undertake the government, they renounced
all claim to the succession of the Austrian states, and proposed as
their substitute their cousin, the young Archduke Ferdinand, who
already possessed Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola. The emperor
was very much opposed to this arrangement, but his brothers were
so urgent in their representations that he was obliged finally to yield.
Accordingly, Ferdinand was acknowledged at the diet of 1617 as
future King of Bohemia, and three weeks afterwards he was crowned
as such with great pomp at Vienna. The states demanded nothing
beyond the confirmation of the rights they had hitherto enjoyed,
and the non-interference of the new king with the affairs of govern-
ment during the lifetime of the emperor.

This Ferdinand, in the course of his reign, became a principal
cause of all the violent commotions and revolutions that were pro-
duced in his time, and as he has at all times been more or less sub-
jected to severe condemnation or impassioned praise, his acts merit
here a more impartial investigation and equitable judgment. His
education, which he received in the university of Ingolstadt, in Ba-
varia, was superintended more especially by the Jesuits, under the
eyes of William, Duke of Bavaria, a zealous Catholic, and, from his
boyhood upwards, the most strict principles of Catholicism were in-
Istilled into his mind. Consequently he firmly believed in that one
church, by which alone he could hope to obtain salvation, and he
held it to be the first duty of his life to use every means at his com-
mand, whether by the gentle power of reason, or by the more definitive
argument of the sword, to bring back these who had renounced the
faith, and support all who adhered to it — for the salvation of the soul,
as he had been taught, ' ' took the precedence of every other human,
•consideration." Whence the faithful maintenance of these princi-
ples constituted the aim and direction of his whole life ; he looked
jupon himself as appointed by God to be the champion of the Catho-
jlic church and the^restorer of the ancient faith. And of this con-
jscientious belief he never attempted to make the least mystery ; he
jentered the arena openly and honestly, and herein is presented ' a
•grand and noble feature in his history. For every man who unde-

454 HIS DEVOTION TO CATHOLICISM — INTOLERANCE.

viatingly and obstinately pursues with all the power and energy of
his nature, that which he has recognised as just and sacred, is as-
suredly worthy of honourable appreciation. And if Ferdinand,
throughout his entire career, and in the error of his conviction, did
continue to believe that that same God who vouchsafes to spread
the light of his sun with equal mercy over nations of every faith,
was only to be worshipped in one exclusive form, and persisted in
his efforts to establish with fire and sword this said form of devotion
all over the world, those alone were answerable for such results who
filled his mind whilst yet a child with such intolerant doctrines, and
which they only strengthened more and more in the youth, and ma-
tured in the man.

The young prince had no sooner become lord over his states than
he commenced reforming them, by re-introducing the ancient form of
divine service. He maintained the principle, that the sovereign of a
country, in order to promote one uninterrupted unity of thought
and action, ought not to tolerate more than one established religion in
his dominions ; and as, by the treaty of the Augsburg religious peace,
no other resource was left to the Protestants but expatriation, he
compelled those who would not join the ancient faith to leave the
country. These measures were very severe, as nothing can be more
trying to the feelings of a truly sincere and conscientious man,
than to be forced to quit the soil of his ancestors and the home ren-
dered so dear to him from childhood by the ties of love and affec-
tion. Such harsh proceedings necessarily produced most serious
consequences throughout the territories of Ferdinand. Above all
others of his subjects, the inhabitants of the mountainous districts
were the first to rise in opposition ; accustomed as they were to live
uninterruptedly amidst their mountains, and existing in a state of
complete isolation from the rest of their fellow-subjects in the low-
lands— wholly occupied as they were with the grand and eternal
creations of nature around them — they scarcely troubled themselves
with the scenes of human contention and dissension occurring beyond
their native hills. They adhered, therefore, with far greater obsti-
nacy and firmness to their peculiar habits and opinions, which they
regarded, like the soil they dwelt upon, as their hereditary birth-
right. Nevertheless, in the measures adopted by the young prince,
so much resolution was combined with temper, and he evinced so
much determined seriousness, that he succeeded in quelling the dis-
turbances excited by this discontent almost before their outbreak;
and although, as a warning, he had caused to be erected in various
parts places of execution for the most turbulent, still tranquillity was
effected without its being necessary to have recourse to them, or even
to shed a drop of blood. Thence, within a few short years, as if
produced by a miracle, not a single Protestant church was left stand-
ing, nor a Protestant sermon allowed to be preached throughout tlie
whole of those dominions in which, until then, the majority of the
inhabitants had professed the Protestant faith. Such persevering

THE PROTESTANTS — THE LETTER TO FERDINAND. 455

energy displayed by so young a prince, very naturally excited great
hopes in the one party, whilst it produced serious alarm in the other.
The united states of Germany, and especially the electoral-palatinate,
beholding now, in the elevation of Ferdinand as chief of the Aus-
trian house, fresh cause for exertion, renewed and strengthened their
bond of union. They endeavoured, by every means in their power,
to gain over to their party the Elector of Saxony ; but all in vain.
His unwillingness to join the union was, no doubt, produced princi-
pally by his dislike to the Calvinistic doctrine ; but in this resolution
he was also influenced by his sincere desire for the preservation of
peace throughout the empire — a desire participated in by all the
Lutheran princes, more particularly since the death of Maurice. A
letter from the Elector of Saxony to the Archduke Ferdinand proves,
at least, that this feeling was sincerely cherished by him ; he therein
exhorts him thus: " That as things had reached that sad state that
little or no good understanding could be found to exist any longer
among the states of Germany, and all confidence had nearly va-
nished, he would earnestly recommend him to do his utmost towards
the re-establishment of both, if only in a partial degree. For if
matters continued to remain in their present dangerous condition,
when recourse was had to measures of extreme severity rather than to
those of a more mild and simple nature, it was evident these attempts
to effect a cure of the evils existing must lead either to the total
ruin of the one or the other of the two parties; or, after having caused
much sacrifice of blood, and produced the destruction of the country
and its inhabitants, end in adopting that middle course which might
now still be made available without any violent or dangerous means."
The import of these words was like an announcement of future
events, and might have opened the eyes even of Ferdinand himself
to the contemplation of the coming struggles, if he had not held
them immoveably fixed upon one point. Circumstances, however,
very soon indicated in still more expressive and forcible colours, the
danger which threatened even the proximity of his own house.

Since the nomination of Ferdinand as future King of Bo-
hemia, the whole body of Protestants in that country very soon
had reason to observe much greater activity and assurance among
the Catholics. Report, which in extraordinary times is ever
more active in spreading alarm and terror than in ordinary
periods, was now busily occupied in announcing the most arbi-
trary measures against the Protestants. " The letter of majesty
which guaranteed their security and liberty, was now no longer valid,
it having been extorted from King Rudolphus," — such was the lan-
j guage of the Catholics. "When King Ferdinand arrived," they said,
" it would be found that with their new king they would receive
| likewise new laws;" whilst some again exclaimed : " Then more heads
jmust be decapitated, and property transferred into other hands, and
jmany a beggar would be made rich therewith," &c. In addition to
ithis, when|Ferdinand did homage in Moravia, pictures were every-
where circulated in which the Bohemian lion and the Moravian

456 BOHEMIA — LETTER OF MAJESTY — COUNT THURN.

eagle were represented bound in chains, whilst a sleeping hare, with
eyes open, was introduced to indicate that the states, with their eyes
widely opened as they were, were still not able to perceive the fate
that threatened them : these, and many similar demonstrations, aug-
menting in number as they progressed from place to place and
mouth to mouth, excited increasing terror and dismay in the minds
of all.

At length a cause was soon presented whereupon to base the
foundation of open hostility. In the aforesaid letter of majesty the
Protestants of Bohemia were granted the privilege of building new
churches, but the present government restricted its meaning to the
Protestant provinces of the kingdom, and refused its application to
the Catholic provinces. The Protestant party, nevertheless, in-
sisted that the article included all their co-religionists throughout
the land. Accordingly, in 1617, the Protestants residing in the
jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Prague, built for themselves a
church in the small town of Clostergrab, while those in the territory
of the Abbot of Braunau also erected one in the latter place. The
archbishop and abbot would neither of them tolerate their existence,
and they both appealed to the emperor; and as soon as ever the
buildings were completed, the archbishop put into execution an
imperial decree, according to which the church in Clostergrab was
razed to the very foundation, and that in Braunau was closed ; and
as in consequence of this arbitrary act the inhabitants of the town
rose up in opposition against it, several of them were cast into
prison.

The Protestants, however, now loudly complained of this viola-
tion of the letter of majesty, and they found a determined cham-
pion for their cause in Count Matthias of Thurn. This nobleman,
who was a native of Gratz, on the borders of Italy, but who had
long since resided in Bohemia, supported their cause and its pri-
vileges with all the warmth, and zeal of his Italian blood, and being
chosen at once as defender of the Evangelists in Bohemia, he, as
such, convoked the Protestant states to meet in Prague. Several
petitions were forwarded to the emperor, in which his majesty was
earnestly besought to remove the causes of complaint, and to order
the liberation of the imprisoned citizens of Braunau.

The emperor's reply was very harshly worded. Therein he cha-
racterised the resistance made by the inhabitants of Braunau and
Clostergrab as a revolt, and he condemned the states for having
occupied themselves with the affairs of citizens who to them were
strangers, and for having held illegal meetings, and seeking, by the
false reports they made of the danger to which the letter of majesty
was exposed, to alienate from his majesty the love and fidelity of his
subjects, &c.; whilst the threat with which it concluded, " that
the matter should be investigated, and each should be treated ac-
cording to his merits," sufficed to produce in the minds of all, ex-
cited as they already were, still greater cause to anticipate and pre-

PRAGUE— MARTINITZ AND SLAVATA EJECTED. 457

pare for the worst results. To this was now added the report that
the said document had not issued from Vienna, but had been pre-
pared in Prague itself, in the office of the imperial governors, and
more especially superintended by two Catholic privy-councillors,
Martinitz and Slavata. The indignation of the Protestants was now
directed at once against them, as the more immediate objects. Both
these noblemen had long been hated, because they refused to take
any part in the procuration of the letter of majesty nine years pre-
viously ; whilst many cruel acts were laid to their charge, by which
they had at various times displayed their zeal for the Catholic church.
Amongst the rest, it was related of Martinitz, that he had caused
his Protestant dependents to be hunted out of the Catholic church
on his estate, with his own dogs; whilst of Slavata it was said, that
he had compelled his people to adopt the Catholic faith by refusing
to allow them the service of baptism in the church or burial in con-
secrated ground.

Rendered more indignant and furious by these reports, the depu-
ties of the states, armed to the teeth, presented themselves, on the
23rd of May, 1618, before the imperial governors and such of the
council as were then assembled in the council hall of the castle of
Prague, and demanded whether or not they had been present in
council when the imperial document in question, so harshly and
inimically worded, had been deliberated upon, and if they had
voted for it ? And when the governors replied, that in order to de-
cide upon the answer to be given to such an important question, it
would be necessary to have the presence of the absent members of
the council, several of the deputies stepped forward and exclaimed :
* We know full well that the head burgraves, Adam von Stern-
berg, and Diphold von Lobkowitz, now present, did attend during
the composition of that hated writing, but we are likewise aware
that they did so unwillingly, and did not sanction its adoption."
Saying which they advanced and conducted them into another
room for safety. The other deputies meantime rushed upon Count
Martinitz, and dragging him to the window, ejected him forthwith
into the court below. All stood now aghast and trembling; when
Count Thurn, pointing to Slavata, exclaimed to his confederates :
" Noble friends, yonder you behold the other !" upon which they
immediately seized him and precipitated him after his colleague.
The next doomed to the same fate was the private secretary, Fabri-
cius, who was known to be the sycophant of the two preceding vic-
tims. Wonderful to relate, however, although the depth of their
Sfall was more than fifty-six feet, they escaped with life, because, in
jtheir descent, they fell, happily for them, upon an immense pile of
ipaper shavings and other soft materials; and even afterwards, when
jthey were assisted to their homes, they were no less fortunate in get-
jting clear of the shots that were fired at them as they were led
iaway.

The Bohemians endeavoured to justify this act by referring to se-

458 GENERAL REVOLUTION — THIRTY YEARS' WAR BEGUN.

veral examples of the same kind in ancient history; amongst the
rest to the period when the Romans precipitated traitors from the
Tarpeian rock, and to the portion of the Old Testament in which it is
found recorded that Queen Jezabel was thrown from a high window
for having persecuted the people of God. Nevertheless, they were
well aware that such a plea of justification would not secure them
against the punishment that must follow, unless they made imme-
diate preparations for self-defence. Accordingly, the castle was
garrisoned with their own troops ; all persons in office took the oath
of fidelity to the states; all the Jesuits, who were considered as the
main cause of the hostile feeling evinced against the Protestants,
were banished from the country; and, finally, a council of thirty
noblemen was established for the government of the land. All this
indicated the determination of the people to defend themselves to
the last, and in all these preparations the chief mover and director
was Count Thurn, whose whole soul was devoted to the cause.

The emperor was not a little disconcerted when he received the
news of what was passing. For whence could he receive the aid
necessary to put down these revolutionary acts and restore order in
Bohemia? Discontent, indeed, was scarcely less formidably ex-
pressed even in his Austrian territories, whilst in Hungary its de-
monstration was equally as serious.

Conciliation appeared to be the only means of preserving to the
house of Austria that important country, and even the confessor and
usual counsellor of the emperor, Cardinal Klesel, the most zealous
opponent of the Protestants, advised that course. But such con-
siderations were most strenuously opposed by young Ferdinand:
" It is of the utmost importance that men should know," says he, in
writing to the emperor, " that God himself has appointed the
troubles of Bohemia ; for he has manifestly struck the Bohemians with
blindness, that by means of the direful deed, which to every rational
being, whatever his religion, must appear to be hateful, unchristian,
and culpable, the grand pretext of the rebels, that they were en-
gaged in the cause of religion, might be completely frustrated.
For under this pretext they have hitherto only sought to rob their
rulers of all their rights, all their revenues, and all their subjects.
If, therefore, government is of divine authority, the conduct of these
men must originate with the devil, and it is impossible that God
should approve of the concessions heretofore made by the govern-
ment; possibly He may have permitted these extremities to come
to pass in order that the rulers may at once break loose from this
state of bondage to their own subjects." Accordingly, it was his
opinion, that nothing remained but to have recourse to arms.

From this epistle of Ferdinand we at once perceive the firmness
of his principles. From words he immediately proceeded to action,
levied soldiers in every quarter, and manifested such determination,
that it was evident he would not suffer the indecision of the em-

COUNT MANSFELD— DEATH OF MATTHIAS L, 1619. 459

peror to thwart his career. And at his instigation, and that of
the other archdukes backed by the pope, the pacific Cardinal
Klescl was unexpectedly arrested, and charged with a variety of
crimes. The intention was to remove him from the presence of the
old and weak emperor, who was now without support, and obliged
to resign all to the archdukes. From this moment the impotency of
the emperor was complete, and all hopes of an amicable pacifica-
tion of Bohemia lost.

The Bohemians, likewise, took to arms, and possessed themselves
of every city in their country as far as Budweis and Pilsen, which were
still occupied by the imperial troops. They obtained assistance,
quite unlocked for, in the person of one who may be regarded as
one of the most remarkable heroes of that day, and furnishes a dis-
tinguished example of a single individual, who, without territory
and people, by the mere celebrity of his name, gathered round him
legions of brave soldiers, and, like the ancient warrior-princes of
Germany in the time of the Romans, conducted them as his Gefolge
or retinue, for hire and booty, whithersoever his prowess was needed.
Men of this character came forth at this period likewise, as the signs
cf an extraordinary age thrown out of its usual course. Their
armies were maintained and furnished by the war; the war had to
sustain itself; and therein is the mystery explained how it continued
to rage on upon the German soil for thirty years. Count Ernest of
Mansfeld, a warrior from his youth, was of a bold and enterprising
spirit; he had already encountered many dangers, and had just been
raising some troops for the Duke of Savoy against the Spaniards.
The duke, who now no longer required them, gave him permission
to serve in the cause of the Evangelical Union in Germany ; and by
that body he was despatched with 3000 men to Bohemia, as having
apparently received his appointment from that country. He ap-
peared there quite unexpectedly, and immediately took from the
imperial army the important city of Pilsen.

Meanwhile the Emperor Matthias died on the 10th of March,
1619, after having witnessed in quick succession the interment of
his brother Maximilian and his consort; and the Bohemians, who
acknowledged his sovereignty while living, now resolved to re-
nounce his successor Ferdinand, whose hostile intentions were
already too clearly expressed.

Ferdinand attained the throne under circumstances the most per-
plexing. Bohemia in arms, and threatening Vienna itself with in-
vasion; 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 ; besides which, encountering
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
imminent perils," says Khevenhiiller, " this illustrious prince never

460 FERDINAND II., 1619 — VIENNA — THE RESCUE.

desponded; he still retained his religion and confidence in God,
who took him under His protection, and, contrary to all human ex-
pectation, delivered him through this Red Sea."

Count Thurn advanced upon Vienna with a Bohemian army, and
when he was questioned respecting the purpose of his expedition, he
answered, " That he marched in search of any collected bodies of
troops or people, and wherever he found them he would forthwith
disperse them. That in future there must be perfect equality be-
tween Catholics and Protestants, and the former must not, as hereto-
fore, hold the ascendancy, and, as it were, float on the surface like oil."
He came before Vienna, and his men fired even upon the imperial
castle itself, where Ferdinand, surrounded by open and secret foes,
had taken up his quarters. He dared not leave his capital, for by
so doing, Austria, and with it the preservation of the empire itself,
must have been sacrificed. But his enemies looked upon him as
lost; and they already^ spoke of confining him in a convent, and
educating his children in the Protestant faith. At this most critical
moment, when Thurn was in the suburbs of Vienna encamped be-
fore the gate of Stuben, on the 10th of June, 1619, sixteen mem-
bers of the Austrian states appeared before Ferdinand, and ve-
hemently demanded his consent to their taking arms, and to the
treaty which they wished to conclude with Bohemia. Nay, their
leader, Thonradel, went even so far as to hold the king by the
button of his coat, urging their demand, that he would put his sig-
nature to the proposed articles, in the most impressive manner. But
just then, as if by miraculous interference, five hundred of the imperial
cavalry arrived in the city from Krems, and, ignorant of what was
passing in the castle, with a flourish of trumpets marched into the
court-yard. The deputies immediately retired and made their exit in
the greatest consternation and alarm, imagining that the arrival of
the cavalry was preconcerted, and thus Ferdinand was extricated
from his distressing situation.*

Count Thurn was obliged soon to return to Bohemia, as Prague
was menaced by the armies of Austria, and Ferdinand availed him-
self of this moment in order to undertake another hazardous and
daring project. Although the Austrian provinces had not yet de-
clared their allegiance, and during his absence much that was un-
toward might occur, he nevertheless resolved to proceed to Frank-
fort to attend the election of emperor. The spiritual electors had
been gained over; Saxony also adhered closely to the house of Austria;
Brandenburg was not unfriendly ; hence the opposition of the pala-
tinate alone against him could accomplish nothing; accordingly
Ferdinand was unanimously chosen emperor on the 28th of August,
1619. By a strange reverse of fortune it happened, that at the very

Since this period, in commemoration of that important event, this regiment of
cavalry has permission, in passing through Vienna, to ride over the Burgplatz, which
others are not allowed to do.

FERDINAND DEPOSED IN BOHEMIA — FREDERICK V. 461

moment when, after the conclusion of the election, he, with the
electoral princes, was retiring from the hall to proceed in procession
to the church of St. Bartholomew, he received the intelligence of
his deposition in Bohemia, and which had just been made public
among the people.

The Bohemians, having, on the 26th of August, 1619, at a
general assembly of the states, deposed Ferdinand, " for having in
opposition to the fundamental compact which he had entered into
with them, before the emperor's death, intermeddled with the ad-
ministration of state affairs, introduced war into Bohemia, and con-
cluded a treaty of alliance with Spain to the prejudice of the liberty
of the country ;" they proceeded at once to another election. The
Catholics proposed the Duke of Savoy and Maximilian of Bavaria,
whilst, in the Protestant interest, the Elector John George of Saxony,
and Frederick V., of the palatinate, were put forward. The latter
obtained the election, being a son-in-law of King James I. of Eng-
land, from whom they expected assistance, and who personally was
regarded as resolute, magnanimous, and generous. The incorporated
provinces of Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia supported the election,
and even the Catholic states of Bohemia pledged their fidelity and
obedience. Frederick was warned against accepting so dangerous a
crown by Saxony, Bavaria, and even by his father-in-law ; but his chap-
lain, Scultetus, and his own consort, Elizabeth, who as the daughter
of a king aspired to a royal crown, persuaded him with all their in-
fluence to accept it. Frederick was accordingly ruled by them, re-
ceived the regal dignity in Bohemia, and was crowned at Prague
with great pomp on the 25th of October, 1619. He considered it to be
his duty, as he himself says, not to desert those of his own faith by
whom he had been appointed. If this youthful king of twenty-three
years of age had possessed the strength of mind requisite for a success-
ful prosecution and accomplishment of the work, history would have
ranked him amongst those daring men, who, relying upon their own
internal resources, never hesitated to venture upon great and noble
enterprises; but fate had decided against him, and in adversity he
failed to show that energy and presence of mind which must ever be
at the command of him who has resolved to wear a hazardous
crown.

Ferdinand in returning from Frankfort passed on to Munich, and
there concluded with the Duke of Bavaria that important treaty
which secured to him the possession of Bohemia. These two princes
had been companions in youth, and the Evangelical Union had
by several incautious proceedings irritated the duke. Maximilian
undertook the chief command in the cause of the Catholic party, and
stipulated with the house of Austria that he should be indemnified
for every outlay and loss incurred, to the extent even, if necessary,
of the surrender of the territories of Austria itself into his hands.

With Spain also the emperor succeeded in forming an alliance,

462 FERDINAND AND MAXIMILIAN OF BAVARIA'S ALLIANCE.

and the Spanish general, Spinola, received orders to invade the
countries of the palatinate from the Netherlands.

Subsequently the Elector of Mentz arranged a convention at
Miihlhausen with the Elector John George of Saxony, the Elector
of Cologne, and the Landgrave Lewis of Darmstadt, wherein it was
determined to render all possible assistance to the emperor for the
maintenance of his kingdom, and the imperial dignity.

Frederick, the new Bohemian king, was now left with no other
auxiliary but the Evangelical Union ; for the Transylvanian prince,
Bethlen Gabor, was, notwithstanding all his promises, a very dubious
and uncertain ally, whilst the troops he sent into Moravia and Bo-
hemia were not unlike a horde of savage banditti. Meanwhile the
union commenced its preparations for war as well as the league. The
whole of Germany resembled a grand dep6t for recruiting. Every
eye was directed to the Swabian district, where the two armies were
to meet; there, however, at Ulm, on the 3rd of July, 1620,
they unexpectedly entered into a compact, in which the forces of
the union engaged to lay down their arms, and both parties pledged
each other to preserve peace and tranquillity. The unionists felt
themselves too weak to maintain the contest, since Saxony was now
likewise against them, and Spinola threatened them from the Nether-
lands. It was, however, a great advantage for the emperor, that Bo-
hemia was excluded from this treaty, for now the forces of the league
were at liberty to aid him in subjugating his royal adversary. Maxi-
milian of Bavaria, therefore, immediately took his departure, and on
his way reduced the states of Upper Austria to the obedience due to
Ferdinand, joined the imperial army, and made a spirited attack
upon Bohemia. On the other side the Elector of Saxony took pos-
session of Lusatia in the name of the emperor, after lying four weeks
before Bautzen, which he subdued after a smart resistance.

Frederick of Bohemia felt now the difficulty of his situation;
nevertheless with the aid of a faithful and courageous people, who
had already two hundred years before defended their country in the
Hussite wars against the combined power of Germany, he might still
have maintained his ground. But either from ignorance or indif-
ference, he failed completely in gaining the confidence of the nation.
His life was careless and his time wasted in extraneous matters, and
his mind without that inward dignity of self-possession and calm re-
flection so necessary at a moment so portentous ; whilst he even made
the Bohemians subservient to his German councillors and generals.
The Bohemian nobility, who had in fact brought about and directed
the entire movement, availed themselves of their preponderating in-
fluence for their own advantage, inflicted great injury upon the
citizens in their trade, and transferred to them and the rural districts
the ^ whole weight of taxation. There was one general complaint
against the imposts and the burden and oppression of the soldiery,
besides which the Calvinistic party, by their ecclesiastical domination,

BOHEMIA— BATTLE OF WEISSENBERG. 463

annoyed no less the Lutherans than the Catholics. Frederick was
not able to govern these conflicting elements, and this weakness
effected his ruin.

As the imperialists advanced, the Bohemian forces marched into
Prague and intrenched themselves on the Weissenberg (white moun-
tain) near the city. But before the intrenchments were completed,
the Austrians and Bavarians advanced and gave battle at once, as
Maximilian's impatience would not suffer the event to remain un-
determined for a single hour. And in less than an hour the fate of
Bohemia was decided. Frederick's troops, in spite of the bold re-
sistance made by several companies, were beaten, and the whole of his
artillery, together with one hundred standards^ were taken by the
enemy. Frederick himself, who, at the commencement of the battle,
was quietly seated at his dinner-table, which he would not leave, saw
its termination only at a distance from the ramparts of the city, and
with it lost all the little resolution he still retained. Against the
advice of a few of his more intrepid friends, he on the following
night, with Count Thurn and some others of his suite, fled from
Prague — which otherwise might still have defended itself — into Si-
lesia; there, however, he could not resolve to stay, although he
might have rallied his friends around him, but fled still farther into
Holland, and dwelt there without a kingdom — and without courage
to re-conquer it — maintained at the expense of his father-in-law,
the King of England. The emperor, however, pronounced the im-
perial ban of excommunication against him, in consequence of which
all his estates were confiscated.

Prague at once yielded submission ; the whole of Bohemia, except
Pilsen, which Mansfeld bravely defended, folio wed the example; the
countries of the palatinate were occupied by the Spaniards, under Spi-
nola, and the union, alarmed at their proximity, was, in 1 622, quite dis-
solved. Like the Schmalkaldian league it terminated ingloriously,
I and both were, through a concurrent fatality, destroyed by the in-
fluence of the Netherlands ; for it was by means of the Netheriand
troops under Count Buren that formerly Charles V. became the
vanquisher of that league.

Sad for Bohemia was the punishment which the emperor now in-
flicted upon the country. During the first three months nothing took
place, but many of the fugitives having meantime returned, forty-eight
leaders of the Protestant party were suddenly taken prisoners, on the
same day, and in the same hour, and, after a judicial investigation,
twenty-seven of their number were condemned to death ; of whom
three belonged to the nobility, seven were knights, and the others
citizens. The property of those condemned was confiscated, as well
[as that of the absentees, who were declared traitors, amongst whom
iCount Thurn was included. Afterwards by degrees all the Protestant
clergymen were banished from the country, and finally, in 1627, it
•was declared to all nobles, knights and citizens, that no subject would
be tolerated in Bohemia who did not adhere to the Catholic church.

464 MILITARY EXPEDITIONS IN GERMANY, 1621—1624.

It is calculated that the number of families who at this time were
forced to leave Bohemia amounted to thirty thousand; they for the
most part resorted to Saxony and Brandenburg. The lot of Silesia was
much more fortunate, for through the intervention of the Elector of
Saxony it obtained the establishment of its religious and civil liberties
and a general amnesty, securing Protestantism within its borders.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Military Expeditions in Germany, 1621-1624 — Generals Mansfeld and Tilly — Suc-
cesses of Mansfeld — Joined by the Margrave of Baden-Durlach and Christian
Duke of Brunswick— Tilly — The Palatinate— The Heidelberg Library— Ferdinand
resolves to continue the War — The Duke of Bavaria made Elector-Palatine —
Tilly Defeats the Duke of Brunswick in Miinster — War with Denmark, 1624—
1629— The Protestant forces under Christian IV. of Denmark, the Duke of Bruns-
wick and Mansfeld — The Emperor without a Leader — Count Wallenstein — His ex-
traordinary Character — Ambition— Astrological Studies— Faith in Destiny— His
Bravery — Weissenberg — Wallenstein Duke of Friedland — His stately Palace and
regal Style of living— Raises an Imperial Army — His Appearance— Pursues
Mansfeld — Death of Mansfeld, 1626 — Death of the Duke of Brunswick — Christian
IV. of Denmark — His Flight — Dukes Adolphus and John of Mecklenburg banished
— Then? Estates seized by Wallenstein — Created Duke of Mecklenburg and a Prince
of the Empire, 1628— Pomerania — Stralsund— Besieged by Wallenstein— Its
Brave Resistance — Forces Wallenstein to retire— Peace between the King of
Denmark and the Emperor, 1629— The Edict of Restitution, 1639— Its Effect—
Augsburg — The Catholic League — Tyranny and Cruelty of Wallenstein and his
Army— Complaints of the Catholics and Protestants against Wallenstein to the
Emperor — The Princes and the Nation insist upon his Dismissal — His Resig-
nation.

ACCORDING to all human calculation, the contest appeared now
decided ; Bohemia was subjugated, the Evangelical Union dis-
solved, the palatine house overthrown, and the elector a mere fu-
gitive. Whence, therefore, could resistance be apprehended? And
yet it came, and that, too, from the restless activity of Count Mans-
feld, who would not abandon victory at so easy a price, and who
knew the age in which he lived too well, not to calculate upon those
unexpected means which a change of fortune must present to men
of a daring and confident disposition. He knew how highly
the minds of the people were excited, and that they were only wait-
ing for leaders in order to recommence the obstinate struggle in
favour of their faith. "Whoever commanded their confidence might
venture upon the adoption of extraordinary measures.

Accordingly, he collected quite unexpectedly, after having left
Pilsen, new troops, and declared that he would still further maintain
the cause of Frederick against the emperor. In a short time he had
an army of about 20,000 men, and obliged the forces of the league,
under the Bavarian general, John Tserklas Tilly, (raised by the em-
peror, since 1623, to the dignity of count,) to keep the field against

MANSFELD'S SUCCESSES — HEIDELBERG-LIBRARY. 465

him. By rapid and well planned marches lie deluded his antago-
nist, and in his course spread desolation amongst the Catholic
bishoprics of Franconia, Wiirzburg, Bamberg, and Eichstadt, toge-
ther with those of Spires, Worms, and Mentz on the Rhine; and,
finally, in the beautiful and flourishing provinces of Alsace.

His example was followed by others. First of all, George Fre-
derick, Margrave of Baden-Durlach took the field in favour of the
palatine house, collected a ^strong army and united with Mansfeld.
He would not fight as a prince of the German empire, lest his land
should be made to suifer for it, but as a knight and champion in
that cause which, to him, appeared the most just ; accordingly, be-
fore he entered into action, he transferred into his son's hands the
government of his country. For him, united with Mansfeld, Tilly
was no equal match ; but when, however, they separated, he de-
feated the Margrave at Wimpfen on the 8th of May, 1622.

Mansfeld next found an ally in Christian, Duke of Brunswick,
brother of the reigning duke, who, full of youthful ardour, likewise
came forward in the cause of the banished electoral prince. After a
variety of adventures, he at length joined Mansfeld with a consider-
able body of men, and, thus united, they entered Alsace once more,
extending their march to the provinces of Lorraine, and, in fact,
made even Paris itself tremble for the moment, as they threatened
to advance thither to the aid of the Huguenots. After devastating
all the neighbouring provinces, they finally marched into Holland,
where they joined the Netherlanders in their struggle against the
| Spaniards.

Tilly, meantime, retained possession of the entire palatinate, and
it was on this occasion that he seized upon the magnificent library
! of Heidelberg, of which the Duke of Bavaria made a present to the
pope, Gregory XV. ; it was conveyed to Rome, and placed in the

I "TT . * J&

I Vatican.

It appeared now as if the moment had once more arrived when
jpeace might have been restored to Germany, if the victors had been
(at all inclined to act with moderation. But Ferdinand had no idea
iof halting in the midst of all his revolutionary movements. He
considered himself, as he states in a letter written by himself and
sent to Spain, as called upon by Providence " to crush all the sedi-
tious factions, which had been supported chiefly by the heresy of
Calvinism, and he recognised in the success which had hitherto re-
garded his efforts, an intimation from God that he ought to perse-
rere in the course he had entered upon."

! A grand step would be gained towards the promotion of his plans,
f he could arrange the investiture of his friend the Duke of Bavaria
is electoral-palatine, and as a recompense for his faithful services ; a
natter upon which they both agreed in secret together. In the

* This library, at the intercession of the Emperor of Austria and the King of
•'russia, was restored to Heidelberg in the year 1815.

2 H

466 CHRISTIAN IV. OF DENMARK — WALLENSTEIN.

aforesaid letter of Ferdinand, he says: " If we could gain one more
vote in the electoral college, we should be for ever secured in our
object of placing the empire in the hands of the Catholics, arid en-
suring its possession to the house of Austria."

But this step was one of great danger, as it was likely to bring
upon him the most determined opposition of all the Protestants, and
more especially might make an enemy of the electoral house of
Saxony, hitherto a friend so faithful. Nevertheless, Ferdinand ac-
complished his wish ; he hastened to summon together the electors
at Ratisbon in 1623, in order to confer the investiture upon Maxi-
milian, and after many negotiations Saxony was induced to give its
consent by the concession of Lusatia.

In the same year, Duke Christian of Brunswick was routed by
Tilly near Stadlov in Munster, at the moment when he was about
to recommence operations, and thus fortune appeared to realise the
anticipations of the emperor, and crown his confidence with conti-
nued success. Nevertheless, many links were still necessary to form
the chain of this war.

The Protestants, meantime, considered that they could not remain
in a state of inactive expectation of the fate to which they might be sub-
jected, but felt themselves bound to exercise forthwith the little energy
and self-possession still at their command. The first movement was
made in the states of the circle of Lower Saxony, on the frontiers of
which Tilly, the terror-striking general of the Bavarians, had taken
up his position with his formidable army. After having made in
vain their representations for his recall, they took to arms, and chose
the King of Denmark, Christian IV., as Duke of Holstein, for their
commander-in-chief. He promised them considerable aid, and Eng-
land on its part did the same. Christian of Brunswick and Mans-
feld re-appeared, and enlisted troops with English money. Hitherto
the war in Germany, on the Catholic side, had been carried on al-
most wholly by the army of the league ; but as the preparations of
the Protestants became now more extensive, they demanded from
the emperor supplies of troops accordingly. At the same time it
was likewise the emperor's wish to furnish an imperial army himself,
in order that the house of Bavaria might not claim the merit of per-
forming every thing alone ; but he was in want of the necessary
means to effect this object, and he was at a loss how to raise and
equip the number of men required. Under these circumstances,
however, an individual presented himself to his notice, who contem-
plated carrying on the war by means of his own resources, and sin-
gle-handed— similarly to Mansfeld — and offering at once to re-
lieve the emperor from his difficulties, he lost no time in bringing
his plans into operation.

Albert of Wallenstein — more properly Waldstein — the descen-
dant of a noble family in Bohemia, was born in the year 1533, in
Prague, of Lutheran parents; as they died when he was young, he
was sent by a maternal uncle to a celebrated convent of Jesuits at

HIS EXTRAORDINARY CHARACTER— BRAVERY. 467

Olmiitz, and was thus educated in the Catholic religion. Later he
travelled with a wealthy nobleman from Moravia through a great
part of Europe, and became acquainted with Germany, Holland,
England, France, and Italy. The learned companion of the illus-
trious pair, the mathematician and astrologer Peter Verdungus (sub-
sequently a friend of Keppler), encouraged Wallenstein's predi-
lection for astrology, and in Padua he was initiated in cabalistic
lore and the other occult sciences of the stars by Professor Argoli.
A mysterious inclination of his nature led him to this dangerous
study, which at that time was universally pursued, and occupied
even great minds like that of Keppler; his soul was lost in its dark
labyrinths ; but this much he saw with the greatest certainty in the
stars, since he intuitively felt it, viz., that he was destined to effect
something extraordinary. An unbounded ambition possessed his
whole soul, and he was conscious of an energy sufficient to carry
the entire age with him ; whence he regarded as within his reach
the accomplishment of the greatest enterprise.

He attached himself to the Archduke Ferdinand, whose firmness

and determination he recognised, and set out in 1617, accompanied

by 200 cavalry, raised at his own expense, to render him aid in an

expedition against Venice. By way of remuneration Ferdinand

assigned to him the rank of a commander of the militia in Moravia.

During the troubles of Bohemia he aided the Viennese in their

defence against the Bohemians, fought against Bethlen Gabor of

Transylvania, who raised his pretensions to the crown of Hungary,

and filled the situation of quarter-master-general in the imperial

forces under Boucquoi, when he, with Maximilian of Bavaria, gained

the battle of Weissenberg near' Prague. After this battle he had

another engagement with Bethlen, by whom the imperial generals

Dampierre and Boucquoi had been defeated, made him retreat, and

obliged him to accede to terms of peace, and to relinquish his claims

to the Hungarian crown. For these services and at the same time

jas an indemnification for the devastation of his estates in this war

and the expenses he had incurred — having at his own cost furnished

land supported several regiments — Wallenstein received, in 1622, the

;erritory of Friedland in Bohemia, together with the title of prince,

md later that of duke. In addition to this, he purchased for a

.arge sum of money about sixty estates of the Bohemian nobility,

,vhich had been confiscated by the emperor after the battle near

^rague, and thus came into possession of more than princely wealth.

Che duchy of Friedland alone comprised nine towns and fifty-seven

astles and villages. Subsequently, and whilst Tilly was in com-

nand at the head of the league, he lived retired on his estates,

Itliough at the same time he felt much discontented at finding the war

arried on without him. Now, however, when he found the em-

•>eror was anxious to raise for himself an army, he, as we have

Ireacly seen, offered his services to levy troops of his own for the

•nperial service, taking upon himself nearly the whole cost. He

2 H2

468 RAISES AN ARMY — DEFEATS MANSFELD.

stipulated only that he should be allowed to exercise unlimited con-
trol over them, and possess the exclusive power of appointing
officers, and collecting together a force, not of 20,000 but of
50,000 men — as such an army, he said, would soon be enabled
to maintain itself. He obtained, accordingly, the full authority
required, and in a few months afterwards the army was raised and
completely equipped — such was the influence his very name already
produced.

Wallenstein was born to command ; his acute eye distinguished at
the first glance from among the multitude such as were competent,
and he assigned to each his proper place. His praise, from being
but rarely bestowed, animated and brought into full operation every
faculty, whilst his steady, reserved, and earnest demeanour secured
obedience and discipline. His very appearance inspired reverence
and awe; his figure was lofty, proud, and truly warlike; his jet
black hair was cut close above his high and commanding forehead,
•whilst in his bright piercing eye was expressed profundity of thought,
combined with gravity and mystery — the characteristics of his fa-
vourite studies and researches in the language of the stars, and the
labyrinths of the planets.

He marched with his new army, in the autumn of 1625, through
Swabia and Franconia into Lower Saxony. Tilly withheld from
joining a rival whose ambition he saw was to excel him, and
both conducted the war apart. Wallenstein, after having put to
rout a body of armed peasantry who had attempted to intercept his
march near Gbttingen, advanced to the districts of Halberstadt and
Magdeburg, which had not as yet been subjected to the devas-
tations of the war. The campaign of 1626 commenced with more
serious deeds of arms. Count Mansfeld, who advanced along the
Elbe against Wallenstein, having been defeated on the bridge of
Dessau, directed his course with a bold determination towards
Silesia, in order to join Prince Bethlen Gabor, and carry the war
into the Austrian dominions, whither Wallenstein, to his great re-
gret, was forced to follow him. After a most harassing and difficult
march Mansfeld arrived in Hungary; he was, however, very badly
received there, because he had not brought with him the sums of
money expected by the prince. Pursued by Wallenstein, his
retreat cut off, and without the means of procuring supplies in such
a remote country, he was forced to sell his artillery and ammu-
nition, and disband his soldiers; and then crossing Bosnia and Dal-
matia, he proceeded with a small suite along the road to Venice.
Thence it was his intention to repair to England, in order to pro-
cure the necessary supply of money ; but on arriving in the village
of Urakowitz near Zara, his nature, already completely overwhelmed
by the superhuman struggles and fatigues undergone, finally sunk
beneath these heavy trials, and the noble warrior breathed his
last on the 20th of November, 1626, in the forty-sixth year of his
age. When the dying man felt at length the approach of death,
he had himself clothed in his military coat, his sword buckled on,

DEATH OF MANSFELD — WALLENSTEIN IN DENMARK. 469

and thus equipped, and standing supported by the arms of two
friends, he patiently awaited the final moment of his mortal career.
His remains were interred in Spalatro.

In this same year died likewise his friend, Duke Christian of
Brunswick, who was only twenty-nine years of age; and thus
the Protestants were deprived of their best generals. Christian,
King of Denmark, was not able to replace them, for in him was
wanting all that warlike spirit and energy so necessary in a com-
mander; added to this, there was no union between the princes of
the circle of Lower Saxony, and one of whom, indeed, George, Duke
of Celle, a general of the Saxon army, passed over to the emperor,
whose service he entered. Thence, although Lower Saxony was
much relieved by the retreat of Wallenstein, King Christian was,
nevertheless, not only unable to defend it against Tilly, but he was
completely defeated by him on the 27th of August at Lutter near
Barenberg, in Hanover, and lost all his artillery, together with sixty
ensigns.

In the year 1627, Wallenstein marched back again through Sile-
sia, whence he drove all his enemies before him into the north of
Germany, crossed Brandenburg and Mecklenburg, and with Tilly
entered Holstein, in order to force the King of Denmark to abandon
Germany altogether. The whole of that country, with the excep-
tion of a few fortifications, was speedily conquered. Silesia and
Jutland were next invaded and fearfully devastated. The king
was obliged to take refuge in his islands, and some letters of Wallen-
stein even mention that he seriously contemplated causing the Em-
peror Ferdinand to be chosen King of Denmark, having been in-
formed that the states were dissatisfied with their own king. It was
in this same year that Wallenstein added to his immense possessions
the duchy of Sagan and the territory of Priebus in Silesia, which
he purchased of the emperor for 150,000 florins.

Meantime the army of Wallenstein had gradually increased to
100,000 men, and this mysterious and incomprehensible man con-
tinued enlisting fresh troops with still greater zeal in proportion as
the numbers of the enemy diminished and disappeared. It was not
known whether it was for himself or for his sovereign that he was
thus paving the way for the attainment of unlimited dominion. The
Catholic princes themselves regarded him with suspicion and doubt,
for it became more and more evident that his grand object was to
abolish their league, whilst Tilly especially hated him because he
monopolised for himself all the fruits produced by their victories.
The princes of Mecklenburg, Pomerania, and Brandenburg, appealed
to the emperor to remove the heavy and oppressive burden of war
t from their lands ; but the will of his general was more powerful
. than that of the emperor himself, and the whole of North Ger-
' many obeyed his slightest nod, and trembled beneath his wrath. He
j himself lived in a style of pomp and splendour far beyond his im-
i perial master, in which example he was imitated by all his officers

470 IN MECKLENBURG — HIS AMBITION — SIEGE OF STRALSUND.

in proportion; whilst around liim thousands of human beings were
forced to languish in inexpressible misery, and without exaggera-
tion, literally died through starvation. In addition to all this, the
general brought against the emperor a heavy account of the sums
he had advanced out of his own funds for the expenses of the war,
and which he calculated at more than three millions of florins. This
sum the emperor found it impossible to pay, and resolved, therefore,
to seize the territories of the dukes Adolphus Frederick and John
Albert of Mecklenburg, and transfer them into the hands of his
general, in consideration of the debt. Thus Wallenstein was made
a prince of the empire, and whilst on a visit at the castle of Brandeis,
in Bohemia, put into immediate practice the privilege he now com-
manded of appearing with covered head in the imperial presence.

In vain did the inhabitants supplicate to have their rightful dukes,
whose family had reigned in their dominions for nearly a thousand
years, restored to them, and who, they said, had not committed
themselves more than the princes of the other provinces in the
circle of Lower Saxony. Ferdinand forgot again, this time, the
laws of moderation in victory, and shamefully violated the con-
stitution of the empire in thus banishing these princes from their
territories without legally impeaching them before the electoral
princes, and without giving them a hearing or pronouncing judg-
ment against them. On the contrary, it was to him an object of
great importance to secure for himself the presence of a Catholic
prince 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 point 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,

feneral in chief of the army in the north of Germany, during
is 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 now turned his looks towards
its neighbouring territory, Pomerania. The old duke, Bogislas, was
without any family, and after his death his duchy might be very
conveniently united with that of Mecklenburg. What, however,
was to this ambitious man of the utmost importance, was the posses-
sion of Stralsund, which, it is true, was in the dominion of the Duke
of Pomerania, but which, at the same time, as forming part of the
Hanseatic league, enjoyed many privileges, and an independent ad-
ministration in all its internal affairs. This city, as well as the
whole country, had contributed very large sums towards the main-
tenance of the imperial troops ; and now it was intended to furnish

PEACE BETWEEN DENMARK AND GERMANY. 471

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 determined courage and perseverance,
whilst the kings of Sweden and Denmark furnished them with
liberal supplies of troops, together with ammunition and provisions
from the sea-side. Their obstinate resistance 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 learnt 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 va-
rious desperate assaults made, he was forced, to his no little mortifica-
tion, 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 a
prince of the empire himself, he no longer considered it desirable to
destroy further the power of the German princes. The king, through
the mediation of the general, made on the 12th of May, 1629, in L'd-
beck, 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 preservation,
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 em-
pire.

How rejoiced must the peacefully disposed inhabitants of Ger-
many 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 em-
peror; 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 sub-
dued, 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 fresh traces of the ravages produced tbrough-
! out the whole empire, turning flourishing provinces into deserts,
; and rendering once opulent citizens beggars and fugitives. The
I war, indeed, might now have easily been brought to a termination,
i had the victorious party only known when to fix the just limits, of
i their course, and if the emperor after having thus completely puri-

472 THE EDICT OF RESTITUTION — EFFECT — AUGSBURG.

fied 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, dis-
banded his army, and thus have delivered 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 course
amidst prosperity. The Catholic party imagined this was a mo-
ment too favourable for them to neglect, and they determined, ac-
cordingly, 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 Magde-
burg, twelve bishoprics, and a multitude of inferior benefices and
convents. Until this moment, the restitution of what it had been
so long the acknowledged right of the Protestants to hold posses-
sion, had never been for an instant contemplated; but now, how-
ever, urged on by the Catholics, the emperor published a solemn
edict, known under the title of the Edict of Restitution, dated the
6th of March, 1629. " The Protestants," says a distinguished
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 determined not to
disband either of the two grand armies at this moment engaged in
their devastations throughout the empire ; their services were re-
tained 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 accom-
plishment of its decrees. Operations were immediately commenced,
and the south of Germany was selected as the spot to receive the
first visitation. The city of Augsburg — where only shortly before
the treaty of religious peace had been signed — was forced, amongst
the rest, to acknowledge the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the bishop,
and renounce the Protestant form of worship, whilst the Duke of
Wurtemberg was obliged to restore all his monasteries. In addition
to all this, the Catholic league, in a meeting 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 tyranny exercised by Wallenstcin's army pro-
duced increasing indignation, and excited still more loudly the
complaints and murmurs of both parties, which attained at length
that degree of irresistible power, that the emperor could no longer

WALLENSTEIN'S ARMY — ITS OPPRESSION AND TYRANNY. 473

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 em-
peror'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. Such
testimony overbalanced all the arguments to which, hitherto, the
friends of Wallenstein had had recourse, and successfully brought to bear
in his defence ; whilst finally, at the assembly of the electoral princes
held in Ratisbon in the summer of 1 630, the emperor found himself
overwhelmed with petitions from every quarter. " The imperial
soldiers/' complained the Pomeranian deputies, " marched into our
country, and were received as friends, and yet they have already
exacted from the principality of Stettin alone, ten millions of dollars
as a contribution, whilst in spite of this they have nevertheless reduced
to ashes seven of our towns, and completely devastated the whole coun-
try around. And yet in the moment that they were scattering such
dreadful ruin and misery everywhere around, they themselves lived
in such 'an expensive style, that every captain and even his lieutenant
exercised more princely extravagance than their own Duke Bogislas
himself. Besides all this, the innkeepers and landlords upon whom
the troops were billeted, experienced the most brutal treatment, and
many men were constantly being murdered in cold blood, and their
bodies thrown to the dogs ; in short, no act of cruelty could be
mentioned or even thought of that these savages had not exercised,
and many hundreds of the wretched inhabitants, in order to prevent
these horrible acts from being inflicted upon themselves, and to
escape from dying through starvation, had committed suicide."

This frightful picture shows us the exact nature of the war carried
on by these troops serving for pay, and presents us with a description
of the misery existing at this period of our history : nor in this is there
any exaggeration. Count Mansfeld, the original projector of this sys-
tem for the promotion of the war, has himself given us his testimony
in a defence he was called upon to make against similar accusations
upon the subject of the licence given to and practised by his own
army : " When the soldiers do not receive their pay," he says, "it is
wholly impossible to maintain them in their discipline. Neither
they themselves nor their horses can live upon air; whilst what
they wear, both in clothing and arms, soon becomes ragged and useless.
Thence they take whatever they can find, although not in proportion
with what may be due to them ; for they neither calculate the number
nor weigh the amount of the articles they seize. The gate once
opened to them, they rush through and proceed to act upon the plan
they have laid down with unlicensed fury, and from which they are
not to be deterred. They seize upon every thing, they overcome
every thing, and strike down all and every thing that may oppose

474 DISMISSAL OF WALLENSTEIN, 1630.

them. In short, it is impossible to imagine the disorder and riot
thus produced ; for, constituted as the army is of all nations, they all
vie with each other in their exercise of the most monstrous acts. The
German, the Netherlander, the Frenchman, the Italian, and the Hun-
garian, each contributes something peculiar to his own nation in vio-
lence and cruelty, as well as in cunning, deceit, and invention. I
am aware of this, and have, I confess, even been forced to witness all
these infamous acts, whilst my heart has grieved at the sight. But
what is to be done ? It is not enough to know and deplore these
things ; if we wish to remove the evil, we must adopt such measures
as will ensure strict discipline in the army, but which cannot exist
unless the troops receive their pay regularly."

Ferdinand could no longer resist the unanimous voice of complaint
thus urged, and as now the whole body of princes insisted that Wal-
lenstein — whom they all hated without exception — should be deprived
of the chief command, and more especially as at their head Maximi-
lian of Bavaria expressed himself most warmly in favour of it, the
emperor, after some hesitation, gave his consent, and yielded to their
wishes. It was, however, still left to be seen whether or not the
proud and mighty chief would obey the summons : to the surprise of
all, however, he did so. His astronomical calculations appeared to
have produced their tranquillising effects, and mollified his haughty
spirit. " He by no means complained against or reproached the
emperor," he said calmly to the imperial deputies, Count Werden-
berg and Baron Questenberg, " for the stars had already indicated to
him that the spirit of the Elector of Bavaria held its sway over that
of the emperor ; but," he added, "in discharging his troops, his im-
perial majesty was rejecting the most precious jewel of his crown."
He now withdrew to his duchy of Friedland, establishing his seat of
government at Gitschen, which he considerably enlarged and beauti-
fied. This dismissal of Wallenstein took place in September, 1630.

Such of the imperial troops as did not receive their discharge,
joined those of the league, and the united army was placed under
the command of Tilly.

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS OF SWEDEN, 1630—1632. 475

CHAPTER XXIV.

Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, in Germany 1630-1632 — His Character —
Motives and Plans in favour of Protestantism — Stralsund — Gustavus declares
War against Ferdinand — Lands with his Army in Pomerania — Stettin — The
Protestant Princes hesitate to join Gustavus — Ciistrin and Spandau — The
Elector of Brandenburg — The Elector of Saxony— Siege of Magdeburg — Count
Tilly — Conquers and burns the City — Dreadful Massacre — Gustavus and Tilly —
Battle of Leipsic— Defeat of the Imperialists — Glorious Results to Gustavus —
Surrender of the Cities — Ingolstadt — Tilly wounded— His Death— Munich —
Prague — Ferdinand and Wallenstein — Regal Splendour of Wallenstein — His Pa-
lace— Re-assembles an Army for the Emperor — Extravagant Conditions — Ap-
pointed Generah'ssimo — The Camp of Nuremberg — The Swedish and Imperial
Armies — Gustavus in Saxony — Battle of Liitzen, 1632— Gustavus killed — His
Death revenged by the Swedes— Total Defeat of Wallenstein— Portraiture of
Gustavus Adolphus.

THE power of the Protestant princes had now become much weak-
ened, 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 neces-
sary 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 grow-
ing danger, and indeed almost in the very moment itself when the
minds of the Protestants, as they beheld the crisis gradually ap-
proaching, 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 fron-
tiers of their northern territory. This people — the Swedes — were
nevertheless distinguished for their bravery, whilst they were stead-
fast 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, Gustavus Adolphus suc-
ceeded 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 conviction, so deeply implanted in his mind, by which Gustavus
i felt inspired to undertake the mighty contest against the powerful
! house of Austria.

Opinions equally contrary and inconsistent have been pronounced
upon the character of this great monarch, because, living at a period
: when party spirit raged so furiously, it was not to be expected that
his actions could undergo a more impartial review than those accom-
plished by his contemporaries. On the one hand he has been re-
.garded only as a conqueror, compelled by the excitement produced
! by burning ambition to cross the ocean in order to vanquish foreign
i lands, which he sought to effect more securely under the cloak of

476 CHARACTER — MOTIVES — PLANS.

religion, and whence he was enabled to conceal his desire for war;
and again, on the other hand, he has been viewed only as an enthusi-
astic champion in the cause of his faith, whilst the existence of all
the ambitious motives attributed to him, and by which his adver-
saries have insisted he was alone influenced, has been denied, and the
charge thus made condemned. In either case there is a mixture of
truth and falsehood. Gustavus was by no means influenced by a
feeling of ambition which in its usual sense means the vain passion
of personal and selfish glory, although assuredly the love for that
reputation which is inherent in all men, and which in the mouths
of people adorns the object with immortal life, occupied likewise
a space within his heart; neither, on the other hand, was it solely in
order to rescue his fellow Protestants in Germany that he took up
arms, although faith and piety exercised sufficient influence over his
soul to inspire him to fight in such a cause. Both these motives, how-
ever, acted in concert together upon his mind, united by another
law of his nature — that which inspired him with the feeling and
conviction of being destined to perform a conspicuous part in that
eventful epoch of the history of the world. He felt he was called
upon to lead forth from their seclusion and obscurity his noble peo-
ple— who, although limited in number, were inferior to none in
courage and virtue — and to place them in the ranks of the other
nations of Europe. Hitherto, in connexion with the other states of
Europe, Sweden's position had been similar to that of Macedonia be-
fore Phillip and Alexander in the ancient world, and as subsequently
that of Russia was, previous to Peter the Great, in modern history ;
and as the lives of those great men can only be thoroughly compre-
hended when they are viewed in connexion with the historical facts
alluded to, so likewise in the same point of view must the life of
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden be regarded. For although this
monarch left behind but very inconsiderable results when placed in
contrast with those effected by the sovereigns with whom we have
compared him, it must, at the same time, be remembered that he was
snatched away by death at the age of thirty-eight years only, and at
the very moment when he had commenced to lay the foundation of
his grand work.

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, Ingria, Carelia, and Livonia, together with a por-
tion of Prussia. Various important motives compelled him now to
take a share in the affairs of Germany. He had been very seriously
provoked and mortified by the Emperor Ferdinand ; his intercession
in favour of the Protestants and his cousins the dukes of Mecklen-
burg, as well as his mediation for peace with Denmark, had been
treated with great contempt, and disdainfully rejected; whilst, in
addition to this, Wallenstein had even sent 10,000 imperial troops
to the aid of the Poles against him. Beyond all these causes

DECLARES WAR, AND LANDS IN GERMANY — HIS ARMY. 477

of complaint, however, which might perhaps still have been peace-
fully adjusted by negotiation, his presence was summoned by the
danger which now hovered over the Protestant 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 al-
ready, as we have before shown, produced 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 pro-
tection, 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 declaring war against the emperor, he, on
the 24th of June, 1630, landed on the coast of Pomerania with
15,000 Swedes. As soon as he stepped upon shore, he dropped on
his knees in prayer, whilst his example was immediately followed by
his whole army. Truly he had undertaken, with but small and
limited means, a great and mighty enterprise !,

When the emperor was informed of his landing, he, in his feel-
ing of confidence, inspired by his continual success, appeared to
treat the affair with so much indifference that the news had no in-
fluence whatever in the dismissal of Wallenstein, which just at this
moment formed the subject of discussion in the diet of Ratisbon.
All the Catholic party throughout the empire turned the fact of the
arrival of the petty king of the north, as they termed him, into ridi-
cule, and styled him, in contempt, the snow king, who would speedily
melt beneath the rays of the imperial sun. But these 15,000 men
constituted an army of heroes, a phalanx of hardy warriors, belong-
ing 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 its barbarism, and that licentious exercise of its
worst passions which under no circumstances would be curbed or
; submit to reason. The imperialists were a mixture of all nations and
creeds, and bound together by no other ties but those of mutual
warfare and pillage ; the Swedes, on the other hand,were strengthened
in the confidence they felt that God fought on their side, and to
I Him they offered up their prayers regularly twice a day, each regi-
I ment possessing its own chaplain. Besides this, the inventive genius
j of Gustavus had introduced the exercise of some new military tactics
! in his army ; and in this he may bear comparison with many great
; men of antiquity, inasmuch as he surprised his enemies by the
I novelty and boldness of his positions, order of battle-attacks, and
-thus he was soon enabled to throw, all those who, still adhered to the
! old system, into confusion. Hitherto they had made a practice of
i forming their line of battle ten rows deep, but Gustavus reduced ,it
ito six in the infantry, and four in the cavalry; whence his little army

478 THE PROTESTANT PRINCES HESITATE TO JOIN HIM.

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 they were enabled to fire off their muskets with much
more ease and despatch, and which were constructed too of far
lighter materials than those of the imperialists.

The imperialists, 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 sur-
rendered to him the city, which the king intended at once to convert
into a principal military depot during the war.

The Protestant princes of the empire, like the Duke of Pome-
rania, 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 again 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. Gustavus was by no means pleased with the
disposition thus shown: " We Evangelists," 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 safety whilst the rest of
the crew look quietly on with their arms folded; all ought to work
together, and each ought to assist with all his might in the par-
ticular part assigned to him." The Protestants, however, possessed
no such spirit of union, neither did they cherish that conscientious-
ness of purpose so necessary. As usual they were divided among
themselves by jealousy and prejudice. The palatinate was entirely
subjected; and Saxony, which for a length of time had kept aloof
from the Evangelists, and at times, during the period of the pala
tine's influence, had even adhered to Austria, was now vacillating
between its dread of Austria and a foreign prince. George Wil-
liam, the Elector of Brandenburg, a weak prince, was guided by
his minister Schwarzenberg, who was opposed altogether to an
alliance with Sweden. Amongst the petty princes, of whom many
were in truth much more determined, but were at the same time
dependent upon the power of Austria, there were only two who
joined the king, the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel and the Duke of
Saxe-Weimar. The others, together with Saxony and Bran-
denburg, held a meeting in April, 1631, at Leipsic, and resolved to

THE ELECTOR OF BRANDENBURG — MAGDEBURG. 479

raise an army for themselves in defence of their territories against
any attack, whether proceeding from the Swedes or Austrians. The
emperor, who perceived clearly that the grand struggle must be
decided by the sword, and would not for a moment entertain the
idea of submitting his will to the diet, commanded the immediate
dissolution of the Leipsic alliance, and commenced forthwith dis-
arming all the princes and cities in the south of Germany forming a
portion thereof.

The King of Sweden, now reinforced by a large number of
enlisted troops, advanced with rapid marches direct through Pome-
rania, and completely beat and put to flight the whole of the im-
perialists before him. The latter in their retreat devastated the
country, pillaged all the towns, many of which they burnt, and ill-
treated and murdered the inhabitants. This dreadful war now re-
sumed all its horrors. The Swedes, so steady and strict in their
discipline, 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.

Gustavus was desirous to march in security step by step, and not
to leave any fortified place in his rear ; whence, after he had carried
by assault Frankfort on the Oder, which contained a garrison 01
8000 imperialists, he desired the Elector of Brandenburg to sur-
render into his hands the fortified towns of Ciistrin and Spandau.
The latter, although related by marriage to Gustavus, who had mar-
ried 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: " My road 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 Evangelists. 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 punishment due from
God. For if Magdeburg be taken, and I withdraw, imagine to your-
self what must happen to you !" This appeal produced its effects ;
the elector surrendered Spandau into his hands at once. The distance
| thence to Magdeburg was but short, and the inhabitants of that hard
i pressed city were most urgent in their prayers for assistance; unhap-
'pily, however, Gustavus found it quite impossible to cross the Elbe
in face of the enemy so as to proceed by the direct road. Accord-
ingly 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,
jhowever, the king was engaged in endeavouring to prevail upon the
jclector to accede to his request, the dreadful, fatal day of conquest
jarrived — and the devoted city was lost.

480 COUNT TILLY— CONQUERS AND BURNS MAGDEBURG.

The city of Magdeburg, which, from the commencement, had con-
tinued 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. They 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
time 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 him-
self master of it before the king's arrival. He commenced the siege
in the month of March, 1631, seconded by General Pappcnheim, 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 perseverence. They had
even erected two strong entrenchments in front of the city walls,
which, in testimony of their undaunted resolution, they styled
Trutz-Tilly (defiance to Tilly), and Trutz-Pappenheim (defiance to
Pappenheim).

But in the meantime, unhappily, the want of provisions increased
the distress with each succeeding day more and more, for the old
general left no means untried to bring them to a surrender. Their
only hope now was in the succour they expected to receive from the
king, who, they knew, was close at hand ; and on the 1 9th of May,
when the thunder of the enemy's artillery ceased, and the guns were
actually wheeled away from the trenches, they firmly believed their
deliverer had now arrived. This, however, was only the signal for
their destruction, and the prelude to preparations that were being
made by the iron- hearted general for the final assault he had now
determined upon making. In the silence of the night the scaling
ladders were all fixed ready, and the attack ordered to be made at
five o'clock in the morning. The sentinels on the walls having
kept watch until the dawn of day, now finding all quiet, and as they
unsuspectingly thought, every thing secure, retired to get a brief
half hour's repose.

Shortly afterwards the dreadful, fatal hour struck. The signal
for the assault was given, and the division of the imperialists under
Pappenheim scaled that portion of the wall next to the new town,
and the artillery again thundered forth against the walls, which
here and there were now soon shattered to pieces. The enemy speedily
succeeded in mounting the ramparts, and whilst the brave com-
mandant, Falkenberg,was hastening to the most dangerous part, he was
shot dead. The terrified citizens, now deprived of their commander,
and completely deadened with the sound of the roaring cannon, aban-
doned their walls and hurried to their homes. Many were mad

HORRIBLE SCENES OP CRUELTY~-GUSTAVUS AND TILLY. 481

enough to imagine that they would be enabled to defend themselves
more securely there, and fired upon the enemy from their windows,
whilst the females themselves hurled stones and other missiles from
the roofs of the houses. But this only served to increase the rage of the
imperialists, and neither mercy nor pity was shown. Men, women,
children, the aged and the young, all were massacred alike, the very
infants at the breast of their mothers, being seized, stabbed, and hurled
into the flaming mass beside them : a scene of horror which these
monsters in human shape continued from ten o'clock in the morning
and during the whole day until night. Every possible cruelty, and
torments of every description were put into practice on this direful
day — the insatiable imperialists devoting all their energies to the
performance of their sanguinary and destructive work. It is related
that a few of his officers, touched with a -little remorse, repaired to
Tilly who had remained in the camp, and inquired whether he
would not, perhaps, give orders to close the scene of pillage and
murder? But he replied: "No, no; let them go on for another hour,
and then come to me again. The men must have some reward for
the danger and fatigue they have undergone."

By ten o'clock in the evening, nothing more was left of this an-
j cient and magnificent city but the cathedral, one solitary convent, and
a few stray fishermen's cabins on the Elbe ; all else was reduced to
cinders and ashes. More than twenty thousand human beings pe-
jrished, either by the sword or in the flames, and when, two days af-
jterwards, the cathedral was opened, more than a thousand miserable
beings were found heaped together, who, having taken refuge there,
|were now sinking and dying around from starvation and mental
tagony. Such as were still to be saved, Tilly supplied with food;
|his wrath was now appeased, but all glory and good fortune, hitherto
BO faithful to him, abandoned him from this day, and his name
Henceforward was never pronounced without a malediction.

After the conquest of Magdeburg, Tilly was very desirous of
paving a drawn battle with the King of Sweden, for his troops suf-
fered much in that ravaged district from want of supplies ; Gustavus,
lowever, considered he was not yet in sufficient force to risk a meet-
no;, and he continued to keep himself entrenched in his camp of
iVerben, in Altmark. He was, likewise, extremely anxious to re-
tore his cousins, the banished Dukes of Mecklenburg, to their here-
i itary possessions. Accordingly, he furnished them with the neces-
iry quantity of troops with which they re-conquered their domi-
dons, and made their solemn entry in their town of Glistrow, in
-hich Wallenstein had previously established his court residence.
.lie king heightened the interest of the grand festival given upon
lie occasion by attending it in person, and he ordered that every
lother with a suckling child should attend in the open square, and
lat each infant should receive some of the wine there generally clis-
'ibuted, in order that the children of their children might for ever
vincmber the day of the return of their own legitimate princes.

2 I

482 THE ELECTOR OF SAXONY— BATTLE OF LEIPSIC, 1631.

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 such proceeding. He referred
to the imperial decree, which ordered that all the members of the
Leipsic league should throw down their arms ; and, as he found that
the elector, in spite of this command, still continued on the de-
fensive, he immediately marched into Saxony without even making
any declaration of war, and taking possession of, and pillaging the
cities of Merseburg, Zeiz, 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 produced, for the
elector threw himself immediately, and without any reserve, into
his arms, concluded with him a firm and definitive alliance, offen-
sive 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 posses-
sion 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 un-
conquered 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
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 Bran-
denburg, 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 king 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, 1613, and there fought the decisive battle
Gustavus divided the Saxons from the rest of his troops, and postec
them on his left wing, for as they were only recently enlisted, h(
could not put entire trust in them. The cannonading on both side;
commenced about mid-day, and the shots told with far greater pre
cision and consequent effect amongst the crowded ranks of th<
imperialists than on the other side; and, in order to put an end a
once to this opening scene of destruction, the right wing of the im

THE IMPERIALISTS WITHDRAWN— TRIUMPH OF GUSTAVUS. 483

perialists fell upon the Saxons with such force that they were soon
overthrown and put to flight, when, having partially rallied again
at some distance from the scene of action, they re-assembled round
their elector, who had withdrawn to Eilenburg where, according to
Chemnitz's account, he fell into a state of despondency.

At the same moment that this first attack was made, Pappenheim,

who was distinguished as the best cavalrist of his day, with the

elite of his cavalry, threw himself upon the right wing of the

Swedes, in order to break through their line. Here, however, he

found himself opposed by an invulnerable wall; seven times were

his attacks repulsed by the brave Swedish general, Banner. Tilly,

who had abandoned the pursuit of the Saxons, now directed his

attack upon the exposed flank of the Swedes; but, here again, the

royal hero promptly turned his efforts in good time against the old

warrior, whose troops were forced to expend all their fury in vain

against the invincible firmness of their Swedish adversaries. The

imperial general found himself completely puzzled and put out of

| his way by this new order of battle; the system was entirely

I changed, and against all expectation the confidence he usually

| placed in all his plans and calculations now deserted him for the

I first time; he found he had to deal with a superior genius, and

whilst he was thus struck with embarrassment and mortification,

Gustavus availed himself of this moment of hesitation, and making

an attack upon the enemy's artillery, took possession of it, and turned

the muzzles of the guns against the imperialists themselves.

This moment was decisive ; the ranks of the enemy fell into dis-
I order and were put to route ; 7000 were left dead on the field of
(battle, and Tilly himself was in great danger of his life. He was
[pursued by a captain of the Swedish cavalry, who struck him seve-
ral times upon the head with the handle of his pistol ; but was him-
self shot dead by an imperial officer who came to the rescue of his
idistressed leader. The sexagenarian general escaped, at length, with
(several wounds, and, completely exhausted in body and spirits,
ireached Halle, where he was joined by Pappenheim, who was the
•last to quit the field, having killed with his own hand, as Tilly re-
llates in his bulletin of the battle, fourteen of the enemy. Of all his
bwn brave squadrons of cavalry, formerly so dreaded, he had now
'only a small troop left.

This victory proved for Gustavus the grand foundation upon
which was based his great reputation as a warrior throughout Ger-
many, and from that moment was excited that veneration — almost
unounting to adoration — for his person and character. For this
•vas a period, as in all extraordinary epochs of history, when, pro-
perly speaking, public opinion was all-powerful ; when^ the faith,
•Confidence, respect, and enthusiasm produced in the minds of the
')eople by the actions of one man, were sufficient to establish him in
heir favour, and whoever knew how to avail himself of this moral
•orce must be certain of success. All now turned towards the star

2 12

484 THE CITIES YIELD TO GUSTAVUS— DEATH OF TILLY;

thus ascending from the north ; and lie was enthusiastically received
by zealots both in religious and superstitious faith. Prophecies,
miracles, and dreams, were all made to refer to the great Gustavus;
and wherever he appeared the Protestants received him as their de-
liverer, with indescribable transports of joy, and truly, during the
whole period of the world's existence, the royal presence of a lung
was never so gratefully honoured and reverenced as was that of the
heroic and nobly born champion of the Protestant faith, Gustavus
Adolphus of Sweden.

Gustavus possessed a glance too keen and comprehensive not to
perceive and fully understand the power which was now contri-
buting all possible strength to his cause; and, although formerly he
exercised the greatest and most anxious caution in the steps he
took, inarching his army slowly through the country, and securing
his safe retreat by making himself master of all the fortified places
in his route, he now pressed boldly onwards through the empire,
his progress presenting one triumphant march. Proceeding through
Thuringia and across the Thuringian forest, he arrived in Fran-
conia, and thence continued his course to the Rhine ; where, having
fixed his quarters during a short winter's rest, he resumed his pro-
gress, and, returning to Franconia, marched on direct to Bavaria.
The most important cities fell into his hands, some after a slight
resistance, and most of them yielded themselves voluntarily, includ-
ing Halle, Erfurt, Wurzburg, Frankfort, Mentz, Nuremberg, &c.
Tilly, whose army was now so reinforced, that he found himself at
the head of a much more numerous body of troops than the king
himself had under his command, nevertheless would not venture to
oppose his march ; for since the battle of Leipsic he found it im-
possible to recover that confidence within himself which, until then,
he had always had at his command.

The Elector Maximilian of Bavaria, having, however, sum-
moned him to march to his aid in order to protect his own here-
ditary estates, the old general advanced to the river Lech, in the
passage across which he was to oppose the king, and to assist in which
object Maximilian himself joined him near Rain. But Gustavus,
before whom every thing now yielded, surmounted likewise this
obstacle. After a vigorous cannonade, the imperial army being forced
to quit the position it had taken, the king crossed the river and
marched in pursuit of the enemy. But in the early part of the action
Tilly himself was struck in his right knee by a cannon-ball weigh-
ing three pounds, and fell from his horse ; he was conveyed to In-
golstadt, followed by Maximilian. Thither, after he had taken and
placed a garrison in Augsburg, Gustavus repaired and immediately
laid siege to that town. The garrison defended the place bravely,
and the king himself narrowly escaped, his horse being shot dead
and overthrowing its royal rider. Tilly, although sinking fast, still
encouraged the garrison to the last; he died twenty-five days after
he received his mortal wound, in the seventy- third year of his age,

GUSTAVUS IN MUNICH—THE EMPEROR AND WALLENSTEIN. 485

He was a stern, iron-hearted man, who made a merit of boasting
that he had never once known the feeling of love or affection; at the
same time he was of a firm and incorruptible character, and a good
general. In personal appearance he bore a great resemblance to the
Duke of Alba, under whom he had served in the Netherlands. He
was of middle height and very thin ; his eyes were large, but their
expression, together with the contour of his whole countenance, in-
dicated the stern and rigid nature of the man. He was the descendant
of a noble family in Liege.

The Swedish king raised the siege of Ingolstadt and marched to
Munich, which trembled, at his approach. The inhabitants, and
the Bavarian people generally, in their hatred against the Swedes,
had treated many of that nation with great cruelty, putting them
to death and then mangling their remains; by which inhuman con-
duct they had excited the greatest indignation in the king. Never-
theless, he received the deputies of the city graciously when they
presented the keys to him: " You have done well," he said, "and
your submission has disarmed me. I should have been justified in
making an example of your city in revenge for the unhappy fate of
Magdeburg ; however, fear nothing, depart in peace, and fear not
for your property or religion. My word is more valuable than all
the signed capitulations in the world."

The greater portion of the Bavarian territory was now in the
hands of Gustavus, and the elector was forced to seek refuge in Ra-
tisbon.

The Saxons, meantime, agreeable to the plan of war drawn up by
| Gustavus, had marched into Bohemia, under the command of Field-
marshal Arnim — who had quitted the service'of the emperor and passed
over into that of the Elector of Saxony — and very easily made them-
selves masters of Prague, which was but slightly defended; there,
on the llth of November, 1631, the elector made his solemn entry.

Thus that single battle of Leipsic snatched from the hands of the
'emperor the entire fruits of a twelve years' war, and he now saw him-
,self threatened even in his own patrimonial estates; this was a
{crisis for which he was by no means prepared, and which came upon
fiim like a clap of thunder. In such a critical moment he, with his
Council, saw but one means of extrication, and this was the recall of
;hat proud and ambitious man, Wallenstein, who, offended and in-
jlignant at being dismissed from the imperial service, now lived in
nortified retirement brooding on the past. No other was now left
vlio could venture to enter the lists against the powerful king ; no
>ther who was capable of again raising an army for the emperor's
ervice.

But the task of winning him over to the imperial cause, seemed
;ow more difficult than ever. He lived upon his estates in Bohemia
.1 a style of luxury truly royal, and appeared to bid defiance to
piperor and kings ; and it was thus the millions he had gained in
!ie war enabled him to live. His palace in Prague was erected with

486 PRAGUE— WALLENSTEIN'S PALACE — THE ARMY.

royal magnificence, and which even at the present day bears the stamp
of its original character. Whilst his enemies congratulated them-
selves upon having reduced him to this condition of a private indi-
vidual, he had his own figure represented in fresco on the walls of
the state saloon of his palace, by artists whom he procured from Italy
and Germany, in the character of a conqueror seated in a triumphant
car borne along by four milk-white steeds, whilst over his laurel-
crowned head was placed a star. Sixty pages, each of noble family,
in their rich costume of blue and gold velvet, attended upon him, and
some of his officers and chamberlains had even previously served the
emperor himself in the same rank they held under Wallenstein.
Three hundred horses of choice breed filled his magnificent stables,
and the assemblies in his palace rivalled in character the imperial
court itself, for he was always visited by the most distinguished men
of the day, too eager to seek and enjoy intercourse with such ex-
traordinary genius. Outwardly he observed the greatest ease and
tranquillity of manner, but internally he was still agitated with burn-
ing ambition. He had beheld the progress made by Gustavus with
inward joy, because therein was satiated his revenge against the
emperor and the hated Elector of Bavaria, and all eyes would soon
again be directed towards him as the only friend in need. And in
reality, as he expected, the imperial deputies did arrive.

Wallenstein received them coldly, and it was only after being most
urgently pressed by them that he yielded the promise to raise for the
emperor an army of 30,000 men ; but he would not engage to take
the command of it. And now the mighty man sent forth his fol-
lowers in all directions to erect his recruiting standard. Thousands
rallied around it, for it had ever led to pillage and fortune ; and in
this stormy age it was easier to gain a livelihood in war than in the
workshop or behind the plough. The heavy horsemen under Wal-
lenstein received each nine florins monthly pay, the light cavalry six,
the infantry four, besides daily rations of meat, bread, and wine. The
30,000 men were collected together already by March in the year
1632 ; but he alone who had raised them was capable of conducting
them.

Of this the emperor was well aware, and he accordingly submitted
to the incredible degradation of permitting Wallenstein to dictate to
him the following conditions : " The Duke of Friedland, Generalissimo
of the emperor, shall have the supreme command of the whole arch-
ducal house, and of the crown of Spain without any limitation what-
ever (in absolutissima forma) ; neither the emperor, nor King Ferdi-
nand (son of the emperor, whom the adverse party would fain have
made general-in-chief) shall appear in person with the troops ; to
secure the remuneration of his services he shall receive as a guarantee
a portion of the Austrian patrimonial estates, and with it he shall be
entitled to exercise an exclusive and irresponsible control over the
conquests he shall make in the empire, and command the privilege of
conferring distinctions as he may deem best. Mecklenburg or some

THE STIPULATION— RE-APPOINTED GENERALISSIMO. 487

other indemnification shall be made over to him during peace, and
during the war, if necessary, he shall be at liberty to choose any of
the hereditary provinces of the empire for his seat of retirement."

Clothed with such — almost imperial — power Wallenstein again ap-
peared upon the stage, increased his army to 40,000 men, conquered
Prague once more on the 4th of May in the year 1632, and with little
difficulty expelled the Saxons from Bohemia.

The Elector of Bavaria, who, in the meanwhile, was sorely pressed
at home, applied to Wallenstein in the most urgent terms for help,
which the latter, appearing to enjoy thoroughly his distress and hu-
miliation, for a long time hesitated to afford ; at length, after the
elector had engaged to comply in an unqualified manner with all his
instructions in the conduct of the war, he sent him an invitation to
join him at Eger, intending thence to make an advance upon Nurem-
berg, one of the most considerable places of defence the king pos-
sessed. But Gustavus who perceived the design, anticipated him, and
made his appearance quite unexpectedly with an army near the city,
which he intrenched, being vigorously aided by the devoted and en-
thusiastic inhabitants, whose youth filled the ranks of his army, and
thus he was prepared for the enemy. The latter advanced and likewise
made an intrenchment on the heights of Zirndorf and Altenberg, in
view of the Swedish encampment. Both parties had formed the plan
of forcing each other by famine and disease to leave their strong-
hold. They maintained this position eleven weeks, and neither would
stir. But the distress of the whole surrounding country had now be-
come very great ; every thing was consumed and laid waste. In Wal-
lenstein's camp alone, in addition to the large army itself, there were
about 15,000 servants and attendants upon the baggage, and an equal
number of women whom he had permitted to follow their husbands,
together with 30,000 horses, which had been employed chiefly in
removing the immense quantity of baggage. The licentiousness of
this vast multitude increased daily, for they subsisted upon rapine and
plunder. In Gustavus's army, likewise, strict order was no longer
maintained as at first, it being now considerably increased by recruits
I and German auxiliaries. These he could not restrain as he wished,
although he adopted the severest measures for that purpose. The dis-
order however was produced mainly through their own leaders, who
; were negligent of all discipline. The pious mind of the king was sorely
| pained and indignant when he heard of the outrages perpetrated by
I his troops upon the poor inhabitants of the country. He called the
| leaders together, sharply rebuked them, and exclaimed : u They
: made him so miserable, that he was weary of having^ longer any
; thing to do with such a perverse set." Unfortunately his eye could
; not be everywhere, and the mischief had already become too deeply
rooted. He then resolved to bring this undecided and ruinous state
of affairs to a conclusion by making a daring attempt. On the 24th
! of August he stormed the heights of Wallenstein, but found the
1 undertaking too formidable ; the most determined courage availed

488 THE TWO CAMPS— THE BATTLE OF LUTZEN, 1632.

nothing against these fastnesses defended by their thundering artillery,
the king was therefore obliged, after serious loss, to give up the as-
sault. He waited fourteen days longer in his encampment, and as
Wallenstein still continued immoveable, he retired and returned to
Bavaria on the 8th of September, marching with sounding trum-
pets past the enemy, who would not venture to attack him.

Wallenstein now abandoned his encampment likewise, set fire to it,
and unexpectedly formed the resolution of carrying a determined war
once more into northern Protestant Germany ; he marched at once
for Saxony, and his approach was indicated by carnage and confla-
gration. The king hastened to afford relief, and reached Naumburg
on the llth of November. The people welcomed him as their guar-
dian angel, gathered around him as he entered, and kissed his feet.
A sad misgiving possessed his soul at this excessive veneration:
u Our cause is good," said he to his chaplain Fabricius, u but I fear
that God will punish me for the folly of these people. Does it not
seem as if these people were actually making an idol of me ? How
easily could that God, who abases the proud, cause them and myself
to feel, that I am nothing but a feeble and mortal man."

As just about this time the weather was intensely cold, and the
king had intrenched himself near Naumburg, Wallenstein did not
deem it advisable to commence hostilities before the spring, and
despatched Count Pappenheim to the Rhine with instructions, first of
all to drive the Swedes out of Halle and the contiguous town of Mo-
ritzburg. Gustavus immediately took his departure, advanced to
Weissenfels, and in the evening of the 15th of November took his
position in front of Wallenstein's army near Llitzen. Both made
immediate preparation for battle, and the imperial general sum-
moned Pappenheim, who was still engaged in the siege of Moritz-
burg, to return with all possible speed.

The king spent the cold autumnal night in his carriage, and ad-
vised with his generals about the battle. The morning dawned,
and a thick fog covered the entire plain ; the troops were drawn up
in battle array, and the Swedes sang, accompanied by trumpets
and drums, Luther's hymn: " Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott," (A
mighty rock is our God) ; together with the hymn composed by
the king himself: " Verzage nicht, du Hauflein klein," (Fear not
thou little flock). Just after eleven o'clock, when the sun was
emerging from behind the clouds, and after a short prayer, the king
mounted his horse, placed himself at the head of the right wing,—
the left being conducted by Bernard of Weimar, — and cried, " Now,
onwards ! May our God direct us ! Lord ! Lord ! Help me this day
to fight for the glory of thy name !" and throwing aside his cuirass
with the words: " God is my shield !" he led his troops to the front of
the imperials, who were well intrenched on the paved road which
leads from Liitzen to Leipsic, and stationed in the deep trenches on
either side. A deadly cannonade saluted the Swedes ; many here
met their death, but their places were taken by others, who leaped

DEATH OF GUSTAVUS, 1632— DEFEAT OF WALLENSTEIN. 489

over the trench, and the troops of Wallenstein made a retreat. In
the meanwhile, Pappenheim had come up with his cavalry from
Halle, and the battle was renewed with the utmost fury. The
Swedish infantry fled in trepidation behind the trenches. In order
to render them assistance, the king hastened to the spot with a com-
pany of horse, and rode in full speed considerably in advance to des-
cry the weak points of the enemy; a few of his attendants only, and
Francis, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, followed him. His short sightedness
led him too near a squadron of imperial horse ; he received a shot in
his arm, so that he nearly fell to the ground powerless ; and just as he
was turning round to be led away from the tumultuous scene, he re-
ceived a second shot in the back. With the exclamation : ' ' My God !
my God !" he fell from his horse, which had likewise been shot in the
neck, and hanging by the stirrup he was dragged some distance along
the ground. The Duke of Lauenburg abandoned him, but a faithful
page, Leubelfing, endeavoured to raise him up; the imperial horse-
men, however, shot him also, killed the king with several wounds,
and completely plundered him ; the page died of his wounds five
days after at Naumburg.

The corpse of the king was so much trampled upon by the hoofs
of the horses that it was quite disfigured. His bleeding horse re-
turning without its rider, conveyed to his friends the sad news ; this
kindled in their breast a feeling which thirsted for revenge, and
under the leadership of Duke Bernard of Weimar, who with heroic
firmness now rallied and cheered on the troops afresh, they again
pushed forward over the trenches and rushed upon the ranks of the
enemy. These could no longer make resistance ; Piccolomini, al-
ready covered with blood, mounted his fifth horse, and Pappenheim,
who had fought nobly, fell mortally wounded by a ball. Many
fled, and disorder prevailed: " The battle is lost, Pappenheim is
i dead, the Swedes are upon us!" was the cry. Wallenstein gave
'orders to sound a retreat. A thick fog, together with night corn-
ling on, prevented the Swedes, no less than their own weariness,
from making pursuit; they spent the night on the field of battle,
jand kept possession of the imperial artillery. Wallenstein marched
with the remains of his army to Bohemia, although he had formerly
determined to winter in Saxony. Thus the issue unequivocally
^declared the Swedes victorious, although Wallenstein represented
ithe battle as undecided, and the emperor ordered a Te Deum to be

rng in all his cities.
On the following day the Swedes made a search for the body of
•their beloved king, among the thousands which covered the wide bat-
tle-field; they found it, at length, among many others, so disfigured
•by the hoofs of the horses, and covered with the blood issuing from
jsleven wounds, that they could hardly recognise it. It was carried
jto Weissenfels, and thence by the desire of the queen, Maria Elea-
jaor, who had followed her consort to Germany, attended by weep-

490 PORTRAITURE OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.

ing multitudes, it was removed to Stockholm where it was in-

The collar, also saturated with, blood, and which the king had worn
in battle, was brought to the Emperor Ferdinand at Vienna; it is said,
that when he saw it he shed tears, by which he did honour to his
fallen enemy and himself. Ferdinand's soul was great enough to ad-
mire heroism even in a foe.

Thus, in the thirty-eighth year of his life, in the midst of a career
of victory, was Gustavus Adolphus called away; the preponderating
influence of his mind gave another character to the constitution
of Germany and the progress of our development. He had already
conceived the idea of getting himself nominated King of Rome, and
his design, the extent of which is known to none, may also have com-
prehended other countries of Europe. He often expressed his asto-
nishment that the present age did not produce generals like those of an-
tiquity ; and when he was told that the altered character of the wea-
pons and tactics of war, and the existence of strong fortifications were
the cause, he replied : " The difference is not in the nature of the wea-
pons, but in the degeneration of men ; if we could again meet with the
heart of an Alexander, the courage of a Hannibal, and the enterprising
spirit of a Caesar, we should see renewed the deeds of Alexander, the
conquests of Hannibal, and the successes of Caesar." Such lofty con-
ceptions of human life, such a thorough acquaintance with the agen-
cies which govern the world, and with history, did he possess; and who
will venture to determine what limits a mind like this had prescribed
to itself? A contemporary, whose judgment may be regarded as im-
partial, Count Galeazzo Gualdo, a Venetian and a Catholic, who spent
several years in the imperial as well as in the Swedish armies, describes
the personal and mental qualifications of the king thus : " Gustavus was
tall, stout, and of such a truly royal demeanour, that he universally
commanded veneration, admiration, love, and fear. His hair and beard
were of a light brown colour, his eye large, but not far-sighted.
War had great charms for him, and from his earliest youth honour
and glory were his passion. Eloquence dwelt upon his tongue (he
spoke — in addition to the German, the native language of his mo-
ther— the Swedish, Latin, French, and Italian languages); and in
discourse he was agreeable and lively. There never was a general who
was served with so much cheerfulness and devotion as was Gus-
tavus. He was of an affable and friendly disposition, readily ex-
pressed commendation, and noble actions were indelibly fixed in his
memory ; on the other hand, excessive politeness and flattery he
hated, and if any person approached him in this way, he never
trusted him."

He was severe against all the excesses of the soldiery, and was
greatly concerned for the security of the citizens and peasantry.
When, after taking a Catholic town, some sought to induce him to
treat the burghers with harshness, and to give them new laws, he

PORTRAITURE OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. 491

made answer: " The city is now mine, and no longer the enemy's.
I am come to loosen the fetters of freedom and not to rivet them
afresh. Let them live as they have lived heretofore ; I give no new
laws to them who know how to live as their religion teaches." " In
dealing with Protestants and Catholics he made no distinction. His
maxim was, that every one is orthodox who conforms to the laws,
and to keep men from going to hell was not the calling of princes,
but that of the ministers of religion."

Thus he carried out these sentiments during his stay at Munich,
as well as on other occasions. On Ascension Day, in the year 1632,
he went to the chapel of Our Lady, to be present at a mass cele-
brated with all the solemnity of the Catholic worship ; he then visited
the college of the Jesuits, replied to the rector's Latin address in the
same language, and conversed with him for nearly an hour on the
subject of the Lord's Supper. In magnanimity and liberality of
sentiment he occupies a position strikingly in advance of his gene-
ration, no less for the respect he paid to the religious feeling of
others, however it might differ in form from that which he con-
scientiously preferred, than for the homage he paid to greatness and
truth in general. How natural it was that the affections of man-
kind should be gained by a character like this, by the side of such
narrow-minded and prejudiced rulers of the day as Ferdinand II.,
Maximilian of Bavaria, or even the well-meaning but weak John
George of Saxony ! Besides Gualdo, other Catholic writers, such
as Khevenhiiller, Biccius, Burgus, &c., do not conceal their venera-
tion for Gustavus Adolphus.

The monument of Gustavus Adolphus in Germany was for a
long time a mere stone landmark, placed in the battle-field of Llitzen,
upon the spot where he fell; more recently, however, an admirer
of his character has erected in the same place another plain but
more worthy memorial.

492 CONTINUATION OF THE WAR, 1632—1635,

CHAPTER XXV.

Continuation of the War, 1632— 1635— Chancellor Oxenstiern— Wallenstein's In-
action— Court Martial over his Officers — Military Executions— Count of Thurn
taken Prisoner and released by Wallen stein -The Emperor's Remonstrance
and Wallenstein's Eeply— The Swedes in Bavaria— Wallenstein withholds As-
sistance—Prohibits his Officers from obeying the Imperial Commands — Pilsen—
Military Council and Compact between Wallenstein and his Officers — Counts
Terzka, Illo, and Piccolomini — The Emperor Divests Wallenstein of all Com-
mand— Italian- Spanish Conspiracy against Wallenstein — Piccolomini marches
against Wallenstein — Wallenstein negotiates with France and Sweden for his
Services — The Crown of Bohemia offered to him — Retreats to Eger— The Supper
in the Citadel — Murder of Counts Terzka, Illo, and Kinsky by Deveroux and
Geraldin — Assassination of Wallenstein, 1634 — His Estates confiscated— Suc-
ceeded in Command by Ferdinand, King of Rome — The Battle of Nordlingen —
The Elector of Saxony— Peace of Prague, 1635 — Dreadful Condition of Ger-
many — Cardinal Richelieu and Chancellor Oxenstiern — French and Swedish Al-
liance against the Emperor — Inglorious Character of the War— Death of Ferdi-
nand H., 1637.

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 Protestant allies 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 Ger-
many, and the late king's friend, the Chancellor Axel Oxenstiern was
determined to fill his place ; a man whose comprehensive and pru-
dent mind knew how to hold the strength of his party together.
Nevertheless, 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 incompre-
hensible inaction. After the battle of Lutzen he summoned 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 condemned several
of his generals and superior officers to the axe, and adjudged a great

WALLENSTEIN AND HIS ARMY— BAVARIA. 493

number of private soldiers to be liung ; 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, re*
placed his artillery ^by melting down the bells of the churches, and
was soon in possession of an army equally 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 Bernard 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 endeavoured to ascertain what
amount of indemnification the enemy would allow him in case he
went over to their side, for he had long since believed to have
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-
pi-event 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 originator of the war. The whole of Vienna
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 cul-
jpable of all those connected with the dreadful scenes of the revolu-
ion; Wallenstein, however, to the astonishment of all, gave him his
liberty, and when he was remonstrated with by the emperor for re-
easing his prisoner he replied: li What use was I to make of such a
bol? I wish the Swedes possessed no better generals than this Thurn,
or at the head of the Swedes he will do more service for the im-
perial cause than he could if in prison."

During this interval Bavaria was very hard pressed by Horn andi
Bernard of Weimar, and, urged by the elector's earnest demands for
lid, the emperor had already repeatedly summoned his general to»
oarch to the relief of that country. Wallenstein, however, delayed
oing so for a considerable time; at length he advanced slowly
jhrough Bohemia, arrived in the upper palatinate and marched back
[gain into Bohemia, where he fixed his winter quarters. He gave
Strict orders to all his generals, in command of distinct divisions of
Ihe army, under the most severe penalties, not to obey the orders of
|he emperor; and when the latter caused a Spanish army to march
ram Italy into Germany without placing it under the orders of
Vallenstein, and even commanded that a portion of the grand army
lould be detached from the main body in order to form a junction,
dth the Spanish division, the Generalissimo complained loudly and.
;idignantly at this violation of the treaty made between himself and.
lie emperor.

! Weaned with these mortifications, and tormented by his attacks-
|T gout, to such an extent that he was obliged to have pieces of raw

494 CONSPIRACY AGAINST WALLENSTEIN— HIS DECLARATION.

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 endeavoured, 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 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 service, 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 with-
draw from the supreme command without their privity and consent."
Field-marshal Piccolomini, who subsequently betrayed his general,
attached his signature to this agreement, likewise, with the rest.

Wallenstein's enemies availed themselves of this certainly im-
portant circumstance to bring him more and more under the em-
peror's suspicion, and 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 but that an Italian- Spanish conspiracy was firmly es-
tablished against Wallenstein in the imperial court, and which was
joined by the Elector of Bavaria, who continually complained, in
most bitter terms, against the general. The principal agent in these
secret proceedings was an Italian, Colonel Caretta, Marquis of Grana.

These intrigues against Wallenstein were conducted so secretly —
the Emperor Ferdinand himself being in actual correspondence with
him on official business twenty days subsequently to that of the 24th
of January, when he had issued the instrument for Wallenstein's dis-
missal— that the latter only first learnt it when Gallas, Piccolomini,
and Aldringen published their ordinances, in the name of the em-
peror, in which they interdicted all the 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 officers on the 12th of January, contained nothing whatever that
was hostile to the emperor or the Catholic religion. He also de-
spatched two officers to the emperor with the declaration that he was
ready to resign his office of Generalissimo, and would appear to jus-

FATAL SUPPER IN THE CITADEL— -WALLENSTEIN'S MURDER. 495

tify himself before any tribunal the emperor might be pleased to ap-
point. 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 Wal-
lenstein was obliged to withdraw to the citadel of Eger, of which the
commandant, Colonel Gordon, was especially attached to him from
motives of gratitude for favours he had conferred upon him. Here,
three days previously 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 the Duke Bernard 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 en-
gagement 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. But
no written document, nor any direct act of Wallenstein himself cor-
roborate these statements or prove 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 whether or not
Wallenstein was merely playing with them in order to gain their
confidence. At the same time it is not unlikely that this extraor-
dinary and incomprehensible man, anticipating the probable loss of
j the emperor's favour, was desirous not to refuse altogether the propo-
' sitions 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 quitted Pilsen on the morning of the 22nd of Fe-
bruary, borne along in a litter, and suffering excruciatingly from
the gout; he was accompanied by only ten followers, including Co-
lonel Butler, by whom he was subsequently murdered ; and at the
jend of the second day's journey he reached Eger, taking up his
quarters in the house of the burgomaster, Pechhelbel, in the market-
place. On the following evening, Terzka, Illo, and Kinsky proceeded
•to the citadel to sup with Colonel Gordon, the commandant. Whilst
jthey were dining, thirty dragoons, commanded by Captains Deve-
(roux and Geraldin, suddenly burst into the hall from the anti-room
an which they had been waiting, and, falling upon their victims,
pierced them to death ; not, however, before Terzka, who bravely
idefended himself, had killed two of the band of assassins. Imme-
diately after this murderous act, Deveroux proceeded with six dra-
goons to complete the sanguinary plot by assassinating Wailenstein
himself. It was now midnight, and the duke had already retired to
|rest. Having, however, been roused by the shrieks of the Coun-

496 flis ESTATES CONFISCATED— BATTLE OF NORDLINGE^.

tesses Terzka and Kinsky, who had just learnt the fate of their hus-
bands, 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 utter-
ing 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 hid-
den 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 was impossible to fathom, and of whom little or no-
thing 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 pos-
sessions, however, was retained by the emperor himself. The value
of Wallenstein's landed property alone was estimated at fifty mil-
lions of florins. His widow received the principality of Neuschloss;
and his only surviving child, Maria Elisabeth, became shortly after-
wards the wife of Count Caunitz.

In order to justify Wallenstein's assassination, a lengthy docu-
ment was drawn up by the especial command of the emperor him-
self, containing all the accusations brought against the duke, and
which, for a long time, continued to convey the most false and un-
just ideas and opinions of the character of that extraordinary man.

After the death of Wallenstein, Ferdinand, Bang of Rome, and
son of the emperor, obtained the chief command of the imperial
army, and fortune opened the commencement of his career with the
most brilliant success. After having followed the Swedes beyond
the frontiers of Bavaria, he overtook them near Nordlingen, in
Franconia. His own army was composed of the most choice troops,
and augmented by 15,000 Spaniards ; whilst that of the Swedes
was by no means in a state of union and discipline. The command
was divided between General Horn and Duke Bernard of Weimar;
the more experienced and prudent council of the former chief, in
anticipation of defeat, opposed giving battle altogether, whilst the
more young and daring spirit of the latter insisted upon making a
stand, and receiving the enemy's attack. Accordingly the action
took place on the 6th of September, 1634 ; but the reduced num-
ber of the Swedes, their bad position, the disunion existing between
the leaders, and the misunderstanding and confusion arising there-
from, combined altogether to act against them ; and, in spite of
all their courage, they, after a combat of eight hours, were com-
pletely defeated and nearly cut to pieces. Twenty thousand of their

MISERABLE STATE OF THE COUNTRY — RICHELIEU. 497

troops were either slain or made prisoners, and amongst the latter
was General Horn himself, whilst Duke Bernard with the remnant
of his army retreated towards the Rhine.

This battle might have proved as favourable in its results for the
Catholic party as that of Leipsic had been for the Protestants. The
Swedish power seemed annihilated in Germany, and this produced
at once the secession of the Saxons from the Swedes. Their elector,
John George, had for a length of time beheld with pain and morti-
fication the province of Lusatia continue in the hands of the imperial-
ists, and apprehended that he should not only never recover that, but
perhaps might lose still more; accordingly, in the spring of 1635, he
made peace with the emperor at Prague. He received back Lusatia,
together with a portion of the province of Magdeburg and full
liberty of religious worship for forty years. The Evangelical portion
of Germany was extremely irritated against the elector, but seve-
I ral other states soon followed his example and made terms with the
I emperor, such as : Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Weimar, Liineburg,
and others ; and it appeared as if this sanguinary war would find its
termination by the enervation of the factions. In truth, unhappy
Germany, which had been overwhelmed by warriors from almost
| every part of Europe, presented a sad and mournful picture at the
jpresent moment ; everywhere the land devastated, the population
Ifrightfully diminished, the cornfields trodden down or uncultivated,
jthe towns laid waste, and piles of ruins and ashes, where formerly
blooming regions had everywhere greeted the eye. What had es-
paped the sword, was destroyed by famine, misery, and disease, whilst
the pen itself refuses to describe the horrible extent to which the san-
guinary and cruel scenes of this war were carried.

In such a state of general distress and misery, when the German
tates everywhere showed an inclination for peace, and the emperor
dmself was disposed to revoke at least a portion of the Edict of Res-
itution— as he had already proved by his treaty of peace with the
Saxons — the oppressed nation felt at length some foundation to hope
hat the period when its sufferings would terminate was close at
land.

But once again did the fatal hand of destiny, which during so many
ears had already collected over us so many clouds of disaster, repeat
ts withering blow. The French minister, Richelieu, had long ob-
jerved with secret satisfaction the misfortunes of the house of Austria,
Ind of the empire generally. The French government regarded it
's the most wise and prudent motive of state policy, to torture
jnd execute, on the one hand, the Protestants of France through-
lit the entire kingdom ; whilst, on the other, it lent its aid
,) those of Germany, and thus rendered that faith a means by
rhich it might serve to conceal its thirst after conquest. The
iioment had now arrived when the cardinal thought he was able to
?nd the services of France at a dear rate. Accordingly he offered,
tern to the Chancellor Oxenstiern, stipulating for the fortress of Phil-

2K

498 OXENSTIERN — DEATH OF FERDINAND II., 1637.

lipsburg on the Rhine as a recompense ; whilst, at the same time, he in-
dicatecf that his designs extended to the still more important territory
of Alsace. This was the first time that foreigners had ever negotiated
for the frontiers of our country. With this treaty between Richelieu
and Oxenstiern affairs assumed at once a character both ignoble and
degrading ; for from that moment the Swedish minister sought only
to transfer a portion of Germany to his own nation. They found in
Duke Bernard of Weimar, otherwise a brave and noble prince, the
arm so desirable to second their measures, more especially as he him-
self was anxious to gain possession of a province on the Rhine. Ac-
cordingly, a powerful and well equipped army was soon collected with
French money, and placed under the duke's orders, with which he
marched against the imperialists and Bavarians, and from this mo-
ment the Rhenish provinces became the scene of war, being pillaged
and devastated the same as those along the Oder, Elbe, and Weser,
had been previously. The Swedes, however, possessed likewise a
brave and active general in Field Marshal Banner ; and reinforced
by French troops from Sweden, he marched in all haste from Pome-
rania — whither the remnant of his army had fled after the battle of
Nordlingen — against the Saxons, now the allies of the emperor, and
on the 4th of October, 1634, gave the elector battle at Wittstock,
near Mecklenburg, and completely defeated him.

This war, however, from this moment, only presents a continuation
of gloomy and disheartening scenes; for wanting, as it did, a leader
of noble genius, and uninfluenced, as its agents were, by motives of a
worthy and honourable nature, its whole character assumed an ignoble
and mercenary stamp. The royal hero, whose elevation of soul shed
a brilliant lustre over all around him, and who was inspired by his
religious faith, combined with the glory and honour of his nation, was
now no more; the impenetrable, mysterious, and all-powerful general,
who alone could venture to make a stand against the forces of Swe-
den, had also been snatched from the realisation of his dark projects;
whilst those who now had the command of the imperial armies,
although brave and not without distinction, were only second in
rank of genius, and wholly incapable of aspiring to the elevated
thoughts and feelings of their predecessors. In this war it was
egotism alone by which the parties were swayed; consequently,
however remarkable its operations may appear, they must still be
regarded in the light of ordinary events.

The Emperor Ferdinand himself, who ranked amongst the most
distinguished spirits of his age, now also disappeared from the great
scene of contention without living to witness its termination, and
died on the 15th of February, 1637, aged fifty-nine years, after
having had the satisfaction of seeing his son Ferdinand unanimously
acknowledged, at the diet of Ratisbon, as his successor.

FERDINAND III., 1637—1657 —DUKE BERNARD OF WEIMAR. 499

CHAPTER XX VI.

Ferdinand III., 1637 — 1657 — Continuation of the War — Duke Bernard of Weimar
on the Rhine — His Death — Cardinal Richelieu — The Swedish Generals — Banner
— Torstenson — Wrangel — Negotiations for Peace — Tedious Progress — French and
Swedish Claims of Indemnification — Humiliation and Dismemberment of the
Empire — Territorial Sovereignty of the Princes — Switzerland — The Netherlands
— Final Arrangement and Conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia, 1648.

IN the year 1637 and 1638, Duke Bernard of Weimar pursued
his. victorious career along the Rhine ; he surprised the army of the
league at Rhinefeld, attacked and overthrew it, taking prisoners
four generals, including the brave leader, John of Werth, and Rhine-
feld, Rb'teln, and Friburg, surrendered to his arms. But the chief
object of his wishes was to gain the important fortification of Bri-
sach, which he was anxious to make the principal seat of his domi-
nion along the Rhine. He accordingly laid siege to it, and once
more defeating the Catholic army which came to its relief, he con-
quered that stronghold after it had become completely reduced by
famine and disease, and caused himself to be solemnly acknow-
ledged by the inhabitants as their ruler. But he remained only a
short time in the enjoyment of his conquest ; for just as he was
about to prepare for another expedition, he was seized with sudden
illness, and died on the 18th of July, 1639, in the thirty-sixth year
of his age, being the youngest of eight equally brave and warlike
brothers. He himself declared his belief that he was poisoned, and
his chaplain at once confirmed this suspicion in the sermon he
preached over his remains. If this was, indeed, the case, the act
can be attributed to no other source but France, for immediately
I after the duke's death, the army was visited by several French
(agents who negotiated for the services of the army, which they pur-
1 chased for large sums, together with all the places in its posses-
sion. Three regiments of Swedes alone refused to sell themselves
to the French, and they marched out of the place with beat of
drum and unfurled banners to join the main body of their army;
jand thus Brisach was conquered for the French by the valour of
pie German troops.

Already in the year 1636, the appeal made by thousands of those
junhappy beings who suffered so much from the disasterous state of
!fche country, for that peace so much wished by all, had at length
produced some effect, and some attempts were made for this purpose ;
but Richelieu was far from wishing for pacification, inasmuch as war
made France an indispensable ally, and the hostile views of its state
bolicy were promoted by seeing Germany cut to pieces by its own
beople as well as foreigners. Still, in the year 1640, fresh and more

2 K2

500 CONTINUATION OF THE WAH — THE SWEDES.

serious attempts were commenced to establish peace, and in 1643 the
ambassadors of the various powers assembled in Minister andOsnaburg.
These negotiations, however, continued during a space of nearly
five years; whilst, meantime, the war was carried on with all its san-
guinary results.

Banner, the Swedish general, died in the year 1641, at Hal-
lerstadt, after he had committed dreadful devastation in Bohemia
and other lands. He sent to Stockholm more than 600 standards he
had captured from the imperialists ; but although he possessed talents
as a leader, his heart was cruel and without the least mercy, and his
campaigns were attended with more bloodshed and oppression than
all the others during this war. Whilst he was quartered in Bo-
hemia, there were often more than 100 villages, small towns, and
castles, burnt during the night; and one of his principal officers,
Adam Pfuhl, boasted that he had, with his own hands, set on lire
about 800 different places in that unhappy country. And when
soon afterwards, on an expedition he made against Thuringia, this
same officer felt his end approaching, and desired the last services of
a minister of religion, such was the wasted and forlorn state of
the country, that none could be found within the distance of many
leagues.

Banner was succeeded in command by Leonard Torstenson, who
although so weak in body that he was always forced to be carried in
a litter, was nevertheless the most active and talented of all the gene-
rals in this war. He commenced, in 1642, by invading Silesia,
attacked and defeated Francis Albert, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg—
the same general at whose side the great Gustavus fell at Liitzen, and
who had now gone over to the Austrians — and conquered Schweid-
nitz. Thence he inarched on to Moravia, took Olmutz, and made
Vienna itself already begin to tremble. Disease in his army, how-
ever, forced him to retreat ; but in the autumn of this year, he at-
tacked the imperial general Piccolimini at Leipsic, who had followed
him in his retreat, and completely overthrew him. This was the
greatest battle fought in this last period of the war; Piccolimini
having lost 20,000 men, forty-six pieces of artillery, and nearly two
hundred ensigns.

In the beginning of the following year Torstenson resumed his
march through Moravia, advancing as far as Olmiitz, so that his light
cavalry approached the vicinity of Vienna; and then, whilst it was
thought he was occupied in this quarter, he suddenly appeared, as if
by magic, hundreds of miles distant on the coasts of the Baltic Sea, in
Holstein and Schleswig, the territories of the King of Denmark.

These territories, which had long continued untouched by the
destructive arm of war, presented the Swedes with every thing va-
luable and desirable wherewith to enable them to fix their winter
quarters there ; whilst it was easy to find a pretext for making war
with Denmark in the jealousy with which that kingdom had always
regarded the victories gained by the Swedes. Accordingly, in the
ensuing spring of 1644, the Swedes, who had received considerable

THEIR SUCCESSES— NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. 501

reinforcements, advanced again into Germany, attacked and com-
pletely overthrew the imperial army under Gallas, and in the spring
of the succeeding year, 1645, Torstenson defeated the imperial
troops, under Generals Gotz and Hatzfeld, at Jankau, in Silesia,
which he entirely destroyed ; Gotz himself fell, mortally wounded,
Hatzfeld was taken prisoner, and the whole of the ammunition and
provisions fell into the hands of the Swedes. The victorious army
now marched through Moravia, and advanced to Vienna itself, and
had not the city of Brunn, by its most obstinate and heroic defence,
arrested the progress of the Swedish general, there is little doubt
but that capital must have been taken. But his army was so much
reduced by disease before the walls of Briinn, that Torstenson was
forced to make a retreat, and as he himself was completely worn
out with illness and debility, he was compelled to give up the com-
mand of the army.

He was succeeded by Gustavus Wrangel, who continued the war
with considerable success. The French armies, under their distin-
guished generals, Turenne and Conde, fought against the impe-
rialists and Bavarians along the Rhine, and in conjunction with
them Wrangel soon afterwards conquered and subjected the whole
land of Bavaria, so that the elector was forced to abandon all fur-
ther hostilities; and, in 1647, concluded an armistice. Branden-
burg had already been obliged to do the same in the year 1641,
and Denmark and Saxony followed the example in 1645 and 1646:
thus the emperor was left alone to contend with his successful ene-
mies. The grand cause of the ill success he experienced at this period,
emanated from his want of efficient leaders ; his two best generals,
Werth and Merci, having been killed, he was forced to confide the
chief command of his troops to General Melander of Holzapfel, a
Protestant, who had deserted the Hessian party and gone over to
the imperialists.

The allies now once more attacked the hereditary states of the

empire ; the Swedish general, Konigsmark, laid siege to Prague,

and had already made himself master of that portion of the city,

i called the Kleinseite, whilst Wrangel was in full march to support

j him with his whole army — when the happy tidings of peace were

I announced from Westphalia.

The conferences for the settlement of peace had already been
j opened in the summer of the year 1643: with the Swedes in Osna-
iburg, and with the French in Minister. The imperial envoys ar-
| rived even before the time fixed, but those from Sweden only ap-
peared at the end of the autumn of that year, whilst those_ from
; France presented themselves as late as the month of April, in the
'following year, 1644 : an ominous sign for the progress of those
'measures of pacification, towards which the eyes of the oppressed
jempire were turned with anxious and painful longing. And, in
itrutli, these congresses commenced with the discussion of such nurn-

502 FRENCH AND SWEDISH CLAIMS OF INDEMNIFICATION.

berless details, that there appeared little or no chance of any prompt
decision being effected. Many months were lost in petty and mise-
rable disputes of precedence, and the French ambassadors, with all
imaginable pride and pomp, more especially insisted upon taking
the first rank, and assumed all the state and ceremony of a royal
court. Subsequently, much time was again sacrificed in deciding
whether or not the deputies for all the petty states of the empire
should be convoked, and which was, at length, determined in the
affirmative, so that the French were enabled to produce still greater
discord amongst us.

The chief subject of negotiation ought to have been the re-esta-
blishment of order upon a solid basis in all the provinces of Ger-
many, and more especially amongst the various religious parties, for
through their contentions the war had originated ; but the two foreign
powers insisted upon receiving first of all their indemnification for
the expenses and losses incurred by them during the war, and in the
degraded state of necessity to which they were reduced, and at the
urgent persuasion of the Elector of Bavaria, the Germans were forced
to satisfy the demands of these foreigners before they ventured upon
the arrangement of their own affairs.

France which had contributed so little of its own powers, and
which had only mixed itself up in the war for its own advantage,
and the pleasure it derived from producing evil as a Catholic state
for a Protestant cause — France, we say, demanded enormous sacri-
fices; and her ambassadors, d'Avaux and Servien, well practised
in the art of verbosity, political cunning, and deception, intruding
themselves with all the authority and command of masters, insisted
upon their claims. The Swedes, although rather more moderate,
nevertheless grasped at and tore asunder large portions of the em-
pire, and the friends and well wishers of the country felt as if cut to
the heart when they thus beheld the mortifying treatment it was
forced to undergo: " On the same soil where, in former times, our
noble ancestors hurled defiance against the insolent Varus and his
legions," says a contemporary, " we are now doomed to behold
foreigners without arms insult us and triumph over Germania.
They summon us, and we humbly obey the call; they speak, and
^we listen with humility and attention as to an oracle ; they pro-
mise, and we place faith in them as in God; they menace us, and
we tremble like slaves. A sheet of paper filled up by a woman,
whether at Paris or Stockholm,* makes the whole Germanic empire
tremble or rejoice. They already, in the very heart of Germany, dis-
cuss and dispute together over Germany, as to what they shall take
from, and what they shall condescend to leave us, what feathers they
shall pluck from the Roman eagle, and therewith decorate the Gallic

* In Sweden the throne was occupied by Christiana, daughter of Gustavus
Adolphus, and, during the minority of Louis XIV., his mother, Queen Anne, reigned
as regent in France.

HUMILIATION AND DISMEMBERMENT OF THE EMPIRE. 503

cock. And we ourselves, divided continually amongst each other,
abandon our tutelary divinity for the idols of foreign nations — to
whom we sacrifice life, liberty, and honour !"

The imperial envoys acted with firmness and dignity; Count
Trautmannsdorf and Doctor Volmar sought, with all the strength of
reason and principle, to grapple with the pretensions set forth by
foreign powers, whilst they endeavoured, by mildness and patience,
to conciliate the discordant feelings existing in the German states.
They did not, however, find themselves sufficiently seconded by the
other members of the empire, especially in the latter period of the
war, when Bavaria became so vacillating; whilst every despatch
they received, announced the success of the enemy, and over-
turned all the advantages they might otherwise have effected by their
conferences. Thence they were obliged to make the following

arrangements

1. France received the Bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verden, as
much of Alsace as had belonged to Austria, the Sundgau, and the
important fortresses of Brisach and Philipsburg; besides which, it
forced Germany to destroy a great number of fortifications along the
Upper Rhine, in order that the French army might have an open
and free passage into Germany. Thus, all those places which had
served as the bulwarks of the south of Germany, fell through this
peace into the hands of the hereditary enemy of the empire. The
French envoys themselves, in the excess of their joy, declared
loudly that France had never concluded a peace upon such advanta-
geous terms.

2. Sweden which had likewise made great claims for compen-
sation, but whose interests were but too inadequately and unfa-
vourably represented by the grand chancellor's son, John of Oxen-
stiern, a proud but inexperienced statesman, together with the
councillor Adler Salvius, a man too much open to bribery, was
forced to content herself with Western Pomerania and Stettin, the
island of Riigen, the city of Wismar in Mecklenburg, together with
the sees of Bremen and Verden on the Weser ; a territory the

I major portion of which was very poor and much devastated. On
the other hand, Sweden never availed herself of these possessions to
act inimically towards Germany. As an indemnification for the
expenses of the war, the Swedes received five millions of dollars
extracted from the already exhausted sources of the empire.

3. The Elector of Brandenburg, who had just claims to the whole
| of Pomerania, only received the eastern portion of that country,
I and, as an indemnification for the western division, he received the
i Archbishopric of Magdeburg, and the Bishoprics of Halberstadt,
iMinden, and Kanim, as lay principalities.

4. Mecklenburg received, in lieu of Wismar, the sees of Schwerin
and Ratzeburg.

5. Hesse Cassel, which from the commencement of the war had
i adhered firmly to Sweden, and whose beautiful and talented Land-

504 FINAL ADJUSTMENT OF RELIGIOUS QUESTIONS.

gravine, Amelia, succeeded in captivating all hearts, received through
the mediation of Sweden and France, although it had suffered no ,
loss, the Abbey of Hersfeld, a portion of the country of Schaum-
burg and six hundred thousand rix dollars.

6. Brunswick-Luneburg, which extended its claims to Magde-
burg and Minden, and subsequently to Osnaburg, received the privi-
lege by which one of its princes should hold possession of this latter
country alternately with a Catholic bishop.

7. The eldest son of the unfortunate Frederick V., of the Pala-
tinate, Charles Lewis — Frederick himself having died thirteen days
after Gustavus Adolphus — received back all his partrimonial estates,
except the Upper Palatinate, which the Elector of Bavaria retained;
and as he likewise would not yield the title of the electoral dig-
nity— the fifth — a privilege which belonged to the palatine house,
a fresh title — the eighth — was created for it purposely.

8. The negotiations for the adjustment of religious affairs in Ger-
many were attended with extreme difficulty and considerable de-
lay. The Protestants demanded religious liberty, not only for them-
selves, but likewise for all the Protestant subjects of the emperor;
whilst on this point, the latter was equally firm and inflexible in with-
holding his consent. They were obliged, therefore, to restrict the
operation of this measure to the empire itself, and after a deliberation
which lasted six months, the decree of the religious peace of Passau
was eventually renewed and fixed as the fundamental basis of the
present measure, and it was resolved that the Protestants should re-
tain all the ecclesiastical property they possessed in the year 1624,
in land and churches. This year was henceforth styled the normal
year, and from that time the question of the Edict of Restitution was
altogether abandoned. The Protestants accordingly retained the
Archbishoprics of Magdeburg and Bremen; the Bishoprics of Lii-
beck, Osnaburg (alternately), Halberstadt, Verden, Meissen, Naum-
burg, Merseburg, Lebus, Brandenburg, Havelberg, Minden, Kanira,
Schwerin, and Ratzeburg; the abbeys of Hirschfeld, Walkenried,
Gandersheim, Quedlinburg, Hervorden, and Gernrode. It was
likewise ordered and approved, that no sovereign prince should op-
press any of those of his subjects whose faith in religious matters
deviated from his own ; whilst it was also decreed that the imperial
chamber should be composed of an equal number of councillors and
members — Protestant and Catholic. By these regulations the peace
of Westphalia became a fundamental law of the empire, and although
some causes for dispute and discontent were not altogether re-
moved, the minds of the people in general were more tranquillised.
Feelings of hatred were no longer cherished, the principles of to-
lerance became more and more widely disseminated, and gradually
exerted their beneficial influence in the hearts of all ; so that very
soon the bigotry of parties disappeared, and the hand of fraternity
was held out between those, who, although differing in their faith
from each other, nevertheless now acknowledged themselves to have

TERRITORIAL SOVEREIGNTY OF PRINCES ESTABLISHED. 505

an equal claim to rank as fellow Germans and Christians. Difference
in religion now no longer formed an insurmountable wall of separa-
tion between men ; and certainly in this point of view the peace of
Westphalia, by establishing fixed laws in the external affairs of the
church, produced highly satisfactory and beneficial results.

9. Respecting the rights of sovereignty due to the princes and the
relations of the states of the empire with the emperor, the peace of
Westphalia contained such regulations as must in the course of time
produce a still greater relaxation of those ties, already partially
loosened, which held together the empire in one entirety. In earlier
times the constitution of the empire contained already many defects :
great disorder, abuse of power in defiance of the laws, nay, the evils
produced by the existence of an entire century, during which force
prevailed over justice — all this was sufficient evidence of the corrupt
state of things. The main cause, however, of these results originated
in the want of fixed, written laws, whence as we have already seen,
after the edict of the Golden Bull, various measures were adopted in
order to establish in Germany, by imperial laws, a more determined
form of constitution. Nevertheless, there existed in earlier times a
bond of union which operated with more success in periods of dis-
order than even the written laws might have done, and this consisted
in those ancient characteristics for which Germany was ever distin-
guished : sincere and faithful loyalty, antipathy to foreigners, a holy
veneration for the imperial majesty of the sovereign, produced by
the conviction that the dignity of emperor was derived from God as
a divine favour for the homage of mankind. In such light was the
imperial presence regarded by the princes themselves, as expressed
by them in various authentic documents. Subsequently it was the
feudal system, based upon the ancient customs and manners, and
springing from the essential condition of the people, which served on
great occasions, in spite of the want of written laws, to hold together
the various portions of the empire.

When in ancient times the prince, the nobles, and the people
assembled together, and when later the emperor himself presided at
I the head of the princes of the empire at the diets, it was then the
prompt and decisive power of the sovereign's voice and animated
eye which decreed the means of remedying existing evils ; and if at
; times disputes arose, his regular presence, the attention with which
j he observed with eye and ear all that passed before him, and the
! confidence he accordingly produced and established between himself
jand those around him, placed him at once in a position to command
; the reconciliation of the disputants. At the same time, this prox-
j imity of the imperial dignity, and the respect it inspired in all sen-
1 sible and well-minded men, operated for the benefit of the entire na-
tion, whilst the emperor himself, by the high consideration he com-
manded throughout Christendom, represented and maintained its
honour.

Now, however, for a length of time, as we are already aware, the

506 THE CITIES — SWITZERLAND — THE NETHERLANDS.

princes but rarely attended personally at the diets ; but were satisfied
with sending their envoys, or merely their written communications.
The negotiations were often carried on at a most tedious rate upon
subjects of the most trivial nature, and only under pressing and ex-
treme cases of necessity were the decisions pronounced. Meantime
this state of legislation was not at all sanctioned by any law of the
empire; but at the peace of Westphalia the independence of the
princes was made completely legal. They received the entire right
of sovereignty over their territory, together with the power of mak-
ing war, concluding peace, and forming alliances among themselves,
as well as with foreign powers, provided such alliances were not to
the injury of the empire. But what a feeble obstacle must this
clause have presented? For henceforward, if a prince of the empire,
having formed an alliance with a foreign power became hostile to
the emperor, he could immediately avail himself of the pretext that
it was for the benefit of the empire, the maintenance of his rights,
and the liberty of Germany. And in order that the said pretext
might, with some appearance of right, be made available on every
occasion, foreigners established themselves as the guardians of the em-
pire ; and accordingly France and Sweden took upon themselves the
responsibility of legislating as guarantees, not only for the Germanic
constitution, but for every thing else that was concluded in the peace
of Westphalia at Minister and Osnaburg.

Added to this, in reference to the imperial cities whose rights had
hitherto never been definitively fixed, it was now declared that they
should always be included under the head of the other states, and
that they should command a decisive voice in the diets ; thenceforth,
therefore, their votes and those of the other states — the electoral and
other princes — should be of equal validity.

10. By an article in the treaty of Westphalia, French cunning
likewise separated the Swiss confederation from the Germanic empire,
and acknowledged it as an independent state. It is true it had long
since discontinued rendering homage to the empire, but its dismem-
berment therefrom had never been legally declared, whence the way
for its return to the imperial dominion always lay open and feasible,
in case any of the confederates might have felt a desire to renew
their alliance.

11. In the same moment that the empire thus sacrificed one of its
most secure defences on the frontiers of the south, the loss of the
Netherlands left it completely bare in the north-west: for in this
peace Spain was forced to acknowledge the independence of that
country, and Germany was equally obliged to free it from all obliga-
tion of fealty. That country had likewise originally belonged to the
same race as ourselves, it forming, from the period of Charles V.,
part of our confederation, and commanding the mouth of our national
river — the Rhine. Thence Germany was left equally exposed to the
attacks of its enemies in the north from the Netherlands, as it was in
the south from Switzerland.

CONCLUSION OF THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA, 1648. 507

It was only after great care and exertion that the intricate work of
pacification was at length brought into operation, and it could only
be perfected ^by slow degrees and at much additional sacrifice. The
French obstinately refused to evacuate the conquered fortifications
until the most petty details of the conditions had been fulfilled ; whilst
the Swedes remained two years longer in Germany, distributed in
seven circles of the empire, determined not to withdraw until they
received the five millions of dollars they demanded as indemnification
for the war expenses, and which, in the already reduced and misera-
ble state of our unhappy country, could only be collected with great
trouble and difficulty. In addition to this, it has been calculated
that during these two ruinous years, the maintenance of the foreign
soldiers quartered throughout the empire cost at the rate of 170,000
dollars per day. Nay, even six years after the settlement of peace,
a certain number of Swedish regiments levied contributions in the
Bishopric of Munster, and Duke Charles of Lorraine, who had been
driven out of his territory by the French, continued for a considerable
time to hold possession of several fortifications on the Rhine.

508

SEVENTH PERIOD.

FROM THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA IN 1648 TO THE PRESENT TIME.

IN the first portion of this period, from 1648 to 1740, the art of historical research
made but little progress in Germany : we find the sources of record to consist chiefly
of compilations made from public acts, collected together in numerous and heavy
masses, interspersed with the lives of the emperors, written in the most partial and
inflated style. Any regular and critical statement or investigation of facts, pre-
senting in their treatment elevation of thought and originality of genius, is not to be
found among them. In France, however, among the numerous memoirs of the time
of Louis XIV. we meet at least with that peculiar style of representation, by which
the connecting links in the chain of state policy are far more clearly traced, and the
ideas and motives of individuals more strikingly developed.

As collections embodying especially public transactions and political events we
find included:

1. Records of the Imperial Chancery, 1657-1714.

2. Diarium Europseum, 1659-1681, 45 vols.

3. Sylloge publicorum negotiarum, 1674-1697, by Lunig. (died in 1740.)

4. European Court of Chancery; commenced by Leucht, and continued by Faber
and Konig, 1697-1760, 1 15 vols. Resumed by Faber under the title of New Court of
Chancery, 1760-1783, 17 vols.

5. European Fame, 1703-1734, 350 parts in 30 vols., and New European Fame,
1735-1756, 192 parts in 17 vols.

6. Mercure historique et politique, commenced by G. Sandras, torn. I., Parma
1686; from 1688 to 1782 at the Hague, in more than 200 vols.

7. The history of the Emperor Leopold I. has been written in a very good his-
torical style in Italian by Galeazzo Gualdi, Bapt. Comazzi arid Jos. Maria Reina ;
and in German by J. J. Schmauss, C. B. Menkin, G. Rink, and best of all in
Latin, by F. Wagner, but only to the year 1689.

8. S. von Puffendorf, Res gestse Frid Guil. Magni, Elect. Brand. Berlin, 1695,
and Lips, et Berol., 1733.

9. Camill. Contarinus, History of the Turkish war in 1683 in Italian ; Venice,
1710.

10. L. de St. Simon, (Euvres, 13 vols. Especially valuable in reference to the time
of Louis XIV.

11. The Life of Joseph L, by Wagner, Zshackwitz, Nink, and Herchenhahn.

12. The Life of Charles VI., by Zshackwitz, Schwarz, Schmauss, and Schirach.
On the history of the War of Succession to the Spanish throne, the principal works

are :

13. De Lamberty, Memoires pour servir a 1'histoire du 18me siecle; 1700-1718, La
Hague, 14 vols., and

14. History of the War of Succession to the Spanish throne, by two anonymous
writers. Two Editions ; one in French, printed at Cologne in 1708; the other in
English, printed in London in 1707.

15. Memoires du Prince Eugene de Savoie, ecrits parluimeme. Weimar, 1810.

16. W. Coxe, Memoirs of John, Duke of Marlborough, 6 vols., 1820.

The great events which took place during the period of 1740 to 1789, especially
those of the Seven Years' War, and the enthusiasm with which Frederick the Great
inspired all his contemporaries, excited a spirit for historical composition which,
although it may not have produced works of the first order, is nevertheless en-
titled to place its writings in the second rank. The great Frederick himself devoted
his pen to the task of writing a history of his own times and actions, his :

17. Frederick II., Histoire de mon Terns and Histoire de la Guerre de Sept Ans ;
and other works relating to history and politics, together with his correspon-

FROM 1648 TO THE PRESENT TIME. 509

dence with many distinguished persons, are valuable documents in our historical
collection.

18. Adelung, History of the States of Europe from 1740 to 1798, 6 vols., treats
especially upon the history of the succession of the house of Austria.

The following works give especial details of the Seven Years' War:

19. War Office reports (Deutsche Kriegskanzlei), 1757-1763. 18 vols.

20. Contributions to the more recent history of War and State policy (Beitrage zur
Neueren Staats-und Kriegs Geschichte), 1756-1762, 13 vols.

21. Lloyd, Histoire de la derniere guerre en Allemagne; traduit de 1'Anglais par
Templehof, 5 vols.

22. Archenholz, History of the Seven Years' War, 2 vols.

23. Retzow, Criticism of the important events of the Seven Years' War.

24. De Mauvillon, Histoire de Ferdinand de Brunswick, 1790.

25. Campaigns of the allied armies, 1757-1762, from the journal of Major-General
von Rheden, 1805.

26. History of the battle of Kiinersdorf, by Kriele, pastor of Kiinersdorf. Berlin,
801.

27. The Life of Frederick II. has been written by several historians, including:
Koester, Seiffart, Zimmermann, Funke, Garve, Stein, Thibault, Forster, Preuss, and
ftcolai, the latter of whom has added numerous anecdotes in Frederick's life.

On State Politics we have :

28. Count Hersberg, Recueil des Deductions, Manifestes, Declarations, Traites,
Sic., publics par la Cour de Prusse depuis 1'annee 1756-1790, 3 vols.

The following are the works which treat upon the period subsequent to the Seven

Years' War:

29. Manso, Geschichte des Preuss. Staats vom Hubertusburger Frieden bis zur
sweiten Pariser Abkunft, 3 vols.

30. Dohm, Memoirs of my Times, 1778-1806, 5 vols. A work of great importance
onnected with the latter period of the reign of Frederick the Great and the French
devolution, but more especially valuable for the impartiality displayed by the
luthor.

31. Busching, Magazine of History and Geography, 1761-1781, 15 vols. Ham-
urg; & 1781-1793, 23 vols., HaUe.

32. Schlozer, Historical Correspondence, 1775-1782, 10 vols., and Political Adver-
iser, 1782-1793, 18 vols.

33. Schirachs, Political Journal, 1781-1804, continued by his son to the present
Hay.

34. Archenholz, Minerva, 1792-1809, continued to the present time by A. Bran.

35. Girtanner, Political Annals, 1793-1794.

36. Posselt, European Annals, 1795-1804, and continued to the present time by
iither authors.

37. ReTiew of the Prussian monarchy under Frederick William III, 1798-1801.
j From the commencement of the 19th century we have:

, 38. The Times, by C. D. Voss, 1805-1820.

39. Bredow, Chronicle of the 19th century, 1801-1808, continued by Venturini as
' history of our times from 1809 to the present moment.
i)n the History of the French Revolution, the following are the principal works

in Germany:

j 40. Girtanner, Historical Revelations of the French Revolution, continued by
puchholz, 17 vols.
! 41. Von Eggers, Memoirs of the French Revolution, 6 vols.

42. J. G. Eichhorn, The French Revolution at one View, 2 vols.
I 43. Rehberg, Researches into the French Revolution, with a critical notice of the

rt distinguished Avorks upon the subject.
The following treat upon the wars of the French Revolution:
i -±4. Scharnhorst, Military Memoirs of our Time, 6 vols.

45. Charles, Archduke of Austria, History of the Campaign of 1799 in Germany
tid Switzerland, 2 vols.

On the Negotiations of the Peace of Rastadt :

46. Von Haller, Private History of the Rastadt Negotiations of Peace in con-
e'ction with the political transactions of this period. Germania, 6 vols.

47. Munch von Bellinghausen, Protocol of the Deputation for the Peace of the
r.ipire at Rastadt, compared exactly with the original documents, with notes,
; vols.

510 FROM 1648 TO THE PRESENT TIME.

On the Wars of the 19th Century:

48. Von Billow, The Campaign of 1805 in a military and political point of view,
2 vols.

49. The Battle of Austerlitz, by an officer present.

50. K. von Plotho, Journal of the Military Operations in the years 1806 and
1807.

51. Von Valentini, Essay upon the History of the Campaign of 1809.

52. Von Hormayr, the Austrian army in the war of 1809, in Italy, the Tyrol,
and Hungary, from official sources.

53. Bertholdy, The War of the Tyrolese in 1809.

54. History of Andreas Hofer, from original sources. Leipsic and Altenburg,
1817.

55. Liiders, The War of 1812, between France and Eussia.

56. K. von Plotho, The War in Germany and France, 1813-1815.

57. Odeleben, Napoleon's Campaign in Saxony in the year 1813.

58. Aster, The Battle of Leipsic, with plans; with many other works upon the
same subject.

59. The Central Administration of the Allies under Baron Stein.

60. General Muffling, History of the Campaign of 1815, under Wellington and
Bliicher.

61. F. Forster, Field-marshal Bliicher and his operations, 1821.

62. Saalfeld, History of Napoleon Buonaparte, 2 vols.

63. Kliiber, View of the Diplomatic Transactions at the Congress of Vienna, 1816.

64. Protocol of the German diet, 1816.

65. G. von Meyer, Repertory of the Transactions of the German diet, 1822.

66. Monumenta Germanise Historica, ed. G. H. Pertz.

67. J. Schmidt, History of Germany, continued by Milbiller andDresch, 27 vols.

68. Heinrich, ditto, ditto, 3 vols.

69. A. Menzel, History of Germany, 9 vols.

70. Luden, History of the German Nation, 12 vols.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS — STATE OF THE EMPIRE. 511

CHAPTER XXVII.

lencral Observations — State of the Empire — Agriculture — Commerce— The No-
bility—French Language, Fashions, and Customs— Decline of National Feeling in
Germany — Death of Ferdinand III., 1657 — Leopold I., 1658-1705 — The Rhenish
League — Louis XIV. of France — His ambitious and aggrandising Spirit — Con-
quers the Netherlands— The Elector Frederick Williani of Brandenburg — West-
phalia— The Rhine — War between Trance and Germany — Battle of Fehrbellin,
1675— Successes of the Elector of Brandenburg — His energetic Character — Ex-
tends and improves his Territories — Berlin — Konigsberg — Generals Montecuculi
and Turenne — Peace of Nimwegen, 1678 — The Four French Chambers of Reunion
—Treachery and Dishonesty of Louis XIV. towards Germany — Claims and takes
Possession of Strasburg and other German Towns on the Rhine — Enters Stras-
burg in Triumph, 1681 — Pusillanimity and Disgraceful Inertness of the Germans
— The Turks in Hungary — Advance and lay Siege to Vienna, 1683 — Flight of
Leopold and his Court — Brave Defence of the Viennese under Count Riidiger of
Stahrenberg — Relieved by Duke Charles of Lorraine and Sobieski, King of
Poland— Heroism of Sobieski — Battle of Naussdorf— Total Overthrow and Flight
of the Turks by Sobieski — His Letter to his Queen— Description of the Battle.

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, and which had continued during' half the
period of that existence commonly allotted to man. Two thirds of
' he population had perished, not so much by the sword itself, as by
hose more lingering and painful sufferings which such a dreadful
jvTar brings in its train : contagion, plague, famine and all the other
ittendant horrors. For death on the field of battle itself is not the
ml of war ; such a death, on the contrary, is often the most glori-
)us, inasmuch as the individual is taken off in a moment of enthusi-
istic ardour, and whilst he is inspired with the whole force of his
rital power ; thus he is relieved from the anxious and painful con-
emplation of the gradual approach of his last moments. But the
rue curse of war is based in the horrors and miseries it spreads among,
-nd with which it overwhelms those who can take no active share in
t — women, children, and aged men, and from whom it snatches all
he enjoyments, -all the hopes of life; thence the germ of a new
generation becomes poisoned in its very principle, and can only un-
old itself with struggling pain and sorrow, without strength or cou-
!age.

I Nevertheless in Germany the natural energy of the people speedily
roused itself among them, and a life of activity and serious applica-
.on very soon succeeded in a proportionate degree to that which had
':> long been characterised by disorder and negligence : and it is thus
lat the two extremes often meet. The demoralisation so generally
xisting — produced on the one hand by the warriors who, on their
iturn home from the camp, introduced there much of the licentious-

512 AGRICULTURE — COMMERCE — ARTS AND INDUSTRY.

; ness they had previously indulged in, and, on the other hand, through
the juvenile classes having grown up and become matured without edu-
cation, and being by force of example in almost a savage state— obliged
the princes now to devote all their attention and care towards re-es-
tablishing 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 improvements introduced, and which was pursued
with an activity hitherto unexampled. As a great number of the
landowners had perished during the war, land generally became ma-
terially reduced in price, and the population accordingly showed
everywhere the most active industry in the cultivation of the soil ; so
that within 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 acknow-
ledged more and more, and the chains by which they had been

I hitherto bound were gradually relaxed, until at length the final link
which held them fell to the ground. Thus Germany might have
become more nourishing than ever by the prosperous state of its agri-
culture, 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
fulfilment of this desirable object.

In the first place, the declining state of the cities operated in a
special degree to destroy the beneficial results of agriculture. The
prosperity of the cities had received a vital blow, as already shown,
by the complete change which had been introduced in the whole
system of commerce ; its decline, however, was only partial until the
period of the war of thirty years. Shortly previous to the commence-
ment of this war, a foreign writer placed Germany still at the head
of every other country, in respect to the extent and number of its
cities, and the genius, talent, and activity of its artists and artisans.
They were sent forfrom every part of Europe. At Venice, for instance,
the most ingenious goldsmiths, clockmakers, carpenters, as well as even
the most distinguished painters, sculptors, and engravers, were at the
end of the sixteenth century all natives of Germany. But it will suf-
fice to mention the names of such celebrated artists as Albert Diirer,
Hans Holbein, and Lucas Cranach, to form an idea of the prospe-
rous state of the arts in the cities of Germany at the commencement
of the sixteenth century. This terrible war, however, gave them their
portal blow ; numerous free cities, previously in a flourishing state,
Were completely reduced to ashes, others nearly depopulated altogether,
and all those extensive factories and institutions which gave to Ger-
many the superiority over other nations, were, through loss of the work-
men, completely deserted and left in a state of inactivity. Thence,
at a meeting of the Hanseatic league in Lubeck, in 1630, those few
cities which still remained in existence declared they were no longer

DECLINE OF THE IMPERIAL CITIES — THE NOBILITY. 513

able to contribute towards the expenses of the league. Economy and
strict industry might perhaps have raised them gradually from the
state of misery into which they had thus fallen, but their ancient pros-
perity and importance were both for ever gone ; and, as is stated by
one of our early writers, on the foreheads of these once wealthy citi-
zens 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, Christopher, Bishop of Gahlen, made
himself master of Miinster, in 1661 ; the Elector of Mentz, of the city
of Erfurt, in 1664 : the Elector of Brandenburg,, of the city of Mag-
deburg, in 1666; and the Duke of Brunswick, of the city of Bruns-
Xvick, in 1671 ; whilst those which retained the title of free cities, how
poor and miserably did they drag on their existence, until at length,
|n more recent times, they^ likewise lost their privilege altogether.

The nobility had likewise lost much of their ancient dignity and
Bistre. Ever since they no longer formed more especially the military
$tate of the empire, and their noble cavaliers no longer conferred ex-
clusively 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 commenced 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,
we say, these changes and innovations had been introduced, the nobles
of the empire had gradually degenerated and lost all their conse-
quence and dignity. Thus were eclipsed two of the most important and
essential states of the empire, and which above every other had
both contributed to give to the middle ages, in spite of all their other
j defects, that grand and vigorous character for which that period
•was so much distinguished.

It is true, that during the last few centuries changes of a similar
mature had taken place in other countries of Europe, and which, by
jthus substituting a new order of things, obliterated all that which 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 all such resource.
iThe share which a few of the cities still took in the commerce of the
jworld could not establish or effect a balance of the whole ; whilst, on
[the other hand, instead of restricting themselves to that simple order
:)f life — so especially necessary among an agricultural people — and
'hus trying to avert the coming indigence, they launched out more
ind more into a luxurious state of living ; and accordingly, in ex-
Change for precious and exotic articles of merchandise, they gave up
o foreign nations all the rich fruits of agriculture and industry pro
•luced at home at the expense of so much toil and anxiety. For,

2 L

514 NATIONAL DEGRADATION— FRENCH INNOVATIONS.

however fertile the soil of our country, and however varied its pro-
duce, it could not possibly equal in value the rich wares imported
from'all parts of the world. When, however, the^love of luxury and j
sensual pleasure has gained the upperhand, nothing can restrict or •
check its extravagant and insatiable demands.

This evil, however, was not one originally implanted in our nature,
it was communicated to us by those foreigners whom we sought to
imitate in every thing — even in their degeneracy. The excursions
now made beyond Germany, and especially to France and its me-
tropolis ; the imitation more and more indulged in of the fashions and
manners of the French, and even of their immorality itself ; the in-
troduction and reception of French professors and governesses into
various German families for the education of the juvenile branches ;
the contempt more and more shown and felt for our own native lan-
guage ; the enthusiasm indulged in for that French 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, we repeat, had operated more and more injuriously
amongst the higher, as well as the middling 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 but that our rela-
tions 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 we are in the centre of the principal nations of Europe, we
have ever warmly sympathised with, and the forms of our political
constitution have ever encouraged the movement of moral and in-
tellectual progress. For in most other countries, each of which was
constituted into one homogeneous kingdom, the chief city was the first
to set the example in the adoption of all that it might judge worthy
of patronage and dissemination, and thence it established the rule or
law for the co-optation thereof generally throughout the provinces :
by this means, however, the progress made became gradually sub-
jected to certain fixed forms, whence it could not be exempt from par-
tiality. In Germany, on the contrary, science and art have marched
together full of activity and independence 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 every thing bearing within it essential and sterling
merit, was sure sooner or later to meet with due acknowledgment and .
appreciation ; and thence it is that our nation has made such pro-
gress in all the sciences.

Nevertheless, this moment must be regarded as teeming with dan-
gerous^ error. Nothing is more difficult for human nature than to
maintain the one direct and central path without diverging to one side

LOUIS XIV. — DEATH OF FERDINAND III., 1657.

or the other; nothing more difficult than to combine civilisation and en-
lightenment with religious and moral strictness, to unite an acute sen-
sibility for all that is really good and valuable in genius, wherever
found, with honesty and constancy of principle, and to conjoin inde-
pendence of spirit with self-denial and submission. This medium course
ought, therefore, to be the main object of the endeavours of all, both
of individuals and nations. The period we are about to trace will
show us in what degree this object was alternately approached by or
receded from our nation ; whilst, at the same time, it will present us
with all those vicissitudes to which mankind is subject.

This series of good and bad fortune is, we shall find, more especially
; shown in our external relations : days of prosperity and peace were suc-
! ceeded by those of distress ; but the latter down to, and during this period
1 continued in their degree to outweigh the former. In no period of our
1 history do we find presented such melancholy pictures as during the
' long reign of Louis XIV. of France, nor has our state policy ever
shown so much weakness 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 develop-
ment was again checked by the storms of that contest, and more
especially by the still more ruinous war of seven years, which imme-
diately succeeded. The interval of twenty-five years, from the con-
clusion of this war to the commencement of the French revolu-
tion, was the longest period of tranquillity we 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,
this progress, although much checked, was not altogether destroyed.
Let us hope that the state of peace we at present enjoy, may long con-
tinue to heal the wounds so bitterly inflicted upon our country, and
thus encourage more and more the growth and development of the
intellectual resources of the German nation.

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
I already procured the decision of the princes in favour of his son
! Ferdinand, as his successor to the imperial throne, when unfortu-
itunately 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,
peeause the government of France was anxious to avail itself of this
'moment to obtain possession of the imperial dignity, to which it had

2 L 2

516 LEOPOLD I., 1658— 1705— THE RHENISH LEAGUE.

lono- 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.

Meantime Cardinal Mazarin, the prime minister of France, had
already formed an alliance, which, under the name of the Rhenish
league, had for its object the total annihilation of the house of
Austria, although apparently its only aim was the conservation of
the Peace of Westphalia. The parties included in the union were
France, Sweden, the Electors of Mentz, Cologne, and Treves,
the Bishop of Miinster, the Palatine of Neuburg, the Elector of
Hesse-Cassel, and the three Dukes of Brunswick-Luneburg ; a sin-
gularly mixed alliance of Catholic spiritual and lay princes with the
Protestant princes and Swedes, who had only so recently before
stood opposed to each other in open warfare. A learned historian
of that period, unfolds to us what were the real intentions of France
in forming this league, as well as the motives by which she was
guided throughout her proceedings against Germany : " Instead of re-
sorting to open force, as in the war of thirty years, it appeared more
expedient to France to hold attached to her side a few of the German
princes, and especially those along the Rhine, by a bond of union
— and, as it is said, by the additional obligation of an annual sub-
sidy— 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
way for the destruction of all liberty in Germany was, as may be
easily judged, by no means badly conceived."

France very soon showed that she only waited for an opportunity
of seizing her prey with the same hand which she had so recently
held out in friendship. The long reign of Leopold I. was almost
wholly filled up with wars against France and her arrogant prince,
Louis XIV. ; and our poor country 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 calculated to
enter the field against the French king, in whom were united great
cunning with unlimited ambition and insolent pride. France now
pursued, with persevering determination, the grand object she had in
view, of making the Rhine her frontiers, and of gaining possession
of the Spanish Netherlands — which, under the name of the Bur-
gundian 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 in equally by the

THE NETHERLANDS — THE ELECTOR OF BRANDENBURG. 517

king and the people, and it is an error to suppose this feeling was
only first brought into existence in our time through the revolution,
and the wild ambition of a few individuals. 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 pamphlet
his opinions founded on the question — at that moment a novel one,
but which afterwards became of serious consideration, and was nearly
carried into execution — that, viz: " The Roman-Germanic empire,
such as 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: " Oh, 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
their knee in all humility before thee in acknowledgment of the
power of thy sceptre, and to implore thy mercy," &c. Such was
the language used already in 1668, and in the face of Europe, by a
state which ought to have surpassed all others in moderation and
truth.

Accordingly, Louis now commenced operations by conquering
the Netherlands, pleading his ancient hereditary right to the posses-
sion of that country. The Spaniards appealed for aid to the other
circles of the Germanic empire, but not one of the princes came for-
ward to assist them ; some through indifference, others from fear, and
the rest again from being disgracefully bought over by French money :
such were the results of the Rhenish league. Abandoned thus by
all, the Netherlands fell into the hands of the king, and at the peace
of Aix»la-Chapelle, 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.

In addition to this, in the year 1672, France, with equal injustice in-
vaded Holland itself, and had she succeeded in her plans, she would
very soon have been in a condition to hold dominion over the Euro-
pean 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 Mlinster, Bernard of Gahlen, one of the most distinguished
men of his day, actually concluded an alliance with France. One
only of the princes of Germany, the Elector Frederick William of
Brandenburg, known likewise under the title of the great elector,
acted with the energy so necessary ; and, completely aware of the
: exact condition of the nation, felt the necessity of preventing the
I total subversion of the equilibrium of Europe. Accordingly, he
made immediate preparations for placing his territories of Westphalia
!in a state of defence, exposed as they were in the immediate vicinity
iof the scene of action ; for by the definitive arrangement of the in-
iheritance of Juliers, in 1656, he had received the duchy of Cleves,

518 WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY.

and the provinces of Mark and Ravensberg, whilst to the Prince-
Palatine of Neuburg had been allotted the duchies of Juliers and
Ber«". Frederick William induced likewise 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, Montecuculli ; but the co-opera-
tion 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 com-
pletely 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 was permanently established.

Now, however, the emperor, after having lost his best allies, de-
termined to pursue the war with more vigour. Montecuculli 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 in fact it was subsequently,
where the French have left eternal monuments of their cruel pro-
ceedings. 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 occa-
sion Austria was distinguished especially for her energy and activity.
At the diet of Ratisbon, long discussions were held upon the subject
of the war, but nothing was concluded ; and Austria, having disco-
vered that this delay was produced by the French ambassador, who
there endeavoured by every means to deceive, first one and then
another of the 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 altoge-
ther the advantage was on the side of the French, whose generals
were completely successful in their object of making the German
soil alone the field for their operations ; 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, the Elector of Brandenburg, Louis XIV., con-
cluded an alliance with the Swedes, in 1674, showing them the
great advantage they would derive by the invasion of that ter-
ritory. This they accordingly did, severely handling that country ;
nevertheless^ the elector would not abandon the Rhine, but contri-
buted his assistance, and remained as long as his presence was neces-

BATTLE OF FERBELLIN — ELECTOR OF BRANDENBURG. 519

sary, and it was only in the following year, 1675, that lie at length
did withdraw from that seat of war, and by forced marches 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, con-
tinued on his march, until he came right in front of the Swedes,
who believed him to be still in Franconia. They immediately re-
tired, and sought to form themselves into one body, but he pursued
them, and came up with them on the 28th of June, 1675, at Fer-
bellin. He had only his cavalry with him, his infantry not being
able to follow quick 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 de-
lay 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 Pornerania. Thither they were pursued by the elec-
tor, who conquered the greatest portion of that province.

This elector may be regarded as the founder of the Prussian
monarchy, and his successors only built upon the basis he laid down.
Besides acquiring the Westphalian territories from the Cleve in-
heritance, he made the duchy of Prussia independent, and wisely
availing himself of the peculiar circumstances of the times, obtained,
in 1675, the treaty of Welau, by which Prussia was declared free of
all enfeoifment to Poland. Berlin, its capital city, he enlarged by
the Werder and Neustadt; whilst in Frankfort and Konigsburg
he promoted the progress of the universities, and had already formed
a plan for the erection of an additional one in Halle. He en-
couraged all kinds of art and industrial invention throughout his
lands, and hospitably received and employed a considerable number
of refugee artisans from France. Frederick William always thought
d acted for himself, pursuing his own independent course, and
shall again find him on various occasions successfully producing
t respect for the power and dignity of his small dominion which he
determined to maintain with all his influence, not only as a
rman prince, but with all the authority of one who ranked
among the rest of the monarchs of Europe. Such is the true sign
which indicates the hereditary princely grandeur of a ruler who desires
that his people shall be inferior to none of all the other nations, and
whose sole object is nobly to raise it in their estimation. And who
can reproach him for acting with such energy and determination, at a
> moment, too, when the German alliance had lost all its strength,
; when the power of the emperor himself was reduced almost to a
; mere shadow, and when many of the princes of the empire had
j actually already entered into a league with foreigners? Had he
; himself joined in such treaties to the injury of the empire, and thus
1 have inflicted the final blow upon the small remnant of hope still

520 TURENNE AND MONTECUCULLI — PEACE OF NIMWEGEN.

left, he might assuredly have merited severe and just condemnation;
but, on the contrary, the whole aim of his life was to oppose as much
as possible the aggressions of the French, and to protect, as far as
was in his power, the liberties of the German and European nations
generally.

In the year 1675 the imperial general, Montecuculli, an old and
experienced soldier, received a second time orders to march to the
.Rhine, and he commenced operations with more favourable results.
Opposed to him was the celebrated French general, Vicomte de
Turenne, one of the greatest men of his time. They advanced against
each other with extreme caution, ibr they were already well known
to each other. At length Turenne fixed upon a favourable spot for
giving battle, combining every advantage necessary, near the village
of Sasbach and in the vicinity of Oppenheim. But whilst he had
advanced in front of the enemy in order to make his observations,
and form his army in line of battle, he was mortally wounded by
a cannon ball which struck him off his horse. His death produced
the greatest alarm and dismay among his troops, who immediately
retreated and took to flight, in which they suffered severe loss.

Nevertheless, very little advantage was gained by this affair. The
French, in order to drive the imperialists out of their country, had
recourse to the most extreme measures. As they were unable to
defend their frontiers with troops, they proceeded to adopt other
means of protection; and, accordingly, in the following year they
laid waste the whole of the country along the River Saar to such an
extent that, throughout a space of more than seventy miles, nothing
else was to be seen but burning villages and fields. Thence the
German troops could no longer remain encamped in a country thus
destitute of the means of supply, and they were forced to turn back,
whilst the unfortunate inhabitants were obliged to seek refuge in
the forests, where a great number of them perished through famine
and disease.

All eyes were now directed with anxious hope and expectation
towards Nimwegen, where now, in 1679, a conference was being held
for the establishment of peace. The French, it appears, were forced
at length to hasten the conclusion of a peace, were it even disadvan-
tageous to themselves, because they were at this moment surrounded
with enemies. Nevertheless, they were at all times extremely happy
in their attempts to produce division among their adversaries, and
m this instance they were equally successful. By making large and
advantageous offers they induced the Netherlander, for whom the
war ^ had been principally undertaken, and who owed their safety to
the imperialists, to withdraw from the empire, and concluded with
them exclusively a treaty of peace, and by this they received the
citadel of Maestricht. They were succeeded by the Spaniards, who,

IT* ,r\-w*"l ^« A _ _ v _ i. -

CHAMBRES DE REUNIONS — TREACHERY OF LOUIS XIV. 521

the whole of the Franche-Comte. Finally, the emperor, who was
not disposed to carry on the war alone, was forced to make terms
of peace likewise, and to give up the important fortress of Friburg,
in Breisgau. Thus the Elector of Brandenburg, who had con-
quered nearly the whole of Pomerania from the Swedes, and was in
hopes of making an advantageous peace, abandoned as he was now
by all, even by the Netherlands — for whom he had fought, but who
now refused their assistance — was forced to restore nearly the whole
of his conquests. At this conference of Nimwegen it was easy to
observe the preponderance now commanded by France over Europe,
even by the circumstance of the language itself; for amongst those
ambassadors assembled thirty years previously at Miinster and
Osnaburg, only very few understood French at all ; whilst now, at
Nimwegen, every one present knew and spoke it fluently. Never-
theless, the articles of peace themselves were still written in the
Latin tongue.

The oppressed provinces began now again to breathe more freely
and enjoy the blessings of peace after the insatiable ambition of the
French became at length satisfied. But our enemy was ever ready,
even in the very bosom of peace, to pursue his prey. A member of
the French parliament from Metz, a certain Holland de Revaulx,
laid before the king a plan by which he might extend his domi-
nion far beyond the Upper Rhine, if he only gave the right interpre-
tation to the words used in the article of the Westphalian treaty :
" That Alsace and the other territories shall be ceded to him ivith
all their dependencies'1 It was, therefore, he said, only necessary to
seek out what territories and places had formerly belonged to that
country, and in the course of a short time many possessions might be
found, of which, under this pretext, he might make himself master
without any difficulty. This suggestion was approved of, and it was
taken into further consideration; and, in order to give it an appear-
ance of justice, the French government instituted, in 1680, four courts
I of council under the title of Chambres de Reunions, at Metz, Dor-
\ nick, Brisach, and Besan9on ; these were appointed to examine what
| lands and subjects might still belong to the king, according to the
| wording of the article referred to. It is easy to be conceived that
I these judges were not long in making their discoveries ; the most
; trifling foundation was laid hold of in order to carry out their plans.
The Convent of Weissenburg, for instance, although situated beyond
Alsace, was declared attached to it, and as such belonging to the
king, because it had been founded by King Dagobert, more^than
one thousand years previously ; and the acquisition of Weissen-
burg served them as a pretext to demand that of Germesheim, inas-
much as it had formerly belonged to Weissenburg. In this way the
four chambers extended their claims for the restoration of Zwei-
briicken (Deux-Ponts), Saarbriick (Sarre-Louis), Veldenz, Sponn-
heim, Mumpelgard, Lautenburg, and many other places, more partic.u-
'larly, however, the free imperial cities of Alsace, and amongst the rest

522 UNJUST SEIZURE OF STRASBURG AND OTHER CITIES.

Strasburg especially. These places had not been given in the West-
phalian treaty, as Austria could only then cede in Alsace her own
hereditary possessions.

The princes and nobles whose property was thus suddenly to be
transferred from German into French hands, exclaimed loudly against
it. The emperor himself protested against it, and Louis XIV., in
order to observe at least appearances — such was his cunning policy
— and to shut the mouths of his adversaries, promised to examine
their counter claims, and summoned a congress at Frankfort.

Meantime he resolved, beforehand, to make himself master of the
citadel of Strasburg, which to him was of more value than all the rest,
and which had always been regarded as the key to the Upper Rhine.
Charles V. considered it of such importance, that he said, should ever
Vienna and Strasburg be both threatened at the same moment, he would
hasten first to save Strasburg. In the month of September, 1681, and
whilst the principal citizens were absent at the Frankfort fair, several
regiments were secretly assembled in the vicinity of that place, and,
to the astonishment and alarm of the inhabitants, suddenly surrounded
its walls. In a day or two afterwards, Louvois, the minister of war
and confidential adviser of the king, appeared with a numerous army
and a train of artillery, and with heavy threats summoned the citizens
to surrender. Not being at all prepared to resist this attack, and
urged on by a party in the city bribed by the king, they were forced
to yield, and opened their gates on the 30th of September, 1681. The
troops took immediate possession of the arsenal and the citizens' arms,
the Protestants were obliged to vacate the cathedral of which they
had enjoyed possession for more than a hundred and fifty years, and
immediately afterwards Louis XIV. arrived himself, and, as in tri-
umph, made his solemn entry in the city. No sign of shame at this act
•was visible in the countenance of that king, who had, nevertheless,
already loudly boasted that he made honour the law of his life.

The conference at Frankfort, meantime, produced no change in
the plans of the king ; his deputies evaded with much address all
serious discussion upon the inquiries made, and continued to main-
tain their principles ; whilst on this occasion, for the first time, they
introduced as a law the use of their own language in all diplomatic
transactions. Hitherto, as with other nations, they had written all
their state documents in the Latin tongue ; but at Frankfort they
were composed in French, and all the arguments used by the impe-
rial ambassadors against this innovation were perfectly useless ; the
only reply made was : " It is by command of our king." Thence
they were forced to succumb, and from this moment the French lan-
guage was adopted as the established medium of communication
between France and all other countries. Men of intelligence and
enlarged views easily foresaw the danger to be dreaded from this
arrangement^ and prophesied the gradual estrangement which must
be produced in a country imitating the language and customs of a
nation like France, so anxious to hold it under dominion.

PUSILLANIMITY OF THE GERMANS—TURKS IN HUNGARY. 523

The disputes which arose between the different imperial envoys
themselves were sufficient to show how weak and futile must be the
attempts they made to seek indemnification from the usurpers ; for
here again at Frankfort all those old and contemptible questions of
pre-eminence, the madness of which exceeds all belief, were renewed,
and whilst they thus wasted away their precious time in a war of
words, the French took advantage of their miserable neglect, and
fortified themselves more and more strongly in the lands they had
usurped. At length, however, Austria succeeded in forming an
alliance with several princes in order to repulse force with force ;
but a revolt which at this moment arose in Hungary, together with a
fresh invasion of the Turks there, which had been promoted by Louis
himself to suit his own purposes, prevented any result arising there-
-from.

Ever since the year 1670, Hungary had been continually agitated
by dissention. That country was extremely annoyed and indignant
at beholding its constitution violated, and all its cities garrisoned by
German soldiers, whom they thoroughly hated ; whilst, in addi-
tion to this, the Protestants complained loudly against the persecutions
they endured at the instigation of the Jesuits. Accordingly, the discon-
tented portion of the nation having, in the year 1678, found a deter-
mined leader in Count Emmeric of Toeckly, they rose en masse, and
even formed an alliance with the Turks. The warlike and ambitious
grand vizier, Kara Mustapha, prepared at once for the invasion of
Hungary at the head of an army far exceeding any in strength since
the conquest of Constantinople. Fortunately for the Emperor Leo-
pold^ he found in the Polish king, John Sobieski, a brave and deter-
mined ally, whilst the German princes now faithfully, and contrary to
their custom, speedily came to his aid, and Charles Duke of Lorraine
Was appointed chief in command of the imperial army. This heroic
prince, the conqueror of the Turks, and the instructor of the subse-
quently distinguished Prince Eugene, was equally great and magna-
nimous in his character as a man, as he was in that of a warrior and a
supporter of the house of Austria.

Nevertheless, the spring of the year 1683 had commenced before
the preparations were completed, whilst the Turks, who were never
accustomed to open a campaign before the summer season, had already
began their march in the winter of the preceding year, and on the
il2th of June they crossed the bridge of Esseck. The imperial
i army was hastily formed and reviewed in Presburg, and consisted
I of 22,000 foot and 11,000 cavalry; whilst that of the Turks ex-
jceeded 200,000 men. The latter continued on their march direct
ifor Vienna, without halting to lay siege to any of the towns in Hun-
;gary, as it was hoped they would have done. Consternation and
, alarm filled the whole city ; and the emperor with his court fled
iand sought refuge in Linz. Many of the inhabitants followed him;
'but the majority, after the first moment of terror was over, armed .in

524 SIEGE OF VIENNA — BRAVE DEFENCE.

defence of their city, whilst the slow progress made by the Turks who,
as they proceeded, occupied themselves with pillaging all the villages
and castles along their march, left time for the Duke of Lorraine to '
send a body of 12,000 men into the city as a garrison ; and as he
could not venture to advance with his small army in order to cut off
the passage of the enemv, he drew off his troops from the high road,
and awaited the arrival of the Polish king.

Count Riidiger of Stahrenberg was appointed by the council of
war commandant of the city, and he showed all activity and haste in
doing every thing possible to place it in a state of defence, and every
man capable of working or bearing arms assisted cheerfully. On the
14th of June the vizier appeared with his immense army before the
walls, occupying a space of the country around them to an extent of
six leagues. Two days afterwards the trenches were opened, the can-
non fired upon the city, and the siege commenced ; the walls were
undermined, and every preparation was made by the Turks for blow-
ing up the bastions in order to rush pell mell into the devoted place,
where they hoped to make a glorious booty. The besieged, how-
ever, made an heroic defence, and repaired in the night what had
been damaged during the day. Every step of ground was obsti-
nately disputed, and thus a struggle equally desperate and determined
was maintained by the assailants and the assailed. The most fierce
and sanguinary scene of contest was at the Lobel bastion, where
scarcely any part of the ground was left unstained with the blood of
friend and foe. Meantime the Turks gained a footing more and more ;
at the end of August they were already in possession of the moat of
the city walls, and on the 4th of September they sprung a mine under
the Burg bastion ; the explosion made half the city shake and totter,
the bastion itself was rent asunder to an extent of more than thirty
feet, and pieces of its walls scattered around in all directions The
breach was so great that the enemy made an immediate assault, but
they were repulsed. On the following morning, they made another
attack and were again driven back by the brave defenders. On the
10th of September another and final mine was sprung under the same
bastion, and this time the breach was so extensive that a whole battalion
of the enemy's troops was enabled to penetrate through it. This was
now a moment of the most extreme danger ; the garrison was com-
pletely exhausted by constant fighting and fatigue, and sickness had
reduced their number considerably, whilst the commandant had sent
courier after courier to the Duke of Lorraine in vain. At length on
the llth, whilst the whole city was in momentary expectation and
dread of the enemy's assault, the Viennese observed from their walls
that, by the movements in the enemy 'scamp, the expected and so much
longed-for succour must be near at hand ; and soon afterwards, to
the joy of all, the Christian army showed itself on the Kalen Hill,
andannounced its presence by discharges from the artillery. The brave
bobieski had now arrived at the head of his valiant army ; and he

OVERTHROW OF THE TURKS — SOBIESKl'S LETTER. 525

I was immediately followed by the Electors of Bavaria and Saxony,

Prince Waldeck with the troops of the circle of Franconia, the Duke of

I Saxe-Lauenburg, the Margraves of Baden and Baireuth, the Land-

| grave of Hesse, the Princes of Anhalt, and many other princes and

i nobles of the empire, who all brought with them a numerous body

j of their own troops. With such a select body of leaders Charles of

> Lorraine felt he might venture to advance against the enemy, although

his entire force amounted only to 40,000 men.

On the morning of the 12th of September, the Christian army
i descended the Kalen Hill in order of battle. The village of Nuss-
, dorf, situated on the banks of the Danube, was first attacked by the
i imperialists and Saxons, who occupied the left wing, and was taken
I after an obstinate resistance. Meantime, towards midday, the King of
j Poland had descended into the plain with the right wing, and at the
head of his cavalry dashed against the innumerable battalions of the
j Turkish horsemen, and with irresistible force penetrated through the
i very centre of their ranks, spreading before him confusion and dismay ;
his daring courage, however, carried him a little too far, for he was
speedily surrounded by the Turks who now closed upon him and
his few companions, and he must soon have been overcome and
[destroyed, had he not summoned the German cavaliers who were in
pis rear to the rescue, and who, galloping up with lightning's speed,
[fell with tremendous force upon his turbanned captors, and delivering
him from their hands, put them to flight, and soon the whole of this
body of the Turkish army was overthrown and sent flying in all
(directions.

This action, however, only served as an introductory scene to the
jgrand battle which was to decide the fate of the war ; for the im-
measurable camp of the Turks, covered with thousands of tents, still
maintained its position, whilst their artillery continued to bombard
[the city.

The imperial commander-in-chief held a council of war whether the
|battle should be commenced that evening, or whether the soldiers
ishould rest until the following morning, when he was informed that
ithe enemy appeared to be already running away in every direction.
'And such was the case in reality. An irresistible terror had come
JDver them ; they fled abandoning their camp and all their baggage
iind ammunition, and very soon even those who had fired upon the
jtown followed the example and decamped with the whole army.

The booty made in the camp was immense; it was estimated at
.15,000,000 dollars, and the tent of the grand vizier alone was valued at
!lOO,000 dollars; in the military chest were found 2,000,000 of dollars,
llhe King of Poland obtained 4,000,000 of florins for his portion, and
(in a letter to his consort, he writes respecting the battle and the great
| oy felt by the delivered inhabitants of Vienna, in the following terms :
!' The whole of the enemy's camp, together with their artillery and
kn incalculable amount of property, has fallen into our hands. The
bamels and mules, together with the captive Turks, are driven away

526 HIS DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE — HAPPY RESULTS.

in herds, whilst I myself am become the heir of the grand vizier.
The banner which was usually borne before him, together with the
standard of Mahomet, with which the sultan had honoured him in
this campaign, and the tents, waggons, and baggage, are all fallen
to my share ; even some of the quivers captured amongst the rest,
are alone worth several thousand dollars. It would take too long to
describe all the other objects of luxury found in his tents, as for
instance his baths, fountains, gardens, and a variety of rare animals.
This morning I was in the city and found that it could hardly have
held out more than five days. Never before did the eye of man see
a work of equal magnitude despatched with a vigour like that with
which they blew up, and shattered to pieces huge masses of stone and
rocks. I myself had to sustain a long contest with the vizier's troops
before the left wing came up to my aid, but after the battle I was
surrounded by the Elector of Bavaria, Prince Waldeck, and several
other princes of the empire, who embraced me with warm affection.
The generals took hold of my hands and feet, the colonels with
their regiments of horse and foot saluted me with, ' Long live our
brave King!5 This morning the Elector of Saxony, together with the
Duke of Lorraine came to me; and, finally, the Governor of Vienna,
Count Stahrenberg, with a multitude of the people, rich and poor,
came to meet me ; all greeted me most cordially, and called me their
deliverer. In the streets were loud rejoicings and cries of ' Long
live the King!' When I rode out into the encampment after
dinner, the populace with uplifted hands accompanied me out of
the city gate. Let us, for this most glorious victory, render to the
Most High, praise, honour, and thanksgiving, for ever !"

The Austrians had good cause to feel grateful for this deliverance.
For this formidable foe not only plundered and slaughtered the
people according to his usual practice in war, but without making
any distinction, dragged after him all he could seize as slaves. It
has been calculated that altogether, Austria lost in this way 87,000
individuals, among whom were 50,000 children and 26,000 women
and^ young females, and of the latter alone 204 belonged to the
families of counts and others of the nobility.

The whole of Europe took an interest in the deliverance of
Vienna; Louis XIV. alone was greatly confounded, and none of
his ministers could command sufficient courage to bear the intelli-
gence to him ; nay, credible writers assert that, in the tent of the grand
vizier, letters were found from the king, containing the entire plan
for the siege of Vienna.

The war with the Turks continued with a few intermissions
fifteen years longer, ending gloriously for the imperial arms. The
terror felt for their name ceased, and their military fame had now
declined. In the year 1687 they were totally defeated at Mohacz
by the Duke of Lorraine and Prince Eugene of Savoy, and as a
consequence of this victory the whole of Hungary submitted to the

FRESH WAR WITH FRANCE, 1688— 1697— THE ALLIANCE. 527

im
ins

perial dominion and even made its regal dignity hereditary,
stead of being, as hitherto, only elective. After the great victory

of Prince Eugene at Zeutha, in 1697, an armistice for twenty-five

years was concluded with the Turks at Carlowitz.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Fresh War with France, 1688 — 1697 — Alliance of England, Holland, and' Spain,
against Louis XIV. — The French in Germany — Dreadful Devastation and Un-
heard of Cruelties committed by orders of Louis XIV. -Conflagration and com-
plete Destruction of Heildelberg, Worms, and Spires — Deplorable Condition of
the Inhabitants — The Tombs of the Emperors pillaged — Peace of Ryswick,
1697 — Compensation demanded for Germany — Insolence of the French Ambassa-
dors— Elevation of the German Princes — The First Elector of Hanover — Fre-
derick, Elector of Saxony, ascends the Throne of Poland, 1696 — Frederick, Elec-
tor of Brandenburg places the Crown on his own Head as King of Prussia, 1701 —
War of the Spanish Succession between France and the House of Austria, 1701 —
1714 — William III. of England — Louis XIV. proclaims his Grandson, Philip of
Anjou, King of Spain—Prince Eugene — His Military Genius and Private Cha-
racter— Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army — His Reply to
Louis XIV.— Marches into Italy— Defeats the French at Carpi and Chiari —
England — Louis XIV. and the exiled Stuarts — The Duke of Marlborough, Gene-
ral of the Allied Army— The Elector of Bavaria— The Bavarians in the Tyrol—-
Their Overthrow by the Tyrolese — Battle of Hochstadt — Blenheim — Triumphant
Victory gained by the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, 1704 — The Duke
of Marlborough created a Prince of the Empire — Death of Leopold I., 1705.

Louis XIV. had employed the interval, whilst Austria and the Ger-
man princes were subjugating their formidable enemy in the south-
east, in gathering new forces, for he did not deem the usurped
possessions already in his hands sufficient. And as he thought the
present to be the most favourable moment, he availed himself of
pertain insignificant disputes respecting the hereditary title of Charles,
jthe electoral prince of the palatinate, and the succession to the electo-
rate of Cologne, after the death of Maximilian Henry ; and pretend-
ing that it devolved upon him to protect the constitution of Ger-
many, he issued a fresh declaration of war against the emperor in
1688. Before it was even made known, his troops invaded the
[Netherlands and began to lay waste as before. Summoned by this
llanger, numerous armies from northern Germany, Saxony, Han-
bver, and Hesse, hastened to the Rhine on the defensive. This was
the more praiseworthy, as at Ratisbon they were yet discussing the
:}uestion whether or not there should be a war. However, even
;iere, things began to wear a more determined aspect ; an imperial
|;var was declared, without allowing any one of the states to remain
jieutral, and the emperor added to the declaration : " The govern-
ment of France is not to be considered simply as the enemy of the
pmpire, but, like the Turks, the enemy of all Christendom."

528 THE FRENCH IN GERMANY— DREADFUL CRUELTIES.

The arrogance of France and the violations of the Nimwegen
treaty of peace excited also the indignation of the other European
states ; soon England, Holland, Spain, and subsequently Savoy, ,
took part in the war, and the new King of England, William III.,
who was at the same time Stadtholder of the Netherlands, in his
declaration of war likewise calls King Louis " A disturber of the
peace and the common enemy of all Christendom."

In order that France might wage a successful war against so many
adversaries, unhappy Germany was again subjected to the inhuman
treatment which the Minister Louvois had suggested : the flourish-
in tr banks of the Rhine were reduced to a state of complete desola-
tion, and the recital of the cruelties inflicted excites but one feeling
of horror.

As early as January, 1689, the cavalry of General Melac surrounded
the country around Heidelberg and set fire to the towns of Rohr-
bach, Nuszloch, Wisloch, Kirchheiin, Eppenheim, Neckarhausen,
and many others, whilst the poor defenceless people who suppli-
cated for mercy on their knees, were stripped and hunted naked into
the fields, then covered with snow, where many perished through
the cold. Heidelberg itself was set on fire in several different
places. The towns of Mannheim, Offenburg, Creuznach, Oppen-
heim, Bruchsal, Frankenthal, Baden, Rastadt, and many other
small towns and villages met the same fate. The inhabitants were
not even permitted, after being plundered and ill-treated, to take
refuge in the German districts, but were obliged to betake them-
selves to the French territory. The ancient free cities of the em-
pire, Spires and Worms, underwent a lingering and truly pitiable
state of suffering. After innumerable calamities, after the inhabit-
ants had for seven months endured all and sacrificed all, and now
thought that at least their cities would be saved, it was announced
to them that the interest of the king required that both those
cities should be razed to the ground. The unhappy people were
compelled to wander forth out of their gates, as mendicants, and
destitute of all means of subsistence, into the nearest French
cities, and Spires and Worms were both set in flames and reduced
to ashes. On this occasion French avarice violated and sacrile-
giously broke open the very graves of the ancient Salic emperors
in the cathedral of Spires; several silver coffins deposited there
were removed, and the venerated bones they contained scattered
upon the ground. In Worms alone, fifteen Catholic churches and
convents, besides those of the Jesuits and Dominicans, were reduced
to ashes. When the young Duke of Crequi, who had the chief
command in these operations, was asked why he visited these
cities with such severity, he merely replied: "It is the king's
pleasure," — and produced a list of 1200 towns and villages which
were yet to be destroyed. These enormities were perpetrated by
a nation, calling itself the most civilised and polished in the world,
and just at that period of its history too, which it denominated the

PEACE OF RYSWICK — ARROGANCE OF FRANCE. 529

golden age of its refinement; they were the commands of a king, who
wished to assume the character of a protector of the arts and sciences
wherever he found them. Before he made known the designs
which his thirst for conquest had led him to form, he sent
presents to sixty foreign Savants, accompanied with the following
letter from his minister, Colbert: " Although the king," he says,
" is not your sovereign, he is desirous of being your benefactor; he
sends this present as a token of his regard." In this way he suc-
ceeded in attaching to himself partisans amidst the most learned men
of other nations ; but now none had longer confidence in the honesty
of his intentions, and those who formerly wished success to his arms,
broke out into execrations and curses against him and his people.

This animosity against France and the excellent generalship of the
old Duke of Lorraine, rendered the German arms, during the first
years of the war, tolerably successful ; and several fortified towns on
the Rhine were recovered from the French. After the duke's death,
however, and when the zeal of the first moment had cooled down,
the advantage turned in favour of the indefatigable enemy, especially
after the great French general, the Marshal of Luxemburg, had in
1690 routed a German legion at Fleurus. Subsequently, however, in
11693, they in some measure regained their former position under a
I new German general, Prince Lewis of Baden, a pupil of the Duke of
Lorraine, who ably defended the banks of the Neckar ; and with an
army of inferior numbers, he made such an admirable stand at Heil-
ibronn, that the enemy would not again venture to invade Swabia.

All the belligerent nations being wearied out, a congress of peace

'was at length convened at Ryswick, a small village with a castle near

Ithe Hague, in Holland. Louis XIV. was desirous of peace this time,

in order to prepare for a new war which he anticipated as near at

hand. The death of Charles II., the King of Spain, was expected

portly to take place, and as he had no children, Louis wished to ob-

itain that country for himself. Accordingly, he now offered to de-

•liver up many places, and amongst the rest the important citadel of

jStrasburg. But the negotiations were hardly entered upon before

ic succeeded, with his usual cunning, in disuniting the allies, by

promising especial advantages to England, Holland, and Spain.

They therefore concluded a separate peace for themselves, and

ibandoned the emperor and empire altogether. And now the am^

idors resumed their high and haughty tone.

When the question was discussed respecting the compensation to
•cmacle for the excessive losses produced by the war, and when the
of Worms and Spires alone demanded, as an indemnification,
>,000,000 florins, whilst the duchy of Baden claimed 8,000,000,
nd Wurtemburg 10,000,000, they replied in an ironical tone :
; War brings with it many evils ; if the Germans are determined to
ave satisfaction, let them lead their army into the centre of France,
nd there plunder or conquer as much as they please." At last they
rngaged, out of all they had conquered, to deliver up Freiburg,

2 M

530 ELEVATION OF GERMAN PRINCES — HANOVER — SAXONY.

Brisach, and Philipsburg, together with those places reunited by the
four chambers beyond Alsace. On the evening before the ratification
of peace, and just when all considered that every thing was arranged
for signature, the French ministers came forward with an additional
stipulation, insisting upon its being acceded to, viz., " That in all
the reunited places now about to be restored, the Catholic religion
should remain as it was;" that is, in 1922 German townships which
had been previously Protestant, and into which the French garrisons
had introduced, with a high hand, the Catholic worship, the latter
should remain the state religion. The Protestant ambassadors of Ger-
many strenuously resisted this clause ; but their remonstrances were
not attended to, and the treaty of peace was signed. The worst feature
of the case, and what Louis undoubtedly aimed at, was that the
Protestants looked upon the emperor himself as the secret mover
of this so called Ryswickian clause, whence it produced in Ger-
many fresh distrust on the subject of religion ; and, in truth, the
imperial ambassadors by no means showed themselves vigilant
against the designs of France, nor were they sufficiently determined
in their opposition.

Another cause also of the discord which at this period prevailed
in Germany, was the creation of a new electoral dignity, on behalf
of the house of Hanover, or Brunswick-Liineburg. That princely
house had rendered the emperor very important service in the wars
against the Turks and the French ; Leopold, therefore, was desirous
of rewarding it with the said electoral dignity, and the majority of the
other electors, even those of the Catholic party, became by degrees (
agreeable to this proceeding, although it would, at the same time,
add a new Protestant vote to the electoral college; still, to them,
this appeared not unreasonable, since the Protestants had lost a vote
through the elector-palatine having gone over to the Catholic reli-
gion. But the princes, especially Brunswick- Wolfenbiittel, strug-
gled vehemently against this elevation of one of their number, for
thereby one of their most valuable votes would be withdrawn from
them. When, therefore, the emperor, notwithstanding their op-
position, conferred, in 1692, the investiture of the new electorate
on Ernest Augustus of Hanover, it produced so much contention
and general discontent in the college of princes, that it was deemed
advisable, for the present, that Hanover should not be permitted
to occupy a place in the electoral assembly. The new electorate was
not inconsiderable ; the elder brother, George William of Liineburg,
had transferred his dukedom to his younger brother, Ernest Au-
gustus, so that now Liineburg, Calenburg, and Grubenhagen, with
the provinces of Hoya and Diepholz, formed together one of the
largest of the German territories. The new elector was also chief
standard-bearer of the empire, and he promised in all cases of the
election of an emperor, always to give his vote to the house of Aus-
tria, and to grant the Catholics in his own dominions the free exer-
cise of their religion, as well as to furnish in aid of the war 500,000

BRANDENBURG—FIRST KING OF PRUSSIA, 1701. 531

dollars, together with 6000 men to Hungary, and 3000 to the
Rhine. When Ernest Augustus died in 1698, even those of the
electoral princes who had not heretofore approved of the creation
of a ninth electorate, now voted for the investiture of his son, George
Lewis; the college of princes, on the other hand, protested anew
against it; nor did they recognise it till the year 1705. The house
of Hanover, however, was soon to rise yet higher, for in the year
1714, George Lewis ascended the English throne by inheritance,
on the demise of Queen Anne, who had survived the whole of her
thirteen children.

The year 1696 also witnessed the elevation of a German prince
to a royal throne ; the Elector Frederick Augustus of Saxony, after
the death of the gallant Sobieski, was elected king by the Poles,
and took the title of Augustus I. He was obliged to change his
creed and conform to the Catholic church ; in his Saxon dominions,
however, no alteration was attempted in the constitution of the
church. The Polish crown, however, proved no boon to the Saxon
house, and was soon lost again.

This was a period of aggrandising effort among the princes, and
these examples influenced several. A Prince of Orange had just
ibecome King of England, and the Elector of Saxony was King of
Poland; this prompted Frederick III., Elector of Brandenburg, who
was at the same time Duke of Prussia, likewise to assume the royal
title. His territories were indeed small, but Frederick loved splen-
dour and outward show more than any thing else; he caused him-
self to be proclaimed king at Konigsberg, on the 17th of January,
1701, and on the following day he solemnly placed the crown on
us own head and that of his consort ; henceforth he was known as
[Frederick I. of Prussia.

The circumstances of the times were exceedingly favourable for

jhese self promotions ; at another period, they might have encoun-

i much opposition. The Spanish war of succession was on the

jvc of breaking out, and the powers which were implicated in it

lastened to obtain allies. The Emperor Leopold was the first to

icknowledge the new Prussian royal title, and he received in return

ance in the war, and the assurance that the imperial dignity

liould continue in the house of Austria. Sweden, England, Hol-

and, Poland, Denmark, and Russia, also soon followed, all equally

ii'om motives of state policy. On the other hand, France and Spain,

iher with the pope, finding their adversaries had already gained

YCT the king, delayed their recognition until the peace of Utrecht.

! The curse of our history since the Thirty Years' War has been

aat our country was drawn into all the quarrels of the nations of

purope, even such as were foreign to her, and her soil was the prin-

ipal arena on which others spent their rage in war. Hence it

i that the plains of Saxony, Swabia, and Bavaria, are distinguished

y the names of so many battles, and this is the reason why the

:anks of the Elbe, the Saale, and the Elster, as well as those of the

2 M2

532 SPANISH WAR OF SUCCESSION, 1701—1714.

Danube, the Lech, the Inn, and the Neckar, have been so severely
trodden down by the burning foot of war.

In like manner, at the commencement of the eighteenth century,
that shock which convulsed the southern half of Europe, was, to a
great extent, fought out on the plains of Germany. This was occa-
sioned by the death of Charles II., King of Spain.

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 succes-
sion. The second sister was married to the Emperor Leopold ; she
had made no such renunciation ; her daughter, however, consort of
Maximilian Emanuel, 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 palatine house of Neuberg, 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 renun-
ciations 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., during his life-
time, to make a will in their favour; and Charles, with the view of
maintaining the independence of Spain as much as possible, named
Joseph Ferdinand, Elector of Bavaria, his successor. This youth,
however, died of the small-pox, even before the king, in the year 1699,
and the contest between the houses of Bourbon and Austria com-
menced afresh. Leopold could easily have obtained the victory if
he had been represented by a more able envoy at Madrid, and if he
nimself had possessed more decision of character; for both the Spa-
nish queen and Cardinal Portocarraro, 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 field quite clear for the adroitness and
cunning of the French agent, the Marquis 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 No-
vember, 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 confounded by
this unexpected blow; but he had to thank himself alone for it, foi
previously, when the Spanish court had repeatedly pressed him tc
let his son, the Archduke Charles, come into Spain with a small

TWO KINGS OF SPAIN, PHILIP V. AND CHARLES III. 533

| army — during the continuance of the former war with France — the
emperor, owing to his want of resolution, refused to give his
I consent.

Louis XIV. knew^well that, notwithstanding the will of the late
I 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 likewise viewed, with great jealousy, the ex-
| cessive power of the house of Bourbon. William III., Kino- of
England and Stadtholder of the Netherlands, an active and very
i able man, who considered it his province to preserve the due balance
| of the powers of Europe, and therefore had always been the enemy
I of Louis, concluded an alliance between both of his dominions and
! Austria ; this was the more important as England and Holland were
i the wealthiest and most powerful rulers of the sea. Hence Louis
i considered awhile whether he should accept of the Spanish king's
will; he then called his council together, and as they unanimously
concurred, he resolved to do so ; accordingly, he proclaimed his
grandson King of Spain and both the Indies, in the presence of a
brilliant assembly of his court. When he entered from his cabinet,
Heading the prince by the hand, he exclaimed, as stated by a French
| writer, with the air of a lord of the universe: " My lords, you see
ihere the King of Spain. Nature has formed him for it ; the deceased
Iking has nominated him, the people desire him, and I consent."

This was the signal for a new and direful struggle in Europe.
[Germany was, alas ! divided in itself ; Prussia, Hanover, the Pala-
jtinate, and a few other states were, from the beginning, for the
jemperor. Maximilian Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria and also
(Stadtholder 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 Nether-
lands; whether seriously, it is difficult to say. The brother of Maxi-
milian, the Elector of Cologne, followed his example and received
French troops into his territory, " for the good of the Germanic em-
)ire and the preservation of its peace ( !)," as it is expressed in the
official declarations.

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 Eu-
gene, Prince of Savoy, one of the first of the warriors and states-
nen of his time, as well as of all history. He sprang from a colla-
;eral branch of the house of Savoy, and was intended in his youth
or the clerical profession ; but his genius led him to the study of his-
tory and its great examples, and this again impelled him into the
I'apid 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
'/ear, he offered his services to Louis XIV. The latter, not deeming
;iim worthy of notice on account of his diminutiveness, treated his

i

534 PRINCE EUGENE — HIS MILITARY GENIUS.

offer with ridicule, and advised him to continue in the clerical profes-
sion. 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 re-
lation 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 Stadt-
holdership of Champaign, and the dignity of a marshal of France ;
but Eugene answered the person deputed : " 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 accom-
panying operations, he never neglected to provide for the most
minute wants of his army, which consequently placed the greatest
confidence in their 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 reli- '
gious 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 unpretending, and estimated
his own 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 promote the general good. In person Prince Eugene was
under the middle size, and as he walked amidst the tents of his
camp, enveloped in his gray military cloak, it may be supposed that
few would recognise in his small figure 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 assem-
bled 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 general, how-
ever, 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 marched, and thus, be-
fore the enemy could be at all aware of it, his army poured forth
from the terrific passes of the mountains, and encamped on the plains

LOUIS XIV. AND THE STUARTS — DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 535

of Verona. By two victories gained at Carpi and Chiari, Eugene
drove the French from a part of Upper Italy, and established his
winter quarters there.

As early as the < autumn of 1701, an alliance was formed be-
tween England, Holland, and Austria. The maritime powers
stipulated that they should retain possession of all the conquests
they might make in the Spanish Indies ; and in return they pro~
mised the emperor to assist him in conquering the Spanish Nether-
lands, Milan, Naples, and Sicily. The English would not have
taken so active a part in the Avar 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 Saint Germain,) he recognised his son
James III., as King of Great Britain ; and it was even reported that
this 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 10,000 men, now obtained from Parliament a vote for 40,000.

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 learnt
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 ; being tall, 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 con-
templation 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
laced himself at the head of the Anglo-Dutch army; his imme-
iate object was to drive the French out of the Electorate of Cologne.

.ng William III. died the same month in consequence of a violent
'all 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,
jthe 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 con-
jcluded thus : — " France has done every thing in her power to
|bumble and crush the German nation, in order that she might the more
(easily effect, what she has so long and zealously been aiming at, viz.,
'the establishment of a universal monarchy." The conduct of the Elec-
jtor of Bavaria had likewise provoked the decision of the other mem-

536 ELECTOR OF BAVARIA — INVADES THE TYROL.

bers of the empire in favour of the same cause ; for obstinately ad-
hering 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 3d of September; an act severely condemned
by the other states.

The dukes of Brunswick also, in consequence of their continued
indignation 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 warnings given to them, they were
forcibly disarmed, in 1702, by the Elector of Hanover, and thence-
forth compelled to submit to the will of the emperor and the nation. "

The fortress of Landau on the Rhine was also this year besieged
and captured by the imperial general, Lewis of Baden. The Ilo-
man king, Joseph, came himself into the camp, and evinced great
courage and resolution. In Italy, Eugene was as yet too weak to
attempt any thing of importance ; and it appeared as though the
hostile parties had determined 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, Tongern, Huy, Limburg,
and Guelder s.

In Southern Germany affairs were not so prosperous, for the em-
peror was obliged to withdraw a considerable part of his army from
the Rhine, in order to suppress the dangerous insurrection headed
by Count Ragoczi, 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
any thing like a demonstration against France. In the year 1703,
the French field-marshal, Villars, succeeded in crossing the Rhine
and uniting with the Elector of Bavaria. The latter now devised
the plan of making an incursion into the Tyrol, and possessing him-
self of that country, situated for him so conveniently. He marched
thither with about 16,000 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 mountain fortress
fell immediately into the hands of the elector, and in their first
terror several other places surrendered, and amongst the rest, even
Inspruck itself. Thence the Bavarians ascended the Brenner moun-
tain ^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 all 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 Amtmann,
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 inarch, retreated in all haste. A Tyrolese sharpshooter in a

BATTLES OF HOCHST^EDT AND BLENHEIM, 1704. 537

ravine lay in ambuscade for the elector himself, but deceived by his
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 for-
tresses of Brisach and Landau.

To conterbalancc these losses, the allies proposed the following
year to try with all their forces united for better success, and accord-
ing to the plan laid down it was determined that the three generals,
Marlborough, Eugene, and Lewis of Baden, should fight in conjunc-
tion in Southern Germany, and that General Stahrenberg should
remain in Italy to carry on a defensive war. The three generals
met at Heilbronn on the Neckar, and Marlborough, with the Mar-
grave 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 Donauwerth, to dispute the passage of the imperialists over the
Danube ; but they were attacked 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 mes-
senger 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 joined Marlborough. They sent the old,
! unyielding Prince of Baden away to the siege of Ingolstadt, lest he
i should derange their plans of battle ; and the English general cor-
! dially fought hand-in-hand with the unpretending Eugene, as the
I 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 imme-
i diately in front of the French, and the Bavarians near the smalltown
! of Hochstadt ; and on the 13th they began the battle. The enemy
I was far superior in numbers, and commanded a highly advantageous
1 situation, whilst they were well defended by morasses. Marlborough
i led the right wing, composed of the English, Dutch, and Hessians,
; against the French ; Eugene with the left advanced against the
i Bavarians. The battle was most fierce, and the assailants were
| several times driven back by a most terrible fire from the enemy's
I artillery. The contest was most severe on the left wing, where

538 DEATH OF LEOPOLD I., 1705.

Maximilian fought with the utmost bravery, skilfully availing him-
self of his covered position in the bog. Eugene perceived that
something extraordinary must be hazarded ; careless 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 Marlborough likewise had with
his wing routed the French, and when the elector saw them flying
from the field, he also retreated wfith his division. 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, with his son and 818 officers.
As to booty, the victors had won a rich military chest, 117 cannon,
24 mortars, and 300 stand of colours; and besides this, 5000 waggons,
3600 tents,, and two pontoon bridges. From this day the name
of Marlborough became the theme of heroic song throughout Ger-
many, 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 imperialists, and his consort retained for her
support only the town and revenue of Munich. Thus, unhappily
for him, terminated the campaign of 1704.

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 affa-
bility with which princes so easily win the hearts of those who sur-
round 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 deport-
ment 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 direc-
tion 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.
He was succeeded by his eldest son, Joseph, in his twenty- seventh
year.

JOSEPH I. 1705— 1711— WAR CONTINUED. 539

CHAPTER XXIX.

Joseph I., 1705-1711 — Continuation of the War — Riots in Bavaria — The Elector
outlawed — Marshal Villeroi — Battles of Ramillies and Turin, 1706 — Triumph of
Marl borough and Eugene— Complete overthrow of the French — General Capi-
tulation— Naples— Spain— Battles of Oudenarde and Malplaquet, 1708-1709 —
Defeat of the French under Bourgoyne, Vendome, and Villars — Humiliation of
Louis XIV. — England — Queen Anne — Marlborough recalled and dismissed —
Death of Joseph L, 1711 — Charles VI., 1711-1740— Peace of Utrecht, 1713— Peace
of Rastadt and Baden, 1714— Death of Louis XIV., 1715 — The House of Austria
in its Relations with the Germanic Empire — Peaceful Reign of Charles VI. — His
Death, 1740 — Maria Theresa of Austria — Her Title to the Imperial Throne dis-
puted by Charles Albert of Bavaria — Frederick II. of Prussia — His extraordinary
Genius and energetic Character — His Army — Invades Austria — The first Sile-
sian War, 1740-1742— Glogau— Sanguinary Battle of Molwitz — Defeat of the
Austrians — Alliance of France, Spain, Bavaria, and Saxony, against Austria in
Support of Charles Albert — Hanover — George II. of England — Charles Albert,
King of Poland — Election of Emperor in Frankfort.

LEOPOLD I. was succeeded by his eldest son Joseph in his
twenty-seventh year, who was endowed with an energetic and as-
piring 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 Arragon, Catalonia, and Valencia. Joseph, however,
declared his determination to prosecute the war with vigour, and he
| kept his word.

Nevertheless, there was nothing of importance accomplished any-
I where during the campaign of 1705. Eugene was sent to Italy, in
| order to reorganise the army there, which had fallen into great dis-
i order; but more than this he was not able to do this year. Marl-
i borough had returned to the Netherlands, where he was obliged to
[collect fresh forces. In Bavaria, meantime, a violent tumult broke
out, in consequence of the oppressive measures adopted by the Aus-
trian 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 service, attacked
several bodies of the Austrian troops, and encouraged by their first
success, they collected together about 20,000 of the bold peasantry
under the orders of a young and fiery student named Maim. They

Eoceeded at once to make an assault upon the fortresses of Braunau
d Scharding, and forced the small garrisons to surrender. The
— ustrians were obliged to negotiate with them and to conclude an
jarmistice, not as with rebels, but as with men defending their

540 MARSHAL VILLEROI— BATTLE OF RAMILLIES, 1706.

independence. They, however, availed themselves of this circum-
stance by collecting together a small imperial army from the neigh-
bouring districts, and with this assistance they routed the peasants,
recovered from them one town after another, and in some measure
re-established order. This, however, was attended with many 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 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 this time also the princes, who had
hitherto disputed the electoral dignity of 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 succeed-
ing 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 Villeroi, was
no match for the daring Marlborough. Actuated by vain confi-
dence, he left his strong position at Louvain on the 22d of May, in
order to attack the enemy on the plains of Ramillies.* This was
exactly what Marlborough desired; his position was excellently de-
fended 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,

Ctected as they were by a natural defence ; whilst he, on the other
d, 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. Ne-
vertheless they were defeated; for no bravery can atone for the
faults of a general. More than 20,000 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.

On the other hand the conqueror marched through Brabant and
Fknders, took possession of all the towns, made them swear alle-
giance to Charles III. as their rightful sovereign, and a council of
state was established at Brussels in the name of the new king.

* This field is almost identical with that on which the great battle of La Belle
mce and Waterloo was fought, and the latter name already was employed to
.esignate the engagement above referred to more than a century a^o

BATTLE OF TURIN, 1706— THE FRENCH DEFEATED. 541

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 24,000 German troops he completed a march of more
than two hundred miles, ascending mountains and crossing rivers,
and 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 every one the expedition suc-
ceeded. 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 ven-
tured an attack upon the French lines on the 7th of September at
four o'clock in the morning. He was received by a terrific can-
nonade, 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, followed in the centre by the Wiirtem-
burgers 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 ram-
parts first, and were soon followed by the others.

The confusion of the enemy was greatly increased through their
rear line 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;
5000 dead, and a yet greater number of wounded covered the
field of battle, and the rest fled in such disorder over the moun-
tains into France, that of the whole army, originally 80,000
(strong, scarcely 16,000 men escaped. All the immense supplies
ithey 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, how-
ever, presented still greater advantages than all this booty, for the
French lost rapidly one place after another in Italy, and were
j 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

* 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
i the thickest fire, and in the very front of it, and I cannot conceal it, that in bravery,
I 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, very honourable letters of thanks.

542 CAPITULATION — NAPLES — THE RHINE— SPAIN.

o-lorious results, that his fame resounded from one end of Europe to
the other, and in token of his high regard for his great and dis-
tinguished 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 inhe-
ritance, 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 Maryborough 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
imperialists in their operations. The old general, Lewis of Baden,
who died in 1707, was succeeded by the Margrave of Baireuth,
who was equally as inactive in his movements 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 devas-
tation in Franconia and Swabia. It has been calculated that, in
the space of only two months, they levied contributions to the
amount of nine millions of florins. The margrave, to the satis-
faction of all, did not long delay giving in his resignation as com-
mander-in-chief, and he was replaced by a more active leader,
George Lewis, Elector of Hanover. The ill condition of the im-
perial army, however, prevented him from undertaking any thing
important; he was obliged to content himself with forcing the
French, through want of supplies, 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 maritime powers, in the same year, 1707, from Italy to the
south of France, in order 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 of Spain. The Arch-
duke Charles had been, it is true, extremely fortunate in his operations
in Spain the preceding year : his army, which chiefly consisted of
Portuguese auxiliaries, had succeeded in taking the capital, Madrid,
and he had there been proclaimed King of Spain; but his own na-
tural indolence, the dissension existing amongst his generals, the
hatred of the Castilians towards him and the Arragonians, as well as
towards the English and Portuguese, together with other causes,
assisted gradually to deprive him of his conquests, so that in the
year 1707 he retained nothing more beyond Catalonia.

Meantime Louis XIV. had already suffered such severe losses in
this war, 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 adver-
saries, however, determined to punish him severely this time for all

BATTLE OF OUDENARDE, 1708— MARSHAL VILLARS. 543

his former arrogance ; Eugene and Marlborough especially, being
hostilely disposed to the vain monarch, used all their influence
equally both in Austria and England to prevent any pacificatory
measures, being resolved to reduce him to the most humiliating con-
dition, and in which object they succeeded.

Both these 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 Bour-
goyne and Vendome — between whom there was great disunion — on
the llth of June, 1708, at Oudenarde. After this victory, Eugene
boldly attacked the citadel of Ryssel, which was regarded as im-
pregnable, 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 pro-
duced 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 vine
and fruit-trees completely destroyed — whilst the inhabitants them-
selves, already suffering so acutely from the war, were driven
I 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 humble himself 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 appeared
|at the Hague, in the midst of these negotiations, declared briefly
[that the house of Austria should not lose even a single village of
Ithe Spanish monarchy, and when this severe exaction was at length
(agreed to, they demanded still further concessions from the terri-
jtory of France itself: " Alsace," they said, " must be given up, and
Jan entire line of strong places in the Netherlands, as well as in
iSavoy, must be surrendered, to secure these countries for the future
lagainst the crafty proceedings of France." All this the French
fenvoys successively conceded ; they only refused their consent to one
proposal of their enemies, and which was in truth of a character
liighly derogatory and dishonourable, viz. : that, in case his grand-
Son, Philip/would not resign Spain of his own accord, Louis should
jiimself assist in expelling him therefrom by force of arms. To
jiuch 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 them-
selves of the remaining portion of the season. They took possession
!)f Tournay, and inarched against Mons. This place Marshal Vil-
!ars wished to protect, and had accordingly taken up a strong pos;-
lion at Malplaquet, in front of the city. The two victorious

544 BATTLE OF MALPLAQUET — LOUIS XIV'S HUMILIATION.

generals, however, attacked him in his intrenchments without
delay, on the llth of September, and after a battle, the most obsti-
nate and sanguinary during the whole war, victory declared in
favour of the allies. Eugene himself, at the very outset of the action, :
received a grazing shot in the head ; but he very calmly folded his
pocket-handkerchief round his head, and led on his troops into the
very hottest fire. Mons was now closely besieged, and shortly after-
wards taken.

Another campaign was now lost, and Louis XIV. was again
forced to renew his offers of peace. He agreed to every thing 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 pro-
mised 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, viz., how acutely severe
the haughty insolence of the conqueror pierces the heart of him
whom misfortune has laid prostrate at his feet. He was now forced
to witness what was but too clearly manifested, how by the duplicity
he had himself 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 over- j
bearing, the humbled monarch was forced to recommence war, at
whatever sacrifice, and Eugene and Marlborough succeeded with-
out much difficulty in capturing one town after the other on the
frontiers of France ; whilst in addition to this, the news now arrived
from Spain, that Count Stahrenberg, Charles's general, had com-
pletely defeated the army of Philip V., and that on the the 28th of
September, 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 destruc-
tion of the whole of that fabric built to perpetuate the grandeur of
his name and government, and he was even called upon to offer up
a portion of his own ancient patrimonial realm.

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 monarchal greatness and imperial glory. But his adver-
saries had themselves now lost sight of that moderation in the
moment when its influence would have saved them ; they had like-
wise become arrogant through their good fortune, whence they
lost a great portion of the fruits of their victories. Three favour-

MARLBOROUGH'S DISMISSAL — DEATH OF JOSEPH I. 545

able circumstances at once rescued France from the great extremity
to which she was reduced, and gained for her more liberal condi-
tions of peace. These fortunate events were: the recall and dismissal
of the Duke of Marlborough, the triumph of the French partisans
in Spain, and the death of the Emperor Joseph 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 contrast 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
•egarded as suspicious by Queen Anne, and his wife, who had hitherto
icld great sway over her mind, was now supplanted by another
influential party, Lady Masham ; a new parliament was elected in
.710, of which the Tories formed the majority, and thence measures
or peace were loudly advocated in substitution for those of war.
VTarlborough was allowed to hold command for a short time longer,
3ut with such restrictions that he almost immediately afterwards re-
signed it altogether.

The death of the Emperor Joseph I., on the 17th of April, 1711,

pontributed not a little to establish a peace. He died of the small

pox, in his thirty- third year, and is represented in history as a prince

>f an active and prompt character, and far superior to his father and

prother. His mind was capable of entertaining the most noble and

plarged ideas, and thence it was that his penetrating eye selected

Eugene, with his extraordinary genius, as worthy of his entire con-

•idence. As the emperor died without heirs, he was succeeded to

lie throne by his brother, the Archduke Charles. The question now

irose respecting the equilibrium of the powers of Europe, as in the

imoof Charles V. : whether if were advisable that the present Charles,

I elected by the Germans as their emperor, under the title of

Jharles VI., should be allowed to preside over the half of Europe,

nd the power of the House of Austria thus become so prepon-

erating? For Charles VI. would have possessed the same domi-

ation as Charles V., if he united the whole of Austria to the Spanish

Monarchy. Such a predominance appeared dangerous to the other

;ates, especially to the maritime powers, and they accordingly pro-

lotcd the election of Charles as emperor, with the view of after-

:ards depriving him of a portion of the Spanish succession. He was

perefore crowned at Frankfort, on the 22nd of December, 1711.

Charles, however, had in the meantime lost all he had gained in

pain. Defeated several times by the able French general, the

>uke of Vendome, all his possessions there were reconquered, and

'liilip V. was re-established in his kingdom.

During this interval the English ministers had been secretly ne-
jtiating with France, and the preliminary conditions of peace were
ready signed ; so that the allies found themselves forced to agree
1 stipulations by no means advantageous to them — so little honour-

2 N

546 CHARLES VI. 1711-1740— PEACE OF UTRECHT, 1712.

able had been the conduct of England in her proceedings with re-
gard to her confederates. The conferences for a general peace now
commenced, and Utrecht was chosen as the place of assembly.

Upon the subject of the main point to be discussed, the Spanish
inheritance, they, notwithstanding the protestations of the emperor,
were soon agreed. Philip V. was to have Spain and India, 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 of
Spanish Guelderland, and the sovereignty of Neufchatel andValen-
gin, 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 advantages offered by a separate peace with
France, received but very poor amends, whilst she was forced to re-
linquish the strongest fortresses she had conquered, only being al-
lowed to retain a few of the weaker places, to her of little service.
Spain eventually surrendered to England the stronghold of Gib-
raltar and the 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 humiliating nature ; inasmuch as Louis, in order no
doubt to prove himself extremely generous towards his ally, the Elec-
tor 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 con-
ditions 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 imperialists, was not in a con-
dition 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 de-
vastated, and the important fortresses of Landau and Friburg
again fell into the hands of the French.

In this state of things, Eugene and Villars, in November 1713,
met in the castle of Rastadt, and recommenced negotiations. These
two great generals, who had already more than once confronted eacl:
other on the field of battle, were now equally desirous of being dis-

DEATH OF LOUIS XIV. — THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA. 547

tinguished as the promoters of peace, and after overcoming the
difficulties thrown in their way, and which in one or two instances
were produced by the overbearing pride of Louis himself, they at
length signed the treaty of peace on the 7th of March, 1714. The
emperor received the Spanish Netherlands, Milan, Sardinia, Man-
tua, and the sea-ports of Tuscany ; and France restored all the con-
quered places she had gained on the Rhine, as far as Landau. The
electors of Bavaria and Cologne were freed from the imperial ban,
and were reinstated in all their possessions and dignities.

These were the principal conditions of peace, but there were
many other points, especially relative to the Germanic empire, which
were definitively agreed to on the 7th of September, 1714, at
Baden, in Aarau.

And thus, once more, a violent tempest had passed over our heads.
Meantime, the great war in the north, and which at this moment
convulsed the other moiety of Europe, north and east, although not
much felt in Germany, pursued its course until the death of the
Swedish monarch, Charles XII., in December, 1718. During the
ill-fortunes of Sweden, Brandenburg took possession of a portion of
Swedish Pomerania, and Hanover secured to itself by purchase, the
bishoprics of Bremen and Verden, and both retained their acqui-
sitions during the peace. On the death of Louis XIV. in 1715,
Europe after these two great wars, was suffered to enjoy, for some
time, a state of repose.

We have described the important war just concluded more in de-
tail, because therein France lost her ascendency ; whilst for Austria
and Germany in general, it produced that favourable moment by
which they wrere enabled to occupy, once more, their ancient honour-
able 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, by means of a convention of
several states, a barrier to that ambition, so that in future the laws of
j justice and equity should alone govern nations among themselves.
j Thence he was the founder of the new system of political equi-
I librium, and merits the appreciation due to a great man; for he ef-
i fected great things with small means, and was, in truth, the shield
i of Europe. Beyond every thing else, however, he founded his hopes
I for the maintenance of lasting peace and security upon the union
I of England with Austria — an alliance, to use the expression of that
I period, of the most independent Protestantism with the most legiti-
i mate Catholicism. This union, in fact, produced an entire new form

• in the development of all the relations of the different European
I states. But one of its most important results has been to render the
i principles of tolerance, reciprocal esteem, and moral dignity, more
j prevalent among nations ; and it is in this respect especially that the

• first moiety of the eighteenth century distinguished itself, in spite of

2^2

548 STATE OF AFFAIRS IN GERMANY.

its many imperfections. Thence, by this means, Austria was placed
once again in the centre of Europe, as the power destined to esta-
blish relationship between all other nations, and to maintain amongst
them order and union ; whilst with respect to Germany itself, she
was called upon to defend, with still greater power, the pristine dig-
nity and the ancient constitution of that empire. The glory and the
acquisitions that had fallen to her share through the late war, ap-
peared 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 succeeded 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
any thing but real augmentation of power. Austria was chiefly in-
debted for her present state of elevation 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's 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 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 originat-
ing in the reign of Louis XIV., became now more universally
adopted, inasmuch as sovereigns sought for the security of their in-
dependence 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. Whenever one state augmented its mercenaries, its neigh-
bour 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 not be
reduced to measurement. Such a state of things must bring with it
a heavy judgment ; intellect thus misprised, abandoned altogether
the structure, the formation of which had cost so much labour and
pain, and which it alone could uphold, and thence this system of equi-
poise, after a short duration 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

PEACEFUL REIGN OF CHARLES VI. — HIS DEATH, 1740. 549

by the house of Austria, Germany found itself implicated in the
wars of that dominion; besides which, it was forced to share in all
the commotions of Europe, without reaping any advantage by them,
until the venerable and tottering fabric of the empire, completely
overcome by continual concussion, fell to pieces. For in the ex-
istence of nations, as in that of individuals, there is no pause;
if they do not press onwards they retrograde incessantly, and Ger-
many had just shown itself frigidly indifferent and unwilling to em-
brace 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 de-
voted 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 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, 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 suc-
ceeded ; 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 Leczinski,
father-in-law to the French monarch, Louis XV. This war, how-
ever, 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 rapacious 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 Carlos, 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.

The Emperor Charles VI. died October 26, 1740, and his daugh-
ter, Maria Theresa, by virtue of the Pragmatic Sanction, took pos-
session of the government 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 in-
heritress 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

550 MARIA THERESA— BAVARIA— FREDERICK THE GREAT.

daughter of the Emperor Ferdinand L, whose posterity ought to
insist upon their title to those possessions, 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 precedence
of all collateral female relations. The law advisers of the elector
attempted to justify the claims of their sovereign, upon several
orounds; but what, however, influenced the elector in his proceed-
ing beyond every thing else was, the encouragement he received
from France, who secretly promised him her aid in the dismem-
berment of the Austrian inheritance.

Before, however, the dispute in this quarter was brought to a de-
cision by force of arms, another enemy presented himself to oppose
Maria Theresa, and whose appearance was still more unexpected,
viz: the young King of Prussia, Frederick II., who only having
just mounted the throne in the same year, 1740, marched suddenly
into Silesia, and took possession of that country. In his manifesto,
which he published at the same time, he laid claims to various prin-
cipalities of Silesia, viz : to Jagerndorf, Liegnitz, Brieg, and Woh-
lau respectively. With regard to the first territory, he traced his
rights from the period of the Thirty Years' War, when the Margrave
of Brandenburg-Jagerndorf was placed under the ban of the em-
pire, and his principality confiscated by the Emperor Ferdinand
II., because he had formed an alliance with the Bohemian king, Fre-
derick V. The King of Prussia maintained, that even supposing
the said act of outlawry against that prince was just, still the land
in fee simple ought not to have been withheld from his kindred
when they were not implicated in the offence he committed. But
his claims to the principalites of Liegnitz, Brieg, and Wohlau, Fre-
derick based upon a covenant of a much earlier date, viz. : upon that
of Duke Frederick of Liegnitz with Joachim II. in the year 1507.
What, however, more especially worked and operated in the soul of
the young and ambitious king, and which, in the very first year of
his reign made him take up arms so eagerly, in order to seize the
opportunity by which he might renew those claims — which but for
his appearance in the world might have remained perhaps in
abeyance for ever — this incentive he himself discloses to us in
a very few words. After having recorded, in his History of the
House of Brandenburg, the elevation of Prussia into a kingdom
by Frederick L, he gives the following explanation: " This act of
Frederick I. served as a stimulus to all his successors, for by that he
seemed to indicate to them the grand object by which he was
swayed, and to address them thus : ' I have gained, now a title for
you, and it is for you to render yourselves worthy of it ; I have laid
the foundation for your greatness, and it is for you to complete the
work I have commenced.' " These words are the key which
throws open to our view the motives by which Frederick the Great
was actuated throughout his whole reign. The same sentiments by

HIS GREAT GENIUS AND ENERGETIC CHARACTER. 551

which Charlemagne had been incited, and which, brought by him
so successfully into operation, made him a conqueror; the same ideas
by which Gustavus was urged on to the most daring enterprises, even
to the sacrifice of his life on the field of battle, worked likewise in
the mind of Frederick. Thence he held himself to be the chosen
instrument appointed by fate to raise his people to the rank which,
in his strength of mind, he regarded as completely feasible, and to
embody in the title of king the more substantial possession of royal
power and aggrandised dominion. Nature had endowed him with
a genius so bold and aspiring, that he felt his present sphere of ac-
tion much too contracted for the exercise of his vast plans, and he
I accordingly lost little time in extending his field of operations. In
I energy and activity of character Frederick has never been surpassed
; by even the most distinguished and enterprising men in the pages of
' history, and none ever acted with such commanding influence upon
I his age. But again, the greatest man is an evidence of his age,
| reflecting in a clear mirror its virtues and defects. We must not,
j therefore, be surprised if Frederick II., notwithstanding the great-
| ness of character inherent in him, does not in many points maintain
i his superiority when placed in comparison with the great men to
, whom we have alluded, and if even in certain circumstances he may
I appear mean and ignoble, when, perhaps, in ordinary times his acts
might have merited a more noble interpretation ; neither must we
I be astonished that the evils he produced in his country called forth
i the severe and bitter complaints against him.

At the death of Frederick William I., on the 2 1st of May, 1740,
I Frederick was only twenty-eight years of age ; his essentially ac-
I tive mind, excited still more by incessant application to the sciences,
I and by constant communication with learned men, was adapted for
jthe most profound subjects of research. The study of history had
I transported his thoughts far beyond the narrow confines of his own
I times, and had instilled within him the most elevated ideas of the
dignity of kings, of which his first acts as sovereign gave immediate
I evidence. It was soon shown that he was resolved to be his own
.ruler; his activity in the administration of affairs, the attention he
I devoted to all subjects, from those of the most grave import down to
those of the most trivial nature, his sacrifice of rest and pleasure, the
strict distribution of his hours, so that not one should be lost in inac-
tivity— all this excited the greatest astonishment in those^of his court,
who had never heard of, or been accustomed to witness their sovereigns
imposing upon themselves so many sacrifices for the government of
their dominions. The extraordinary effect thus produced is very aptly
described by a resident ambassador when writing to his own court :
" In order to give you a correct idea of the new reign," he says, " it
is only necessary to state that the king positively does all the work
himself, whilst his prime minister has nothing to do but to issue
forth immediately from the cabinet the commands he receives, with-
out ever being consulted upon the subject. Unfortunately, there' is

552 INVADES AUSTRIA— FIRST SILESIAN WAR, 1740-1742.

not one at the king's court who possesses his confidence, and of whose
influence one might avail oneself in order to follow up with success
the necessary preliminaries ; consequently, an ambassador is more em- !
barrassed here than at any other court." In truth, the policy in-
troduced by France into Europe, which consisted in envenoming all
relations of sovereigns between each other, by employing every art of
cunning and espionage in order to discover the proj ects of foreign courts,
even before they had been matured by those courts themselves, could
not be brought to bear against Frederick II. ; for he weighed over I
every plan within the silence of his own breast, and it was only in
the moment of its execution that his resolution was made known.

Thus it was that he proceeded with his invasion of one of the
Austrian provinces on the death of Charles VI. Some preparations
for war were observed being made, it is true, but these were only
partially necessary, inasmuch as the system of economy and good -
order pursued by Frederick William I. had enabled him to leave to !
his son an excellent army of 80,000 men, and a treasury of more
than eight millions of dollars; besides which, every thing was
arranged with so much silence and secrecy, that none could pene-
trate into the real intentions of the young king. Usually, before
undertaking a war, it was necessary to seek an alliance with other
Dowers; but in this case Frederick communicated with no ambas-
sador, nor would he enter upon or contract any treaty with any one
sovereign. He knew full well that the best help lies in ourselves; ;
and he likewise calculated upon the strict discipline and activity of
his army, upon which, devoted to it as he was with his whole soul, ,
lie never failed to rely during his entire reign.

" When the king resolves to make a journey," says the afore-
mentioned ambassador, "it is his custom never to announce his
intention to those around him, nor to those even who are to accom-
pany him, until a few hours before his departure, when he finds
them all ready in waiting, for his retinue consists neither of court nor
courtiers, but is formed of the elite of his princes, generals, and
adjutants." Thence by means of such expedition and secrecy, he
was enabled to augment the power of his states and to supply the
wants of the mass.

The Emperor Charles VI. died on the 20th of October, 1740, and on
the 13th of December of the same year Frederick II. marched already
into Silesia. Whilst his army however was en route for Silesia, his
ambassador appeared simultaneously at the court of Vienna with
proposals for a convention. Frederick offered the Queen of Hun-
gary, if she would give up peacefully the principality of Silesia, the
aid of his arms in the maintenance of her other dominions, and his
vote at the electoral college for her husband, Francis Stephen of
Tuscany, on electing the future Emperor of Germany ; but these
proposals were rejected. The few Austrian troops quartered in
Silesia were very soon routed; the fortified places alone made resist-
ance and were closely besieged ; the following spring however was-

GLOGAU — BATTLE OF MOLWITZ — AUSTRIANS DEFEATED. 553

to decide whether the possession of this country, thus so easily sub-
jected, could be maintained against an Austrian army. Field-marshal
Neuperg, an Austrian general of the school of Eugene, advanced
with a numerous body of troops to reconquer Silesia, and the
younger soldiers of Prussia, who were as yet only acquainted with
the theory of war and not with its realities, stood now front to
front opposed to those who ranked unquestionably amongst the
first warriors of Europe. But the first essay of the Prussian arms
crowned them with glory. In the night of the 9th of March the
hereditary Prince of Dessau scaled and carried the walls of the fortress
of Glogau, and on the 10th of April the king, with the main army,
came up with the Austrians at Molwitz, where he was not at all
expected by them ; they, however, gained sufficient time to form their
line of battle, and the action commenced about two o'clock in the
afternoon. It remained for a long time undecided, for the Austrian
cavalry fought with the greatest bravery, and throwing the right
wing of the Prussians into confusion, rushed on to their train of
battery, of which they took possession, and turned the muzzles of
the cannon against the Prussians themselves. The king, who now
for the first time beheld war in all its fearful reality, lost his self-
command; Schwerin, his experienced field-marshal, who viewed all
that passed with the greatest coolness and resolution, being well
acquainted with and depending upon the chances of war, advised
his sovereign to fall back upon the division commanded by the Duke
of Holstein-Beck, in order with him to cover the retreat if neces-
isary. This advice, after considerable hesitation, the king followed,
land towards dusk he withdrew with a small retinue, and rode to the
[little town of Oppeln. He imagined the place was still occupied by
(the Prussians, but they had been driven from it the previous even-
ting, and when in answer to the sentinel's "Who goes there?" he
jreplied, "Prussians!" the king and his small party were forth-
jwith greeted with a discharge from the muskets of the Austrians
[behind the grated gate. The king quickly turned round and
igalloped off to the small town of Lowen, and was only saved by the
darkness of the night from being taken prisoner. Meanwhile,
scarcely had he quitted the field of battle before fortune changed in
favour of the Prussians; Field-marshal Schwerin, by a dexterous
attack on the enemy's flank, turned the success of the day to the side
of his sovereign ; and the sharp-shooting of the Prussians, to which
the Austrians were as yet unaccustomed, completely decided the
battle. The king received the happy tidings on the following morn-
rag at Lowen, and hastened to congratulate his brave general and
;iis army upon their success.

This sanguinary and dearly-purchased victory turned the eyes of
ill his contemporaries upon the young sovereign of Prussia ; and this
Enterprise, because it was successful, was applauded as being the
Decision of fate in his favour. Had however Frederick been unfor-
iunate, a thousand voices would have condemned and ridiculed him

554 GENERAL ALLIANCE FORMED AGAINST AUSTRIA.

as a fool, for having undertaken the realisation of projects without
having calculated upon the power necessary to ensure their success;
similar to the judgment pronounced upon Charles Albert of Bavaria,
who with equal ambition advanced and stretched out his hand to
seize the royal and imperial crown. And in truth, the daring power
which attempts aught of a nature uncommon and extraordinary in
the grand theatre of the world, is only appreciated in proportion to
the success with which the execution of its design may be crowned.

The ill-success of the Austrian arms in Silesia encouraged the
French government to avail itself of the moment now offered to
promote the dismemberment of the Austrian states. Cardinal
Fleury, who now ruled in France at the head of the government,
and found in Marshal Belle-Isle a clever diplomatist, succeeded in
concluding with that view an alliance between France, Prussia, Spain,
Bavaria, and Saxony; for the Elector of Saxony, Augustus III.,
although he was likewise King of Poland, came forth with his claims
to the Austrian inheritance, originating in a preceding marriage of
the house of Saxony, and Spain was anxious to appropriate to her-
self the duchies of Parma and Placenza. Besides which, the plan of
this coalition was to raise the Electoral Prince of Bavaria, Charles
Albert, to the imperial throne ; and although he at first hesitated,
he nevertheless eventually decided to accept of the heavy burden
attached to such an important election. It was agreed that the
choice should be made in Frankfort.

Accordingly, two French armies marched in the summer of 1741
across the Rhine; the one advanced against the frontiers of Han-
over, whereby Maria Theresa lost her last ally, George II. of
England, who, anxious to preserve his electorate, concluded a treaty
by which he engaged to remain neutral. The other French army
marched on direct to Austria, and joined the Elector of Bavaria in
the month of September. This prince, who, since the month of
June, had already taken by surprise the important city of Brunau,
on the frontiers, now no longer hesitated to march upon Lintz,
which he took and entered, causing himself to be acknowledged
there as hereditary Duke of Austria. Vienna, the capital, began
now to feel alarm, and every thing valuable and precious was forth-
with transported to Presburg in Hungaria; the elector being only
within three days' march of the city. But quite suddenly and un-
expectedly he altered his line of march and proceeded to Bohemia.
This change of resolution excited universal astonishment, more es-
pecially as, by the taking of Vienna, Maria Theresa must have lost
every thing, as she was without an army to oppose the elector.
But it was his jealousy of Saxony which made him alter his plans,
and removed him from the heart of Austria. A Saxon force had
entered Bohemia; and Charles Albert who was anxious likewise to
gain possession^ that country, and dreaded lest the Saxons might
wrest it from him, preferred abandoning Vienna for the moment, and
determined to conquer Bohemia. Accordingly he marched at once

CHARLES VII., EMPEROR OF GERMANY, 1742-1745. 555

lagainst Prague, and was favoured so much by fortune that this im-
iportant place was surprised and fell into his hands, with scarcely any
ance, on the 29th of November. Immediately afterwards he
(1 himself to be declared King of Bohemia, and received from all
the civil and military estates the oath of fealty. Thence he marched
to Mannheim, where he resolved to await the result of the election
bf emperor. Thus the house of Bavaria appeared to attain an de-
lation more and more splendid and glorious.

CHAPTER XXX.

Charles VIL, Emperor of Germany, 1742-1745 — Maria Theresa in Hungary — Her
Appeal to the Nobles — Their Devotion to her Cause — March into Bavaria — Seize
that Country and banish its Elector — Charles VIL a Fugitive — Battle of Czaslau
between the Austrians and Prussians, 1742 — Treaty of Peace between Maria
Theresa and Frederick II. — Continuation of the Austrian Succession War, 1742-
1744— The French in Prague under Marshal Belle-Isle — Prague besieged by the
Austrians — Abandoned by the French — Charles VII. in Bavaria — Again a Fugitive
—George II. of England in Germany— Battle of Dettingen, 1743— Defeat of the
French — Alliance of Saxony and Austria — Second Silesian War, 1744-1745 — Ill-
success of Frederick — Death of Charles VII., 1745 — Silesia— Battle of Hohen-
j friedberg— Frederick victorious — Battle of Sorr — The Princes of Brunswick —
I Frederick triumphant — Battle of Kesseldorf — Frederick conquers and enters
I Dresden — Peace of Dresden and End of the Second Silesian War — Francis I. elected
j Emperor, 1745-1765 — Austria and France — Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748 —
Brief Interval of Repose, 1748-1756 — State of Affairs — Alliance of England and
i Prussia, 1756 — Alliance between France and Austria, 1756 — Saxony — Russia —
i Sweden— Combination of Powers against Prussia — The Seven Years' War, 1756-
| 1763 — Frederick in Saxony — Battle of Losowitz, 1756 — Frederick victorious —
| The Saxons lay down their Arms — Frederick Conqueror of Saxony — Immense
! Armies opposed to Frederick — His Presence of Mind — Desperate Battle of Prague
— Charles of Lorraine — Death of the Prussian General Schwerin and the Austrian
i General Brown — Frederick victorious — Battle of Kollin — General Daun — Fre-
derick's grand Manoeuvre — Generals Ziethen and Hulsen — Frederick and Prince
' Maurice of Dessau— Defeat of Frederick — Shameful Conduct of the Duke of Cum-
i berland— Convention of Closter-Seven between him and the French — Battle be-
1 tween the Russians and Prussians at Grossjagersdorf — Defeat of the Prussians —
i Withdrawal of the Russians— The Empress Elizabeth of Russia— The Grand
Chancellor Bestuschef— Retreat of the Swedes.

i CHARLES ALBERT succeeded in his designs upon the imperial
Srown, and was elected at Frankfort on the 22nd of January, 1742, his
lause being seconded by France and Prussia ; but his reign was short
'nd agitated. It already commenced under very unfavourable aus-
pices, for on the very day that Charles was crowned emperor at
Frankfort, the Austrian general, Biirenklau, took possession of Mu-
;ich, his capital.

' Maria Theresa was indebted to the energy of her own mind alone
3r this happy change in her fortunes. She knew perfectly well
therein was based the power of the sovereign, and she accordingly

556 MARIA THERESA'S APPEAL TO HUNGARY— SUCCESS.

availed herself of this advantage. She lost no time in exciting in a
high degree the affection and enthusiasm of the nation over which
she still held sway, and which adhered to her with the greatest fide-'
lity ; and this it was that saved her. She convoked a grand imperial'
diet of the Hungarians at Presburg in the autumn of 1742 ; here,
overwhelmed as she was with affliction at the persecutions of her
enemies, the princess presented herself before the assembled nobles of.
Hungary, and holding in her arms her infant son, as yet un weaned—-
subsequently Joseph II. — she presented the child to them, and with
her eyes filled with tears, which operated with irresistible force
upon the audience, she addressed and appealed to them for aid against
her enemies in language thus expressed: " To your valour and
heroic fidelity we confide ourself and infant ; and in you alone will
we put our whole trust." At these words the Hungarian warriors
exclaimed with enthusiasm: " We will die for our Queen Maria
Theresa ; our lives and every drop of our blood shall be devoted to
her !" In a very brief space of time more than 15, 000 nobles and chiefs
were assembled, mounted and completely armed, and collected together
numerous bodies of troops on every side, in Croatia, Slavonia, Wal-
lachia, as well as in Austria and the Tyrol. And thus what official
commands would only have produced after long intervals of delay,
attachment and devoted courage completed in a few wreeks. The
whole of Upper Austria was delivered from its enemies in six days,
when the victorious army marched on to Bavaria, and, as we have;
seen, took possession of Munich, and the new emperor was forced
to live in retirement at Frankfort, far from his own dominions.

In another quarter, however, fortune was not equally favourable
to Austria. Prince Charles of Lorraine had received orders from
the council of war at Vienna to give battle to the Prussian army, in
order to check the further success of Frederick II., who still main-
tained his position in the beautiful territory of Silesia, and was now
penetrating into Moravia. Prince Charles followed him to Bohe-
mia, and their armies met at Czaslau. They were nearly equal in
force, and the position each occupied had its advantages and disad-
vantages, and the troops on both sides fought valiantly, whence the
fate of the battle wavered on either side, until the king, who here
displayed his generalship, caused an adjacent eminence to be sud-
denly taken possession of, whence he attacked the entire flank of
the Austrians. This manoeuvre, added to the disorder caused amongst
the Austrian cavalry by the pillage of the Prussian camp, decided
the contest, and Charles sounded the retreat. The loss sustained,
however, was nearly equal on either side, and eighteen pieces of can-
non were all the trophies gained by the Prussians.

The results of this battle, however, were more important than the
battle itself, for it brought to maturity a treaty of peace between
Maria Theresa and Frederick, by the terms of which, severe as they
were, the former nevertheless agreed to resign all claim to the con-
quests made by the young king, and which was all the latter desired.

PEACE BETWEEN PRUSSIA AND AUSTRIA — ENGLAND. 557

Negotiations of peace, therefore, were quickly commenced, and on the
28th of June the treaty was signed by both powers at Berlin. The
jking retained Upper and Lower Silesia and the province of Glatz,
[with the exception of the towns of Troppau, Jagerndorf, and the
[mountains of Silesia on the other side of the Oppa ; being an exten-
sion of territory measuring seven hundred German square miles. On
'the other hand he paid over 1,700,000 dollars to the English, who
'had previously advanced that sum to the country he had thus con-
quered.

Thus freed from such a formidable enemy, the Austrians were now
'enabled to turn all their force against the French and Bavarians, for
!thc Saxons, following the example of the Prussians, had withdrawn
'.from the war. The French army was still in Bohemia, and held
Ipossession of Prague. The Prince of Lorraine marched against that
iplace and besieged it, and very soon reduced it to a state of famine,
which, however, as is generally the case, pressed more heavily upon
|the inhabitants, for the military seized upon all provisions by force
pf arms. When, however, all was consumed, and after more than
k thousand unhappy beings had fallen a sacrifice to starvation,
'the whole city resembling a large infirmary, Marshal Belle-Isle put
into operation a plan he had determined upon in the last extremity.
He collected all the troops still available, amounting to about
14,000 men, abandoned the city in the night of the 17th of
December, 1742, and marched forth in the most bitter cold wea-
ther, through mountain regions and across pathless, snow-covered
j-avines to Eger, where after a toilsome march of eleven days he
iirrived. But in those eleven days more than four thousand men
'iad perished, besides those left behind in Prague. Thus ended the
lominion of France in Bohemia ; nor was Charles VII. more for-

unute than his allies. Whilst the Austrians had marched their
vhole force against Bohemia, he had availed himself of the moment,
aid retook possession of the whole of Bavaria in the course of the

utumn ; in the subsequent spring, however, he was forced to
-bandon his territory once more as a fugitive, and took refuge again
n Frankfort, an Austrian administration being organised meantime
n Bavaria.
I In the year 1742, England likewise took an active part in the war

qainst France; she captured all her ships at sea, took possession of
ier colonies; whilst King George II. landed in Germany with an

rmy of English troops, reinforcing it with Hanoverians and
with which he attacked and overthrew the French on the

!7th of June, at Dettingen, pursuing them across the Rhine. In ad-
ition to this the court of Vienna succeeded in gaining over the
>axon Minister Briihl, whose influence over his sovereign was all-
owerful, and through him an alliance was formed between Saxony
ad Maria Theresa. Thus fortune had now crowned her firmness,
nd transferred the victory to her side, whilst the only loss she sus*

558 SECOND SILESIAN WAR— DEATH OF CHARLES VII., 1745.

tained was that of the Silesian possessions ; this, however, she hoped
either to recover or find compensated by some other acquisition.

Meantime, Frederick had not beheld without some anxiety and,
alarm the successful progress made by Austria, and more especially
her treaty of alliance with Saxony ; for how easily might they now.
when no longer occupied with France and Bavaria, turn their com-
bined power against him ? At the same time he felt it due to his
own dignity not to allow the emperor, whose election he had pro-
moted, to be overthrown ; accordingly, the urgent appeals made tc
him by Charles VII., prevailed. The King of Prussia forthwith
made preparations for a fresh campaign, in 1744, entered the field
with 100,000 men, " imperial auxiliaries" as he termed them,
marched into Bohemia, and took Prague; the Duke of Lorraine,
however, advanced against him with a numerous army, and forced
him to retreat from Bohemia into Silesia. This was an unfortunate
campaign for the king; he suffered great losses in men, ammunition,
and provisions, exhausted all his military stores and money, and
found to his cost that no faith was to be placed in his French allies
whilst, finally, he lost the Emperor Charles VII., who died suddenly,
on the 20th of January, 1745.

The aid of Frederick came only in time to afford the emperor tk
consolation of dying in his own palace at Munich, which city he
had reconquered for the third and last time, but which immediately
after his death fell once more into the hands of the enemy. Witt
his death the principal motive urged by the French for carrying or
the war vanished, and Frederick now found himself abandoned b}
his ally. Meantime Maria Theresa declared publicly that, inasmucl
as the King of Prussia had broken the treaty of peace concluded al
Berlin, Silesia must revert to the house of Austria. Upper Silesia
accordingly, was overrun with Austrian troops, several of the principa.
fortresses fell into their hands, and it required all the firmness anc
strength of soul at his command to prevent the hard-pressed kin£
from sinking under the weight of his difficulties. Full of confidence
however, in his army, and in the chances of fortune in his favour, h(
on the 4th of June, attacked the Prince of Lorraine at Hohenfried-
burg. The prince was by no means prepared for such an unex-
pected and sudden attack, and the victory was soon decided in favoui
of the King of Prussia; thus he retained Silesia, whilst tli(
Austrians made a hasty retreat back to Bohemia.

In the ensuing year, however, they reappeared in Silesia; tlit
Prince of Lorraine having received orders to advance at the head o
40,000 men, and give battle to the king, whom he surprised in H:
camp near Son of only 18,000 men. This was a hard fough
battle for this small body of Prussians, and lasted more than five
hours; but, eventually, they gained it. The Austrian general com'
mitted many important blunders ; whilst the generals in Frederick':
service were, on the other hand, perfect masters in all the tactics o:

PEACE OF DRESDEN— EMPEROR FRANCIS I., 1745-1765. 559

war. One of them, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, afterwards so
celebrated, took possession of an important height, which by a sin-
gular accident was defended by his brother, Lewis, at the head of a
party of Austrians.

Nevertheless, this victory had not removed all the danger with
which Frederick was threatened ; for it was now resolved that the
Austrians should form a junction with the Saxons, and the army
thus united should march direct to Berlin, in order to force the king,
by the capture of his capital, to abandon Silesia ; and by this means,
Saxony was in hopes of gaining from him the duchy of Magde-
burg. But as soon as Frederick perceived this movement, he speedily
collected together his whole army and marched to Lusatia. At the
same time he gave orders to the old Duke of Dessau to collect his
forces near Halle, and marching into the electorate, to proceed direct
to Dresden. He overtook the Saxons and a division of the Aus-
trians 011 the heights near the village of Kesseldorf, attacked them at
once, and, in spite of their favourable position, gained a complete
victory over them. This triumph gained for Frederick the capital
city, Dresden, which he entered on the 18th of December, and pro-
cured the peace of Dresden, which terminated the second Silesian
war, and confirmed the Prussians in their possessions.

In the beginning of the year 1745 Maria Theresa had already

concluded a treaty of peace at Fiissen, with the son of the late

! Emperor Charles VII., by which Maximilian Joseph recovered his

principality, on renouncing for himself and his descendants all claims

j to the succession of Austria, and promising to give his vote for the

! election of emperor to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Maria Theresa's

j husband. Meanwhile, the other electors also, with the exception of

j the Elector of the Palatinate and Frederick II., gave their votes to

I the same duke, and Francis I. was elected at Frankfort on the 15th

of September, 1745, and crowned on the 4th of October following.

I The King of Prussia, likewise, formally acknowledged him in the

treaty of peace concluded at Dresden.

The war with France continued some years longer without any suc-
cessful results to Austria ; for since the celebrated general, Marshal of
Saxe, commanded the French army, he had continually been gaining
ground in the Netherlands. This general obtained two victories
over the Austrians in the year 1745, one at Fontenoi, and another
at Raucour, and took both the Austrian Netherlands and Dutch Flan-
ders. These victories gained by the French army tended more and
more to increase the inclination, for peace, and in April, 1748, the
ambassadors met at Aix-la-Chapelle. The peace drew nearer and
nearer to its conclusion during the wThole course of the summer, and
i followed on the 18th of October. Austria gave up in Italy, Parma
land Piacenza to Don Philipp, the youngest son of the King of
i Spain ; France, however, got nothing for the great sacrifice she had
Imade, both of men and money, in this war, and was obliged to see

560 AIX-LA-CHAPELLE— TREATY OF PEACE, 1748-1756.

the house of Austria, which she wished to destroy, secured afresh,
and put in possession of the imperial dignity.

The period of eight years which had been allowed to the different
states of Europe from the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle until a new war
broke out, did not produce in them the desired feeling of united firmness
and security; but, on the contrary, all seemed unsettled and in dread
of the new commotions which hovered over this brief state of repose.
For it was but too evident that the inimical powers so recently roused
up — not having] as yet found their equilibrium — had only made a
pause for the purpose of soon resuming hostilities against each other
with renewed vigour. The empress- queen could not brook the loss of
Silesia, and she felt this loss the more acutely, inasmuch as she was
obliged to undergo the mortification of knowing that the King of Prussia,
by adopting a proper course of administration, had been able to double
the revenue of that beautiful country. Frederick, on the other hand,
was too clear-sighted not to foresee that a third struggle with her was
inevitable. Among the other European powers, too, there was a rest-
less spirit at work; they entered into alliances, looked about them —
now here, now there — for friends, and increased their strength by
land and sea. Europe was at this moment divided by two leading
parties : France, Prussia, and Sweden adhered to the one, Austria,
England, and Saxony to the other ; the rest had not yet come to any
conclusion as to which party they should support, but their assist-
ance was eagerly sought by both. Maria Theresa at first cast her
eye upon the powerful state of Russia, whose empress, Elizabeth, ap-
peared inclined to hurl back her bold northern neighbour into his
former insignificance; and eventually both parties concluded an al-
liance by means of the Grand Chancellor of Russia, Bestuschef, who
had a personal dislike to the King of ^Prussia, because the latter re-
fused to gratify his avaricious disposition. In order to induce Rus-
sia to take active measures against Prussia, England found it neces-
sary to -act upon the grand chancellor with her money, and by this
means a war was all but declared already between Russia and Prus-
sia. George II. of England more especially desired this, in order
that he might by such war be relieved of the anxiety he felt for his
principality of Hanover; for as he was already engaged in a mari-
time war with France, with the view of acquiring new territories in
other parts of the world, it was to be expected that France in union
with Prussia would forthwith attack his electorate. Maria Theresa,
however, on her part, saw this storm preparing in the north of
Europe without fear or inquietude, as she nourished strong hopes
that it would give her an opportunity of reconquering her Silesian
territory.

This, indeed, was the period of that cunning and refined diplo-
macy which has been termed state wisdom ; an epoch which esta-
blished between sovereigns false and artificial relations, but never in-
spired noble and exalted ideas and principles. Frederick the Great,

ALLIANCE OF ENGLAND AND PRUSSIA. 561

although he understood well how to calculate after the manner of his
contemporaries, was, nevertheless, so far superior to them in the
feeling of his own strength and resources, that he placed his whole
and exclusive reliance on himself and people. The others sought
assistance chiefly from among each other; and, as a necessary con-
sequence, were often in great difficulties ; whilst Frederick, inasmuch
as his calculations were far more simple, attained with greater
certainty the object in view. Thence it was that he now formed and put
into immediate execution a plan no less unexpected than extraordinary.
Abandoning the lukewarm aid of France, which lay, as it were, in a
state of political lethargy, and had afforded him but very trifling as-
sistance in his two Silesian wars, he suddenly turned to England,
now so much increasing in power and enterprising boldness, and
claimed her alliance ; and the English nation, which has always shown
a preference for engaging in a cause backed by patriotic and straight-
I forward principles, readily acceded to his proposal: nor, perhaps,
was an alliance ever accepted in England with more universal en-
ithusiasm and cordial feelings than this. Both nations, which in their
I essential endeavours could not become dangerous to each other,
! needed this reciprocal aid against other adversaries; and, at the time,
'required the mutual confidence of each other in order that England
might be at ease with regard to Hanover. Hence the alliance
between England and Prussia, which based its security in the sym-
pathy of both nations, might be truly termed a natural alliance, and
v? as founded upon firmer grounds than those of mere state policy.

By this single turn the relations which had hitherto existed be-
[twecn the different states of Europe, were altogether changed.
Prussia had declared itself independent of France, and England of
Austria ; and through a singular capricious sport of fortune, France
jand Austria, who had been enemies for three hundred years, now
found themselves, to their own astonishment, placed in close proxi-
|mity, and called upon to give each other their hands; and all the
[rules of political calculation hitherto held as immutable, were at one
iblow demolished. Luckily for Austria, she possessed in her prime
[minister, Prince Kaunitz, and in the Empress Maria Theresa herself,
jtwo whose power of mind enabled them at once to perceive and
javail themselves of the altered position of affairs, and did not suffer
themselves to be held in check by ancient custom. They sought for
•m alliance with France, and obtained it. On the 1st of May, 1756,
•the treaty of Versailles was drawn up, after that between England
and Prussia had been already concluded at Westminster in the month
pf January of the same year.

The Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, Augustus III., was
guided in everything by his minister, Count Brlihl; he himself was
,.bnd of ease and a life devoted to sensual pleasure ; but his minister,
Who, without any true merit, had raised himself from the office of
page to that of minister of state, was full of secret designs. He hatod
King Frederick, because he himself was despised by him, and allied

2 o

562 COMBINATION OF POWERS AGAINST FREDERICK.

himself with Prince Kaunitz for the purpose of ruining Prussia, and
both found in the Russian chancellor, Bestuschef, the third associate
in their alliance. The Empress Elizabeth of Russia was also per-
sonally an enemy to King Frederick, inasmuch as he made her the
subject of his satire; and various malicious members of her court
had even laid before her some of the king's productions, containing
much mockery and scandal.

With respect to Sweden, she, this time, adhered so much to
France and her interests, and followed in her footsteps so closely,
that the King of Prussia could not but expect to find an enemy in
this otherwise so honourable a nation, when it came to a general war.

Thus Austria, Russia, France, Sweden, and Saxony, had now all
united against one king, whose dominions scarcely contained five mil-
lions of inhabitants, and who was deprived of all foreign aid, with
the exception of England, who, however, in a continental war, could
not ensure much resource. Accordingly, the three ministers felt se-
cure within themselves of the fate of Silesia; and already they
beheld, in imagination, the bold and enterprising king reduced to the
government of his single duchy of Brandenburg. In this calculation,
however, thev had altogether lost sight of that power of mind with
which this prince was endowed, and the prodigies of courage and en-
durance a nation can perform when inspired with pride and confi-
dence by their ruler.

The king was already acquainted with their designs, for through
a secretary of the Saxon government, whom he had bribed, he re-
ceived copies of all the documents and treaties between the courts of
Vienna, Petersburg, and Dresden, and by these means saw what
storms were gathering over his head. In this trying position the
great Frederick had recourse to those extraordinary means suggested
at once by his bold and undaunted spirit. Determined not to lose a
moment by preparing only for his defence, and thus quietly await the
coming danger, he forthwith rushed to meet and face it as it ad-
vanced ; for, however unfortunate might be the result produced by
adopting this daring and immediate course, still it could not equal,
much less exceed, the evil he beheld in the distance, and which could
only grow more and more serious and fatal by tardy measures.

Frederick made his preparations for the campaign with so much
secrecy and order that none could observe his design; and thus, in
the month of August, 17565 seventy thousand Prussians suddenly
made their appearance in Saxony, and demanded a free passage to
Bohemia. The object of the king was not so much to proceed to
hostilities against the Saxons, as to force them, by a bold manoeuvre,
to join him, as had previously been done by Gustavus Adolphus; for,
in order to attack Bohemia, as he hoped, with success, it was neces-
sary that he should make sure of Saxony in order to serve him as a
point d'appui. Accordingly he endeavoured by every possible means
of persuasion, through his envoys and negotiations, to bring Au-
gustus III. to form an alliance with him; when, however, he found

THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR — FREDERICK IN SAXONY. 563

he could not succeed, and all he could gain from Count Briihl was a
promise of remaining neutral, Frederick felt he could not with safety
allow a doubtful and armed power to remain in his rear, and pro-
ceeded at once to act upon the offensive. The Saxons, amount-
ing to seventeen thousand men, thus surprised, gave way, and
leaving behind their baggage and provisions, hastily retreated to the
narrow valley of the Elbe, between Pirna and the fortress of
Konigstein, and encamped there, where they raised up strong, and
almost impregnable intrenchments. This plan was the best for them
to adopt; whilst for Frederick it was more disadvantageous than if
they had crossed the mountains and formed a junction with the
Austrian army; for this army, still in a disordered and weak state,
could not, even when reinforced with the Saxons, have succeeded in
resisting the first attack of the Prussians in Bohemia, in addition to
which, the latter now saw themselves forced to lose much precious
time in blockading the Saxons, and cutting off their supplies; whilst
the imperial army availed itself of this interval, and recovered its or-
ganisation and strength, and would be enabled, by a successful battle,
to relieve the Saxons. Such, indeed, was the course taken by the
imperial general after the king had been four weeks quartered in
Saxony.

On the 30th of September Field-marshal Brown, commander-in~

chief of the imperial troops, advanced to Budin on the Eger, and

Directed his march against the position taken up by the Prussians

pa the mountains which separate Saxony from Bohemia. Mean-

dme, the king advanced against him with a portion of his army,

consisting, however, only of 24,000 men against 70,000, being com-

iDellcd to leave the rest behind to keep the Saxon$ at bay, whilst

he Austrians were commanded by the best officers in the service;

nevertheless, he did not hesitate to risk making a desperate attack,

lincl he succeeded. The two armies met on the 1st of October, close

'o the little town of Lowositz. The country around was moun-

ainous, and the Austrian general, accordingly, was unable to draw

p the whole of his army in line of battle, especially his cavalry,

rhich consequently could not take its share in the action ; whilst,

n that account, the fire from the artillery and small arms was much

nore severe, and in which latter the Prussians excelled the Aus-

rians. But it was now no longer by the Austrians of the Silesian

fars that they were opposed, but by men who, for ten years, had

indergone severe practice, were better disciplined, more active

ban ever before, and were well supplied with excellent artillery.

lidday had now arrived, but the Prussians, in spite of their skill

nd bravery, were not able to gain any advantage over the firmness

f the Austrian ranks.

After six hours' incessant firing, the left wing of the Prussians
: length expended all their ammunition,, and began now to lose
yurage on finding they could receive no fresh supply. "What!"'
the Duke of Bevern, who commanded this division,
2 02

564 BATTLE OF LOWOSITZ — THE AUSTRIANS DEFEATED.

" have you not been tauglit to attack the enemy with the point
of the bayonet?" At these words they closed their ranks, and
rushed in full charge against the Austrians; all resistance was in
vain, for like an impetuous, sweeping torrent, they threw down all
before them, and took the little town of Lowositz by storm. This
was the decisive moment ; and although but a small portion of his
troops had been engaged in the action, General Brown nevertheless
sounded a retreat and withrew to Budin, on the opposite side of the
Eger.

Frederick in this battle learnt to know the new and improved
system of warfare now exercised by the Austrians, and already felt
how severe must henceforth be the struggle he should have to main-
tain with them. On the other hand again, the heroic courage and
devotion displayed by his own troops had excited within him the
greatest admiration, and on this point he addressed them thus: UI
have now seen what my warriors can do; never, indeed, since I have
had the honour to lead them on to battle, have they performed such
prodigies of valour."

Frederick now saw how urgently necessary it was that he should
put an end to the delay so long produced by the Saxon army, which,
indeed, although placed in a most distressing position, nevertheless
endured every privation with the most heroic firmness. Both men
and horses had long been in want of the most necessary supplies, and
all were now so much reduced that if succour did not quickly arrive,
they must perish. They had received intelligence in their camp that
Field-marshal Brown was on his march, and they were all buoying
themselves up with the hope of soon seeing his colours waving on
the mountains instead of those of the Prussians, when all at once
loud shouts of victory proclaimed the success gained by the Prussians
in the battle of Lowositz, and resounding through valley and moun-
tain, were echoed forth in the Prussian camp. The impression pro-
duced by this event upon the distressed Saxons was truly painful,
reduced as they were to the last extremity of suffering and want.
The only chance of deliverance now left to them was by making a
desperate effort to fight their way through into Bohemia; this they
accordingly attempted, but opposed by the very elements themselves,
for they were overwhelmed by a complete hurricane of wind and '
drenching rain, and harassed by the Prussians, they failed in their
object, and thus these brave men, who having now been three days and
nights without food or rest, were nearly dropping down from exhaus-
tion and disease, were forced to lay down their arms, their number
now reduced to 14,000, and with their general, Count Kutowski,
gave themselves up prisoners to the Prussians on the 14th of October.
The officers were set at liberty on their parole of honour, but the
men were forced to enter the Prussian service. Frederick calculated
that these 14,000 men, if he gave them their liberty, would serve as
a considerable reinforcement in the ranks of the enemy, 'and if lie
detained them as prisoners of war they would cost him annually some

SAXONY — IMMENSE ARMIES AGAINST FREDERICK. 565

| millions of dollars to support ; tlience lie determined to derive some

| advantage for the expense they incurred for their maintenance. For

j at this period the soldier was considered less as a citizen of the

I state than as a man who equally sold over both body and spirit to

the military service for a certain period, and could, therefore, soon

accustom himself to serve in the ranks of him against whom he

! may even have previously fought : military honour was distinct from

(civil honour, and the oath of the soldier was held to be more sacred

than the word of the citizen. Nevertheless Frederick derived but

| little service from the Saxons ; they deserted his colours in troops

i on the first favourable opportunity, and hastened to return to their

j king in Poland, whither he had repaired after the loss of his armv,

| or they went over to the Austrians. Such were the results of the

first campaign: Saxony remained in the hands of Frederick II.

The preparations made for the ensuing campaign presented to the
eyes of Frederick an aspect in prospective affairs of a character
any thing but encouraging. The great powers of Europe, infu-
riated by the stand he made, had now become more firmly united
than ever in their determination to destroy him, and combined
together with all their armies to overwhelm him. Austria came
ibrth with all the troops, together with all the wealth and re-
sources furnished by her extensive territories; Russia contributed
no less than 100,000 men; France supplied even a greater num-
ber, Sweden came forward with 20,000 men; whilst the Ger-
manic empire generally, regarding the invasion of Saxony by Fre-
derick as a violation of the peace of the country, offered to the im-
perial court an additional aid of 60,000 men. Thus a combined
army of at least 500,000 men stood under arms ready to march
against the King of Prussia; whilst he, on the other hand, could
only oppose to this mighty and overwhelming force 200,000 men,
and those collected together only at the sacrifice of every resource at
iiis command. As allies he only possessed England, the Landgrave
D£ Hesse, and the dukes of Brunswick and Gotha, and he was
obliged to leave them alone to carry on the war with France; and,
kith respect to the other powers, he hoped to make up for his in-
ierior force by the ability of his great generals and doubling his
strength by rapid marches, and thus swiftly passing with the same
irmy from one point to another, be enabled to fight his enemies one
ifter the other. Thence, he resolved to direct his first and principal
ifibrt against Austria, whom he regarded as his chief enemy, whilst
n the meantime he left behind 14,000 men under the command of
lis old Field-marshal Lehwald, for the defence of Prussia itself
gainst the attack of the Russians, leaving only 4000 men for the
rotection of Berlin against the Swedes; fortunately, however,
or Prussia, the Swedish portion of the allies took no very serious
hare in the war.

Maria Theresa, influenced by an extraordinary predilection for
husband's brother, Prince Charles of Lorraine, appointed him,

566 HIS PRESENCE OF MIND— BATTLE OF PRAGUE.

although he had already been twice beaten by Frederick, com-
mander-in-chief of the imperial army; whilst, under his orders , '-lie
placed the talented and experienced soldier, General Brown. This
arrangement proved of great service to the king. Brown, with his
usual prudence and forethought, advised Prince Charles to anti-
cipate the quick movements of the Prussians in the attack they con-
templated, and penetrating into Saxony and Silesia, thus remove
the seat of war from the hereditary states of Austria ; Charles of
Lorraine, however, although on other occasions too precipitate, re-
solved in this case to be the very opposite, preferring to adopt the
defensive, and was anxious to wait until he had drawn around him
all the forces he could collect. This was exactly what Frederick
most anxiously desired, and he contrived to strengthen the prince
in the belief that he himself, overmatched by so many powerful
enemies, thought it most prudent to assume the defensive like-
wise. Suddenly, however, and whilst the Austrians imagined
themselves in perfect security, the Prussians broke up and dividing
themselves into four divisions, poured forth in rapid marches
across the mountains into Bohemia, and, like so many mighty and
impetuous mountain rivers, swept all before them, taking possession
of all the supplies of the imperialists, which served to furnish
themselves with provisions during several months, and reunited
their forces at a certain hour in the morning of the 6th of May, at
the appointed quarters in the vicinity of Prague.

The Prince of Lorraine, hastily collecting together all his troops,
had now taken a strong, intrenched position in the mountains, near
Prague, where he considered himself secured against every attack.
Frederick, however, to whom every hour which delayed the execu-
tion of the final blow appeared as lost, resolved to give battle at once
now that the enemy was within sight, and in this determination he
was cordially seconded by his favourite officer, General Winterfeld,
a bold and undaunted warrior, whose ardour nothing could with-
stand. Accordingly the latter received orders to reconnoitre the
enemy's position, and he reported that their right wing might b
easily attacked, as in front of it were several green meadows, which
would facilitate the advance of the troops. But these — as he thought
— meadows, were nothing else but deep dried up ponds, with slimy
bottoms, which had been sown with oats, and after the harvest, were
again to serve as fish ponds. This error served ultimately to pro-
duce much injury to the Prussians in their attack. The venerable
Field-marshal Schwerin, who had only arrived at head-quarters that
morning with his fatigued troops, and was altogether unacquainted
with the spot chosen for the scene of action, suggested that they
should postpone operations until the following day; but the king,
whose impetuosity was not to be restrained, and who, having now
formed in his mind completely the plan of a glorious battle, was im-
patient to put it into execution, would not listen for a moment to
any further delay, Upon this the old warrior, who, in his seventy-

FREDERICK VICTORIOUS— MARSHAL SCHWERIN KILLED. 567

third year, retained still ^ a great portion of his youthful fire, ex-
clnnr.cd, as he pressed his hat over his eyes: "Well, then, if the
battle shall and must be fought this day, I will attack the enemy
there on the spot where I see him !"

The battle only commenced at ten o'clock in the morning; so
much time having been taken up in making the necessary pre-
| parations, as the ground turned out to be generally swampy and
hilly. As the Prussians worked their way through and approached
the enemy, they were received with a terrific cannonade ; the car-
was dreadful, and whole ranks were levelled with the ground ;
indeed, it seemed impossible for human courage to hold out against
sfMch tremendously destructive odds. Each attack made was unsuc-
il, and the ranks of the Prussians began to waver. At this
moment the brave old marshal, Schwerin, seized an ensign, and call-
ing upon his troops to follow him, rushed into the thickest of the
fire, where, however, pierced with four balls, the veteran warrior fell
and died the death of a hero. General Manteufel released the gory
standard from the firm grasp of the dead old soldier and led on the
troops, now burning with revenge at the loss of their brave com-
mander. The king's brother, Prince Henry, sprang from his horse,
and led on his men against a battery, which he conquered; and
Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick attacked and overthrew with the
greatest courage the left wing of the Austrians, pursuing the enemy
from mountain to mountain, and conquering seven intrenchments.
Nevertheless, the victory remained undecided as long as Field-mar-
shal Brown was able, by his influence and command, to maintain
order among the ranks of the Austrians; at length, however, he
fell, mortally wounded, and with his fall vanished all success from
the Austrian side. King Frederick, who with his keen eye sur-
veyed the field of battle, quickly perceived the enemy begin to give
way, and seeing a large gap in the centre of their ranks, he at once
advanced, with some of his chosen troops, and, dashing into it, com-
pletely destroyed all communication between them, and put them
entirely to rout. Thus the victory was gained : the Austrians fled
in every direction, the greater portion of the fugitives throwing
themselves into Prague, and the rest hastening to join Marshal Daun,
who was posted in Kiittenberg with an army of reserve.

Dearly, however, was this victory purchased ! Twelve thousand
five hundred Prussians lay dead or wounded on the battle-field, and
j among them was included one precious corpse — that of Field-mar-
shal Schwerin; but the remembrance of his heroic death, and the
[blood-stained flag he bore in his nervous grasp, were regarded by
I the Prussian army as the most sacred legacy, serving them as a
I continual source of excitement to follow in the same path of glory .^
.The Austrians, likewise, suffered an irreparable loss in the death of
I Field-marshal Brown ; he had grown gray in the wars of his country,
;and the experience he had undergone rendered him the most distin-
guished general of his day.

568 BATTLE OF KOLLIN— STRANGE CONDUCT OF FREDERICK.

The struggle in Bohemia was by no means decided by this battle,
although the actual position of the parties was such that the campaign ,
bid fair to terminate gloriously in favour of Frederick, for he now ;
kept the Prince of Lorraine a prisoner in Prague, together with
46,000 men, without any resources left to enable them to hold out
for any length of time. Their only hopes of relief rested in Field-
marshal Daun, who was then in the immediate vicinity with a con-
siderable body of troops; but if he himself should be defeated by
the king, the army hemmed in within the walls of Prague must be
lost, the campaign itself won in the most glorious manner by the
Prussians, and, perhaps, peace obtained, already in the second year
of the war; for Frederick desired nothing more than what he ob-
tained at the end of the war — the retention of Silesia. Fate, how-
ever, had not decreed that he should obtain this object so easily, and
it was decided that his career of success should receive a check, whilst
his spirit was doomed to undergo bitter and painful trials.

He determined not to wait for the attack of Daun, but to antici-
pate it; and after he had remained five weeks before Prague, he
withdrew, with twelve thousand men, in order to join Prince Be-
vern, who had kept the army of Daun in observation, and which
Frederick forthwith attacked, near Kollin, on the 18th of June.
The plan of the order of battle adopted by the king was excellent;
and had it been followed out entirely it would have given him the
victory. Frederick decided upon this occasion to employ the same
order of battle as that used in ancient times by Epaminodas, and by
which he overcame the invincible Spartans: this was termed the
oblique line of battle. By this plan the weakest force, by prompti-
tude of action, was enabled to operate with advantage over a superior
body; for instance, if the general in command has recourse to such a
bold manoeuvre it is very rare if he does not succeed, but to ensure
this victory he must be certain of the perfect co-operation of his
army, so that by the celerity and exactitude of its movements the
enemy may be completely deceived and vanquished before he has
even had time to perceive the plan of attack by which it has been
accomplished. Such was the manoeuvre practised by the Prussians
at Kollin, and the first onset made by generals Ziethen and Hulsen
upon the right wing of the Austrians put them entirely to rout.
The centre and the other wing of the Prussian army had now only
to follow it up forthwith, by falling upon the enemy's flank, battalion
after battalion in succession, and thus complete its entire annihila-
tion. Whilst, however, every thing was thus operating in the right
direction, the king himself, as if the usual clearness of" his mind be-
came suddenly clouded in impenetrable gloom, gave orders for the
rest of the army to make a halt ! In truth, throughout the whole of
this important day, Frederick presented in his own person and man-
ner something so unaccountably gloomy and repulsive that it ren-
dered him totally incapable of attending to the ideas and observa-
tions suggested by those around him; he rejected every thing they

HIS DEFEAT — THE ALLIED ARMIES. 569

| advised and his sinister look, together with his bitter remarks, only
I made them shun his presence.

When, at the most important and decisive moment, Prince Mau-
! rice of Dessau ventured to represent to the monarch the serious con-
sequences that must result from the change he had commanded to
take place in the plan of the order of battle, and reiterated his obser-
vations and arguments in the most urgent manner possible, Frederick
rode up close to his side, and with uplifted sword, demanded, in a loud
and threatening tone of voice, whether he would or would not obey
orders ? The prince at once desisted and withdrew ; but from that
moment the fate of the day was decided. Through the halt thus
made so ill-timed, the Prussian lines found themselves right in front
of the position held by the Austrians, and which they had strongly
intrenched and made completely insurmountable ; and when they
made an attempt to take it by assault, the regiments were swept
away one after the other by the destructive fire of the Austrian ar-
tillery. No exertion, no desperate effort, could now obtain the vic-
tory ; fortune had now changed sides. General Daun, already
despairing of success at the commencement of the battle, had
marked down with a pencil the order to sound a retreat, when, just
at that moment, the colonel of a Saxon regiment of cavalry having
perceived that the ranks of the Prussians changed their order of
battle, resolved to delay execution of orders, and placed the official
paper in his pocket. The Austrians now renewed their attack, and
the Saxon regiments of horse were more especially distinguished for
the desperate charges they made, as if determined to revenge them-
selves for the injuries endured by their country. In order that all
might not be sacrificed, orders were issued to make a retreat, and
Daun, too well pleased to gain this, his first victory, over Frederick
the Great, did not follow in pursuit. The Prussians lost on this
day 14,000 men, in either killed, wounded, or prisoners, and
forty-five pieces of artillery. This formed nearly the moiety of the
Prussian army, for in this battle 32,000 Prussians had fought against
60,000 Austrians.

What a change of fortune was this to Frederick ! After having
been on the point of capturing an entire army in the very capital of
the country, and thus extinguishing, at the first moment of its com-
mencement, and in the short space of eight months, the most dread-
ful war, he found himself forced to raise the siege of Prague, and
abandon Bohemia altogether ; having, in addition to these reverses
of fortune, to lament, with sincere grief, the death of his beloved
mother, who died ten days after the sad battle of Kollin. The allies
of Austria, after this unexpected victory, resumed operations with
greater activity than ever. The Russians invaded the kingdom of
Prussia, the Swedes pursued their preparations more vigorously, and
two French armies crossed the Rhine in order to attack the terri-
tory of Hesse, Hanover, and thence to march against the hereditary
states of Prussia. One of these armies, under the command of

570 THE FRENCH IN GERMANY — CLOSTERSEVEN CONVENTION.

Prince Soubise, advanced towards Thuringia, in order to form a
•junction with the imperial forces under the orders of the Prince of
Hilburo-hausen ; whilst Marshal d'Estree, who commanded the lead- '
ing French army, on entering Hanover, fought and beat the Duke of
Cumberland at the head of the Anglo- Germanic troops, on the 26th
of July, near Hastenbeck, on the Weser. This defeat was pro-
duced through the inexperience and imbecility of the English gene-
ral ; for his army, although limited in force, had, nevertheless, ob-
tained considerable advantages through the courage and good gene-
ralship of the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, and had forced the
French general to sound a retreat, when the duke, to the no little sur-
prise and indignation of every one, abandoned the field of battle, nor
halted in his shameful retreat until he reached the Elbe near Stade.
Nay, to complete the disgrace, he was forced shortly afterwards to
conclude at Clostersevcn, on the 9th of September, a convention by
which he engaged to disband his troops, and give up to the French
Hanover, Hesse, the duchy of Brunswick, and the whole of the
country situated between the Weser and the Rhine.

The Duke of Richelieu, who succeeded Marshal d'Estree in the
command of the French troops, was a man of a most overbearing
and prodigal character, devoid of all conscientious feeling or prin-
ciple, and gloried in draining the country by every possible means
of cruel exaction ; and as all around him followed his example, and
made the gain of money and licentiousness their all-ruling passion,
this degrading practice spread more and more widely throughout
the ranks of the entire army, until there was no excess to which it
did not resort. In their system of devastation, indeed, the French,
although belonging to a more polished nation, surpassed even the
Cossacks and Calmucks, who, at this moment, were similarly occu-
pied in the kingdom of Prussia itself. The destruction of morals is
more surely to be dreaded from a civilised than a barbarous people;
because, under the charm of seduction, it leaves behind a consum-
ing poison in every city and village generally, and especially in the
more sacred bosom of domestic life. The bad reputation of the
French army, and the hatred felt and shown by the Germans, natu-
rally more plain and simple in their manners and customs, against
the smooth and polished mask of vice, contributed not a little to gain
over the hearts of the majority of the people throughout Germany in
favour of the cause of Frederick. Indeed, it was almost inconceivable
with what joy the people generally received the news of the victories
he gained, although perhaps at the same moment their own princes,
as members of the imperial states, were in arms against him. Such
is the commanding influence exercised by a superior mind over his
age ; such the sympathy which a generous heart can rarely with-
hold from him who by strength and courage is enabled to battle
with an overpowering and inflexible destiny ! But much of this
feeling was produced, likewise, through beholding how Frederick,
with the aid only of his own Prussians, had to contend against

BATTLE OF GROSSJ^EGERNDORF. 571

hordes of barbarians from the east, as well as the hated and most

formidable enemy from the west; whilst in the interior, lie had to

I face the Austrian armies composed of soldiers all differing in lan-

e, customs, and manners, but all equally eager after pillage,

including Hungarians, Croatians, and Pandurians. ^ Had Frederick

carried on the war merely against the Austrians and other Germans,

I true patriots would only have deplored the blindness of the hostile

| parties in thus contending against each other when they ought, on

contrary, to have sheathed the sword and. held out to each

I other the hand of fraternal peace and friendship. The north of

! Germany was more especially attached to Frederick, ranking

on the side of his own people, and participating in their joys

and sorrows ; for as that was the seat of war against the French,

| the cause of Frederick was regarded as that of Germany.

The convention of Closterseven paved the way for the French as

the Elbe and Magdeburg itself ; and their second army, now

! united \vith the imperial troops, was already in Thuringia, and made

.: rations for depriving the Prussians of the whole of Saxony,

whence the latter received their stores and supplies of provisions.

This was not the only side by which Frederick was hard pressed.
| The Swedes spread themselves throughout the whole of Pomerania
and Ukermark, and laid those countries under heavy contributions,
'• whilst they had only to avail themselves of their whole force in order
to advance direct upon Berlin itself, and make themselves, with
| scarcely any opposition, masters of that city. The Russian general,
Apraxin, had already entered Prussia with 100,000 men, and to
oppose him, Field-marshal Lehwald had only 24,000 men ; never-
theless, he was forced to give the Russians battle, however great
the sacrifice, as Frederick sent him strict orders to drive out these
barbarians and put an end to their devastations. Accordingly the
action took place at Grossjagerndorf, near Welau ; but the most
undaunted and desperate courage displayed by the Prussians was em-
ployed in vain against a force so overwhelming. Lehwald was forced
to retreat, after a loss of several thousand men, and thus Prussia
now appeared irretrievably lost — when, to the astonishment of all,
Apraxin, instead of advancing, withdrew to the Russian frontiers
ten days after the battle he had gained.

Thus we find, from time to time, the troubled path of Frederick
illumined by a glimmering ray of hope, which appeared to lead him
on to better fortune. This time it originated in the serious illness
of the Empress Elizabeth of Russia ; and the Grand-chancellor
Bestuschef, believing her death close at hand, and having his eye
directed to her successor, Peter the Great, — an admirer and friend
i of the Prussian hero — lost not a moment in commanding General
| Apraxin to withdraw his troops from the Prussian dominions. This
_ enabled the army under Lehwald to march against the Swedes, who,
'on the approach of the Prussians, evacuated the entire country and
lie treated as far as Stralsund and Riigen.

CONTINUATION OF THE SEVEN YEARS5 WAR.

CHAPTER XXXI.

Continuation of the Seven Years' War, 1757-1760 — Battle of Rossbach, 1757—
Total Defeat of the French— General Seicllitz and the Prussian Cavalry— Re-
verses of Frederick— Silesia — Battle of Leuthen, 1757 — Frederick's Appeal to his
Officers and Army — Their Enthusiasm — Complete Overthrow of the Austrians —
Glorious Results to Frederick — His Proposals of Peace rejected by Maria Theresa
— France — Russia — England's Enthusiasm for Frederick — William Pitt— England
supports Frederick — Treaty of Closterseven disavowed— Duke Ferdinand of
Brunswick General-in-Chief of the Allied Army — Defeats and drives away the
French from Germany— Frederick in Silesia — Schweidnitz — Frederick's rapid
March into Moravia — Olmutz — Bohemia — Pomerania — Battle between the Rus-
sians and Prussians at Zorndorf, 1758 — Dreadful Slaughter and Defeat of the
Russians — The Prussians attacked and defeated by the Austrians at Hochkirch,
1758— Frederick's Presence of Mind — The Prussian Army — The Imperial Diet—-
The Prince of Mecklenburg — The Imperial Ban against Frederick proposed — Ne-
gatived—The Allied and French Armies — Battle of Bergen, 1759— Partial Suc-
cess of the French — Battle of Minden — Shameful Conduct of the English General,
Sackville— Defeat of the French — Battle of Kay and Kunersdorf, 1759— Total
Defeat of the Prussians — Frederick's Misfortunes — His Despair — Prince Henry
of Prussia— Continued Reverses of Frederick— Battle of Liegnitz, 1760— The
Prussians defeat the Austrians — Beneficial Results to Frederick — Battle of Tor-
gau, 1760 — Total Defeat of the Austrians— Frederick in Leipsic.

FREDERICK, after having endeavoured fora considerable time, but
in vain, to give battle to the Austrians in Lusatia, broke up his
army, and in the month of August advanced up the Saale into
Saxony, in order to drive the French out of that country. After
various marches and counter-marches he at length came up with
them and the imperial army on the oth of November, in the village
of Rossbach, close to the Saale. Frederick had only 22,000 men,
whilst the enemy had 60,000 ; and they already began to triumph
in anticipation of his overthrow, being determined that the king,
with his handful of troops, should not escape them this time. He
encamped his army upon a height, and the French advanced by forced
marches, with sound of trumpet, towards his camp, curious to see
whether or not he would have the courage to make a stand against
them, for their object was to surround him completely, and thus by
making him prisoner, put an end to the war at once. The Prus-
sians, however, fired not a single shot, but remained perfectly
quiet, apparently unprepared for, or not taking any notice of the
movements of the enemy ; the smoke ascending from their cooking
fires indicated their present occupation, whilst Frederick himself
took his meal with his general officers and staff with the appearance
of the greatest coolness and indifference. But wThen the favourable
moment arrived, about half-past two o'clock in the afternoon, he
gave his orders accordingly, and in an instant, as if by magic, the
tents were struck, the army drawn up in battle array, the artillery

BATTLE OF ROSSBACH — FREDERICK VICTORIOUS. 573

I opened its tremendous fire, and Seidlitz, at the head of his brave
cavalry dashed among the battalions of the enemy as they arrived.
The French had never, hitherto, encountered such rapidity of action
from the Germans, and they found it totally impossible to form into

* line ; for they were completely overwhelmed and routed before they
I could even attempt it, and in the course of less than half an hour the
' action was decided, and the entire French army put hors de combat.
| They were seized with such a panic that they never halted until they
| reached the middle states of the empire, whilst many, even, deeming
I themselves still insecure, "only paused when they reached the opposite
i banks of the Rhine. Seven thousand prisoners fell into the hands of the
I king, including nine generals and three hundred and twenty officers
| of every rank, together with sixty-three pieces of cannon and
I twenty-two standards ; whilst this glorious victory only cost the
j Prussians one hundred and sixty-five in killed, and three hundred
! and fifty wounded. The king was indebted for this great triumph
I to the excellent state of discipline and order maintained throughout
' his whole army, which was thus enabled, at such momentary notice,

! to execute so successfully the daring plans formed often so suddenly
! and unexpectedly by their royal chief ; above all, however, he
I owed much of this victory to the rapid and overwhelming courage
of General Seidlitz and his cavalry.

Saxony was now rescued and secured on this side, whilst the mo-
| ral effect of the battle of Rossbach produced much benefit to the
I king ; nevertheless, his military labours and fatigues, for this year,
were not yet completed. For, during his absence, his favourite and
confidential friend, General Winterfeld, had perished in an action
near Moyes ; the Duke of Bevern had retreated with his army into
Silesia as far as the walls of Breslau, and as he could not undertake
any thing against the united forces of the Prince of Lorraine and
Field-marshal Daun, the important fortress of Schweidnitz fell,
on the 11 th of November, into the hands of General Nadasti. On
the 22nd, the entire Austrian army attacked the Prussians at Bres-
lau, and vanquished them after a vigorous defence ; the Duke of
I Bevern, dreading his sovereign's wrath, yielded himself prisoner —

* according to all appearance voluntarily so — to the Austrians ; and,
j finally the capital, Breslau, with all its rich supplies of provisions
| and ammunition, was given up to the imperialists through the

cowardice of General Lestwitz. Thus Silesia appeared now to be
lost for Frederick ; for, if it should be allowed to remain only one
winter in the hands of the enemy, they would fortify it in every
possible wav, so as to make it totally impossible for him ever to re-
conquer it. On the other hand, it appeared equally impossible, un-
| less by a miracle, to recapture it with the 14,000 men he brought
with him from Saxony, and the 16,000 forming the remnant of the
vanquished army under the Duke of Bevern.

It was in moments like this, when all around him assumed that
gloomy character, such as must naturally produce despair and desola-

574 HIS REVERSES — APPEALS TO HIS ARMY.

tion in the mind, that King Frederick displayed in the most striking
manner the greatness of his genius, the treasure of mental resources
at his command, and the irresistible power with which he operated
upon the feelings of all under him. He summoned a council of his
generals and chief officers, and addressed them in such soul-inspiring
language, that they were aroused to a state of the most ardent and
zealous enthusiasm. He represented to them the difficult, and eveu
desperate, condition in which their country was at that moment placed,
and under which it must inevitably sink, if he could not calculate
upon their courage to save it. "I know you all feel that you are
Prussians," he added, in conclusion; " nevertheless, if there be one
among you who fears to share such dangers with me, he is at liberty
to resign his command from this very day, without having the slight-
est reason to dread any reproach from me for so doing." And when in
reply to this he beheld in the eyes of all around him the expression of
the one universal determined feeling — that they would all rally round
their brave sovereign, and devote their lives to his and their country's
cause, he exclaimed, with gratified mien: " I was well convinced,
beforehand, that not one of you all would desert me in this trying
moment ; whence I am sanguine in my hopes of victory. Should I fall,
and thus be prevented from rewarding you for your courage, be as-
sured our country will not neglect to do so. Farewell then, my
friends and comrades ; in a short time we shall either have driven
away the enemy now before us, or this will have proved our
eternal adieu !"

The enthusiasm called forth by this inspiring language soon pro-
duced its good effects throughout the entire army, and all awaited
with eager impatience the moment for marching against the foe.
The latter had taken up an equally strong and advantageous position
behind the river Lohe, where it was extremely difficult for the
king to attack him. The cautious leader, Field-marshal Daun, was
desirous of holding possession of it, for he had already learnt to know
at Kollin how necessary it was to command a good position in
order to check and hold at bay the impetuosity of the king. But
General Luchesi and others of the imperialists, who held it degrad-
ing to a victorious army to seek to intrench itself in a position
against a force so much inferior in numbers, persuaded Prince
Charles to march at once and meet the king, assuring him, " that
the parade guard of Berlin" as they thus styled the Prussian army,
" would never be able to make a stand against them." This advice
was most acceptable to the prince, naturally of a more impetuous than
reflective disposition, and he marched forth. The two armies accord-
ingly met on the vast plain in the vicinity of Leuthen, on the 5th of
December, exactly one month after the battle of Rossbach. The im-
perial army, in its plan of attack, extended its lines over a space
of nearly five miles ; whilst Frederick was forced to have recourse
to those means by which he was enabled to double his power by the
celerity of his manoeuvres, and adopted, on this occasion, his former

BATTLE OF LEUTHEN— THE AUSTRIANS DEFEATED. 575

I oblique order of battle. He caused a false attack to be made
on the right, whilst his principal attack was directed against the
I left wing ; and having overcome this completely, the consequent
: disorder was communicated to the whole of the Austrian army.
I Resistance had now become useless, and in the course of three
hours Frederick gained the most complete victory. The field of
I battle was covered with the slain, and whole battalions surrendered
themselves prisoners, amounting altogether to 21,000 men. Added to
this, the Prussians captured one hundred and thirty cannon, and three
thousand ammunition and other waggons. This is one of the most ex-
traordinary victories met with in history, where 30,000 men only were
opposed to 80,000, and by which it was amply proved how superior
genius may sometimes triumph over superior numbers, and more
| especially when the ideas and plans formed, are seconded and carried
jout with that proportionate activity and firmness, so gloriously dis-
Iplayed on this occasion by the Prussians.

Meantime. Frederick and his army, however great had been their
jefforts, would not allow themselves time for repose, although so much
jneeded, but followed up without the least delay the fruits of their
victory, until they had completely driven out the Austrians from the
Silesian territories beyond the Bohemian mountains. This was
undertaken by the ever-active and indefatigable General Ziethen,
and was accomplished by him with his usual success, making im-
mense booty and numerous prisoners ; whilst, meantime, the king
limself attacked Breslau, which he captured with its garrison of
.7,000 men, and in the same month, December, Liegnitz likewise
surrendered to his conquering arms. Thus, by one bold stroke,
upon which he risked his all, cost what it may , Frederick reconquered
the whole of Silesia — where he was enabled to take up his winter
quarters as far as Schweidnitz — as well as Saxony, and, what was
more than all, he gained for himself that immortal renown in the
annals of his country which will continue to be handed down to the
atest posterity. The Austrian army, however, which so shortly
Before was so powerful in numbers, exceeding 80,000 men, and so
perfect in its appointments, had suffered so much that its relics when
collected in Bohemia, scarcely mustered 17,000 fighting men. All
the Prussian territories, as far as Westphalia, were now completely
Breed of the enemy.

Four grand battles and numerous actions more or less important,
jaad combined to make the preceding year, 1757, one the most san-
guinary to be found in history. Both parties had sufficiently tested their
tength against each other; and Frederick now offered at the court
)f Vienna terms of peace, manifesting by this the principles of ancient
Borne — not to propose peace until after he had gained a victory.
But the Empress Maria Theresa still continued too much embittered
jigainst the conqueror of Silesia to admit of the acceptance of his
proposals; and, in addition to this, every care had been taken to
fconeeal from her the heavy losses sustained by her army at the

576 THE ALLIED ARMIES— ENGLAND AND PRUSSIA.

battle of Leuthen, as well as the distressed condition to which the
war had reduced her states. She was likewise influenced in her
resolution by France, which insisted upon the continuation of the i
war in Germany, otherwise that power would be obliged to contend !
alone against England. Thence the offers of Frederick were rejected,
and preparations for a fresh campaign renewed on a more ex-
tensive scale than ever. Prince Charles of Lorraine, who had lost
the confidence both of the army and the country, was forced to
resign the chief command. It was found, however, extremely diffi-
cult to meet with his substitute, for the brave Field-marshal, Nadasti,
owing to the jealousy and intrigue excited against him, was com-
pletely supplanted, and eventually the choice was fixed upon Field-
marshal Daun, for whose reputation the victory of Kollin had effected
far more than his otherwise natural tardiness of action and irresolution
merited.

The French armies were likewise reinforced, and another genc-
ral-in-chief, Count Clermont, was appointed instead of the Duke
of Richelieu. The latter, accordingly, returned to France with all the
millions he had exacted, during the period of his service, upon which
he lived in the most extravagant, gorgeous style, in the face of the
whole world, and in defiance of all shame and disgust. Russia also
joined in the desire for a continuation of the war, and the Chancellor
Bestuschef, who had in the previous year recalled the army from
Prussia, was removed from office, and another leader, General Fer-
mor, was placed at the head of the Russian troops; he, in fact, lost not
a moment, but marched at once against Prussia, in the month of
January, and conquered the kingdom without any resistance, owing
to the absence of General Lehwald, who with the army was then
in Pomerania, contending against the Swedes.

In order to oppose and make a stand against such serious and
overwhelming danger, Frederick was forced to summon together
the entire and extreme resources of his own dominions, as well as
those of the Saxon territories. Levies in money and troops were
forthwith made with equal activity and rigour, and the king found
himself reduced to the necessity of coining counterfeit money for
the payment of his troops : a measure which such a case of extreme
necessity alone can justify or excuse. He knew, however, too well
that, since the feudal system of war had been succeeded by that of
modern times, the grand principle upon which war must now be
carried on was founded upon the employment of its influential agent
— money. For as regarded allies upon whom he might place de-
pendence, he possessed only England and a few princes in the north
of Germany, and these were already paralysed by the disgraceful
convention of Closterseven. Fortune, however, served him very
favourably at this moment in England ; the British nation, always
ready to acknowledge and appreciate patriotic achievements in every
quarter, was inspired by the battle of Rossbach with the greatest
enthusiasm for Frederick; whilst the most complete disgust was

FERDINAND OF BRUNSWICK — DEFEATS THE FRENCH. 577

generally excited against the shameful convention of Closterseven.
In accordance with these feelings, the celebrated William Pitt,
who had just been appointed prime minister, caused this treaty
which had not as yet been confirmed, to be at once disa-
vowed, and determined to continue the war with renewed vigour.
The army was forthwith augmented, and the appointment of its
leader was entrusted to Frederick himself. His eagle eye soon
fixed upon the genius best adapted for its extraordinary powers to
be chosen to co-operate with himself, and he accordingly furnished
the allied army with a truly distinguished chief, Ferdinand, Duke
of Brunswick, who by his good generalship so well justified Fre-
derick's choice, that his name will ever continue to maintain its
brilliant position on the side of that of the great king, in the
records of this sanguinary war.

According to a plan agreed upon between Frederick and himself,
the duke already opened the campaign in the month of February,
and, marching at the head of his small army, he surprised the French
in their winter quarters, where they were living in abundance and
luxury at the expense of the Hanoverians and Hessians ; the odds
)etween the two armies were great, for the duke had only 30,000
men against their 100,000. But with him all his measures were sc
well calculated, whilst on the part of his adversaries so much negli-
gence and frivolity existed, in combination with the incapacity of
their general, that in a very few weeks the duke completely suc-
ceeded in driving them out of the entire country situated between
he Aller and Weser, and the Weser and the Rhine; their haste
(being such that they abandoned all their provisions and ammunition,
md more than 11,000 were taken prisoners by the allied army.
Chey recrossed the Rhine near Diisseldorf, hoping there to be secure ;
n this however they deceived themselves. Duke Ferdinand pur-
sued them to the other side of the Rhine, attacked them at Crefeld,
md, in spite of their superiority in numbers, he put them completely
o rout, causing them a loss of seven thousand slain. After this bat-
le the city of Diisseldorf surrendered to the duke, and his light
savalry scoured the country throughout the Austrian Netherlands,
ven to the very gates of Brussels itself.

Frederick, during this interval, had not been idle. He com-
nenced with laying siege to Schweidnitz, which strong and impor-
ant place still remained in the hands of the Austrians, and carried
t by assault on the 18th of April. Field-marshal Daun meantime
emained stationary in Bohemia, and used every exertion to cut off
he march of Frederick into that country, for he fully expected to
>e attacked there by the king. But whilst he imagined himself per-
;ectly secure, Frederick suddenly broke up with his army, and in-
tead of proceeding to Bohemia, advanced, by forced marches, to
tloravia, and laid siege to Olmtitz. In this expedition was shown
lie peculiarity of Frederick's genius, which led him to undertake
lie most bold, extraordinary, and perilous enterprises, whilst his

2 P

578 BATTLE OF ZORNDORF — DEFEAT OF THE RUSSIANS.

constant aim and glory was to take his enemy by surprise; and on
this occasion he was more especially influenced by the idea, that if
he once became master of Olmiitz, he would then have the command
of the most important position in an Austrian territory hitherto'
perfectly undisturbed, and thus be enabled to threaten the immediate
vicinity of Vienna itself. Fortune, however, did not this time second
his bold design ; the place defended itself with the greatest bravery,
the inhabitants of the country, faithful to their empress, annoyed the
Prussians as far as was in their power, and conveyed intelligence to
the imperial army of all their movements. By this means Daun was
enabled to intercept and seize upon a convoy of three thousand wag-
gons, upon the arrival of which the entire success of the siege de-
pended ; whence it was obliged to be given up. But now the retreat
into Silesia was blocked up; and Daun, having taken possession of
every road, felt certain that he had caught the enemy within his
own net. Frederick, however, suddenly turned back, and marching
across the mountains, arrived in Bohemia — where the Austrian general
did not at all expect him — without the loss of a single waggon ; and
he would not have been forced to leave this country so soon again
had not the invasion of the Russians recalled him to Pomerania and
Neumark. Accordingly he recrossed the mountains from Bohemia
into Silesia, and leaving Marshal Keith behind to protect the country,
he hastened with 14,000 men to attack the Russians.

At every step he took as he marched through the provinces he met
with the sad effects of the devastation committed by these bar-
barians, who spared neither women, children, the young, nor the
old. The town of Custrin was burnt to ashes, with the exception
of three houses, and the land around presented one vast desert.
When the king, as well as his entire army, beheld these melancholy
scenes, they were overwhelmed with burning rage, and the moment
they came in sight of the enemy they commenced the attack, when
one of the most sanguinary battles of the entire Seven Years' War
was fought, and which raged from nine o'clock in the morning until
ten at night. Thirty-seven thousand Prussians were opposed to sixty
thousand Russians, fighting hand to hand in the manner of the
ancient Germans, each combatant resolved to perish rather than
yield in the fatal struggle — and in which the Prussians, after what
they had seen, were more especially excited to wreak their ven-
geance upon the savage invaders — giving by their sovereign's com-
mand no quarter, but fighting for life or death. On the evening
of this sanguinary day more than 19,000 Russians lay dead or
wounded on the field of battle ; but, on the other hand, nearly
11,000 Prussians were slain or disabled, for the Russians, finding (
they were completely edged in, and to all appearance without any
hope of escape, sold their lives dearly, and fought, likewise, with
desperate courage. If, indeed, it had not been for the invincible
cavalry of Seidlitz, which flew in every direction where the danger
was greatest, to the support of their sinking comrades, and thus, by

BATTLE OF HOCHKIRCH — THE AUSTRIANS VICTORIOUS. 579

efforts almost superhuman, overthrew whole battalions of the enemy,
the victory would still ^ have remained doubtful, as indeed was
acknowledged by Frederick himself. As it was, however, the Rus-
sian general, Fermor, abandoned Prussia entirely, and retreated into
Poland; whilst Frederick marched into Saxony, where his brother
Henry was hard pressed by the superior forces of the Austrians.

General Daun, on the approach of the king, retired to a strong
position he had selected in Lusatia. His object was to cut off the
passage of the king into Silesia, in order that his general, Harsch,
might have time to conquer the fortress of Neisse. Frederick, how-
ever, who perceived his aim, hastened to occupy the route to
Silesia through Bautzen and Gorlitz, and marched close past
the lines of the Austrian army, in order to encamp himself upon an
^pen plain situated between the villages of Hochkirch and Cotitz.
[This plan was any thing but wise, although it showed great con-
Itempt for the enemy. His quarter-master, Marwitz, and at the
same time a confidential favourite, represented to him the great
anger to which he was exposed by taking up this position, and
lesitating at first, he finally refused to pitch the camp there, in spite
of the king's commands. He was, however, forthwith placed under
arrest, and his duties transferred into the hands of another. The
army continued here encamped three days, completely exposed to
lie attacks of the enemy, so much superior in numbers; whilst
Trederick remained obstinately deaf to all the representations of
his generals. He considered that as the Austrians had never
attacked him first, he might easily calculate that Field-marshal
Daun would never think, and was quite incapable of undertaking
such a bold step; whilst, in addition to this self-deception, he was
betrayed by an Austrian spy, whom the enemy had bought over,
ind who accordingly furnished him with false reports of their plans
mil proceedings.

! On the morning of the 14th of October, and before the dawn of

' ay, the Prussian army was aroused by a discharge of artillery ; the

Austrians having, during the night, silently advanced to the vil-

age of Hochkirch, and exactly as the church-clock chimed the hour

)f five, they fell upon the Prussian advanced posts, took possession

)f the strong intrenchment at the entrance of the village, turned the

nuzzles of the cannon against their adversaries, and, by a murderous

ire, destroyed all the Prussians that attempted to make a stand in its

i efcnce. The slaughter committed was dreadful, for the troops

>oured forth in thousands to assemble in the principal street of the

ullage as head-quarters. The generals and principal officers en-

leavoured in vain, amidst the darkness, to form them in regular

ine of battle ; the brave Prince, Francis of Brunswick, had his head

arried away by a cannon-ball, in the very moment he was about to

ttack the enemy on the heights of Hochkirch; Field-marshal Keith,

venerable but equally brave and well-tried warrior, fell pierced

-dth two bullets, and Prince Maurice of Dessau was likewise dan-

2 p2

580 FREDERICK'S PRESENCE OF MIND— HIS POSITION.

gerously wounded. Generals Seidlitz and Ziethen formed their i
squadrons of cavalry on the open plain, and threw themselves with
all their usual bravery upon the Austrians; but the advantages!
they gained could not compensate for the serious loss already sus-
tained. Hochkirch, the camp, together with all the baggage and
ammunition fell into the hands of the enemy. The dawn of
day brought with it no advantage, for an impenetrable fog pre-
vented the king from reconnoitring the enemy's position as well as
his own, so as to be enabled, perhaps, by a prompt movement, to
bring back to his colours that good fortune which had thus so unex-
pectedly abandoned him. Nevertheless, his regiments had now,
through that discipline which was never so admirably displayed as
at this moment, succeeded in forming themselves into regular order,
and when towards nine o'clock, the sun made its appearance, he
perceived that the Austrian army had already nearly surrounded
him on every side, and he accordingly gave orders for a retreat.
This took place in such good order that the Austrian general was
taken so much by surprise that he found it impossible to attempt to
oppose it, and returned to his old quarters. The king, however,
had suffered a loss of several of his best generals, nine thousand good
soldiers, and more than one hundred pieces of cannon; and, as he had
lost all his baggage, nothing was left wherewith to supply his troops
with clothing for the approaching winter.

Meantime, the king maintained the utmost tranquillity and
firmness of mind throughout this period of trial, and his appearance
inspired his troops with the same feeling. And, in truth, if Fre-
derick ever showed himself great in misfortune, he did so especially
after this serious loss; for, although defeated, although deprived of
all the necessary provisions and supplies for his army, he never-
theless was not less successful in accomplishing by hasty marches
and masterly manoeuvres his original plan ; and thus, deceiving the
enemy, and circuiting his position, forced General Harsch in all
haste to raise the siege of Neisse. Silesia was now entirely freed
from the enemy; whilst Daun, conqueror as he was, after being
unable to prevent Frederick from entering Silesia, and obtaining,
by his attack upon Dresden, no other result but that of forcing the
Prussian general, Count Schmettau, in his defence to set fire to the
beautiful suburbs of that capital, returned in mortification to
Bohemia, where he established his winter quarters. Thus supe-
riority of genius produced those results for the conquered, which
otherwise might have fallen to the share of the conqueror.

^ At the end of this year Frederick found himself, in spite of the
vicissitudes he had undergone, in possession of the same countries
as in the preceding year, in addition to which he now had
Schweidnitz which was not in his hands previously; whilst in
Westphalia all his provinces which had been captured by the
French were now reconquered by the valour of Prince Ferdinand.
The latter had not certainly been able to maintain, with his small

THE AUSTRIAN AND PRUSSIAN ARMIES— CONDITION. 581

army, his position on the other side of the Rhine; but, at the end
of the campaign, he forced the French to abandon the whole of the
right bank of that river, and to establish their winter quarters
between the Rhine and the Meuse.

The following year, however, in spite of the perils he had already
undergone and battled against, the heroic king found himself des-
jtined to encounter vicissitudes, which rendered this period of the
|war more trying than perhaps any other. The hope of being at
[length enabled to crush him, excited his enemies to strain every
'effort in order to effect this object. The Austrian army was com-
pletely reorganised and reinforced to its full complement, and in-
jdeecl, with every coming year, it marched into the field with in-
creased vigour and augmented numbers, because the ranks were filled
jup with the hardy peasantry of the hereditary lands, who were well
drilled, and who being intermingled with the more experienced and
svell-tried veterans of many a hard-fought battle — of whom, not-
withstanding the heavy losses sustained, the army still retained a
3owerful body — were soon initiated in the rough and perilous scenes
f the camp. In Frederick's small army, on the other hand, which
lad to contend equally with Austrians, Russians, Frenchmen, and
Swedes, as well as with other troops of the empire itself, the number
>f those who had escaped the sword and disease, formed but a small
)ody, and consequently its ranks were principally filled with newly-
evied and inexperienced recruits. And however speedily these
roung soldiers, who often joined the army at the early age of boy-
iood, entered into the spirit and honour of the cause for which
hey fought, and in which they emulated, as much as possible, the acts
>f .their more veteran comrades — sometimes, perhaps, even surpassing
hem in daring courage — still their number was far inferior corn-
ered with those levied in Saxony, Anhalt, Mecklenburg, and such
s were collected in various other parts, consisting chiefly of desert-
rs. Thence, although the Prussian army was soon completed in all
;s numbers and appointments, it fell far short when compared with
lie Austrians in internal organisation and united strength.* Besides
ihis, Frederick's own estates, as well as those of Saxony and Meck-
burg, suffered so much by oppressive taxation, and the continual

A foreigner of rank and great wealth, having requested to be permitted to
[erve in the campaign of 1757, as a volunteer, Frederick granted his wish, and the
ioble recruit arrived in a splendid carriage, and attended by several servants ; in
act, displaying an unusual lavishment of expense and luxury. He received, how-
,ver, no mark of distinction, and, indeed, very little or no attention, being generally
(tationed in the waggon-train. He bore no part in any engagement, much less in
*ny general battle, and had to experience the mortification of not sharing in the
lictorious action of Eossbach. He had often sent a written complaint to the king,
[ut without any effect ; at length, however, he had an opportunity> of addressing
he king in person, when, in reply to his representations upon the subject, Frederick
;iid, '« Your style of li ving, sir, is not the fashion in my army ; in fact, it is highly
Ibjectionable and offensive. Without the greatest moderation, it is impossible to
J!arn to bear the fatigues which accompany every war, and if you cannot determine
t) submit to the strict discipline my officers and troops are forced to undergo, I would
dvise you, in a friendly way, to return to your own country." — Miilcher.

582 THE DIET— THE BAN AGAINST FREDERICK.

conscription, which thus seriously diminished the male population,
that it seemed as if they never could recover from the sad effects.
The Duke of Mecklenburg, indeed, in his indignation, acted
with such imprudence at the diet of Ratisbon, as to place himself at
the head of those princes who were most loud and bitter in their
complaints against Frederick, and demanded nothing less than that
the ban of the empire should be at once pronounced against him;
for which act the duke's land was subjected to the most extreme seve-
rity of treatment, and, in fact, dealt with rather as that of an enemy
than an ally. The imperial ban, however, was not adjudged against
the king, for as the same sentence must have been pronounced
against the Elector of Hanover, the Evangelic states refused to con-
demn two such distinguished members of their body. Besides
which, this word, which in ancient times was more fatally an-
nihilating in its effects than the sharp edge of the sword itself, had,
unfortunately, long since become void of power and effect, and
if pronounced, would only have exposed more degradingly the dis-
solution of the Germanic confederation.

Maria Theresa, however, by her urgent appeals to the sovereigns
of France and Russia to carry on the war, endeavoured to effect the
destruction of Frederick with far more certainty than could have
been accomplished by all the bans pronounced against him by the
Imperial Diet. The Empress of Russia, in order to obliterate the
stain of the battle of Zorndorf, sent fresh troops under the command
of General Soltikow, a brave and active officer. In Paris, the
Duke of Choiseul, hitherto French ambassador at Vienna, and the
chief promoter of the war against Frederick, was now chosen prime
minister, and he determined to employ all the forces at command, in
order to reconquer Westphalia, Hanover, and Hesse. Had this de-
sign been brought into execution, these countries would have ex-
perienced the most dreadful persecution, and Hanover more es-
pecially would have been singled out by France upon which to
wreak her vengeance, for the losses she had sustained both at sea and
on her coasts, from the naval expeditions of Great Britain. For the
glorious victories obtained by the British men-of-war had completely
diminished the maritime force of France, whilst both in North America
and the East Indies, all her settlements and possessions were re-
duced or captured. Prince Ferdinand, with his small army, was,
however, the only disposable power at command to oppose the
enemy in his designs against Germany from this quarter.

Ferdinand was menaced upon two sides : on that of the Maine by
the army of the Duke of Broglio, whose head quarters were at
Frankfort, which he had taken by surprise — for, in spite of its being
an imperial free city, and although it had accordingly furnished,
without hesitation, its quota of contributions to the confederation
in men and money for the war against Frederick, it was not the
less exposed to attack; and from the point of the Lower Rhine,
Marshal de Contade advanced with the main body of the army, to

BATTLES OF BERGEN AND MINDEN. 583

! invade and overrun Hanover. Ferdinand was in hopes of being able,
| like Frederick, to make a successful stand against both armies through
jthe celerity of his movements, and marching at once against the Duke
I of Broglio at the opening of the campaign, came up with him on the
j 12th of April at Bergen, near Frankfort. He immediately attacked
| him with his brave Hessians, but the position occupied by the French
iwas too strong, whilst they were enabled to replace the troops they
Slost by continual fresh supplies, whence the Hessians were repulsed
in three attacks. Ferdinand now prudently resolved not to expose
his army to the chances of a total defeat, and accordingly made a
retreat in good order. It required, however, the exercise of all the
genius and experience he possessed to enable him to protect Lower
Saxony against the attack of Marshal de Contade. This general
had succeeded in crossing the Rhine near Diisseldorf, and, marching
through the Wester forest towards Giessen, formed a junction with
Broglio, and took Cassel, Paderborn, Miinster, and Minden, on the
Weser. In all his operations thus far he was equally prompt and
successful, and Ferdinand found himself forced to withdraw as far
back as the mouth of the Weser near Bremen, whilst the French
general now regarded Hanover as already within his grasp. In
Paris all were in high glee at this glorious beginning — but the German
hero soon changed that exultation into the opposite feelings of sorrow
and depression by gaining a brilliant victory. Ferdinand, placing
full confidence in his resources, marched to meet the French army,
andfound it, on the 1st of August, near Minden, occupying a position,
the nature of which offered him every advantage for the attack.
Contade was forced to fight, inasmuch as his supplies were cut off,
but he calculated upon his superiority in numbers; he, however, gave
very few proofs on this day of his talent and experience, although at
other times he had not shown himself wanting in ability. Contrary
to all military practice hitherto, he placed his cavalry in the centre,
and this very error in his tactics, and which, no doubt, he expected
must operate to his advantage, produced his defeat and Ferdinand's
triumph. He ordered the British and Hanoverian infantry, whose
steady firmness he had already tested, to advance and charge the
enemy's cavalry — a bold and happy idea, and which by the results
effected, was through its realisation an additional evidence of Ferdi-
nand's superior genius, which at such a moment directed him to
j swerve from the ordinary course of operations. The French cavalry,
i forming the elite of the whole army, astounded at this daring attack
| of the allied infantry, met the charge with tolerable firmness at first,
;and endeavoured to force the ranks of their bold opponents and gallop
j over them; but every attempt they made against these solid and in-
: vulnerable ranks of bayonets was completely defeated, and at length
the sweeping discharges of the artillery, together with the destruc-
tive execution made by the well-aimed muskets of the infantry, pro-
duced the greatest confusion among them, and put them completely
to flight. Ferdinand now gave orders to General Sackville to dash

584 GENERAL SACKVILLE — DISOBEYS ORDERS.

through the hollow space thus left in the centre of the French line
with his British cavalry, and to pursue the flying enemy ; by obeying!
which orders he would have completely divided the two wings of the.
French army, and thus overpowered by the allies, its entire destruc- 1
tion must inevitably have followed. But whether it was through
jealousy or cowardice — for his unaccountable behaviour has never
been clearly explained — the English general turned traitor, -disobeyed
the order given by the duke, and thus allowed the French time to
reassemble and make good their retreat. As it was, however, they
lost eight thousand men and thirty pieces of cannon. But the results
of this battle were still more important. Contade being now con-
tinually pursued, withdrew along the Weser to Cassel, and thence
continued his retreat southwards to Giessen ; whilst the army of Fer-
dinand captured successively Marburg, Fulda, and Minister, in West-
phalia, so that, by the end of the year, this distinguished general found
himself once more in possession of the same territories he occupied
at its commencement.

King Frederick had not shown his usual eagerness to open the
campaign this year, inasmuch as his advantage did not now, so much as
at the commencement of the war, depend upon the results of prompt
measures, but the main object of his plans at this moment was rather
if possible to prevent the junction of the Russian and Austrian armies.
He encamped himself in a strong position near Landshut, whence,
by sudden incursions directed equally against the Russians in Poland
and the Austrians in Bohemia, he wrested from them their most
valuable magazines, and thus prevented both armies, for a consider-
able time, from undertaking any important enterprise; for when, ac-
cording to the system pursued by the belligerent parties at this
period, the armies remained quartered in a country for any length of
time, they abstained as much as possible from depriving the inha-
bitants of all their provisions ; whence much greater supplies were
rendered necessary for the troops.

At length, however, the Russians, consisting of 40,000 men,
crossed the Oder, and Laudon was waiting ready to join them with
his 20,000 Austrians. Frederick, in such an extremity, resolved in
order to save himself, to have recourse to extraordinary measures.
Amongst his generals he had one, young it is true, but at the same
time distinguished beyond any other for his daring courage in difficult
circumstances : this was General Wedel. Him he held as best qua-
lified to be entrusted with the command against the Russians, but
he was doubtful whether or not, perhaps, the senior generals would
submit to his orders. The king, however, decided at once to adopt
the plan of the Romans — who in extreme danger made it a rule to
place the whole authority and direction of affairs in the hands of one
man, whom they styled their Dictator— and accordingly appointed
General Wedel dictator over the army opposed to the Russians.
According to the royal instructions he received, he was to attack
the enemy wherever he came up with them. These instructions the

I

BATTLES OF KAY AND KUNERSDORF. 585

1 young dictator obeyed to the letter, but without reflecting upon

••what such orders presupposed. Accordingly he attacked the Rus-

•{ sians on the 23rd of June, at the village 'of Kay, near Ziillichau,

i but planned his attack so badly that, in order to make it, his army

.; | was forced to cross a bridge and march through a long narrow line

1 of road, in single files, so that the battalions were only able to reach

I the field of battle in successive bodies; where, as they arrived, they

I were received by a murderous discharge of grape-shot, and were

(thus destroyed in detail by the Russians. The Prussians lost more

ithan 5000 men, and the enemy being thus no longer opposed,

(effected a junction with Laudon without any further delay.

It was necessary now that Frederick himself should hasten with
jhis 43,000 men to meet the combined forces of the enemy. He
(knew and felt the great danger to which he was about to expose
Ihimself personally, and summoning his brother Henry from his camp
at Schmottseifen, gave him strict charge to watch the movements
of Field-marshal Daun, and besides this, appointed him regent of
the Prussian dominions, in case he himself should be either killed or
(taken prisoner in this expedition. At the same time, however, in
Ithe event of such a misfortune, he demanded from him the most
solemn promise, never to submit to a peace which in the slightest
degree might bring shame or disgrace upon the house of Prussia.
[Frederick well knew how to live and die as a king, and he would
willingly have lost his life rather than be made a prisoner; for he
|was too well aware what great sacrifices his enemies would have de-
imanded for his ransom.

On the 12th of August, he found the united forces of the Rus-
sians and Austrians, amounting to 60,000 men, strongly intrenched
upon the heights of Kiinersdorf, near Frankfort on the Oder. After
reconnoitring their position, he formed his plan of battle, and which
was so drawn out as to insure not only a complete victory, but like-
wise the entire annihilation of the enemy. Many have condemned
the king for conceiving his plan upon such desperate and cruel prin-
ciples ; but this very plan is a characteristic evidence of the greatness
jof a general, who prefers terminating the war with one blow rather
Ithan tediously prolonging it by a succession of insignificant actions,
pid which, nevertheless, when summed together, prove by their
[results still more murderous in the lives sacrificed. And, again,
jwhy should such a reproach be made against Frederick, seeing how
foany enemies he had to battle with at once, and how much reason
|he had rather, if possible, to bring hostilities to an end with each,
Iby contending with them separately? But the plan of the battle of
;Klinersdorf was not the cause of the misfortunes of the day ; it was
•produced, firstly, through ignorance of the different localities around
—for although the king had collected information from those who
knew the country, he was still left without an exact knowledge of
jihe field of battle ; and, secondly, through the too great confidence
he placed in human strength. For after having succeeded, by the most

586 FREDERICK'S LOSSES — HIS DESPERATE STATE OF MIND.

extraordinary exertions of his troops, in ^his attack against the left
wing of the Russians, capturing ninety pieces of cannon, and putting
the whole of this left wing to flight — so that the king, in his elated ,
hopes, had already despatched a courier to Berlin with the announce-
ment of victory — and the day now declining, his generals advised
him to pause and spare his worn-out soldiers, especially as the Aus-
trians had not as yet taken any share in the battle, and the right
wing of the Russians still remained immoveable. They likewise added
their expectations, that the enemy would withdraw from the field
in the course of the night of his own accord. The king, however, who
would not hear of any work being half done, paid no attention to their
representations ; whilst at the same time, no doubt, he perceived how
dangerous it would be to break off the fight in the immediate vici-
nity of the Austrian army, ready prepared and waiting for battle;
accordingly, he gave immediate orders to make a fresh attack. Thus
the soldiers, already faint and exhausted with the great exertions they
had made during the whole of that hot day, were again doomed to scale
the heights and conquer the strongest positions, whence the batteries
of heavy artillery scattered the most dreadful havoc amongst their
ranks. The greatest courage could not possibly hold out before
such superiority of force; each time that their generals, and the
king himself, led them on to the attack, they were repulsed, until
at last the entire army was seized with terror and dismay, and took
to flight. The Austrian cavalry now pursued and fell upon the fu-
gitives, causing the most dreadful carnage, and all hopes of making
a retreat in good order were out of question. Frederick himself,
when he witnessed the defeat of his troops, a defeat such as he had
never before experienced, was seized with such overpowering feelings
of depression and despair, that he renounced all thought of saving
his own life; there he was seen amidst the dead, the dying, and
the wounded, in every part of the field, during which he had two
horses killed under him, and he himself received a bullet in his left
side which penetrated through his coat to his waistcoat pocket,
where fortunately its dangerous course was stopped by his gold snuff-
box. At length, as he continued utterly regardless of all that passed
around him, paying no attention to the warnings of those near him
to save his life, and as at that moment several squadrons of the Aus-
trian cavalry were galloping towards him, some of his suite seized the
bridle of his horse and led him away almost by force from the field
of battle. He was conveyed under the escort of Captain Prittwitz
and his troop of hussars to a temporary place of security. Here the
king wrote with his pencil a hasty note to his minister, Finkenstein,
saying, " All is lost ! save the royal family !" and a few hours after-
wards he sent another note with the words: " The consequences of
this lost battle will be still more dreadful than the battle itself. I
shall not survive the ruin of my country. Farewell for ever !"

Such was the depressed and gloomy state of Frederick's mind
and heart, and when on the evening of that dreadful day, as he lay

JEALOUSY OF THE RUSSIAN AND AUSTRIAN GENERALS. 587

stretched sleepless upon his bed of straw, in the almost roofless hut
| of a poor peasant, in the village of Oetscher, and whilst his small
retinue were asleep on the stone floor around him, he was thus aban-
doned to his own thoughts, he felt more acutely than ever, how
j little it is that man, with all his strength, can accomplish when left
to himself, and how vain are all his calculations. For, in his present
I reverses he saw and acknowledged that if he and his nation were
I not rescued by a higher power, they must be irretrievably lost. The
| road to Berlin was now left completely open for the invasion of the
conquering enemy, and he would be enabled to penetrate without
opposition into the very heart of the kingdom. Of the Prussian
army the king, on the morning after the battle, was only able to
i collect together about 10,000 men, and it was only after some time
I had elapsed, when a considerable body of the fugitives had returned,
and he had been joined by all the stray troops he could muster, that
his whole force was increased to 20,000 men; whilst with great diffi-
culty he partially replaced the 165 pieces of cannon he had lost at
Kiinersdorf, by a fresh supply from Berlin. Nevertheless, his capital
was saved; for the Russian general — influenced either by some
secret consideration towards his hereditary prince, Peter, or perhaps,
by the indignation excited against the Austrians for their inactivity,
did not follow up his victory. For when he was summoned by
Field-marshal Daun to advance with his forces, Soltikow wrote to
him in reply: " I have already gained two battles, and now I only
wait to march in advance until I receive news that you have gained
two victories likewise. It is not just that the troops of my empress
should be expected to do every thing alone." This jealousy and dis-
content between the leaders of both nations continued during the
whole war, and produced more than once the salvation of the Prus-
sian monarch in moments of extreme difficulty and danger.

Meantime the Austrian general was detained in Lusatia by the
king's brother, Prince Henry, who on this occasion employed every
stratagem in the art of war to gain his object, and by continual
marching and counter-marching, without risking a single battle,
forced his enemy to retreat across the mountains of Bohemia. The
prudence and caution exercised by the prince in conducting this
war were such, that he effected, without shedding a drop of blood,
that which the impetuosity and rash courage of his brother would
only have accomplished after a sanguinary battle ; and it appeared as
if fate had brought the two together, in order that the one brother
might repair the faults of the other. Frederick himself has avowed
this character of his brother, when he says: " He was the only
general throughout the entire war who committed no faults."

Nevertheless, Prince Henry could not prevent the king from suf-
fering at the end of this campaign two severe losses. The first was
the evacuation of Dresden, the most important place for the Prus-
sians during the whole war, and which was surrendered to the Aus-
trians. Frederick, after the battle of Kunersdorf, had sent orders to

588 CONTINUED DISASTERS OF FREDERICK.

Count Schmettau, the governor of that city, in case he was seriously
attacked, to save, before every thing else, the military chest which
contained seven millions of dollars. Following but too exactly these
commands, General Schmettau gave up the city to the imperial army
the same day (the 4th of September) on which General Wunsch—
sent too late by the king to the succour of the city — arrived in the
vicinity. The chest was saved, but all the provisions, together with
the place itself, were sacrificed : a loss which enabled General Daun
to establish his winter quarters for the first time in Saxony. Frede-
rick used all his efforts in order to dislodge him from this position.
He despatched General Fink with 13,000 men to attack the rear of
the Austrian army near Maxen; but, in his desire to see the idea he
had formed brought into operation, the king lost sight of the danger
of the enterprise. The general, who, however, at once perceived this
peril but who, in spite of his representations, was forced to proceed to
action, lost, immediately on being attacked, all confidence and pre-
sence of mind, and, after a brief but sanguinary combat, surrendered,
together with the remains of his army, about 5000 fight-
ing men, to the Austrians. Such an event was hitherto unheard of
in the Prussian army, and it served as an expiation for the 34,000
Saxons who, at the commencement of the war were made prisoners
by the Prussians nearly on the very same spot. Daun entered the
city of Dresden with his prisoners in triumph, and nothing could
now alter his determination to take up his winter quarters in Saxony.
The king, who could not endure the idea, resolved to harass him
by his firmness, and remained encamped, in the open plain, and in
spite of the most severe frost, near Wildsruf, during the space of six
weeks; through which he forced Daun to do the same, and to suffer
equally from the inclemency of the season. Finally, however, in the
month of January, 1760, the excessive, rigorously cold weather forced
both leaders to afford their armies some repose, and the king, de-
termined not to abandon that portion of Saxony which still belonged
to him, established his head-quarters in Freiburg.

The situation of King Frederick 'became more and more difficult
at the opening of every fresh campaign. The sphere of independence
which he could still call his own, and in which he could move
freely, had not been much, if at all, circumscribed ; but the resources
upon which he depended for life and strength to carry on the war,
declined materially. His army was considerably diminished in
numbers, and was very deficient in its appointments ; whilst, on the
other hand, the forces of the enemy appeared to increase more nu-
merously after each successive loss. His ever bold and enterprising
spirit, which indeed was only brought into full operation when on
the attack, was now forced to submit to a war of defence ; and even
this, at the commencement, yielded him but little advantage. In this
campaign he determined to protect Saxony himself, whilst his bro-
ther Henry was to maintain the Marches against the Russians, and
General Fouquet was to defend Silesia against the Austrians, under

GENERAL FOUQUET— DEFEAT OF THE PRUSSIANS. 589

Laudon. But the latter, the most distinguished of all the Austrian
generals, had under his command an army thrice the strength of
that of the Prussians, and was enabled to hold it in a state of per-
fect inactivity, whilst a detachment of his own forces laid siege to
the important town and citadel of Glatz. Fouquet, therefore, now
relinquished his position in the Silesian mountains, in order to af-
ford more immediate succour wherever it might be required. But
now the towns and villages in the mountains, inhabited by an ac-
tive and industrious people, were forthwith most severely and cruelly
handled by the Austrian troopers, and their urgent appeals de-
termined the king to give his general orders to resume his former
post in the mountains near Landshut. Fouquet, who was of a
severe and austere disposition, whence he was by no means liked in
Silesia, although at the same time he was a most brave and de-
termined soldier, perceived the peril he was in ; but, as his repre-
sentations were quite ineffectual, he resolved, at any rate, to meet
his fate, not like Fink, at Maxen, by a surrender, but by defending
himself to the last. Accordingly, when on the 23rd of June, he,
with his 8000 Prussians, was attacked and surrounded on all sides by
30,000 Austrians, he bravely maintained the unequal contest for more
than eight hours, and in order to resist the charges of the Austrian
cavalry, he formed his infantry into squares, and thus, as long as
strength prevailed, they disputed every inch of ground. At length,
however, the brave general's charger having received a shot, fell
and overthrew his rider, who must have been cut to pieces by the
enemy, had not his faithful yager rushed forwards, and, shielding
him with his own body, received the thrusts aimed at his master.
The general was then recognised by an Austrian officer, who, seeing
his wounded state, took him under his own charge and saved him.
The Prussian cavalry cut their way through, but the whole of the
infantry, with the exception of four thousand prisoners, were put to
the sword.

This was a severe blow to Frederick; Fouquet was his friend, and
Silesia now lay open before the enemy. Nevertheless, he soon ral-
lied, and with the view of obliterating, by one bold act, the impres-
sion of this defeat, he deceived Field-marshal Daun by simulated
marches, got considerably in advance of him, and appeared suddenly
before the walls of Dresden, which he immediately bombarded. It
would have been of great advantage to him, had he been able to
make himself master of that place ; but its brave commandant,
General Macquire, although a third portion of that handsome city
was completely laid in ashes by the vigorous firing of the Prussians,
: would not for a moment think of a surrender, knowing, as he did,
( that the grand- Austrian army was following close in the rear of
j the king, and must shortly relieve the place. And, as he expected,
! Daun did come up just in time before the city was forced to sur-
I render ; and had that tardy general only been more prompt in his
I measures, he might have averted the whole of the injuries inflicted

590 BATTLE OF LIEGNITZ— FREDERICK TRIUMPHANT.

upon Dresden. The king abandoned the siege and hurried on, in
hasty marches, to Silesia, where a fresh disaster had summoned his
presence : General Laudon, having, through the treachery and
cowardice of the commandant, Oo, an Italian, made himself, in one !
day, master of Glatz— after Magdeburg, the most important fortifi- '
cation of the Prussian states, and the key to the whole of Silesia.
Fortunately, Laudon found in the governor of Breslaw (the capital),
General Tauenzien, a most determined opponent, whom nothing
could dismay, and who was soon relieved by Prince Henry.

The king had now likewise arrived in Silesia, followed, or rather
accompanied, by the Austrian army; for, on one side of him
marched Field-marshal Daun, and on the other, General Lasci; and,
at length, amidst constant fighting by day and night, being in-
cessantly attacked by the lighter troops, his army took up its po-
sition at Liegnitz. Beyond this, Frederick was unable to pro-
ceed ; for Daun, who had now formed a junction with the army
of Laudon, blocked up his passage towards Breslaw and Schweid-
nitz, which contained all his magazines ; whilst, on the other side,
Prince Henry was detained by the Russians on the Oder. The
king had only enough provisions to serve his army for a few
days, and the Austrians were as near to him as at Hochkirch, so
that he was forced to change his quarters every night, in order to
secure himself against a surprise. At length the Austrians thought
they had found the favourable moment for giving battle, and
accordingly, on the night preceding the 15th of August, Lau-
don marched in advance, in order to gain possession of the
heights of Puffendorf, and thus take the Prussians in the rear.
It was resolved to attack the king on every side, and, if possible, to
completely annihilate him. But it happened that on this very night
the king had ordered his army to remove their camp in the greatest
order and silence, inasmuch as, on the preceding day, the Austrians
had caused his position to be too closely reconnoitred, and accord-
ingly he encamped his troops on those very eminences of Puffen-
dorf towards which Laudon was now advancing. The watch-fires,
kept up by peasants, were still seen burning in the old forsaken
camp, and patrols of Prussian hussars continued to cry out the chal-
lenge every quarter of an hour ; but the king and his troops were
already established in their new quarters. The soldiers lay with
their arms in their hands ; whilst the king himself, wrapped in his
military cloak and seated by the fire, with his brave and faithful
Ziethen and a few others of his principal officers around him, had
gradually fallen asleep. A solemn stillness reigned throughout the
whole army; all noise, the slightest sound was interdicted, and either
slumbering upon their arms, or softly whispering together as they
lay in groups, the warriors awaited the approach of day. Towards
two o'clock, however, the officer in command of the patrol of hussars
arrived at the royal tent in full gallop, and awoke the king with
the unexpected report that the foe was at hand, and within a hundred

SILESIA FREED— THE RUSSIANS TAKE BERLIN. 591

yards only of the camp ! This announcement acted like an elec-
tric shock; in a few moments, however, the generals were already
mounted in their saddles, the troops under arms and drawn up in
line of battle, and the cannon poured forth its destruction. The as-
tonished Laudon soon perceived, as the day dawned, that he had
before him the greater part of the Prussian army, but far from being
discouraged by that, he redoubled the ardour of his attack, in hopes
that Daun might hear the thunder of the cannon and march to his
aid ; but this was prevented by an adverse wind, which turned aside
the echo, and that general heard nothing. After a conflict of three
hours, the battle was decided. Laudon had lost four thousand
killed, six thousand wounded, together with eighty-two pieces of
artillery, and was forced to retreat in all haste across Katzbach.
Daun, who advanced on his side against the king's army, fell in
with the right wing of the Prussians, commanded by General
Zicthen, and was received by a heavy discharge of artillery, and
having then found that Laudon had been defeated, he likewise made
a retreat.

This victory, with which the king was so opportunely favoured
by his good fortune, ameliorated his condition materially, and he
proceeded at once to profit by it with his usual promptitude. Three
hours after the termination of the battle, he was already on his march,
the prisoners in the centre, the wounded, both friends and foes, being
conveyed in waggons, in the rear, and the captured cannon added to
the train of artillery. The main body of the army marched that
day more than fifteen miles, and the road to Breslaw was now no
longer obstructed, neither was there any fear of the supplies being
cut off.

Silesia was now in a great measure delivered; but, meantime, sad

reverses had taken place in the Marches and in Saxony. The

Russians had retreated from Breslaw, in order to advance along the

Oder, and they resolved to march on with 20,000 men, in junction

with 15,000 Austrians under General Lasci, to Berlin itself. This city

was unable, with its feeble garrison, to make any stand against such

a formidable force, and on the 4th of October it surrendered to the

; Russian general, Totleben. Fortunately for Berlin, this general

j was of a mild and humane disposition, and preserved the place from

I pillage, with the exception of the royal summer residences in the

I vicinity, and several monuments of art, which were despoiled by the

i Saxons. The allies held possession of the city during the space of an

! entire week, and large sums of money were extracted from the

| citizens ; however, it being reported that the king was on his march

i to the relief of his capital, the enemy immediately abandoned their

; conquest, and retired into Saxony and across the Oder.

Frederick came not merely on account of his captured city, but
; more especially on account of Saxony. Whilst he was occupied in
i Silesia the imperial army had entered that territory, and, meeting
I with no resistance, had taken possession of the entire country. Daun

592 BATTLE OF TORGAU — DREADFUL CARNAGE.

had now arrived likewise with his army and encamped near Torgau,
in a very strong position. It was now necessary for Frederick, if
he did not wish to lose that beautiful country altogether, nor re-
nounce the hope of fixing his winter quarters, for the first time, on j
his own soil, to reconquer it before the coming winter. No alter-
native was left him ; and, as had happened several times already at
the end of a campaign, he was once more forced to stake a great
loss against a great gain, and, in truth, this time his destruction ap-
peared inevitable should this perilous chance miscarry. Neverthe-
less, he appears in such case to have made up his mind to die — and
as it proved, he was this time once again nearly on the point of
losing the battle.

The attack upon the strongly intrenched lines of the enemy on
the heights of Torgau, was to be made on the 3rd of November
from two sides by two separate divisions of the army, one headed
by the king in person, the other by Ziethen, who was to lead his
men round towards the Siptitzer heights, and thus fall upon the rear
of the Austrians. A thick forest concealed the king's approach,
but his troops became more and more bewildered in the wood as
they advanced, and were obliged to halt several times, which pro-
duced considerable delay; as soon, however, as the king with the
advanced guard emerged therefrom, he heard a heavy firing pro-
ceed, as he thought, from Ziethen's division, and concluded that
he was now fully engaged with the enemy. This, however, was
not the case, as the firing only proceeded from the advanced posts,
and Daun was enabled to turn his whole force against the king; ac-
cordingly, when the latter in his impetuous haste, and without wait-
ing for the rest of his infantry and cavalry, led on his grenadiers
against the Austrian intrenchments, he was received with such a
destructive cannonade from more than two hundred pieces of artil-
lery that whole lines of his men were swept away as if by a thunder-
bolt, and their bodies, thus stretched in rows upon the ground, pre-
vented his cannoneers from bringing their guns to bear against'the
foe, and they themselves, with their horses, were laid prostrate by
the murderous fire, which continued without ceasing. The king
himself declared to those around him that he had never witnessed
such a scene of carnage; whilst the loud, thundering peals of the
artillery instantaneously deprived many of those who survived this
dreadful day of their hearing. A grazing shot struck the king on
his breast, but, happily, without producing any material effect.
Fresh battalions of the Prussian infantry came up and gained some

f round, but they were beaten back by the Austrian cavalry, who,
owever, were repulsed in their turn by the Prussian horse, which
had at length arrived on the field of battle, and now the conflict
was kept up with varying success until night. But the heart of the
king was bowed down with grief and affliction ; the flower of his
infantry lay before him on the field, and yet the Austrian bulwarks
were not gained, whilst Field-marshal Daun had even despatched a

THE AUSTRIANS RETREAT — FREDERICK IN LEIPSIC. 593

courier to his empress with the announcement of victory. Fortune,
however, had ordained otherwise.

Whilst, on the king's side, the contest was still carried on in the
I darkness of the night, and often friend against friend, owing to the num-
I ber of troops who had lost their way ; and whilst, on account of the
bitter coldness of the night, innumerable fires were kept burniiig on
! the heath of Torgau, to which both the unwounded as well as the
i wounded were glad to creep, including even enemies as well as friends,
; and again, just as the disheartened king, seated on the lowest step of
: the altar of the little church in the village of Elsnig, was occupied in
writing his despatches, his veteran general, Ziethen, had gained the
i summit of the Siptitzer heights, after having fought his way through
i until ten o'clock at night, and finally formed a junction with General
j Saldern. By this the position of the Austrians became broken; they
1 were unable to resume the action next morning, and Daun, who had
himself received a wound in the heat of the battle, retreated during
the night, in the greatest silence, through Torgau across the Elbe
I to Dresden. This retreat was effected so secretly that the Prussians
were even preparing for a fresh action on the following morning,
i completely unconscious of the withdrawal of the enemy. When,
i however, Frederick rode out of the village at early dawn, he, to his
I no little surprise, found the field of battle abandoned by the Aus-
jtrians, and he was hailed as victor by his troops. By this san-
I guinary battle he reconquered the greater part of Saxony, and he
accordingly fixed the winter quarters of his army there, and esta-
blished his own head-quarters in Leipsic itself.

2Q

594 CONCLUSION OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR.

CHAPTER XXXII.

Conclusion of the Seven Years' War, 1761-1762— The Austrian and Russian Armies
—The Camp of Bunzelwitz— Frederick's difficult Position— Jealousy between
Generals Butterlin and Laudon— Schweidnitz, Glatz, and Colberg— Saxony-
Berlin threatened by the Russians— The Prussians rise en masse to expel them—
Death of Elizabeth of Russia— Peter III.— Peace and Alliance between Russia and
Prussia— Sweden— Battle of Reichenbach— Frederick victorious— Schweidnitz—
Final Battle and Defeat of the Austrians at Freiberg— Peace between France and
England, 1763 Peace between Prussia and Austria at Hubertsburg, 1763 — Obser-
vations—The Age of Frederick the Great— His Army— Exerts himself to repair
the Calamities of his Country— His indefatigable Industry— His Labours and Re-
creations—Genius for Poetry and Music— His Early Years— His Father's Ty-
ranny its sad Effects eventually proved — His Predilection for French Education

and Literature— Voltaire— Helvetius, &c.— His'Anti-German'Feelings and Neglect
of National,Genius— Lessing — Klopstock — Goethe — Kant— Fichte— Jacobi, &c.—
Joseph II. 1765-1790— Dismemberment of Poland, 1773 — Prussia and Russia—
Stanislaus Poniatowski — Bavarian War of Succession, 1778 — Death of Maria
Theresa, 1780 — Innovations and intolerant Measures of Joseph II. — Frederick and
the Allied Princes of Germany against Joseph II. — Death of Frederick the Great,
1786— Death of Joseph II., 1790— Leopold II., 1790-1792.

THE concluding years of the war are less distinguished for great
and striking events. The exhaustion of the troops became more and
more apparent, and Frederick who had usually been the foremost in
enterprising vigour and activity, was forced to act on the defensive,
and to devote all his strength in protecting what he still possessed,
which truly was no easy task. In 1761 he himself took the com-
mand in Silesia, and employed every stratagem in order to prevent
the junction of the Russian army under Butterlin with Laudon, who
alone led on 72,000 Austrians; and in this the king succeeded for a
time, by which a great portion of the summer passed away in in-
action, an advantage Frederick was anxious to avail himself of. At
length, however, the two armies united together on the 12th of
August, in the environs of Strigau, and thus combined formed a
force of 130,000 men, by which Frederick found himself forced with
his 50,000 men to retire to a strong position. Accordingly he fixed
his quarters near Bunzelwitz, where, for the space of twenty days,
he was kept completely shut in by the enemy, and was forced to
employ so much vigilance that his men were kept under arms and
formed in battle array during the night, being only able to take their
rest in the day time.* And his adversaries being, as they were,

* In the intrenched camp near Bunzelwitz Frederick shared in all the fatigues and
sufferings of his common soldiers. Many nights he slept on one of the batteries,
reposing on a bundle of straw amongst his men. One night he rose and thought-
fully proceeded with General Ziethen between the lines of watchfires, around which
his worn-out men were lying asleep. One trooper, however, was very busy baking a
cake, made of bacon and flour. The fragrant smell reached the king's nose ; he
halted, and addressing the busy soldier in a friendly tone, said : " That cake, com-

CAMP OF BUNZELWITZ-— THE AUSTRIANS IN SILESIA. 595

nearly three times his superior in number, by falling upon and over-
whelming the weakest points of his intrenchments, might have com-
pletely conquered the king, had they been under the guidance of a
genius capable of acting with the energy so necessary • but the two
•enerals ' 1 * - • " n "* ' " " J '

jealous o

not being of accord, either in feeling or principle, and
f each other's claims to distinctions, they°Jrefused to co-
operate either for the renown of the one or the other. Each ima-
gined he was burdened with the most heavy portion of the common
labour, and as was usual in this war, the Russians not being able to
act in unison with the Austrians, they again on this occasion se-
parated without having effected any thing. Thus Frederick with
his army was now left in greater freedom, and in order to secure
himself against all pursuit from the Russians — at least for this year —
he caused all their magazines in Poland to be pillaged and destroyed
by a bold expedition he placed under the orders of General Platen ;
in the execution of which commission that brave commander so
well succeeded, that the Russian army was completely paralysed for
this campaign.

Nevertheless, this year was not to pass away without some mis-
fortune for the king. When he abandoned his camp of Bunzelwitz,
in order to allure the Austrians down to the plains of Silesia, Laudon
suddenly descended the mountains, and instead of following the king,
he directed his march at once to Schweidnitz, which he surprised,
and it being but slightly garrisoned lie took it by assault in the night
of the 1st of October. Thus by the occupation of Schweidnitz and
Glatz, the Austrians had now at command the entire moiety of
Silesia, and were enabled to pass the winter there. In addition to
this the Russians, on their part, took possession of Colberg on the
13th of December, after a siege of lour months, by which they
were enabled to establish their winter quarters for once at least in
Pomerania.

The king had never before been so completely hemmed in.
Prince Henry, it is true, had, during the summer, succeeded against
all the attacks of Daun's forces, in maintaining possession of the
whole of that portion of Saxony still remaining in his brother's
hands, but this only formed the moiety of that country, and thus
the Russians in the course of the coming spring, would be enabled
to advance within a few yards of Berlin itself. Reduced to such
extremity, it might have been expected that the Prussian nation
would have at length resigned all hope ; on the contrary, however,

rade, smells very nice !" " Yes," returned the man, without looking up from his
cake, " I believe you, but you won't catch any more than a smell of it — that I can tell
you !" *' Hush, for Heaven's sake !" exclaimed one or two of his comrades, who had
started up at the king's voice. " What are you about ? "Why, don't you see that is
the king himself?" The soldier, believing they were only joking, and still attend-
ing to his cake without allowing himself to be disturbed, exclaimed laughingly :
" Ha ! ha ! Well, and suppose it really was old Fritz, why what would that matter?"
" Come along, Ziethen," said the king to his companion, " I see we shan't be invited
to supper here to-night !" — Miichler.

2 Q 2

596 PETER III. OF RUSSIA AND FREDERICK — PEACE.

they did not abandon themselves to despair, but showing them-
selves worthy of their king, they cheered and supported him in this
adversity by one enthusiastic, ardent expression of that confidence
with which he inspired all classes ; a cordiality of feeling which
was echoed forth in strains of loyalty and patriotism by the youth
of all ranks throughout the land, as they hastened to join the
standard of their heroic leader. Thence it was clearly manifested
that as long as they continued to be thus strengthened by the
zealous co-operation of the inhabitants themselves, both the king
and his army might still bid defiance to the invaders : for king,
army, and people, being firmly united by one indissoluble bond, the
ruin with which all were threatened, should it prove inevitable,
must at least be gloriously shared by all.

The new year, however, unexpectedly brought with it a bright
ray of hope ; for on the 5th of January, 1762, the Russian Empress,
Elizabeth, died, and in her Frederick was relieved of one of his
bitterest foes. Her nephew, Peter III., now ascended the throne,
and being an enthusiastic admirer of Frederick the Great, he
obeyed at once the impulse of his mind, and forthwith discharged
all the Prussian prisoners without any ransom, and not only
signed on the 5th of May, at St. Petersburg, a treaty of so dis-
interested a character, that he relinquished the whole of Prussia
without any indemnity whatever, but likewise immediately formed
an alliance with Frederick, and caused his own general, Czernitschef,
to march with 20,000 Russians to the aid of the Prussians in
Silesia.

Sweden followed the example of Russia ; for weary of a cam-
paign producing so little honour and glory, she made peace likewise
with Prussia, at Hamburg, on the 22nd of May.

Frederick was now enabled to employ all his energies against the
Austrians, and calculated upon speedily recovering Silesia from
them. He resolved to commence with Schweidnitz itself ; and as
Field-marshal Daun protected it from a very strong position he
occupied near Burkersdorf, Frederick decided accordingly to attack
him at this point immediately after being joined by his Russian
allies. He was already on his march, when suddenly the discou-
raging report reached him that the Russian emperor, Peter III., had
been murdered, and his consort, Catherine, proclaimed Empress,
news almost immediately confirmed by the commands received
from St. Petersburgh by Czernitschef, to return with his army to
Poland forthwith. The young Emperor on coming to the throne,
had imprudently and most prematurely commenced introducing
many innovations into Russia, by which he produced great irrita-
tion and disgust amongst the clergy and nobility, in addition to
which he had ill-used his wife, and by various ill-judged acts, mani-
fested a striking partiality in favour of the Germans around him,
whence he was deprived of his throne and life within six months
after the commencement of his reign.

CATHERINE OF RUSSIA — RATIFIES PEACE WITH FREDERICK. 597

Frederick beheld himself now again threatened with danger
from a quarter whence he had vainly hoped to receive important
aid in his war against Austria ; for he could not but anticipate
that Catherine would be similarly disposed towards him as had been
her predecessor, Elizabeth. Nevertheless he took courage, and
arranging his plans, resolved at any rate to derive all the advantage
he could from the presence of the Russians. And so great was the
influence of Frederick's genius over other men, that he soon pre-
vailed upon General Czernitschef to withhold from the knowledge
of his army, at least for three days, the orders he had received for
his return ; and marching with him against the Austrians on the
day of attack, thus succeeded by his presence in holding a portion
of the enemy's troops in check — a service which Czernitschef, al-
though he could not resist the king's persuasion, felt he yielded at
the risk of his head. Frederick gave battle [on the following day
and gained it. The Russian army next day separated from the
king, and retired. Czernitschef, however, was not called to account
for his conduct in this affair, inasmuch as the opinions and feelings
of the empress towards Frederick, had now undergone a favourable
change. She had at first imagined that Frederick himself had
excited her husband to adopt the harsh measures he had pursued
against her ; but when, after the death of Peter, she looked
through his papers, and unexpectedly found several letters addressed
to him by Frederick, in which he exhorted him most urgently to
exercise prudence in all the measures he adopted, and more espe-
cially to act with kind and gentle feelings towards his wife, the
empress immediatedy changed the course of her policies against
Frederick, and ratified the peace made between her late husband
and the king, yet without committing herself by promising -him
her aid in the prosecution of the war against Austria.

Frederick now commenced the siege of Schweidnitz, which, how-
ever, occupied the entire summer ; for badly as the Russians them-
selves had, on the one hand, on two previous occasions defended this
important place, it was now determined by the Austrians, on their
part, to maintain its possession as long as they possibly could, and
with which object, General Guasco, the commandant, and Gri-
bauval, its engineer, exerted all their courage and skill. The siege
lasted nine weeks, the king himself superintending the operations
with unabated zeal to the last moment ; and it was not ^until they
had lost all hopes of relief, and were left completely without pro-
visions, that the Austrians at length, on the 9th of October, sur-
rendered the place with its garrison of 10,000 men to Frederick.

This year Prince Henry, with his usual measures of prudence,
conducted the war in Saxony so successfully, that he retained pos-
session of the whole country with the exception of Dresden, whilst
he at the same time was equally fortunate in the expeditions he
made into Bohemia and the imperial states, in which he was ably
seconded by the brave generals under his orders, Seidlitz, Kleist,

598 END OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR.

and Belling. When finally the Austrians, with the imperial
auxiliaries, attempted by superiority of numbers, to drive him from,
the advantageous position he held in Freiberg, he attacked them at
once on the 29th of October, and completely routed them. This was
the last and concluding engagement in the Seven Years' War. The
kin^, on the 24th of November, signed an armistice with Austria,
and distributed his troops in their winter quarters, extending
through the country from Thuringia to Silesia ; General Kleist,
however, was left with 10,000 men to keep the field against the
princes of the empire, and penetrating into Franconia, forced each
prince, one after the other, to conclude a peace.

Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, meantime, during the last three
years of the war, had well and gloriously maintained his reputation
in defending Lower Saxony and Westphalia. France employed
all her powers to reconquer these countries, and preserve the
honour of her arms ; fresh commanders were continually appointed,
and her army in 1761 was reinforced to the number of 150,000
men, but which, although only opposed by a force of 80,000 men,
could effect nothing but the occupation of Hesse, which it was im-
possible for Ferdinand to defend, inasmuch as he was threatened
from two quarters at once, viz., from the Lower Rhine and the
Maine. On the other hand, neither stratagem nor menace could
make him quit his position on the left bank of the Weser and on
the Dimel, whence he protected Lower Saxony and Westphalia
simultaneously. The generals under his command — the hereditary
Prince of Brunswick, Sporken, Kielmannsegge, and Luckner, dis-
tinguished themselves in many separate engagements. At the
close of the last campaign a successful battle near Wilhelmsthal,
placed the duke in a position by which he was enabled to act on
the offensive, and by a second engagement near Lutterberg, which
terminated equally to his advantage, he succeeded in driving the
French from the vicinity of Cassel, and thus completed the cam-
paign of the year 1762, as well as the entire war by the conquest of
this city, on the 1st of November. An armistice was now likewise
concluded with the imperial powers in this quarter.

The whole of the belligerent nations were now exhausted and
longed for repose. England had made great and important con-
quests beyond the seas, but had at the same time increased her
national debt by at least one hundred and twenty millions sterling,
and since the demise of George II., and after the Earl of Bute, the
preceptor of the new sovereign, had become prime minister instead
of Pitt, a desire for peace was more and more strongly felt, a feeling
in which France likewise joined. Thus Frederick and Maria
Theresa were now left to carry on the war alone ; but Austria,
although amply provided with troops, being, nevertheless, without
money to furnish the necessary supplies, was not in a condition to
continue hostilities unaided, and as Frederick's only object from
the first was to retain possession of Silesia, he agreed accordingly,

PEACE BETWEEN AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA. 599

upon having that territory secured to him, to sign a treaty of peace.
Austria having, therefore, yielded to him this point, he at once
[ratified the convention as framed by his own plenipotentiary and
(those of Austria and Saxony, in the Castle of Hubertsburg in
i Saxony. A restitution of conquests was made — the prisoners
(exchanged — and neither party claimed indemnification for the ex-
penses or losses incurred. Frederick remained, therefore, in posses-
jgion of Silesia, and he restored to the Elector of Saxony his estates.
Thus this severe and sanguinary war had in its results produced 110
I change in the external state of things, although it had at least incul-
jcated certain great lessons, and to which it cannot be denied but
.that Europe was indebted for the happy state of tranquillity she en-
I joyed after the conclusion of this peace during the space of nearly
i thirty years. Agitation in public affairs, suspicion and jealousy,
productive of so much hostility among states, were now at an end,
| and all were sincere in the conviction that the actual condition of
| affairs would be lasting. Fate had pronounced its decree in favour of
Prussia, that viz. : its power rested upon a sure and solid basis as long
'as it was guided and governed by united thought and action, how-
ever limited might be its sphere. An earnest, industrious, and war-
Ilike feeling evinced both by king and people, justice and economy
1 in the administration of affairs, a progressive spirit of research for all
that the age brings with it and yields of the really good and noble —
such were the means which enabled Frederick and his nation to
maintain single-handed the war against the moiety of Europe, and
such means must ever continue to operate for the preservation of
Prussia, as long as she knows how to treasure up and avail herself of

these resources.

Austria indicated at this time, likewise, as on every former
i occasion when threatened with the danger of vicissitude, that her
power was not so easily destroyed, that her rich and beautiful
j domains, the faithful adherence and co-operation of her inhabitants,
i their attachment to a mild and paternal government, nourished
| within themselves a germ of life, unchangeable and unsurpassed.
i And equally on their parts the Hessians, Hanoverians, and the
troops of Lower Saxony, when fighting against the French in-
vaders, evinced enduring perseverance and courage to such a degree
as to add greatly to the glory of the German name; and, in fact, the
i fame of this war conduced especially to the honour of the Germans
generally.

And when it was inquired who had shown a superiority of
' mind in the tumult of battle, and had given undeniable proofs
I of that rapidity of thought which knows how to seize the imme-
; diate moment for action, all mouths proclaimed and referred to the
names of Frederick the Great and Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick.
i Nor was it forgotten to include as equally worthy of distinction, that
! of Prince Henry, who, as the model of what a prudent and wary
i general should be, well knew how to keep an enemy of far superior

600 OBSERVATIONS— MERITS OF BOTH ARMIES.

force in constant exercise, whilst at the same time, by wisely-laid '
plans, he adroitly maintained his own ground without exposing his
little band to that destruction otherwise so inevitable. Finally, in •
the list of heroic names those of Ziethen* and Seidlitz, who so
especially distinguished themselves at the head of their cavalry,
appeared conspicuous with the rest. On the other hand, all who
wished to study the art of selecting good and masterly positions
for an army, or of choosing the critical well-timed moment for
bringing the guns to work with fatal and unerring effect, were
referred to the Austrians, and the names of Generals Brown,
Laudon, Nadasti, Laxi, and others, were justly registered on the
side of the older celebrated generals of Austria.

It is consoling to reflect that such great renown was calculated
to mitigate at least the sorrow and pain arising from the state of
embittered strife existing between the rival nations of a country
with which all were equally allied as its children, and who, for-
getting all distinctions, and considering themselves as one people,
ought rather to have joined in the grasp of fraternal friendship
and peace ; whilst these warlike achievements served in some mea-
sure to throw into the shade the bad system pursued by the internal
government of the empire. The condition, in fact, of the delibera-
tive and influential portion of our constitution, was so imperfect ;
the forms established for the direction of affairs, were so antiquated ;
the course of proceedings so tedious and inefficient, that unless both
heart and arm had done their duty so well, and thus shown to
other lands that the martial spirit of ancient Germany had not yet
vanished, the country must long ere this have become the spoil of
the stranger.

France gained but little honour in this war ; her feeble, unsys-
tematic government had clearly shown that its administration was
in the hands of women and their favourites, and thence it languished
in mortal throes. Nevertheless, that country did not lose so much
by the peace of Paris, which was signed five days previous to that
of Hubertsburg, as might have been expected after the success of
the English at sea ; but this peace was brought about by the not
over-sagacious statesman, the Earl of Bute, whilst Pitt, on the con-

* Once Frederick marched at the head of the grenadiers of his guard until the
depth of night. At length he made halt, dismounted, and said: " Grenadiers, it is
cold to night! Come, light a fire and let us warm ourselves." — Saying which he
wrapped his blue mantle around him and seated himself upon some bundles of wood,
whilst some of his grenadiers laid themselves down around him. At length General
Ziethen came up and sat himself down next to the king, and both, extremely tired
and worn out, soon fell asleep. The king, however, was the first to awake, and
observing that Ziethen in his sleep had slipped off from one of the bundles of wood,
and that a grenadier was replacing it under him, he exclaimed softly: " Ah, the old
man is indeed knocked up!" Just afterwards another grenadier, only half awake,
sprung up, and proceeding to light his pipe, happened to touch against the old
warrior s foot. Frederick rose up suddenly, and holding up his finger to the soldier,
said, in a whisper, " Hush, grenadier! Take care, doiit wake up our old Ziethen,
he is tired enough. Let him sleep on; he has watched long and often enough for
us!'— Miichler.

THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT. 601

trary, when presiding at the head of the administration, had in the
course of the war made manifest in the most brilliant manner, what
extraordinary energy dwelt in the English nation, and which only
waited for the proper moment to be brought into full operation.

During the period of repose which continued for nearly thirty
years consequent upon the peace of Hubertsburg, various new
developments, the germs of which had been planted at an earlier
date, now began to attain a degree of perfection. With the view
of characterising this era by one term, we have denominated it the
Age of Frederick the Great, because in him was embodied the
spirit of the age, and' in him were seen on a grand scale both
the good and the evil of his contemporaries. It remains for us, in
order to become thoroughly acquainted with the man, to contem-
plate his character in peace as well as during the continuance of
war.

The first and most immediate object of Frederick's attention and
anxiety was the re-establishment of his army, in order that no
enemy might hope to reap advantage from a sudden renewal of
hostilities. In order to bring the recently-levied troops upon a par
with his veteran well- trained warriors — of whom, however, but
a very small number still remained — military exercise and drilling
were enforced with the most rigorous exactness. But in this in-
stance it happened, as is too frequently the case in the generality of
human affairs, when endeavours are made to preserve entire and
perpetuate an institution which in the moment of its most glorious
development appeared perfect, that the form which then belonged to
it becomes essential, whilst the spirit which can never assume a
second time the same mode, abandons that form, and gradually
puts on another which is new and strange ; but men continue for a
length of time to respect that which is merely the envelope, equally
as much as if they possessed the reality it encloses. The illustrious
monarch himself, when he beheld the whole of Europe adopt his
military tactics, was deceived in the over-estimation of their value.
The system of maintaining standing armies was carried to its highest
point, and became the principal object in the administration of every
state ; grave utility degenerated into mere display, until a grand
convulsion of the world made its vanity and puerility but too
apparent.

The care taken by Frederick to effect the restoration of his over-
whelmed country was a much more beneficent employment of his
energies, and was productive of incalculable good, whilst it formed
the most imperishable leaf in his wreath of glory. The corn which
was already bought up for the next campaign he bestowed upon the
most destitute of his people, as seed for sowing, together with all
his superfluous horses. The taxes were remitted for six months
in Silesia, and for two years in Pomerania and Neumark, which were
completely devastated. Nay, the king, in order to encourage agri-
culture and industry, appropriated large sums of money for that

602 HIS GREAT ECONOMY — IMPROVES HIS KINGDOM.

purpose in proportion to the greatness of the exigency, and these ,
various sums amounted altogether during the four-and-twenty years
of his reign after the peace of Hubertsburg, to no less than twenty- !
four millions of dollars. Such noble generosity redounds still more !
to the glory of Frederick, inasmuch as it was only practicable
through the exercise of great economy, and to promote which, he
subjected himself to every personal sacrifice. His maxim was that
his treasure belonged not to himself, but to the people who supplied
it ; and whilst many other princes — not bearing in mind the heavy
drops of sweat which adhered to each of the numerous gold pieces
wrung from their subjects — only thought of dissipating the entire
mass in the most unlicensed prodigality and waste, he lived in a
style so simple and frugal, that out of the sum appropriated to the
maintenance of his court, he saved annually nearly a million of
dollars.

He explained on one occasion to M. de Launay, the Assessor of
indirect taxes, the principles by which he was actuated in this
respect, in clear and distinct terms: " Louis XV. and I," he said,
" are born more needy than the poorest of our subjects ; for there
are but few among them who do not possess a small inheritance, or
who cannot at least earn it by their labour and industry ; whilst he
and I possess nothing, neither can we earn any thing but what
must belong to the state. We are merely the stewards appointed for
the administration of the general fund ; and if as such, we were to
apply to our own personal expenditure more than is, reasonably
necessary, we should by such proceeding not only bring down
upon ourselves severe condemnation in the first place for extrava-
gance, but likewise for having fraudulently taken possession of that
which was confined to our charge for the public weal."

The particular care and interest shown by the king in the culti-
vation of the soil, produced its speedy improvement. Large tracts
of land were rendered arable, fresh supplies of labourers were pro-
cured from other countries, and where formerly marsh and moor
were generally prevalent, fertile, flourishing corn-fields were sub-
stituted instead. These happy results which greeted the eye of
Frederick whenever he took his regularly-appointed journeys
throughout his dominions, were highly grateful to his feelings ;
whilst during these tours of survey nothing escaped his acutely
observing mind, so much so, that few sovereigns could boast of
such a thorough knowledge of their domains — even to the most
trifling details — as the King of Prussia acquired of his own estates
through continual and indefatigable application to this one ob-
ject. Silesia, which had suffered so much, was especially dear to
his feelings, and to that territory he devoted particular attention;
when, therefore, upon a general census in the year 1777, he found
it contained 180,000 more inhabitants than in the year 1756, when
the ^ war commenced ; and when he perceived the losses sustained
during that war thus amply repaired, and the glorious results produced

HIS INDUSTRY AND HIS RECREATIONS. 603

agricultural labour and commercial enterprise, he, in the glad-
ess of his heart, expressed in a letter to his friend Jordan, the
sensations he felt at beholding the flourishing state of a province,
he condition of which was but a short time before so sadly de-
messed and miserable.

Industry is indispensable in a people who depend on their
| energy and activity for their rank among nations ; but this rank is
Inot the only attendant advantage : a benefit far greater is the
(fresh, healthy vigour it imparts to the people. And in this respect
Frederick the Great was a striking example, truly worthy of
imitation by all his subjects ; for even during the early period of
his life, he already wrote to his friend Jordan thus: " You are quite
right in believing that I work hard ; I do so to enable me to live,
for nothing so nearly approaches the likeness of death, as the half-
Jslumbering, listless state of idleness." And, subsequently, when he
[ had become old and feeble, this feeling still retained its power, and
I operated with all its original influence upon his mind, for in
i another letter to the same friend, he says : "I still feel as formerly

• the same anxiety for action ; as then, I now still long to work and
jbe busy, and my mind and body are in continual contention. It is

I no longer requisite that I should live unless I can live — and work."

And truly in making a profitable use of his time, King Frederick
'displayed a perseverance which left him without a rival, and even
in his old age he never swerved from the original plan he had laid
down and followed from his earliest manhood, for even on the very-
day before his death he was to be seen occupied with the business
I of his government. Each hour had its occupation, and the one
grand principle which is the soul of all industry, viz., to leave over
[from to-day nothing for the morrow, passed with Frederick as the invio-
lable law of his whole life. The entire day, commencing at the hour
I of four in the morning and continuing until midnight — accordingly
I five-sixths of the day — were devoted to some occupation of the mind
! or heart, for in order that even the hour of repast might not be wholly
| monopolised by the mere gratification of the stomach, Frederick as-
; sembled around him at midday and in the evening, a circle of in-
1 tellectual men, and these conversaziones — in which the king himself
took an important share — were of such an animated and enlivening
nature, that they were not inaptly compared to the entertainments of
Socrates himself. Unfortunately, however, according to the taste
of that age, nothing but witticisms and humorous sallies were made
the subject of due appreciation and applause. Vivacity of idea
promptly expressed, and strikingly apropos allusions were the order
•! of the day, whilst profundity of thought, and subjects of more
! grave and serious discussion were banished as ill-timed and uncalled

• for: a necessary consequence, arising from the exclusive adoption of
the French language which formed the medium of communication
at these reunions of Frederick the Great. The rest of the day was
passed in the perusal of official despatches, private correspondence,

604 HIS YOUTH— EDUCATION— HIS DESPOTIC FATHER.

and ministerial documents, to each of which he added his replies
and observations in the margin. After having gone through this
all-important, business-routine [of the day, he directed his atten-|
tion to the more recreative occupations of his pleasure grounds and
literary compositions — of which latter Frederick has left behind him '
a rich collection — and finally as a last resource of amusement he
occasionally devoted a few stolen moments to his flute, upon which
he was an accomplished performer.* This, his favourite instrument
indeed, like an intimate and faithful friend, served often to allay
the violent excitements of his spirit, and whilst he strolled with it
through his suite of rooms, often for hours together, his thoughts,
as he Hmself relates, became more and more collected and his mind
better prepared for calm and serious meditation. Nevertheless, he
never permitted affairs of state to be neglected for the sake of the
enjoyments he sought both in music and in poetry, and in this point
of view Frederick's character must ever command respect and ad-
miration. Hence how glorious might have been the reign of this
monarch, and, overwhelming every intervening obstacle, how nobly
might he have exalted the age he lived in, and by his acts have
identified himself with the elevated position to which his nation
might have aspired, had his mind, when in its infancy, received from
the cherishing hand of his parents that encouraging and unerring
direction by which those noble, honest, and upright feelings im-
planted in him by nature must have become more and more devel-
oped and confirmed.

Unhappily, however, the bad education Frederick received left
many a noble germ within him neglected. His father, Frederick
William I., was a man of a stern and forbidding character, for
whom the muses had no charms, neither did he ever show the
least affection for his son Frederick, who from his earliest age
evinced a strong desire to cultivate habits of a more refined nature

* In the course of a journey which Frederick once made into Holland, quite incog-
nito, giving himself out as a musician, he arrived at a small tavern in Amsterdam,
especially celebrated for the rich cakes produced there. Feeling a desire to taste one,
he commanded his travelling companion and aide-de-camp, Colonel Von Balby, to
order one of the landlady. The colonel obeyed the command, but the landlady, ra-
ther suspicious of her plainly dressed guests, measured the messenger from top to
toe, and exclaimed, " Why, it is all very well for you to order it, but pray, sir, can
you pay for it when it is made? Do you know that such a cake as you order will cost
more than six or seven guilders ?" To this the colonel replied by assuring her that the
gentleman with whom he travelled was immensely rich, that he played the flute so
beautifully, that whenever he performed in public a considerable sum was collected
in a very short time." " Indeed! Oh, then," said the landlady, " I must certainly
hear him directly, I am so very fond of music." Saying which, she hurried on be-
fore the colonel to the king's chamber, and said, very politely: " I understand, sir,
that you play a tune very well ; oblige me by warbling something for me to
hear !" Frederick could not, at first, imagine what she meant, but the colonel ex-
plaining to him in French the origin of this singular request, he laughed, and seiz-
ing his flute from the table, played in such a masterly style, that the listener was
struck with admiration, and when, to her sorrow, he ceased, she exclaimed, " Excel-
lent! You do, indeed, play sweetly, and I dare say can earn a few guilders. Well,
you shall have your cake, at any rate !"—/'"

HIS ESCAPE AND RECAPTURE — ENTHUSIASM FOR VOLTAIRE. 605

(than those indulged in by his father, whence the latter subjected him
to the most harsh and despotic treatment. He placed no confidence
|in him as his successor to the throne, and he even projected substi-
jtutinghis second son, Augustus William instead; and by this means
ithe heart of Frederick became more and more estranged from the
(paternal roof, until it was rendered cold and dead to all the tics of filial
iafiection. At length this state of things operated with such infiu-
jence upon his mind, that in the year 1730 the prince, when on a jour-
ney to Wesel with his father, made a desperate attempt to escape from
|the oppression he endured under the paternal control ; but being dis-
covered and retaken, it was with great difficulty that he escaped
jbeing made a sacrifice to the indignant, ungovernable rage of his
(ruthless father, who would but too willingly have sentenced his
[persecuted, although perhaps, imprudent son to the guillotine. Thus
Frederick grew up to manhood without experiencing the true
kirarmth of affection which alone is capable of developing the tender
(feelings of youth, and this want he continued to evince unhappily
(throughout his entire after-life to the day of his death. In the fire
of youth his heart was open to impressions of the most enthusiastic
friendship ; but this ardour of feeling, however sincere and pure,
gradually dissolved into icy indifference and misanthropy under the
irigour of discipline to which he was subjected; so that finally the
[great king saw himself abandoned and, anchorite-like, left to the
[solitary enjoyment of his own thoughts and feelings.

The injurious and baneful custom of the age required that French
(preceptors and French books should furnish the means by which to
direct the sphere of thought both of the boy and youth ; and already, in
the earlier period of his youth, Frederick unhappily became acquainted
with the writings of a man whose influence upon the age he lived in,
produced no little evil, and whose acute mind and satirical, cutting wit,
left nothing sacred undefiled. This man — Voltaire — was to the
! youthful and susceptible mind of the prince, a model worthy of imi-
tation. The productions of this writer were daily studied by him,
land they so completely fascinated his mind, that he regarded him as
exalted above all other men, and impelled by his enthusiasm, he
sought the friendship of that dangerous individual as a treasure far
beyond appreciation. The vain and selfish Frenchman well knew
how to profit by this feeling so clearly expressed in the letters he
received from the young prince. He flattered his royal friend in
| return, and in this game of reciprocal egotism, Frederick imagined
i he had succeeded in forming the basis of a friendship which should
! prove to be not only sincere, but lasting. But as friendship can only
| subsist on a foundation of truth, and in connexion with joint and
; zealous efforts for the attainment of virtue, the union of these two
: men, resting upon so unstable a basis, could not withstand the force
I of any severe test. In their subsequent intercourse, after Voltaire,
|in 1750, had taken up his residence at the court of the king, the
! coldness, jealousy, and malignity of the favourite became more and

606 HIS ANTI-GERMAN FEELINGS— NEGLECT OF NATIVE GENIUS. I

more manifest ; the film of fascination dropped from before th( c
kind's eyes, the sentiments of friendship between the two declinec
with each day, and becoming eventually estranged from, and inimi-i
cally inclined towards each other, they parted as enemies. Vol- (
taire, however, on his return to France, gave vent to his revengefu. -i
feelings by writing the most bitter satires against the king.*

Such mortifying results closed the heart of Frederick more anc <
more against all amicable impressions, and produced a misanthropy,
which previously formed no part of his character, and the necessary
effects of which is to overshadow the path of life with the clouds of
gloom.

The government of the king itself was impressed with this mart
of the reserved and isolated state of his soul, for it was a despotic
government in the most strict sense of the word ; every thing emanated •
from the king, and every thing reverted to him again. He nevei i
accorded any share in the administration to an assembly of states—
nor even to the state council — which, composed of the most enlight-
ened men, would have been able to have presented to their sovereign
in a clear and comprehensive light the bearings of the intricate ques-
tions connected with government. Nevertheless, however penetrating
his eagle eye, that individual survey was not sufficiently comprehen-
sive to command a knowledge of every thing, whence many
essential circumstances must have remained concealed from his view.

* In 1752 an Englishman was received at court who possessed an extraordinary
memory, so much so, that after some fifty, nay, a hundred pages of a work had been
read to him, he could forthwith repeat the whole, word for word, from recollection.
Frederick was much struck with this person's gift of memory, and putting it one
evening to the proof, found by the result a confirmation of the statement. Just as
he was about to dismiss the Englishman, Voltaire sent to inquire if his majesty had
half an hour's leisure time to hear him read a poem he had just completed ? Frede-
rick, struck with the inquiry coming so apropos, determined upon passing a joke at
that vain man's expense, and sent a reply in the affirmative. He ordered the Eng-
lishman to take his station behind a screen, and requested him to treasure up in his
memory every line and word that Voltaire might recite. The great poet arrived
and read through the whole of his verses with great declamation and evident self-
satisfaction. The king listened with apparent coolness and indifference, and then
said: *' Why, I must candidly confess, my dear Voltaire, that it strikes me you ap-
propriate as your own the production of others! I have noticed it more than once
before ; this poem is again another instance." His indignation at being thought a
plagiarist produced upon Voltaire's countenance — always a subject for the caricatu-
rist—an expression more than usually harsh and bitter. He expressed himself highly
offended and mortified ; his majesty had been misled by his treacherous memory to
commit a great error, and he had acted with still greater injustice. " But how if I
prove to you that these verses are already well-known to an Englishman at my court
here?" " All that your majesty may bring forward in contradiction, all assurances are
to me mere empty words, for I can disprove all and every thing !" Upon this Frede-
rick ordered the Englishman (who had just before glided away from his screen into
the next room) to be introduced. He was commanded by the king to recite the
verses he had shortly before heard repeated, and accordingly gave the whole of
Voltaire's poem, word for word, without a single omission. Almost mad witli rage,
the poet rose and exclaimed: " Heaven ! destroy with thy thunder this robber of my
verses ! Here is some magic in play which wOl drive me to desperation!" With
these words he rushed from the king's presence in the greatest agitation. Frederick
was, however, delighted with this mystification, a proof how little he esteemed Vol-
taire at heart.— Muchler.

HIS DESPOTIC GOVERNMENT — ARMY AND TREASURY. 607

Thence it is, that a government supported by the states of the

kingdom is difficult to be overturned, whilst its power increases in

I proportion ; inasmuch as according to the form of such government,

the voice of the most enlightened and well-intentioned of the public

! may be heard by the whole nation through legitimate means, and

thus every active member of the state may, although he holds no

I office, aid his country with his opinions and advice.

But such views and principles were altogether unknown at this
I period, which deviated from the simple course of nature, and only
| endeavoured to elevate itself upon the basis of the subtlety of the
j mind; the object then sought was to found the stability of a go-
j vernment upon the groundwork of mere external forms, whilst, on
I the contrary, its security rests upon the hearty co-operation of all
for the common weal of the country, to the exclusion of all indivi-
dual power. These magnanimous principles of government would,
no doubt, have operated with happy results upon the naturally
vigorous and clear mind of Frederick, had they been at all brought
forward during his time ; but they could not originate with him,
inasmuch as he felt in himself the power to govern alone, seconded
by the strongest desire of making his people happy and great.
Thence it appeared to his mind, that the predominant strength of
a state was based upon the means which are the readiest and most
efficacious in the hands of one person, viz. : in his army, and in the
treasury. His chief aim, therefore, was to manage that these two
powerful implements of government should be placed in the most
favourable condition possible ; and thus we find, that Frederick often
sought the means to obtain this, his grand object, without sufficiently
taking into consideration the effect they might subsequently produce
upon the disposition and morality of the nation. In accordance
with this principle, he in the year 1764 invited a distinguished
Fermier-General of France, Helvetius, to Berlin, in order to consult
him upon the means of augmenting the revenues of the state, and
in consequence of his suggestions, measures were adopted which
were extremely obnoxious to the public, and caused many to de-
fraud, instead of to co-operate with the government. At the same
time, however, by these and other means resorted to by the king,
the revenues of the kingdom were increased considerably. It must,
however, be advanced in Frederick's vindication, firstly, that he
adopted these measures, not for his own individual advantage, but
for the benefit of all; and, secondly — we must again repeat it — that
the great errors of the age completely obscured his own view.
With what eagerness would not his clear mind have caught at the
enlightenment produced by reform, had he but lived in a time
when freedom of thought was more appreciated, for to him this
freedom of thought was so dear, that he never attacked the public
expression of opinion. His subjects enjoyed under his reign,
amongst other privileges, that of the liberty of the press; and he

608 TRIUMPH OF NATIVE OVER FRENCH LITERATURE.

himself gave free scope to the shafts of censure and ridicule aimed
against his public and private character. For the consciousness of
hTs own persevering endeavours in the service of his country, and i
of his sincere devotion to his duties, elevated him beyond all petty
susceptibility. The chief object of the king's care was a search
into truth and enlightenment, as it was then understood. But this
enlightenment consisted in the desire to understand every thing:
to analyse, dissect, and — demolish. Whatever appeared inexplicable
was at once rejected ; faith, love, hope, and filial respect, — all those
feelings which have their seat in the inmost recesses of the soul,
were destroyed in their germination.

But this annihilating agency was not confined to the state ; it
manifested itself also in science, in art, and even in religion. The
French were the promoters of this phenomenon, and in this they were
eventually imitated throughout the world, but more especially in
Germany. Superficial ornament passed for profound wisdom, and
witty, sarcastic phraseology assumed the place of soundness and sin-
cerity of expression. Nevertheless, even at this time, there were a
few chosen men who were able to recognise that which was true
and just, and raised their voices accordingly ; and, in the world of
intellect the names of Lessing, Klopstock, Goethe, &c., need alone
be mentioned, being, as they were, the founders of a more sterling age.
They were joined by many others, and thus united, they constituted
an intellectual phalanx in opposition to the progress made by the
sensual French school. These intellectual reformers were soon
strengthened by such auxiliaries as Kant, Fichte, Jacobi, &c., who
advanced firmly under the banner of science, and from such be-
ginnings, grew by degrees that powerful mental reaction, which
has already achieved such mighty things, and led the way to
greater results still.

This awakening of the German mind was unnoticed by King
Frederick ; he lived in the world of French refinement, separate
and solitary, as on an island. The waves of the new rushing stream
of life passed without approaching him, and struck against the bar-
riers by which he was enclosed. His over-appreciation and patron-
age of foreigners, however, impelled the higher classes of society to
share in his sentiments, equally as much as his system of adminis-
tration had served as a model for other rulers to imitate. Several
among his contemporaries resolved, like him, to reign independently,
but without possessing the same commanding genius, whence, how-
ever well-intentioned, they were wrecked in their career; amongst
whom, maybe more especially included: Peter III. of Russia, Gus-
tavus III. of Sweden, and Joseph II. of Germany.

^ In the year 1765, Joseph II. was acknowledged as successor to
his father, Francis I., who died in the same year, but whose acts as
emperor present little or nothing worthy of record. His son, how-
ever, was, on this very account, the more anxious to effect great

INVASION AND DISMEMBERMENT OF POLAND, 1773. 609

changes, to transform ancient into modern institutions, and to
devote the great and predominating power with which he was en-
Hpwed towards remodelling the entire condition of his states. All
|his projects, however, were held in abeyance until the death of his
mother, Maria Theresa, in 1780, who, ever wise and active, had,
jcven to the last moments of her existence, exercised all her power
and influence in the administration of affairs, and, accordingly, her
imatcrnal authority operated effectually upon his feelings as a son,
land served for a time to suspend the accomplishment of his desires.
Meantime, in the interval between the year 1765 and 1780, various
events took place, which exercised an important influence upon the last
ten years of his reign. Amongst the rest may be more especially
Mentioned the Dismemberment of Poland in 1773, and the war ot
Ithc Bavarian Succession in 1778.

Augustus III., King of Poland, died in the year 1765, leaving
behind him a grandson, only as yet a minor ; consequently the house
of Saxony, which had held possession of the throne of Poland
xluring a space of sixty-six years, now lost it. Both Russia and
[Prussia stepped forward forthwith, and took upon themselves the ar-
rangement of the affairs of Poland : an interference which that nation
raras now unable to resist, for strong and redoubtable as it had been
formerly, dissension had so much reduced its resources, that it was,
at this moment, wholly incapable of maintaining, or even acting for
itself. Both powers required that Poland should choose for her
sovereign a native born prince, and an army of 10,000 Russians
which suddenly advanced upon Warsaw, and an equal number of
Prussian troops assembled upon the frontiers, produced the elec-
tion of Stanislaus Poniatowski to the throne. Henceforth there
was no longer an imperial diet held at which foreigners did not en-
deavour to bring into effect all their influence.

Shortly after this event, a war took place between Russia and
Turkey, in which the former took possession of Moldavia and Wal-
achia, which that power was extremely desirous of retaining. This,
however, Austria opposed most strenuously, lest Russia should become
jtoo powerful, and Frederick the Great found himself in a dilemma
jhow to maintain the balance between the two parties. The most
expedient means of adjustment appeared in the end to be the spo-
liation of a country which was the least able to oppose it, viz., Po-
land ; and, accordingly, a portion of its territory was seized and
shared between the three powers — Russia, Prussia, and Austria.
With whom this idea first originated has not been clearly ascertained,
but it is easy to see that it was quite in accordance with the charac-
ter of the times. For as the wisdom of that age only based its cal-
culations upon the standard of the senses, and estimated the power
of states merely by their square miles, amount of population, soldiers,
land revenue, the grand aim of the then state-policy was to devote
! every effort towards aggrandisement; nothing was held more desir-
iable than some fresh conquest, which might advantageously round

2 B

610 BAVARIAN WAR OF SUCCESSION — FREDERICK.

off a kingdom, whilst all consideration of equity and justice was
forced to yield before this imperious principle. When one of the
laro*er states effected such an acquisition, the others, alarmed, consi-i
dered the balance of Europe compromised and endangered.

In this case, however, the three kingdoms bordering upon Po-
land, having shared between them the spoil, were each augmented
in proportion, whence all fear of danger was removed. This system
had become so superficial, so miserable and absurd, that they lost
sight altogether of the principle that a just equilibrium and the per-
manent safety of all can only be secured by the inviolable preserva-
tion of the rights of nations. The partition of Poland was the
formal renunciation itself of that system of equipoise, and served as
the precursor of all those great revolutions, dismemberments, and
transformations, together with all those ambitious attempts at uni-
versal monarchy, which, during a space of five-and-twenty years,
were the means of convulsing Europe to her very foundations.

The people of Poland, menaced as they were in three quarters, were
forced in the autumn of 1773 to submit to the dismemberment of
their country, of which, accordingly, three thousand square miles
were forthwith divided between Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

Maximilian Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, having died in 1777
without issue, the inheritance of his estates and electoral dignity
came into the hands of the Elector- Palatine. The Emperor Joseph,
however, with his usual rashness, resolved to avail himself of this
inheritance in favour of Austria ; he accordingly raked up old claims,
and marched suddenly with his army into Bavaria, of which he
took immediate possession. The pacific Palatine, Charles Theodore,
thus surprised and overawed, signed a treaty, by which he ceded
two-thirds of Bavaria to the house of Austria, in order to secure to
himself possession of at least the other third portion. The conduct
of Austria on this occasion, together with the part she had pre-
viously taken in the dismemberment of ill-fated Poland, was the
more unexpected, inasmuch as she was the only one of all the supe-
rior states which had hitherto abstained from similar acts of aggres-
sion. But the mutability of the age had now destroyed likewise in
Austria the uniform pacific bearing for which she had so long been
distinguished.

These proceedings gave rise to serious commotions in various parts
of the empire, and Frederick the Great more especially felt he could
and ought not to remain an inactive observer of what was passing.
Accordingly he entered the lists against Austria at once, and com-
menced operations as protector of the heir of Charles Theodore, the
Duke of Deux-Ponts, who protested against the compact signed by
the former with Austria, and claimed the assistance of the King of
Prussia. The young and hot-headed Emperor Joseph accepted the
challenge forthwith, and taking up a position in Bohemia, he there
awaited the king ; the latter, who had already crossed the moun-
tains, finding him, however, so strongly intrenched, was reluctant

DEATH OF MARIA THERESA, 1780— JOSEPH IT. 611

to hazard an^attack under such difficult circumstances, and withdrew
from Bohemia. After a few unimportant skirmishes between the
light troops of both sides, peace was signed by the mediation of
France and Russia, at Teschen, on the 13th of May, 1779, even
before the end of the first year of the war. The Empress Maria The-
resa, now advanced in years, by no means shared in her son's taste for
war, but, on the contrary, earnestly desired peace; whilst Frederick
himself, who had nothing to gain personally by this campaign, was
equally anxious for a reconciliation. Moreover, he was likewise far
advanced in years, and possessed an eye sufficiently penetrating to
perceive that the former original spirit and energy of the army
which had performed such prodigies of valour in the war of
Seven Years, had now almost disappeared, although the disci-
pline under which it was still placed was equally severe and ty-
rannical as in former times. Under these and other circumstances,
therefore, peace was preferable to war. By the treaty now con-
cluded, Austria restored to the palatine house all the estates of Ba-
varia, except the circle of Burgau, and the succession was secured
to the Duke of Deux-Ponts.

After the death of Maria Theresa, in 1780, Joseph II. strove,
with all the impetuosity of his fiery and enterprising nature, to bring
into immediate execution the great and ambitious plans he had
formed, and to give to the various nations spread over the bound-
less surface of his vast possessions, one unique and equal form of
government, after a model such as he had himself formed within his
own mind. Indeed, from the daring, reckless character he dis-
played, and the conduct he pursued, he might with justice have been re-
garded as one only anxious, by the changes he made, to pave the way
for the most unprecedented revolution in the annals of Europe. But
this prince, together with others of the age he lived in and that which
followed, beheld all their creations destroyed almost as suddenly as
they had been formed, inasmuch as they had involved themselves in
the error of believing that they could change, in the short space of
a man's life, or perhaps of only a few years, that which the human
race was only able to bring into operation in the slow growth of cen-
turies. This arrogant presumption evinced by a man, who would thus
pretend to realise the ideas he has conceived solely because he deems
their realisation possible — however opposed they may be to reason —
was manifested in Joseph in the highest degree, and thence he was
frustrated and disappointed in all his expectations and good inten-
tions. He himself was influenced, it is true, by a mere desire for
all that is just and good, for the prosperity of his dominions, for the
progress of enlightenment and liberty of spirit ; but he neglected to
search strictly but calmly into human nature, and thus make him-
self thoroughly acquainted with the peculiar character of his variously
disposed subjects. What he undertook to effect was too often alto-
gether unsuited to their actual condition, and what was acceptable
to one was repugnant to another. In the feeling of his good'in-

2 R2

612 INNOVATIONS — FREDERICK AND ALLIED PRINCES.

tentions, Joseph adopted as his model the absolute principles of.
Frederick in his system of government ; but Frederick occupied
himself more with external arrangements, with the administration of i
the state, the promotion of industry, and the increase of the revenue, :
interfering very little with the progress of intellectual culture which
followed its particular course, often altogether without his know-
ledge; whilst in this respect Joseph, by his new measures, often en-
croached upon the dearest privileges of his subjects. He insisted .
certainly upon liberty of conscience and freedom of thought ; but he
did not bear in mind, at the same time, that the acknowledgment
of this principle depended upon that close conviction which cannot
be forced, and can only exist in reality when the light of truth
has gradually penetrated to the depth of the heart.

The greatest obstacles, however., thrown in the way of Joseph's
innovations proceeded from the church ; for his grand object was to
confiscate numerous monasteries and spiritual institutions, and to
change at once the whole ecclesiastical constitution : that is, he con-
templated obtaining during the first year of his reign, what would
of itself have occurred in the space of half-a-century.

By this confiscation of ecclesiastical possessions more than one
neighbouring prince of the empire, such as the Bishop of Passau
and the Archbishop of Salzburg, found themselves attacked in their
rights, and did not hesitate to complain loudly ; and in the same
way in other matters, various other princes found too much reason
to condemn the emperor for treating with contempt the constitution
of the empire. Their apprehensions were more especially increased
when the emperor, in the year 1785, negotiated a treaty of exchange
of territory with the electoral prince-palatine of Bavaria, according to
wrhich, the latter was to resign his country to Austria, for which
he was to receive in return the Austrian Netherlands under the title
of a new Kingdom of Burgundy : an arrangement by which the
entire south of Germany would have come into the exclusive pos-
session of Austria. The prince -palatine was not at all indisposed to
make the exchange, and France as well as Russia, at first favoured it
in its principle ; but Frederick II. once more stepped forward and
disconcerted their plans, in which he succeeded likewise in bringing
Russia to co-operate with him.

The commotions, however, produced by these efforts made by Joseph
to bring his rash projects into immediate operation, caused the old King
of Prussia to form the idea of establishing an alliance of the German
princes for the preservation of the imperial constitution, similar in
character to the unions formed in previous times for mutual defence.
Such at least was to be the unique object of this alliance according

the king's own words ; and this league was accordingly effected in
year 1785, between Prussia, Saxony, Hanover, the dukes of
Saxony, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, and Deux-Ponts, the Landgrave
of Hesse and several other princes, who were soon joined by the
Elector of Mentz. This alliance was based upon principles in their

THEIR ALLIANCE— DEATH OF FREDERICK, 1786. 613

(nature less inimical than strictly surveillant ; nevertheless, it effected
the object contemplated by acting as a check upon the house of Aus-
jtria in. the various innovations threatened by the emperor, whilst it
operated as a lesson indicating to that house, that its real distinction
I amongst the other nations of Europe was to preserve the present
order of things, to protect all rights and privileges, to oppose the
i spirit of conquest, and thus to constitute itself the bulwark of
(universal liberty, but failing in all this, it must inevitably lose at
\ once all public confidence. This alliance of princes, however, pro-
i duced little or no important results for the advantage of Germany,
[owing partly to the death of Frederick II., which took place in the
I following year, and partly to the circumstance of the successors of
' Joseph II. happily returning to the ancient hereditary principles of
the house, both in its moderation and circumspection ; and finally,
owing to the unheard-of events which transpired in Europe during
the last ten years of this century, and which soon produced too much
cause for forgetting all previous minor grievances.

This alliance of the princes of the empire was the last public act
of the great Frederick of any consequence ; and he died in the follow-
ing year. He continued active and full of enterprise to the last, in
spite of his advanced age, but his condition became gradually more
isolated, inasmuch as all the companions of his former days had in
turns disappeared and sunk into their last resting-place before himself,
the last among them being the brave old warrior, Ziethen, who died
in the January previous of the same year as his royal master, at
the age of eighty-seven ; and, on the other hand, heaven had not
blessed him with any family, and thus he was debarred from the
endearing enjoyment experienced by a father, when he sees himself
grown young again, and revivified in his posterity. At the same
time, he was wanting in all those feelings conducive to this state of
life — a state against which his whole nature recoiled.

His mind, with scarcely any interruption, retained all its power
during the long space of seventy-four years, although his body had
latterly become much reduced and enfeebled. Through the extra-
vagant use he had always made of strong spices and French dishes, he
dried up the springs of life, and after suffering severely from dropsy,
he departed this life on the 17th of August, 1786, and was buried in
Potsdam, under the pulpit of the church belonging to the garrison.*

Although the news of Frederick's death at such an advanced
age excited no very great astonishment, it nevertheless produced

* In his last illness Frederick displayed great mildness and patience, and ac-
knowledged with gratitude the trouble and pain he caused those around him.
During one of his sleepless nights he called to the page who kept watch in the room,
and asked him what o'clock it was? The man replied it had just struck two.
" Ah, then it is still too soon!" exclaimed the king, " but I cannot sleep. See
whether any of the other attendants are awake, but do not disturb them if they
are still sleeping, for poor fellows, they are tired enough. But if you find Neuman
(his favourite Yager) stirring, say to him, you believe the king wishes soon to rise.
But mind, do not awaken any one !" — Muchler.

614 THE TURKS— HUNGARY— DEATH OF JOSEPH II., 1790.

a considerable sensation throughout the whole of Europe. He
left to his successor a well-regulated state, containing a population
of six millions of inhabitants; a powerful, strictly organised army, '
and a treasury well provided ; the greatest treasure however he left, '
was the recollection of his heroic and glorious acts, which in sub-
sequent times has continued to operate upon his nation with all its
awakening power and heart-stirring influence.

The Emperor Joseph, meantime, had engaged, in 1788, in a war
with the Turks, which did not produce the results he had been led
to anticipate. His army suffered very considerable losses, more es-
pecially through sickness, and, although he himself was present in
person, his troops effected nothing, for he was wholly without those
necessary qualifications — firmness and presence of mind — charac-
teristics so highly requisite in a general, in order to ensure success.
About this time also the Hungarians began to show strongsymptoms
of discontent, caused by the unjust treatment they received at the
hands of him they had formerly saved when appealed to by his
mother, Maria Theresa. In the Netherlands, however, the whole
population broke out into open rebellion at once; the clergy, the
nobility, the people, and the cities altogether, perceiving by the re-
forms too precipitately enforced upon them by the emperor the at-
tacks that were being made upon their ancient rights and privileges.
They seized arms, and on the 22nd of October, 1789, the provinces
of Brabant declared themselves independent in a grand meeting held
at Breda. Nearly all the cities took part with the revolters, who had
at their head a barrister, named Van der Noot, and the Austrian
officials were forced to take their flight. This was, in fact, a kind
of introductory scene to that which was being prepared, about
the same time, in France itself. During the period of these con-
tentions Joseph died in his forty-ninth year, on the 20th of February,
1790, an event greatly hastened by the fatigues he had undergone
in the Turkish war, and more especially promoted through bitter
mortification at finding all his mad and ill-timed projects fall to the
ground, and the pain he felt at the state of anarchy and revolt existing
amongst his subjects.

As he left no family behind him, his brother. Peter Leopold,
hitherto grand duke of Tuscany, succeeded him in his hereditary
estates of Austria. The task undertaken by the new sovereign was
by no means the most easy one, inasmuch as he found everywhere
dissatisfaction, contention, and sedition. He perceived that in order
to steer the vessel safely through the raging tempest he must employ
moderate and reconciliatory measures, and, happily, Peter Leopold
possessed the necessary disposition and ability to effect this object.
The dangerous innovations introduced by his predecessor were at
once abolished, Hungary pacified, and the Netherlands, partly by
the necessary force of arms, and partly by the confirmation of their
rights and constitutions,were restored to a state of tranquillity ; and, fi-
nally, in the following year, a treaty of peace was concluded with the

LEOPOLD ii., 1790-1792— FRANCIS II., 1792-1806. 615

jTurks. On the 20th of September, 1790, the hereditary prince of
the house of Austria was chosen emperor of Germany, under the
(title of Leopold II. He, however, died on the 1st of March, 1792,
jand thus his short reign of two years ended at the moment when a
jnew and eventful era commenced in the history of Europe, teeming
jwith scenes of intrigue, anarchy, and atrocious outrage, already but
(too well known in the annals of that disastrous period to require much
further comment or description in the present work.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

I Leopold II. and the State of France — France declares War against Austria, the Im-
perial States, Holland, Spain, &c., 1792 — Francis II. Emperor of Germany, 1792-
1806 — Prussia — Successes of the Allies — General Dumouriez and the Republican
Army — The Austrians defeated at Jemappes — The Netherlands republicanized —
Defeat of Dumouriez at Neerwinden, 1793 — Joins the Allies— Continued Successes
of the Allies under the Dukes of York and Coburg — Carnot — Generals Pichegru
and Jourdan — Battles of Tournay and Fleurus— Jourdan's Aerial Reconnoitering
Messenger, or the Adjutant in the Balloon — Defeat of the Allies — Successes of the
French — Conquests in Flanders, Holland, and the Rhine— Kaiserslautern— Peace
of Basle, 1795 — England and Austria — France — The Austrian Generals Beaulieu,
Wurmser, and Archduke Charles — Napoleon Buonaparte, 1796 — Appointed Ge-
neral in Italy — His Army — His Conquests and rich Booty made in Italy — The
French in Germany — Archduke Charles — Moreau— His famous Retreat — Mantua
— Buonaparte in Germany — His rapid Marches — Vienna — Peace of Campo-For-
mio, 1797 — Shameful Conditions — State of Europe — Alliance of England, Russia,
Austria, and Turkey— Hostilities resumed, 1798 — Buonaparte in Egypt — Cairo —
Aboukir — His Fleet destroyed by Nelson — Italy — General Suwaroff — His Suc-
cesses in Italy — Genoa — Switzerland — Suwaroff's Passage across the Alps — His
desperate Appeal to his Soldiers— His Recall — The Emperor Paul and England —
Buonaparte First Consul, 1799 — Genoa — Battle of Marengo, 1800 — General Desaix
— Moreau in Germany — Peace of Luneville, 1801 — Sad Results to, and Sacrifices
made by Germany — Resignation of William Pitt — Peace of Amiens, 1802 — Eng-
land declares War against France, 1803 — Buonaparte takes Possession of Hanover
— The German Legion.

THE Emperor Leopold II. remained faithful to his system of paci-
fication, although he could not but feel serious apprehensions when
he beheld the alarming state of affairs in France. Several of the
princes of the empire had already expressed a strong desire to take
up arms against that revolutionary country, in favour of the emi-
grated princes and nobles, who, making the banks of the Rhine
their place of refuge, collected together in numerous bodies at Co-
blentz, and finally prevailed upon the princes of the land to main-
tain their rights, and commence hostilities. The revolution had, in
fact, affected and seriously injured a number of the German princes
in the privileges they enjoyed from the earliest times in France, and
more especially in Alsace, — and now, when they demanded an in-
demnification 'for these losses, they only met with the same arrogant
and scornful reception in the language which it had been the prac-

616 AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA AGAINST FRANCE— DUMOURIEZ.

tice of France to express during the last five-and-twenty years. The '
imperialists, however, should have borne in mind that to a country
in a state of revolution, a war with a foreign power is both desirable1
and beneficial, inasmuch as it acts as a check upon internal divisions,
and by promoting a more united feeling, furnishes it with still
greater power against the common enemy.

The new emperor, Francis II., formed now an alliance with
Frederick- William II., of Prussia, against France, but which the
latter government anticipated by declaring war against Austria in
1792. The attack of the Prussians took the young republic, — which
still retained the king, although powerless, at its head — completely by
surprise. The country was not as yet prepared for war, and the first
invasion was accordingly attended with successful results. The
armies of the imperialists continued to march in advance, and took
possession of all the towns along their route. Valenciennes, Longwy,
and Verdun, were conquered, all the passes of the forest of Ar-
dennes occupied, together with the plains of Champagne; and even
Paris itself began to tremble. But the people now aroused them-
selves, and this was promoted, in fact, by their enemy himself. For,
misled no doubt by the presumption and mad hopes cherished by
the emigrants, the Duke of Brunswick, who commanded the Prus-
sian army, issued a manifesto, which was distributed everywhere
throughout the entire kingdom, and which was so insultingly and
cruelly worded, as to make the heart of every Frenchman recoil and
tremble within him, and of those more especially who refused to
acknowledge the ancient rights of royalty ; for, amongst the other
threats it contained, the document declared that Paris should be
burnt to the ground, and the inhabitants put to the sword, and not
a single stone of the metropolis should be left standing. These
dreadful words acted upon the people with all the power of an elec-
tric shock, and forthwith, from every part of the country, were to
be seen both young and old hastening in shoals with all possible
speed to join voluntarily the standard of General Dumouriez, and
under which they burned to conquer or die in the defence of their
country's freedom. The army was soon in a condition to face the
invaders, and it marched forth and took up an advantageous position
on the high-road near Sainte-Menehould ; but, as the Prussians now
began to suffer greatly from the want of supplies in that impo-
verished part of the country, as also from the sickness and disease
produced through the continual heavy rains which, badly clothed as
the troops were, thinned their ranks sadly, they were forced, after a
slight cannonade at Valmy, to make a retreat; this they were happy
enough to succeed in effecting in good time, and they gained the
banks of the Rhine, which they lost no time in crossing.

At Jemappes, however, Dumouriez came up with the Austrians,
and giving them battle at once, on the 5th of November, 1792—
the first under the republican government — gained a decisive victory.
His force was greatly superior in numbers to the Austrian army, whilst

ENGLAND AND ALLIES AGAINST FRANCE — SUCCESSES. 617

I he was likewise in possession of an overwhelming train of heavy
artillery, which at each discharge mowed down whole ranks of the
[ enemy, and made the very earth tremble. The Austrians, never-
theless, fought with a courage truly heroic for two entire days against
their formidable adversaries, but were eventually forced to yield the
field of battle. By this single battle the House of Austria lost the
whole of the Netherlands, for the victorious army, like a rushing
torrent, carried all before them, and the inhabitants, already dis-
satisfied with the dominion of Austria ever since the reign of Jo-
seph II., and seduced by the thoughts of liberty, threw off the
imperial yoke and received the French with open arms. They
planted everywhere the tree of liberty, established a national con-
vention, and adopted all the republican principles and institutions
of their conquerors.

At the same time General Custine had marched against the Rhen-
ish provinces, and through treachery made himself master of the
important imperial city of Mentz. The mania for liberty now held
its sway in that place, and the republican institutions of Paris were
likewise introduced there. Frankfort, however, its neighbouring
city, maintained itself firmly against all the influence of these in-
sinuating and destructive principles, and when invited to follow the
example set by those around, the citizens replied, that they were
contented with the liberty they had thus far enjoyed all along.

The sanguinary proceedings — but more especially the dreadful and
revolting fate of Louis XVI., on the 21st of January, 1793, excited
universal indignation and horror; and England and Spain, together
with Holland, armed at once against the French republic which had
declared war against them. Germany was not long in joining these
powers, and as Naples, Rome, Tuscany, and Portugal, came forward
likewise, a coalition of the governments of the moiety of Europe
was brought to bear against that of France.

The commencement of the campaign of 1793 was distinguished
by a series of brilliant victories gained by the allies in the ISlether-
knds. Dumouriez was defeated at Aldenhoven, and he was again
overthrown on the 18th of March in a grand battle near Neerwinden;
and, dreading lest he might be summoned to Paris and thus fall into
the hands of the Jacobins, of whom he was no friend, and who, he
knew too well, were the last to treat misfortune with mercy, he
passed over to the ranks of the allies. The latter now pressed for-
ward in rapid marches; their united army comprised the Austrians,
the Prussians, the English, the Hanoverians, and the Dutch, com-
manded by the Duke of Coburg and the Duke of York. Dumou-
riez's successor, General Dampierre, was again defeated on the 8th of
May on the plains of Famars, being himself killed in the action ;
and the allies having now made themselves masters of Valenciennes
and Conde, the road to Paris lay open before them.

Meantime the Prussians and Austrians, on the Rhine, reconquered
Mentz, and having forced the lines of the hill of Weissenbe'rg,

618 CARNOT — PICHEGRU, &C. — THE ALLIES DEFEATED.

they commenced the siege of Landau under the command of the
Crown Prince of Prussia.

In the Pyrennees a Spanish army crossed the Alps and marched '
into France, where the progress made was attended with considerable '
success; in conjunction with the English they took possession of the
important seaport of Toulon, which, having declared itself opposed ,
to the convention of Paris, they defended against the republican
forces.

Towards the end of the year, however, the republican forces were
more successful along the frontiers of the kingdom. On the Upper
Rhine, Landau, and the whole of Alsace, after continued and most
sanguinary fighting, fell again into their hands, and the republican
flao* was everywhere planted along that portion of the banks of the
Rhine ; whilst, in the Netherlands, Dunkirk was delivered, and many
severe actions gained by the French. In this quarter the forces were
commanded by Houchard and Jourdan; whilst on the Rhine the
troops were headed by Pichegru and Hoche — names elevated from
their original obscurity by the rushing tide of the revolution. On the
30th of September a grand fete was held in Paris, on which occasion
fourteen different armies were represented in a triumphal procession,
in honour of the victories they had gained.

At the commencement of the year 1794 the allies united all their
forces in the Netherlands, under the orders of the Duke of Coburg,
and the Emperor Francis himself joined the camp in order, by his
presence, to encourage the troops. On the 7th of April they gained
a complete victory near Gateau- Cambresis, and on the 30th of the
same month they made themselves masters of the town of Landre-
cies. Fortune, however, now changed. Carnot, who properly un-
derstood how to employ the system of war by which a nation in
arms might obtain victory, issued his orders forthwith to the grand
armies, commanded by Pichegru and Jourdan, to attack the allied
army with the most daring impetuosity and without ceasing, so that
not a single day might pass without constant hard fighting. With
respect to the number of French troops that were slain that was a
matter of no consideration; fresh battalions were marched up to re-
place those that had fallen, and thus the allied generals finding them-
selves so hard pressed looked in vain for an opportunity where and
how to form their principal point of defence. All their ordinary
tactics of war were perfectly useless ; for when whole battalions, on
being repulsed, fell back upon each other, and instead of taking to
flight rallied again and renewed the attack, and fought on without
yielding an inch as long as life gave them the power, and when
neither the fear of death nor any thing else, however formidable its
nature, could make them quit the field of battle, then necessarily at
the end of the action victory remained with the greatest number.
Thence the Austrians and their allies, the English, Dutch, and Ha-
noverians, harassed and overcome with fatigue, were ultimately de-

SUCCESSES OF THE FRENCH— KAISERSLAUTERN. 619

|feated on the 22nd of May near Tournay by Pichegru, and on the
j26th of June at Fleurus, by Jourdan, in two sanguinary battles.
jAt Fleurus the French general turned the course of the contest,
jwhich was going against him, eventually in his favour by adopting
jan expedient completely novel and hitherto unknown in war; he
(caused, namely, one of his aides-de-camp to get into a balloon in
'which he ascended, and this enabled him to observe exactly the
(position of the allied army, and on this officer's return from his aerial
expedition he gave his report accordingly to the general, who re-
newed the action, and, guided by the instructions he had received,
gained the battle.

After this victory the success of the French arms continued with-
out interruption ; nothing could check their progress either in Hol-
land or on the Rhine. All the places taken from them in France —
Landrecies, Le Quesnoy, Valenciennes, and Conde, were recon-
quered one after the other; besides which, the republicans took pos-
session of Brussels on the 9th of June, and in the autumn they
commanded the rivers Meuse and Vahal. These successes, however,
appeared to have now reached the term of their duration, and more
especially as the sluices of all the canals throughout Holland had been,
opened, in order, by a general inundation, to rescue that country
from the French arms. But nature herself came to the aid of the
invaders, by converting these very waters into a secure passage for
their troops, inasmuch as the winter of this year, 1794, becoming
extremely severe, they were all completely frozen, and to such a
depth was the ice that, by means of these natural, seasonable bridges,
soldiers, artillery, and baggage trains, were enabled to advance and
penetrate into the very heart of Holland ; thus on the 17th of
January, 1795, they were in possession of Utrecht, and on the 19th
they took Amsterdam. The Stadtholder was forced to seek refuge
with his family in England, and Holland was forthwith converted
into a republic.

Meantime Jourdan, in the autumn of 1794, had driven the Aus-
trians out of Brabant towards the Lower Rhine, and completely de-
feated them in several encounters ; and eventually he forced them to
cross the Rhine to Cologne. Liege, Aix-la-Chapelle, Juliers, Co-
logne, Bonn, and Coblentz, fell into the hands of the French;
Luxemburg alone holding out by a brave and determined defence
until the month of June, 1795.

In the circle of the Upper Rhine the campaign of 1794 took
almost the same direction as in the northern provinces. At the com-
mencement, on the 22nd of May, a great victory ^ was obtained by
the Austrians and Prussians at Kaiserslautern ; this was succeeded
by continuous attacks made upon the allies by the republican army,
now considerably reinforced by levies en masse produced through
the national summons, and finally, on the 15th of June, by another
battle fought at Kaiserslautern, in which the French, although re-
pulsed eight times with great loss, returned to the attack for the

620 PEACE BETWEEN PRUSSIA AND FRANCE.

ninth time, and gained the victory. After a short cessation of hos-
tilities the allies retired at this point to the right bank of the Rhine..
The success of the French arms had now become so great, and!
produced so much alarm, that whoever attentively considered the
condition of Europe, and especially Germany, could easily perceive
that it could not do otherwise but unite all its forces, in order to
carry on the war for its own preservation. The French already made
no mystery of their intention to retain possession of the whole of
Germany situated along the left bank of the Rhine, to the extent of
the entire course of that river. Were we then, through the unfa-
vourable results of one campaign, to allow our dangerous neighbour
to remain master over those territories, which to gain he had been
striving in vain for centuries ? No ; Germany ought never to have
permitted such a disgrace ; but where in such times was to be found

i • T 1 • . T 1 1 P 1 * f* * 1 T

)f

our common J^ atherland f Jealousy and envy among the commands
in chief and the first ministers of the empire, had paralysed the
powers of the army, and obstructed the success of every operation ;
and now the entire confederation allowed itself to be dissolved by
its crafty enemy. On the 5th of April, Prussia concluded at Basle
a separate treaty of peace with the French republic, and Hanover,
as well as Hesse Cassel, concurred therein likewise. A line of de-
marcation was drawn for the north of Germany, which exempted
the Prussian territories in Westphalia, including Hesse and Lower
Saxony.

Shortly afterwards Spain, through want of means wherewith to pay
her troops, as well as of that firm, determined will so necessary under
the circumstances, likewise separated herself from the coalition
against France ; whence, of the higher powers, Austria and England
alone remained in the grand arena, and thus it has always happened
with Austria ever since the time of Maximilian I., whenever that
power formed an alliance to maintain a war in conjunction with
several other states.

During the conferences of peace with Prussia, and even after-
wards, in the summer of 1795, as Austria and the Germanic em-
pire appeared equally desirous for a pacification, both parties
agreed to a cessation of arms, and the two armies retained their
position in front of each other on the opposite banks of the Rhine,
separated only by the waters of that noble river. This short repose
was of great benefit to France, for the general scarcity of provi-
sions which prevailed throughout this year — producing almost a state
of famine — would otherwise have completely prevented the army
from accomplishing any extraordinary operations. But as the
harvest was now safely gathered in, Jourdan, on the night of the
6th of September, crossed the Rhine between Duesburg and
Dusseldorf, which latter town he forthwith invested, and. pursuing
his impetuous course of victory, drove the Austrians from the banks

THE FRENCH IN GERMANY— JOURD AN— BUONAPARTE. 621

lof the rivers Wupper — the commencement of the Prussian line of
(demarcation — the Sieg and the Lahn over the Maine. Field-marshal
IC-lairfait, however, had reassembled his troops behind the latter river,
[and he now attacked the French at Hochst, near Frankfort, com-
pletely routed them, and sent them back over the Rhine with the
(same expedition^ that they had used in advancing across it ; thus
Mcntz was delivered from its state of siege, and Mannheim re-
taken. The summer armistice had reduced the strength and spirit
of the republican armies, and their zeal had become considerably
diminished. A war conducted on the opposite bank of the Rhine,
was no longer regarded as a war in the cause of liberty, and many
volunteers of the higher classes had now returned to their homes.

When, in 1796, the new order of things had become gradually
consolidated in France, the directory resolved to force Austria and
the Germanic empire to conclude a treaty of peace by one general
overwhelming invasion. It was determined that the armies should,
in the ensuing spring, cross to the other side of the Rhine and the
Alps, and penetrate from every point into the heart of Germany.
Moreau was to march through Swabia, Jourdan through Franconia,
and a third army was to overrun Italy. In the latter country,
the Austrian troops were commanded by the old general, Beaulieu ;
in the Upper Rhine, the old veteran, Wurmser, held the chief com-
mand; and in the Lower Rhine, the general-in-chief was the Arch-
duke Charles of Austria ; to the two latter armies were united the
troops of the imperial states. The war commenced in Italy. But
there the old and experienced general found himself confronted
with a young, daring leader, filled with the most gigantic projects,
and who now on this occasion first came forth to develop his mar-
vellous powers and indomitable perseverance before the eyes of asto-
nished Europe.

Napoleon Buonaparte, born at Ajaccio in Corsica — where his
father was an advocate, and subsequently promoted to the
French procuratorship of Corsica — educated in the military schools of
France, and inured to the most extraordinary scenes and enter-
prises by all the horrors of the revolution, in which he had been a
participator, was only six-and-twenty years of age when he re-
ceived his appointment as general of the Italian army. Barras, one
of the five directors of the executive power, and who had taken
him into his especial favour, concerted a marriage between him and
the widowed Princess Josephine de Beauharnais, and had now
caused his promotion to the rank before mentioned. The post he
held was one of great difficulty and danger ; the army over which
he was placed, was in such a disorganised state, being without sup-
plies of provisions and clothing, and even without ammunition,
that its condition could only be improved when under the direction
of a resolute and daring general, and who by judicious management,
might perhaps succeed in making even that very unfavourable
condition itself serve as a means to lead to victories all the more

622 HIS CHARACTER— HIS ARMY— SUCCESSES IN ITALY.

glorious, — for, in their present desperate state, the soldiers had no '
other choice but conquest or death.

And truly the newly- appointed leader soon succeeded in gaining
the most extraordinary influence and sway over his troops, and in!
infusing amongst them no small share of his own daring' and un-
daunted spirit. This indeed formed the spirit of his military tactics, and
the means by which he was led on to adopt the most ambitious plans,
and sought to make himself the conqueror of the entire world. By
his bulletins, couched in the most concise and forcible language, in
the style of the ancient Romans, thoroughly adapted to the French
character; by the distribution of marks of honour and distinction,
of colours and eagles, to those regiments which he at the same mo-
ment was about to place in the most dangerous part of the battle,
together with other similar incentives to honour and glory, Buo-
naparte well understood how to generate the highest enthusiasm at
the decisive moment. He even had the temerity to announce in
advance the result of his battles, and fortune verified his words;
people speedily believed what he had predicted, and this very
faith produced the accomplishment of the event. He more especially
confounded his enemies by never doing what might have been an-
ticipated and calculated upon, but by performing exactly what was
completely opposed to these expectations, and was the most bold
and perilous in its nature. All experience and practice, therefore,
in the science of war, were nugatory against him ; a defensive war
with him must be unsuccessfully carried on, for the blow always
came before it could be perceived, or even anticipated, and he never
allowed his adversary to commence the attack, because no one was
so prompt in his measures and resolves as himself.

The opening of this campaign was followed by the most brilliant
success. By the promptitude of his manoeuvres and suddenness of
his attacks, he completely overcame and separated the army of the
Sardinians from that of the Austrians, and forced the King of Sar-
dinia to sign a treaty of peace ; and this he followed up by turning
his arms against the Austrians, and pursuing them to the north of
the river Po. Thus the whole of central Italy lay now open before
him, and all the princes of that country trembled at his vengeance.
They alternately demanded peace and obtained it, but at the sacri-
fice of millions in money, numerous invaluable paintings, together
with other treasures of art and precious manuscripts. It was with
these spoils that he intended to decorate Paris, in order subsequently
to make it the metropolis of the entire world. The Duke of Parma
was the first who bound himself by a treaty of the 9th of May, to
furnish in payment for peace, a large collection of the most rare
paintings ; and from this moment the example of ancient Rome to-
wards Greece was emulated in every part where the French armies
got a footing. Vanity, combined with the eager desire to collect
together and concentrate in their capital, and thereby render it the
counterpart of ancient Rome, and the central point of nations, urged

GENERAL WURMSER — ARCHDUKE CHARLES — MOREAU. 623

j the invaders to pillage the sanctuaries and monuments of art and
(science of every country they marched through. The pope was
j obliged to purchase neutrality by the payment of 21,000,000
j francs, and by giving up to them 100 costly pictures, and 200 rare
I manuscripts. Naples ^ obtained peace without any sacrifice; because
it lay at too great a distance, and because likewise, its hour, accord-
i ing to Buonaparte's calculation, had not yet arrived.

Meantime great events had likewise transpired in Germany. The
| forces there had scarcely commenced operations, when ahead}' the
j principal blow was struck in Italy, and the brave old warrior,
I Wurmser, was summoned from Germany with 30,000 men to the
j relief of Mantua, the last stronghold of the Austrians in Italy. The
I French armies, according to the plan of the campaign drawn up by
| the French Directory, were now enabled to penetrate into the heart
of the Germanic empire. About the middle of August, Jourdan was
I only within a few days march of Ratisbon, and Moreau was close
, to Munich, with the army of the Rhine and Moselle; the latter
I general declared openly that his object was to give his right hand to
the army under Buonaparte in Italy, and his left to that of Jourdan.
This junction of such overwhelming masses of troops brought
i with it the most alarming appearances, and this was one of the most
critical and dangerous moments for Austria. Nevertheless the peril
thus threatened was once more diverted by the youthful hero of that
imperial house. The nearer the war approached the Austrian fron-
tiers, so much the more did the danger thus menacing their native
soil spur on the imperial troops ; whilst at the same time their num-
bers were augmented more and more by fresh reinforcements from
the interior. The Archduke Charles now came forth, and suddenly
marching with his troops against Jourdan, attacking him at Neu-
mark on the 22nd of August, and at Amberg on the 24th, beat him
so completely that the whole army of the Sambre and Meuse took
to flight, and never halted till it gained the Lower Rhine. Jourdan
rallied them at Miihlheim on the Rhine, marched thence to Diissel-
dorf, and shortly afterwards resigned the command. By this disaster
of the other army, Moreau was forced likewise to make a retreat to
the Upper Rhine ; and this he effected in such masterly style, that
after marching over the most perilous roads through Swabia and the
Black Forest, and being continually pursued and hemmed in by the
enemy, as well as exposed to the attacks of the enraged mountaineers,
he gained the banks of the Rhine well provided with booty, and
bringing with him even a number of prisoners taken on his march.
By this admirable retreat, the fame of Moreau as a general was
permanently established. The leaders on both sides now agreed
upon an armistice being concluded on the Rhine during the winter.
The Archduke Charles, on whom the eyes of all were now turned
with admiration, received a hasty summons to repair to Italy, in
order to reorganise the Austrian army. Wurmser, although success-
ful in several attacks, was only able to throw himself, with a sub-

624 BUONAPARTE IN GERMANY — PEACE OF CAMPO-FORMIO.

sidy of 10,000 men into Mantua; but Buonaparte had now arrived, <
and, renewing the siege, forced them, on the 6th of February, ;
1797, to surrender.

The Archduke Charles, with a broken down and dispirited army,
was not in a condition to check the progress made by Buonaparte.
The latter, after the fall of Mantua, penetrated more and more
northwards, crossed the Alps which separate Italy from Carinthia,
and, marching into Styria, took possession of Clagenfurth, and
advanced as far as Judenburg, on the river Mur, whence he threat-
ened Vienna itself. But his course, this time, had been pursued with
too much impetuosity, and the situation in which he now found him-
self was extremely critical. In his front he had the imperial army,
which, at every retrogressive step, became more and more formid-
able, as Vienna had already armed itself, and Hungary was now
rising en masse ; on his left flank, the imperial general, Laudon, was
marching in advance against him from the Tyrol ; and, in his rear,
in the vicinity of Triest, another numerous body of troops, together
with the whole of the inhabitants of the Venetian territory were
under arms ; whilst, in order to gain the first and nearest garrisoned
town, Mantua, he would have to march a distance of more than
two hundred miles, over rugged hills, and an impoverished and
naked country : in addition to all which evils, his army had scarcely
sufficient supplies for ten days longer. In this state of things, it is
almost certain, that if Austria had been willing to stake the chances,
she might have succeeded in annihilating her dangerous adversary
at once, and with one blow. But this, it appears, was not at all
contemplated, for when, with his usual cunning, Buonaparte, with
the arrogance of a conqueror, now offered peace, she accepted it,
and concluded the principal conditions on the 18th of April, at
Leoben, and the definitive treaty was signed on the 17th of October,
1797, at Campo-Formio, a nobleman's castle in the neighbourhood
of Udine. Thus Buonaparte, in two campaigns, subjugated Italy;
gained fourteen battles; wrested the arms from the grasp of all the
states in that quarter; and, finally, brought over Austria to sign a
peace.

The emperor, by this treaty, ceded the Austrian Netherlands to
France, and renounced his Italian possessions, including the capital
city of Milan, together with several other Italian provinces, which
were to form a Cisalpine republic, under the protectorship of Frahce.
In return for this, Austria received Venice, the Venetian Isles,
Istria, and Dalmatia, and engaged to deliver up Breisgau to the
Duke of Modena, and to summon, forthwith, a congress at Rastadt,
in order to treat, more fully, the several conditions of the peace con-
cluded between the republic and the Germanic empire.

But this peace of Rastadt was in every respect humiliating and dis-
graceful to Germany. The empire was wholly abandoned and sacrificed
by the emperor, as it had previously been by Prussia. Austria having,
in a secret article, consented to surrender the whole of the left bank of

lover
ice

SHAMEFUL CONDITIONS— ALLIANCE AGAINST FRANCE. 625

the Rhine, as the limits of the Germanic empire, who had we now
left as its shield, when its most powerful protectors had thus deserted
fit ? And yet no one individual state can be condemned, inasmuch
las all committed themselves ; and, having withdrawn from the ge-
jneral co-operation as soon as they found the danger approaching
Ithem closely, it could not be required of Austria that she alone
should make herself the sacrifice. It is only with painful feelings
.that we can dwell upon these sad results,, and we willingly hurry
the close of the eighteenth and the opening of the nineteenth
sntury , when Germany lay in its deepest humiliation ; nevertheless,
[these times ought not to be passed over in silence, for it is necessary
i that we should know the sad condition to which the discord, schism,

I and egotism of individuals, as well as the total want of patriotic feel-
ling, could bring the German nation.

The congress of peace was accordingly convened at Rastadt, and
Buonaparte appeared there himself as negotiator. But in what
| style of insult and contempt was not the empire treated in these nego-
tiations? With what arrogance were our princes met by the French

(envoys, who exercised the authority of masters over them? Never-
jthcless, ill-used and imposed upon as they were, the states were
[forced to submit and agree to every thing, viz. : to the cession of the
left bank of the Rhine, to the secularisation of the right bank, as an

! indemnity for what had been lost on the left, and to the destruction
of the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, together with various other
equally humiliating demands. These negotiations had continued
until the end of the year 1798, when they were brought to a ter-
mination; but, in the meantime, Europe itself had undergone a
material change.

The members of the French directory, in their arrogance, had
undertaken to revolutionise and overturn the governments of other
countries, and the measures they adopted made it very soon manifest
that the French republic was even more dangerous in a time of

i peace than during a war. In the beginning of 1798, they, in scorn-
ful defiance of the pope, remodelled the states of the church into
a Roman republic, and shortly afterwards, they transformed the
government of Switzerland, after several sanguinary contests, into an
Helvetic republic ; and under the pretext of securing these new ad-
vantages, they left their armies in possession of the countries which
they drained by unheard-of exactions. Austria, who still considered
herself called upon to watch over the safety of Europe, could not
sanction such proceedings, and she found in the Emperor Paul of
Russia, who had succeeded to the imperial throne on the death of his
mother Catherine, in 1796, a co-operative spirit. He was a decided
enemy to all the principles professed and followed out by the French ;
and his mother had already denounced and threatened those " regi-
cides" and " atheists." Paul at this moment was more especially
excited against France, because the knights of the order of St. John
had elected him their grand master, after the French had taken pos-

2 S

626 BUONAPARTE IN EGYPT— HIS FLEET DESTROYED.

session of the island of Malta. This circumstance was well adapted 1
to act as a spur to his ambition. Accordingly, a coalition of powers
was now formed against France, such as had never, before been(i
brought into operation: being a union of Russia, England, Austria,'
and even Turkey, which, until now, had always cherished the greatest
enmity towards two of these powers ; France herself, however, had
forced Turkey, hitherto her old ally, to a war, by the formidable ex- •_
pedition she sent against Egypt in May, 1798.

The republic of France had never conceived a more grand and
stupendous design, of which they contemplated the realisation by
this enterprise. At the moment when the negotiations with the
Germanic empire had as yet made but little progress, and conse-
quently, the peace of continental Europe was not yet secured, and
when England was maintaining a gloriously victorious struggle on -_ \
the seas, the flower of the French army, headed by Buonaparte and
their best and most successful leaders, suddenly embarked, and set :
sail towards a distant land, " in order," as stated in the French mani-
festo, " to deliver Egypt from the tyranny of the Mamelukes, and
to avenge the Porte upon those overbearing and insolent vassals." A
plan more strange and unexpected could not have been thought of,
only that behind these words was concealed a deep laid scheme,
which events very soon made clearly manifest, but which likewise
fell to the ground.

Buonaparte, after a prosperous voyage, and after having made
himself master of the island of Malta, landed in the bay of Aboukir,
on the 2nd of July, 1798, and having taken Alexandria by storm,
continued his march, and took up his position near Cairo, the capital
of that country. Here, at the foot of the great Pyramids, he found
himself opposed by twenty-three Mameluke Beys at the head of their
cavalry, drawn up in battle array. Having made his preparations for
the attack, Buonaparte turned to his troops, and exclaimed, as he
pointed with his sword to the Pyramids : " Behold, and remember,
that four thousand years are looking down upon you from those monu-
ments !" After this short address, so well adapted to the French
national character, the troops attacked the enemy, and completely
overthrowing their whole army, advanced against the capital, which
they captured, and now looked upon Egypt as a conquered country.
But this success was very speedily changed into disaster. France
had imagined that the Turks, who were rather in name than in fact
the masters of Egypt, would view her successes with indifference —
not so, however; for on the contrary, they regarded the matter more
seriously, and renouncing their alliance of three hundred years with
that country, united with the other states against that power. Eng-
land now clearly perceiving the great importance arising from this
expedition, strained every nerve to defeat and destroy it; Admiral
Nelson, the great naval hero, after a long search, came up with the
French fleet on the 1st of August, in the bay of Aboukir, and al-
though the sun had already set, he nevertheless, with his usual un-

THE FRENCH IN ITALY — MARSHAL SUWAROFF. 627

Daunted valour, formed his plan of battle and commenced the action,
broke through the enemy's line of battle, and gained a glorious vic-
[ory; having completely annihilated the French fleet, of which the
Admiral's ship itself, L'Orient, was blown up with more than one
thousand of her crew. By this victory, Buonaparte found himself
bompletely separated from Europe, and cut off from all succour;
Ivhilst, in the mean time, the most formidable preparations were being
made by the coalesced powers for the war against France.

The Emperor of Austria, now at the commencement of the year
[1799, recalled his ambassador from the congress at Rastadt, and the
hieeting of plenipotentiaries was dissolved. On the 6th of March, the
(French republic, according to its system of always anticipating the
pleasures of its enemies, declared war once more against the Emperor
pf Austria, for having allowed the Russian army to enter the Aus-
trian territory.

In Italy the war had commenced a few months sooner; for the
Queen of Naples, a violent enemy of the French, would not wait
tor the moment of general attack, but caused the Neapolitan troops,
01 November, 1798, to advance against the Roman territories; an im-
mtience, however, which produced very bad results. The French,
with their usual celerity, directed their whole operations against
that quarter, and driving the King of Naples with his family out of
Sicily, they took possession of Lower Italy, as far as Calabria. The
nngdom of Naples was now changed into a Par thenopian republic, and
In order to transform the whole of Italy into one entire republic, the
states of Genoa and Tuscany were declared free states.

This time, however, these new creations had but a short existence,
for the armies of the allies now marched forth from every side to
open the campaign, led on by able and well-tried generals. The
French directory had lost much of its former influence and power
even in France itself: La Vendee had again taken up arms, the
French armies were for the greater part badly conducted, and in
the government of the state, as well as in the administration of war,
the greatest lethargy and disorder prevailed. Added to this, Arch-
jduke Charles completely overthrew General Jourdan at Stockach, as
jwell as in several other encounters, and drove him out of Germany ;
whilst from General Massena he reconquered the whole of the
j western portion of Switzerland beyond Zurich itself, and then
j awaited on the banks of the Rhine the results of the war in Italy.

There the French army was under the orders of General Scherer,
I a man of a licentious character and addicted to drink. Defeated
jby the Austrian general, Kray, at Verona and at Magnano, he
[resigned the command into the hands of Moreau, when the latter
(found the army reduced to a state of the greatest disorganisation
jand confusion. At this moment Marshal Suwaroff, an old but
! active, daring warrior, with his Russians, formed a junction with the
'Austrian army in Italy. Against such an adversary Moreau found
I it impossible to make head with the ill-conditioned troops under his

2 s2

628 ASCENDS THE ALPS — HIS DESPERATE APPEAL — RECALL.

command. Accordingly Suwaroff completely defeated him on the '
27th of April, near Cassano, and on the day following entered
Milan in triumph. By this victory the whole of Lombardy waj|l
reconquered, the Cisalpine republic destroyed, and^ the north oj;
Italy restored to the house of Austria. After this the Russian

funeral inarched against Macdonald, who had returned with the
rench army from Naples, and beat him, in the month of June, in
several sanguinary actions on the banks of the Trebia, nearly on the
same spot where Hannibal vanquished the Romans. The whole ol
Italy as far as the states of Genoa was retaken from the French, all the
fortresses were besieged and captured, the republican governments dis-
appeared one after the other, and the ancient duchies were restored.
Meantime General Joubert had collected another army ; but he
met with the same fate as his predecessors. On the 15th of August
the hard fought battle of Novi, which continued for twenty hours,
was fought, in which Joubert himself fell mortally wounded. Genoa
was now the only city that remained in the hands of the French.
Leaving the siege of this place to be conducted by the Austrians
alone, Suwaroff directed his march towards the Alps in order to
penetrate into Switzerland and to make himself master of that
gigantic fortress of nature, the bulwark of France. When he arrived
at the foot of those vast mountains, the summits of which, tower-
ing to the very heavens above, became lost in the mist of the clouds,
his warriors were struck with awTe and dread at a scene of such majestic
grandeur, by them wholly unknown amidst their own vast plains, and
they hesitated for a moment before they ventured to ascend the rocky,
precipitous heights. Beholding this, the veteran general, who com-
manded the entire devotion of his soldiers, threw himself upon the
ground before them, and exclaimed: "Behold, comrades! rather
than return, my body shall be buried here at the foot of these moun-
tains, so that the world may know that you have abandoned your
leader, SuwarofT, on this spot !" The soldiers, struck with shame and
confusion at these words, delayed no longer, but marching forth with
reanimated vigour and courage, they commenced the ascent of St.
Gothard, and passing onwards through its intricate defiles amidst
constant fighting, gained the Devil's bridge, and thence descended
into the valley of Luzern.

During this interval, however, Massena having by a successful
manoeuvre taken the Russian general, Korsakow, by surprise, com-
pletely overthrew him ; whilst General Soult defeated the Austrians
under Hotze in the neighbourhood of Zurich. Suwaroff's object
was to join the Austrians; but after their defeat it became impossible
to save Switzerland, and the war could not be protracted in a country
so poor that no supplies were to be obtained for the troops. Accord-
ingly, Suwaroff re treated to Feldkirch, in Swabia, directing his march
through Graubiindten, across such narrow passes that his soldiers
were only able to inarch in single file : a retreat accomplished in
such a masterly style that he lost not a single man. Shortly after-

RUSSIA AND ENGLAND — BUONAPARTE FIRST CONSUL. 629

yards he was recalled with his whole army, and he returned to
Russia. The Russians had only shared in this one campaign with
he Austrians ; but it was a campaign almost unparalleled in the
annals of war, both in respect to the deeds accomplished, and the
rofitable results produced. For, besides the several battles gained,
ight strong fortresses, and no less than five thousand pieces of
artillery had been taken.

The restless and false character of the Emperor Paul, who pre-
nded that he was neglected and insulted by his allies, was the
ause of the sudden termination of the alliance. An attempt had
een made in the autumn of this year to invade Holland with a
ombined force of English and Russian troops ; but through various
hinders which occurred in the expedition, it turned out unsuc-
essful, and this result produced more especially the discontent of
Emperor of Russia. Thence France, through this ill-success of
cr adversaries in Holland, and by her repossession of Switzerland,
was delivered from the great and more immediate danger with
hich she had been threatened. Nevertheless, she was not yet alto-
ether free from difficulty ; for the victorious troops of Austria,
ter having reconquered Italy, maintained their position on the
anks of the Rhine, which they made preparations for crossing in
injunction with the rest of the imperial forces, which had at length
ssolved to join in the war ; whilst in addition to this, the govern -
ent of France itself was in a state of disunion, and had lost public
onfidence. Buonaparte, however, now arrived to extricate the
ation from its embarrassed condition.

When this general, who had during this interval been actively en-
igedin Egypt and Syria, learnt the danger that threatened France,
the unsuccessful battles fought, and the loss of Italy, he quitted his
then scene of action in the East, without waiting to be recalled, and
with only a few followers, hoisted sail homewards. Having, with
daring courage, miraculously escaped the vigilance of the British
[fleet, he landed on the 9th of October atFrejus, and appeared suddenly
land to the wonderment of all, in Paris itself. His presence, thus
i unexpectedly, produced considerable alarm amongst those to whom
jhis arrival was any thing but welcome, and to whom his ambition
I was well known ; others again, who had already witnessed and
'appreciated the victories he had gained, and by which he had been the
| means of producing peace, hailed his reappearance as the harbinger
jof a beneficial change in the state of affairs ; whilst the majority
| congratulated themselves with the sanguine hope that by his means
; their personal interests would be promoted. And truly he did
I very soon succeed in reforming the government of the country
! which at once placed in his hands the predominating power, and
he was chosen Consul.

His first word was peace ; and at this moment this was his prin-
; cipal object in order to fix himself more securely in the new power he
1 commanded ; but all the other nations, doubtful of his faith, refused
to receive his offers of peace. " Well then !" he exclaimed, " we

630 GENOA — BATTLE OF MARENGO — GENERAL DESAIX.

must conquer peace ourselves." And these striking words were soon. |
re-echoed throughout the country, operating with such powerful!:
influence, that a numerous and well-appointed army was already!
assembled for action in the spring of the year 1800, at Dijon.

The Austrian army closely besieged Genoa on every side, and how-
ever bravely defended by Massena, still owing to the want of pro- 1
visions, disease and misery prevailed to such a dreadful extent i
throughout that populous city, that great numbers of the wretched i
inhabitants perished daily. The idea of any aid being furnished across
the Alps, did not for a moment enter the minds of the members of
the war council in Vienna, and so far were they from entertaining
such a suspicion, that General Melas received instructions to march
across Nizza, and -from this point enter the south of France. But
at this moment the first consul suddenly marched from Dijon with
the army of reserve, and leading his troops with all his cavalry and -
heavy artillery, in spite of every obstacle, over the great mountains
of St. Bernard, the Simplon, and St. Gothard, he descended to the
other side, and arrived in safety on the plains of Lombardy before
even Melas had been informed of his expedition; for had he known
it, it would have been extremely easy for him to have annihilated
the troops corps after corps as they descended the mountains. On
the 2nd of June Buonaparte made his public entry into Milan ;
and on the same day Massena surrendered to the imperialists the
city of Genoa, in which both garrison and inhabitants were suf-
fering all the horrors of famine. The Austrians allowed him and
such of his troops as were fit for active service to march out with
flying colours.

Shortly after this, on the 14th of June, a grand battle was fought
near the village of Marengo, on the vast plains between Alexandria and
Tortona; a battle the most obstinate and sanguinary of all those
hitherto fought in the war of the revolution, and in which all the
destructive powers at man's command were employed to hurl forth
their murderous effects during a space of thirteen hours. Both
armies fought with great spirit and determination, and victory was
already inclining towards the Austrian side— their valorous bat-
talions having beat back the French in four different attacks, until
their retreat was becoming more and more general — when, most
opportunely for Buonaparte, Desaix, one of the bravest of all the
French generals, and especially esteemed as a man by all, arrived at
this moment on the field of battle with the corps-de-reserve. The
battle was forthwith resumed by Desaix, and he was followed by the
rest of the army, who rallied around him. He himself was mortally
wounded by a cannon-ball; but his soldiers, rendered more furious
by this, fought ^with such desperation, that they eventually gained
the victory, which, after such great efforts, had now become decisive.

Thus was lost in one day the fruits of all the successes gained by
the Austrians during the campaign; whilst the French acquired the
possession of the whole of Italy. Melas, who by this defeat lost all
self-command, as all retreat into Austria was now completely cut

MOREAU — HIS FAMOUS RETREAT — PEACE OF LUNEVILLE. 631

off, abandoned all the Italian fortresses he held, except Mantua and
Ferrara, on condition of being allowed to retire without molestation.

General Moreau pursued hostilities in Germany, during the interval
between the months of April and December, 1800, with a boldness and
good fortune almost unexampled. On the 25th of April he crossed
the Rhine, and already a fortnight afterwards he gained the banks
of the Iller, having made himself master of the entire country be-
| tween that river, the Rhine, the Danube, and the Lake of Constance,
( and fought two successful battles at Stockach and Moskirch ; thence
he penetrated farther into Bavaria, and conquered the whole line of
I territory as far as Munich. The Austrian general, Kray, having
now proposed a suspension of arms, Moreau consented, and nego-
tiations were commenced; as, however, Austria would not treat
without the co-operation of Engknd, and as France refused to re-
ceive the English envoys at the conference, hostilities were resumed
on the 1st of December. At the commencement the Austrians
appeared to have the advantage, but on the 3rd of December they
met with a complete defeat at Hohenlinden. Moreau, after this
great victory, advanced with hasty marches, and crossing the Inn to
Salzburg, he proceeded by Linz and arrived to within twenty
leagues of Vienna itself. Ajiother proposal for a suspension of arms
was agreed to, and the negotiations for peace were now resumed
with greater determination at Luneville. This subsequent treaty of
peace concluded at Luneville, owed its origin entirely to the exploits
of Moreau in this campaign ; for, in the short space of eight months,
of which four had been devoted to a suspension of arms, he had
crossed the Rhine, the Danube, the Lech, the Iller, the Inn, the Salza,
and the Ens ; he had been conqueror in six grand battles, and had
enriched the treasury of the republic with 40,000,000 francs.

After the losses of the year 1800, England absolved the Emperor
of Germany from all his obligations previously entered into not
to make a separate peace; whence the negotiations between the
Austrian envoy, Count Cobenzl, and Joseph Buynaparte, the eldest
brother of the First Consul, were carried on with such despatch,
that the treaty of peace was signed on the 9th of February, 1801 ;
which treaty confirmed that of Campo-Formio in all its points, and
Austria acknowledged therein the Batavian, Helvetic, Ligurian, and
Cisalpine republics. A fresh condition which had not been included
in the treaty of Campo-Formio was now added, inasmuch as it was
agreed that the Duke of Parma, a near relation of the King of
Spain, should be elevated to the rank of a king, with the title of
Ring of Etruria, such being the name into which that of Tuscany
had now become changed; the grand duke, on the other hand, in re-
turn for his duchy, received in Germany the Archbishopric of Salz-
burg as a temporal principality, together with other frontier territories,
and the title of Elector. The Duke of M.odena likewise received, as
had been already agreed upon at Campo-Formio, the Margraviate
of Breisgau as an indemnity for the losses he had suffered in Italy.

Besides these concessions made by Germany to the princes of

632 SACRIFICES OF GERMANY— FRENCH ARROGANCE.

Italy, who were thus transplanted amongst us, great changes were
effected within the empire itself ; for Germany ceded to France the
whole of the left bank of the Rhine, consisting of ^ twelve hundred
square miles of territory, and four millions of inhabitants ; whilst all
those princes, who were losers on that side of the river, were to^be
indemnified with the ecclesiastical possessions and the imperial cities,
situated on the right bank. A diet, appointed for the regulation
and adjustment of the rights of all interested, was assembled under
the mediation of France and Russia. Its sittings were opened on
the 24th of August, 1802, and terminated on the 10th of May,
1803. In these conferences, France dictated the law with even still
greater authority and arrogant arbitrariness than formerly at the
peace of Westphalia. She granted, or refused her favour accord-
ing to her caprice, and thus established her influence over dependent
Germany more firmly than ever.

The peace of Luneville deprived the ecclesiastics of all their
domains in Germany, even to the very last in the list; of forty- eight
imperial cities only six now remained : Lubeck, Hamburg, Bremen,
Frankfort, Augsburg, and Nuremburg ; the counts and knights
were made only mediately dependent on the empire, and of all the lay
princes, four only received the electoral power, a po\ver which, a few
years later, lost all its ancient and venerating signification ; for these
newly-created princes were not allowed even the time to exercise
their noble privileges. This was regarded as the prognostication of
the approaching downfall of every thing ; for, comparatively speak-
ing, the changes introduced in consequence of the Westphalian
treaty, in the administrative forms of the empire, were nothing.
What had then been cautiously brought into operation, merely for a
trial, the peace of Luneville accomplished at once, without any
fear or dread of the ruinous results entailed upon institutions exist-
ing for more than a thousand years. Such acts of spoliation could
not but fill the hearts of all patriots with profound grief ; for who
could contemplate, without bitter feelings, the scattered heaps of ruins
into which the raging storm had converted the once beloved home ?
But, although the columns of the ancient edifice were torn asunder, and
razed to their very foundation, still, on the walls were to be traced the
symbols of its ancient, majestic grandeur, and the remains of a power-
ful and prosperous nation, such as are recorded of few other nations.

A short period of tranquillity now reappeared once more on the
continent, after the long war; but the maritime war still continued:
for the great statesman who was at the helm of the British govern-
ment, and who penetrated into the very depths of Buonaparte's de-
signs and motives, knew full well that peace could never exist be-
tween the latter and England. The position of France and England
towards each other, at this period, has been compared to Rome and
Carthage in ancient times: a comparison equally just and happy.
For, between these two powers, existed a mortal hatred, and thence
Pitt was resolved, similar to Hannibal, to fight a war of life and
death. At the same time, however, many voices in England were

PEACE OF AMIENS, 1802 — ENGLAND AGAINST FRANCE. 633

in favour of peace, inasmuch as commerce was in a very depressed
state, the embargo laid by France on the exportation of corn, had
produced a considerable augmentation in its price in England; and,
finally, the national debt had increased to the enormous amount of five
hundred and fifty-eight millions sterling. Consequently, Pitt gave
in his resignation, in order not to throw any obstacle in the way of
the said peace, although he could not, conscientiously, sign the treaty
himself.

The peace of Amiens was concluded on the 27th of March,
1802, by the terms of which England restored all she had con-
quered from France, Spain, and Holland, except Trinidad and
Ceylon, resigning even Malta, and her conquests in Egypt under
General Abercromby; the former being restored to the knights, and
the latter to the Turks. Such a peace, however, the terms of which,
after the great victories gained at sea, were held to be both unfavour-
able and highly disadvantageous, could not last long, and in less than
a year it terminated. England very soon perceived, that Buonaparte's
object, in desiring peace, had only been to increase his naval power,
and, if possible, to raise it to a level with that of Great Britain, and
make himself master of the Mediterranean. He formed alliances
with the Porte, the Bey of Egypt, and with the piratical states;
and, soon afterwards, he prohibited all introduction of English
produce into France and Holland. Thus England found she had
no less cause to dread a state of peace than she had that of war ;
for, assuredly, she was as little inclined to submit to a rival on the
seas, as France was to endure one on the continent. Other causes,
however, soon operated to add to this discontent. It became more
and more evident, that the new regulations and institutions, already
brought to bear in Europe by Buonaparte, formed merely the in-
troduction to those other grand plans of usurpation he had still in
contemplation. The Cisalpine republic was made to acknowledge
the First Consul of France as its president; whilst Holland re-
mained in the occupation of the French army, and was placed
completely under the control of the French government. Switzer-
land, which could not be brought to agree unanimously to the new
constitution forced upon her, was at once disarmed, and changed
into a federative republic, it being declared, " that she was left to
the free administration of her internal affairs, but, in all external
matters, she was henceforth dependent upon France."

England, after these events, preferring open war to an insecure
peace, determined upon the course she should take, and demanded
from Buonaparte the evacuation of Holland and Switzerland, which,
being refused, she declared war against him, in May, 1803. Buo-
naparte had only waited for this opportunity, in order to take im-
mediate possession of the territory belonging to the English crown
on the continent, and already, in the following month of June,
the French armies marched into Hanover, and made themselves
masters of the entire country, wholly indifferent to the fact,- and
slighting, altogether, the consideration that it formed a portion of

HANOVER — THE GERMAN LEGION.

the Germanic empire, and, as such, could not be held or bound to
take any share with England in the war. The moment was deemed
too opportune not to be made available, and thus a new source was
presented for visiting us with fresh exactions, for maintaining
a strict watch over the maritime commerce of the neighbouring
cities, and restricting their trade with England. All the Hanove-
rian troops were disarmed; but thousands of them successively
passed over to the British shores, and, forming themselves into a
select battalion, fought, under the title of the " King's German Le-
gion," against the enemy with the greatest courage, and sustained
the ancient glory of the Hanoverian arms in many subsequent battles,
sieges, and expeditions, in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, and Ger-
many itself; whilst at Salamanca, especially, the brilliant services of
this corps obtained for the officers a permanent rank in the English
army, as was afterwards confirmed by Act of Parliament, in 1812.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Napoleon's Consulship — Gains" the Nation's Confidence— Restores internal Tran-
quillity and improves the Institutions — Napoleon Emperor of the French, 1804 —
His Usurpations — Alliance of Austria, Russia, and England — War declared — Na-
poleon in Germany, 1805 — Defeats the Austrians — Ulm — General Mack— Battle
of Austerlitz— The Allies defeated— Peace of Presburg— Dismemberment of the
States of Germany — Naples — Joseph Buonaparte — Holland — Louis Buonaparte —
Khenish Confederation, or League of the German Princes — Their Degeneration —
The Emperor of Austria lays down his Title of Emperor of Germany, 1806 — •
Prussia — Declares War against France — The Prussian Army— Battle of Saalfeld
— Death of Prince Lewis Ferdinand of Prussia — Battles of Jena and Auerstadt —
Defeat of the Prussians— Napoleon enters Berlin— The Eussian and Prussian
Alliance — Battles of Eylau and Friedland — Defeat of the Allies — Peace of Tilsit
between Russia and France, 1807 — Prussia's Dismemberment — Westphalia —
Hesse — Jerome Buonaparte — Prussia — Lieutenant Schill— Napoleon's triumphant
Return to Paris.

THE first years of the consulship were for France a period of repose,
and marked by order, industry, and prosperity throughout the
country ; the most turbulent, as well as the most timid, were now
tranquillised and breathed more freely, whilst the name of the First
Consul was repeated everywhere with praises and blessings. And
even beyond France many looked towards him with sanguine hopes
and expectations, as the only one who, after the recent period of
savage and inhuman crime, could re-establish order upon a solid
basis : nor did he want the ability and energy necessary to effect
this desirable object. The power with which he made every thing
yield to his will was truly astounding, whether we regard the promp-
titude displayed in his measures of administration, or the indefatigable
zeal with which he undertook to condense into a single code the
results of multiplied experience in public life. All that was held
most valuable in the civil institutions of his period :— the recognition

NAPOLEON EMPEROR — COALITION AGAINST HIM. 635

of the rights of man in every thing; equality'of the citizen in the eye
of the law; abrogation of all feudal rights; liberty of conscience in
all invisible matters; and a government which, in an eminent degree,
combined the force of union in the execution of laws, with the ad-
vantages of variety of counsel in their formation — all these, and
many other institutions under the fostering care of that extraor-
dinary man, were seen to grow — in the now genial soil of France,
and to ripen into maturity, as a striking and praiseworthy example
for other nations.

What might not this man have been to Europe, how different his
history in the annals of the world, had he made real and complete
this beautiful and noble picture, of which his zeal, thus far pure, in
the cause of truth and justice, already presented, before the eyes of
all, a glorious sketch? How might he not have been enabled, for
centuries to come, to have led on the way to enlightenment, and
having carried all with him, have merited the blessings, instead of
the curses of all mankind.

Napoleon Buonaparte was now elected Emperor of France, and
thus, in the eleventh year of the republic, his imperial throne was
erected upon the ruins of the royal and legitimate dynasty; never-
theless, his ambition was not yet satisfied. Immediately afterwards,
he changed the Cisalpine republic into a kingdom, and created him-
self King of Italy, together with all his descendants ; and as a proof
of his moderation, as he said, he appointed his son-in-law, Eugene de
Beauharnais, Viceroy of Italy. Parma, Piacenza, and Guastella,
were now altogether united with France, as also the Ligurian re-
public. All these changes were contrary to the treaty of peace con-
cluded at Luneville, and gave great offence to Austria, who found
sympathy in the Emperor Alexander of Russia, now so much ex-
asperated by the execution of the Duke d'Enghien — shortly before
effected by the cruelty of Buonaparte — and who already felt himself
called upon to aid in the protection of Europe. Accordingly these
two powers now came forward and made known to William Pitt,
the prime minister, their wish — by him long desired — to renew their
alliance with England against France. A coalition was immediately
formed between these three governments, to which Sweden was
added ; and, according to their plan of war, the French power was to
be attacked at every point, in Italy, Switzerland, Holland, and in
France itself. Napoleon, however, overthrew this design, in his
usual way, and by the celerity of his movements he was enabled to
anticipate the allies in all their operations, and was already in advance
of them when and where least expected. Since 1803 he had stationed
nearly the whole of his army along the northern coasts of France,
in order to operate as a check upon England, and where, indeed, he
contemplated making a landing; now, however, the troops received
marching orders, and. suddenly abandoning their present quarters,
they proceeded by hasty marches to the Rhine, which they speedily
crossed, and forced the princes of South Germany to form an alliance
with France ; whilst the Austrian army, now under the command of

636 WAR DECLARED— ULM— BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ.
General Mack, remained completely inactive in its quarters near

Ulm.

General Mack, otherwise an efficient leader, was on this occasion
entirely deserted by his good fortune, and evinced a total want of
resolution and judgment; for, imagining the enemy would advance
upon him direct from the side of Swabia, he quietly awaited his
coming. On his right flank he had at command the Franconian
territories belonging'to the King of Prussia, who took no share in
the war, and he accordingly considered himself completely covered
in that quarter. But such a bulwark furnished but a poor means of
defence in front of an army led on by Napoleon. Bernadotte, Mar-
mont, and the Bavarians, disregarding the neutrality of Prussia,
very soon advanced direct through Franconia towards the Danube,
and attacking the Austrian general in the rear, cut him off from all
communication with Austria. Surprised and stupified, he, after a
sanguinary battle, threw himself into Ulm, where, instead of forc-
ing for himself a passage with his sword through the very centre of
his enemies, as any other brave and determined spirit would have
done — and which indeed had been previously accomplished by Duke
Ferdinand in Bohemia, at the head of only a few squadrons of ca-
valry— he surrendered himself prisoner, together with the whole of
his army, on the 17th of October, 1805. Napoleon, after this first
part of the campaign, during which he had almost annihilated
80,000 men, sent to the senate in Paris, forty standards he had taken,
saying, " They were a present from the children to their fathers."

The French army marched on without any obstacle to the capital
of Austria, and took possession of it on the llth of November, 1805.
The Russians and Austrians had retreated to Moravia, and on the 2nd
of December the Allied and French armies stood front to front near
Austerlitz, resolved to hazard a decisive engagement. The battle —
called by Napoleon the three Emperors' battle — commenced on a beau-
tifully sunbright, frosty morning. The allies, however, were not well
supplied with leaders, and their movements, therefore, were not made
in the best order; in addition to which, they were unacquainted with
the strength and position of the French army, whence the Russian
line of battle was very soon broken through ; and, in spite of all their
bravery, the troops were put to rout. The left wing sought to save
themselves by crossing a frozen lake, but Napoleon ordered the ar-
tillery to play upon the ice, which speedily dissolved and immersed
the whole of the fugitives within its deep waters, where they
perished. Nevertheless this victory was not so easily gained, nor
would its results have been so decisive had not the Emperor Francis,
in his anxiety for his subjects, hastened to conclude a peace, and de-
manded, for this purpose, a rather premature conference with Na-
poleon in the mill of Saroschitz, for on the following day a body of
12,000 Russians arrived to reinforce the army, which had now ral-
lied. In addition to this, too, the Archduke Ferdinand had collected
an army of 20,000 men in Bohemia, and completely routed the Bava-
rians, taking possession of the whole country; Hungary was arming

NAPOLEON VICTORIOUS— PEACE OF PRESBURG, 1805. 637

every where ; Archduke Charles was now in full march from Italy
with his victorious army to the aid of his country, and would arrive
in a few days to deliver Vienna and harass the enemy's rear; whilst
the Russians and English had now landed at Naples, and the Rus-
sian, Swedish, and English troops had already entered Hanover;
finally, however, what was more important than all this, the Prus-
sian troops were now assembling in order to revenge themselves for
the violation of their territory of Anspach. Nevertheless the Emperor
of Austria, very anxious for peace, signed a treaty for a suspension
of arms. The misfortunes of his country were a source of great pain
to him, and he flattered himself with the hope that a peace, pur-
chased as it must be from such an enemy at such heavy sacrifices,
might still be rendered permanent; as if sacrifices, however great,
could ever satiate the latter's inordinate love of conquest !

The Prussian ambassador, Count von Haugwitz, who had been de-
puted by his government to prescribe either the terms of peace or to de-
clare war, found himself placed in a very embarrassing position after
the resolution expressed by Austria, and, under the circumstances,
he deemed it most prudent, instead of giving vent to the menaces as
instructed by his sovereign, to adopt a more moderate and pacific
style of language. The French when they found this, expressed
themselves thus : " That they could not but praise the wisdom shown
by the Prussian government, which had never possessed a more
faithful and disinterested friend than France; although, at the same
time, the French nation was wholly independent of every other,
and that 150,000 enemies more in the war would only have
tended to prolong it a little longer." The Prussian ambassador
ought to have given the right interpretation to this language, and
feeling the dignity of his country wounded thereby, he was bound
forthwith and on the spot to have made known the resolution he
conveyed from his government — especially as Austria had not yet
signed the treaty — a resolution which, nevertheless, six months after-
wards, his king was forced to carry into execution. And Austria,
had she seen that Prussia was really in earnest, would, without
doubt, have preferred even a continuation of the war to a disgraceful
peace. Instead of this, however, Haugwitz, without even possessing
the necessary power, signed the treaty of Vienna, by which Prussia
gave up the province of Anspach to Bavaria, Cleves and Neufchatel
to France, receiving in exchange Hanover, to which England by no
means renounced her claim. Thus Napoleon strewed the seeds of
division between Prussia and England, well knowing that if united,
those two powers must be too formidable for him.

Five days after the treaty being drawn up it was signed by Aus-
tria, at Presburg, on the 25th of December, 1805 ; and by this peace,
the terms of which were more severe than any hitherto made, Aus-
tria lost one thousand square miles of territory, and three millions of
subjects — constituting its most valuable possessions. The Tyrol —
ever faithful, and which had shown its attachment to the house of
Austria more especially in the last war — Burgau, Eichstadt, a por-

638 FURTHER DESPOTISM OF BUONAPARTE — NAPLES, &c.

tion of Passau, Voralberg, together with, other lands in Eastern
Austria Were ceded to Bavaria; what Austria possessed in Swabia
was o-iven up to Wtirtemberg and Baden, and the Venetian states
were&yielded to Italy. In compensation for all this Austria received but
a trifling indemnification, viz., Salzburg; the^electoral prince of Salz-
burg being forced to leave that territory, which he had only recently
received, and accept of Wurzburg which Bavaria renounced. All
these countries with their inhabitants were treated like so much mer-
chandise, passing from the hands of one into those of another, accord-
ing to the state of the market. Such were the principles of the despotic
conqueror, by which he sought to eradicate all love and attachment
towards the ancient hereditary princes of the empire, and thus, by
destroying all national patriotic feeling, his object was to reduce the
subject to a complete state of submission, alive only to the mortify-
ing conviction of the service he had to render to whatever master
he was placed under — whether native or foreign, of to day or yes-
terday— and whom he was born only to obey.

In order to complete the ruin of the Germanic empire the electors
of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg were created kings, and they as well
as the Elector of Baden were granted the uncontrolled government,
or rather, — to use the more favourite expression of that period —
the sovereignty of their lands. The emperor himself renounced all
ckim to the exercise of supreme power over their states, and thus
the empire by this act paved the way for its eventual dissolution,
and the storm gathered more and more fiercely, until it finally burst
forth in all its fury, producing those sad effects which sealed the
doom of our country.

The first word pronounced by Buonaparte after the peace of
Presburg was, as usual with him, the sentence of confiscation. The
King of Naples having received into his territories an allied body of
English and Russian troops, the French emperor immediately
ordered his brother Joseph and Massena, with 60,000 men, to inarch
into and take possession of the whole of Italy; adding, in the
manifesto he sent with them, " That the Bourbon dynasty had
ceased to reign in Naples." This dreadful word produced so much
alarm in the royal family of that house, that the king abandoned
his capital and fled to Sicily, whilst Napoleon declared his brother
Joseph King of Naples. This new throne, nevertheless, was not
gained without the sacrifice of much blood, for the inhabitants of
Lower Italy rose up en masse against the invaders, and defended
themselves with great courage; but they were at length forced to
submit to the French, who poured large bodies of troops into the
country, and both Calabria and Abrazza were conquered and
completely devastated.

Holland ^was next on the list, being likewise changed into a king-
dom, and given to another brother, Louis Buonaparte, as his portion.
That country, however, did not suffer by the change, as the new
sovereign anxiously promoted its prosperity, feeling it his duty
rather to reign for the good of his people than be controlled by

THE RHENISH CONFEDERATION. 639

the will of his brother. Immediately afterwards, the brother-in-
kw of the emperor, Joachim Murat, received the duchies of Cleves
and Berg, on the Rhine, the former having been ceded by Prussia,
and the latter by Bavaria for Anspach. ; and, finally, to Alexander
Berthier, who was the emperor's confidential adviser, was allotted
the principality of Westphalia.

It was in the middle of this eventful year, that the last blow
was inflicted upon the constitution of the Germanic empire ; its
dissolution, which already existed in the act, was now clearly and
definitively confirmed. On the 12th of July, a Rhenish league
was formed, by which the kings of Bavaria and Wurtemburg, the
electoral arch-chancellor, the Elector of Baden, the Landgrave of
Hesse Darmstadt, andtheDuke of Berg, (the last four as grand-dukes,)
together with the princes of Nassau and Hohenzollen, and other
petty princes and nobles, separated themselves from the imperial
alliance, and acknowledged the Emperor of France as the protector
of their confederation. He commanded the right of naming the
prince-primate of the league, who presided at the assembly; of
deciding upon the question of war and peace, and fixing the con-
tingent to be furnished ; so that each war of France must become a
war of the Rhenish confederation, and thus forcing its members to
take up arms in her cause, even against their compatriots of Germany.
By such sacrifices, the princes obtained unlimited authority, with-
out being dependent upon any tribunal to which their subjects
in case of necessity might appeal, and without being bound to
adopt any ameliorated measures of government. On all these points,
the resolutions of the league were clear and precise ; but in all the
rest, every thing was obscure and equivocal, in order that the
protector's will might operate with all the effect of a law. It is
unnecessary to pronounce an opinion upon this confederation ; its
fate was very soon decided, and posterity will no doubt seek to
obliterate all traces of its existence from our history.

The Emperor of Germany, deposing the degraded crown of the
ancient empire more than a thousand years after Charlemagne had
placed it upon his own head, declared himself, on the 6th of August,
1806, hereditary Emperor of Austria.

What protection, however, Germany had to expect from her
new self-made guardian, when compared with that afforded her by
the house of Austria, was immediately shown. For, at the very
moment itself when the French envoy, Bacher, renewed the assur-
ance that France would never extend her frontiers beyond the
Rhine, the Fortress of Wesel was arbitrarily taken possession of by
the French, and chosen as the head-quarters of the seventy-fifth
division of their army.

The hostile designs contemplated by the formation of the Rhenish
confederation were directed against Prussia as well as Austria ; for
both powers beheld those who had remained their natural allies
during the existence of the imperial government, now changed into
enemies, ready to declare their hostility towards them at the first

640 PRUSSIA DECLARES WAR— THE ARMY— PRINCE LEWIS.

outbreak with France. Napoleon had up to this moment tantalised
the Kino- of Prussia with the prospect of being able to form, under
his protection, an alliance in the north, embracing the whole of that
portion of Germany, after the model of that of the Rhine ; now,
however, such alliance was 'completely repudiated, and even the
restoration of Hanover to England was not withheld by France.
Every thing, indeed, was done to mortify Prussia, and make it
evident that the French emperor was resolved not to endure the
existence of any independent nation beside his own. At length the
indignant king felt himself called upon to protect his country
against further insult and humiliation from the hands of the insolent
invader, and in this determination he was supported by the voice
of his army and the nation throughout. Accordingly he demanded
that France should withdraw her troops from Germany ; that she
should no longer oppose the formation of a northern alliance, and
that Wesel should be at once evacuated by the French troops.
Compliance with these demands having been refused, Prussia forth-
with declared war.

When he received this declaration Napoleon said: "His heart
grieved to see that the genius of evil swayed continually, and ever
frustrated his plans for the promotion of the peace of Europe and
the happiness of his contemporaries." He now assembled his armies,
which were all ready for action, in France and Swabia, and he ad-
vanced with rapid marches towards the Thuringian forest. On the
north side of this forest was posted the grand Prussian army under
the orders of the Duke of Brunswick, an intrepid but old soldier
of seventy-two years of age, and whose principal officers were in a
state of disunion. Only a very small portion of the Prussian army had
taken any share in the war of the Revolution, and thus been enabled
to make themselves acquainted with the lightning-like celerity of
movement now practised by the French armies in all their operations;
the majority had abandoned themselves to ease and indifference
during the long peace of three and forty years, and it was because the
outward form of the institutions of Frederick the Great still existed,
that their continued reliance upon themselves became the more dan-
gerous. Not that either courage or capacity was wanting in many
individuals, but they were altogether without that energetic genius
so necessary to unite the whole. Thence they were forced to ex-
perience— what indeed the most pusillanimous among them- could
never have thought possible — that, as in the wars of the ancient
world, one unlucky day decided the fate of an entire kingdom.

On the 10th of October, Prince Lewis of Prussia, the king's cou-
sin, in his impetuous, warlike ardour, imprudently engaged the
enemy in an unequal contest near Saalfeld, and was mortally
wounded on the spot. This unfortunate affair laid open for the
French the entire route of the Saale, and advancing now with a
superior force, they surrounded the left flank of the Prussian army,
and cut off all communication with Saxony; hence, on the 13th of
October, Davoust was already in possession of Naumburg. The

BATTLES OF JENA AND AUERSTADT. 641

supplies of the Prussians were lost, which reduced the whole army
to a state of the greatest want, unavoidably producing depression
and disorganisation, and in this condition the troops were called
upon to fight, having the Saale and the Elbe in front of them in-
stead of in their rear: thus the army was vanquished already before
the battle.

A portion of the Prussian army was at Auerstadt, under the
command of the Duke of Brunswick; and the other, under the
orders of the Prince of Hohenlohe, was stationed at Jena and Vier-
zehnheiligen, but both without at all acting in combination with
each other ; and they were accordingly attacked and defeated on the
same day. Marshal Davoust fought at Auerstadt, and Napoleon at
Jena. The Duke of Brunswick at the very commencement of the
battle, was killed by a cannon-ball; his death disarranged the plan
of the battle and threw the army into confusion. The desperate
courage of a few scattered regiments could neither compensate for
the want of the co-operation of the whole army, nor effect a general
restoration of confidence. Surrounded on every side, the Prussians
retreated in the direction of Weimar, where they hoped to find
themselves reinforced by the corps under the command of the Prince
of Hohenlohe, not being aware that his army had experienced a
similar fate at the same moment. They were, however, very soon
undeceived; for the disorder was so general in both armies, that in
the course of the night, whilst the one army was retreating in all
haste from Auerstadt to Weimar, it met a portion of the other
which was in full flight from Weimar to Auerstadt.

Ten days after the battle of Jena, Napoleon marched into Berlin
itself; and in less than six weeks from the commencement of the
war, he had already advanced as far as the Vistula and made him*
self master of nearly the entire kingdom, containing nearly nine mil-
lions of inhabitants and numerous fortified towns — the fruits of a
single battle in which an army, which had hitherto maintained its
. character as the most distinguished body of troops in Europe, was
completely annihilated.

This speedy conquest of the Prussian States — a conquest far be-
yond the expectations even of the emperor himself — had completely
banished from the heart of the conqueror every feeling of mode-
ration, and only served to excite within his ambitious soul a greater
desire for unlimited dominion. Encouraged by his success, he de-
clared in Berlin, that he would never give up that city until he
had conquered a general peace ; and it was from the same city that
he issued the decree of the 21st of November, 1806, against the
English, by which the British Islands were declared in a state of
blockade, British manufactures excluded from all the continental
ports, all British property on the continent and vessels that had
only even touched on the shores of Albion, were to be seized. This
unheard of system might have crushed the commercial prosperity of
England; but the results, as it turned out, were more injurious- to

2 T

642 BATTLES OF EYLAU AND FRIEDLAND.

the continent. For England, now ^ taking possession of all the co-
lonies of Europe, cultivated their soil with great care and industry,
and instead of importing the timber for the construction of her ships
from the north of Europe, supplied herself therewith from Canada
and Ireland ; whilst Europe itself found its commerce languish and
sink, and although its industry furnished many articles which it
would otherwise have imported from England, it could not com-
pensate for the loss of its commerce on the seas.

The remains of the Prussian army under Kalkreuth and Lestocq,
now made more wise by the bitter experience of the few last months,
and rendered a more select and organised body of troops, formed a
junction with the Russians, who now entered once more the field of
battle. After several skirmishes in Poland, all without any im-
portant results, the two armies, amounting to nearly 200,000 men,
again met in Prussia, and on the 7th and 8th of February, 1807,
during the most severe frost and amidst a continuous fall of snow,
they fought another sanguinary battle at Eylau, near Konigsberg.
The elite of the French guard were here completely annihilated,
and the battle still remained undecided. The Russians fought with
the most determined and unshaken courage, and the Prussians under
the orders of Lestocq, arriving just in time to the aid of the right
wing which was hard pressed, bravely repulsed the final attack of
the French with complete success. Both armies maintained the
field, each claiming the victory; the advantage, however, was on
the side of the allies, and it was generally believed that a fresh
attack on the third day must force the French to make a retreat.
But Beningsen, the Russian general, did not hold himself bound to
exact from his army, already so much fatigued, such superhuman
efforts, and he therefore retired to Konigsberg. The French likewise
withdrew to their old position on the Passarge, and an uninterrupted
cessation of hostilities was preserved for the space of four months,
during which the two armies strengthened their forces as much as
possible; whilst, meantime, this overwhelming burden of several
hundred thousand foreign troops dispersed all over her kingdom,
inflicted upon ill-fated Prussia incalculable suffering and distress.

Napoleon, during this interval, hastened, with all possible activity,
to lay siege to Dantzic; this strong fortification was commanded by
General Kalkreuth, and was bravely defended by him, until, find-
ing all communication with the sea cut off, by which he was de-
prived of all hopes of relief, he was forced to a surrender on the
24th of May, although upon honourable terms of capitulation.
The Russians and Prussians, after having neglected to avail them-
selves of the former favourable and decisive moment, now advanced
and attacked the French intrenchments on the Passarge. They
fought with the greatest bravery, but the enemy having been re-
inforced by the 30,000 men who had just returned from the siege
of Dantzic, and being likewise well protected by their strong in-
trenchments, they repulsed the allies, and were now, in their turn, en-

PEACE OF TILSIT BETWEEN RUSSIA AND FRANCE. 643

•lablcd to act upon the offensive. A succession of severe and obsti-
nate fighting took place from the 5th to the 12th of June, on which
day the decisive battle of Friedland was fought. This hard-con-
tested action lasted from the dawn of day to the middle of night.
The Russians Bought with^ great bravery, and the victory was de-
jidedly on their side; but in their elated feelings, they neglected to
(exercise that caution which should always be observed, even by a
conqueror. Thus, towards the afternoon, the divisions under Ney
and Victor, together with Buonaparte's guard, marched into the
field, and the fate of this sanguinary day was at once decided ; the
Russians were overthrown on all sides, and retreating across the
river Alle, they fell back upon their own frontiers, and gained the
river Niemen. On the 19th of June, Napoleon took and entered
(Tilsit, the last of the Prussian towns, and on the 16th of the same
lonth, his army took possession of Kb'nigsberg.

A conference now took place between the Emperors of France and
[Russia, on a raft erected on the river Niemen, at which a peace was
speedily agreed upon, the dismemberment of Prussia was decided,
and a compact for mutual support in the relations of Europe con-
cluded for a fixed period. Napoleon, always so happy in the em-
ployment of cunning and specious language, of which he was a per-
fect master, succeeded this time, likewise, in persuading the Empe-
ror Alexander, that his sole object was the pacification of the conti-
nent; whilst all kis plans were uniquely directed towards protecting
the coasts against the insolent arrogance of the English nation, and
to secure eventually the free dominion of the seas. He then pre-
tended that his chief desire was to form a bond of lasting friendship
with Russia, in order that, both united, they might be enabled to esta-
blish the prosperity and happiness of Europe, inasmuch as then, with-
out their concurrence, no war could arise to interrupt the union of
(nations.

Accordingly, in this peace, Cattaro, Ragusa, and the seven isles (of
| the Ionian seas) were given up to France by Russia, who received
in return, as compensation, large tracts of land, together with 400,000
[subjects belonging to Prussia Poland; whilst Frederick William,
who was scarcely able to call any part of his kingdom his own, was
forced to submit to the most degrading and painful sacrifices, and
'ceded eventually the moiety of his possessions with 5,000,000 of
j subjects, including, amongst the rest, the city of Dantzic, which was
[ now declared a free city, and the Polish territory, which was changed
j into a grand duchy of Warsaw, of which the King of Saxony was
I chosen grand duke. Thus, Frederick Augustus, who had declared
I himself a neutral power three days after the battle of Jena, and soon
' afterwards joined in alliance with France, was now King of Saxony
and a member of the Rhenish Confederation.

In addition to all this, Prussia lost the whole of her territories
j between the Elbe and the Rhine, the greater part of which Buona-
! parte converted into a new kingdom — Westphalia — which he gave to

2 T 2

644 HESSE, &C. — JEROME BUONAPARTE — LIEUT. SCHILL.

his youngest brother, Jerome ; to which he added a portion of Han-
over, the duchy of Brunswick — because its duke had been leader of
the Prussian army — and the principality of Hesse-Cassel. Thus the
terrible ban was now at once pronounced and executed against the
house of Hesse, viz: " That it should cease to reign, for having," as
he said, " always shown itself inimical to France, and for having
further, in this war with Prussia, maintained so equivocal a position."
Such was termed the neutrality which Hesse had so strictly ob-
served of her own accord throughout the war. The entire country
was forthwith invaded and conquered, and the elector driven from
his capital and made a fugitive ; whilst the new king, a complete
stranger, entered its gates in triumph, followed by a train of French
officials, and, to the shame of Germany, mounted the throne of this
ancient princely family, the descendants of the Saxons and Chatti.

King Frederick William was now left with only a small portion
of his states and subjects, yet in the latter he found himself sur-
rounded by a firm and devoted body of men ; whilst he had the
additional gratification of knowing that at least three of his fortified
cities in Prussia— Colberg, Graudenz, and Pillau, bravely refused to
accept terms of surrender from the enemy, and that two others in
Silesia — Kosel and Glatz — likewise maintained a successful defence.
Graudenz was commanded by a veteran, General Courbiere, who,
when summoned by the French to surrender, and who represented to
him that the king had now lost his kingdom and had crossed the
Niemen, replied: " Well then, I will be king in Graudenz."

The king had placed Colberg under the command of Colonel
Gneisenau, well assured beforehand that in him he sent a pillar of
strength to that city, and one who would never yield. In addition
to this, a free corps of light hussars had been formed in the neigh-
bourhood, under the sanction of the king, by a young heroic officer,
Lieutenant Schill, assisted by others of equally daring character,
which, continually harassed and fell upon the enemy's troops every-
where around.

Meantime Napoleon returned to Paris and brought with him, as
tokens of triumph, the car of victory which he had removed from
one of the gates of Berlin, together with the sword of Frederick
the Great; whilst he caused two bridges to be erected in the capital,
bearing the names of the two great battles of Jena and Austerlitz.
His domination, indeed, was by this new peace raised to such a
pinnacle of glory, and appeared in the eyes of all men to be so firmly
established, that whoever would have predicted that ere the elapse
of a few more years those very Prussians then trodden under foot,
would march into Paris itself, and arms in hand, retake possession
of their car of victory, would only have been laughed at and treated
as a maniac. But those who could penetrate into Napoleon's cha-
racter, might have easily foreseen that his restless ambition must
soon hurry him on to contend for fresh conquests; but which,
although acquired, only produced his eventual overthrow.

AUSTRIA DECLARES WAR AGAINST FRANCE, 1809. 645

CHAPTER XXXV.

Lustria declares War against France, 1809 — Battles of Gross — Aspern and Ess-
lingen — Archduke Charles — The Austrians Victorious — Lieutenant Schill
killed — Execution of Palm, the Bookseller — The Tyrolese— Battle of Wagrani —
Defeat of the Austrians — Peace of Vienna — The French in the Tyrol — The Moun-
taineers overpowered — Execution of Hofer, the Tyrolese Patriot— The Duke of
Brunswick — His Territory seized — His bold March — Embarks for England —
His Heroic Death — Napoleon at the Height of his Power — Marriage with the
Archduchess Maria Louisa of Austria, 1810 — His continued Usurpations in
Germany — His Campaign in Russia, 1812 — Conflagration of Moscow — The French
Army destroyed — Napoleon's Flight and Return to Paris — The King of Prussia's
Declaration and general Arming of his Nation against the Invaders, 1813 —
Napoleon's Preparations — The French in Germany.

AUSTRIA was once more roused, and actuated by the same motives
of honour as influenced Prussia in the year 1808, she determined
'at any sacrifice to revenge herself for the insolent arrogance and
menaces of her detested enemy; accordingly she took up arms again,
| and recommenced war in 180(J. Her own immediate territory, it is
true, had not undergone the same treatment as that of her neigh-
|bour, but it was this very state of suffering and degradation in
which she beheld those around her, that induced her to take this
step. In addition to this, Napoleon had in the preceding summer
held a meeting with the Emperor Alexander at Erfurt, and there had
renewed more firmly his alliance with that monarch, by which it ap-
peared as if Russia and France had resolved to arrogate to them-
selves the right of assuming the character of arbitrators of Europe,
and thus treat Austria, which for so many centuries had been the
central point of the European powers, as no longer worthy of con-
sideration. This conduct could no longer be tolerated with patience,
1 for beyond a certain degree, patience itself degenerates into pusilla-
nimity. Thence Austria's declaration of war was in all respects
honourable, noble, and generous, for she came forth and entered the
field of battle unsupported by any other power, trusting alone to
her own resources.

At the same time, however, Austria, well knowing that on the
present occasion she must not depend upon her regular army alone
for her safety, resolved upon carrying on the war in all its extent
and making it national. She issued proclamations for a general
rising of the people to rally under her banners as volunteers ; formed
numerous bodies of them into regular regiments of Landwehr or
patriotic defenders, appealed to the nation in the most eloquent
and heart-stirring language, placed the princes of her own royal
house at the head of the troops, and finally availed herself of, and
brought at once into operation, all the powers and resources of her rich
and beautiful possessions, to an extent never before effected: pro-

646 DISASTERS OF AUSTRIA — ARCHDUKE CHARLES.

ductive altogether of such determined co-operation throughout the
entire nation, that if ever its immediate deliverance and permanent
liberty might be looked upon as secured through its own united
strength, such glorious results might be justly anticipated on the '
present occasion.

But now in 1809, as previously in 1806, Europe was not yet ripe
for her deliverance ; it was still necessary that the fire of purification
should penetrate in all parts, and that the misery already so general,
should be rendered infinitely greater, in order that every feeling of
egotism should be renounced, and the history of the entire world
present the grand and unusual spectacle of a holy war, in which all
nations of the east and west, north and south, should rise up as one
single individual, animated by one spirit only, and united by one
common bond, fight for liberty, honour, and virtue.

What German patriot, to whom his native country is more dear
and precious than all other possessions, can ever forget the fluctuating
feelings of hope and fear by which he was agitated during this war
of 1809, or the indignation aroused within him when he beheld the
enemy he so hated and loathed advancing with his army, the flower
of which was composed of his fellow-countrymen, the federalists of
the Rhine ? Who can ever forget how with this brave body of Ger-
mans he forced the Austrians by furious and incessant attacks to
retreat from Bavaria, into which territory they had only just pene-
trated, and how in his arrogance he declared, that ere the lapse of
another month he would march into Vienna itself ? Truly, this was
a disastrous period for Austria, and the actions fought at Pfaffenhofen,
Tann, Abensberg, Landshut, Eckmiihl, andRatisbon, from the 19th
to the 23rd of April, although maintained with the greatest bravery
and determination, ended in the complete discomfiture of the Aus-
trian army ; these sad results, however, were more especially pro-
duced tiirough the fault committed by the Austrians in extending
their line of forces to too great a length, and thus Napoleon, with
his usual celerity of movement, brought his entire force against one
single point. He was then enabled to advance with the elite of his
army, and especially his cavalry, and by throwing himself now
against one division, then against another, he succeeded by these
overwhelming attacks in throwing the Austrian line into complete
disorder. And it must certainly be admitted, that on this occasion
especially, he gave remarkable proofs of his military genius and
talents. He appeared every where, and in the thickest of every
danger ^ at the moment he was required, his presence and ex-
ample inspiring his soldiers with the greatest enthusiasm. Indeed,
it appeared as if he had determined to devote all his strength and
power this time towards the total annihilation of the Austrian army,
lor he followed up his victory without a moment's loss of time, rest-
ing neither night nor day.

The Archduke Charles retreated with his troops, which in spite of
the sanguinary days of April, still formed a powerful army, to the

BATTLES OF ASPERN AND ESSLINGEN — VIENNA. 647

left bank of the Danube, towards Bohemia ; whilst Napoleon advanced
along the^right bank to Vienna. The Archduke Maximilian de-
fended this city for a few days successfully; but owing to its great
extent and the want of necessary means of defence, it was impossible
to hold out a siege, and the place accordingly surrendered to Buona-
parte, who entered it on the 12th of May; immediately after which
conquest the French army resumed its march, and crossing the
Danube, pursued the Archduke Charles, in order to inflict the last anni-
hilating blow upon Austria. On the 21st and 22nd of May, a severe
battle was fought on the immense plains of Aspernand Esslingen, close
to the spot where in former times Rudolphus of Hapsburg overthrew
Ottacar, King of Bohemia. Napoleon, however, found that the Aus-
trian army was more difficult to contend with now than previously,
and he found it animated with a far more active and energetic spirit
than when last he met it at Ratisbon. The heroic Charles, during
the short interval that had elapsed since the reverses of April, had
applied himself more especially to perfect his infantry in the improved
system of forming themselves into squares, and thus present an in-
vulnerable wall against all attacks from the enemy's cavalry ; and in
this object he succeeded completely, as was evinced on the present
occasion. Every attempt made by the French cuirassiers to pene-
trate these masses was in vain ; firm as rocks they maintained their
ground in the most cool and undaunted manner, and the furious
horsemen were repulsed at each renewed attack, until at length,
receiving the reserved fire of the Austrians, they were completely
overthrown, and taking to flight, were pursued in all directions by
the Austrian cavalry.

This firm and unshaken courage displayed by the Austrian infan-
try, the personal bravery for which the Lichtenstein cavalry were so
much distinguished, together with the excellent generalship and
heroism shown by Prince Charles himself, who was in every part
where danger threatened, most combined on this great day, the 2 1st
of May, to paralyse all efforts made by the French, who were fairly
beaten. The village of Aspern, of which the enemy had taken pos-
session as the central point of operations, was now retaken by the
Austrians. And now the archduke, availing himself of every
resource, brought to his aid another powerful ally, by which still
more to incapacitate the enemy. Thus turning to advantage the
present swollen state of the waters of the mighty Danube, he caused
heavy barges and other loaded craft to be launched down its course
against the bridge of boats, recently constructed bv Buonaparte.
And in this he likewise completely succeeded. The bridge was torn
asunder, and thus the French leader found himself on the left bank
of the river, cut off from Vienna and the rest of his army ; being now
forced in that position to renew the battle on the following day, the
22nd. All his efforts and tactics were, however, on this occasion
futile ; neither his cavalry, infantry, or artillery, could hold out
against the Austrian forces. The battle was lost, and if Massena

648 DEATH OF LIEUT. SCHILL — EXECUTION OF PALM.

had not succeeded in capturing the small town of Esslingen, the walls
of which served as a rampart to cover and secure their retreat, the entire
French army would have been annihilated. Nay — as it has subse-
quently been asserted — independently of this, it must have still been
destroyed had the archduke followed up his victory, and immediately
attacked the island of Lobau, where Napoleon had taken refuge,
and awaited in the greatest anxiety, until the bridge was repaired on
the other arm of the Danube ; but being left unmolested, he recrossed
the river, by which means he was enabled to return to Vienna.
The field of battle, however, was covered with his slaughtered troops,
of which the Austrians counted three thousand cuirassiers alone.

This decisive battle excited fresh hope in all hearts. Already,
in various districts throughout the land, the people now emulated
each other in evincing their hatred and fury towards the invaders,
and shaking off their yoke. In the north, the bold patriot, Schill,
again came forth at the head of his hussars and a numerous body
of brave volunteers, and directed all his energies against the
common enemy ; whilst in Hesse another daring leader, Dornberg,
united with several others for the purpose of driving from the
throne of their legitimate prince, the foreign usurper who had
fixed his seat of government in Cassel, and thus the work of deliver-
ance commenced in that quarter. Nevertheless, owing to the uni-
versal respect in which the law and spirit of public order were
held by the people, there was a want of that co-operation so neces-
sary, and the attempts thus made turned out unsuccessful. Schill,
who had unfortunately found himself less supported than the cause
he fought for merited, was forced eventually to throw himself into
Stralsund. Thence he hoped to be enabled to set sail for England,
in order subsequently to return at a more favourable moment to
Germany, and recommence operations upon a more effective plan.
Stralsund, however, was 'besieged and taken by the united forces
of France, Holland, and Denmark, and Schill, with his little band
of heroes, was unhappily cut to pieces. From this moment, terror
and dismay produced their disheartening effects in every part of
Germany, and deterred all from attempting to free themselves
from the despotic sway of the ruling powers. They were, indeed,
not only fettered in their liberty of action, but also in that of speech,
inasmuch as Napoleon condemned an innocent bookseller — Palm of
Erlangen— to be shot for having published a pamphlet containing
remarks upon the humiliating state of Germany, and refusing to give
up the name of its author. This tyrannical act produced such
revolting effects _ upon the minds of all throughout Germany, that
the feeling of bitter hatred already excited so universally against
him, became more and more confirmed and deep-rooted, and the
cry of vengeance for the innocent blood thus shed, did not long
remain unsatisfied.

An event of a more serious character than those alluded to in
aortn of Germany, was the revolt of the faithful Tyrolese under

THE TYROLESE VANQUISHED — HOFER SHOT. 649

Hofer, Straub, and Speckbacher. These bold and hardy men of
the mountain had already driven away the French invaders twice
from their land, adopting the same system of warfare formerly pur-
sued with such overwhelming effect by the Swiss, and by which the
latter so completely succeeded in humbling the pride of their Aus-
trian rulers, and the flower of their nobility and cavaliers. All
Germany rejoiced when it beheld on the summit of these majestic
mountains that liberty still maintained her sway in the bosom of
that home where all spoke the national tongue, and fervent was the
hope that victory would crown those efforts devoted to so noble and
sacred a cause. Other hopes were now likewise excited, by en-
couraging events in another quarter, inasmuch as the English had,
at this time, sent a numerous fleet to the Island of Walcheren, on
the coast of Holland, and thence it was expected a grand blow
would be inflicted upon the power of France — all these hopes and
anticipations, however, only proved once more illusive.

Buonaparte, after the battle of Aspern, collected reinforcements
from Bavaria, Wiirtemburg, Saxony, Italy, and Illyria, so that he
was now enabled to recross the Danube, and advance against the
Archduke Charles with a very superior force. The passage across
the river was effected during a most tempestuous night, and amidst
the continual roaring of cannon; and on the 5th and 6th of July, was
fought the grand and decisive battle of Wagram. From the towers of
Vienna the inhabitants beheld the two armies drawn up in battle,
and were enabled to observe clearly the movements of the right
wing of the Austrians ; when they saw these troops gaining upon
the enemy and in full pursuit, one universal shout of joy was echoed
forth from every quarter. But this welcome, grateful feeling of
elation, had but a brief existence; for, in the meantime, the left
wing of the Austrian army had been completely surrounded — the
auxiliary troops from Hungary not having marched up in time —
and the Archduke Charles was forced to retreat. Thence, only six
days after the battle, an armistice was concluded, and negotiations
for peace were commenced.

The news of this unexpected reverse was very disheartening to
the Tyrolese. Nevertheless, they once more united all their efforts,
and expelled the French under Marshal Lefevre from their country,
in the hope that, stimulated by such patriotic devotion, the Aus-
trians would recommence war. But the misfortunes and deprivations
endured by his subjects operated too strongly upon the feelings of
the Emperor Francis; whilst, in addition to his own depressed con-
dition, the news arrived of the disastrous results of the English ex-
pedition to Holland. Accordingly, the negotiations were con-
tinued, and a peace was finally concluded. Meantime, the Tyrolese
were again assailed by the French, now united with the Bavarians,
and this time the invaders were triumphant. The entire country
was surrounded on every side, and, in spite of the desperate resist-
ance made by the brave mountaineers, and the consequent losses

650 THE DUKE OF BRUNSWICK— NAPOLEO^S POWER.

sustained by their foes, pass after pass, mountain after mountain,
were conquered, and the whole land devastated with fire and sword,

t}ie brave defenders being either killed or made prisoners. Their

heroic and devoted chief, Hofer, was seized, and dragged to the
other side of the Alps, in Italy, and cruelly shot, as a traitor, in the
citadel of Mantua.

Another hero, the Duke of Brunswick, likewise made a brave at-
tempt to reconquer his own possessions ; but his efforts were in vain.
However, by a bold and successful march he made with his devoted
corps of twelve hundred men — the black hussars — commencing at the
frontiers of Bohemia, and continuing his course over a space of
nearly four hundred miles, and in the midst of the enemy's troops —
he crossed the territories of Leipsic, Halle, Halberstadt, his own
hereditary Duchy — whence the usurpers had driven him — and Han-
over, and paved his way to the mouth of the Weser at Elsfleth ;
there, with his brave legion, he embarked, and set sail for England,
where he safely landed, and was received with that hospitality and
admiration due to him as an exile and a hero.*

Austria, by the peace of Vienna, was forced to yield Salzburg
and several other territories to Bavaria; the major part of her pos-
sessions in Poland she gswe up to the Grand-duke of Warsaw and
to Russia; and she was likewise deprived of her remaining provinces
in Italy, together with the whole of Illyria : and thus she was forced
to sacrifice, on the one side, all her possessions annexed to the sea;
and, on the other, all her frontier line of fortified places, together
with the mighty bulwarks of her mountains. These latter sacrifices
were even more severely felt than the loss she now again sustained
of two thousand square miles of territory, and more than three mil-
lions of her subjects.

The Emperor Napoleon, by the peace of Vienna, had now raised
himself to such an eminence, that all hope of reducing his power
was nearly extinguished. In order to fix himself more securely in
the position he commanded, and to exalt himself in the eyes of the
world by an alliance with the most ancient of all the princely
houses of Europe, he compelled his wife, the Empress Josephine, to
sign a divorce, and offered his hand to the Archduchess Maria
Louisa, daughter of the Emperor Francis. The latter consented
to make this great sacrifice: " It was in order to promote," as was
stated in a subsequent declaration of Austria, " the most sacred
interests of the monarchy and of humanity itself, and as a bulwark
against evils the extent of which could not be seen, and as a pledge
for the maintenance of order, that his majesty resigned one of the
most precious objects of his affections ; and thus he formed an
alliance, the object of which was to console and relieve his oppressed

* The subsequent history of this heroic man may be summed up in a few words.
Me died as he had lived, the bravest of the brave, in the desperate action of Quatre

ras, on the evening before the never-to-be-forgotten day of Waterloo, at the head
of his Black Hussars.

MARRIAGE WITH MARIA LOUISA OF AUSTRIA— DESPOTISM, 651

and unhappy subjects ; to restore and make permanent the long-
desired feeling of security after the sufferings and calamities pro-
duced in a struggle so unequal ; to incline the powerful and over-
bearing to act with moderation and justice, and thus establish an
equilibrium, without which the community of states could only
form a community of misery." The Emperor Napoleon had now
attained that point in his career, when the object of his desire
should be rather to confirm, than with insatiable ambition to ex-
tend the conquests already obtained. By his alliance with this,
the most ancient Imperial house in Christendom, the edifice of his
grandeur would acquire in the eyes of the French nation and the
whole world such solidity, that further attempts to augment it, espe-
cially by wars, would only have the effect of impairing it, and ulti-
mately, perhaps, bringing about its total destruction. After so
many years of futile efforts and incalculable sacrifices made by Ger-
many for the establishment of peace, it was hoped that now the
confidence and good faith thus shown and proved on the part of Aus-
tria towards France, must produce prosperous and happy results.

But how much was the noble-minded Francis deceived in the confi-
dence he thus so generously and naturally expressed ! In the same
year that the new alliance was formed — the marriage having taken
place on the 2nd of April, 1810 — the Viceroy of Italy was elected
successor to the Prince-Prim ate, now Grand- duke of Frankfort ; Hol-
land, after Louis had resigned the crown because he would not
allow his brother to make him his agent in the destruction of the
people, was now annexed as a province to the kingdom of France,
" that country being," as was pretended, "nothing else but an
alluvion of the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt, the principal
arteries of France." And finally, in order to show the power he
possessed of doing as he pleased, and that no consideration should
operate as a check upon his designs, Napoleon suddenly determined
to unite with France the whole of the north-west of Germany,
situated at the mouth of the Weser, the Ems, and the Elbe, to-
gether with the ancient free cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and
Lubeck. His pretext for this was, " that a system of contraband
trading with England was pursued along these coasts, and by those
cities.''' Thus Germany found herself wholly deprived of her coasts
and maritime commerce ; the great river which had hitherto
formed the natural division of territory between France and Ger-
many, was now wholly under French dominion. \ In fact, an arbitrary
line of demarcation was marked out across countries and rivers, as
it suited the conqueror's caprice, so that it was easy to perceive
that this was only the introduction to that which was to follow
upon a much more extensive scale, and that the whole of Germany
must gradually, and part by part, be drawn into and ingulphed
in the one universal, final abyss.

Meantime, Napoleon was far from comprehending the legiti-
mate means by which he would have been enabled to secure, to his

652 HIS CAMPAIGN IN RUSSIA— MOSCOW BURNT.

power so newly established and originally produced by the violation of
of all sacred and human rights, that fixed duration extending beyond
the existence even of the founder himself ; he was ignorant of the
method by which to inculcate in the minds of his people the necessary
faith in this lasting power, and all that he did only tended to pro-
duce the opposite of this impression. Already, in 1809, whilst in
Vienna, he caused the pope, the venerable father of the Catholic
community, to be made a prisoner like a criminal in his own ancient
capital ; and now he followed up this act of tyranny by annexing
Eome itself to his own vast empire, and decided that his son,
newly born, as well as all eldest sons of future emperors, should
receive the title of King of Rome. Such acts called forth the
most bitter hatred against him in the hearts of millions of men in
all countries, and his name was pronounced with curses ; but upon
his iron-hearted nature neither curses nor blessings left any im-
pression. His empire appeared to him immoveably fixed, and based,
as it was, upon the strength of 500,000 soldiers, and an auxiliary
force of innumerable spies, he felt secure in all his power. Never-
theless, scarcely had two years passed over his head, before the
colossus of this mighty power was overturned, and the Emperor of
France forced to sign his abdication.

Napoleon now turned upon the Emperor Alexander, and accusing
him of maintaining a secret understanding with England, and en-
couraging the people of Germany to revolt against him, he forth-
with declared war against Russia ; he accordingly commenced pre-
parations for this campaign, the results of which produced his ruin,
and enabled the Germanic empire to throw off the yoke imposed
upon it by the ruthless invader.

In the summer of the year 1812, Napoleon commenced his march
for the invasion of the gigantic empire of Russia, with an army of
400,000 infantry and 60,000 horse, together with a train of twelve
hundred pieces of artillery. The preparations for this great expe-
dition had occupied him full two years ; having collected together
the most choice troops from all parts of Europe, and supplied and
equipped them with every necessary materiel for the campaign.
The first and immediate object in view was the destruction of the
Russian empire ; but there is no doubt that it was the intention of
Napoleon, if he succeeded in forcing the Russians to conclude a
peace, to extend his progress even to Asia itself, in order, if possible,
to expel his greatest enemies — the English — from their vast posses-
sions in the East Indies. He crossed the Niemen and directed his
march towards Moscow, where he arrived and made his triumphal
entry on the 14th of September, taking up his residence in the
Kremlin,^ the ancient palace of the czars. Here, however, -Pro-
vidence fixed the term of his victorious career, for scarcely had he
established himself in his quarters before the entire city was a
mass of flames, having been set on fire in more than a hundred
different parts, and very soon this place, so shortly before the

NAPOLEON'S FLIGHT — PRUSSIA ARMS AGAINST HIM. 653

magnificent metropolis of the country, was completely reduced
to a heap of ruins and ashes, and all the supplies upon which
Napoleon had calculated, so necessary for his troops during the five
months of winter, became likewise a prey to the flames. He had
now only sufficient provisions to last for a few weeks, and as the
Emperor Alexander refused to come to any terms of peace, he was
forced, at the end of October, to make a retreat; instead, however,
of taking the route across Caluga, as the most wise and prudent
course, inasmuch as the war had not touched that territory, he re-
turned by the road of Smolensko, along the whole of which all the
magazines had been sacked and every thing laid waste by both the
French and the Russians themselves. Thence the fugitives amidst
the rigours of this particularly bitter winter, very soon experienced
all the horrors of famine; which, added to the want of clothing and
shelter, completed their misery. Disorder and insubordination spread
throughout the ranks, and the light cavalry of the Russians now
harassing them in every direction, night and day, their numbers
diminished more and more. Nevertheless the common danger held
together great numbers of the retreating army, and out of such an
immense body hundreds of thousands might still have escaped had
it not been for their more destructive and mighty enemy — the
dreadful winter — which sealed their inevitable doom. But the pen
refuses longer to dwell upon the horrors resulting from this cam-
paign, which, in truth, were beyond all description. Suffice it that
out of half a million of human beings, who were led into this war
by their arrogant chief, scarcely 30,000 returned capable of bearing
arms.

Germany now saw the favourable moment arrive of which she
must avail herself at once in order to throw off the tyrant's yoke and
reconquer her liberty. Prussia was the first to set the example.
Her army, which had been compelled to follow in the ranks of the
French in the Russian expedition, was, fortunately, in good condi-
tion to fight for the liberty of its country, inasmuch as the position
it had occupied in the invader's forces having been the extreme left,
it had scarcely suffered at all. General York, the Prussian com-
mander, who was equally well acquainted with the sentiments of the
king as he was with the feelings of the people, had no sooner gained
the frontiers of Prussia than he abandoned the French and hastened
to demand of his king, whether he should form a junction with the
Russians. Frederick William, who was still in Berlin, which was
garrisoned by the French, decided in the affirmative, and repaired
immediately to Breslaw, whence, on the 3rd of February, 1813, he
called upon the youth of his dominions to come forth and assemble
around him in defence of their fatherland. His appeal penetrated
the hearts of all, and thousands of young men poured in and ranged
themselves under his banner; Berlin itself contributing a force of
10,000 men.

In addition to this the king summoned together the Landwehr or

654 NAPOLEON'S PREPARATIONS— MARCHES INTO GERMANY.

militia of the country, and on the 17th of March, 1813, he declared
war against France. This bold and determined step, however, was
not unattended with danger, for the French still possessed in Prus-
sia and Poland eight strong fortifications and more than 65,000 of
their troops were in occupation of the Prussian dominions; never-
theless, Prussia was soon enabled to develop her entire strength.
For the king, in conjunction with those around him, had not allowed
the short interval to pass away idly, and the most prudent measures
were adopted in secret in order to be ready at the desired moment.
The youth had been kept in the continual practice of arms, muster-
ing alternately in small bodies, at the appointed places, and thus the
country was supplied with its brave defenders, uniting the power
with the will to exterminate their hated invaders.

Napoleon, in the meantime, having determined to provide for his
own personal security, had abandoned the remnant of his army in
Russia and fled to Paris, travelling night and day, and arrived there
on the 18th of December.

He immediately ordered a fresh levy of 350,000 men to be made,
in order to replace, as he said, the loss, mentioned in his twenty-
ninth bulletin, of 30,000 men and great part of his artillery and
baggage; and when the King of Prussia's declaration of war was
published, he ordered an additional levy of 180,000 men. The
French nation, accordingly, accustomed as it was to obey the em-
peror's commands without a murmur, did not hesitate a moment to
pour forth its youth, and to the astonishment of the whole of Europe,
a numerically superior and well-appointed army was collected, which
forthwith marched to and crossed the Rhine and advanced into Ger-
many to fight for and maintain the glory of the French emperor.

At the same time, in order to secure to himself a guarantee for the
tranquillity of his empire, he appointed a guard of honour, consisting
of young men of the most distinguished families, who served as vo-
lunteers, armed and equipped at their own expense. And as he
had lost the whole of his cavalry in Russia, he collected together all
the gendarmerie throughout France, out of which he formed a body
of 16,000 cavalry; whilst to serve as artillerymen he collected toge-
ther 30,000 of his marines. In addition to these troops, he received
50,000 auxiliaries from Italy, and the Rhenish Confederation fur-
nished him with a considerable contingent of soldiers. Thence he
was enabled, in the month of April, to march into Saxony with
several hundred thousand men, and as his army was continually
augmented, he eventually entered the field with the gigantic force of
500,000 men. Completely blinded by his success in raising such
an army, in which he placed his entire reliance, he would not listen
for a moment to any proposal for peace. Austria took great pains
in^ endeavouring to promote this object, and if his proud and obstinate
mind had only partially yielded to the dictates of reason, he might
have succeeded in retaining possession at least of all the territories
along the Rhine. On the 31st of March, shortly after he had re-

SUCCESSES OF THE PRUSSIANS — QUEEN OF PRUSSIA. 655

ceived the King of Prussia's declaration of war, he caused to be in-
serted in the government journal of that day, his determination,
viz. : "^that if even the enemy were to march into Paris, and take up
his position on Montmartre itself, still he would not give up a single
village out of all the conquered territories in his possession !" and "on
the following day, the 1st of April, he published a counter-declara-
tion of war against the King of Prussia, and resolved in his heart this
time to completely annihilate the kingdom as well as the very name
of Prussia.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Successes of the Prussians— The Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz — His Daughter, the
Queen of Prussia — Erfurt — Russia unites with Prussia — Battle of Liitzen — Na-
poleon in Dresden — The King of Saxony— Battle of Bautzen — Hamburg taken by
Marshal Da voust-- Heavy Contributions — The Armistice — Prussia — The Liitzow
Free Corps — Theodore Korner — Austria endeavours to negotiate a Peace between
France and the Allies — The Congress at Prague — Napoleon refuses all Conces-
sion— The Emperor of Austria declares War, and joins Russia and Prussia —
Dresden— Renewal of Hostilities — Strength and Position of the Allied Forces —
Bernadotte — Bliicher — Prince Schwartzenberg — Marshal Oudinot — Battle of
Gross-Beeren— Defeat of the French.

THE Viceroy Eugene was encamped with the remnant of the
French army which had escaped from Russia, and a few additional
troops, under the walls of Magdeburg, and found himself forced to
leave the rest of the river Elbe completely open. The French were,
nevertheless, anxious to maintain, at least, possession of its mouth,
together with the important city of Hamburg, and General Morand
advanced accordingly with the four thousand men who had held
possession of the coasts of Mecklenburg and Pomerania; but he was
pursued by the light troops under the command of three brave leaders,
Tettenborn, Czernitschef, and Doernberg, who prevented him
completely from gaining any footing on the right bank of the Elbe,
and thus forced him to recross the river and retire to Bremen. The
people throughout the whole north of Germany greeted their deli-
verers with the greatest joy and delight. The Duke of Mecklen-
burg-Strelitz was the first to follow the example of the King of
Prussia, and shake off the French yoke, exclaiming that, " With the
help of God, he would at any rate show himself worthy of the honour
of being a German prince."* The citizens of Lubeck and Ham-

* This noble-minded prince was the father-in-law of the King of Prussia, who
married his amiable daughter Louisa. The sad reverses and heavy afflictions it was
the fate of this virtuous woman to undergo, on the invasion of the French, may be
too visibly traced in the following pathetic letter she wrote to her affectionate father.
Overwhelmed with the misfortunes inflicted upon her, her delicate constitution gra-

656 GENERAL DOERNBERG— LUNESURG— MAGDEBURG.

burg were not a little rejoiced at the change, and united together in
order to promote the general cause of liberty. Doernberg, at the
head of four thousand men, advanced against General Morand, who
was now quartered in Luneburg, and scaling the walls of that town,
took it by assault, and mortally wounding their leader^ either slew,
or made prisoners of the whole garrison. With this brilliant feat of
arms General Doernberg opened the second campaign.

About the same time, the Viceroy Eugene suddenly attempted to
advance from Magdeburg with his 30,000 men upon Berlin, ima-
gining that on his march he should only have to contend against an
insignificant force ; but Generals Wittgenstein, Blilow, and York,
having forthwith mustered together all the troops at hand, attacked
him with a far inferior force on the 5th of April near Moeckern
with so much fury, that he was compelled to renounce his design of
marching to Berlin, and retreated to Magdeburg with heavy loss.
In this, their first encounter with the French, the young Prussian foot
soldiers, after firing a few volleys, cast aside their firelocks altoge-
ther, and rushed upon the enemy, club in hand, deeming that the
most expeditious mode of warfare.

dually sunk under their effects, and she died on the 19th of July, 1810, aged 34, to the
great grief of her beloved husband, and the universal regret of the whole country :

" Memel, June 17, 1807.

" My dearest Father, — I have perused your letter of April last with the deepest
emotion, and amidst tears of the most grateful sensations. How shall I thank you,
dearest, kindest of fathers, for the many proofs you have shown me of your paternal
love, your gracious favour, and indescribable benevolence ! What secret consolation
is not this for me in my sufferings — how strengthening to my spirits ! When one
is thus beloved, to be completely unhappy is impossible.

" We are again threatened with another dire calamity, and are about to abandon
the kingdom. Imagine my state of mind at this juncture ; but I solemnly beseech
you not to mistake the feelings of your daughter. There are two grand principles
by which I feel myself strengthened and elevated above every thing ; first, the re-
collection that we are not led blindly onwards by chance, but are guided by the
hand of God ; and secondly, that if we must sink, we, at all events, will do so with
honour. The king, has shown, and to the whole world he has proved it, that he pre-
fers honour to disgrace ; Prussia would never voluntarily wear the chains of slavery.
The king, therefore, could not deviate one step without becoming unfaithful to his
character and a traitor to his people. But to the point. By the unfortunate battle
of Friedland, Konigsberg has fallen into the hands of the French. We are surrounded
on every side by the enemy, and as the danger advances I shall be forced to fly with
my infants from Memel, and then endeavour to reach Riga, trusting to Heaven to
assist me in the dreaded moment when I have to pass the frontiers of the empire.
And truly my strength and courage will then be required ; but I will look towards
God with hope and confidence; for, according to my firm persuasion, we are not suf-
fered to endure more than we can. Once more then, be assured, my dear father,
that we yield only with honour, and respected as we shall be, we cannot be without
friends, inasmuch as we have merited them. The consolation I experience by this
conviction I cannot express to you ; and, consequently, I endure all my trials with
that tranquillity and resignation of mind which can only be produced by a good con-
science and a firm faith. Therefore, my dear father, be convinced that we never can
De completely unhappy, whilst many, perhaps, whose brows are oppressed with the
ht of crowns and wreaths are as unhappy as ourselves; for as long as we are

essed by Heaven with peace in our hearts, we must ever find cause to rejoice. I
remain, for ever, your faithfully dutiful, and loving daughter, and God be praised
that your gracious favour permits me to add— friend, LOUISA."

BATTLE OF LUTZEN — MARSHAL BESSlERE KILLED. 657

As soon as the new forces of France had assembled on our side
of the Rhine, Napoleon himself set out from Paris, and on the even-
ling of the 25th of April he arrived at Erfurt. Thence he proceeded
towards the Saale, and forced the allied cavalry to retreat behind
'this river. Both armies now approached each other and prepared
for a grand and decisive battle.

When, on the 29th of April, Napoleon reached the shores of the
I Saale, he beheld the allied army immediately facing him, in the
I vicinity of Pegau. The Russians were commanded by General
I Count Wittgenstein, and the Prussians by Generals Bliicher, York,
j and Kleist ; whilst both the Emperor Alexander and King Frederick
William cheered on their warriors by sharing in the campaign. The
I French army, after a few skirmishes, advanced by different routes
; towards the plains of Leipsic, which Buonaparte had fixed upon as
(the spot to give the grand battle. On the 1st of May, after having
| proceeded toward Weissenfels, he was met, near Poserna, by the
artillery and cavalry of the Russians, who resolved to dispute his
passage. This corps was under the command of General Winzin-
gerode, who had been sent forward for the purpose of attacking the
French, and ascertaining whether the entire army was en route.
Marshal Bessiere, commander of the emperor's guards, having ad-
vanced to meet the attack, was killed by a cannon-ball. The po-
'sition was carried, and Napoleon continued his march on to Liitzen,
the same field of battle on which, two hundred years previously,
Gustavus Adolphus met his death when fighting against Wallenstein.
Here the French halted for the night; but when in the morning
Napoleon was about to resume his march for Leipsic, he suddenly
heard heavy discharges of artillery in his rear and on his left flank.
The Prussians and Russians had already well perceived that it
was Napoleon's intention to gain possession of Leipsic in order to
cut them off from the Elbe; and as they resolved not to leave him
the liberty of forming as usual his own dispositions, and choosing
the field of battle himself, they anticipated his movements this time
and attacked him, on the 2nd of May, when he least expected it,
and imagined they could not possibly be prepared to give battle
before the following day. Towards midday they pressed onwards
with all their strength through the villages of Gross-Gorschen, and
and Klein- Gb'rschen, Rhano, and Kaja, of which Marshal Ney still
held possession. The Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia
ascended an eminence in the rear of Gross-Gorschen whence they
commanded a full view of the scene of engagement, whilst their
presence, now so visible to all, inspired the troops with the greatest
courage. The brave and dauntless Bliicher with his Prussians
commenced by carrying the village of Gross-Gorschen by assault,
and immediately afterwards a most obstinate and sanguinary contest
took place around the other villages, terminating in favour of the
allies, who remained masters of the ground, and forced the French
to fall back in the rear. It was just at this moment that Napoleon

2 u

658 DESPERATE COURAGE OF NAPOLEON — BLUCHER.

arrived on the field of battle with his guards and the rest of the
troops he brought with him; and he lost not a [moment in pushing
them forward to reinforce Ney's corps, whilst he himself rode through
their ranks and cheered them on regardless of his own danger; for
he knew too well that the loss of this battle must necessarily produce
discouragement among his troops, and deprive him of his hold _ in
Germany. The action was accordingly renewed on both sides with
still greater fury around the villages, which were taken and retaken
several times. For the fourth time the allies united all their strength
and made a final attack, and were successful; they retook the whole
of the villages and completely defeated the French, who retreated
in great confusion as far as Weissenfels and Naumburg. When in-
formed of this, Napoleon, according to the testimony of an eye-wit-
ness, turned round, and with a look of fury at his officers, exclaimed:
" What, do you believe then that my star is on the descent? " He
however soon recovered his presence of mind, and adopting one of
those sudden resolutions which, when brought into operation, discon-
certed all the plans of his adversaries, and gave immediate orders to
his General of artillery, Drouet, to bring together the whole of
his cannon — eighty pieces — and planting them on one spot, thence
scatter destruction amidst the ranks of his enemies : for such opera-
tions he always held in reserve the guns belonging to his guard
— at the same time he posted sixteen battalions of the guard upon
the heights in the rear of the village of Kaja. The artillery, with
volcano-like fury, swept every thing before it, whole ranks of the
allied forces were mowed down, the villages were reduced to cinders,
and consequently they were abandoned entirely. At the same mo-
ment the Russians were hard-pressed on their right flank by the
Viceroy Eugene, who had now arrived from Mark-Ranstadt with
30,000 fresh troops.

Napoleon, urged on by his impatient desire to see the victory de-
cided, continued to advance, protected by the unceasing fire of his
sixty to eighty pieces of artillery, planted in his centre. Neverthe-
less, the Russians and Prussians, although almost overcome with
heat and fatigue, only retired slowly, and step by step, and bravely
maintained every inch of ground capable of defence, until the fall
of night.

Profound darkness now enveloped the sanguinary field of battle ;
nothing else was visible except the alternate flashes of the cannon
which were still discharged at long and irregular intervals, and the
flames of the villages, which were gradually becoming more and more
faint. Napoleon, having issued his orders for the operations of the next
morning, had retired to his quarters, within the strong bulwark of
the regiments of his guards; when, suddenly, the silence of the
night was broken in upon by the clashing of swords, and a desperate
attack, as if by magic, was made upon the French, even to the very
guards of the emperor himself. This bold assault was made by a
corps of Prussian hussars led on by the heroic Blucher, who, with

NAPOLEON IN DRESDEN— THE KING OF SAXONY. 659

his usual intrepidity , resolved to make a last attempt, in order to serve
as a warning to ^the French, that the allies were not yet beaten. He
succeeded in his object; for the enemy did not venture a pursuit,
but passed the entire night under arms.

This first battle may be truly characterised as a battle of honour,
and, as such, it was a won battle. For, in spite of the great nu-
merical superiority of the French, the allies had not lost a single
colour or cannon, nor had they, notwithstanding the heavy fire kept
up by the French artillery, turned their back upon the enemy —
whilst the force of the latter was 120,000 men, and that of the
allied army was only 70,000. The amount altogether, on both
sides, in killed and wounded, was about 30,000 men. The Prussians,
especially, fought with such a desperate defiance of death, that
several of their heroic leaders fell a sacrifice on the field, including
the Prince of Hesse-Homburg himself — and Generals Bliicher and
Scharnhorst were both severely wounded.

On the following morning, Napoleon expected to be again at-
tacked; but the allies having taken into consideration the loss
already sustained, and their great inferiority compared with the
French army, determined to retreat, and, accordingly, withdrew
across Borna and Altenburg on the Elbe, and took up a strong posi-
tion at Bautzen : the Prussians crossing the Elbe, at Meissen — the
Russians at Dresden, and both the Emperor Alexander and the
King of Prussia, quitted that city on the morning of the 8th of
May.

On this same day, the 8th of May, Napoleon marched into
Dresden, whence he immediately dispatched an envoy to the
Bang of Saxony in Prague, in order to demand his immediate
return to his capital, and threatened to treat Saxony as a conquered
country if he refused compliance with his order, and did not give up
for his service the fortress of Torgau, and supply them with all his
Saxon army for the reinforcement of the French army, — granting
the king only two hours for his decision. The dread he entertained
lest the emperor, who now already occupied the major portion of
his territory, should carry his threats into execution, operated upon
his feelings more than any other consideration; and not daring to
form an alliance with Austria, as he would have wished, he returned
to Dresden on the 12th of May. The emperor met him at a short
distance beyond the gates of the city, and they both made their tri-
umphal entry — as ordered by Napoleon — the latter addressing the
municipal authorities who were waiting to receive them, as follows :
" Behold, here 1 bring to you your deliverer ; for if your sovereign
had not thus shown himself a faithful ally, I should assuredly have
treated your country as a conquered state. Henceforth, however,
my armies shall only march through it, and protect it against all its
enemies."

On the previous day, the llth of May, the French army having
hastily rebuilt the bridge over the Elbe, crossed that river, the pas-

2 u2

660 BATTLE OF BAUTZEN— THE ALLIES RETIRE.

sage having occupied seven hours ; during the whole of which time,
Napoleon remained seated on a bench, watching the troops — French,
Italians, and Germans, — as they marched by, a sight which produced
in him feelings of exultation. He now determined to attack the
allies a second time in the strong position they occupied near Bautzen
and Hochkirch, and whose force now consisted of 100,000 men,
whilst that of their enemy amounted to 150,000. The emperor
sent Marshal Ney and General Lauriston from Hoyerswerda to turn
the right flank of the allies, which being perceived by the latter,
they detached several battalions under York and Barclai de Tolly as
far as Konigswartha to meet them. They came up with and surprised
an Italian division of 9000 men, whom they immediately routed,
and captured all their cannon and ammunition waggons. But as the
main body of the French was now advancing they retired, and fell
back upon their own lines.

On the following day, the 20th of May, after a sanguinary combat
on the heights of Burg and near Bautzen, Napoleon forced a passage
to the Spree, which he crossed with his whole army ; whilst the allies
retired in the greatest order to their head-quarters near Gleina and
Kreckwitz, as far as the mountains. The Russians formed the two
wings, and the Prussians under Bliicher occupied the centre.
Although the movement effected by Ney had weakened their position,
still they resolved not to leave it without a battle. Napoleon's plan
was to cause'/the left wing of the allies to be attacked by Marshals
Oudinot and Macdonald, in order to draw their whole attention to
that side ; whilst at the same time, according to his original in-
structions, Marshal Ney was to gradually surround their right flank.
Early in the morning of the 21st of May, and before sunrise, the
emperor mounted his charger, and with the attack of the left wing
of the Russians, commanded by the Prince of Wiirtemburg and
General Milloradowitsch, the battle commenced. The charge was
bravely met and sustained by the Russians, who being masters of the
heights, had great advantage over the enemy, so that after an obsti-
nate and severe action, the French were obliged to give way. The
battle did not become general until about midday, as Napoleon waited
patiently until Ney had made himself master of the position he was
to take. The latter succeeded in his manqpuvre, and forcing Gene-
ral Barclai de Tolly to retreat, he captured the heights of the
Gleiner windmill, as well as the village of Preititz. This was a most
critical moment for the allies, as this village lay completely behind
them ; Bliicher, however, hastened to dispatch General Kleist to its
aid, and it was retaken. Napoleon now saw that it was necessary to
bring up his fresh troops, which he had held in reserve. He placed
at their head his best general, Marshal Soult, and at the very moment
that the Prussians had weakened their centre by the corps they sent
to support the right wing, Soult was ordered to make an attack
upon it. This was done with so much fury, seconded by the heavy
cannonade kept up by the French artillery, that the Prussian in-

NAPOLEON'S LOSSES— DUROC— ZIETHEN'S ATTACK. 661

fantry were forced to give way before the overpowering enemy, who
remained masters of the heights of Kreckwitz. The allies now saw
that they were placed in such a predicament, that they must either
sacrifice every thing, and collect all their remaining strength to
storm and regain these heights, or end the battle at once, as their
present position could no longer be maintained. The same reasons
by which they were influenced to retreat from Liitzen, operated
upon them in the present instance. The moment had not yet arrived
in which it was advisable to risk extreme measures ; as yet, they
were not supplied with the reinforcements which were en route to
join them, both from Russia and Prussia; and they felt certain that
the Emperor of Austria must very soon abandon his son-in-law and
join their cause. Accordingly, they determined upon a retreat, and
this they commenced about three o'clock in the afternoon, effecting
it in such good order, that the French found it useless to attempt a
pursuit, whence they suffered little or no loss. Napoleon, who was
at that moment on a high hill, near Niederkuyna, had mounted one
of the drums belonging to his guards, and thence observed the
allies as they retreated ; he then sent some of his troops to harass
their rear, but the light cavalry of both the Russians and Prussians,
which covered their retreat, kept them at bay, and he was forced to
content himself with remaining master of the field of battle — an
advantage gained very dearly, for his loss, in this action, was more
than 20,000 men, whilst that of the allies, altogether, was not more
than 12,000.

The allied forces retired into Silesia, and Napoleon marched in
rapid pursuit of them. Each time, however, that the French
advanced too closely upon the heels of their rear-guard, the latter
turned upon their pursuers, and after hard fighting, drove them
back. Napoleon, vexed at finding that his generals took so few
prisoners from a retreating army, took upon himself the command
of the advanced guard, and attacked the rear of the allies on the
22nd of May, at Reichenbach. But his cavalry was completely
beaten back, and a cannon-ball killed close by his side his generals
Kirgener, Labruyere, and Marshal Duroc, his especial friend and
favourite, and whose loss was acutely felt by Napoleon, for the
marshal, possessing his entire confidence, never hesitated to express
his opinions openly and sincerely, and they had both been school-
fellows together.

On the 26th of May, Bliicher gave orders to Ziethen to wait in
ambush with his cavalry until the French arrived close to Haynau ;
and when, according to agreement, the windmill of Baudmannsdorf
was set on fire as a signal, the 3000 troopers rushed from behind
the heights, and falling on the enemy's squares with loud hurrahs,
put them to flight, after making 300 prisoners. Colonel Dolfs,
however, the leader of this brave squadron, fell gloriously whilst
fighting in the midst of the enemy.

Napoleon now plainly saw that the allies were not to be overcome,

662 THE ARMISTICE— DA VOUST TAKES HAMBURG.

and accordingly he proposed a suspension of arms, to which the
allies having consented, a truce for six weeks was signed on the 8th
of June. The French abandoned Breslaw, of which they had
shortly before made themselves masters, and retained only a portion
of Silesia; whilst, however, Hamburg through unfortunate circum-
stances, now fell into their hands. For at the very commencement
of May, when Napoleon opened the campaign, Marshal Davoust
marched with 14,000 men to lay siege to that place, which con-
tained but a very feeble garrison commanded by General Tetten-
burg, by no means sufficient to defend so large a city. The citizens,
however, calculated upon the aid of their Danish neighbours in
Altona, as well as upon that of the Swedes, who had collected in
considerable force under their crown-prince in Pomerania and
Mecklenburg. The latter, however, were anxious to possess Nor-
way, and had already stipulated with England and Russia to have
it transferred into their hands as the price of their aid in the war;
and as Denmark on her part resolved not to submit to this loss of
half her territory, she formed an alliance with France ; and accord-
ingly, on the 30th of May, the very day they entered the ill-fated
city, the Danes gave it up to the enemy. Thus Hamburg was
sacrificed through the jealousy of these two powers. Napoleon,
embittered against the inhabitants for their independent principles,
and the opposition shown against him, imposed upon them a contri-
bution of no less than 48,000,000 of francs.

The news of the armistice reached Berlin on Whit-Monday. The
public were by no means tranquillised by this information, but on
the contrary, when they beheld the present unguarded position
of their city, which was no longer in a condition to defend
itself against the attack of the enemy, much disappointment and
alarm were expressed — far more so than if the war had been
continued. The king, however, soon succeeded in restoring con-
fidence, by publishing a declaration, in which he assured his people
"that this armistice was only concluded in order to afford time
for the perfect development of the whole strength of the country.
As yet the enemy was much too powerful to be overcome, and
what the nation had thus far accomplished, had only served to up-
hold once again its ancient honour and heroic courage ; now, how-
ever, they must become so strong as to be enabled to reconquer their
independence and permanent liberty. He conjured his subjects to
maintain their firmness, to confide in him, their devoted king, and
the object so much desired must be attained."

Meantime, ^whenever he could, Napoleon did not hesitate to
increase by his treacherous acts, the bitter feeling already existing
against him, and the following instance presents another proof of
his revengeful disposition. Major Liitzow, with his squadron of
hussars, had boldly advanced to the rear of the French troops far
into ^ Saxony, and even beyond, into Franconia, harassing them
continually, and cutting to pieces or making prisoners of whole

LUTZOW'S FREE CORPS — THE CONGRESS OF PRAGUE. 663

detachments^ so that Napoleon was much exasperated against this
brave, intrepid band. According to an article of the armistice, the
Liitzow corps was to have crossed the Elbe by the 12th of June,
but it was not till the 14th that their commander received official
intelligence of this condition, which it was thus impossible for him
strictly to fulfil. On this, Napoleon gave orders " to destroy these
robbers wherever they might be met with," and on the evening of
the 17th of June, as they were proceeding to pass the Elbe, they
were suddenly attacked in the village of Kitzen, near Leipsic, in
a most treacherous manner by the enemy's cavalry, who were to
escort them. The little band was easily dispersed, many were cut
down, wounded, and taken, and a part only with their brave leader,
succeeded in fighting their way through.*

Meantime, the Emperor of Austria came forward as a mediatory
power, and endeavoured to effect a peace ; a congress assembled in
Prague, and the Emperor Francis proceeded to Gitschen, near
Prague, in order to assist, in person, towards the promotion of the
object he so much desired. Napoleon, however, felt his pride hurt,
when he beheld another power attempt to dictate terms to him, and
refused to abandon any of the conquests he had made. Thence,
although the armistice had been prolonged to the 17th of August,
the negotiations were attended with no results affording any hopes
for peace; whilst, in the interval, both sides were occupied in making
their preparations for renewed hostilities. Napoleon's army received
continual reinforcements from France, so that he was soon enabled,
once more, to bring into the field a force of no less than 350,000 men,
besides which his faithful adherent, the Viceroy Eugene, collected in
Italy another army of 60,000 men, to defend that country against Aus-
tria— in case a rupture should occur between that power and France
— and, on the frontiers of Austria, Bavaria was forced to support
him with another army of 30,000 men, under General Wrede.

The Emperor of Austria, finding that all his efforts to bring his son-
in-law to agree to any terms of peace were made in vain, now re-
solved, without further delay, to join the Emperor of Russia and
the King of Prussia, and to take an active part in the confederation
for the overthrow of the usurper. Meantime, the latter had been
anxiously waiting in Dresden for the declaration of Austria, although
he continued confident in his expectations, that by means of his
cunning management, he would continue to hold that power in a

* This free corps, it may be observed, was an association formed of youths chiefly
of the middle and superior classes, who united themselves under the command of a
military officer of great gallantry and experience, the above-mentioned Major von
Liitzow, for the freedom of their Fatherland. Their exploits were of the most daring
and heroic character, partaking rather of the bold and chivalrous spirit of the middle
ages than the cold and calculating nature of modern warfare. Among those who
joined its standard were many who are highly distinguished in letters and the arts, as
for instance, the Baron de la Motte Fouque (the author of Undine, &c.), Frederick
Forster (the historian of Wallenstein), and more especially the gifted poet and gal-
lant soldier, Korner, who fell mortally wounded. Even women, inspired with the
prevailing spirit of patriotism, served in their ranks undiscovered.

664 THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA JOINS THE ALLIES.

state of inactivity. At length, on the loth of August, his envoy,
Count de Narbonne, arrived from Prague, and Napoleon, sum-
moning his minister, Marat, had a long conference with both soon
after. They were seen, all three, engaged in earnest conversation,
walking, with hasty strides, to and fro in the garden of the Marc-
olini Palace, the residence of the emperor ; his suite, which was at
a considerable distance off, watching their master with anxious
looks, and waiting the result of this meeting, upon which the fate
of so many thousands of human beings depended. Suddenly, Na-
poleon was seen to stop, and by a hasty and indignant movement of
his hand, seemed to reject, at once, the offered terms of peace.
War again ! now sounded from every side, and spread from mouth
to mouth. The emperor, however, his eyes still sparkling with fury,
returned to the palace, and proceeding with hasty steps across the
hall of marshals, entered his carriage, and galloped off for Bautzen
and Gorlitz, towards Silesia.

The allies had, during the interval of the armistice, strengthened
their forces to such an extent, that they were far superior, even in
numbers, to the French; for Austria alone, when joining them,
brought an addition of 200,000 men, and which was rendered the
more necessary, as their immense army being distributed at va-
rious points, they were forced to advance against the French in
extended circles; whilst Napoleon, who concentrated his forces into
one circle, was enabled to attack first one point, then another, and
thus decide the contest at once with the same body of men. The
position of the allied army was as follows :

1 . The Crown-prince of Sweden, Bernadotte, who had likewise
entered the field with 24,000 Swedes, was appointed commander of
the whole of the northern army, and was instructed to defend, with
a force of 125,000 men, Berlin and the whole of Brandenburg.
Besides his own troops, he had under his orders the Prussian divi-
sions under Billow and Tauenzien, the Kussian divisions under
Winzingerode and Wallmoden. The latter general, with 25,000
men, consisting of Russians, English, Hanoverians, Mecklenburgers,
the Russian-German legion and the corps of Liitzow, was appointed
to oppose Marshal Davoust and the Danes on the frontiers of
Mecklenburg.

2. Marshal Bliicher commanded the Silesian army of 95,000 men,
and he had with him General York at the head of the first Prus-
sian division, and the Russian divisions under Generals Sacken,
Langeron, and St. Priest. The first general of his staff, however,
was Gneisenau, who, from this time, became more and more distin-
guished in the field.

3. The main division of the allied army in Bohemia, consisting
principally of Austrians, but reinforced by a Prussian division under
Kleist, a Russian division commanded by Wittgenstein, and the
Russian guard under the orders of the Grand-duke Constantino,
was commanded by the Austrian Field-marshal, Prince Schwartzen-

THEIR FORCES— STRENGTH AND POSITION— OUDINOT. 665

berg, who, together with^ great courage and experience, possessed all
that calmness and decision of character so necessary in the com-
mander of such numerous armies of mixed nations. This division
of the allied forces amounted to 230,000 men.

This position and the division of the allied forces into three
armies were well planned, for whichever of these forces Napoleon
might attack, he was sure to have the other two in his rear or in the
flank. When, with his grand army, he pressed forward from Dres-
den and Lusatia towards Silesia, Bliicher retired in order to draw
him towards the Oder; but during this interval the main army of
the allies advanced from Bohemia, and taking possession of Dresden
in his rear, caught him completely in their net : so that if he turned
to the right along the Elbe, in order to penetrate into Bohemia,
Bliicher must meet him in the front, and pursuing him into the
passes of the Bohemian mountains, thus place him between two
nres. Finally, Napoleon advanced with a superior force direct
against Bernadotte towards Berlin; the latter, however, followed
the example of Bliicher and retreated, leaving the Prussian capital
exposed, it is true, although only for a moment; for, in the mean-
time, the army of Bohemia conquered Dresden and Leipsic, toge-
ther with all the supplies of the French in Saxony.

The French emperor had little imagined the allies would have
been capable of forming such a grand plan ; and especially of
bringing it into operation so unobservedly and successfully. On
the contrary, he had calculated, as usual, upon availing himself of
the* happy chances thrown in his way by the errors of his adver-
saries, and in this he was supported by his generals around him.
Fully confiding in the lightning-like celerity of their emperor's
plans and movements, they comforted themselves with the assur-
ance to which they repeatedly gave utterance, that their enemies
must commit blunders which they would take advantage of, and
falling upon their whole army completely annihilate it.

The more wise and prudent, however, not coinciding with the
majority, counselled their leader to abandon his position on the
Elbe, which was too seriously menaced on its right from the Bohe-
mian side. Marshal Ouclinot, amongst other things, wrote to him,
" That if he withdrew his garrisons from the fortifications he held,
reinforced his army with them, and then retreated to the Rhine,
distributing his invalided troops in good cantonments, and esta-
blishing the rest of his army in suitable positions, it might still be
in his power to dictate to the allies his terms of peace." But such
advice, however wise and discreet, appeared madness itself to that
mighty and all- violent man, who held himself so much beyond all
others in thought and action; and thus it was ordained that his
obstinate pride and egotism should eventually produce the deli-
verance of Germany.

In order not to lose the advantage of making the first attack, he

666 BATTLE OF GROSS-BEEREN— DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH.

determined to turn all his strength against the^ Silesian army, and
fall upon that division separately; whilst, meantime^ to prevent the
Austrians from advancing from Bohemia and harassing his rear, he |
posted Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr with 40,000 men at the entrance of i
the mountains near Giesshiibel. At the same time Marshal Oudinot
received orders to march, with his 80,000 men, direct against and
capture the city of Berlin. If his plan had succeeded, his complete
triumph must have been infallibly secured; but the old and expert
general in Silesia was too much on his guard. For when he per-
ceived, after several encounters between the 18th and 23rd of Au-
gust, that the main army of the French was now in full march, and
were gaining upon him near Lowenburg on the Bober river, he re-
fused to give battle, and according to the previously arranged plan,
retreated to Jauer. Napoleon, who in the meantime had received
hasty news of the advance of the Schwartzenberg forces upon Dres-
den, could not venture to pursue him; but on the 23rd of August
he, with his guards and the sixth corps of his army, commenced his
retreat back to Dresden.

On the same day the brave Billow came up with the French
army en route for Berlin, and attacked it near Gross-Beeren. They
had already advanced to within eight or nine miles of the capital,
and Napoleon had already publicly announced that Oudinot would
be there on the 23rd of August. General Regnier, had, by Marshal
Oudinot's orders, already taken possession of Gross-Beeren on the 23rd
of August, and thus the road to Berlin being secured, he made sure
of making his triumphal entry there on the following morning.
But his hopes of the attainment of this grand object were completely
destroyed, even on the very night before ; for scarcely had the day
declined and evening set in, before Billow with his brave Prussians
attacked the French with such fury in Gross-Beeren itself, that they
were completely routed, and obliged to abandon the village in the
greatest disorder, the darkness of the night alone protecting them
from total destruction. In another quarter, on the extreme left wing
and with a very small force, General Tauenzien had bravely resisted,
and finally repulsed the attack made by General Bertrand.

The French marshal now clearly seeing that he had to contend
with a superior enemy, would not venture upon a general battle, but
retreated in ah1 haste as far as the Elbe, having suffered a loss
of twenty-six cannon, and several thousands of his men made pri-
soners. Berlin which had been in a state of fearful suspense, was
now full of joy and rapture when the news arrived of the glorious
victory by which it was delivered from the invaders, and thousands
of the citizens poured out of its walls, and eagerly sought the battle-
field in order to cheer and rescue their wounded preservers, convey-
ing all back with them to the city, where they were carefully at-
tended to. Just about the same time, on the 27th of August, the
French general, Gerard, who had made a sally with the flower of

BLUCHER'S VICTORY AT KATZBACH — HIS ADDRESS. 667

U his troops forming the garrison of Magdeburg, in order to assist in
sr ll *k? taking of Berljn, was attacked by the brave veteran, General

L, near Lubnitz and Hagelsberg, and completely routed,
being forced to shut himself up within the walls of Magdeburg.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Glorious Victory of 'the Prussians under Bliicher at Katzbach — Bliicher created
Prince of Wahlstadt— Battle of Dresden— Defeat of the Austrian s— Death of Ge-
neral Moreau — Battle of Kulm — General Kleist — Generals Vandamme and Haxo
made Prisoners— Battle of Dennewitz — Battle of Wartenburg — General York —
Preparations for the Battle of Leipsic — The French Army — Honours and Pro-
motions conferred by Napoleon— The Allied Forces— Prince Schwartzenberg.

NAPOLEON, on quitting Silesia for Dresden, had left behind him
Marshal Macdonald with a body of 8.0,000 men, in order to hold at
bay the Prussians and Russians. But no sooner did Bliicher per-
ceive who was now his opponent, than he forthwith advanced against
him — for it was not his system to keep the enemy waiting long.
He soon learnt that Marshal Macdonald, with his whole army, was
in full march across the mountains on the left bank of the river
Katzbach, in order himself to make an attack upon the allies. The
wary veteran allowed his enemy to proceed without interruption
until he knew him to be secured amidst the ravines and narrow passes,
when, the favourable moment having now arrived, he exclaimed to
his soldiers : " Now, lads, there are enough Frenchmen passed over —
come on — forwards!" And on the Prussians rushed after their
leader, with re-echoed shouts, and soon the battle became general.
This attack took place on the 26th of August between Brechtelshof
and Groitsch, amidst torrents of rain. The right wing was com-
manded by Sacken, the centre by York, and the left by Langeron ;
whilst the heroic Bliicher, as commander-in-chief, with all the fire
of his youthful days, led on the cavalry himself, and, at their head,
dashed amongst the paralysed foe. Such an unexpected, over-
whelming attack the French could not withstand, and, consequently,
they were everywhere put to flight. One entire division, under
General Puthod, which attempted to attack the Prussians in the rear,
was, at Lowenberg, either cut to pieces or taken prisoners. Terror
and dismay seized upon the whole of the French army, and they
were pursued in every direction by the embittered Prussians. At
length Bliicher sounded the recall, and, in an address, congratulated
his troops upon the laurels they had gained, and so truly merited,
by their courage displayed in this grand battle. The results of this
victory are thus described by him in the conclusion of his address :

" By this great victory we have forced the French to aband9n the

ALLIES BEFORE DRESDEN — NAPOLEON'S ARRIVAL.

whole of Silesia; we have captured one hundred and three pieces
of cannon, two hundred and fifty ammunition waggons, two French
eagles, together with numerous other trophies, and we have made
18^000 prisoners, including many of their superior officers."*

Henceforth from the day of this triumphant battle of Katzbach,
the great Prussian general was called, by his army, Marshal For-
wards, and in honour thereof, and as a mark of his own and the
nation's gratitude and esteem, the King of Prussia shortly afterwards
made him a field-marshal, and created him a prince by the title of
Prince of Wahlstadt.f

On the same day that the battle of Katzbach was gained and also
on the following day, the two grand armies_met and fought with great
obstinacy near Dresden ; but the results were not yet ordained to be
decisive. Prince Schwartzenberg and the three allied sovereigns,
after having marched with their grand army across the mountains
which separate Saxony from Bohemia, and driven the French from
their position at Giesshiibel, arrived before Dresden on the 25th of
August. The city, during the armistice, had been strongly fortified
and supplied with a numerous garrison ; nevertheless it might have
been taken if the attack had been made a day sooner. But the
roads across the mountains were, in some parts, so impassable that
twenty and even a greater number of horses were scarcely able to
drag along a single cannon, whilst the convoys of provisions for this
army of 100,000 men were obliged to remain behind, and the troops
were reduced to the greatest possible want. Thence the allies were
only able to assemble before Dresden in the night of the 25th of
August; whilst Napoleon arrived in that city on the following
morning, followed by a great portion of his army. His presence
was quite unexpected, as it was generally believed that he was in
the depths of Silesia. He had a short conference with the King of
Saxony, and then gave directions for the defence of the city. The
grand garden of his palace wras already in possession of the Prussian
sharp-shooters, one of whom shot a page dead close to the side of
his imperial master. The principal attack was made about four
o'clock in the afternoon, the allies occupying the whole range of
heights along the left bank of the Elbe to the extent of three miles
around the city. The signal being announced by three cannon
shots, the allied troops descended from their position on the heights
in six separate divisions of attack, each preceded by fifty pieces of
cannon. Having arrived in the plain, they drew up in line of bat-
tle, and the infantry advanced and stormed the French intrench-
ments, upon which their artillery, at the same time, poured forth the

* Once when Bliicher's heroic deeds were lauded in his own presence, he exclaimed :
"What is it my friends you are praising? What I did was accomplished through
my own natural temerity, seconded by Gneisenau's presence of mind, but, above all,
through the Almighty's mercy!"

t Wahlstadt is a princely but spiritual domain in Silesia, founded by St. Hedwig
in remembrance of Duke Henry of Lower Saxony, who lost his life on this spot, in
the year 1241, in a great battle against the Mongolians.

BATTLE OF DRESDEN — GENERAL MOREAU KILLED. 669

I most destructive fire. One brave corps of Austrians succeeded in
making themselves masters of an entrenchment defended by eight
'pieces of artillery, and pressed forward to the very walls of the city;
but they were not sufficiently strong to maintain their ground, whilst
! Napoleon now kept^ sending forth from the city gates, and under
shelter of his batteries, large bodies of infantry and cavalry. Both
sides fought with great courage, and the city itself was much in-
jured and many of the inhabitants killed by the artillery of the al-
lies. The latter, however, who were forced to contend against en-
trenchments, ramparts, and masses of the enemy's troops, continually
increasing in number, could not succeed in gaining their object, and
accordingly, night having set in, they retreated and fell back upon
their former position on the hills.

During the whole of this night reinforcements of French troops
kept incessantly arriving at Dresden from the opposite shore of
the Elbe, and on the next morning, at about seven o'clock, they were
marched forth from their intrenchments. Napoleon's object was to
force the allies to abandon, altogether, the neighbourhood of Dres-
den, where he had established his head-quarters, and to drive them
back across the Bohemian mountains. He had now assembled to-
gether the flower of his army, and even his guards, which were only
employed in extreme and decisive moments, were now selected to
share in the battle. His plan of battle was to occupy the attention
of the enemy's right wing and centre by a well-sustained fire from
his heavy guns, a^ if intending to direct his entire force against that
quarter; whilst, meantime, the King of Naples, with a numerous
body of infantry, and the elite of the cavalry, was to march on
to Freiberg and fall upon the left wing of the Austrians; and, as
the latter portion of the allied army was divided from the main
body by the valley of Plauen, and the rain poured down in such
torrents that every thing around was obscured, the French were
completely successful and came up close upon the Austrians before
they could be discovered. The attack commenced, and the heavy
cavalry of the assailants dashed among the Austrian newly-levied
foot-soldiers, and as the latter, owing to the deluging rain, found
their firelocks perfectly useless, they were all either killed or made
prisoners, of which the latter amounting to 12,000, including their
general, Mezko, were all marched into Dresden.

Amongst those who lost their lives on this sad day was General
Moreau, who had just returned from America, whither he had been
banished by Napoleon, and who had engaged to aid the Emperor
Alexander with all his knowledge and experience for the deliverance
of Germany and Europe, in the cause of which he entered most
heartily. Both his legs were shot off by a cannon ball on the morn-
ing after his arrival at head-quarters, and whilst he was in conversa-
tion with the Emperor Alexander. He underwent the painful opera-
tion of amputation of both thighs with the firmness and resignation
of a hero accustomed to meet death in any form; but he, never the-

670 GENERAL VANDAMME— TOPLITZ— BATTLE OF KULM.

less sunk under it, and died at Laun, in Bohemia, on the 2nd of
September. He was an excellent general, an upright and noble-
minded man, and one whose whole soul was so devoted to liberty, !
that it was universally regretted he was not spared to witness as
well as to assist in its restoration.

The want of supplies and of the means of their conveyance, toge-
ther with the overthrow of the left wing, by which the high road to
Freiberg was completely cut off, induced the allies to withdraw their
forces and retire into Bohemia, more ^ especially as news now reached
them that General Vandamme, with a chosen body of troops,
was advancing by hasty marches from the opposite side across
Pirna, in order to cut off likewise the second grand route. Napo-
leon's chief aim was to annihilate the allied army, by forcing it to re-
treat across bad roads, and thus by entangling it in the difficult passes
of the mountains destroy it by famine and disease, or, having thus
reduced the whole of the forces to the last extreme, oblige them to
lay down their arms and give themselves up prisoners. And truly
the dangers to which they were exposed might have produced
what he so much wished — but all his plans very soon rebounded
against himself.

Presumption, ambition, and especially the sanguine hopes he
entertained of obtaining the marshal's baton by a brilliant action,
stimulated General Vandamme to march boldly forwards, and he
well nigh succeeded in giving the allies a decisive blow. But on
the 20th of August, when he arrived at the entrance of the valley
of Toplitz, he found his passage opposed by the Russian guard,
amounting to 8000 men, commanded by General Ostermann — a
phalanx of heroes, who firmly planted themselves across his path like
an impenetrable wall of adamant. His own force consisted of 30,000
picked men, but who were, nevertheless, held at bay by these
8000 guards the entire day, who at length slowly retired, and
disputed every inch of ground before the superior numbers of their
foe; nor did they retreat indeed, until half their force was either
killed or wounded, and their brave leader, Ostermann, had lost an
arm.

Nevertheless, it was determined that Vandamme should not main-
tain the position he commanded, which was so dangerous to the
allies, and he was again attacked upon the heights of Kulm and Ar-
besau, on the 30th, by the Russians and two divisions of the Aus-
trians, who had come up during the night. His right flank was pro-
tected by the Geiers mountain, and by the road across the hill
of Nollendorf he expected aid from the forces under Marmont,
St. Cyr, or Mortier, who were likewise in pursuit of the allies, and
were only distant a few hours' march. Both armies fought with
great obstinacy, and the rocks and precipices around vibrated a thou-
sand fold with the cries of the combatants, the clashing of their
swords, and^the fire of their guns. Suddenly, however, appeared
upon the heights, in his rear, what Vandamme at first thought was

VANDAMME AND HAXO MADE PRISONERS— TE DEUM. 671

j the very aid he expected, but he soon found out his mistake, it being,
on the contrary, several battalions of Prussians led on by Kleist, and
who were now descending upon the French in all haste. The latter
were struck as with a clap of thunder, and no longer thought of victory,
but only of their own safety, and a portion of the cavalry unexpectedly
rushing ^upon the Prussians with the greatest fury, succeeded in cut-
ting their way through and escaping. But the Austrians and Russians
coming up now joined the Prussians, and they completely surrounded
Vandamme and the rest of his army. From ten to twelve thousand
men were made prisoners, together with Vandamme himself and
General Haxo; in addition to which, eighty pieces of artillery, all
their ammunition waggons, two eagles, and three standards, fell into
the hands of the victors.

This was an unexpected blow to Buonaparte; and whilst he
praised the courage displayed by his general, he condemned him for
his want of prudence. On the other hand, the brave Prussian ge-
neral, Kleist, was honoured by his sovereign with the title of " Kleist
von Nollendorf."

Nearly about the same time that these glorious achievements were
effected in the presence, as it were, of the three sovereigns them-
selves, the news arrived of the victories gained at Katzbach and
Gross-Beeren ; which was immediately followed by the announce-
ment of the triumphant battle fought at Vittoria by the British troops
under their heroic leader, Wellington. In gratitude to Heaven for
these glorious results, the three monarchs ordered a solemn Te Deum
to be celebrated at Toplitz on the 3rd of September, in the presence
of themselves and the whole of the allied army.

Napoleon now resolved to make up for the losses he had sustained
by gaining advantages in another quarter, and appointed Marshal
Ney, whom he had created Prince de la Moskwa, to succeed General
Oudinot in command of the army which was to take possession of
Berlin. The Crown-Prince of Sweden, Bernadotte, managed very
successfully to deceive and draw him into the net, by pretending to
detach 25,000 men from his army in aid of General Wallmoden
against Davoust, taking care, however, to allow his preparations to
be made known to the watchful spies of Napoleon, to whom the in-
formation thereof was very speedily conveyed. Ney received im-
mediate orders to march from the Elbe with his 80,000 men, and
attack all before him — under the idea that the aforesaid 25,000 men
were en route for Mecklenburg.

Ney succeeded, nevertheless, in deceiving the Crown-Prince, as
to his intentions, by counter-marches, and on the 6th of September
he fell all at once, with the whole of his army, upon the Prussians
commanded by Bulow and Tauenzien, at Dennewitz near Jiiterbogk.
The Prussian army, which consisted of only 40,000 men, suffered a
severe shock from this overwhelming force, against which they had
to contend the whole day, until the arrival of the Russian and

672 BATTLE OF DENNEWITZ — NAPOLEON DEFEATED.

Swedish, troops. The French generals used all their efforts in order
to gain the battle ; Ney exposed himself so much that half of his
staff officers were killed around him, and his example was followed
by Oudinot, who attacked the corps under Tauenzien at the head
of his men ; whilst Regnier continued for a long time fighting amidst
the enemy's sharpshooters, as if seeking his death at their hands.
But the courage of the Prussians was not to be overcome, although
more than a third of their number became a sacrifice ; and at length,
towards the evening, when fifty battalions of the Swedish and
Russian infantry, together with 6000 cavalry and 120 pieces of
artillery marched into the field and joined in the battle, the French
were forced to yield, and were put to rout at once, pursued by the
allied cavalry to the very banks of the Elbe, losing from 18,000 to
20,000 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners, together with eighty
pieces of cannon and other trophies.

After such repeated reverses experienced by his generals, Napo-
leon gave up planning any fresh attacks, and had he only given ear
to the voice of reason and moderation, he would, at the same time,
have perceived at once that he could only defend himself for a short
time longer in Saxony. But the presumption, wrath, and the thirst
after vengeance with which his heart was filled, completely blinded
him, and like the gambler, who in his despair stakes his all upon
the last throw, Napoleon madly resolved to lose or gain all, and
obstinately determined not to move from the spot.

Throughout the whole of September he was continually marching
either between Dresden and Lusatia on the one side, or towards the
mountains of Bohemia on the other, in order to inflict a decisive
blow upon the Silesian army, or to keep at bay the main body of
the allied forces in the latter country. The allies, however, took
good care not to venture an action in an unfavourable position, and
as he advanced they secured themselves in such a locality as com-
pletely prevented him from attacking or drawing them into a ge-
neral battle. This continual marching and counter-marching ha-
rassed and depressed his soldiers so much, that they began now to
murmur and express disgust at the war which but a short time
previously they entered upon with such enthusiasm.

He now advanced once more from Dresden with his guards, ap-
parently for the purpose of gaining upon Bliicher who neared the
Elbe more and more ; but he changed his plan, and irritated and
furious at being so often foiled, he turned his march against the
allied army in Bohemia, and on the 17th attacked them in a narrow
valley of the mountains near Nollendorf, in order to force a passage
on ^ to Toplitz. Once again, and for the last time, the thunder of
artillery vibrated here from rock to rock, and the sanguinary struggle
was resumed ; but Napoleon was again unsuccessful, and was forced
to fall back with the loss of ten cannon and 2000 prisoners taken
by the Austrians under General Kolloredo. On the 22nd he ad-

NAPOLEON SURROUNDED-— BLUCHER'S BOLD MANOEUVRE. 673

vanced once more against Bliicher, who took up a strong position
on the river Spree, and on the 24th Napoleon was forced to return
to Dresden.

This was a losing game at war, which the longer it lasted must
turn the tide of fortune more and more against him ; whilst, in addi-
tion to this, the want of supplies was felt increasingly by his whole
army. He was now almost surrounded on every side, and only a
narrow road, across Leipsic, was still left open for him, by which to
keep up his communication with France. And even of this he was
very soon deprived, for several daring leaders at the head of their
light squadrons were now constantly harassing his troops in that
quarter; amongst these was more especially Colonel Mensdorf, who
more than once advanced to the very gates of Leipsic itself ; Gene-
ral Thielmann, who, having abandoned the Saxon service, now de-
voted his arm to the allied cause, and made frequent incursions in
Weissenfels, Liitzen, Naumburg, and Merseburg; and, finally, the
Russian general, Czernitschef, who with his daring, flying cossacks,
penetrated even as far as Cassel, and driving before them the effe-
minate and voluptuous Jerome from his usurped kingdom of West-
phalia, returned to the Elbe loaded with rich booty.

These bold operations were extremely annoying and injurious to
Napoleon. All his convoys were seized, and the guards killed or
made prisoners ; every passage being so unsafe that he could neither
receive or despatch messengers, for they were sure to be attacked
and robbed of their letters. He determined to put these daring in-
truders to rout, and accordingly gave orders to General Lefebvre-
Desnouettes to march with eight thousand infantry and cavalry of
the guard against them, and exterminate them. But he was met at
Zeitz, on the 28th of September, by the Hettmann Platoff and
General Thielmann, who so completely defeated him that he never
ventured to show himself before them a second time.

Those events, however favourable to the allied powers, or dis-
astrous to the French, effected, nevertheless, nothing decisive;
whilst unhappy Saxony was suffering dreadfully from the presence
of such large armies. Bliicher, who in spite of his age, still evinced
all the fire and activity of youth, could no longer endure this state
of uncertainty, and he resolved to form a junction with the army
of the north, which had already shown the example by throwing a
bridge across the Elbe, near Dessau, and making other preparations
for more active measures. Suddenly, by a rapid counter-march,
equally bold and unexpected, he arrived at Jessen on the Elbe, at the
moment he was thought to be at Bautzen; and whilst, in order to
deceive the enemy, he ordered music and dancing to be continually
performed in his camp, he caused two bridges to be constructed
during the night 011 the river, and on the following morning the
Silesian army was already marching along its left bank. This was
a bold and dangerous undertaking, for the army was exposed to the
fire of two fortifications in front and rear, Torgau and Wittenberg;

2 x

674 BATTLE OF WARTENBURG — GENERAL YORK.

General Bertrand had likewise just marched into that country
with 20,000 men, and had taken up a very strong position near
Wartenburg. Scarcely had he established himself there before he
beheld advancing upon him the veteran Marshal and his Prussians,
whom he little 'expected, and who themselves were equally sur-
prised by the presence of so strong a French force. General York,
however, at the head of the vanguard, immediately attacked the
advanced posts, and an obstinate and sanguinary battle took place.
The French, however, were forced to retreat after a loss of 1000
prisoners, and thirteen pieces of cannon ; and the Prussians suf-
fered likewise considerably, especially the Landwehr or militia of
Silesia, commanded by General Horn, which eminently distin-
guished itself. Shortly afterwards, in honour of this victory, the
King of Prussia conferred upon General York the title of " York
von Wartenburg."

Bliicher marched thence to Duben, and joined the army of the
north, which had crossed the Elbe, and arrived at Dessau. At the
same time the grand allied army broke up from Bohemia, and leav-
ing Napoleon in Dresden, to the right, advanced across the passes of
the Hartz mountains, and reached the large plains of Saxony. On
the 5th of October, the army established its head-quarters at Ma-
rienberg.

Napoleon could now no longer remain in Dresden ; the allied
forces threatened to close upon his rear, and to cut off his road back
to France. Accordingly, he marched away on the 7th of October,
accompanied by the Bang of Saxony. He left in Dresden itself a
corps of the army amounting to 28,000 men, under the command
of Marshal Gouvion Saint-Cyr, and this circumstance shows clearly,
that he had not as yet decided upon abandoning the Elbe.

He now directed his march against Bliicher; but what was his
astonishment when, on arriving on the 10th of October at Diiben,
he found the Prussian general was no longer there, and learnt that
instead of withdrawing to the Elbe, he had marched behind the
Saale, there to be ready to form a junction with the Bohemian
army, as soon as it arrived in the neighbourhood of Leipsic. Under
these circumstances there remained nothing else for him to do but
to march to Leipsic himself, and to assemble there all the forces he
could command. But before this could be effected, and every thing
be prepared for action, he was forced to pass four tedious days of
suspense at Diiben itself.

The whole of the French army had now collected at Leipsic,
and Marshal Augereau, having arrived from Naumburgwith 15,000
of the old troops, including a corps of cavalry from Spain, Napo-
leon immediately followed, and entered Leipsic on the 14th of
October. The greater part of his army was encamped near
Wachau, about four miles south-eastward of Leipsic, where they
awaited the appearance of Prince Schwartzenberg with the main
body of the allied army, for whom, however, they had not long to

PREPARATIONS FOR THE BATTLE OF LEIPSIC. 675

wait. His cavalry had already come up, and caused the French to
feel their presence on that day at Liebertwolkwitz. Murat had placed
himself at the head of six squadrons of the old cavalry from Spain,
and was determined to give the allies some further proofs that the
former bravery of the French horsemen could still be maintained ;
but he had to deal with those who sat yet more firmly in their
saddles. The Russian, Prussian, and Austrian cavalry fell upon
them with such fury, that they were completely overthrown and
put to flight, and Murat himself nearly taken prisoner.

According to official statements made at the time, the French
army, originally 300,000 strong, now amounted to 208,000; the rest
having been already swept off by the war. If from this number is de-
ducted the 28,000 men forming the garrison of Dresden, it will be
found that the numerical force of the entire army at Leipsic was
180,000 men. These forces Napoleon, on the 15th of October,
drew up in a circle around the city, an action being now inevitable.
The army was still strong and select, for all those of its ranks who
had become tired and disgusted with the war had returned to France,
and such again as were of weakly constitution had been carried off
by famine and the severity of the weather, or had sunk under the in-
firmities and illness produced by their continual marching. The troops
that now remained formed a firm and hardy body of men, defying all
danger, and well aware, that surrounded as they were at every point
by an embittered and vengeance-seeking foe, their united strength
and courage alone could save them. At the same time the confi-
dence they continued to place in their master was so strong and un-
changeable that they regarded victory as certain, and themselves as
invincible in his presence. At the same time Napoleon sought still
more by every possible means to inflame the courage of his men.
He created new leaders, made fresh promotions, distributed crosses
of the Legion of Honour and other marks of distinction, whilst se-
veral regiments were furnished with the imperial eagle. Thus he
celebrated a grand military fete throughout the entire camp, as was
his custom on the eve of any great and decisive event.

On his part, Prince Schwartzenberg, the commander-in-chief of
the allied army, neglected nothing in order to encourage his troops,
and in his address pointed out to them, that the moment had now
arrived, when by their valour and firmness they must reconquer and
establish, once more and for ever, the liberty of their country.

2x2

676 THE THREE DAYS' BATTLE OF LEIPSIC.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

The Three Days' Battle of Leipsic— Murat — The Austrian General Meerveldt taken
Prisoner — Battle of Moeckern — Marshals Marmont and Bliicher — General Horn —
Total Defeat of the French— Buonaparte's Offers to Negotiate rejected — Breiten-
feld— Bernadotte— Bennigsen — The Prince of Hesse Homburg— Prince Ponia-
towsky — Probstheyda— The Saxon Army deserts Buonaparte and joins the Allies

The Allied Sovereigns— Night Scene on the Field of Battle — Buonaparte's

Slumber — Eetreat of the French — Destruction of the Elster Bridge— Prince Po-
niatowsky's Death — Triumphant Entry of the Allies into Leipsic.

THE French army had so encamped itself around Leipsic that it
commanded all the approaches to it within a distance of four miles,
except on the west side near Lindenau, whence Napoleon felt se-
cured from any serious attack, and where, about two miles from the
city, General Bertrand was posted with the fourth division of the
army.

During the night of the 15th of October, Prince Schwartzenberg
ordered three rockets to be fired off as the agreed signal to the Si-
lesian army on the other side of Leipsic, which was immediately
answered by the ascension of four rockets in that quarter, an ac-
knowledgment producing universal joy and confidence among the
allied forces.

The morning of the 16th was at first extremely misty and gloomy,
but towards nine o'clock, after a second signal had been given by
the discharge of three cannon-shots, which was succeeded by the
thunder of artillery on both sides, the clouds of vapour gradually
disappeared, the sky became serene, and during the whole of this
sanguinary day the sun shone upon the field of battle. The cannon-
ading kept up on both sides was so terrific that the very earth
trembled with the continued concussion, and the oldest warriors
present declared never until that moment to have witnessed such
awful discharges of artillery; for on the side of the French alone
the number of cannon employed in this destructive work was 600
pieces, and that on the part of the allies amounted to between 800
and 1000.

The battle raged with great fury at three principal points, but
the most serious engagement was south-west of the city, near Mark-
leeberg, Wachau, and Liebertwolkwitz, where the main body of the
allied army fought; next, to the west near Lindenau, between Ber-
trand and the Austrian general, Giulay; and, finally, towards the
north, near Moeckern and Lindenthal, between Bliicher and^Marshal
Marmont. This last action assumed a more distinct form, and was
called the battle of Moeckern.

Prince Schwartzenberg had posted at his extreme left, on the other

WACHAU — NAPOLEON'S PREMATURE HOPES OF VICTORY. 677

side of the Pleisse, General Meerveldt, who was to attack the flank
of the right wing of the French ; at this point was stationed Prince
Poniatowsky with his Poles, who, as usual, fought with the greatest
bravery for Napoleon. The centre was occupied by the Russians
and Prussians, commanded by Wittgenstein and Kleist; and at the
right wing were the Austrians under Klenau. All these divisions
of the allied army had arrived in the morning, prepared for the
attack. General Kleist took possession of Markleeberg; to the left,
the Prince of Wiirtemberg penetrated through the centre into
Wachau with the Russians and Prussians, and the Austrians under
Klenau made themselves masters of Kolrnberg near Liebertwolkwitz
to the right. The whole battle-line of the French army fell back,
and Napoleon himself with his guards was so close to the fire of
the allies, that several of his staff were killed around him ; but he
was not the man to abandon the field of battle on the first assault.

In the midst of the battle's rage, he had with his keen eye exa-
mined the whole range of contention around him, and to the right
and left of Wachau had prepared meantime two strong columns of
attack, composed of the flower of his infantry, cavalry, and artillery;
which he now, seeing it the most favourable moment, pushed for-
ward against the centre. This attack, ordered by himself and ef-
fected under his own eyes, was so impetuous that the allies were
forced to abandon the villages they occupied, and to retreat within
the lines they had quitted in the morning. The French now suc-
ceeded in capturing several of the heights on the opposite side of
these villages, and penetrating as far as the village of Glildengossa,
took possession of the hills called the Swedish intrenchments, which
command the country many miles round.

Victory appeared now as if inclined to pronounce in favour of
Napoleon ; already the left and right wings of the allies were nearly
both cut off from their centre, and at three o'clock in the afternoon
Napoleon despatched a courier to Leipsic to announce his triumph to
the King of Saxony, with the command that all the bells should be
rung in honour of the glorious event. These sounds brought with
them but gloomy prospects to our fellow- Germans shut up within
the walls of their city— but circumstances very speedily produced a
more cheerful state of feeling, for the cannonading had not yet dis-
continued, nor had its echo become more distant; nay, it appeared,
on the contrary, to approach more and more closely. This changed
aspect in affairs was produced by the following happy circumstance :

Some officers of Prince Schwartzenberg's army stationed in
Gautsch, having observed from the tower of the church, whence
they commanded a full view of the field of battle, the dangerous
turn events had taken, made their report to the prince forthwith,
who saw at once that this was now the decisive moment. It was
of the last importance not to allow the enemy, against whom the
powers of Europe were assembled in arms, to retain even a
momentary advantage. Accordingly he ordered forth the Austrian

678 MURAT AT GULDENGOSSA — DEFEATED.

reserve under the command of the hereditary Prince of Hesse-Hom-
bur°-, and these troops, consisting of the various regiments of cui-
rassiers denominated those of Albert, Lorraine, Francis, Ferdinand,
and Sommarina, advanced across difficult roads, crossed the Pleisse,
and attacking the French division, which had established itself to
the right of Wachau, dislodged it; whence the junction of the left
wing with the centre was re-formed. Thus Kleist, who with his
Prussians had maintained possession of Markleeberg against every
attack, was, at five o'clock, relieved from his arduous duty by the
arrival of the Austrians, and was permitted, after his hard-fought
defence, to take a little breath.

On the other side, the left column of Napoleon's attack, led on
by the impetuous Murat, had already reached Guldengossa, and
used every effort to take possession of the place ; and had they suc-
ceeded, the allied army would have been thrown into the utmost
confusion, and its centre forced into the marshes of the valley of
Gosel. The enemy's battalions of infantry had already penetrated
into the middle of the village, their cuirassiers attacked and carried
by a desperate assault a battery of twenty-six cannon, cutting down
all before them, and pushing on, they had nearly gained the height
where the monarchs of Russia and Prussia were attentively surveying
the battle, when the Emperor "Alexander immediately ordered his
body-guard of Don Cossacks, under the command of Count Orloff-
Denissow, to attack the daring intruders, and he was immediately
obeyed; with their usual loud and savage shouts they rushed down
like lightning with their lances, and completely overthrew their mailed
and more heavily-accoutred adversaries, whose principal leader, La-
tour-Maubourg, in a charge he made, had his leg completely smashed.

The danger was now over; the enemy lost all the advantages pre-
viously obtained. It was now five o'clock, and the day was drawing
to a close, when Murat ventured upon another attack against Giil-
dengossa; but it was valiantly met and repulsed by Prince Eu-
gene of Wiirtemberg with his Russian grenadiers, and the Prussians
under Pirch and Jagow, and the enemy was forced to give it up.
This was the last effort made on this side ; night broke in and ter-
minated the contest.

Thus, after a struggle of ten hours, during which so much blood
had been shed, both armies at this point remained in the same po-
sition as in the morning; excepting that the French retained pos-
session of the Swedish intrenchments on their left wing ; whilst, on
the other side, the moiety of the village of Markleeberg remained
in the hands of the Prussians and Austrians.

By this plan of battle the allies did not realise their expectations,
and in this respect, therefore, Napoleon was a gainer by this sangui-
nary day: ^their object having been to cut off his retreat to the Saale.
An Austrian division had been despatched in advance to Weissenfels;
General Giulay was to make himself master of Lindenau, and Ge-
neral Meerveldt with the left wing was to advance along the Pleisse

GENERAL MEERVELDT'S DEFEAT — BATTLE OF MOECKERN. 679

against Leipsic, and form a junction with General Giulay. Had
these objects been effected, and had Bliicher at the same time ad-
vanced from the north-west as far as Leipsic, the French army must
have been completely cut off and lost. But Giulay endeavoured in
vain throughout the entire day to gain possession of Lindenau, which
was defended by General Bertrand; the strong intrenchments were
gained for a moment by the Austrians, but were almost immediately
afterwards recaptured by the French, and the former were even-
tually forced to withdraw. General Meerveldt was still more unfor-
tunate; he made various attempts to advance from the other side of
the Pleisse and dislodge the Poles from Dolitz, Lb'snig, and Con-
newitz ; but, owing to the marshy ground and the incessant fire kept
up by the enemy, he failed in his object altogether for a length of
time, and when, finally, at five o'clock in the afternoon, he did suc-
ceed in taking Dolitz with a portion of his troops, he was imme-
diately followed by a large body of the guards which Napoleon des-
patched to relieve the Poles, and thus the Austrians being pressed on
all sides, were completely overthrown and their brave leader himself
made prisoner, at the moment when his horse was shot under him
in a final charge he made. This was a fortunate event for Napoleon,
and (he determined to avail himself of the circumstance by getting
General Meerveldt to use all his influence with the Emperor of
Austria, and persuade that monarch to abandon the other allied
powers.

But Napoleon lost at Moeckern against Bliicher three times over
the benefits he derived from the action gained at Lindenau and the
capture of General Meerveldt ; for at the very moment that he made
known his victory at Leipsic, and the bells were set ringing in
order to stimulate the courage of his soldiers by their deceptive
sound, Bliicher by one well-timed blow, entirely disappointed his
premature calculations. He had not been prepared for this promp-
titude displayed by the old warrior, however willing he was to
acknowledge the celerity of his movements generally. That general
had arrived about midday, and immediately ordered the attack to
be made, with the entire force under York, against Marshal Mar-
mont in Moeckern, simultaneously with that executed by Langeron
against Gross and Klein Wiederitsch; and as the two points of
attack were widely apart from each other, Sacken was stationed in
the centre with the reserve, to furnish aid either to the right or
left.

Glorious recollections were attached to this field of battle, inas-
much as it was the same spot on which the great Gustavus Adol-
phus had, in former times, completely defeated Tilly, the ruthless
destroyer of Magdeburg.

The Prussians had to sustain the most obstinate and hard-fought
contest of all in Moeckern and its neighbourhood; nevertheless they
did not flinch, although their numbers diminished very seriously;

680 GENERAL HORN— NAPOLEON REFUSED AN ARMISTICE.

and the reserve, consisting of General Horn's brigade, was all now
left to them. Field-marshal Bliicher now sent orders to General
Sacken to advance with his troojjs ; but the distance was too^ great,
and York saw well that at this critical moment he had no time to
lose, but must depend upon his own resources. Accordingly, he
despatched one of his aides-de-camp to General Horn who was sta-
tioned in the open plain, and announced to him the pressing danger

in which he was placed: " Eh ! Is it so, Captain ?" exclaimed

the brave general,* " well, then," addressing his soldiers, " let
us in our turn, comrades, advance to the rescue with our cheers !"
Saying which he led on his troops amidst loud shouts to the
attack, and, penetrating to the left of the village, charged the
enemy with the bayonet, and before the latter were enabled to load
their cannon a third time, they were captured and their ranks
overthrown. Happily arrived also, just at this moment, the entire
corps of Mecklenburg hussars, who, dashing upon the French
squares of infantry , completely overpowered them, and putting them
to flight, pursued them as far as the Partha, thus coming up just in
time to terminate gloriously the fate of the day, without awaiting
the arrival of Sacken and the Russian reserve : more than fifty pieces
of artillery, besides ammunition, were captured.

Langeron, on his part, had fought at the head of the .Russians
with no less courage, and carried the villages of Gross and Klein
Wiederitsch, taking thirteen cannon; so that Marmont found
himself, on the evening of this day, pursued as far as the left bank
of the Partha, close to Leipsic.

On the following day, the 17th, Napoleon used every effort in
order to divide the allied parties, and obtain a suspension of arms,
during which he hoped to recover from his present dilemma. But
the proposals he caused to be made to the Emperor Francis through
the medium of Count Meerveldt were not listened to for a moment ;
for his character was now too well known not to see that his object
was only to gain time. If, as he declared, his only motive was to
save all further effusion of blood, it was only necessary for him to
withdraw and make the retreat, which, after all, he was forced to
effect two days later, and after an additional sacrifice of 50,000 men.
He might have known by the actions already fought on the 10th,
that he could never succeed in beating the brave forces of the allies.
He himself could expect no more reinforcements, all the troops he
commanded were now assembled around him; whilst the allies, on
the^other hand, still had large corps of reserve. Bernadotte arrived
during the night, driving before him General Regnier, whose troops

* By a singular coincidence of good fortune, it was ordained that General Horn
Hd thus essentially contribute to the glorious decision of this day, on the very same

ot where, in 1631, his ancestor, Gustavus Horn, leader of the left wing of the
fowedes, fought so valiantly at the head of his foot soldiers against Pappenheim's
cavalry that he produced the most triumphant results in that great battle.

BERNADOTTE — BENNIGSEN — PONIATOWSKY. 681

were chiefly composed of Saxons ; whilst Bennigsen marched up in
the morning with ^ a fresh army of Russians, and at midday Kol-
loredo advanced with an Austrian division.

Napoleon, however, could not summon up resolution to quit the
field of battle as long as there was the least shadow of hope remain-
ing; and yet, at the same time, he lost all that activity he had on
former occasions so frequently shown, and which had so often
crowned him with victory.

The French army which Napoleon had drawn up in the form of
a crescent, was to be attacked from three sides : from the north by
Bernadotte and the Silesian army; from the east by Bennigsen,
who, Avith the Russians, had also under his command the Austrians
under Klenau, and a division of the Prussians under Ziethen; and
from the south, whence, however, the grand attack was to be made,
as that was the enemy's strongest point. Here, accordingly, the
general-in-chief divided his army into two grand divisions, of which
one composed of Russians and Prussians under Wittgenstein and
Kleist was to attack the central point of the French, and the other
constituting the flower of the Austrian army, under the hereditary
Prince of Hesse-Homburg was to fall upon Prince Poniatowsky,
•who had defended himself so obstinately on the Pleisse, and force
Mm to retreat to Leipsic.

Napoleon, on his part, had drawn together more closely his half
circle in order to render it more firm. He had abandoned Wachau
and Lieberwolkwitz, where so much blood had been spilt on the 16th,
and made Probstheyda the central point of operations; he himself,
however, with -his guards, took up his position between this village
and the right wing on the Pleisse, establishing his head-quarters
upon a hill close to a windmill, pierced through and through with
cannon-balls and half in ruins.

Exactly as the clock struck eight the battle commenced. The
hereditary Prince of Hesse-Homburg advanced towards the Pleisse
against Dolitz, which he stormed. The Poles and the French under
Poniatowsky defended themselves with desperation, and the struggle
was extremely fierce and sanguinary. The Austrians were several
times repulsed, and their brave commander himself receiving two
wounds, his place was immediately filled by Kolloredo. Finally,
being supported by Bianki, he succeeded in conquering Dolitz,
Dosen, and the heights on the right bank, and maintained his
position the whole day in spite of Marshal Oudinot and the guards,
who came up to the aid of the Poles.

To the right, the Russians and Prussians had likewise been suc-
cessful, and drove the enemy before them as far as Probstheyda,
where, at midday, they came right in front of Napoleon. Here
was fought the most obstinate battle ; for upon the retention of this
village depended the fate of the whole French army. Thence
Napoleon had assembled within and around it, large bodies of
troops of all arms, and had erected besides several strong intrench-

682 PBOBSTHEYDA — THE ALLIES VICTORIOUS.

ments; whilst he himself -remained on the spot with his guards, in
order to furnish aid without a moment's loss of time, every house in
the village being converted into a kind of citadel. The Prussians,
nevertheless, under the command of Prince Augustus and Pirch,
penetrated into the place after a fierce and heroic combat; but it
was only for a moment, for they were unable to maintain their
ground. A strong division of Russians now advanced to the attack,
but they were likewise repulsed, and were equally unable with all their
courage to make themselves masters of the village. The carnage was
so great that the allied troops could scarcely move along, the bodies
of their slain comrades completely choking up every passage. At
length the three allied sovereigns, having from a neighbouring
height where they were assembled in order to watch the progress
of the battle, observed the superhuman efforts made by their brave
troops in that quarter, gave orders at five o'clock to give up the
contest for the place, and spare the lives of the men ; especially as
the victory was now made decisive in different parts of the field,
and Napoleon had, in fact, already given orders to Marshal Ber-
trand to retire with his troops from Lindenau towards the Saale — an
undeniable proof that he had decided upon the retreat of his whole
army.

Such were the results produced in this part of the field of battle.
On the west side Bennigsen attacked Marshal Macdonald, who
was ordered to defend the French lines in this direction. The mar-
shal maintained his position with great bravery, especially in Holz-
hausen, which was taken and retaken several times. At length,
however, about two o'clock, the Austrians and Russians made them-
selves masters of this place; whilst the Prussians took Zuckel-
hausen, and now Macdonald retired to Stb'tteritz, close to Probst-
heyda. The whole of the troops which had formed the centre were
now concentrated around these two villages, and they maintained
their position there until night.

On the left wing, however, Marshal Ney experienced the most
severe defeat of the whole day. He had under his charge the de-
fence of the entire line of country from Macdoriald's position to the
Partha; but he found it impossible to hold out against the two armies
— the Northern and Silesian — which now advanced against him,
and he was forced to retreat to within a short distance of Leipsic
itself. The two armies crossed the Partha in two directions, Bliicher,
with the Russians, fording the river at once near Mockau, although
up to the waist in water, because he found it would take up too
much time to cross over by Taucha. The French, under Mar-
mont, made no resistance, but retreated in all haste to Schonfeld;
whilst the Saxon regiments of hussars and lancers, together with
several battalions of infantry, received the allies with open arms and
joined their ranks at once.

About midday the army of the north which had remained to
cross the river at Taucha, advanced to fill up the gap left between

THE SAXONS JOIN THE ALLIES. 683

Bliicher to the right and Bennigsen to the left, thus making the
line perfect in its whole extent, and by which the French were gra-
dually surrounded more and more closely. Langeron, at the head
of the Russians, took possession of Schonfeld, on the Partha, which,
however, was defended with the greatest obstinacy by Marmont.
The contest lasted four hours, and fresh troops, on both sides, were
continually brought forward; until, at length, between five and six
o'clock, when the village and its church were completely in flames,
the French quitted the place and retreated by Reudnitz and Volk-
mansdorf to Leipsic. Ney and Regnier, who had to maintain pos-
session of the open country beyond Paunsdorf, being attacked, in
the afternoon, by the army of the north and the Prussians under
Billow, were driven altogether out of Paunsdorf, and w^hen they at-
tempted to defend themselves in the plain the Russian and Prussian
cavalry, which had all this time been unemployed, as the fighting
had been confined to the villages, dashed with all their fury among
them, seconded by several congreve rockets, which were fired into
their squares, and spread death and destruction in every part. They
were completely overthrown and put to flight, never stopping until
they reached Volkmansdorf, and the villages were recaptured.

It was at this moment that the entire army of the Saxons, which
had been led forth, very unwillingly, to draw the sword in the cause
of Napoleon, resolved to abandon him; and forthwith marched over
in a body to the ranks of the allies, under their various commanders,
and with their ensigns flying, accompanied by the music of their
different bands, and followed by all their cannon, ammunition, and
baggage waggons.

Napoleon, completely disconcerted by this event, hastened to send
the cavalry of the guard, under the command of Nausouty, to fill up
the vacant ranks. These troops had no sooner arrived than, accom-
panied by a heavy train of artillery, they advanced to attack the
flank of Billow's division ; but the Austrians, under Billow, who
were close by, marched forward themselves to meet the enemy's
assault; whilst from another quarter the Swedes, by Bernadotte's
orders, discharged amongst their ranks the artillery just brought over
by the Saxons. The old French guard was accordingly forced to
retire and abandon possession of the country to the allies.

At length the sanguinary day approached its end ; the last rays of
the sun shed their parting genial lustre over the heads of the three
sovereigns and their distinguished companions, as, standing upon the
hill, they contemplated the gradual termination of this memorable
scene of action. Thither also Prince Schwartzenberg^ summoned a
council of war, including the principal leaders of the allied army, and
arrangements were forthwith made for the operations of the en-
suing day.

Napoleon, on his part, awaited the appearance of Anight with^im-
patience and anxiety, for then the remainder of his troops might
hope to be rescued from the further fury of the enemy. He had

684 NIGHT— NAPOLEON'S SLUMBER— ins RETREAT.

lost a ffreat deal of ground, and had reduced considerably his crescent-
formed army of the morning, so that it was now diminished into the
form of a triangle, of which one point was at Probstheyda, whence the
line joining Connewitz and the Pleisse composed one side, and that
joining Stotteritz and Volkmansdorf formed the other. Had not his
army fought with the greatest courage and, notwithstanding the dif-
ficulties with which they were beset, retreated in perfect order— for
this praise cannot be withheld from them — one of these lines of the
triangle, would inevitably have been destroyed before the evening,
Leipsic taken, and the entire army lost. Napoleon this day fought
only for a retreat, and already, at ten o'clock in the morning, im-
mense trains of baggage waggons and others of every description,
together with innumerable horses, had quitted Leipsic under an
escort of troops, belonging to General Bertrand's division.

When darkness covered the wide field of battle. Napoleon still
remained at his station on the hill near the windmill, where he sat
gazing on the watch-fire he had ordered to be lighted. He had con-
fided the charge of the retreat to his superior general, Berthier, Avho
gave the necessary orders to his aides-de-camp before another watch-
fire which appeared behind his master; during which a profound
silence reigned around. The French emperor, overcome at length
by the extraordinary exertions of the present and preceding days, as
well as by the agitations of his mind, now gradually sunk into a
slumber; with his elbows upon his knees and his head resting be-
tween his hands, he thus for a short time reposed amidst the horrors
of the gory scene around him— of that field covered with the lifeless
bodies of those who had fallen the victims of his inordinate ambition
and pride. His generals near him preserved a deep and gloomy silence,
which was interrupted at intervals by the low murmuring noise of
the retreating columns as they marched underneath at the base of the
hill, or pursued their course in the distant plain. At the end of a
quarter of an hour Napoleon awoke, and cast around him a look of
inquietude and wonder. The present reality may have struck him
for a moment as a dream, for, starting up from his chair, he mounted
his horse and galloped on to Leipsic, which he re-entered at nine
o'clock.

The retreat of the whole army through Leipsic commenced im-
mediately after midnight; but as the various regiments, marching
from all parts of the field of battle, could arrive by one route alone—
the narrow paved road of Ranstadt — considerable obstruction and
confusion was unavoidable; waggons and cannons were mingled and
clogged together, whilst the foot soldiers with difficulty extricated
themselves from this scene of disorder. The rear-guard was ordered
ip remain behind and defend Leipsic as long as was possible, and
although the place was not fortified, the utmost was done to render
it strong by forming intrenchments, barricading the gates, and put-
ting in a^state of defence the moats and garden walls.

Meantime the allied army, by no means inclined to permit the

THE ELSTER BRIDGE— THE ALLIES ENTER LEIPSIC. 685

French to retire so quietly and carry away with them the spoils and
supplies of ammunition they had accumulated in Germany, ad-
vanced at eight o'clock in the morning and stormed the gates of the
city. This ^ sudden attack increased the disorder still reigning, and
Napoleon himself was forced to quit the place by a bye-path. The
allies might have added to this embarrassment considerably, and
have caused more extensive destruction if they had brought their
artillery to bear against the gates and walls of the city. But such
a proceeding, which must have involved the innocent as well as the
guilty in one common ruin, would have been too cruel, and they,
accordingly, confined themselves to storming the gates. The French
and the Poles made an obstinate resistance and disputed every inch
of ground; the victory, however, was not long doubtful, and the
allied troops made themselves masters of the city.

It was just at this moment that the bridge on the other side of the
city, that of the Elster-Muhlengraben,the only one left for the French
to cross over, was blown up in the air, without its being known po-
sitively by what cause : whether by command of Napoleon to secure
his army from the pursuit of the allied troops, or whether it origi-
nated in the too precipitate alarm of the officer in charge of it. An
exclamation of horror arose from the crowds as they hastened to
reach the spot in time to cross. A great number threw themselves
into the Elster, in order to swim to the other side, but the majority
were either drowned or perished in the mud-banks. Several of the
generals sprang likewise with their horses into the river, in order to
escape being made prisoners; but they nearly all lost their lives,
and amongst the sufferers was Prince Poniatowsky, whom but three
days before, Napoleon had created a field-marshal of France ; Mac-
donald fortunately escaped, whilst Regnier, Bertrand, and Lauriston
were taken prisoners.

Napoleon lost more men on this day than on the day of battle
itself. More than 15,000 well armed soldiers were taken prisoners
after the bridge was blown up, and more that 25,000 sick and
wounded were abandoned and left to the discretion of the con-
querors. In the city, and on the road leading to it, an incredible
quantity of cannon and ammunition waggons were everywhere scat-
tered, of which more than 300 of the former, and 1000 of the
latter, fell into the hands of the allies.

At one o'clock, the Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia,
attended by their numerous staff of generals, entered the city of
Leipsic, the acclamations of their own brave troops mingling with
those of the happy inhabitants, who greeted with joy the appearance
of their deliverers ; the Emperor Francis arrived a few days later,
and participated in this glorious scene.

686 BAVARIA — GENERAL WREDE — HANAU.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Napoleon's Retreat across the Rhine— Bavaria— General Wrede— Hanau— The
allied Forces invade France— The Minister Von Stein— Their rapid March-
Napoleon against Bliicher— Battle of Brienne— Battle of Rothiere— Repulse of
the French— Temporary Successes of Napoleon— The Congress of ChatiUon—
Napoleon's Confidence restored— His Declaration— Bliicher's bold Movement—
Soissons— Laon— Napoleon against Schwartzenberg— Rheims— Arcis —Napoleon's
desperate Courage and final Charge with his Cavalry.

BAVARIA, by the treaty of Hied, had already joined the grand al-
liance before the battle of Leipsic ; and she now sent her general, Mar-
shal Wrede, to the provinces on the Maine with a large army, to
which were united some Austrian and Wiirtemberg troops, in order to
oppose the passage of the French across the Rhine, and effect their
total annihilation. Wrede directed his march to Hanau and Frank-
fort, whilst the grand army of the allies pursued the fugitives from
another side, and York especially overtook and attacked them at
Freiburg on the Unstrut, causing them great loss. In front and on
each side of them, they were harassed by Czernitschef and other
light troops, and all who detached themselves from the main body
were made prisoners. Thus they proceeded along the route from
Leipsic to Erfurt, and thence to the Rhine, abandoning at every
moment all that could not follow in their train, cannons, baggage, and
such of their comrades as were too ill to proceed along with them ;
for the march was so rapid and continuous, that at the end of eleven
days, the army had already reached Frankfort.

Napoleon arrived with the remnant of his forces of from 70,000 to
80,000 men before Hanau, where he encountered Marshal Wrede,
who determined to oppose his passage, although his army was
inferior in number ; for if he succeeded in detaining him until the
arrival of the allied grand army, his ruin was certain. This Napo-
leon well knowing, he employed his guard, as yet in good condition,
to force their passage onwards. During three entire days, the 29th,
30th, and 31st of October, the contest was carried on with the
greatest obstinacy before and within the town of Hanau, Marshal
Wrede himself being severely wounded. Finally, however, the
French succeeded in cutting their way through, although at a great
loss.

On the 2nd of November Napoleon gained the banks of the
Rhine, which he now saw for the last time ; he was immediately
followed in all haste by his troops over the bridge of Mentz, whilst
General Bertrand intrenched himself on the heights of Hochheim.
This, however, was not tolerated by the allies, who would not
suffer the French to possess an inch of ground on this side of the
Rhine; accordingly, on the 9th of November, Prince Schwartzen-

THE ALLIES INVADE FRANCE— THEIR ARMIES. 687

berg caused him to be attacked by General Giulay, and lie was
forced to retreat to Mentz. The three allied sovereigns were now
reunited in Frankfort, where they determined together upon the
continuation of the war.

With the commencement of the new year, 1814, the allied
powers, seeing clearly that nothing but the sword could decide be-
tween them and their obstinate adversary, redoubled their efforts,
confiding in their superior strength and in the justice of their cause.
The Russians brought at least 200,000 men into the field; the
Prussians 160,000 ; and Austria 230,000 equally divided on the
Rhine, in Italy, and in the interior of Germany. In addition to
these forces, the brave Field-marshal Wellington, had already
placed his foot on the French territory with the British army of
80,000 men. Finally the other states of Germany furnished their
contingent of troops of 150,000 to 160,000 men.

These were divided into eight distinct corps, viz. : the first com-
prised 36,000 Bavarians under General Wrede; the second was
under the command of the Duke of Brunswick, and consisted of
33,000 Brunswickers, Hanoverians, Oldenburgers and Mecklen-
burgers, together with some Hanseatic troops; the third, amount-
Ing to 23,000 men from the Saxon territories, was commanded by
the Duke of Saxe- Weimar; the fourth, consisting of 14,000 Hes-
sians, was led on by the Elector of Hesse-Cassel himself; the fifth,
comprising 10,000 men from the provinces of Waldeck, Lippe,
Nassau, Coburg, Meiningen, Hildburghausen and Strelitz, was
under the orders of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg; the sixth was com-
manded by the Prince of Hesse-Homburg, and formed the con-
tingent furnished by Darmstadt, Wiirzburg, Frankfort-on4he-
Maine, Isenburg, and Reuss; the seventh consisted of 12,000 Wur-
tembergers under the leadership of their own Crown Prince him-
self; and, lastly, the eighth was placed under the command of the
Baden general, Count von Hochberg, which included the troops of
Baden, Hohenzollern, and Lichtenstein.

Although the entire mass of these troops could not be sent into
the field all at once, and there was a necessity for continuing to retain
possession of a great extent of country, whilst many thousands of
troops were required to invest the numerously fortified towns which
the allies would not lose time in laying formal siege to, it is, never-
theless, certain, that an army consisting of at least 500,000 men was
now in full march against France, and which would surround the
enemy's forces, not amounting now to half that number. At the
same time, in the rear of the allied army every preparation was
made necessary to ensure its complete equipment and organisation,
for which purpose, and in order that operations might be carried
on with all possible order and uninterrupted unanimity, a sort of
central administration or council of war was established and pre-
sided over by a man who might truly be characterised as a hero,
and one, too, who worked indefatigably for the liberty of our coun-

688 MINISTER VON STEIN — RAPID MARCH OF THE ALLIES.

try, although not actually marching at the head of her armies. This
noble-minded patriot and persevering champion was the Minister,
Baron von Stein. He was one of those who, whilst Germany was
sighing under the joke of the usurper, ^indignantly and resolutely
spurned every attempt made to render him subservient ; for, on the
contrary, he never ceased, as before stated, devoting his superior ge-
nius as well as all his thoughts and actions towards the emancipation
of his country, and gaining thus the confidence of his fellow-coun-
trymen, he was looked up to as a tower of strength in their cause.
When the war of 1812 broke out against Russia, he repaired thither
at the head of many others of an equally bold and dauntless mind,
in order to assist in annihilating the expedition thus directed against
a nation whose energy was well known to, and appreciated by him.
The Emperor Alexander found in him all the support he so much
needed at that all-important, trying moment, and it must ever be
acknowledged that it is to the bold and active genius of Von Stein
that Germany owes her complete deliverance from the yoke of
foreign despotism.

During the first twenty days of January, the allies had already
traversed Switzerland, Franche-Comte, Alsace, Lorraine, and Bur-
gundy, without meeting with any obstacle ; and the mountains of
the Jura, the Waldensis, the Hundsruck, and the forest of Ar-
dennes, together with numerous rivers and a triple line of fortifica-
tions on the frontiers, were all happily captured and cleared, and
the armies of Schwartzenberg and Bliicher were already, within a
short distance of each other, in full march along the banks of the
Seine and the Aube, and within some ninety or a hundred miles of
Paris itself. Now, however, Napoleon entered the field at the head
of his army. His object was to penetrate between his enemies, pre-
vent their junction, drive them back one after the other to the moun-
tains they had just left, where the effects of the winter and the
armed inhabitants would combine together to render their retreat
one equally disastrous and fatal. Bliicher had established his
head-quarters in Brienne, a small town near the Aube, with a
castle which had served as a military school for young French-
men, and where Napoleon had himself learnt that science in which he
afterwards so distinguished himself. Suddenly the French appeared
and attacked the town. The assault was repulsed, but as soon as it
was dusk, the French general, Chateau, who was well acquainted
with the localities of the place, penetrated with his grenadiers into
the gardens of the castle as far as the terrace itself, without being
observed. Bliicher was in great danger of being taken, and had
scarcely time to mount his horse and escape by a private road. He
immediately placed himself at the head of his troops, and inspiring
them with the most undaunted courage, he warned them not to let
the enemy boast of having put them to flight on their first en-
counter upon French ground, and he maintained the conquest until
midnight, and completely drove back the left wing of the enemy,

BLUCHER AT BRIENNE— ROTEIERE.

689

not abandoning the place before it was set on fire by the French,
" in order," as he wrote in his despatch, " that Napoleon might set
fire to his cradle with his own hand." Nevertheless, the latter did
not succeed in cutting off Bliicher's army from that of Schwartzen-
berg.

The battle of Brienne took place on the 29th of January, and on
the 1st of February the intrepid Blucher was already again on the
same spot, drawn up in battle array. He had not as yet assembled
all his troops, for Langeron was still at Mentz, and York and Kleist
were en route; but Schwartzenberghad furnished him with the greater
part of his army — the divisions of Giulay and the Prince of Wiirtem-
berg — together with the Russian reserve corps : by which means he
found himself sufficiently strong to advance against Napoleon. The
latter had taken up a strong position in the neighbourhood of Brienne,
and established his centre in the village of Rothiere, about four miles
distant. The battle began at midday at all points. To the right the
Prince of Wiirtemberg, having paved his way through the forest of
Eclance, took possession of the villages of Lagibrie and Petit-
Mesnil. On the side of the Wlirtembergers, General Wrede, at the
head of the Bavarians and Austrians, advanced likewise and con-
quered the villages of Morvilliers and Chaumenil, and thus laid
bare the whole of Napoleon's left wing. The latter now came up
himself with the artillery of his guard, and fired upon Morvilliers,
whence he succeeded in dislodging the Bavarians. Wrede now
detached his best regiment of cavalry, commanded by the brave
Diez, which forthwith threw itself upon the French, and com-
pletely routed them.

Meantime the battle was continued with the utmost fury in the
village of Rothiere, which formed the principal point in the position
held by the French. Here Napoleon commanded in person, and
continually brought up fresh troops against the Russians. On the
other side, the Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia en-
couraged on their troops by their presence, whence prodigies of
valour were performed. At length Marshal Blucher placed him-
self at the head of his troops, and threw himself into the village,
exclaiming, " Forwards !" The village was carried and taken
definitively. The right wing of the enemy, which had defended
the village of Dieuville against Giulay, was likewise forced to re-
treat at midnight, and the victory was now decisive at all points.

The allies finding that Napoleon's force was not so extensive as
they imagined, and knowing that the late actions must have reduced
it still more, deemed a combined plan of operations unnecessary,
and determined therefore to divide their armies : that of Blucher to
take the route towards the Marne, whilst that of Schwartzenberg was
to proceed along the Seine. This was exactly what Napoleon wished ;
for by this separation he should be enabled to resort to his former
promptitude of manoeuvering. He maintained his position between
the two armies, and watching his opportunity, alternately attacked

2 Y

690 SUCCESSES OF NAPOLEON— CONGRESS AT CHATILLON.

the one or the other division as his prey, and overpowered it by the
superiority of his forces.- By this means, he succeeded in obtaining
those temporary successes which enabled him to detain them on their
march to Paris several months.

The Silesian army, accordingly, advanced towards the capital by
the route of Champagne, in detached bodies ; JSacken to the rear,
Kleist the centre, and Bliicher, general-in-chief, brought up the
rear division of Kleist. The Russian advanced-guard had now
arrived to within fifteen leagues of Paris, which many of the inhabi-
tants were now abandoning in all haste, believing the emperor's reign
completely at an end. Suddenly, however, the latter, being now rein-
forced with 20,000 men of the old troops, which he had conveyed from
Spain in coaches and light waggons, obliquely traversed the immense
plains between the Seine and the Marne, in spite of the represen-
tations of his generals, who held the execution of his plan to be im-
possible; and, 'although forced to leave his cannons in the mud behind
him, he came in front of the enemy, and seeking his opportunity, fell
upon the rear-guard of Sacken, commanded by General Olsufiew,
cutting the moiety of them in pieces, or making them prisoners.
This was the first ray of good fortune which once more shone upon Na-
poleon, and reproduced confidence within him. He wrote to the
Duke of Vicenza, his plenipotentiary at the congress of Chatillon,
then sitting, that his arms had been once more crowned with a bril-
liant victory, and that the French government might now reassume
its independent, dictatorial tone.

Meantime, Field-marshal Bliicher, when news reached him of the
danger threatened, marched with all possible haste en route for
Champaubert with Kleist's division, and the Russians under General
Kapczewitsch, in all about 20,000 men. But the generals whom he
wished to join had already recrossed the Marne, and on the 14th he
found himself attacked by the French, with a far superior force.
Their cavalry threw itself upon the two wings, whilst the infantry
and artillery attacked the centre with such desperate fury, that on
the first onset several of the Prussian battalions were completely de-
stroyed. In addition to this force, the allies found another body of
French cavalry advancing upon them in their rear upon the high road
between Champaubert and Etoges. No other resource was left them
now but to trust to their courage and resolution and cut their way
through. They formed themselves into solid squares, and advanced
with charged bayonet against the cavalry, which gave way before
them. ^ The enemy now attacked them in the flank, and harassed
them in every direction, in order to bring their ranks into disorder ;
but by the able management of the brave and prudent general, Gnei-
senau, the furious attacks were received with firm and unshaken cou-
rage and order, and to this alone is the preservation of the army to
be attributed.

At length night arrived, and promised the Prussians the repose
they so much needed. They, however, were forced to encounter

NAPOLEON'S CONFIDENCE— HIS DECLARATIONS. 691

some hard fighting when they arrived at Etoges ; but they once more
opened for themselves a road at the point of the bayonet, and gained
at length their former position at Vergeres. The divisions of the
Silesian army united together behind the Marne, and shortly after
marched towards the Aube, in order to form a junction with the
grand army.

Napoleon was delighted beyond all measure in being able once
again to boast of his victories in his bulletins and gazettes ; but these
triumphant strains were very speedily hushed when it was known
as a certainty, that the advanced guard of Schwartzenberg was only
ten leagues distant from the capital, whilst the French army was
fighting on the Marne. Napoleon gave up at once all further pur-
suit of the Silesian troops, in order to turn his force against Schwartz-
enberg. The latter had detached Wrede and Wittgenstein to the
rear of the French army, in order to relieve the Silesian army ; but
as all the operations in that quarter had been extremely rapid, the
aid came too late, and these two generals found themselves opposed
to Napoleon, who with his superior army forced them, after a severe
action, to retreat to the Seine. The brave Prince of Wiirtemberg,
who led the advanced-guard of the grand army, had taken up his
position with his Wiirtembergers and Austrians, in the village of
Montereau. Napoleon, after pursuing Wittgenstein, on the 17th of
February, as far as Nangis, made a violent attack on the prince's
troops on the 18th. The latter, nevertheless, maintained themselves
firmly throughout the whole day; but having expended all their
ammunition, and finding themselves taken in the flank by the
French, they were forced to give way and to recross the river.

These ten days of success restored to Napoleon all his former pre-
sumption, especially as just at this moment Marshal Augereau sent
him a message from Lyons, that he had driven back the Austrian
general, Bubna, as far as Geneva, and was penetrating into Switzer-
land with a powerful body of troops. If the French general suc-
ceeded in reconquering that country, then the retreat of the allied
army must be completely cut off, and already calculating upon this
conquest, Napoleon's imagination foresaw Alsace and Lorraine rising
en masse against the allies, and all the numerous garrisons along the
frontiers uniting with the National Guard to annihilate the enemy.
Thence, although the conference at Chatillon was still continued, he
would no longer hear of peace; and when, among the terms stipu-
lated, it was required that he should resign Holland and Italy, he
exclaimed: " What are our enemies thinking of? Tell them, I am
at this moment closer to Vienna than they are to Paris ! "

Paris was in a state of joyful excitement, and the whole of France
shared in the hopes of the emperor. At the same time any acute
observer could easily see that it was merely a moment of illusion;
for although the grand army did partially withdraw, still it was in
accordance with the plan of the campaign, and not after any general
defeat, nor because there was any discouragement in the spldiers,

692 BLUCHER'S BOLD MARCH — SOISSONS — LAON.

who, on the contrary, were more eager than ever to march to

Paris.

Meantime, at head-quarters, the question of a peace was seriously
discussed, and it was already suggested, that the allied forces should
gradually retire to the Rhine, in order to await the result of the con-
ference held at Chatillon. The veteran Bliicher, however, opposed
this with his whole force. He offered, in a despatch he sent to the
allied sovereigns, from his quarters at Merry, to march direct to
Paris, and thus draw off Napoleon frorn the grand army, if they
would place under his orders the divisions of Billow and Win-
zengerode. He would then find himself again at the head of an ex-
cellent army of 100,000 men, and with that alone he would venture to
threaten the capital without any further delay. His wish was accorded.
This unexpected movement — pronounced by a French historian to
be the boldest throughout the campaign — completely disconcerted
the French emperor, who was at this moment in Troyes. He had
just refused the offer of an armistice, and already beheld himself in
imagination once again on the banks of the Rhine, whereas he found
himself now forced to abandon the grand allied army and devote all
his attention to the bold adversary he thought he had completely
beaten.

Napoleon's object was to come up with the old marshal before he
had formed a junction with the other corps of the army, from which
he was separated by the river Aisne. But Blilow and Winzengerode
had already laid siege to Soissons, situated on this river, where an
excellent bridge formed a desirable point of reunion for the two
armies. This strongly fortified city contained a numerous garrison,
but Billow forthwith made preparations for the assault. Already,
towards night, the scaling ladders were fixed and the assailants about
to mount them, when the commandant of the place, not aware of
Napoleon's presence in the vicinity, surrendered the city, and retired
with his garrison. Bliicher immediately crossed the river and ad-
vanced northwards as far as Laon, where he united all his forces and
took up a strong position near that city. Napoleon, in order to
grapple with and overthrow this daring opponent, pursued him
closely on the other side of the river, although by so doing he left
more and more distant in his rear both the grand army of the allies
and Paris itself, which was three-and-thirty leagues off.

On the 7th of March he attacked Winzengerode and Woronzow
in their intrenched position on the heights of Craone, and only forced
them to retreat to^Laon after he himself had suffered a great loss.
Here Bliicher awaited him, having made the city, which was situated
upon an almost impregnable height, the central point of his position.
On the 9th of March, at break of day, the French attacked and took

ie village of Semilly, at the base of the hill, which, however, they

itemed only a short time, being driven from it by Billow's troops,

JNapoleon did not venture to ascend the height. The contest,

>otn wings, lasted the entire day, Napoleon's object being espe-

NAPOLEON AGAINST SCHWARTZENBERG— ARCIS. 693

cially to drive the Prussians from the high road to Belgium. To-
wards midday he succeeded in obtaining the advantage, and the
Prussian advanced-guard was forced to abandon the village of Athis;
but, in the evening, Generals Kleist and York resolved to annihilate
his plan at once by a coup de main. As soon as it was completely
dark, and the enemy, believing the sanguinary day at an end, had
already lighted their fires in the camp, the Prussians returned to
the attack. Every thing succeeded ; the enemy was utterly over-
thrown and forty-six pieces of artillery captured. This complete
victory was gained with scarcely any loss on the side of the Prus-
sians; whilst that of the corps of Marmont, which had suffered this
defeat, was very considerable.

Napoleon was not a little mortified at finding this attack upon the
Silesian army so unsuccessful. Nothing now remained for him but
to turn his arms against Schwartzenberg, surprise the grand army,
and endeavouring to separate it, attack and destroy each detached
corps.

The commander-in-chief had again taken up his position on the
Aube, whither he had marched immediately after(the departure of
Napoleon in pursuit of the Silesian army. The issue of operations
between Bliicher and Napoleon he soon learnt by the sudden ap-
pearance of the latter himself, who returned from Laon to commence
his movements against the grand army. He had scarcely arrived
before he, on the 13th of March, suddenly attacked and took the
town of Rheims, which was occupied by General Saint- Priest and
the Russians, killed that general, and on the 20th he was in front
of the grand army, and took possession of Arcis-sur-Aube. He
hoped by a prompt manoeuvre to bring the allies into confusion, and
thus be enabled to make the attack contemplated; but he found their
ranks too firmly knit together, and he was thus, a second time, de-
feated in his design. The Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia
themselves, who were resolved not to defer longer a decisive battle, had
hastened by forced marches to rejoin the army, and on this day, the
20th of March, a most serious engagement took place near Arcis;
The regiments of French guard were repulsed with so much force,
that Napoleon, in order not to lose such an important place, drew
his own sword, and rallying the flying squadrons, placed himself
at their head, and led them on to the attack again. In this charge
he exposed himself so much that, in order to defend himself against
a cossack who rushed upon him with his lance, he was forced to fire
at him one of his own pistols. A great number of his staff were
killed and wounded around him, and his own horse was shot under
him; nevertheless, instead of shunning danger he appeared only to
court it. It was only by these extraordinary exertions, and the ar-
rival of a reinforcement of infantry, that he was enabled to save the
town.

694 FRENCH AND ALLIED ARMIES IN BATTLE ARRAY.

CHAPTER XL.

The French and Allied Armies in Battle Array— Napoleon's sudden and mysterious
Retreat before Action— His secret Designs for the Destruction of the Allies— His
Plot discovered — The Allies before Paris — Its Capitulation — Triumphant Entry
of the Allies in that City— Napoleon Deposed— Louis XVIII. King of France-
Napoleon at Fontainebleau— His Abdication— Banishment to Elba— Peace signed
in Paris — Conclusion.

THE allied army prepared for a grand and final action on the
following day ; Napoleon himself formed his line of battle in front of
Arcis, and the two armies thus facing each other waited a consider-
able time — extending even to several hours — for each other's attack.
In truth it was a solemn moment, and one portending the most im-
portant and decisive results to the whole world. It was during this
interval that Napoleon brought into operation a plan he had long
contemplated, and upon which he based all hopes ; but which, never-
theless, produced his ruin. Whilst, therefore, the eyes of the allied
army were anxiously fixed upon his movements, it was observed to
their no little astonishment, that the ranks of the enemy were broken
up, and the troops, crossing over the Aube in confused masses, were
seen ascending the opposite hills, and the field of battle was aban-
doned by them without a blow being struck. After long considera-
tion, Napoleon felt he had already good reason to remember how
often he had met the allied armies in the open field, and he accord-
ingly determined now to change the plan of battle.

His manoeuvre this time was to gain the rear of Schwartzenberg
by forced marches, and as the allies would doubtless fall back in order
to^ secure for themselves a safe retreat, he was in good hopes they
might fall into the various ambuscades, which he would take good
care, with the aid of the different garrisons and the inhabitants them-
selves, to have planted ready to meet them in Lorraine and Alsace.
He had, in fact, long since made his preparations for the execution
of this design; all his commandants throughout those countries hav-
ing received his instructions to this effect through secret messengers
and spies. The inhabitants entered most cordially into the spirit of
the plot, and had already commenced operations, by concealing them-
selves in^the woods, narrow passes, and cross roads, and attacking all
the couriers, and small detachments of soldiers proceeding in those
directions. All the convoys were stopped, and the allies already
began to experience the want of ammunition; and thus a retreat
must have produced the total ruin of the allied armies.

Meantime, a letter addressed by Napoleon to the empress, in which

ie detailed to her the whole of his plan, was found upon one of his

messengers who was taken prisoner, and was the means of making

NAPOLEON'S RETREAT — ins PLOT DISCOVERED.

695

the whole plot known to the allies. This then was a most important
moment for them. One party held it advisable to secure their re-
treat and march back to the Rhine, the other again, more confident,
deemed it preferable to proceed direct to Paris which could not re-
sist, and this last counsel was adopted. It was resolved to leave
Napoleon in the rear, and that the grand army should forthwith
march in advance, in order to form a junction with Bliicher on the
Marne.

^ On the following day, the 24th of March, it was found that the
Silesian army was already in the vicinity, and the council of war,
assembled at Vitry, resolved at once that the two united armies
should march for Paris, and that General Winzengerode should re-
main behind to meet Napoleon with 10,000 cavalry and flying
artillery, in order to make him believe that the main body of the
allied army followed them in the rear.

After various victories, the allied armies marched forwards in
conjunction, and arrived at length on the 29th of March, towards
evening, before the gates of the proud city, which had styled itself
the capital of the whole world. Joseph, Napoleon's brother, and
formerly King of Spain, was there with numerous partisans, and he
continued to deceive the inhabitants, by assuring them, that it was
merely a detachment of the allied army, which had advanced for the

Eurpose of frightening the city. Marshals Marmont and Mortier
ad assembled all the troops they could muster, and posted them on
the heights outside the city, with all their artillery ; their army thus
distributed on the Montmartre and other hills, consisted alto-
gether of 25,000 men, and 150 pieces of cannon. Their object was
to hold the allies at bay until the emperor marched up to their
relief.

Napoleon was in truth advancing with ail speed to their aid, but
he was at two great a distance to arrive in time. He had been the
victim of his blind confidence, and had thus given the allied army
the advantage of four days' march in advance of him. Generals
Winzengerode and Czernitschef had completely deceived him, in
making him believe they were the advanced-guard of the allied army
in pursuit of Mm, and he already congratulated himself upon the suc-
cessful results of his ruse. Nevertheless, finding the troops con-
sisted of nothing else but cavalry, and that not a single foot soldier was
visible, he became suspicious, and determined to convince himself, he
attacked General Winzengerode, who was accordingly forced to give
way before him. Still he could ascertain nothing certain, until the
29th of March, when an estafette arrived from Paris and met him
at Doulancourt, on the Aube. He hastened to peruse the contents
of these mysterious despatches, and was struck as by a clap of thun-
der, when he found that the allies were before the gates of the
capital, whilst he himself was at that moment more than forty
leagues distant ! He lost not a moment, but abandoning his army

696 THE ALLIES BEFORE PARIS— HIS CAPITULATION.

distance the heavy cannonading before his capital, and on the 30th,
at six o'clock in the evening, on reaching Fromenteau, five leagues
from the metropolis, he learnt he had arrived a few hours too late
—Paris had surrendered. Napoleon was only separated by the
Seine from the advanced posts of the allied army ; the fires from their
bivouacs lighted up the whole length of the left bank, whilst the
darkness of the night concealed from observation the presence of
himself, a few companions, and the two post-chaises. At four o'clock
on the following morning, when he was convinced positively that
the capitulation was signed, he turned his horses' heads and drove
off to Fontainebleau.

On the morning of the 30th of March, General Barclai de Tolly,
who commanded the Russians and Prussians, under the orders of
Prince Schwartzenberg, commander-in-chief, attacked the heights of
Belleville, which formed the central point of defence. The contest was
extremely obstinate, and at the same time indecisive; because the
gardens, vineyards, and shrubberies everywhere around greatly faci-
litated the means of defence, but more especially because the troops
of the Prince of Wurtemberg and Bliicher, who ought to have aided
on the right and left, did not arrive before midday. The French
artillery, which commanded a good position, did great execution in
the ranks of the brave assailants; but, finally, the heights of Belleville
were carried, and the cannon taken. Then it was that the Parisians
perceived that the troops before the place formed a more numerous
and powerful body than a mere detachment, and they soon had too
much reason to know the real state of things. At midday, the Si-
lesian army stormed the heights of Montmartre. York, Kleist, and
Langeron, drove the French before them out of all the villages, and
on this occasion, the cavalry bore a principal part in the achievements
of this day ; the black hussars, and those of Brandenburg especially,
making a most valiant attack upon the enemy — who defended the
village of La Villette to the last — and forced them to evacuate it,
and thence Montmartre fell forthwith into the hands of the allies.

At the extreme left, the Prince of Wurtemberg had, likewise, in
spite of the vigorous defence maintained by the various troops
posted in the quarter of Vincennes, forced them to give way and
advanced to the gates of the city on that side. Thus the entire army
of the allies was now assembled on and around the heights they had
conquered, ready to follow up their victory by penetrating at once
into the capital. But the two marshals, and the authorities of the
city, having come forward and offered to capitulate, it was accord-
ingly agreed that the place should be surrendered to the allies on
the following day, the 31st of March, and that the said Marshals Mar-
mont and Mortier should retire with the remnant of their troops.

NAPOLEON DEPOSED — FONTAINEBLEAU — ELBA.

697

Accordingly, as arranged, and on the day fixed, the Emperor
Alexander and the King of Prussia — the Emperor Francis having
remained behind at Lyons with his army — accompanied by their
staff, and followed by a portion of their army, made their triumph-
ant entry into the city.

On the 1st of April the Emperor Alexander published in the
name of himself and allies, a declaration, " That he would, in no
way whatever, treat either with Napoleon or any one of his family;
and the French were at liberty to choose another government."

In consequence of this decree, the municipal council of the
metropolis declared itself absolved from its oath of fealty to Napo-
leon, and demanding the restoration of the ancient royal house, that
body, on the 2nd of April, in the name of France, declared the depo-
sition of Napoleon.

This event acted with the force of a thunder-stroke upon Napo-
leon, who had continually flattered himself with the certainty of
reassembling his army, and once more trying the chances of war.
He was still at Fontainebleau, twelve leagues from Paris, where he
remained a prey to his feelings, and alternately excited by disap-
pointment and hope ; at length he resolved on marching to Paris, being
full of confidence in his army. The 3rd of April was fixed for his
departure, and already a crowd of warriors assembled to follow him ;
but just at that moment his marshals refused to act in co-operation
with him for the promotion of his design. Ney and Lefebvre fol-
lowed him into his chamber, and made known to him the fact of his
deposition, and declared they could not depend upon the army.
He was, however, still desirous of securing the crown of France for
his son, whom he had made King of Rome, and he offered to abdi-
cate on this condition ; but neither the allies nor the provisional
government would accede to it.

Accordingly, on the 6th of April, the senate acknowledged Louis
XVIII. as King of France, and invited him to ascend the throne,
whilst to Napoleon was offered the possession of the island of Elba,
on the coast of Italy. Against all expectation he calmly signed
the abdication of all his imperial power and sovereignty, and de-
parted, on the 20th of April, for his new dominion, where he arrived
and fixed his residence. Louis XVIII. made his entry in the ca-
pital on the 3rd of May, and mounted the throne of his ancestors
twenty-one years after his brother's execution.

On the 30th of May the first peace of Paris was concluded be-
tween France and Europe. France retained the same limits as she
had possessed under her kings, and consequently held possession of
Alsace and Lorraine, which in former times belonged to Germany ;
whilst she also had secured to her an extent of territory conquered
during the wars of the republic. She had likewise, in addition to
this, no share to pay of the expenses of the war; the city of Paris
was not obliged to restore the valuable productions of art and

2 z

698 PEACE SIGNED IN PARIS— CONCLUSION.

science, collected from all parts of the world, and all the thousands
of French prisoners in Germany, Russia, and England were forth-
with set at liberty.

We have now traced the history of Germany from the earliest
time down to the moment when it was fervently hoped, that the peace
of that severely-dealt- with country, together with that of Europe gene-
rally, was finally and permanently established. The restless ambition,
however, of Napoleon produced a renewal of hostilities, and once more,
but for the last time, all the sovereigns and princes of Germany, as
well as the whole of Europe, armed and advanced against him, and
Providence crowned their wishes and efforts with success. On the
memorable plains of Ligny and Waterloo, the pride and ambition ot
that dangerous man were for ever crushed, his troops completely
beaten and almost annihilated, and he himself forced eventually
to yield himself a prisoner, and end his days on the rock of St.
Helena.

It is not necessary here to describe the well-known details of a
victory unparalleled in history, the beneficial results of which have
been, and still continue to be so distinctly felt and gratefully ac-
knowledged. The great and glorious achievements of the arms of
combined Europe under Wellington and Bliicher, can never be for-
gotten or too highly appreciated.

According to the arrangements made in the general and — happily
as it has proved — lasting peace, concluded by all the powers of Europe
at the Congress of Vienna, in 1815, Germany received back all the
provinces she possessed anteriorly to the revolution, but of which
she had been deprived during that and the subsequent period.
They were now so divided amongst the members of the newly-formed
Confederation of Germany, that the majority received either the same
territories they previously owned, those granted to them by the
peace of Luneville, or such as they held at the period of the

T>1 'IT * *

Khenish League.

The members of the Confederation constituted at first a body of
thirty-eight, viz. :

Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Wurtemberg,
Baden, ^ Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Darmstadt, Holstein, Luxemburg,
Brunswick, Mecklenburg- Schwerin, Mecklenburg- Strelitz, Nassau,
Saxe- Weimar, Saxe-Gotha, Saxe-Coburg, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-
Hilburghausen, Oltenburg Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Bernburg, An-
halt-Coethen, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Schwarzburg-Rudol-
stadt^Hohenzollern-Hechingen, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Lich-
tenstein, Waldeck, Reuss (senior branch), Reuss (junior branch),
ochaumburg-Lippe, Lippe, together with the free cities of Liibeck,
brankfort-on-the-Maine, Bremen, and Hamburg. Subsequently
was added Hesse-Homburg; but, on the other hand, the house of

THE STATES OF GERMANY — HOLY ALLIANCE.

699

Saxe-Gotha becoming extinct, in 1825, it was incorporated with
that of Coburg, so that the number of members still remained
thirty-eight. The ducal houses of Saxony are divided thus : Saxe-
Coburg-Gotha ; Saxe-Meiningen-Hilburghausen ; and Saxe-Al-
tenburg.

Austria has received back her faithful Tyrol, together with Salz-
burg and the country around ; Bavaria rules over her own here-
ditary lands as well as Franconia; whilst, as an indemnification
for the losses she sustained, she has been accorded the Palatinate
of the Rhine ; her entire population thus forming more than
4,000,000 of subjects. Wiirtemberg holds dominion in Swabia
over more than 1,500,000 subjects, and is separated by the Black
Forest from Baden, whose possessions extend along the Rhine to
Basle, and beyond Manheim, through a beautiful and fertile country.
Hesse-Darmstadt has likewise enlarged her former line of territory
very considerably, and holds in her possession the city of Mentz,
the most important stronghold of the Confederation. Above all
the rest, however, the King of Prussia has under his sovereignty the
greatest number of subjects speaking the mother tongue, amounting
to more than 14,000,000. So that Prussia is at the present moment
one entire, and all but exclusively, German state.

As regards the government of Germany, it has been converted by
the so-called Holy Alliance into a confederation of free and inde-
pendent states, according to the following decrees : —

" The object of the alliance is the maintenance of the internal
and external security of Germany, together with the independence
and inviolability of the confederated states.

" All the members of the alliance have, as such, equal and uni-
form rights.

" The general interests of the body shall be discussed and arranged
at a Diet, the seat of which it is appointed shall be fixed at Frank-
fort-on-the-Maine, and at which Austria shall hold the presidency ;
this diet is perpetual, and the period for the adjournment of the
session, when the state of business allows, must not extend beyond
four months at the most.

" The assembly must devote its attention especially to the subject
of the fundamental laws of the" Confederation and its organic regu-
lations in connexion with its internal, external, and military re-
lations.

" All the members of the Confederation promise to unite together

Zinst any and every attack, and when a war takes place they
Ige themselves not to enter upon any secret compact, nor con-
clude any partial armistice or peace with the enemy. Meantime
they reserve to themselves the right of forming alliances of every
kind, but they bind themselves down not to conclude any one such
alliance which may injuriously affect the welfare and security of
the country, or be opposed to the interests of any one individual
member. At the same time the members shall not be allowed,

700 DECREES AND FORCES OF THE CONFEDERATION.

under any pretext whatever, to carry on a war against each other,
but shall lay all matters of dispute before the Diet, which shall either
mediate or adjudge accordingly, and to the decision of which the
parties must submit.

"In all the states of the Confederation there shall be a consti-
tutional government (Landstandische Verfassung).

" The difference of Christian sects cannot affect the enjoyment of
civil and political rights in any of the states of the Confederation ;
but as amelioration is necessary in the civil condition of those pro-
fessing the Jewish faith, the Diet of the Confederation shall advise
and determine upon the matter.

" The subjects of the German princes shall have the right to pass
from one state into the other, and to accept of either civil or mili-
tary service therein, if no military engagement already binds them
to their native place.

" The Diet shall occupy itself with the formation of laws for the
liberty of the press and against piracy, as well as for the commercial
and trading intercourse between the states of the Confederation.

" Further, the Diet has decreed the exact numerical force of the
army of the Confederation to be maintained in peace and war ; of
what arms it shall consist; a fixed contingent to be supplied by
each member ; to whom and by whom the chief command shall be
given ; and, finally, how many and what fortifications shall be gar-
risoned and maintained by the Confederation."

The army of the Confederation consists of 300,000 men : to which
Austria contributes 94,000; Prussia, 79,000; Bavaria, 35,000;
Wurtemberg, 13,600 ; Hanover, 13,000 ; Saxony, (the king-
dom,) 12,000; Baden, 10,000; Hesse-Darmstadt, 6000; Hesse-
Cassel, 5400; and thus in proportion the other members. The
whole army is placed under the command of one general-in-chief,
who is appointed by the Diet, to whom he renders the oath of duty
and service, and from whom he receives authority and orders, and
to which body, likewise, he is bound to send in his reports. The Diet
also appoints a lieutenant-general as his representative or successor
in command. The army is divided into ten distinct corps, the
leaders of which receive their orders only from the general-in-chief.
Of these ten corps Austria contributes three; Prussia, three; Ba-
varia, one; and the remaining three are formed out of the other
contingents. The fortified places garrisoned and maintained by
the Confederation are Mentz, Luxemburg, and Landau.

THE END.

C. WHITING, BEAUFORT IIOUSR, STRANI>.

filNDINo s<

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A history of Germany