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LIST OF HISTORICAL WORKS.
THE STUBEHT'S KAHITAL 07 AVCIENT HISTOET:
Containiiig the Political Histoiy, Oeoeraphical Position, and Social
State of the Prindpal Nations of Antiquity.
By William Cookb Tatlob, LL.D. Seventh Edition, post 8vo. 6t,
AH ESSAT OH THE HISTOEY OP THE EHOUSH
GOVEEVHEHT AED COESTITnTIOE, FEOM
THE EEIOE OF HEEET VII. TO THE
PEESEHT TIME.
By John Eabl Eitssell. Fourth Edition. Crown 8to. d«.
THE COESTITirnOEAL
HISTOET OF EHOLAED SIECE THE ACCESSIOH OF
OEOEOE in. 1700—1860.
By Thomas EBSxnnE Mat, C.B. Second Edition. 2 toIs. 8to. 33«.
THE HISTOET OF EHOLAED FEOM THE ACCESSIOH
OF JAMES n.
By Lord Macaulat.
LiBaABT EomoN, 6 vols. 8to. £4. Cabinet Edftion, 8 vols, poet 8to. 48««
People's Edition, 4 vols, crown 8vo. 1C«.
THE HISTOET OF EHOLAHD DTJEIHO THE EEIOH
OF OEOEOE THE THIED.
By the Eight Hon. W. N. Massbt. Cabinet Edition, 4 vols, post 8 vo. 24«.
EEVOLUTIOHS IH EHOLISH HISTOET.
By Robert Vauohan, D.D. 3 vols. 8vo. ids.
Vol. I. — ^Revolutions of Race, 15«. Vol. II. — Revolutions in Religion, 16«.
Vol. IIL — ^Revolutions in Government, 15*.
BfiODIE'S COHSnTUTIOKAL HISTOBT OF
THE BBinSH EMPIBE TBOM THE A€CE8SI0H OP
GHAELES L TO THE BESTO&ATIOH.
Second Edition. 3 vols. 8vo. 36>. [Continued.
London : LONGMA27S, GREEN, and CO. Patemoatei Eo^.
LIST OF HISTOEICAL WOUKS— continued.
mSTOEICAL STUDIES.
I. On Precursors of the French Revolution; II. Studies from the
History of the Seventeenth Century ; III. Leisure Hours of a Tourist.
By Hebman Mebitale, M.A. 8vo. 12s. 6d,
THE HISTOET OF ENGLAND EEOM THE FALL OF
WOLSET TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH.
By James ANTHomrFBOUDE, M.A. late Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.
Vols. I. to IV. the Reign of Henry VIII. Third Edition, 54«.
Vols. V. to. VI. the Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary. Second
Edition, 28*.
Vols. VII. and VIII. the Reign of Elizabeth. Vols. I. and IL
Third Edition, 285. '
mSTOEY OF CIVILIZATION.
By Henby Thomas Buckle. 2 vols. £1 17«.
Vol. I. England and Fbancb. Fourth Edition, 21s.
Vol, II. Spain and Scotland. Second Edition, 16«.
HISTOET OF THE EISE AND INFLUENCE OF THE
SPIRIT OF RATIONALISM IN ETJEOPE.
By W. E. H. Lecky, M.A. Third Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. 25^.
THE ENGLISH BEFOSMATION.
By F. C. Massinobebd, M.A. Chancellor of Lincoln. Fourth Edition,
revised, fcp. 8vo. 7«. 6d,
HISTOBT OP THE B0MAN8 TJITDEB THE EMPIBE.
By Chables Mebtvalb, B.D. Chaplain to the Speaker.
Cabinet Edition, with Maps, complete in 8 vols, post 8vo. 48^.
THE FALL OF THE ROMAN REPTJBLIC.
A Short Histoiy of the Last Century of the Commonwealth. By the
same Author. 12mo. 78. 6d.
London : LONGMANS, GBEEN, and CO. Paternoster Kow.
i
W. COOKE TAYLOR'S
MODERN HISTORY.
LOVDoar
PBIKTBD BT 670TTI8W00DS AVD CO.
irVW-STkXET 8QUA.BB
THE
STUDENT'S MANUAL
OF
MODERN HISTORY:
COJTTAIXIXO THK
RISE AND PROGRESS OP THE PRINCIPAX EUROPEAN NATIONS, THEIR
POLITICAL HISTORY, AND THE CHANGES IN THEIR SOCIAL
CONDITION; WITH A HISTORY OP THE COLONIES
POUNDED BY EUROPEANS.
BY
W. COOEE TAYLOR, LL.D. M.R.A.S.
OF TRcnrr collsok, Dublin.
NEW EDITION
CABBFULLT BBYISED AND EDITED BT
CHARLES DUKE YONGE
Author of
' HiBtory of the Brltlah Navy.'
LONDON:
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
1866.
PREFACE.
The plan of this work is nearly the same as tliat of tlio
Student's Manual o? Ancient History, which has been
sanctioned by public approbation. It is a compilation which
can have few claims to novelty; but it is hoped tliat most
students will be gratified with the attention paid to such
events as mark the progress of civilisation, for they form the
chain by which the histories of the several nations of Europe
are linked together. It has been the constant aim of the
Author to impress upon his readers that the Providence of
God may be traced with as much distinctness in the moral
government of the universe, as in the physical world : wo
cannot comprehend all the mysteries of the Almighty's
wondrous plan, because ^ the end is not yet ; ' but we see
enough to convince us that there is evident and great design
in the order of the events which constitute general history, '
and that all the records of our race bear testimony to the
great truth announced in the revealed word of God —
* Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any
people.'
In the narrative of our own times, the Writer has sedu-
lously avoided party views of important questions, and has
confined himself to a plain statement of £icts, without any
colouring borrowed from opinions.
Colonisation is too important a branch of Modem History
to be omitted ; and at the risk of being charged with »(^m<^-
thing like repetition; the Author has thought it xiig\vt U> ^n^
vi PEEFACE.
a summary of the history of the principal Colonies which
have been founded in India and America.
The rise, progress, and present state of the Papacy as a
political system, has been, it is trusted, satisfactorily de-
veloped, including histories of the Inquisition and of the
Order of Jesuits. The history of China has been brought
down to the present day, and in like manner a sketch is
given of the fortunes of the Jews since their dispersion by
Adrian,
In this the eighth edition the later Chapters have been re-
written, so as to bring down the History to the present time.
The Chronological Tables first introduced into the fifth
edition have been retained. On the other hand, that the
volume might not become inconveniently bulky, it was
thought desirable to make some retrenchments of the less
essential matter in the earlier chapters, and in those on the
Papal power, the Inquisition, and the Colonies.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER L
C0NSBQT7SNCSS OF THl FALL OF THB WRSTERX SMPIRB.
FAOB
Sect. L The Gothic Kin^i^om of lUly 1
II. llie Reign of Justinian 8
III. The EsUblishment of the Ciyil Law 9
lY. History of the SUk Trade. Introdoction of the Silk-Worm
into Europe . * 11
y. The Monarchy of the Franka, under the Merovingian Dynasty 16
YI. The Lombard Monarchy 20
TIL The Anglo-Saxona 24
CHAPTER IL
THB BI8B jam RBTAsusEaaarr of thi sASACBinc power.
Sect. L Political and Social Condition of the East at the coming of
Mohammed 27
II. State of Arabia at the comins of Mohammed .... 80
III. The Preaching of Mohammed 88
lY. Early Progress of the Saracens 87
CHAPTER IIL
BISTOBATIOK OF THB WBSTERK EHPDIB.
Sect. L The Life of Charlemagne 46
IL Decline and Fall of the Carlovingian Dynasty . • .49
IIL The Foundation of the Germanic Empire . . .55
lY. State of the East from the EsUblishment to the Overthrow
of the Khaliphate 60
CHAPTER lY.
OBOWTH OF THB PAPAL POWHB.
Sect. L The Origin of the Papacy . ^^
IL The Early Development of the Political System of t\i« '^av«ic;y ^
IIL The Stnigh for Supremacy between the Popes and ^mv«cm l*i
viii CONTENTS.
PAOR
Sect. IV. Revival of the Papal Power 75
V. Pontificate of Gregory VII. . 80
VI. The War of Inveatitiires 84
VII. The Crusades . 88
VIII. The Crusade against the Albigenses 95
IX. Consequences of the Crusades 102
X. Formation and Constitutional History of the Spanish
Monarchy 106
XI. Survey of the Constitution of Aragon . . . .114
XII. State of Western Europe at the commencement of the Four-
teenth Century 120
XII [. Pontificate of Boniface VIII 125
XIV. State of England and the Northern Kingdoms at the com-
mencement of the Fourteenth Century . . . 133
XV. Revolutions in the East in consequence of the Mongolian
Invasion 136
CHAPTER V.
THE BEVIVAL OF LITBBiLTUBE. THE PBOGBESS OF CIVILISATION AND
INVENTION.
Sect. I. Decline of the Papal Power. The Great Schism of the West 140
II. First Revival of Literature, and Inventions in Science . .160
III. Progress of Commerce . 164
IV. Revolutions of Germany, France, and Spain . . . .175
V. The State of England and the Northern Kingdoms in the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries .... 180
VI. Rise and Progress of the Ottoman Empire . . . .184
CHAPTER VI.
THE BBFOBMATION, AND COMMENCEMENT OF THE STATES-SYSTEM
IN EX7SOFE.
Sect. I. Progress of Maritime Discovery 189
II. Origin of the Reformation 200
III. Historv of the Negotiations and Wars respecting Italy . . 205
IV. The History of Burgundy under the Princes of the House of
Valois 209
V. The History of Burgundy (conHnwd) 215
VI. The History of Burgundy ieoncluded) 221
VII. The Age of Charles V 227
VIII. The Age of Elizabeth 242
IX The Age of Gustavus Adolphns 25 >
X. Administration of the Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarine . 261
XI. Formation of the States-system in the Northern Kingdoms of
Europe 269
XII. Progress of the Turkish Power in Eoropo .... 272
XIII. History of the Jesuits 275
XIV. History of the Inquisition 286
F
CONTENTS. ix
CHAPTER VII.
THB AUGUSTAN AOBS OF EXOLASTD AND FRAXCB.
PAOK
Sect. L State of the Contineiital Kingdoms after the Peace of West-
phalia 295
IL History of England under the Commonwealth . . . 29<J
IlL History of England from the Restoration to the Revolution ;
and rise ofthe power of Louis XIV 809
lY. General Hietory of Europe, from the League of Augsburg to
the formation of the Grand Alliance .... 825
y. The War of the Spanish Succewion 881
VL Peter the Great of Russia. Charles XII. of Sweden . .841
CHAPTER VIIL
OBOWTH OF THB MEBCAlTriLS OOLOlflAL 8T8TBM.
Sect I. Establishment of the Hanoverian Succession in England • 850
II. The Colonial Struggle between France and Great Britain . 868
IIL The Seven Years* War 867
CHAPTER IX.
THB AOB OF KEVOLUTIOK.
Sect. I. Change in the Relations cf the Catholic Powers to the Holy
1^ Dismemberment of Poland 882
n. History of England from the Peace of Paria to the commence-
ment of the American War . ' 888
in. The American War 892
lY. History of Europe from the end of the American War to the
commencement of the French Revolution . . . 898
y. The French Revolution 402
CHAPTER X.
THE FBEKCH KMFIBB.
Sect. I. Renewal of the War between England and France , .417
IL Progress of Napoleon's Power 421
III. The French Invasion of Spain ...... 426
lY. The Russian War 488
y. Hiatory of Europe finom the dethronement of Napoleon to the
concluaion of the Treaty of Yienna 448
CHAPTER XL
BI8T0ST OF THB FBACB.
Sect. L State of Europe at the close of the War . . • .44ft
II. Hiatory of Europe during the reign of George lY . . • M»V
nL Hiatoij oi JLurof during the reign of William lY . . «. AS»^
X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
HISTOfiY OF COLONISATION.
PAUB
Sect. L The Establishment of the Spaniards in Mexico . • .496
II. The Establishment of the Spaniards in Peru . . . 510
III. Portuguese Colonies in South America 514
IV. The English in America 519
V. Colonisation of the West Indite . . . . . .523
VI. The Portuguese in India 625
VII. The Spaniards in the East Indies 527
VIII. The Dutch in the East Indies 528
IX The Danes in the East Indies 530
X. The English and French in India 530
XI. The English in Australasia 552
CHAPTER XIII.
HISTOBT OF AUBBICA .... 555
CHAPTER XIV.
HISTOBT OF CHINA .... 562
CHAPTER XV.
mSTOBT OP THB JBWS .... 572
Tables of Coktemporaby Dynasties 578
Genealogical Table of the Bourbons 590
Genealogical Table of the Rotal Family of England . 591
Chronological Table of British Acquisitions in India . 592
Principal Orders of Chivalry 593
Analytical and Chronological Index 597
MANUAL
ov
MODERN HISTORY.
CHAPTER I.
L. CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
Ssonoir I. The Gothic Kingdom of Itafy,
THERE is no period in tlie annals of the human race which
presents to the historical student a greater scene of confusion
than the century succeeding the overthrow of the Western Empire.
The different hordes of barbarians, following no definite plan,
established separate monarchies in the dismembered provinces,
engaged in sanguinary wars that had no object but plunder, and
were too ignorant to form anything like a political system. There
is consequently a want of unity in the narrative of a time when
nations ceased to have fixed reUtions towards each other, and
history must appear desultory and digressive until some one state,
rising into command, assume such importance, that the fate of all
the rest may be connected with its destinies. It is necessaiy,
before 'entering on the various incidents of this calamitous time, to
take a geographical survey of the places occupied by the principal
nations who succeeded the Romans in the sovereignty of Europe.
The Visigoths, after their establishment in Spain, began graidu-
ally to adopt the refinement of their new subjects ; that peninsula
had advanced rapidly in civilisation under the Roman dominion,
and had escaped from much of the corruption which had degraded
Italy; the conquerors, more advanced than any of the other
barbarians, soon learned to appreciate the advantages of social
order, and began to cultivate the higher arts of life. In Pannonia,
B
2 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
the Ostrogotlis derived great improvement from their vicinity to
Italy on the one side, and the court of Constantinople on the
other ; they were thus gradually trained to civilisation, and their
early adoption of Christianity secured them the benefits of litera-
ture, which was sedulously cultivated by the clergy.
Tribes of a very different character pressed into the empire from
the German forests, — the Burgundians, the Lombards, and the
Franks, of whom the last were long distinguished for their hostility
to all refinements, and their exclusive attention to the military
virtues. Still more barbarous were the Saxons and Angles ; they
were not only strangers to the civilisation and religion of the
empire, but were kept in their rude state by the practice of piracy,
for which their maritime situation afforded them great facilities ;
their government, divided among several petty chiefs, was favour-
able to personal independence, and furnished a striking contrast to
the absolute despotism that had been established in the Roman
empire. All the Germanic tribes were remarkable for the respect
which they showed to the delicacy of the female character ; they
neither treated their women like slaves, as most other barbarians
have done, nor did they degrade them into mere objects of sensual
jj^ratification, like the Komans and Byzantines. The German
woman was the companion and coimsellor of her husband ; she
shared his labours as an equal, not as a servant. It was from the
sanctity of the domestic circle among the northern nations that
races of conquerors derived the fimmess and courage which insured
them victory.
The north-eastern part of Europe was occupied by Sclavonic
tribes, differing from the Germans in language, manners, and tac-
tics ; like the Tartars of more modem times, they placed their chief
reliance on their cavalry ; and they were more opposed to civiliza-
tion than any of the Germanic nations. Their form of government
was a kind of aristocratic republic, but in war the tribes generally
united under a single leader. They were very averse to fixed
residences, and when they occupied a country they rarely entered
the cities, but remained in their camps or in rude circular fortifi-
cations called rmffs. The Sclavonians hated the Germans, and
could rarely be induced to unite with them against their common
enemy, the Komans.
After the fall of the Western Empire, the court of Constanti-
nople sunk into obscurity, from which it did not emerge for half a
century, when its supremacy was restored during the memorable
reign of Justinian. The Isaurian Zeno, raised to the purple by his
marriage with the Princess Ariadne, was forced to fly into the
mountains by a fierce revolt which his mother-in-law Verina had
instigated. He was restored to the throne chiefly by the aid of
f
THE GOTHIC KINGDOM OF ITALY.
Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, who had been carofully cdn-
' cated as a hostage at the court of Constantinople. The turbulenc«^
of the Goths, and the faithlessness of Byzantines, soon destroyed
the amity of the two sovereigns; a desultory but sanfruinary
warfare harassed the Eastern Empire, until Zeno purchased peace
by ceding to Theodoric his right over Italy, or rather stimulated
the Goth to undertake the conquest of that peninsula. T^f« march
of Theodoric was the enugration of an entire people : the Goths
were accompanied by their wives, their children, and their aged
parents ; a y&st multitude of waggons conveyed their most precious
effects, and their store of provisions for a toilsome march under-
taken in the depth of winter. Odoacer boldly prepared to meet
this formidable invasion ; he took post on the river Sontius {Ifonso)
with a powerful host; but he was unable to resist the daring
energy of the Goths, and his defeat gave Theodoric possession of
the Venetian province as far as the walls of Verona (a.d. 480).
Italy, however, was not won without further struggles ; Havenna
alone sustained a siege of more than three years ; but at length
» Odoacer capitulated (a.d. 493), and was soon after assassinated at
a solemn banquet by his rival.
Theodoric secured his conquest by distributing one-third of the
lands of Italy to his soldiers in military tenures. This partition
was effected with very little violence to the ancient possessors;
the Goths were instructed to spare the people, to reverence the
\ laws, and to lay aside their barbarous customs of judicial combats
I and private revenge. The Gothic soverei^ty was soon extended
i from Sicily to the Danube, and from Sirmium (Sirmtch) to the
I Atlantic Ocean ; thus including the fairest portion of the Western
Empire. The monarch of this new kingdom showed great wisdom
and moderation in his civil government, but unfortunately his
attachment to the Arian heresy led him to persecute the Catholics ;
it must, however, be confessed that their bigoted turbulence
afforded too often a reasonable excuse for his severity. The legal
murder of the philosopher Boethius and the venerable Symmachus
were crimes which admit of no palliation ; they hastened Theo-
doric's death, for remorse brought him to the grave in the thirty-
third year of his reign (a.d. 526).
SECTioiy n. The Eeign ofJusUnian.
A Daciaw peasant named Justin, who had travelled on foot to
Constantinople in the reig^ of the Emperor Leo, enlisted in the
imperial guards, and during the- succeeding reigns so distinguished
himself by his strength and valour, that he was graduaUy raised to
the comman(^ of the household troops. On the death of the
b2
4 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
Emperor Anastasius, tlie eunucli Amantius, anxious to secure the
throne for one of his creatures, intrusted Justin with a large sum
of money to bribe the guards ; but he used it to purchase votes for
himself, and was thus elevated to the empire (a.d. 618). Totally
ignorant himself, Justin was not insensible of the value of educa-
tion ; he made his nephew Justinian his associate in the empire ;
and as this prince had been instructed in all the learning of the
times^ he soon obtained the whole power of the state.
After the death of Justin (a.d. 527), Justinian ruled alone ; but
his first exercise of authority fixed a lasting stigma on his reign.
He chose for his empress Theodora, a woman of mean birth and
infamous character, whose vices had disgusted even a capital so
licentious as Constantinople. Among the most singular and dis-
graceful follies of the Eastern Empire were the factions of the circus,
which derived their names from the colours worn by the charioteers
who competed for the prize of swiftness. Green and blue were the
most remarkable for their inveterate hostility, though white and
red were the most ancient; all, however, soon acquired a legal
existence and the Byzantines willingly hazarded life and fortune
to support their favourite colour. Justinian was a partisan of the
blues; his favour towards them provoked the hostility of the
opposite faction, and led to a sedition which almost laid Constan-
tinople in ashes. The disturbances first burst forth in the circus ;
Justinian ordered the rioters to be secured ; both factions imme-
diately turned against the monarch, the soldiers were called out,
but they were unable to contend against the citizens in the narrow
streets. Assailed from the tops of the houses, the barbarian mer-
cenaries flung firebrands in revenge, and thus kindled a dreadful
conflagration, which destroyed a vast number of public and private
edifices. After the city had been for several days in the hands of
the rioters, Justinian contrived to revive the ancient animosity
between the greens and hhies : the latter faction declared for the
emperor, a strong body of veterans marched to the Hippodrome, or
race-course^ and tranquillity was restored by the slaughter of
thirty thousand of the insurgents. While the internal state of the
empire was thus disturbed by faction, a costly and unprofitable
war was waged against the Persians, until the emperor purchased
a disgraceful and precarious truce, which both he and his rival
chose to designate as an endless peace.
The usurpation of the throne of the Vandals in Africa by Gelimer,
who owed his success chiefly to the support of the Arian clergy,
induced Justinian to undertake a war, in which he appeared both
the generous friend of an allied sovereign and the protector of the
Catholic faith. Belisarius, the best general of his age, was ap-
pointed to the command of the imperial forces ; having efiected a
THE BEIGN OF JUSTINIAN. 5
landing on the coast of Africa without oppositioD, he advanced
towards Carthage, defeating the Vandals on his march, and became
master of the city with little opposition. Gelimer, after one more
imsuccessful effort to save his kingdom, was closely besieged in
the castle where he sought refuge. After having borne the most
dreadful extremities of famine, he was forced to surrender uncon-
ditionally, and carried captive to Constantinople.
The murder of Amalasontha, queen of the Qoths, bv her un-
grateful, husband, Theodatus, afibrded Belisarius a pruiext for
attacking the kingdom of Italy. He sailed from Constantinople
to Sicily, and easily conquered that important island (a.d. 53/)).
Theodatus hasted to avert danger by declaring himself the vassal
of Justinian ; but hearing in the meantime that two Byzantine
generals had been defeated in Dulmatia by the Ciothic troops, he
suddenly withdrew his allegiance. Belisarius soon appeared to
chastise his perfidy ; he transported his army across the Sicilian
strait, and effected a landbg at Rhegium {^Retjgio), The greater
part of southern Italy, including the important city of Naples,
was speedily subdued 'by the imperial forces ; while Theodatus,
secure within the walls of Rome, made no effort to protect his
subjects. At length the Goths, disgusted by the weakness and
incapacity of their sovereign, removed him from the throne, and
chose the valiant Vitiges for their king. But Vitiges was forced
to commence his reign by abandoning Rome, of which Belisarius
took possession without encountering any opposition (a.d. 537).
During the ensuing winter, the Goths assembled from every
quarter to save, if possible, their kingdom in Italy ; a |)owerful
army was soon collected, and Vitiges led his followers to the Bie^>
of Rome. Belisarius concentrated his forces in the Eternal City,
which he defended with equal skill and bravery; but famine
soon appeared within the walls, and the citizens became anxious
for a capitulation. A conspiracy was formed under the sanction
of the pope, Sylverius, for betraying the city to the Goths ; but it
was discovered by an intercepted letter. Belisarius sent Sylverius
into banishment, and ordered the bishops to elect a new pontiff:
before, however, a synod could be assembled for the purpose, the
general's wife, the infamous Antonina, sold the Holy See to Vigi-
lius for a bribe of two hundred pounds' weight of gold. Rein-
forcements soon after arrived from the East, and the Goths were
forced to raise the siege of Rome, having lost one-third of their
number before its walls. Belisarius pursued the retreating enemy
to the marshes of Ravenna, and would probably have captured
that city but for the jealousy of the eunuch Narses, whom Justinian
had intrusted with the independent command of a large division
of the Byzantine anny. Though the differences between Wie Vno
6 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
leaders was finally adjusted, the Goths had taken advantage of
the interval to collect new strength : and ten thousand Burgun-
dians, sent to invade Italy by the command of Theodobert, king of
the Franks, had stormed and plundered Milan. Soon after, Theo-
dobert passed the Alps in person at the head of one hundred
thousand men. The Franks stormed Genoa, and devastated Liguria ;
but their excesses brought pestilence into their camp, they perished
by thousands, and Theodobert was induced, by his increasing dis-
tresses, to enter into terms of accommodation with the emperor.
Delivered from this pressing danger, Belisarius laid siege to
Ravenna, which was forced to capitulate (a.d. 639) j and thus the
Gothic kingdom of Italy was destroyed.
Belisarius returned to Constantinople in triumph, leading with
him the captive Vitiges; he was sent to conduct the Persian war,
but was soon recalled and disgraced by the ungrateful Justinian.
While the conquests of Belisarius were restoring the western pro-
vinces to the empire, barbarous hordes ravaged, almost with impu-
nity, the north-eastern frontiers. Unable or imwilling to meet the
GepidsB in the field, Justinian entered into alliance with the
Longobardi or Lombards (so called from their long harts or lances),
who had just thrown off the yoke of the Heruli, and gave .them
settlements in Pannonia. A war of forty years' duration^ between
the Lombards and Gepidse, protected the empire from the inva-
sions of both hordes ; but it was still exposed to the incursions of
the Sclavonians and Bulgarians, who annually purchased a passage
through the territories of the Gepidae, and extended their inroads
even into southern Greece. Commotions in the remote east
brought Europeans, about this time, acquainted with new and
more formidable races of barbarians, the Avars and the Turks.
The Avars, from an unknown age, possessed the mountains and
deserts that border on the lake Baikal in north-eastern Asia.
Thence they advanced southwards, and extended their empire to
the eastern sea which separates Corea from Japan. The conqueror
took the title of Chakan or Chagan, a name still used on the coins
of the Turkish sultan. When the Avars were overthrown by the
Turks, and their power totally destroyed, their name was taken by
a new nation, the Ogors or Varchonites, who, after being defeated
by the Turks, migrated towards Europe by the route of the Volga.
The Turks first appear in history as the slaves of the original
Avars; they inhabited the great Altaian mountains, and were
engaged in workiug the mines and attending the forges of those
rich mineral districts. Their skill in fabricating armour and
weapons was very great, and they prided themselves upon the
excellence of their manufactures so much, that; when they became
lords of eastern Asia, their Chakans annually forged a piece of iron
THE BEIGN OF JUSTINIAN. 7
in the presence of the heads of the nation. Under the guidance
of Thu-men, they anerted their independence, and made elavea of
their former masters. Their empire was rapidly extended from
the Volga to the Sea of Japan, and they were thus hrought to the
frontiers of the Byzantine and Persian dominions.
The great rival of Justinian was Chosroes or Nui»hfrv&n, the
most celehrated Persian monarch of the Sassanid dynssty. Having
hy judicious laws secured the tranquillity and pmep«rity of Persia,
he directed his attention to the favourite project of the SafMonides,
the re-establishment of the empire of Cyrus, and, perceiving that
the forces of Justinian were engaged in the west, invaded Syria,
at the head of a powerful army (a.d. 640). His victorious career
was checked for a brief space by Belisarius ; but, alter the recall
and disgrace of that general, he urged forward his conquests with
alarming rapidity. Justinian, in his distress, repented of his in-
gratitude, Belisarius was restored to command, and by his judicious
exertions Nushirvan was forced to return across the Euphrates,
loaded, however, with the spoils of western Asia. His next
enterprise was the conquest of the Caucasian districts, inhabited
by the Lazi, the Colchians, and other semi-barbarous tribes, which
the Byzantines struggled to prevent, and this led to the tedious
Lazic war, in which the strength of both empires was uselessly
wasted. In consequence of the Persian war, Justinian entered
into a treaty with the Abyssinians, whose monarch had subdued
the greater part of Arabia, in the expectation of opening, by his
means, a naval communication with China and India; but the
design was frustrated by the reluctance of the Ethiopian monarch
to engage in a doubtful contest with the power of Persia.
The provinces of Africa and Italy, acquired by the valour of
Belisarius, were nearly lost by the incapacity and tyranny of his
successors. Their weakness provoked the Moors to take arms;
and, though these* barbarians were finally reduced, the African
province was changed from a fertile and populous country into a
savage and silent desert Still more dangerous was the revolt of
the Goths under the gallant Totila (a.d. 541), who in a very brief
space recovered the greater part of Italy, finding his generals
successively defeated, Justinian sent Belisarius to the theatre of
his former glory ; but he neglected to supply the hero with suffi-
cient forces ; and Rome was captured by Totila, almost in sight of
the imperial army. The city was recovered soon after, and the
old general gained some advantages over Totila ; but, finding him- -
self unsupported, he solicited permission to return, and departed
from Italy disgraced, not so much by his failure, as by the plunder
he had permitted Antonina to extort from those he was sent to
defend (a.d. 648). Totila, after the departure of Be^aanu^, ^^«cl\i
8 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
made Hmself master of Kome^ but the maritime cities of Italy
resisted his assaults, and supported the imperial interests until the
eunuch Narses was sent into the peninsula (a.d. 552).
Justinian granted to this favourite what he had denied to Beli-
sarius, a competent supply of the munitions of war ; allies were
entreated to send contingents, and mercenaries were hired from the
principal barbarous tribes. Thus supplied, the eunuch eagerly
sought to bring the Goths to an engagement ; but Totila showed
equal ardour for the combat, and the hostile forces soon mot in the
vicinity of Kome. In the very commencement of the battle the
Gothic cavalry, hurried forward by their impetuosity, advanced so
far beyond their infantry, that they were surrounded and cut to
pieces before ihey could receive assistance. Totila, hasting with
a chosen troop to remedy the disorder, was struck to the earth
mortally wounded, and his followers instantly fied in confusion.
Rome opened its gates to the conquerors ; but the imperial forces,
especially the barbarian mercenaries, inflicted on the citizens all
the horrors of a city taken by assault. The Goths retired beyond
the Po, and chose Teias for their king; but in a fierce battle,
which lasted two entire days, Teias was slain, and the power of
the Ostrogoths irretrievably ruined. Narses had scarcely time to
recover from the fatigues of this campaign, when he was summoned
to repel an invasion of the Franks and Allemans ; he routed them
with great slaughter ; and then, returning to Home, gratified its
citizens by the semblance of a triumph. Italy was thus reduced
to a Byzantine province, governed by the exarchs of Ravenna ;
and Narses himself, the first and most powerful of the exarchs,
governed the whole peninsula for fifteen years.
In the moan time Belisarius had been summoned to defend the
empire from an invasion of the Bulgarians. He gained a decisive
victory over them, but was prevented from improving his a4van-
tages by the intrigues of the courtiers. The Bulgarians were in-
duced to return beyond the Danube by the payment of a large
ransom for their captives ; and Justinian claimed the gratitude of
his subjects for accelerating their departure by the threat of
placing armed vessels in the Danube. This was the last campaign
of Belisarius ; he was soon after disgraced and imprisoned, under a
false charge of treason : his innocence was subsequently proved,
and his freedom restored, but grief and resentment hurried him
to the grave; and his treasures were seized by the rapacious
emperor.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CIVIL LA.W.
SscnoK ni. ITie EstahHshment of the Civil Law.
Eably in his reign Justinian directed his attention to the state
of the law in his empire, and formed the useful project of rear-
ranging and consolidating the vast mass of laws, rules, and judicial
maxims, which the various interests of the Romans and Byzan-
tines, their progress in civilization, and the inconstancy of their
rulers had produced, during the course of thirteen hundred years.
He saw that the multitude of ordinances occasioned confusion and
disorder, that the heap of inconsistent decisions and regulations
formed a labyrinth in which justice went astray, and iniquity found
avenues for escape ; and that the only remedy lay in a reduction of
the whole body of laws into one uniform code. Accordingly in an
edict, dated the drd oi February, a.d. 528, he declared his resolution
of collecting into a single volume, not merely the laws in the three
previous codes of Gregory, Hermogenianus, and Theodosius, but
also the laws that had been published by imperial authority since
the formation of the Theodosian code. A commission of ten eminent
lawyers, with Tribonian at its head, was charged with the execu-
tion of this task. They were permitted to suppress repetitions, to
remove contradictory or obsolete laws, to add what was necessary
for exactness or explanation, and to unite, under one head, what
was spread over a great variety of laws. The work went on so
rapidly, that in a little more than a year the new code, containing,
in twelve books, all the imperial laws from the accession of the
Emperor Adrian, was ready to appear. Justinian affixed the
imperial seal to the new constitution (a.d. 629), and ordained that
the new code alone should be cited in courts of justice.
A more extensive and difficult work remained — to collect the
scattered monuments of ancient jurisprudence. Justinian confided
this task also to Tribonian, and gave him the power of nominating
his fellow-commissioners. Tribonian chose one of the magistrates
who had already aided in the formation of the Code, four pro-
fessors of jurisprudence, and eleven advocates of high legal repu-
tation. These seventeen commissioners were instructed to search
out, collect, and put in order all that was really useful in the
books of the jurisconsults who had been authorized to make or
interpret laws by preceding sovereigns ; they were permitted, as in
the case of the Code, to change, add, or retrench, and to fix doubtful
cases by precise definitions. Their collection was to be arranged
in fifty books, having all the matter arranged under their respec-
tive titles, and was to be named the Digest, on account of its
orderly classificationy or the Pandects, because it was lo eoTiXum.
10 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
all the ancient jurisprudence.^ But the commissioners seem to
have executed their task with more zeal and speed than exactness.
The emperor himself did not expect that the work could be com-
pleted in less than ten years. It was necessary to examine care-
fully more than two thousand volumes ; to discuss, compare, and
reduce into order an innumerable number of decisions ; to refonn
some of them, to reverse others, and to classify the whole. But
Tribonian, who knew that in enterprises which engage the vanity
of princes, the delay between the design and execution is borne
with great impatience, hurried on the work so rapidly, that it was
completed in three years.
On the 16th of December, 533, Justinian invested this collection
with the authority of law, by a constitution of state, addressed to
the senate of Constantinople, and all his subjects.
Whilst the commissioners laboured at the Digest, the emperor
charged Tribonian, and two eminent professors, to prepare an
elementary work on jurisprudence, in four books, as an introduc-
tion to the study of law. This portion of Justinian's legislation
is far the most valuable part ; it was finished and published a little
before the Digest, and was named the Institutes.
The whole system of ancient jurisprudence was thus simplified,
reduced to its essentials, and arranged in the Institutes, the
Pandects, and the Code. But, after their publication, Justinian
published more than two hundred supplementary edicts; and
when the great collections began to be used in the coiui», several
errors and imperfections were discovered, as might reasonably be
expected in a work of such magnitude, executed with such unne-
cessary speed. A new commission was appointed to revise the
Code ; the results of its labours was a second edition, which re-
ceived the imperial sanction, November 16th, 534, by an edict
abrogating the former imperfect Code.
The emperor reserved to himself, in express terms, the right of
adding, at a subsequent time, but separately, such constitutions as
he should judge necessary. These were called Novels ; they limit,
extend, and in some instances repeal the Code ; and it is this in-
consistency that has led to the suspicion of Tribonian and th(-
prince having occasionally been guided by interest and favour,
rather than by reason and equity. These Novels are one hundred
and sixty-eight in number, but only ninety-eight have the force
of law, having been collected into a volume in the last year of
Justinian's reign.
1 Frcm vav, aJlf and <«x«^^* to tain nine thousand one hundred and
contain. The fifty books of the Pan- twenty-three laws, each marked with
dectd are divided' into four hundred the name of its author.
Mud tweDty-threb titles^ which con-
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CIVIL LAW. 11
This Code was supplanted in the East by the Basilica or Greek
Constitutions of later emperors. In the West, Illyria ^as the
only province by which it was received, until the overthrow of
the Gothic monarchy afforded an opportunity for its introduction
into Italy. The Code was, however, superseded by the laws of
the Lombards, when their hordes became masters of Kavenna.
After Charlemagne had overthrown the Lombard monarchy, he
searched Italy in vain for a copy of Justinian's legislation; it
remained concealed until the twelfth century, when a copy of the
Digest was found, on the capture of Amalti, by the troops of the
Emperor Lothaire IL, and presented by him to the citixens of
Pisa, who had aided the imperialists in this expedition. At a
later period, a copy of the Code was discovered at Kavenna, and
a collection was made of the Novels which were dispersed through-
out Italy. Such were the origin and revolutions of this celebrated
body of legislation, the source of the civil law throughout Europe,
and the great guide to the most civilised nations in supplying the
defects of their several legal systems.
Section IV. History of the Silk- Trade, Introduction of the
Silk' Worm into Europe,
Silk was known as an article of commerce, and extensively
used in tbe western world, long before the insect that produces
this precious substance, and whose nature was unknown, was
brought for the first time to Constantinople. No one before the
age of Justinian had even contemplated such an enterprise. It
was only by long and painful journeys through the dangerous and
difficult vnlds of central Asia, that a merchandise could be pro-
cured, which the progress of wealth and luxury rendered almost
indispensable to the civilised nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa,
that surrounded the Mediterranean. The Assyrians and Medes,
in the early ages, had long a monopoly of this commerce ; and
hence we find that garments of wrought silk are usually called
Median robes by the ancient writers. In this traffic they were
succeeded by the Persians, who attached great importance to the
trade, and neglected nothing that could keep it exclusively in
their hands. From them the Greek and Syrian merchants of Asia
purchased the silk which they transported into the western
countries. Passing through such a number of hands, it was of
course scarce and dear. During Justinian's reign, the Byzantines,
or, as they still called themselves, the Romans, were eager to free
themselves from their dependence on tjie Persians for the supply
of this article. They tried to lower the price by puxeha&m^ fioTii
12 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
other Asiatic nations, and by making exertions to open a direct
communication with the country in which the silk was produced.
Their ignorance of geography was a great impediment to their
success ; they had yery vague notions respecting the position of
the regions where this commodity was procured. They contented
themselves with loosely describing it as a part of India, or some
very remote country in eastern Asia.
A few modem writers have been misled by the inaccuracy of
the Byzantine historians into the belief that the country which
supplied the ancient world with silk was the Punjab, and the dis-
tricts of northern India adjacent to Persia, regions where silk has
never yet been produced in sufficient abundance to form an article
of commerce. On the contrary, the circumstances related respect-
ing Serica, the silk-growing country, are manifestly applicable to
no place bijt China, where silk is still produced more plentifully
than in any other part of the world. In the preceding volume
mention has been made of the embassy sent from the Komans to
the Chinese, in the age of the Antonines ; and it is only necessary
to add, in proof of the commercial relations between this ancient
empire and the western world, that a tolerably accurate account
of the revolutions in the Persian and Parthian kingdoms may be
found in Chinese histories.*
The silk was imported from China in packages, which caravans
of merchants brought across the extreme breadth of Asia, in a
journey of two hundred and forty-three days, to the sea-coast of
Syria. The Persians who supplied the Romans usually made
their purchases from the Sogdians, on the banks of the Oxus, and
their traffic was liable to be interrupted by the White Huns and
the Turks, who successively conquered that industrious people.
But the difficulties of the road between the Sogdian capital,
Maracanda (^Safnarcand)^ and the first Chinese city in the province
of Shensi, led to frequent effi)rts for opening a new and less
perilous route, which, however, proved imsuccessful. From the
time they passed the Jaxai-tes, the enterprising Sogdians had to
contend, not only with the dangers and difficulties of the inter-
vening deserts, but also against the wandering hordes, who have
1 The Armenians call the Chinese deshir, tke founder of the Sassanid
Jenk, and Cliina Jenist&n, Their dynasty in Persia, thence he passed
relations with this country ascend into Persia, where he was received
to the beginning of the third cen- about a.d. 260, by Tiridate.*), the
tMTy of our era. About that time a Armenian sovereign, who gave him
Chinese colony was established iu the province of Jaron. This per-
Armenia. The chief of this colony sonage, whose name was Mamkon,
was probably one of the imperial became the founder of the family of
dynasty of the Huns: driven from the Memigonians, who are justly
bi8 country by civil wars, he at first celebrated in Armenian history.
sougYit refuge at the court of Ar>
mSTOBY OF THE SILK-TRADK JS
always considered the citizen and the traveller as objects of lawM
rapine.
It is recorded as a proof of the vast expense of the magnificent
spectacles with which Julius Caesar sought at once to dazzle and
conciliate the populace, that he decorated the actors in his varied
pageants with a profusion of silk dresses, which were viewed by
the Italians with equal wonder and admiration. In consequence
of the difficulties of transit, the vast length of desert which the
caravans had to traverse, and, probably, the limited supply of silk
in China itself, this article bore a very high price in Rome, and
was often sold for its weight in gold. Silken dresses were esteemed
too expensive and delicate for men, and were appropriated wholly
to ladies of eminent rank and opulence. In the beginning of the
reig^ of Tiberius a law was passed, enacting, ' that no man should
disgrace himself by wearing a silk dress.'
The profligate and efleminate Heliogabalus was the first of the
Boman emperors who wore a garment entirely of silk ; and, in
consequence of his example, the custom of wearing silk soon
became general among the wealthy citizens of Homo, and even
extended to the provinces. It seems probable, also, that the price
of the article had diminished in consequence of its beginning to
be imported by the maritime route through Alexandria, instead of
by caravans through the arid deserts of Tartary and Turkestan.
Chinese histories inform us, that an ambassador from one of l^e
Antonines came to their ren^te country for the purpose of con-
cluding a commercial treaty, and this is rendered highly probable
by the fact, that oriental commodities became both plentiful and
cheap under and after their dynasty. Ammianus Marcellinus
informs us, that in his age (a.s. 370) silk was generally worn even
by the lower classes.
. After the restoration of a native dynasty in Persia under the
SassanideS; and the establishment of the Eastern Empire at Con-
stantinople; a long series of war ensued between the Persian
sovereigns, who deemed themselves legitimate inheritors of the
power of Cyrus, and the Byzantine emperors, who wished them-
selves to be considered successors of Alexander the Great. The
command of the sea of Oman gave the Persians a decided advan-
tage over the Eg3rptian merchants, who were forced to import
Oriental commodities by the tedious and dangerous navigation of
the Bed Sea. Until the introduction of steam navigation, the
Bed Sea, or Tarn Suph^^ as it is called by the Orientals, was
universally dreaded by voyagers. The strait at its entrance was
significantly named by the Arabs Bah-el^Mandthj or, ^ the gate of
* That 18, « the Sea of Weeds.'
14 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
tears ; ' and it was a common proverb with Eastern sailors, ' Yam
Suph is a double-locked sea ; there are six months in the year
that you cannot get into it, and six more that you cannot get out
of it.' But the Persians were not satisfied with this natural
superiority ; they laid such onerous transit duties on foreign mer-
chants, that the Greeks were forced to abandon this branch of
commerce, and purchase their silk from the Persians and Sogdians.
These, with the usual rapacity of monopolists, raised the ;^rice of
silk to such an exorbitant height, that the Greek manufacturers,
whose looms depended on a supply of this raw material, were
thrown out of employment, and nearly ruined.
The Emperor Justinian, eager not only to obtain a full and
certain supply of a commodity which was become of indispensable
use, but solicitous to deliver the commerce of his subjects from
the exactions of his enemies, endeavoured by means of his ally,
the Christian monarch of Abyssinia, to wrest some portion of the
silk-trade from the Persians. Li this attempt he failed; but
when he least expected it, he, by an unforeseen event, attained
his great object of procuring his subjects an abundant supply of
silk, independent both of ships and caravans.
Two Persian monks, having been employed as Christian mis-
sionaries by some of the churches which had been established in
India, pursued their evangelical labours until they had penetrated
into the remote country of the Seres, or Chinese (a.d. 651). There
they observed the labours of the silk-worm, the mode in which
these animals were fed on the mulberry-leaf, the care bestowed
upon them in the several periods of insect transformation, and the
attention necessary to obtaining perfect cocoons. Without such
knowledge the mere possession of the insect would have been
useless; for the time that elapses while the silk-caterpillar is
undergoing its changes, varies according to the temperature and
the quantity of nourishment with which it is supplied ; the health
also of the insect and the subsequent perfection of the silk depend
upon the mode in which these changes are made, and the intervals
between the successive moultings of the skin, which take place
before the animal attains its full growth.
Having made themselves acquainted with these particulars, the
monks repaired to Constantinople, and revealed the information
they had acquired to the Emperor Justinian. Encouraged by the
liberal promises of the monarch, they undertook to bring to his
capital a sufficient number of these wonderful insects, to whose
labours man is so much indebted. They proceeded to China, and
finally accomplished the object of their mission by obtaining a
competent supply of the eggs of the silk-worm, which they con-
cealed in a hollow cane. Having returned safe to Constantinople^
f
HISTORY OF THE SILK-TRADE. 15
the eggs were, under their directioD, hatched by the artificial heat
of a dunghill, and the insects were fed on the leaves of the wild
molberry-tree. Such care was bestowed upon them, that they soon
multiplied, and worked in the* same manner as in those climates
where they first became the objects of human attention and care.
Justinian at first attempted to monopolise this source of proHt,
but the rapid increase of the worms opened the trade. A singular
circumstance enables us to appreciate the speedy succesta of the
Greeks in the manufacture of silk. Before the sixth century
closed, the Turks, descending from the Altaian mountains, con-
quered Sogdiana. The conquered people had found the demand
for silk rapidly diminishing, which they attributed to the com-
mercial jealousy of the Persians. They complained of their losses
to their new master, the Turkish Chakan, who sent ambassadors
to form a commercial treaty with the Persian monarch, the cele-
brated Nushirv&n. It was obviously unwise policy to strengthen
the power of the new state which had been formed beyond the
Oxus ; and Nushirvdn was, besides, eager to open a direct commn-
. nication with China, through the Persian Qulf. To show his
contempt for the offers of the Sogdians, he purchased up all their
goods, and committed them to the flames. The Chakan next sent
ambassadors to Justinian IL, who, after a toilsome journey, reached
Constantinople (a.d. 571) just twenty years after the introduction
of the silk-worm ; when, to their great astonishment, they found
the Byzantines in the possession of silk of their own growth, and so
skilled in its use, that their manufactures already rivalled those of
China. From this time the Sogdian carrying-trade declined ; it was
totally annihilated about the middle of the ninth century, when a
■ fanatic insurgent, in China, murdered the foreign merchants, and
cut down the mulberry-trees, to destroy the silk that enticed
strangers to the celestial empire.
For nearly six hundred years the Greeks were the only Europeans
who possessed the silk- worm : at length, Roger I., king of Sicily,
engaged in war with the Byzantine empire, having captured some
persons skilled in the production and manufacture of silk, estab-
I lished factories at Palermo, which rose rapidly into celebrity.
' Thence the trade spread into Italy, Spain, and France ; but in
I most of these countries the manufacture was long deemed of
i greater importance than the production of the raw material.
! France owes her present superiority in the trade to the patriotic
j exertions of Henry IV., who made extensive nurseries of mul-
f berry-plants, and distributed them gratuitously to all desirous of
i establishing plantations. James I. endeavoured to introduce the
production of raw silk, as a trade, into Eng-land : since his time
the experiment has been frequently repeated, but it never has
16 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
been attended witli complete success. Similar trials have also
been made in Ireland, but the result has not yet answered the
expectations of the patriotic projectors.
SBcnoiT V. Hie Monarchy of the Franks, under the Merovingian
Dynasty,
The history of the Franks properly begins with the establish-
ment of a large body of that nation in Belgic Gaul, imder a chief
named Mere-wig, from whom the dynasty received the name
Merovingian.^ He was succeeded by his son Hilderik, a brave
warrior^ but the slave of his passions. An insult that he offered
to the vnfe of one of his officers occasioned a revolt j HUderik
was dethroned, and a Count Egidius, or Giles, proclaimed king.
After an exile of eight years, Hilderik was restored, and the re-
mainder of his reign appears to have passed in tranquillity.
Hlodo-vTig was the next sovereign : his harsh German name was
softened by the Latins into Clodovecus, or Clovis, the origin of the
modem Ludovicus, or Louis. At his accession (a.d. 481), Clovis
had scarcely reached his twentieth year; the ardour of youth
combined with the circumstances of his position to urge him to
foreign conquests ; for the fertility of the Belgic soil, the purity
of its waters, and its atmosphere^ continually attracted fresh
hordes to the lower Hhine, who sought admission into the Belgic
colony. Clovis foimd it necessary to enlarge his frontiers, and
invaded the Koman province. Near Soissons he ^icountered
Syagrius, the son of his father^s rival, Egidius, and gained a
decisive victory. Syagrius sought refuge with the Visigoths,
but that nation had lost much of its martial spirit ; Alaric 11.
sent the unfortunate general bound to Clovis, by whom he was
beheaded.
The neighbouring princes now eagerly sought the alliance of
the conqueror ; he chose for his queen Hlodohilde, or Clotilda,
whose uncle was king of the Burgundians. Clotilda was a
Christian; she laboured earnestly to convert her husband, and
especially urged him when his crown and life were endangered by
an invasion of the Germanic confederation of tribes, called the
Allemans. Clovis, persuaded that he owed the great victory of
Tolbiac to the prayers of Clotilda, became a convert, and received
the sacrament of baptism from the bishop of Rheims (a.d. 496).
He gave the prelate, as a fee, all the land he could ride round
while he himself slept after dinner, a gift very characteristic of a
conqueror, who felt that he had only to wake and acquire new
^ The other Franka were named Ripe-warians ; that is, inhabitants of the
' of the Rhine.
THE MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY. 17
dominions. Soon afterwards be undertook new conquests. Ad-
Tancing in the direction of Genabum {Orleans), be crossed the
Loire^ spreading eyer3rwbere tbe terror of bis name. Tbe Bretons,
long subject to tbe Romans^ consented without reluctance to a
change of masters. Clovis, baviog traversed their country,
entered Aquitaine, pillaged the bouses, laid waste the fields,
plundered the temples, and returned to Paris, * leaving,* as the
contemporary historian says, ' nothing to the wretched inhabitants
but the soil, which the Franks could not take away.*
The kingdom established by Clovis extended from the Hhine to
tbe Pyrenees, from the Alps to the ocean ; but its security was
Tery uncertain. Wherever the conqueror appeared, he met
nothing but submission from the various races settled in Gaul ; as
soon, however, as he passed onwards, his nominal subjects closed
upon his rear, retaining no more trace of his march than the fur-
rowed wave does of a vessel's keel. Neither was the Frankish
monarch absolute over his own soldiers ; his army was composed
of free men, who disdained to submit to despotic rule. They gave
to their monarch his share of the booty, and nothing more. When
they disapproved of the expedition for which they assembled, they
abandoned it without scruple ; or if the monarch refused to under-
take a war which they deemed advisable, they forced liim to
comply with their wishes, not merely by menaces, but by actual
force.
On the death of Clovis (a.d. 511), his dominions were divided
between his four sons, Ilildebert (Childebert), Hlodomer (Chlo-
domer), Hlodher (Clotaire), and Theodoric, who respectively
occupied the capitals of Paris, Orleans, Soissons, and Metz. This
distribution gave rise to a new geographical division; all the
districts between the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Moselle received
the name of Oster-rike, or Austrasia ; and the country between the
Meuse, the Loire, and the ocean was named Ni-oster-rike, or, as it
was Latinized, Neustria. Ail that was not comprised in this
division retained its ancient name of Gaul.
Chlodomer and Theodoiic engaged in war with Gundumer, king
of the Burgundians. In a great battle fought near Vienne
(a.d. 623) Chlodomer was slain,* but Theodoric gained a decisive
victory, and added the Burgundian kingdom to his own dominions.
* * The brothers joined their forces tating the Bignals of the Franks, ex-
atVeserancia, a place situated in the claimed, ** Come this way, we are
territory of the city of Vienne, and thine.'* He believed them, and sparred
gave battle to Gundumer. The Bar- his horse into the roidjtt of the enemy,
gundian having taken to flight with They surrounded him, cut off bis
his army, Chlodomer pursued him, head, and fixing it on a pike displayed
and, when he was at a distance from it to their pursuers.*— Gskoobt of
his fneodfly the Buigandlans, imi- Touus.
18 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
Clotilda took tlie guardianship of her infant granchildren, but the
favour she showed to the three sons of Chlodomer provoked the
resentment of Childebeii:, king of Paris. He secretly proposed to
his brother Clotaire that they should secure the persons of the
young princes, shave their heads,^ and divide their dominions.
Clotaire readily joined in the project, and put the two eldest of
his nephews to death ; the third, saved by faithful servants, cut off
his hair with his own hands, and, entering into a monastery, spent
a life of celibacy. Ten years after this event Theodoric died, and
was succeeded by his son, Theodobert, who took the title of king
of Austrasia. His uncles attempted to deprive Theodobert of his
dominions, but being daunted by the mere display of his power,
they turned their arms against Spain, laid waste Aragon, Biscay,
and Catalonia, stormed Pampeluna, besieged Saragossa, and were
only induced to retire by a present of the tunic of St. Vincent, a
relic which, in that superstitious age, was deemed an invaluable
treasure.
The fame of Theodobert extended to Constantinople j Justinian
endeavoured to win his friendship by the cession of the nominal
claims which the empire retained over Provence, but the Austra-
sian monarch entered into an alliance with Totila, the emperor^s
enemy, crossed the Alps, and quickly subdued the greater part of
northern Italy. After his return, the aimy he left behind met
with some reverses, and the inflated vanity of Justinian led him
to issue a medal, on which he styled himself Conqueror of the
Franks. Theodobert was so enraged at this arrogance, that he
prepared to lead an army through Hungary into Thrace and assail
Justinian in his capital, but this daring enterprise was frustrated
by his sudden death ; he was killed by the fall of a tree (a.d. 548),
while hunting the wild buffalo, a dangerous sport, to which he
was passionately addicted.
Theodobald succeeded to the Austrasian throne, but died after
an inglorious reign of seven years. Childebert soon followed him
to the tomb, and thus Clotaire acquired the sole, but not the im-
disturbed, possession of Neustria and Austrasia. His own son,
Chramne, headed a revolt of the turbulent Bretons, but he was
defeated and barbarously put to death, with his entire family,' by
1 To shave the head was the form began to fly towards the ships he
of dethroning a sovereign at this had prepared on the sea, but whilst
period. Among the early Franks the he was endeavouring to save his wife
crown of hair was as much a symbol and children he was overtaken by his
of royally as the crown of gold. father's army, made prisoner, and
« *The two armies having come bound. When the news was brought
to an engag.'ment, the count of the to Clotaire, he ordered that the prince,
Bretons ran away, and was slain in together with his wife and daughters,
Aight, after which Uram (Chramn^) should be burned. They shut them
TBDE MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY. 19
command of his cruel father. The chroniclers add, that Clotaire
died the next year (a.d. 5G1), at Compiegne, on the anniversary
of his son's death, and at the preci:^ hour of the horrid hutchery.
Clotaire left four sons, — Charibert, Gontram, Chilperic, and
Sigebert, who shared his dominions. The turbulent period that
followed is principally remarkable for the troubles occasioned by
the crimes of two infamous women, Brunilda and Fredegonda, the
wives of Sigebert and Chilperic Fredegonda had won her way
to the throne by murdering Galswintha, the sister of her rivaL
During the long period over which their resentments spread it is
difficult to distinguish anything but murders and assassinations.
Fredegonda procured the death of Sigebert, and afterwards of
Chilperic and his two sons, being chiefly enraged against Merov^,
who had married Brunilda.
Childebert inherited the kingdom of his father, Sigebert, and
that of his uncle, Gontram ; aided by his mother, Brunilda, he
maintained a long and sanguinary struggle against Fredt'gonda
and her young son Clotaire; but he died early, leiiviug two
children to divide his distracted dominions. Both of these wore
destroyed by Brunilda, whose hatred they had provoked by re-
monstrating against her crimes, and after a dreary scene of confusion
France was again united into a single monarchy, under Clotuire II.,
son of Chilperic and Fredegonda (a.d. 613). His first care was to
pumsh Brunilda, the ancient enemy of his mother and his house ;
she was exhibited for three days, mounted on a camel, to the
derision of the army, subjected to the most cruel tortures, and
finally fastened to the tail of a wild horse, which tore her wretched
carcass to pieces in the presence of the soldiers.
Clotaire published a code of laws, which enjoys some reputa-
tion ; but his administration was deficient in vigour, and during
his reign several encroachments were made on the royal power by
the ambitious nobles. His son, Dagobert I., succeeded (a.d. 628),
and had the mortification to see his authority weakened by the
growing greatness of the mayors of the palace : he died after a
feeble and dissolute reign (a.d. 638), but was, strangely enough,
canonised as a saint.
The successors of Dagobert were mere phantoms of royalty j the
entire sovereignty was possessed by the mayors of the palace, who
finally acqiured absolute possession of half the monarchy as dukes
of Austraaia. Pepin d*Heristal, the greatest of these nominal
ministers and real monarchs, governed France in the name of
up in a pcor hut, where Uram, ex- it was conramed, with all its in-
tended on a bench, was Rtrangled ; mates.' — Gregobt of Tours.
they then set fire to the hoose, and
o2
20 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
several successive kings. After his death (a.d. 714), his power
descended to his grandson, Theodobald, a child only eight years of
age, who was thus appointed guardian to a king that was not yet
sixteen. Karl, the natural son of Pepin, better known in history
by the name of Charles Martel, set aside this absurd arrangement,
and succeeded to more than his father's power. His numerous
victories over the Saxons, Burgundians, Frisians, &c., have
rendered his name illustrious ; but he is more justly celebrated for
his triumph over the Saracenic invaders of France (a.d. 732),
between Tours and Poictiers, by which he delivered Christendom
from the imminent danger of being subjected to the Mohammedan
yoke. His son, Pepin, finally compelled Chilperic HI. to abdicate
(a.d. 732), and the crown of France was thus transferred to the
Carlovingian dynasty from the descendants of Clovis.
Section VI. The Lombard Monarchy,
The Lombards were encouraged to settle on the frontiers of the
empire by Justinian, who deemed that they would prove a check
on the insolence of the Gepidae. While these barbarous tribes
were engaged in war, Thrace enjoyed comparative tranquillity;
but when Alboin became head of the Lombard tribes, he entered
into alliance with the Avars for the extirpation of the Gepidse,
purchasing their aid by a tithe of his cattle, and a promise of all
the conquered lands. The emperor, Justin IL, imwisely abandoned
the GepidsB to their fate ; Cunimund, their monarch, hastened to
encounter Alboin before he could join the Avars, but he fell in
the field, which proved fatal to the existence of his nation, and his
skull was formed into a drinking-vessel by his barbarous enemy.
Rosamond, the daughter of the slaughtered king, became the prize
and spouse of the victor ; the bravest of the surviving Gepidse were
incorporated in the army of the Lombards. Though the Avars
had contributed but slightly to the success of the war, they received
a large share of the spoils ; the greater part of ancient Dacia was
resigned to them, and in this country their chagans ruled for more
than two hundred years. Alboin's ambition was fixed on a higher
object ; fifteen years before, a body of Lombards had served imder
Narses in the conquest of Italy, and they still preserved a vivid
remembrance of the wealth and fertility of the peninsula. Alboin
encouraged them to hope that this fair land might yet own their
sway, and, to stimulate their ardour, produced some of its finest
fruits at a royal feast. When his designs became known, adven-
turers fiocked to his standard from the neighbouring Sclavonic
and German tribes. Having made every preparation for the
THE LOMBAKD MONARCHY. 21
expedition, the Lombards resigned their lands to the Avan*, on
the simple promise of receiving them back, if they fuled in the
conquest of Italy.
As if the court of Constantinople had resolved to aid the pro-
jects of the invaders, the brave Narses was contumeliously removed
from his post by the Empress Sophia; and Longinus, a person
wholly unacquainted with Italy, appointed exarch in his stead.
Alboin met no army to oppose him in the field ; few even of the
cities ventured to resist his progress ; Tidnum, or, as it began now
to be called, Pavia, almost alone closed its gates against the con-
queror, and detained him three years before its walls. It was at
length forced to yield by the pressure of hunger; Alboin threatened
a general massacre; but, his horse happening to stumble as he
entered the gates, he believed that heaven had sent this omen to
warn him against cruelty, and he assured the trembling multitude
of pardon and safety. Before he could regulate the affairs of the
kingdom he had so easily won, Alboin fell a victim to the revenge
of his wife. One evening, heated with wine, he sent her the skull
of her father, Cunimund, fashioned, as has been stated, into a
goblet, filled to the brim, with an insulting message, that she
should rejoice with her sire. Rosamond, stifling her resentment,
simply replied, ' Let the will of the king be obeyed ; ' but she
secretly resolved on vengeance, and by infamous means procured
two officers of the household to murder her husband (a.d. 573).
She was compelled by the indignation of the people to fly with her
paramour to the court of Ravenna, where she was poisoned by a
potion which she had prepared for the partner of her guilt.
Clepho, one of the noblest of the Lombard chiefs, was chosen
king after the murder of Alboin, by the great council of the nation ;
but at the end of eighteen months he was stabbed by a domestic.
His cruelty gave the Lombards such a distaste for royalty, that
after his death they changed their form of government, and for ten
years were ruled by a federation of thirty-six dukes, each of whom
was chief of some important city. During this period they made
several efforts to acquire possession of some part of Gaul, but were
invariably beaten by the Franks ; in Italy, on the contrary, they
were generally successful, adding considerably to their territories
at the expense of the exarchate of Ravenna, and the other pro-
vmces dependent on the Greek Empire.
A confederacy between the imperial exarch and Childebert,
king of the Franks, so alarmed the Lombards that they chose
Autharis, son of Clepho, for their sovereign. He estixblished a
perfectly feudal monarchy, assigning their duchies to the dukes in
perpetuity, on the condition of their giving one moiety of their
revenue to support the royal dignity; they could not be depn\M^
22 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
of their possessions except for high treason, but they held power
only at the sovereign's will. A similar form of government seems
to have prevailed among the Franks almost from the foundation of
their monarchy j but feudal law first received a complete form
among the Lombaixls, and the rules respecting the succession,
acquisition, and investiture of fiefs among other nations were gene-
rally derived from their code. The new monarch gained several
victories over the Franks, who had been bribed to invade Italy by
the Emperor Maurice, and punished the hostility of the Byzan-
tine by subduing a great part of ancient Samnium, which he
formed into the duchy of Benevento. Autharis died without
issue (a.d. 690), afker a brief but glorious reign, and the crown
was transferred to Agilulf, duke of Turin.
Hitherto the Lombards had been either Arians or pagans ; but
Agilulf, instigated by his queen, established the Catholic faith
throughout his dominions, and chastised several dukes who made
this change a pretext for rebellion. His son and successor, Ada-
luald, completed the triumph of the orthodox faith, a circumstance
which tended greatly to reconcile the Italians to the supremacy of
the Lombards. The Arian party was, however, sufficiently
powerful to raise another to the throne j both the rivals, however,
died vTithout issue, and the general assembly chose Kotharis for
their sovereign (a.d. QS&). Tiaa monarch won the affection of all
his subjects by the wise laws he enacted; he also wrested some
important places from the exarch of Havenna, and reduced the
imperial interest in Italy so low, that it might be said to exist
only by the sufferance of the Lombards. On his death (a.d. 652)
a scene of weakness and revolution foUowed, which was only
terminated by the accession of Grimvald, duke of Benevento
(a.d. 662).
Grimvald was soon involved in war with the Franks, who
invaded Italy, but were completely defeated. Scarcely had he
repelled this invasion when the Byzantine emperor, Constans,
appeared in Italy at the head of a powerful army, and laid siege to
Benevento. But the imperialists, meeting a fierce resistance from
the garrison, were soon forced to retreat, and being overtaken on
their march were routed with great slaughter. Constans fled to
Sicily with the shattered remnant of his forces, and was murdered
in a bath by some of his own servants. Grimvald did not long
survive his triumph} he died universally lamented (a.d. 672), and
his death was followed by a series of obscure and uninteresting
revolutions, which deluged Italy with blood.
The accession of Liutprand (a.d. 711) once more restored the
prosperity of the Lombards ; he enacted several wise laws, rectified
the evils which during the recent disturbances had crept into the
THE LOMBARD MONARCHY. 23
administration of justice, and won the favour of the nobles who
had opposed his elevation bj a judicious display of courapre and
prudence. Unfortunately, he was prompted by ambition to at-
tempt the complete conquest of Italy ; taking advantage of the
troubles occasioned by the edicts of the Emperor Leo for the de-
struction of images. The exarchate was invaded, and Ravenna
taken ; but Liutprand's success provoked the jealousy of the pope,
who, though pleased with the punishment of the Iconoclasts,^
was by no means gratified with the accession of power to the
Lombards. At the pontiffs instigation, the Venetians aided the
exarch to recover Ravenna; but the Emperor I^eo, instead of
showing any gratitude to Pope Gregory II. for his interference,
sent emissaries to arrest him, and he was only saved from prison
by the prompt interference of Liutprand. The Italians, provoked
at Leo*8 fierce zeal against images, began to revolt, and several
cities voluntarily submitted to the Lombard monarch, wlio pre-
tended to an extravagant zeal for the Catholic faith. The pop(>,
however, dreaded Liutprand, and sought a protector in Charles
Martel against the emperor of Byzantium, who was equally hostile
to the Lombards and the pontiff. Italy was now distracted by
religious disputes and political jealousies, while the death of
Liutprand, at this critical period (a.d. 743) afflicted the Lombards
with a new series of revolutionary wars.
After some minor changes, Astulphus was chosen king (a.d.
751) ; during his reign the kingdom of the Lombards touched the
summit of its greatness ; he subdued the exarchate of Ravenna,
and changed it into a new dukedom, and then led his forces against
Rome, which, nominally subject to the emperor, was really governed
by the pope. Alarmed at the danger that threatened him. Pope
Stephen first applied for aid to the emperor, but finding that the
Byzantine court cared little for Italy, he appealed to Pepin, the
first monarch of the Carlovingian dynasty in F'rance. Pepin im-
mediately crossed the Alps with a powerful army, besieged
Astulphus in Pavia, and forced him to purchase peace by the
cession, not only of the places he had seized in the Roman duke-
dom, but also of the exarchate and the marches of Ancona, to the
Holy See. The Franks had to return a second time to compel the
fulfilment of these engagements ; Astulphus once more submitted,
but secretly resolved to renew the war on a favourable opportu-
nity; before his preparations were completed, however, he was
killed by a fall from his horse, and the Lombard kingdom dis-
tracted by a disputed succession.
By the aid of the pope, Desiderius prevailed in the contest; but
1 Image-breakers.
24 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
subsequently being exposed to the jealousy of the pontifical power,
he tried to secure himself by giving his daughters in marriage to
Charles and Oarloman, the two sons of Pepin. This alliance was
of no long duration ; Charles divorced his wife under pretence of
hep barrenness ; and Desiderius, in revenge, endeavoured to per-
suade the pope to anoint Carloman's children monarchs of the
Franks. Adrian I., who then filled the pontifical chair, steadily
refused ; Desiderius invaded his dominions, and the pope, unable
to make effective resistance, placed himself imder the protection of
Charles, or, as he is more generally called, Charlemagne. The
king of the Franks crossed the Alps, and, after a brief war, put an
end to the kingdom of the Lombards by the capture of Pavia
(a.d. 774). Desiderius and his family were sent into France,
wbere they died in obscurity ; Charlemagne, as conqueror, received
the iron crown of Lombardy.
Section Vn. The Anglo-Saxons.
When Britain was deserted by the Romans, the country re-
mained exposed to the savage incursions of the Picts and Scots ;
the inhabitants, unable to protect themselves, deserted their habi-
tations, and sought shelter in the hills and woods. The retreat of
the barbarians afforded them a temporary respite ; but when the
invasions were renewed, domestic rancour prevented their com-
bining for their common defences. Vortigem, prince of Dumno-
nium, advised his countrymen to seek foreign aid j and they invited
the Saxons to their aid from Germany.
The Saxons and Angles, from small beginnings, had gradually
extended their sway from the mouth of the Rhine to the coast of
Jutland ; their piratical vessels scoured the seas of western Europe j
and the maritime cities of Gaul, Spain, and Britain were frequently
plundered by their corsairs, or forced to purchase safety by the
payment of a large tribute. Among the chiefs of their warlike
tribes none enjoyed greater authority than the two brothers
Hengist and Horsa, who claimed to be descended from Woden, the
tutelary god of the nation. To these leaders the application of
Vortigem was made; they readily accepted his invitation, and,
accompanied by about sixteen hundred of their countrymen, landed
in the isle of Thanet. The Picts and Scots were subdued with facility,
but the adventurers, instead of returning home, invited over fresh
hordes of their countrymen, and received from Germany a rein-
forcement of five thousand men. A long and cruel series of wars
ensued, in which the Saxons and another barbarous tribe, the
Angles, continually supported by crowds of volunteere from Ger-
THE ANGLO-SAXONS, 25
Bany, trimnplied over the Britons, and finally drove the miserable
remnant of the nation to seek refuge in the mountiuns of Wales
ind ComwalL The straggle lasted nearly one hundred and fifty
fears, and ended in the division of southern Britain into seven
Baxon kingdoms, commonly called the Heptarchy.
The Christian religion was first established in the kingdom of
Kent, the earliest and long the most powerfid of the Saxon
monarchies. Ethelbert, its sovereign, though a pagan, had married
a Christian princess, Bertha, the daughter of Cliaribert, one of the
Niccessors of Clovis, and had promised to allow her the free exer-
cise of her religion. Bertha, by the excellence of her conduct,
acquired considerable influence over the mind both of her husband
md his courtiers; her popularity was probably one of the principal
circumstances that encouraged Pope Gregory the Great to send
missionaries into England.^ Augustine, the chief of the mission,
was honourably received at the court of Ethelbert (a.d. 507), and
began to preach the gospel to the people of Kent. Ethelbert and
the great majority of his subjects were soon received into the
church, and Augustine was consecrated the first archbishop of
Canterbury.
The petty wars between the princes of the Heptarchy are totally
ievoid of interest, and the history of the separate kingdoms is
tittle more than a list of obscure names. An exception may be
made in favour of Offa, king of Mercia, who zealously laboured to
sxtend the power of the Romish See in England, and founded the
magnificent monastery of St. Alban's. So considerable were his
power and fame, that the Emperor Charlemagne sought his friend-
ihip and alliance. Offa, at his desire, sent the celebrated Alcuin
U> the court of Charlemagne, and this learned Saxon became the
emperor's preceptor in the sciences. To Alcuin France was in-
debted for all the polite learning it boasted of in that and the
following ages ; the universities of Paris, Tours, Fulden, Soissons,
and many others, owe to him their origin and increase ; those of
which he was not the superior and founder being at least en-
lightened by his doctrine and example, and enriched by the benefits
he procured them from Charlemagne.
The kingdom of Mercia had nearly obtained the sovereignty of
the Heptarchy when Egbert ascended the throne of Wessex (a.d.
799), as the kingdom of the West Saxons was called. He broke
down the Mercian power, uded not a little by the hatred with
' It is said that this prelate, while country thej belonged, and, being
ret in a private station, beheld some to'd the}' were An^Ii, exclaimed,
Saxon youths exposed for sale in the * They would not be Angli^ bat
ilave-roarket at Rome. St rack with Angeli (angels), if they were Chris-
their beaaty, he inquired to what tiaos.*
26 FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
which the tyrannical conduct of the Mercians had inspired the
subject nations. His policy was as conspicuous as his valour, and
both enabled him to unite the realm of England into an orderly
monarchy, possessing tranquillity within itself, and secure from
foreign invasion. This great event occurred (a.d. 827) nearly
four hundred years after the first arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in
Britain.
THE EAST AT THE COMING OF MOHAMMED. 27
CHAPTER n.
THE RISE AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SARACENIC POWER.
Section I. Political and Social Condition of the Ead at the
cofnifig of Mohammed,
THE leign of Justin II., the nephew and successor of Justininn,
at Contjtantinople, was remarkable only for disgrace abroad
and misery at home. At his death (a.d. 67ft) he bequeathed the
empire to Tiberius, whose virtues amply justified his choice ; but
the reign of Tiberius lasted only four years ; he was succeeded by
Maurice, who inherited many of his predecessor's virtues as well
as his crown. Soon after his accession, the attention of the
emperor was directed to the unsettled state of Persia, which had
been distracted by sanguinary civil wars since the death of the
great Nushirv^n. Hormiiz, the son and successor of that monarch,
was deposed and slain ; Bahram^ a brave general, but a feeble
statesman, usurped the throne, and Khosni, or Chosroes, the
legitimate heir, sought shelter in the Byzantine empire. Maurice
levied a powerful army to restore the royal exile^ and intrusted
its command to Narses, a valiant general, who was himself of
Persian descent The expedition was crowned with success ;
Bahram, driven beyond the Oxus, died by poison, and Khosni,
grateful for his recovered throne, entered into close alliance with
the emperor.
Freed from all danger on the side of Persia, Maurice resolved
to turn his arms against the Avars ; but the incapacity of his
generals, and his own avarice, provoked the resentment of the
soldiers; they mutinied, and marched to Constantinople under
the command of one of their centurions, named Phocas. Had the
metropolis continued faithful, this sedition might have been easily
qaelled ; but the licentious populace, disgusted by the parsimony
of their sovereign, assaulted him as he walked in a religious pro-
cession, and compelled him to seek safety in his palace. The
unfortunate emperor was compelled to abdicate; Phocas wan
tomoltuously invested with the purple, and welcomed. \a\a
28 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SARACENIC POWER.
Constantinople by the acclamations of a thoughtless people. The
tyrant commenced his reign by dragging Maurice from the sanc-
tuary where he had sought refuge, murdering his five sons suc-
cessively before his eyes, and then putting the deposed monarch
to death by torture (a.d. 602). One of the royal nurses attempted
to save the prince intrusted to her charge, by presenting her own
child to the executioners in his stead j but Maurice refused to
sanction the deceit, and, as each blow of the axe fell on the necks
of his children, he exclaimed, with pious resignation, ^ Righteous
art thou, 0 Lord, and just are thy judgments ! *
The usurpation of Phocas was basely sanctioned by Pope Gre-
gory, who received in return the title of Universal Bishop. But
his subjects soon discovered their error in preferring such a mis-
creant to the virtuous Maurice. Heraclius, exarch of Africa,
invited by the unanimous voice of the empire, sailed to Constan-
tinople ; scarcely had his fleet appeared in the Hellespont, when
the citizens and imperial guards entered the palace, bound Phocas
in chains, and sent him a helpless captive to his rival (a.d. 610).
Heraclius reproached him with his manifold vices, to which the
deposed tyrant simply replied, 'Wilt thou govern better ? * These
were the last words of Phocas; after suffering much Variety of
insult and torture, he was beheaded, and his mangled body thrown
into the sea.
But the death of Phocas did not deliver the empire from the
calamities his crimes had produced ; Khosrii Parviz had no sooner
learned the sad fate of his benefactor Maurice, than he assembled
the entire strength of Persia to avenge his murder. The unwise
system of persecution which had been gradually established both
by the Byzantine prelates and emperors supplied the invader
with allies in every province ; the Jews, the Nestorians, and the
Jacobites believed, with reason, that they would find the wor-
shippers of fire more tolerant than the orthodox Christians ; and
scarcely had the Persians crossed the Euphrates, when insurrec-
tions were raised in their favour throughout Syria. Khosrii, vic-
torious in two decisive battles, was encouraged to undertake the
hereditary enterprise of the Sassanid dynasty, — the restoration of
the Persian empire, as it existed in the age of Cyrus the Great.
Heraclius had scarcely ascended the throne, when he received
intelligence of the fall of Antioch ; and this was soon followed by
the account of the storming of Jerusalem, where the Jews, en-
couraged by the Persians, wreaked dreadful vengeance on the
heads of their Christian persecutors (a.d. 614). The fugitives
from Palestine sought refuge in Egypt, where they were hospit-
ably entertained by the archbishop of Alexandria. But Egypt
itself, where the din of arms had not been heard since the reign
THE EAST AT THE COMING OF MOHAMMED. 29
of Dioclesian, was invaded, conquered, and for a time annexed to
the Persian empire (a.d. 616). Asia Minor waa subdued with
equal facility; in a single campai«rn) the armies of the Persiana
idvanced from the banks of the Euphrates to the shores of the
Thracian Bosphoi-os, and during ten years their hostile camp waa
in sight of the towers of Constantinople.
Constantinople itself was so hardly pressed by the Avars, that
Heraclius was on the point of abandoning the capital, and seeking
refuge with bis treasures in Carthage. He was with difficulty
dissuaded from this dishonourable measure by the entreaties of
the patriarch ; but his prospects appesured to become darker every
hour; the Avars, by a treacherous attack, had nearly seized the
capital, and the ambassadors, sent to supplicate pardon and peace
from Khoeru, were dismissed with contumely and acorn; the
Persian despot declaring that he would not grant peace until
either Heraclius was brought bound in chains to his footstool, or
had abjured Christianity and embraced the Magian religion.
For about twelve years Heraclius had patiently witnessed the
calamities of the empire without making any effort to protect hia
Bubjects ; but this last insult roused his slumbering energies, and
he entered on a career as glorious as his former inactivity had
been disgraceful. He did not venture with his raw levies to
attack tbe Persian camp at Chalcedon ; but he passed over to the
coast of Cilicia, and fortified himself on the ground where
Alexander had fought the battle of Issus, not far from the modem
town cf Scanderoon, whose excellent harbour offered a good
station for the imperial fleet. A splendid victory over the Persian
cavalry enabled him to establish his winter-quartei-s in Cappadocia,
on the banks of the Halys (Kizil Innak), and to mature his plans
for one of the boldest enterprises recorded in history, — the
invasion of Persia through its northern provinces (a.d. 623).
Early in the ensuing spring, Heraclius, with a chosen band of five
thousand men, sailed from Constantinople to Trebizond, assembled
his forces from the southern regions, and, joined by the Christians
of Armenia, entered the province of Atropatene (Azerbtjdn).
Tauris (Tabriz)^ the ancient and modem capital of the country,
was taken by storm, almost in sight of Khosru*s army. Several
equally glorious campaigns followed ; the greater part of Persia
was overrun by the victorious Byzantines; they defeated the
Asiatics wherever they encountered them, and marched in one
direction as far as the Caspian, in the other to Ispahan, destroying
in their progress all Khosrii^s splendid palaces and plundering hia
hoarded treasures. Khosrii made no effort to stop the mighty
work of min, and yet he rejected the terms of peace offered him
by the conqueror. His subjects soon lost all regard for a monaick
30 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SARACENIC POWER.
whom they deemed the sole cause of the desolation of his country ;
a conspiracy was formed against him, he was deposed by his eldest
son, Shiroueh, cast into a dungeon, and put to death.
After six glorious campaigns^ Heraclius returned to Constan-
tinople, bringing with him the wood of the ' True Cross,' which
Khosni had taken at Jerusalem, — a precious relic, which was
deemed a more splendid trophy of his victories than all the spoils
and conquests. The kingdom of Persia, exhausted by the late
sanguinary contest, was left to perish under the accumulated evils
of a dreadful famine, the disputes of proud and luxurious nobles,
a succession of weak sovereigns, and the attack of a new and
terrible enemy. The flame which Mohammed had kindled in
Arabia already began to spread, and to threaten an equal fate
to the degraded and decaying monarchies of Byzantium and
Persia.
Victory itself was fatal to Heraclius ; the best and bravest of
his soldiers had perished in the sanguinary war, his treasury was
empty, taxes were levied with difficulty in the desolated provinces,
and the emperor himself, as if exhausted by his great efforts, sunk
into hopeless lethargy. "While Heraclius was enjoying the empty
honours of a triumph, the Saracens appeared on the confines of
Syria ; thenceforth the empire sunk rapidly before their fanatic
valour ; and in the last eip:ht years of his reign, the emperor lost
to them all that he had rescued from the Persians.
Section U, State of Arabia at the coming of Mohammed,
The peninsula of Arabia is in shape a large and irregular
triangle, between Persia, Syria, Egypt, and Ethiopia ; its extreme
length is about fifteen hundred miles, and its mean breadth about
seven hundred. Though it contains several lofty ranges of moun-
tains, the greater part of the country consists of level, sandy, and
arid plains, which can support but few inhabitants. Water is
difficult to be obtained ; there is scarcely any wood to shelter from
the rays of a tropical sun ; the winds frequently come loaded with
pestilential vapours, or raise eddying billows of sand that have
overwhelmed not only caravans but entire armies. The high lands
that border on the Indian Ocean are distinguished by a supeirior
abundance of wood and water, an^ hence this part of the peninsula
has been called Happy Arabia : but the groves even of this favoured
district are thinly scattered ; the streams, though pure, are small ;
and the country could only be deemed delightful by persons whose
eyes were unaccustomed to vegetation, and who had often felt the
want of a cooling shade or a refreshing drink. The northern part
ARABIA AT THE COMING OF MOHAMMED. SI
of Arabia is occupied by ranges of naked, rocky mountains, from
which it received the name of Arabia Petrsea, or the Stony ; but,
notwithstanding its rugged and desert aspect, it was in ancient
times the great high-road of trade between Egypt and south-
eastern Asia.
The Arabs are an original and immixed race ; they boast that
their country has never been subdued, but the greater part of it
has little that could tempt the cupidity of a conqueror. In the
reign of Trajan, the Romans made Arabia Petrsea a province;
Yemen, or Arabia Felix, has been frequently subject to Persia, and
about tiie time of Mohaomied^e appearance the southern part of
the peninsula was ruled by the Najashi of Ethiopia. The Arab is
not very robust, but he is active and well made, able to endure
great fatigue, and, both from habit and education, reckless of
danger. In all his pleasures, dangers, and fatigues, he makes the
horse and camel of his deserts associates rather than servants.
The horse of Arabia is equally remarkable for speed, temper, and
power of endurance ; and it is remarkable that the best breeds of
this animal in Europe, Asia, and Africa, have been derived from an
Arabian stock. The camel and dromedary of the desert are re-
garded by the Arab as scarcely inferior to his horse. This patient
and powerful animal supplies him with milk for his sustenance,
transports his property and family from one quarter of the desert
to another, and, when occasion requires, enables him to pursue or
fly from his enemy with almost incredible speed.
The ancient religion of the Arabs was the Sabean form of
idolatry, which consisted in the worship of the sun, moon, and
planets; but, long before the coming of Mohammed, they were dis-
tracted by a great variety of creeds ; some adhered to the faith of
their ancestors, others embraced Judaism, and several tribes became
Christians. Unfortunately, Christianity, when introduced into the
peninsula, had been deeply sullied by man's devices ; the different
Christian tribes were imbued with a fierce sectarian spirit, and
hated each other more bitterly than Jews or pagans. The vivid
imaginations of the Arabs led them to investigate questions beyond
the powers of man's understanding; and the consequence was so
abondant a supply of new doctrines, that one of the early fathers
dc»aibed Arabia as the land most fruitful in heresies.
The principal Arabian cities of ancient times were in Yemen ;
hut their fame was destined to be eclipsed by the glories of Mecca
and Medina, both in the Hejaz, the two great sanctuaries of the
national religion. Mecca was a place of considerable trade from
the earliest ages, being situated at the intersection of two im-
portant routes, — that between Syria and Arabia Felix, and that
between Abyssinia, or Upper Egypt, and south-eastexii AsvSb.
32 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SARACENIC POWER.
Commerce flourished under the sanctuary of religion. The temple
of Mecca was regarded as the national metropolis of the Arabic
faith, before Judaism and Christianity appeared in the peninsula ;
its custody raised the Koreishites to a rank above the other tribes,
and the failure of the attempt made to storm it by the Ethiopians,
in the very year that Mohammed was bom, may be considered the
great check that impeded, or rather prevented, the further ex-
tension of Christianity in the country. Mecca is built in a winding
valley at the foot of three barren mountains ; the soil is a rock,
and the waters brackish. The pastures are remote from the city,
and good fruits cannot be procured at a nearer place than the
gardens of Tayef, which are about seventy miles distant.
The Arabs believe that Mecca was founded by Adam, and the
temple erected by Abraham. Its early prosperity they ascribe to
Ishmael, who fixed his residence there, because, as their traditions
assert, the brackish well Zemzem was that to which Hagar was
directed by the angel. It must have been a very ancient city i^
as commentators suppose, it was the Mesha which Moses mentions
as inhabited by the posterity of Joktan.*
Medina, called Yatreb before the appearance of Mohammed,
enjoys more natural advantages than Mecca ; but it is not so con-
veniently situated for traffic. Its citizens appear to have been
always jealous of the supremacy claimed by the Meccans, and this
probably induced them to espouse the cause of Mohammed when
he was banished by their rivals.
Literature was zealously cultivated by the ancient Arabs ; they
were enthusiastically attached to eloquence and poetry, for both of
which their rich, harmonious language affords peculiar facilities.
A meeting of the tribes was held annually, at which the poets
recited their compositions, and those which were judged the best
were preserved in the public treasury. The most celebrated of
these were seven poems called Moallakat, which were written on
Egyptian silk in letters of gold, and suspended in the Kaaba, or
temple of Mecca. Science was not similarly valued ; their history
was confined to genealogical tables ; their astronomy, to such a
rude knowledge of the stars as served to mark the variation of the
seasons ; and the mechanical arts were almost wholly neglected.
They used to say that God had given them four peculiarities,-—
turbans instead of diadems ; tents instead of houses ; swords instead
of fortresses ; and poems instead of written laws.
^ Gen. x« and ^^xx't
PBEACHING OF MOHAMMED. 33
Sscnoir HI. The Preaching of Mohammed,
Mohammed, the great legislator of the Arabians, and the founder
of a religion which has long prevailed over the fairest portions of
the globe, was bom at Mecca. His father, Abdallah, was an
idolater ; but his mother, Emina, was a Jewess who had been con-
verted to Christianity, and from her early instructions he probably
derived the religious impressions for which he was distinguished
even in boyhood. Both his parents died while he was yet a child,
but their place was supplied by his uncles, Abd-al-Motalleb and
Abu-Taleb, the latter of whom became a tender parent to the
orphan. At the age of thirteen he accompanied Abu-Taleb on ^
mercantile journey into Syria, and soon after made his first cam-
pedgn against some neighbouring tribes of predatory Arabs.
From this time Mohammed appears to have engaged actively in
trade. He displayed so much talent^ that a rich widow, named
• Kadijah, appointed him her chief factor ; and after some years was
so pleased with his zeal and industry, that she gave him her hand
in marriage, and made him master of her splendid fortune. After
his marriage Mohammed ranked among the first citizens of Mecca,
and it must be added that he was not corrupted by good fortime.
The earliest use he made of prosperity was to relieve his kind
guardian and uncle Abu-Taleb, who had fallen into distress ; he
placed Abu-Taleb above want, and undertook the education of a
portion of his family.
Little is known of Mohammed's history during the next fifteen
years, but there is every reason to believe that this interval was
spent in maturing his plans for the great revolution he contem-
plated. Every year he retired for a month to a cave in Mount Hira,
near Mecca, where he spent his' time in meditation and prayer.
His travels as a merchant had made him acquainted with the prin-
cipal forms of religion that then prevailed in the East. A singular
dream led him to believe that he was chosen by the Deity to recon-
cile all these jarring creeds, and to unite mankind in the worship
of the one true God. In the solitude of his cave he dreamed that
the angel Gabriel appeared to him, and hailed him as a prophet.
On his return he announced his mission to Kadijah, who at once
recognised his claims. Her example was followed by Ali, the son
of Abu-Taleb, by Abu-Beker, 0th man, and a few friends accus-
tomed to regard the recluse of Hira with reverence. •
These converts were called Mussulmans, that is, persons resigned
to the divine will j their faith was confirmed by revelations which
Mohammed pretended to receive from Gabriel, and which, as he did
not then know how to read and write, or at least but imperfectly,
s
34? ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SAEACENIC POWER.
lie coinmunicated orally tci his disciples. These revelations were
preseryed by them in a volume, which they called the Koran, or
book that ought to be read. The progress of the new religion was
slow; many of Mohammed's friends rejected his prophetic claims
with something like horror ; and three years elapsed before he ven-
tured to announce his mission publicly. Having invited his friends
and relatives to a splendid banquet, he declared to them that God
had chosen him to preach the doctrine of the divine unity ; Ali,
with the generous enthusiasm of youth, warmly offered to support
the prophet's claims, but many of the other guests doubted or
laughed them to scorn.
Undismayed by the imperfect result of his first essay, Moham-
med began to preach to the people of Mecca in the market-place.
Converts were made slowly; and the guardians of the city opposed
doctrines that threatened to subvert the influence they derived
from the worship of the Kaaba. Several of the Mussulmans, most
remarkable for their zeal, were forced by persecution to abandon
their homes, and seek refuge in Abyssinia; but the spirit of
Mohammed quailed not; he refused to quit Mecca, and when
asked to suspend his preaching for a season he replied, * Were my
enemies to place the sun on my right hand, and the moon on my
left, they would not reduce me to silence.'
At one of the great annual fairs held in Mecca Mohammed
preached his mission to the merchants assembled from all parts of
Arabia. Among his auditors were some citizens of Yatreb, or, as
it was afterwards called, Medina, whom peculiar circumstances
rendered attentive to his claims. The Yatrebites had just con-
quered a Jewish tribe ; they heard their captives boast of their
speedy liberation on the coming of the Messiah, and, supposing
that the new prophet might be the expected deliverer, they re-
solved to conciliate his favour; Mohammed profited by their
delusion; and this appears to have been his first direct step in
imposture, though in the tangled web of human motives it is hard
to say where enthusiasm ends and fraud begins.
Inspired by his success with the Yatrebites, and some other
tribes in the interior of Arabia, Mohammed, who had hitherto
preached patience and submission under persecution, directed his
disciples to defend themselves when attacked, declaring that all
who died in defence of his person or his creed would assuredly
inherit Paradise. At the same time ho averred that he had been
taken up int3 heaven by Gabriel, and admitted to a personal inter-
view with the Omnipotent. The Meccan chiefs, enraged at his
hardihood, took measures for his destruction, and he could only
save his life by a speedy retreat to Yatreb. This event, called
Hejira (the flight), occurred about the fifty-third year of the pro-
PREACHING OF MOHAMMED. 35
phet's age (^D. 622), and is the era used bj all Mohammedan
nations. •
Mohammed was received in triumph at Yatreb ; he changed its
name to Medinet al nabi (t?ie city of the projthet), or Medina (the
city), which it still retains. Converts flocked to Medina, and were
formed into warlike bands, which infested all the roads to Mecca,
and took severe vengeance for the insult offered to their master.
The plunder was shared equally among the soldiers; enthusiasm
generally insured success; and warriors from all parts of the
peninsula were attracted by the hopes of wealth and glory. In
one of the frequent encounters between the Meccans and Mussul-
mans, near the well Bedr, Mohammed was on the point of being
defeiUed, when he stooped down, took up a handful of dust and
flung it towards the enemy, exclaiming, * May their faces be con-
founded I ' This simple action revived the courage of his fol-
lowers ; they gained a decisive victory, which he failed not to
ascribe to a miraculous interposition.
After this success Mohammed made a great change in the
character of his religion ; hitherto he had preached patience and
toleration ; he now began to inculcate the doctrine of propagating
the true faith by the sword, and of executing divine vengeance on
idolaters and unbelievers. ' In the shade of the crossing scimetars,'
he declared, ' Paradise is prefigured;' and this sublime orientalism
was long the favourite war-cry of his followers. The Jews became
special objects of his hatred ; he seemed to have hoped that they
would acknowledge him as their Messiah, but they were too well
acquainted with their sacred Scriptures to believe that the libe-
rator of Israel should be descended from the bond-woman. A
severe defeat at Ohod increased rather than abated the pride and
fiuiatidsm of Mohammed ; he ascribed it to the fault of his com-
panions in having granted quarter to their enemies on a former
occasion, and thenceforward the war assumed a most sanguinary
character. The Meccans suffered much more severely than their
adversaries ; depending for their prosperity, and almost for their
existence, on commerce, they saw their trade almost annihilated,
their caravans plundered, and their flocks swept away. They made
one great effort to remove their enemy, and besieged Mohammed in
Medhia, but were soon forced to retire with great loss. ' Hitherto
they have sought us,' exclaimed the prophet, * it is now our turn
to go in search of them.'
After this defeat the Meccans seem to have lost all courage ;
Mohammed rapidly became the most powerful prince in Arabia,
his followers received his words as the inspired oracles of God, nor
were they undeceived by the gross licentiousness in which the pre-
tended prophet indulged. At length he marched agsiost^^c^^
d2
36 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SAEACENIC POWER.
but found the defiles which led to the city too strongly garrisoned
to alldw of an attack with any prospect of success. Under these
circumstances he concluded a truce, much against the will of his
followers, by which a peaceful admission into the city was secured
to him in the ensuing year. Feeling that his power waa now
established, Mohammed sent ambassadors, inviting the most
powerful kings of the earth, especially the emperors of Persia and
Constantinople, to become his disciples. Khosrii Parviz, who then
ruled in Iran, was indignant at receiving a letter in which ' a
poor lizard-eater,' as the Arab waa then called by his haughty
neighbours, dared to place his name before that of ' the king of
kings.* He tore the paper to pieces, and dismissed the ambas-
sador with insult; when this waa told to Mohammed he exclaimed,
' Thus God hath torn his kingdom.'
At length the day arrived which was to consummate the triumph
of Islamism. Mohammed made his public entry into Mecca with
unparalleled magnificence ; he did homage to the national faith by
worshipping in the Kaaba; and such was the effect produced by
his presence, that many of his former enemies, and, among others,
the chief guardian of the idolatrous sanctuary, ^proclaimed them-
selves his disciples. Soon after this success he began his first
foreign war. The ambassador he sent to the Byzantine governor
of Bosrah having been murdered at Muta, a little town south of
the Dead Sea, an army was sent, under the command of Zeid, the
freedman of the prophet, to avenge the insult. The Mussulman
general, and the two officers that succeeded, were slain ; but the
command devolving upon Khaled, the son of Walid, he obtained a
decisive victory, and returned to Medina laden with booty. This
success induced Mohammed to break his truce with the Meccans ;
disregarding their remonstrances and offers of submission, he
marched against the city ; an entrance was forced by the fiery
Khaled, and the prophet with difficulty prevented his followers
from involving his fellow-citizens in one promiscuous massacre.
The Kaaba became the property of the conqueror ; all traces of
idolatry were removed from this national sanctuary; the only
emblem of former superstition permitted to remain was the
celebrated Black Stone, an aerolite which the Arabs had venerated •
from an unknown age, the reverence for which was too deeply
graven in their heai*ts to be easily eradicated. This success led to
the subjugation of most of the northern Arabian tribes : ambas-
sadors flocked to congratulate the prophet from every side ; the
lieutenant of Khoani, at the western side of the Euphrates, became
a Mussulman ; the governor of the provinces that the Najashi of
Abyssinia held in Arabia followed the example ; and Mohammed
mi^ht be regarded as the imdisputed sovereign of the peninsula.
PREACHINa OF MOHAMMED. 37
Hia two great objects seemed thus to be effected ; Arabia wap
liberated from the yoke of foreign powers^ and the Arabs began to
regard themselves as one nation. A second expedition against the
southern provinces of the Byzantine, or, as it was still called, the
Eoman empire, was crowned with success ; and so rapid bad been
the progress of Islamism, that when the prophet performed his last
pilgrimage to Mecca his followers amounted to nearly one hundred
thousand warriors, independent of women, slaves, and other
attendants.
On his return to Medina, a poison (which Mohammed had taken
from a Jewess, who is said to have taken this means of testing
his claim to the title of Messiah) began to show its effects. lie
was seized with mortal disease ; and, at his own request, was
removed to the house of his favourite wife Ayesha, on whose
prudence he depended for concealing any incautious avowal he
might make under the pressure of sickness. On the 8th of June,
632, he died, declaring with his last breath that he was about * to
take his place with his fellow-citizen on high,^ moaning the angel
Gabriel. He made no will, he appointed no successor, owing to
the contrivance of Ayesha, who feared that Ali, the cousin and
son-in-law of the prophet, would be nominated the heir of his
power ; and that she would thus be inferior to her beautiful step-
daughter, Fatima, the wife of AIL
Section IV. Early Progress of the Saracens.
The fabric of Islamism was shaken to its very foundation after
Mohammed's death by the disputes that arose respecting the choice
of a successor. Ali had the best hereditary claims, but his literary
tastes and ascetic manners rendered him unpopular with the fierce
soldiery j and he had a powerful enemy in Ayesha, whom he had
once charged with infidelity. After three days of fierce dispute,
the controversy was decided by Omar's proffering the oath of
fidelity to Abii Bekr, the father of Ayesha, and one of Mohammed's
most faithful followers.
Abu Bekr assumed the title of Khaliph, or vicar, which thence-
forth became the designation of the Saracenic emperors. Having
superintended the sepulture of hb illustrious predecessor at
Medina, the khaliph sent an army against Mosseilama, an im-
postor, who, following the example of Mohammed, attempted to
found a new religion. Mosseilama and his followers were exter-
minated by the gallant Khaled, sumamed, from his fiery valour,
' the sword of God,* and Islamism was thenceforward established
in Arabia.
Perceiving that it was necessary to find employment for the
38 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SARACENIC POWER.
energetic spirits by which he was surrounded, Abii Bekr prepared
to invade the Byzantine and Persian empires, both of which had
fallen into a state of deplorable weakness. Os^ma^ the son of
Zeid, ravaged Syria, while the province of Irdk, the ancient
Babylonia, was subdued by Khaled. The conquest of Syria was a
more important enterprise ; circulars, announcing the undertaking,
were sent to the principal Arabian tribes ; and the army which
assembled on the occasion was the most numerous that had yet
been raised by the Saracens. The Emperor Heraclius, alarmed at
the approach of such formidable forces, sent a large detachment to
meet the enemy on the frontiers, which was defeated with great
slaughter. But the imperialists were more successful at Gaza,
where they gained a victory over a Moslem division commanded
by Abu Obeidah. The khaliph invjBsted Amni with the supremo
command of the expedition, but intrusted Obeidah*s division to
Khaled. The latter made himself master of the city of Bosra,
and after gaining several other advantages over the Eomans laid
. siege to Damascus.
It was reported that Mohammed, after viewing the lovely and
fertile plains in which Damascus stands from one of the neighbour-
ing heights, proclaimed it to be the earthly Paradise designed to
be the inheritance of true believers. The fiery Khaled recited this
tradition to his enthusiastic followers as he led them before the
walls, and thus excited their ardour for the siege to a fury that
bordered on insanity.
Heraclius eent an army of 100,000 men to relieve the capital of
Syria, but the imperialists were thrice routed j and in the last of
these battles more than half their number fell in the field. This
calamity led to the fall of Damascus, one side of which was
stormed by Khaled just as the other capitulated to Abu Obeidah.
A warm dispute arose between the generals as to the claims of
the citizens to the benefit of the capitulation ; but mercy finally
prevailed, and the lives of the Damascenes were spared. Abii
Bekr died on the very day that Damascus was taken (a.d. 634) ;
his memory was justly venerated, not only because he pointed
the Saracens the way to conquest beyond Arabia, but because
he gave their religion its permanent form, by collecting the
scattered passages of the Koran, and arranging them in the order
which they hold to the present day.
His character was remarkable for generosity and moderation ; he
did not reserve for himself any portion of the vast wealth acquired
by his victorious armies, but distributed his share to his soldiers
and to the poor. He was always easy of access, no petitioner for
mercy or claimant of justice went unheard from his presence ;
both by precept and example he laboured to maintain the re-
EAKLY PBOGRESS OF THE SARACENS. S9
publican simplicity so remarkable in the early hiHtnrr of the
Saracens ; and though the partisans of All regard him as a usurper,
thej still reverence his memory on account of his moderation aod
his virtue.
Omar was chosen second khaliph by the unanimous consent of
the army. Soon after his accession he received the intelligence of
the capture of Damascus ; but, instead of evincing his gratitude,
he yielded to the suggestions of petty jealousy, and transferred the
command of the army from K haled to Abu Oboidah. The conquest
of Syria was followed by the subjugation of Persia. Yezdijird, the
last monarch of the Saasanid dynasty, sent a large army to recover
Ir^, under the command of Ferokshad, a goncral of high reputa-
tion. Saad-ebn-Wakass, the leader of the Saracens, rdying upon
the impetuous courage of his soldiers, eagerly sought a general
action; and Ferokshad, after many vain efforts to protract the
war, was forced to a decisive engagement iu the plains of Kadseah,
orKadesia. The battle lasted several days, and ended in the almost
total annihilation of the Persian army, while the loss of the Arabs
did not exceed three thousand men. The celebrated standard of
Persia, originally the apron of the patriotic blacksmith, G&vah,
but which had been enlarged, by successive monarchs, to the
length of twenty-two feet and the breadth of fifteen, enriched widi
jewels of the highest value, fell into the hands of the conquerors,
and was broken up for distribution. Nor was this the only rich
booty obtained by the * sons of the desert/ who were yet ignorant
of its value. ' I will give any quantity of this yellow metal for a
little white,' was an exclamation made after the battle was over
by an Arabian soldier, who desired to exchange gold, which he
had never before seen, for silver, which he hod learned to appre-
ciate (A.D. 63d).
Yezdijird assembled a new army in the northern and eastern
provinces, while the khaliph reinforced the invaders with fresh
bodies of enthusiasts. The battle which decided the fate of Persia
was fought at Navahend (a.d. 641). Noman, the leader of the
Saracens, attacked the Persians in their intrenchments ; nothing
could resist the fury of the onslaught; the Persian linos were
completely broken ; it was a carnage rather than a battle. For
ten years Yezdijird, * a hunted wanderer on the wild,' protracted a
faint but unyielding resistance ; he was at length slain by a miller
with whom he had sought refuge (a.d. 651). Thus ended the
dynasty of Sassan, which ruled Persia for four hundred and fifty
years, and the memory of which is still cherished by a nation
whose ancient glory is associated with the fame of Ardeshur,
Shah-pur, and Nushirvan.
Nor were the Saracens less successful in Syria; Abu Obeidah'a
40 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SABACENIC POWEB.
caution tempered the fiery zeal of Khaled, and rendered victory-
more secure, though less rapid. Citj after city yielded to the
Moslems, and the army which Heraclius sent to the defence of his
unfortunate subjects was irretrievably ruined in the battle of
Yermuk. Inspired by this victory, Abu Obeidah laid siege to
Jerusalem, and in four months reduced the garrison to such dis-
tress that a surrender was unavoidable. The Ehaliph Omar came
in person to receive the submission of the holy city. His equipage
was a singular characteristic of the simplicity that still prevailed
among the Saracens. He rode upon a camel, with a sack of com
and water-bag slung from the saddle to supply his wants during
the journey. A wooden platter was the only utensil he brought
with him ; his dress was of camel's hair, coarse and torn ; a single
slave constituted his attendance and escort. In this guise he
reached the Moslem camp, where he recited the public prayers,
and preached a sermon to his troops. He then signed the capitu-
lation, securing to the Christians of Jerusalem protection in person,
property, and religious worship, on the payment of a moderate
tribute, and entered the city in triumph (a.d. 637). In his
triumphal entry the khaliph marched at the head of his troops, in
familiar conversation with Sophronius, the Christian patriarch of
Jerusalem, whom he hoped to protect from, the fanaticism of his
followers by this exhibition of confidence. Nor was this the only
proof of good faith displayed by Omar ; he refused to pray in any
of the Christian churches, lest the Mussulmans should take advan-
tage of his example, and convert it into a mosque. He chose the
ground on which the temple of Solomon anciently stood for the
foundation of the mosque which bears his name ; and as it was
covered with filth of every kind, he set the example of clearing
the spot to his soldiers by removing some of the rubbish in his
robe.
Aleppo, the ancient Bercea, was the next city besieged by the
Saracens; it was valiantly defended for four months, but was
finally taken by assault, and its governor, Gukinna, with several of
his principal officers, embraced the Mohammedan faith. Antioch
and Csesarea were taken with less difficulty ; the Emperor
Heraclius fled from the province, and his son, after a few unsuc-
cessful efforts, followed him to Constantinople. In six years from
their first appearance in Syria the Saracens completed the conquest
of that province, and of Palestine, and secured their acquisitions
by occupying the mountain-fortresses on the borders of Cilicia.
'Egypt was next attacked by Amrii, and subdued without much
difficulty. Alexandria alone made a vigorous defence ; but it was
finally taken by storm, and its valuable library consigned to the
flames, through the fanaticism of Omar, who was ignorant of
EARLY PROGRESS OF THE SARACENS. 41
Bterature and science. In the midst of these triumphs the
Khaliph Omar was assassinated bj a slave (a.d. 64.3). During
Ids reign of ten years and a half, the Saracens could boast that
Qiej had subdued Syria, Chaldsea, Persia, and Eg3rpt; taken
fliirty-six thousand cities, towns, and castles; destroyed four
thousand Christian churches, fire and idol temples, and built
fourteen hundred mosques.
Omar's memory is held in the highest veneration by the Soon-
Bees, and is equally execrated by the Sheeahs. His severity and
dmplicity, which bordered on barbarism, are strikingly contrasted
with the luxury and magnificence of his successors. He had no
■tate or pomp; he lived in a mean house; his mornings were
spent in preaching or praying at the mosque, and during the rest
of the day he was to be found in the public market-place, where,
clothed in a tattered robe, he administered justice to all comers,
directed the afiairs of his increasing empire, and received ambassa-
dors from the most powerful princes of the East. To him the
Arabs are indebted for the adoption of the Ilejira as a fixed era ;
before his reign they counted their years from such epochs as wars,
fiunines, plagues, tempests, or harvests of unusual plenty. He was
lihe first to establish a police in Medina and the other great cities
Df the empire. Before his reign, the Arabs, accustomed to lawless
mdependence, would submit to no restraint, and the immense
conquests of the Saracens had caused such a concourse of strangers
m the seats of government, that cities became nearly as insecure
places of residence as the open country. Omar also established a
regular system of pay for soldiers in the field, and pensions for the
wounded and disabled ; indeed the old companions of Mohammed,
those who had borne the dangers and difiiculties that beset the
hx)phet in the earlier part of his career, having been rendered
izicapable of acquiring fresh plunder by wounds and age, would
bave perished miserably, but for the provision which Omar made
for their support in their declining years.
Omar, by his will, appointed six commissioners to elect a new
khaliph, and their choice fell on Othman-ebn-Affan, whose pliancy
of disposition appears to have been his chief recommendation.
The change of their sovereign did not abate the rage for conquest
•mong the Saracens. They ceased to limit their exertions to
land ; a fleet fitted out by Moawiydh, the governor of Syria, sub-
clued the island of Cyprus (a.d. 647), while the Syrian and
Egyptian armies penetrated into Armenia and Nubia. The island
of Rhodes was a still more important acquisition : it yielded to
Ifoawiyah almost without a struggle ; its celebrated Colossus was
broken to pieces, and sold to a Jew, who loaded nine hundred
Bamels with the metal that it contained. Othman's weakness
42 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SABACENIC POWER.
soon rendered him odious to his warlike subjects. The Egyptian
army revolted, and marched to besiege him in Medina ; their dis-
contents were appeased for a time by the exertions of Ali, but the
insurgents, having reason to suspect that the khaliph meditated
vengeance, retraced their steps, and murdered him in his palace
(a.d. 666). The Koran stained with the blood of Othman is said
to be still preserved at Damascus.
Immediately after the murder of Othman, Ali, the cousin and
son-in-law of the Prophet, was proclaimed khaliph. His accession
was the signal for disorders which threatened the speedy ruin of the
Saracenic empire. His old enemy Ayesha, the widow of Mo-
hanuned, excited a revolt in Arabia, affecting to avenge the mur-
der of Othman, though she had more than consented to his death ;
Moawiyah headed a revolt in Syria ; and the turbulent army of
Egjrpt set their sovereign's authority at defiance. The first
combat was against the partisans of Ayesha, who were routed
with great slaughter, and she herself made prisoner. Ali not only
spared the life of this turbulent woman, but assigned her a large
pension.
Moawiyah was a far more dangerous enemy. By his affected
zeal for religion he had won the friendship of many of the com-
panions of the Prophet, while bis descent from the ancient chiefs
of Mecca procured the support of many who had yielded reluc-
tantiy to the sway of Mohammed. The rival armies met in the
plains of Saffein, on the western bank of the Euphrates, and more
than ninety days were spent in indecisive skirmishes. At length
Moawiyah, finding his forces rapidly diminishing, adopted the
following singular expedient, on the recommendation of Amni;
he ordered a copy of the Koran to be fixed on the top of a pike,
and directed a herald to proclaim, in the presence of both armies,
that he was willing to decide all differences by this sacred code.
All's soldiers forced him to consent to a truce ; two commissioners
were chosen to regulate the articles of peace ; and Amru, who
appeared on the part of Moawiyah, contrived to have his friend
proclaimed khaliph. The war was renewed, but no decisive
battle was fought. At length some enthusiasts met accidentally
at Mecca, and began to discuss the calamities that threatened the
ruin of Islamism. One of them remarked that no one of the
claimants of the throne deserved to reign, since they had jointly
and severally inflicted great sufferings on the faithful, and brought
religion into jeopardy. Three of them then agreed to devote
themselves for the public good, and on the same day to assassinate
Amrii, Moawiydh, and Ali. The two former escaped ; Ali became
a victim (a.d. 661), and Moawiyah, without much resistance,
became chief of the Saracenic empire, and founded the Ommiade
dynasty of KhaUphs.
EAKLY PROGRESS OF THE SARACENS. 43
There is a tradition that Mohammed, a little before his last
hiess, declared, 'The khaliphate will not last more than thirty
ears after my death ; ' if this prediction was not devised after
le event, it was singularly fulfilled by the murder of his nephew
ad son-in-law. Ali*s memory is justly venerated by the Mussul-
lans ; he was inferior in statesmanship to his predecessors, but he
ras certainly the most amiable of the khuliphs. His mildness,
laddity, and yielding disposition, which rendered him so beloved
1 private life, were, however, fatal to him in an age of distraction
nd civil warfare. His family continued to be reverted long after his
eath; but their popularity excited the jealousy of succeediog
haliphsy and most of them perished by open violence or secret
Bsassination. The martyrdom of Hassan and Hossein, the sons of
Lli, is yearly celebrated by the Sheeahs of India and Persia with
jesA, solenmity ; and on these occasions the affecting incidents of
hese events are so vividly represented, that travellers would sup-
ose the bursts of grief they witness to be caused by some recent
nd overwhelming calamity.
During these commotions the career of Saracenic conquest had
een suspended ; but under the Ommiade dynasty the military
pirit of the Arabs was restored to its former strength. Egypt
unished an excellent key to southern Europe and western Africa.
hrioe the Saracens were compelled to abandon their enterprise
g^ainst the countries west of Egypt ; but at length their per-
sverance was crowned with success, and the creed of Mohammed
nis extended through northern Africa to the shores of the
Ltlantic.
Count Julian, a Gothic noble, irritated by the treatment he had
Bceived from his sovereign, Koderic, invited the Saracens into
ipain (a.d. 710). A numerous army of adventurers crossed the
traits, and, aided by the resentment of the persecuted Jews,
abdued the entire peninsula, with the exception of a small
jstrict in the Asturian mountains. Not content with this success,
he Saracens crossed the Pyrenees, and advanced through France to
he Loire ; they even meditated a plan of conquest which would
lave subjected all Christendom to their yoke ; they proposed to
xmquer France, Italy, and Germany, and then, descending the
Danube, to exterminate the Greek empire, whose capital they had
ilready twice assailed. The valour of Charles Martel, who com-
pletely defeated the Saracens in the memorable battle of Tours *
A.D. 732), rescued Europe from the Mohaumiedan yoke. His
prandson Charlemagne drove the Saracens back to the Ebro ; and
hough they subsequently recovered their Spanish provinces, they
' Gibbon calls it the battle of Tours. French historians place it nearer
Poitiers.
44 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SARACENIC POWER.
were forced to respect the Pyrenees as the bulwark of Chris-
tendom.
The revolution which transferred the khaliphate from the
descendants of Moawiyah to the posterity of Abbas, the uncle of
Mohammed, led to the dismemberment of the empire. Mohammed,
the grandson of Abbas, had long been engaged in forming a party
i^ support the rights of his house, and from his obscure residence
in Syria sent emissaries into the remotest parts of the empire, to
secure partisans for an approaching struggle. On the death of
Mohammed, his son Ibrahim succeeded to his influence and his
claims; he sent Abu Moslem as the representative of his party
into Khorassan, and there that intrepid warrior for the first time
raised the black standard of the house of Abbas. From this time
the parties that rent the Saracenic empire were distinguished by
the colours chosen as their cognizance ; black was the ominous
badge of the Abassides, white of the Ommiades, and green of the
Fatimites, who claimed to be descended from Mohammed, through
Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, and the wife of Ali. Abiil
Abbas, sumamed Al Saffah, or the Sanguinary, overthrew the last
of the Ommiade line near the river Jab, and not only put him to
death, but massacred all the princes of his family whom he could
seize, broke open the sepulchres of all the khaliphs, from Moawiyah
downwards, burned their mouldering contents, and scattered the
ashes to the winds.
Ninety members of the Ommiade family were living at Damascus
after their submission, under what they believed the safe protection
of Abdallah-Ebn-Ali, the uncle of the khaliph. One day, when
they were all assembled at a feast to which they had been invited
by the governor, a poet, according to a preconcerted arrangement,
presented himself before Abdallah and recited some verses enume-
rating the crimes of the house of Moawiyah, calling for vengeance
on their devoted heads, and pointed out the dangers to which
their existence exposed the house of Abbas. 'God has cast
them down,' he exclaimed; 'why dost not thou trample upon
them?'
This abominable exhortation fell upon willing ears ; Abdallah
gave the signal to the executioners whom he had abeady prepared,
and ordered the ninety guests to be beaten to death with clubs in
his presence. When the last had fainted under the hands of the
executioner, he ordered the bodies of the dead and dying to be
piled together, and carpets to be thrown over the ghastly heap.
He then, with the rest of his guests, ascended this horrible plat-
form, and there they revelled in a gorgeous banquet, careless of
the u roans and agony below I
Abd-er-rahman, ^e youngest son of the late khaliph, alone es-
EABLY PBOGRESS OF THE SARACENS. 45
iped from ibis indiscriminate massacre. After a series of almost
credible adyentures he reached Spain, where the Saracens, fondly
,tached to the memory of Moawiyah, chose him for their
tyereign, and he thus became the founder of the second dynasty
' the Ommiade khaliphs.
This example of separation was followed by the Edrissites of
[auiitania, and the Fatimites and Aglabites of eastern Africa.
Bagdad, founded by Almansur, became the capital of the Abbasside
ynasty. The khaliphs of this line were generous patrons of
dence, literature, and the arts, especially Hanin-al-Ilashid, the
ero of the Arabian Nights, ^d his son, Al Mamun. The love
f learning spread from Bagdad into the other Saracenic countries ;
lie Ommiade khaliphs founded several universities in Spain, the
Tatimites established schools in Egypt, and the Mohammedan
tations were distinguished for their attainments in physical science,
vhile Europe remained sunk in barbarism. The Saracenic empire
[radually passed from splendour into weakness ; the Turkish mer-
enaries employed by the later khaliphs became the masters of
heir sovereign ; and the dignity, after being long an empty title,
7aa finally abolished (a.d. 1268).
46 KESTOEATION OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
CHAPTER in.
RESTORATION OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
Section L The Life of Charlemagne,
npHE Papal recognition of Pepin's elevation to the throne of
-*- France was something more than a mere form ; it was a
ratification of his claims by the only authority that was respected
by the nations of western Europe. In return, Pepin gave military
aid to the popes in their wars with the Lombards, and openly
proclaimed himself the champion of the church. The French
king intrusted the command of the armies he employed in Italy
to his youthful son Charlemagne. This prince also played a dis-
tinguished part in adding the fine province of Aquitaine to the
dominion of the Franks.
Pepin did not long survive this acquisition ; he divided his
dominions between his sons Charles and Carloman. Their mutual
jealousies would have exploded in civil war, but for the judicious
interference of their mother Bertha. At length Carloman died
suddenly ; his wife and children fled to the Lombards ; his sub-
jects, with one accord, resolved to have Charlemagne for their
sovereign; and thus the French monarchy was again reunited
imder a single head. The protection granted to the family of
Carloman was not the only ground of hostility between Charle-
magne and the Lombard king Desiderius j Charlemagne had
married, and afterwards repudiated, that monarch's daughter;
Desiderius threatened war, but had not the means of executing his
threats ; Charlemagne was prevented from crossing the Alps by
the appearance of a more formidable enemy on his eastern
frontiers.
The Saxons and other Germanic tribes were still sunk in
idolatry ; they frequently devastated the frontier provinces of the
Christian Franks, and showed particular animosity to the churches
and ministers of religion. A missionary, St. Libuinus, had vainly
endeavoured to convert the Saxons by denouncing the vengeance
of heaven against their idolatry ; irritated by his reproaches they
expelled him from their country, burned Uie church erected at
UFE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 47
Tenter, and dew the Christians. The general convocation of
i Franks, called, from the time of meeting, the Champ de Mai,
s at the time assembled at Worms under the presidency of
larles ; its members regarded the massacre of De venter as a just
svocation, and war was declared against the Saxons. As the
lembly of the Champ de Mai was at once a convention of the
tates and a review of the military power of the Franks, an army
15 in immediate readiness ; Charlemagne crossed the Khine,
ptured their principal fortresses, destroyed their national idol,
d compelled them to give hostages for their future good con-
ict. He had scarcely returned home, when he was summoned
to Italy to rescue the pope from the wrath of Desiderius, who,
raged at the pontiff's refusal to recognise the claims of the sons
Carloman, had actually laid siege to Rome. Cliarlemagne
reed a passage over the Alps, and was already descending from
le mountains before the Lombards knew of his ha\'ing com-
enced his march. Desiderius, after vainly attempting to check
16 Franks in the defiles, abandoned the field, and shut himselt
> in Pavia. The city was taken after a year's siege : during the
(erval Charlemagne visited Rome, and was received with great
ithusiasm by the pope and the citizens. Soon after his return to
B camp Pavia surrendered, Desiderius and his queen were con-
led in separate monasteries, and the iron crown, usually worn by
le kings of Lombardy, was placed upon the head of the French
onarch.
A Saracenic prince sought refuge in the French court, and
usuaded the monarch to lead an army over the Pyrenees. The
ontier provinces were easily subdued, owing to the disputes that
ivided the Mohammedans in Spain. Charlemagne gained a deci-
ve victory over the Saracens at Saragossa, but before he could
Hnplete his conquest he was recalled home by a dangerous revolt
? the Saxons. The rear-guard of the French, commanded by the
illant Roland, was treacherously assailed on its return by the
fascons, in the defiles of Roncesvalles, and almost wholly
estroyed.
The devastations of the Saxons which recalled Charlemagne
X)m Spain exceeded anything which Europe had witnessed since
lie days of Attila. Witikind, prince of Westphalia, was the leader
f this dangerous revolt ; he had united his countrymen into one
leat national confederacy, and long maintained a desperate
fcruggle against the whole strength of the French monarchy. He
ras at lenp^h irretrievably routed, and, submitting to the con-
neror, became a Christian. Several minor revolts in his extensive
mninions troubled the reign of Charlemagne, but he quelled them
Hf and secured the tranquillity of Germany both by subduing the
4.8 RESTOEATION OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
Saxons and destroying the last remnant of the barbarous Avars
who had settled in Hungary. The brief intervals of tranquillity
were spent by this wise monarch in establishing schools and
encouraging science and literature. In these labours he was
assisted by Alcuin, an English monk, the most accomplished
scholar of his age. Such was the fame of the French monarchy at
this time, that embassies came to the court from the most distant
contemporary sovereigns. The most remarkable was that sent
from the renowned ttanin-al-Rashid, khaliph of Bagdad ; among
the presents they brought were some beautiful pieces of clock-
work, which were regarded as something almost miraculous in
western Europe, where the mechanical arts were still in their
infancy.
But a new enemy appeared on the coasts of France, whose
incursions, though repelled, filled the monarch with bodings of
future danger. These were the Northmen, or Normans, pirates
from the distant shores of Scandinavia, whose thirst of plunder
was stimulated by the desire of revenging the wrongs that their
brethren the Saxons had endured. At their first landing in France
they had scarcely time to commit any ravages, for they fled on the
news of the dreaded king's approach. Charlemagne saw their
departing ships without exultation ; he burst into tears, and pre-
dicted that these ' sea-kings ' would soon prove a dreadful scourge
to southern Europe.
Probably about the same time that Charles was excited by the
appearance of these pirates, whose ferocity and courage he had
learned to dread during his expeditions ' into the north of Ger-
many, three ships of a similar character to those described entered
one of the harbours on the south-eastern coast of Britain, about a
century and a half after the Anglo-Saxons had established their
dominion over the southern part of the island, and given it the
name of Angle-Land, or England.
Here the sight of the strange ships produced the same doubts as
in France. The Saxon graf, or magistrate of the district, pro-
ceeded to the shore to enquire who these strangers were, and what
they wanted. The foreigners, who had just disembarked, attacked
him and his escort without provocation, slew them on the spot,
pillaged the neighbouring houses, and then returned to their ves-
sels. Some time elapsed before it was discovered that these
pirates were the Danes, or Normans, names with which the ears
of Anglo-Saxons were destined soon to become sadly familiar.
Soon after the retreat of the Normans Charlemagne was induced
to visit Italy, both to quell the rebellion of the duke of Bene-
ventum, and to rescue Pope Leo from his insurgent subjects. He
succeeded in both enterprises, and the grateful pontifi' solemnly
DECLENE OF THE CABLOVINGIAN DYNASTY. 49
lowned bis benefiictor Expbbob of thb West. A project was
ooo after formed for re-establishing the ancient Roman empire,
xj uniting Charlemagne to the Byzantine empress Irene, but thia
ras preyented by the factions of Constantinople ; the degraded
Ireeks dreaded nothing so much as the vigorous administration of
nch a soyereign as the restorer of the Western Empire.
Charlemagne intended to divide his dominions equaUy between
bis three sons ; but two of them died while the arrangements were
ii progress, and Louis, the weakest in mind and body, became
K>Ie heir to the empire. His claims were solemnly recognised
n a national assembly of the Frank nobility, at Aix-la-Chapelle ;
Nx>n after which the emperor died, in the seyenty-seoond year of
lis age.
Section IL Decline and Fail of the Carlovmgian Dynady,
The Western Empire, established by Charlemagne, extended
^m the Ebro in the west to the Elbe and Raab in the east^ and
W>m the duchy of Beneventum and the Adriatic sea to the river
ISyder, which separated the Germanic tribes from the Scandinavian
lordes, or, as they began about this time to be called, the Danes
ind Normans. It consequently included all ancient Gaul, a great
lortion of Spain and Italy^ several islands in the Mediterranean,
lupecially Corsica, Sardinia, and the Baleares, western and northern
Skrmany, with a considerable part of Pannonia, or Hungary. No
Ifther European power could compete with that of the Franks ; the
bonarchies of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and Russia
jrere not yet founded ; England was still divided by the Heptarchy;
8ie Saracenic empire in Spain was distracted by civil commotions,
tad the Christian kingdom of the Asturias was barely struggling
bto existence ; finally, the Byzantine empire was sunk into hope-
bes lethargy, and owed its continued existence only to the decay
tf the spirit of enterprise among the Arabs, after the seat of the
Dudiphate was removed to Bagdad. But the continuation of an
knipire including so many nations essentially difierent in interests,
bbits, and feelings, required a superior genius in the sovereign.
Louis the Debonnaire, the son and successor of Charlemagne, was
teficient in every quality that a ruler should possess; foolish,
Ireak, and superstitious, he could not make himself beloved, and
lie failed to inspire fear. Yielding to the suggestions of his queen,
Bermengarde, Louis sanctioned the murder of his nephew Bernard,
bid forced the three natural sons of Charlemagne to assume the
isierical tonsure, by which they were for ever prevented from taking
k share in temporal affairs.
^ Louis chose for his second wife Judith, the daughter of
50 EESTORATION OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
a Bavarian count His three sons were indignant at a marriage
which threatened to produce new sharers in their inheritance, but
nearly four years elapsed without any appearance of such an
event. At length the empress gave birth to a child, afterwards
Imown as Charles the Bald, who was popularly said to be the son
of her unworthy favourite, Bernard, count of Barcelona. The
three former sons of Louis not only refused to acknowledge their
new brother, but took up arms to force their father to dismiss his
ministers and divorce his wife. After a desultory war Louis
prevailed over his rebellious- children, but the fatigues of cam-
paigning broke down his feeble constitution, and put an end to his
inglorious life.
Scarcely had he been laid in the grave, when his sons, Louis
the Germanic and Charles the Bald, took up arms against their
elder brother Lothaire, and engaged him in a general battle at
Fontenay, which proved fatal to the flower of the ancient Frank
nobility (a.d. 841). After a desultory war the brothers finally
agreed on a partition of the empire, by which Lothaire obtained
Italy and the eastern provinces of IVance; Louis received his
father's Germanic dominions ; and to Charles were assigned the
provinces of France west of the Sa6ne and the Rhone, together
with the Spanish marches (a.i>. 843). Thus Charles the Bald
may be considered as the founder of the French monarchy properly
so called, for hitherto the sovereigns of the Franks were Germans
in language, customs, country, and blood. It is unnecessary to
detail the petty revolutions in the family of Charlemagne ; it is
suffident to say, that the empire was momentarily reunited imder
Charles the Fat, younger son of Louis the Germanic (a.d. 884),
but he being deposed by his subjects, its dissolution became
inevitable ; from its fragments were formed the kingdoms of Italy,
France, and Germany, with the states of Lorraine, Burgundy, and
Navarre.
These new states owed their origin to the exorbitant power of
the nobles, which had been increasing rapidly from the death of
Charlemagne. The titles of duke and count in that age conferred
nearly despotic sway over the provinces. The great feudatories of
the crown were invested not merely with the administration of
justice and regulation of police in their respective districts, but
had also the command of the army and the direction of the
revenue. The union of such different and important departments
of government in a single person must necessarily have been
dangerous to royal authority, and constantly tempted ambitious
nobles to proclaim their independence. Charlemagne saw this
evil, and endeavoured to abate the danger by dividing the great
duchies into several counties; but in the civil wars among his
DECLINE OF THE CARLOVINGIAN DYNASTY. 51
losteritj, rival competitors, to secure the support of powerful
sudatories^ offered the restored duchies as tempting bribes, and
arther weakened themselves by alienating the royal domains to
ecure the favour of the Church. Taking advantage of this im-
lolicy, the dukes and counts contrived to make their dignities
lereditary ; and this dangerous innovation was not only sanctioned
fj Charles the Bald, but extended to all fiefs (a.d. 877) in a par-
lament held at Chiersi, towards the close of his reign. The
irindple of inheritance, thus introduced, may be regarded as the
oundation of the feudal system, and the source of the calamitous
irars between rival nobles which convulsed all central and south-
vestem Europe.
The Normans, like the Saxons and Franks, were a branch of the
;reat Teutonic race. Towards the close of the eighth century
hey became formidable as pirates to western Europe ; they par-
icularly infested the coasts of Britain, Ireland, and France. Their
eaders assumed the title of sea-kings, though the linHits of each
oyalty did not extend beyond the deck of a single vessel, and all
aperiority was at an end when the expedition was over. A sea-
ing had only to announce his intention of undertaking some hue-
ineering enterprise, and he was sure to find crowds of adventurous
outh ready to volunteer their services as his associates. Whither
lie adventurous sea-king would steer, provided that there appeared
reasonable chance of plunder, was a matter of perfect indifference
D him and his associates. They landed on spots where they were
Mst expected ; no mercy was shown to age or sex ; the fate of
U, whether they submitted or resisted, was the same; but
lie special objects of their vengeance were the clergy and the
hurches, because they regarded Uiemselves as the avengers of the
isults offered to Odin, and of the persecutions with which Christian
Dvereigns afflicted his worshippers in their dominions.
Thierry has collected the principal characteristics of a sea-king
K)m the Icelandic sagas. ' He could govern a vessel as the good
ider manages his horse, running over the oars whilst they were in
lotion. He would throw three javelins to the mast-head, and
atch them alternately in his hand without once missing. Equal
nder such a chief, supporting lightly their voluntary submission
nd the weight of their coat of mail, which they promised them-
alves would soon be exchanged for an equal weight of gold, the
irates held their course gaily, as their old songs express it, sJong
lie track of the swans. Often were their fragile barks wrecked
od dispersed by the north sea storm, often did the rallying sign
amain unanswered; but this neither increased the cares nor
iminished the confidence of the survivors, who laughed at the
52 EESTORATION OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
wind and waves from whicH tliej had escaped unhurt. Their
song in the midst of the tempest was —
The force of the storm helps the arms of oar rowers.
The hurricane is carrying us the way which we should go.
Nearly all the information which we possess respecting these
formidable pirates is derived from the aagaSy or songs of the
Skalds : these singular compositions are imlike any other form of
literature; they are records of adventure in verse or measured
prose, in which no notice is taken of historical events^ and no
regard paid to chronology.
The SkaldS) or bards, were more honoured by the Scandinavians
than their priests ) indeed it is doubtful whether they had any
regular sacerdotal caste^ or order. Some of their heroes prided
themselves on defying the gods themselves; thus Qauthakor,
when asked his religion by Olaf the saint, who was anxious to
introduce Christianity among his countrymen, replied, 'My brothers
in arms and I are neither Christians nor pagans. We have no faith
but in our arms and our strength to vanquish our enemies, and
those we have ever found sufficient.* So far was the character of
a pirate or Vikingar from being disgraceful, that it was eagerly
sought by men of the highest rank, and was only accorded to those
who had given distinguished proofs both of their bravery in battle
and their skill in navigation. An ancient law enacted, tliat a man,
in order to acquire glory for bravery, should attack a single enemy,
defend himself against two, and not yield to three, but that he
might without disgrace fly from four.
Every king, whether of sea or land, had a chosen band of
champions, called Kempe, — warriors pledged to the personal
service of their chief, and whose only hope of advancement arose
from the performance of some exploit which common fame, and
the songs of the Skalds, might spread over the north.
Sometimes these warriors, like the Malays in Java, were seized
with a kind of frenzy, either arising from an excited imagination,
or from the use of stimulating liquors. In this state they were
called * berserker^* a word of frequent occurrence in the sagas.
Whilst under the influence of this madness, the champions com-
mitted the wildest extravagances ; they danced about, foamed at
the mouth, struck indiscriminately at friends and foes, destroyed
their own property, and waged war against inanimate nature,
tearing up rocks and trees. Sivald, king of Sweden, had five
sons, all of whom became berserker; when the fit was on them
they used to swallow burning coals and throw themselves into the
fire. They and their father were slain by Halfdan, whom Sivald
had previously dethroned, the nation having become impatient of
the extravagance of the frantic princes.
DECfLDJE OF THE CARLOVINGlAN DYNASTY. 53
Pranoe sofTered most sererelj from these adventurers; their
light barks ascended the Seine, the Loire, the Garonne, and the
Elhone, carrying fire and sword into the very centre of the kingdom.
Biost of the principal cities were laid waste ; Paris itself was thrice
taken and pillaged ; and the French, at length losing all courage,
refused to meet the northern warriors in the field, and purchased
their retreat with large bribes ; but this only stimulated the bar-
barians to fresh incursions in the assured hope of gain. Nor were
the Normans regardless of permanent conquests ; Koric, a leader
of their adventurous bands, founded the Russian monarchy towards
the close of the ninth century ; Iceland was colonized, and the
greater part of Ireland subdued, at a still earlier period ; and the
northern and western islands of Scotland were successively occupied
as convenient stations for their piratical navies. Finally, they
obtained fixed establishments in France ; the province of Neustria,
now called Normandy, was ceded to Rolf or Rollo, the chief of a
large horde of these northern pirates, by Charles the Simple
(aj>. 912) ; the province gained great advantages by the exchange,
for Rollo becoming a Christian was baptized by the name of
Robert, and applied himself with equal diligence and success to
improve the condition of his new subjects.
Charles also ceded to RoUo all the pretensions of the crown to
that part of Brittany which no longer recognised the sovereignty
of the kings of France, and RoUo came to the borders of his new
province to perform liege homage and confirm the articles of peace.
The Norman swore allegiance to Charles, who in return presented
his daughter to the adventurer, and gave him the investiture of
Neustria. The French prelates, who assumed the regulation of
the ceremonials employed on all solemn occasions, had introduced
the degrading prostrations of the Orientals into the forms of
European homage ; they now informed Rollo that, after receiving
a gift of so much value, he should on his bended knees kiss the
feet of the king. * Never,' replied the haughty barbarian, ' will
I bend my knees before another mortal, — never will I kiss the
foot of man.' As the prelates, however, were urgent, he ordered
one of his soldiers to perform the ceremony in his stead. The
soldier advancing rudely seized the foot of Charles, and by a
sudden jerk threw the monarch on the ground. The Normans
who witnessed the transaction applauded their comrade's insolence,
while the French nobles deemed it prudent to conceal their in-
dignation. The ceremony was continued as if nothing had hap-
pened ; the several Norman lords took the usual oaths of allegiance,
after which the king returned to Laon. He had chosen this city
for his capital, because Paris was included in the fief of one of the
great vassals of the crown.
54 RESTOEATION OF THE WESTEEN EMPIEE.
The establishment of the Normans in Neustria put an end to the
system of piracy and plunder which for more than a century had
devastated western Europe ; the repetition of pillage had so wasted
Germany, Gaul, and Britain, that the plunder to be acquired no
longer repaid the hazards of an expedition ; and, as war was no
longer profitable, RoUo resolved to cultivate the arts of peace.
To prevent the future incursions of his countrymen he fortified the
mouths of the rivers, restored the walls of the cities, and kept his
subjects in constant military training. Under Rollo the feudal
system, which had been slowly forming, received its full develop-
ment; immediately after his baptism he divided the lands of
Neustria among his principal followers, to each of whom he gave
the title of count ; and tjiese counts subdivided the land among
their soldiers. The Normans displayed the same ardour in culti-
vating their new estates which they had formerly shown in de-
vastating them; the peasants resumed the cultivation of their
fields; the priests restored their ruined churches; the citizens
resumed their trading occupations; strangers were invited from
every country to cultivate the waste lands ; and the most rigorous
laws were enacted for the protection of perron and property.
Robberies were so efficiently checked, that Rollo hung up a golden
bracelet in a forest near the Seine, which remained untouched for
three years.
While the Normans devastated the coasts, central Europe was
ravaged by the Hungarians, or, as they called themselves, the
Magyars, who spread into Greece and Italy. Germany suffered
most from their hostilities, and was the longest exposed to their
fury. These incursions, to which must be added occasional enter-
prises of the Sclavonians and Saracens, destroyed the political
institutions that Charlemagne had formed, and tlurew Christendom
back into the barbarism from which it had just begun to emerge.
England, under the government of Alfred, for a brief space pre-
served the elements of civilisation ; he expelled the Normans from
the island (a.d. 887), restored the ancient seminaries of learning,
and founded new schools. But his glorious reign was followed by
fresh calamities; the Danish-Normans reappeared in England,
and spread trouble and desolation throughout the country.
From the reign of Charles the Bald the royal authority rapidly
declined in France, while the power of the feudal lords constantly
increased. A change of dynasty was thus rendered inevitable, and
the throne was certain to fall to the lot of the most powerful or
most daring of the nominal vassals. This event, which had been
long foreseen, took place on the death of Louis the Sluggard, the
last of the Carlovingian dynasty, who died without issue at the
early age of twenty (a.d. 087). Hugh Capet possessed already
FOUNDATION OF THE GER^\NIC EMPIRE. 55
he centre of the kingdom ; he was count of Paris, duke of France
nd Neustria, while his brother Henry held the duchy of Burgundy,
t was not difficult for so powerful a noble to furm a party, by
^hose favour he was invested with the title, after having long
njoyed the power, of royalty (a.d. 087). Charles of Lorraine, the
ate king's uocle, took up arms in defence of his hereditary rights;
>ut he was betrayed to his rival by the bishop of Laou, and ended
lis days in prison. Hugh became the founder of the Capetian
lynasty in France, but for many years after his accession France
^as an aristocratic republic rather than a monarchy. The peers
)f France, as the great feudatories were called, still preserved their
ndependence; and their tacit assent to IIugh*s usurpation was
mything rather than a recognition of his authority. In the south
>f France, Languedoc, no notice was taken of Hugh's elevation ;
and the inhabitants for many years dated their public acts by the
nominal reigns of the children of Charles of Lorraine.
SscnoN m. The Foundation of the Germanic Empire.
From the first foundation of the Germanic empire by the treaty
sf Verdun, the royal authority was extremely limited, and Louis,
its monarch| was obliged to swear, in a national assembly held at
Marone (a.d. 851), that ' he would maintain the states in all their
rights and privileges.' His youngest son, Charles the Fat, was
deposed by his subjects ; and Arnold, the natural son of Prince
Carloman, was elected to the vacant throne. The custom of
electing emperors was thus established in (Germany, and it con-
tinued almost to our own times. Arnold was succeeded by his son
Louis; the states chose Conrad, duke of Franconia, as his successor,
to the exclusion of Charles the Simple, king of France, the
legitimate heir male of the Carloyingians. On the death of Conrad,
the states elected Henry, sumamed the Fowler, as his successor
(a.d. 919), the first of the Saxon dynasty of kings and emperors.
Henry L by his civil and military institutions raised Gennany to
the highest rank among the states of Europe. Profiting by the
intestine commotions of France, he conquered the province of
Lorraine, which he divided into twe duchies — that of Upper
Lorraine, or the Moselle, and that of Lower Lorraine, or Brabant.
The former retained the name of Lorraine ; it was long governed
by the family of Gerard, duke of Alsace, whose descendants
obtained the Germanic empire in the eighteenth century. Brabant
was assigned to Godfrey, count of Louvain, whose descendants
retained it, with the titie of duke, until, on the failure of male
heirs, it passed by marriage into the hands of the dukes of
Burgundy, who thus found means to render themselvea xn&sileitft ol
56 RESTOEATION OF THE WESTERN EMPIRK
a great portion of the Netherlands. Henry successfullj repelled
the inyasionfl of the Sclavonians and Hunfrarians ; hj the defeat of
the latter he freed the Germans from the disgraceful tribute with
which they had been compelled to purchase the forbearance of
these barbarians; and the memory of his victory was annually
commemorated by a grateful people for several succeeding
centuries.
The great merits of Henry secured the election of his son Otho
to the Germanic throne. His reign was disturbed by frequent
revolts of the powerful feudatories, whose insubordination pre-
vented him from giving his subjects, a code of laws, the great object
of his ambition. One incident will serve to mark the character of
the age. During one of the national assemblies, or diets, it was
debated * whether children could inherit the property of their
fathers during the lifetime of their grandfathers.' After a long
discussion it was resolved to leave the matter to the decision of a
duel. An equal number of combatants, chosen on both sides,
entered the lists; the champions of the children prevailed, and
from thenceforward the law of inheritance was considered to be
fixed.
Italy had been raised into a kingdom after the partition of the
Carlovingian dynasty, and several of its princes had taken the
imperial title ; but the government of these feeble rulers exposed
the peninsula to dreadful calamities; it was harassed by the
private wars of the nobles, and devastated by invasions of the
Hungarians and Saracens. Adelaide, the widow of Lothaire,
king of Italy, menaced with the loss of her dominions by Beren-
ger, or Berengarius the younger, supplicated the aid of Otho, and
her request was strenuously supported by Pope John XH. (▲ j).
951). Otho passed into Italy, conquered several of the strongest
cities, and gave his hand in marriage to the queen whom he had
come to protect Berenger was permitted to retain the crown of
Italy on condition of doing homage to Otho ; but the tyranny and
faithlessness of this prince excited such commotions, that the
German sovereign was once more summoned to cross the Alps by
the united entreaties of the Italian princes and prelates. Otho
entered Italy at the head of an army which his rival could not
resist ; he marched directly to Rome, where he was received with
the greatest enthusiasm (a.d. 962). The pope revived in his
favour the imperial title, which had been thirty-eight years in
abeyance, proclaimed him Augustus, crowned him emperor of the
Romans, and acknowledged him supreme Head of the Church.
But the pontiff's gratitude was not of long duration ; enraged by
the emperor's remonstrances against his vicious courses, he took
advantage of Otho's absence in pursuit of Berenger to enter into
FOUNDATION OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE. 57
lliance with Adelbert, the son of his ancieDt enemy, and to fonn
secret league for the expulsion of the Germans from Italy.
Otho heard the intelligence of John's treachery with great in-
ignation ; he returned to Rome, held a council, in which the
ope was accused of the most scandalous immoralities, and on his
ifusfd to appear he was condemned as contumacious, deposed,
od a new pontdflT, Leo VIII., elected in his stead. All ItaJy, as
IT as the ancient kingdom of the Lombards extended, thus fell
nder the sway of the Germans ; there were only some maritime
laces in Lower Italy which, with Apulia and Calabria, still re-
lained subject to the Greeks. Otho transmitted this kingdom,
nth the imperial dignity, to his successors on the German throne ;
ut from his reign to that of Maximilian L no prince took the
Itle of emperor until he had been consecrated by the pope.
Maximilian designated himself * Emperor Elect * (a.d. 1508), and
da example was followed by his successors down to our times.
Otho I. died after a prosperous reign (a.d. 975), and was suc-
eeded by his son Otho 11. His reign was occupied in sanguinary
rars, which harassed Germany and Italy. Otho, having married
he Greek princess Theophano, claimed the provinces of Apulia
nd Calabria as her dowry. After a tedious struggle the emperor
79B mortally wounded by a poisoned javelin in a battle with the
heeks (▲.!>. 083). His death is said to have been accelerated by
idignation at the joy which Theophano showed for the victory of
ler countrymen, though it was obtained over her own husband.
Otho ni., when elected successor to his father, was only twelve
ears of age ; ambitious rivals prepared to dispute his title, but
he affection of the Germans for his family enabled him to triumph
)ver all opposition. His authority was more fiercely questioned
a Italy, where Crescentius, an ambitious noble, became such a
avourite with the Roman populace that he deposed Pope Gregory,
nd gave the pontifical dignity to John XVI. Otho hastened to
taly, captured Rome, and put both Crescentius and John to death.
Chese severities did not quell the turbulence of the Italians ; fresh
nsurrections soon compelled the emperor to return to the penin-
tola, where he was poisoned by the widow of Crescentius, whom
le had seduced under a promise of marriage (a.d. 1002). He
lied without issue.
After some competition, the electors chose Henry, duke of
Bavaria, descended from the Othos in the female line, emperor of
he West. His reign was disturbed by repeated insurroctions,
)oth in Germany and Italy. The clergy took advantage of his
)iety and liberaHty to extort from him several rich donations,
^hich proved, in an after age, the cause of much evil. His death
[a.d. 1024) put an end to the Saxon dynasty.
58 EESTORATION OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
Conrad II., duke of Franconia, being chosen by the electors,
united the kingdom of Burgundy, or, as it was called, Aries, to
the empire. But this was an acquisition of little real value ; the
great vassals of the kingdom, the counts and the bishops, preserved
the authority they had usurped in their respective districts, leaving
to the emperors a merely nominal sovereignty. It is even probable
that the high authority possessed by the Burgundian lords induced
the German nobles to arrogate to themselves the same prerogatives.
The power of the clergy was increasing even more rapidly than
that of the nobles, for they extorted £resh privileges and grants
from every successive sovereign ; Conrad, who was naturally of a
generous disposition,^ impoverished the state by imitating the
unwise liberality of his predecessors. Italy, during his reign and
that of Conrad's son and successor Henry III., continued to be
distracted by rival factions ; but Henry was an energetic supporter
of the imperial authority ; he deposed three rival popes, who claimed
succession to St. Peter at the same time, and gave the pontifical
chair to a German prelate, Clement H. He even exacted an oath
from the Romans that they would never elect a pope without
having previously received the imperial sanction. The imperial
power, wielded by an energetic monarch like Henry, was still for-
midable, but its resources were exhausted; and when a feebler
sovereign attempted to exercise the sway over the church which
his father had held, he found the papacy stronger than the empire.
The great struggle between the papal and imperial power began
in the reign of Henry IV., whose long minority, for he succeeded
his father when only five years old, necessarily weakened the
influence of the sovereign. On the other hand, the circumstances
of Europe at this crisis were peculiarly favourable to the policy of
the popes. The Saxon line, restored in England by Edward the
Confessor, had lost its nationality; Edward conferred the chief
ecclesiastical dignities of his kingdom on foreigners, or persons
remarkable for their foreign attachments; and thus those who
wielded the power of the church in the island were more like
missionaries, labouring for the benefit of a distant see, than clergy-
men, attentive only to their flocks. In Spain the new provinces
wrested from the Moors, when the imity of their empire was
destroyed by the subversion of the Ommiade khaliphs, became
closely attached to the Roman see. The spread of Christianity in
Norway, Poland, Russia, and the other northern states gave addi-
tional vigour to the papal power; for the Northerns, with all the
1 Many remarkable anecdotes are imperial service, Conrad ordered that
related of Conrad's generosity ; one his boot should be filled with gold
deserves to be recorded. A gentle- coins, to defray the expenses of his
man having lost hia leg in the cure.
FOUNDATION OF THE GERMANIC EMPIBE. 59
tal of new conyerts, became eager to prove their Bincerity bj some
iterpriee in support of the pontiff, whom they regarded as the great
irector of their fidth.
Bnt the most potent allies obtained by the church were the
ormaDs of England and Italy. William, the natural son of
^bert duke of Normandy, had been nominated heir of the English
irone by Edward the Confessor, who had no right to make any
ich appointment. Harold, the son of Godwin, earl of Kent, was
le favourite of the English people, and it was generally known
lat he would be elected to the throne on the death of the Confessor,
fnfortnnately Harold's brother was detained as an hostage in
Tormandy, and, in spite of the warnings of King Edward, he
rossed the sea in order to obtain his deliverance. The vessel in
rhich the Saxon chief crossed the Channel was wrecked near the
louth of the Somme, and, according to the barbarous custom of
lie age, the count of Ponthieu seized upon the shipwrecked
trangers, and threw them into prison, for the purpose of obtaining
u^ ransom. Harold and his companions appealed to Duke
^illiami who procured their liberation, and invited them to his
ourt A grand council of the Norman prelates and nobles was
len convoked, in whose presence William required Harold to
ffeai that he would support with all his might William's suc-
Bssion to the crown of fkigland, so soon as a vacancy should be
tested by the death of Edward. Harold's life was in the duke's
ower, and he consented to take the oath, secretly resolving to
iolate its obligations. But an artifice was employed which in
bat superstitious age was supposed to give the oath such sanctity
8 to render its violation an inexpiable crime. By the duke's orders
chest was secretly conveyed into the place of meeting, filled with
be bones and relics of the saints most honoured in the surround-
ag country, and covered with a cloth of gold. A missal was laid
pon the cloth, and at William's summons Harold came forward
nd took the required oath, the whole assembly joining in the im-
necation, 'So help you God, at his holy doom.' When the
eiemony was concluded the cloth of gold was removed, and Harold
huddered when he found that his oath had been taken on the relics
(f samts and martyrs.
On Edward's death, Harold, notwithstanding his oath, allowed
limself to be elected king by the English nobles and people, but
he papal clergy refused to recognise his title ; the pope issued a
>till excommunicating Harold and his adherents, which he sent to
)uke William, accompanied by a consecrated banner, and a ring
aid to have contained one of St Peter's hairs set under a valuable
iiamond. Thus supported by the superstitious feelings of the
leriod, William found no difficulty in levying a nmaeioxia axm^,
60 EESTORATION OF THE WESTEEN EMPIEE.
witli whicli lie passed over into England. The fate of the king-
dom was decided by the battle of Hastings, in which Harold and
his bravest soldiers fell. William found little difficulty in com-
pleting the conquest of England, into which he introduced the
inheritance of fiefs and the severities of the feudal law. He de-
prived the native English nobles of their estates, which he shared
amongst his own needy and rapacious followers, and he treated his
new subjects with more than the cruelty that barbarous conquerors
usually display towards the vanquished.
About the same time some Norman adventurers laid the founda-
tion of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies in southern Europe. The
provinces that compose it were shared among the Lombard feuda-
tories of the empire, the Greeks, and the Saracens, who harassed
each other with mutual wars. About a hundred Normans, land-
ing on the coast (a.d. 1016), offered their services to the Lombard
princes, and displayed so much valour that they obtained from the
duke of Naples a grant of territory, where they built the city of
Aversa. Encouraged by their success, Tancred, with another
body of Norman adventurers, undertook the conquest of Apulia,
which was completed by his son Robert Guiscard. This warrior
subdued Calabria also, and took the title of duke of both pro-
vinces. To secure his possessions he entered into alliance with
the pope, securing to the pontiff homage and an annual tribute, on
condition of receiving investiture. Nicholas II., who then filled
the chair of St Peter, willingly ratified a treaty by which the
papacy gained important advantages at the price of an empty title ;
he stimulated Guiscard to undertake the conquest of Sicily also,
on enterprise in which that adventurer completely succeeded.
Thus, at the moment that the papacy was about to struggle for
power with the empire, the former had been strengthened by the
accession of powerAd allies and vassals, while the latter had given
away the greater part of its strength by the alienation of its
domains, to gratify the Church, or to win the favour of feudatories
whose influence was already formidable.
Sechoit rV. State of the East from the EstahUshmmt to the
Overthrow of the Khaltphate,
The history of the Byzantine empire in the ninth, tenth, and
eleventh centuries is little better than a tissue of usurpation,
fSanaticism, and perfidy. In the tenth century the evil seemed to
have reached its consummation ; emperor after emperor perished
by poison or the dagger of the assassin ; parricide and fratricide
were crimes of ordinary occurrence. A jealous rivalry between
the patriarch of Constantinople and the pope of Borne produced a
OVERTHROW OF THE KHALIPHATE. 61
isicm between the Eastern and Western churelies, which the
mtes respecting the Bulgarians aggravated into a formal schism.
)0e barbarians were converted to Christianitj by Greek and
in missionaries ; the patriarch and the pope contended for the
ronage of the new ecclesiastical establi^ments ; the Greeks
ndled in the contest, and forthwith banished their Latin ad-
saries, while the court of Rome took revenge by describing the
>eks as worse than the worst of the heathen. A brief display
vigour by Nioephorus, Phocas, and John Zimisces arrested the
gress of the Saracens, who were forming permanent establish-
nts within sight of Constantinople. But Zimisces was poisoned
file very moment when his courage and moderation had averted
pending ruin. Ks feeble successors swayed the sceptre with
iteady hands at a time when the empire was attacked by the
roest enemies it had yet encountered, the Normans in Sicily, and
» SeljuMan Turks in Asia Minor.
rhe names Turk and Tartar are loosely given to the inhabi-
its of those regions which ancient authors included under the
agnation of Scythia. Their uncivilised tribes possessed the
intries north of the Caucasus and east of the Caspian, from the
er Oxus to the wall of China : hordes issuing from these wide
ins had frequently devastated the empire of Persia, and more
m once placed a new race of sovereigns on the throne. It
B not, however, until the eighth century that they themselves
re invaded in turn ; the Saracens, in tiie first burst of their,
liusiasm, passed the Oxus, subdued Eharasm and Transoxiana,
1 imposed the religion and law of Mohammed on a race of
mors more fiery and zealous than themselves. Soon after the
ablishment of the khaliphate at Bagdad the Saracenic empire
^ to be dismembered, as we have already stated ; and the
aliphs, alarmed by the revolt of their armies, and surrounded
[y by subjects devoted to the arts of peace, began to intrust the
ard of their persons and their capital to foreign mercenaries.
Moutassem was the first who levied a Turkish army to protect
I states (A.P. 833) ; and even during his reign much incon-
nience was felt from the pride and insolence of soldiers uncon-
cted with the soil they were employed to defend. The evil
mt on daily increasing, until the emirs, or Turkish commanders,
urped all the real authority of the state, leaving to the khaliphs
e outward show of sovereignty. The change was completed in
e reign of El Ehadi (a.d. 936) ; hoping to arrest the progress
the revolution, he created a new minister, called the Emir-
-Omra,* to whom far greater powers were given than had
len intrusted to the ancient viziers. This, as might have been
t ' Lord of the lords,* or * Commander of the commanders.'
i
62 11EST0RA.TI0N OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
expected, aggravated the evil it was designed to prevent The
family of the Bowides, so called from their ancestor Buy&h,
usurped this high office and the sovereignty of Bagdad; the
khaliph was deprived of all temporal authority, and was regarded
simply as the chief Iman, or pontiff of the Mohammedan faith.
Such was the state of the khaliphate when a new horde from
the interior of Turkistin appeared to change the entire face of
Asia. This horde, deriving its name from Seljuk, one of its most
renowned chiefs, was invited to cross the Oxus hy the Ghaznevid*
sultans, who had already established a powerful kingdom ^ in the
east of Persia, and subdued the north of Hindostan. The Selju-
kians, finding the pasturages of Ehorassan far superior to those of
their native count^, invited new colonies to the fertile land ; they
soon became so powerful that Togrul Beg proclaimed himself a
sultan, and seized several of the best provinces belonging to the
khaliphate. Finally, having taken Bagdad, he became master of
the khaliph's person (a.d. 1055), and succeeded to the power
which had formerly been possessed by the Bowides. Togrul trans-
mitted his authority to lus nephew and heir, the formidable Alp
Arslan.' This prince renewed the war against the Greek empire,
obtained a signal victory over its forces in Armenia, and took the
emperor Romanus Diogenes prisoner (a.d. 1070). The distractions
produced by this event in the Byzantine dominions enabled the
Turks not only to expel the Greeks from Syria, but also to seize
. some of the finest provinces in Asia Minor.
Under Malek Shah, the son and successor of Alp Arslan, the
Seljiikian monarchy touched the summit of its greatness. This
wise prince extended his dominions from the Mediterranean to the
wall of China. Guided by the wise counsels of the vizier Nezam-
al-Mulk, the sultan ruled this mighty empire with great justice
and moderation, Asia enjoyed tranquillity, to which it had been
long unaccustomed, and learning and civilisation began to revive.
1 The Ghaznevid dynasty was great dynasty was not more rapid
founded by Sebektag^n, who is said than its downfall, which we may date
to have been originally a slave (a.d. from the death of that monarch, to
977). But his fame is eclipsed by whom it owes all its lustre in the
that of his son Mahmiid, whose con- page of history (a.d. 1028). Little
quests in northern India rival those more than a century after Moham-
of a hero of romance. His desire of med's death the last of the Ghaz-
conquest was rendered more terrible nevids was deposed by Mohammed
to those he attacked by his cruel Gouri^ the founder of a new dynasty
bigotry, for in every country that he as transitory as that which it dis-
subdued the horrors* of war were placed.
increased bv those of religious per- > The title of sultan, which in the
secution. At his death the empire Chaldaic and Arabic languages sig-
of Ghizni included a great part of nifies a sovereign, was first assumed
Persia, Afghanistan, and northern by the Ghaznevid princes.
India, to the provinces of Bengal and ^ His name signifies, the Conquer-
the Deccan. But the rise of this ing Lion.
OVERTHROW OF THE TCHALTPHATE, 63
in the midst of this prosperity a circumstance occmrred which,
ngh little noticed at the time, became the source of imparalleled
fortunes to the East This was the seizure of the mountain-
3e of Alamut, and the foundation of the order of the Assassins,
Hassan Sabah. This formidable enthusiast had become a con-
fc to the Ismaelian doctrines, in which the creed of Islam was
Igled with the darker and more gloomy superstitions of Asiatic
;Knism. His followers, persuaded that obedience to the com-
lids of their chief would insure their eternal felicity, never
itated to encoxmter any danger in order to remove his enemies.
lissaries from the formidable Sheikh al Jebal ^ went in disguise
palaces and private houses, watching the favourable opportunity
striking the blow to those who had provoked the hostility of
b grand master. So dreadful was this scourge, that Oriental
torians, during a long period of their annals, terminate their
lOimt of each year with a list of the men of note who had fallen
tims during its course to the daggers of the assassins. After the
til of Malek Shah (a.d. 1092) disputes arose between his sons,
ieh led to sanguinary civil wars and the dismemberment of the
pire. Three powerful sultanies were formed from its frag-
ats, namely Iran, Kerman, and Riim, or Iconium. That of Iran
I the most powerful, for it possessed the rich provinces of Upper
ia, but its greatness soon declined. The emirs, or governors of
es and provinces, threw off their allegiance, and under the
dest title of Atta-begs' exercised sovereign authority. The
jiikians of Kiim, known to the crusaders as the sultans of Nice,
Iconium,' were first raised into notice by Soleiman. Their his-
y is important only fr^m its connexion with that of the crusades,
ese divisions were the cause of the success which attended the
ly wars of the Christians in Palestine, and of the qualified inde-
idence of the late khaliphs, who shook off the Seljiikian yoke,
I established themselves in the sovereignty of Irak Arabi, or the
rvince of Bagdad.
* Lord of the Mountain ; * from signifies ' &ther or guardian of the
I equivocal sense of the Arabic prince.'
rd Sheikhf the name is commonly s Ck>gni, or Iconium. is a city of
Bslated * Old Man of the Moun- Lycaonia which these sultans made
B.* their capital after Nice had been
( Atkhbeff is a Turkish word, and taken by the crusaders.
64? RESTORATION OF THE WESTERN EMPIRK
CHAPTER IV.
GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
Section L The Origin of the Papacy,
THERE is nothing more remarkable in the clerical organisa-
tion of Christianity at its first institution than its adaptation
to all times and all circumstances. Without entering into any
controverted question^ we may generally state, that in the infant
Church provision was made for self-government on the one hand
and general superintendence on the other ; and that, before the
gospel was preached beyond the bounds of Judaa, the two great
principles of the independence of. national churches, and the
authority of a council to insure the imity of the faith, were fully
recognised.
The best institutions are open to abuse ; and the Christian clergy
were exposed to two different lines of temptation, both, however,
tending to the same point — acquisition of power. The emperors of
Constantinople endeavoured to make the clergy their iastruments
in establishmg a perfect despotism, while the people looked upon
their spiritual guides as their natural protectors against the oppres-
sions of their temporal rulers. Under these circumstances episco-
pacy formed a new power in the empire, a power continually
extending, because it was soon obvious that a common faith was
the only bond which would hold together nations differing in
language, institutions, and blood. But this political use of Chris-
tiauity naturally suggested a gross and dangerous perversion of
its first principles ; when imity of faith appeared to be of such
great value, it was natural that toleration should be refused to any
great difference of opinion, and consequently persecuting edicts were
issued against paganism and heresy. This false step led to a still more
dangerous confusion between spiritual and temporal power ; when
ecclesiastical censures produced civil consequences the priest was
identified with the magistrate, and every hour it became more
difficult to separate their functions. In the decline of the empire,
also, the temporal power was deservedly hated and despised ; a
profligate court, a venal magistracy, and a cowardly soldiery con-
ORIGIN OF THE PAPACY. 65
ituted the ordinary materialB of the imperial government ; and.
impared with these, the sacerdotal body, in the worst 8tage of its
(gradation, had powerful claims to respect if not to esteem.
While the discipline of the Church was injured by the clergy
iving temporal power forced upon them, — in the first instance at
ast, — ^without their solicitation, the doctrines of Christianity were
irrupted by a practice arising from the best feelings of our nature,
he saints and martyrs who had faced danger, torture, and death,
> promulgate Christianity, were remembered with just gratitude
hen that religion became triumphant Their bones were re-
loved from unhonoured graves to tombs more worthy of their
irtues, and a generation enjoying the advantages that their toils
id their blood had purchased testified its thankfulness by rich offer-
igs at their shrines. Thus the avaricious and the designing were
onpted to multiply the number of relics, and to exaggerate their
aportance, imtil the feeling of thankful reverence was gradually
langed into one of religious adoration. These steps in the pro-
ress of error were easy, they were likewise profitable ; crafty
en propagated stories of miracles wrought at the tombs of the
artyrs ; prayers were soon addressed to persons supposed to be
Msessed of such supernatural powers; the invocation of saints
id the worship of relics naturally led to the introduction of
lages and pictures, and to the revival of many pagan ceremonies,
hich had, perhaps, never fallen into complete oblivion.
It must, however, be observed, that the ignorance and credulity
' the laity had a far greater share in leading to a corrupt use of
lages than the craft of the clergy ; the perversion was in many,
xrhaps in most, instances forced upon the priesthood by the flock,
id it was still further supported by the monastic bodies which
ive, in every age, been the most prominent among the originators
id supporters of every superstition.
The charge of idolatry was justly urged against the Christian
bnrch in the beginning of the eighth century, both by the Jews
id the Mohammedans. The latter were far the more formidable,
r to the arguments of truth they added the weight of victory,
here was scarcely an Eastern city which was not fortified by the
issession of some miraculous image, supposed to be the palladium
' its safety ; but in spite of this protection they had fallen, one
ker the other, into the hands of the Mussulmans. Ashamed of
le reproaches they encountered, and convinced practically of the
efficiency of these objetets of their devotion, many of the Eastern
shops began to oppose the worship of images, but their exertions
ere rendered unavailiiig by the influence and obstinacy of the
xmka, until Leo the Isaurian ascended the throne of Constan-
Qople,
F
66 GEOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
A fierce strugrgle ensued : the Iconoclasts, as the opposers of
images were called, made a vigorous eifort to restore the purity of
the Christian worship, and at the Synod of Constantinople (a.d.
754) three hundred and thirty-eight bishops pronounced and sub-
scribed a unanimous decree, ' that all visible symbols of Christ,
except in the eucharist, were either blasphemous or heretical ; that
image-worship was a corruption of Christianity and a revival of
paganism } that all such monuments of idolatry should be broken
or erased ; and that those who should refuse to give up the objects
of their private superstition should be deemed guilty of disobe-
dience to the authority of the Church and of the emperor.'
The Iconoclasts seem to have felt that they were fighting the
battle of episcopacy against monachism, and that the safety of
their order was compromised by the assumptions of volunteer
instructors j but they made no direct attack upon monastic institu-
tions, and only assailed the abuses which they encouraged.
Six successive emperors supported this cause in the Eastern
Church, but the worshippers of images finally triumphed. Still,
down to a very late period, there were prelates in the East, Arme-
nians especially, who refused to admit images into their churches.
But the contest was decided much sooner in Western Europe, by
the promptitude with which Pope Gregory 11. appealed to arms
against his sovereign and the Iconoclasts. The ambitious pontiff
found suflScient support in the national enmity between the Greeks
and Latins ; he had the art to persuade the Italians that while
they supported the worship of images they were imposing a neces-
sary restraint on Byzantine tyranny. The Lombards embraced
the religious pretext to expel the Greeks from Italy, but the pope,
finding that the conquerors were anxious to impose a yoke upon
him more grievous than that which had just been shaken ofi^, in-
voked the assistance of the Franks. Supported by the arms of
Pepin and Charlemagne, the popes maintained the independence of
the Koman territories, and were thus raised to the rank of tem-
poral princes. Grateful for the aid they received, the pontifis, as
has been already mentioned, decided tiiat it was lawful for the
Franks to depose an imbecile sovereign, and substitute in his place
one who had proved an able protector of the state and a generous
benefactor to the Church ; and in consequence of this s^itence
Pepin was solemnly crowned at Paris.
The proper history of the papacy begins at this union of tem-
poral and spiritual jurisdiction. Three transactions combined to
give it form — ^the revolt against Leo, the establishment of the
Koman principality, and the coronation of Pepin. In the first of
these the popes were hurried forward by circumstances to lengths
which they had not anticipated; neither the second nor third
ORIGIN OF THE PAPACY. 67
regoiy wished to destroy completely the power of the Byzantine
nperor, and they continued to acknowledge the successors of
onstantine as their rulers, until the Lombards subverted the ex-
ichate of Bayenna. But in spite of their moderation, real or
fected, they had established to some extent the dangerous prece-
mty that the heresy of a sovereign justifies a withdrawal of
leg^ance in his subjects, though they themselves never asserted
ich a principle, and indeed seem never to have contemplated it
The independence of the Roman principality, and the establish-
lent of the pope as a temporal sovereign, necessarily resulted
om the dread which the Latins, but especially the liomans, had
r the Lombards. It was impossible to revert to the sovereigns
f Constantinople ; independent of the xmpopularity produced by
lelr Iconoclast propensities, they wanted the power of retaining
le Italian provinces, even if the government had been offered
lem ; there was no choice between the assertion of independence
id submission to the Lombards ; there were no materials for
mstructing a national government outside the precincts of the
hurch, and the popes consequently became princes by the pressure
' a necessity which was confessed by the unanimous consent of
leir subjects.
In sanctioning the usurpation of Pepin, Pope Zachary pro-
lunoed his opinion more as a statesman than a prelate. There
as an obvious expediency for dethroning the weak Chilperic, and
ving the title of king to him who really exercised the functions
' royalty. There was nothing authoritative in the sentence ; it
d not command the Franks to dethrone one king and elect an-
her; it merely declared that considerations of public safety jus-
fied a people in changing its rulers ; it did nothing new, but it
tified what had been done already. But the new dynasty eagerly
light in the proceeding for a confirmation of their defective title.
was Pepin and his friends, rather than the pontiff, who perverted
le opinion of a casuist into the sentence of a judge and the oracle
' a prophet.
Thus Popery, like most human institutions, was founded on
)inions in which truth and falsehood were strangely mixed ; and
is fortunately easy to separate the parts. In rejecting the By-
ntine yoke, the popes asserted a right to resist, but not to depose
•vereigns ; in becoming temporal princes, they declared that there
»ald be a union between civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions, but
)t that they were necessarily connected, and sdU less that they
ere inherited of right by the successors of St. Peter ; finally, in
le most equivocal case, ike sanction of Pepin's election, the pope
it forward the expediency of having an intelligent umpire to
Made in cases of a dispute, not that he was necessarily that
f2
68 GEOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
umpire; and still less that he had authority to act as supreme judge
in a court of appeal. It is sufficiently obvious, however, that the
truths are easily capable of being perverted into the falsehoods,
and that there were strong temptations to the change. Ere a gene-
ration had passed away, the truths sank into oblivion, and the
falsehoods were everywhere proclaimed as the true foundation of
the papal system.
Section II. The early Bevelopnmd of the Political System
of the Papacy,
The Carlovingians, grateful for the security given to their title,
enlarged the papal dominions by territories wrested from the Lom-
bard kingdom, — ^the Greek exarchate. To secure these acquisitions
the pontiffs had recourse to a daring fraud 5 a forged deed was
produced, purporting to be a donation from the first. Christian
emperor, Constantino, to the successors of St. Peter, of the sove-
reignty over Rome, Italy, and the western provinces. Thus the
gift of the French monarch was made to appear the restitution of
ancient possessions, and the temporal power of the popes, while yet
in its infancy, was invested with the sanction of remote antiquity.
It is useless to expose the falsehoods of this audacious forgery,
which is now condemned by even the most bigoted writers of the
Komish Church ; but in its day it was universally received as
valid, and was long regarded as the legal instrument by which the
papal power was established.
Adrian I. was the pontiff who first combined the elements of
the papacy into a system. He was startled at the very outset by
a difficulty which seemed to threaten the foundation of his power.
The Greek empress, Irene, who administered the government
during the reign of her son, Constantino the Porphyrogennete, re-
established the worship of images, and persecuted the Iconoclasts.
Adrian, however, was naturally reluctant to return under the
Byzantine yoke, and, were he even so inclined, he would probably
have been prevented by the Komans ; the popes had tasted the
pleasures of sovereignly, and the people of freedom; neither,
therefore, would sacrifice such advantages to the Greeks. A
closer imion was made with the Franks, though Charles and his
bishops had stigmatised the worship of images, and declared that
they should be regarded only as objects of reverence. But the
pope foresaw that the use of images would soon lead to their
adoration^ and he courted Charlemagne as a friend and pro-
tector.
Leo m., who succeeded Adrian, sent to Charlemagne the
standard of Rome, requesting him to send delegates to receive the
THE PAPACY AS A POLITICAL SYSTEM. 69
legiance of the Komans. From the latter circumstance it has
een rather hastily inferred that the popes acknowledged the
nyereignty of Charles ; but, in truth, the relations between the
Dntif& and the Frank monarchs were purposely left indefinite ;
ay attempt to state them would have shown that the claims of
oth were irreconcilable, but their mutual interests required that
ley should combine, and each avoided explanations that might
revoke a contest.
Leo soon experienced the benefits of his moderation ; driven
rem Rome by the relatives of the latfe pope, he sought refuge
mong the Franks; and Charlemagne not only sent him back with
powerful escort to his capital, but went thither in ]>orson to do
im justice. Leo was permitted to purge himself by oath of the
nmes laid to his charge, and, in gratitude for his acquittal, he
Dlemnly crowned Charles Emperor of the West. The ceremony
^as performed on the festival of Christmas, in the last year of the
igh^ century ; and the pontiff who had so «*ecently stood before
is sovereign as a criminal making his defence, now appeared as
Is superior, conferring on him the highest earthly title by the
ithority of heaven.
There was obvious danger to papal ambition in the establishment
: an empire ; the successors of the Csesars must of necessity
rove formidable rivals to the successors of St Peter ; but there
ere many important advantages to be gained ; the secure enjoy-
lent of their temporal dominions was obviously an immediate
jsult, but there was a remote one of much greater importance —
le change of the precedence universally conceded to the Komish
ye into an acknowledgment of its supremacy.
It is not easy to discover at what time the papacy directly fixed
8 attention upon destroying the independence of national
lurches, but assuredly the period was not very remote from that
hich we have been considering. The contests between the
ishops of Home and Constantinople, like those of more modem
mes between the archbishops of York and Canterbury, were
Tuggles for dignity rather than power. The primacy which
ioniface UI. assumed, by taking the title of universal bishop, was
3thing more than presidency ; this was a good foundation for a
iture claim to supremacy ; but there is no proof that any such
aim was contemplated by Boniface, and every probability is
i^ainst the supposition.
But when the independence of nations was compromised by the
jtablishment of an empire, it was very natural that the inde-
eni'.ence of national churches should also be endangered. In the
a^e of Charlemagne, law, order, and intelligence had no sure
ipport but religion; the popular opinion identified mtb. ^ec\a-
70 growth: of the papal power.
siastical influence all that society enjoyed or hoped for ; it was the
bond that held the discordant parts of the empire together, and
the emperor joined with the pope in giving it strength and
unity.
The death of Charlemagne relieved the pontiffs from the pres-
sure of imperial power ^ his successor, Louis the Debonnaire, had
not strengtii of mind sufficient to support the weight of empire^
while the popes stood ready to grasp the reins of power as they
slipped from his hands ; they began to exercise their pontifical
functions immediately after their election, without waiting for the
confirmation of their power; and Louis, embarrassed by nearer
dangers, was unable to punish the usurpation. Louis divided his
empire among his sons — a fatal error j for in their contests for
supremacy the sovereign authority was sacrificed to the feudal
lords and to the spiritual power.
It must, however, be confessed, that the usurpations of the
Church, during the«sanguinary wars between the successors of
Charlemagne, were almost rendered necessary by the circumstances
of the time. The competitors for empire were weak and cruel,
the profligacy of the feudal lords was only equalled by their igno*
ranee, and the Church alone preserved the semblance of justice.
The clergy of all ranks profited by the popular opinion in their fa*
vour; usurpation followed usurpation without provoking opposition:
Charles the Bald acknowledged the right of the bishops to depose
him, and the bishops of his council bound themselves by a canon
to remain united, * for the correction of kings, the nobility, and the
people.' Nicholas I., more bold than any of his predecessors, con-
stituted himself the judge of bishops and kings ; he deposed the
archbishop of Eavenna for asserting his independence, and would
not permit him to be restored until he acknowledged himself a
vassal of the holy see ; he even cited the king of Lorraine to
appear before his tribunal (a.d. 860). Lothaire, king of Lorraine,
had divorced his first wife, Theutberga, on a charge of adultery,
and, by the advice of his council, had chosen a beautiful young
lady, called Valrade, for his second queen. The pope annulled the
second marriage, compelling Lothaire to take back his first wife,
and persevered in enforcing his edict, even after Theutberga herself
had submitted to the pretensions of her rival.
Adrian IL was chosen successor to Nicholas : the imperial am-
bassadors were excluded from the election, and their remonstrances
treated with neglect. He interfered on the side of justice, to
secure the inheritance of Lorraine for the Emperor Louis 11., but
the pontiff was foiled by the firmness of Charles the Bald, and his
claims to decide between the competitors refuted by Hincmar,
archbishop of Ilheims. Adrian resolved to conciliate the prince
THE PAPACY AS A POLITICAL SYSTEM. 71
lom he could not Bubdoe, and won Charles to submiseion by
amising him the succession to the empire. This project was exe-
ted by Adrian's successor, John VIII. ; finding that the king of
•ance was determined to have the title of emperor on any terms,
, made him stipulate to acknowledge the independence of Home
d its territory, and to confess that he only held the empire by
e gift of the pope.
In an assembly held at Pavia (▲.D. 878) Charles was recognised
r the Italian prelates and nobles, in the following memorable
ords : ^ Since the Divine favour, through the merits of the holy
jostles and of their vicar. Pope John, has raised you to the empire,
icording to the judgment of the Holy Ghost, we elect you unani-
ously for our protector and lord.* The pontiff by no means
ifiered Charles to forget that the empire was his gift : when the
Rracens invaded Italy he wrote to Charles reproaching him for his
slay in affording succour, and desiring him to remember the hand
lat had given him the empire, 4est, if driven to despair, we
lould change our opinion.'
But while the popes were thus triumphant over the emperors,
ley were severely harassed by the turbulent feudal lords, who
id taken advantage of the weakness of their sovereign, to es-
bliflh a virtual independence. They interfered in the pontifical
ections, and generally controlled them ; they insulted, imprisoned,
id murdered the pontiffs ; while the claims of the apostolic see
» complete supremacy were tacitly acknowledged throughout
nrope, it was itself held in disgraceful servitude by petty tyrants,
wo infiiunous women, by their infiuence with tiie profligate
DbleSy procured the throne of St. Peter for their paramours and
leir illegitimate children ; and the disorders of the Church finally
;tained such a height that the imperial was once more raised
xyve the papal power, and Pope John XIL was deposed by the
imperor Otho.
The vices of this dark period are not justly attributable to
bpery ; tiiej were the result of feudalism, and, so far as the papal
fstem was able to exert any influence, it was employed in coun-
sracting these evils. The great error of the pontiffs was, that
iiey did not arrange a judicious plan for elections ; they left their
ower thus exposed to the disturbances of a disputed succession
rhich had already proved fatal to the imperial power : had the
crangements been such as to prevent any lay interference, ecdesias-
ical influence would have gone on increasing without interruption.
)at the vice and violence of the Roman nobles rendered Popery, as
system^ for a time inoperative, and prevented a Nicholas from
Dticipating a Hildebrand.
72 GEOWTH OJF THE PAPAL POWER.
Section m. The Struggle for Supremacy between the
Popes and Emperors,
When Leo Vin. was elected to the papacy, in the room of
John, he not only took an oath of obedience and fidelity to the
emperor, hut issued a hull, ordaining that Otho and his successors
should have a right of appointing the popes and investing bishops
and archbishops ) and that none should dare to consecrate a bishop
without the permission of the emperor.
This fatal blow to the papacy was unpopular with the bishops ;
they complained that Leo had subverted, at one blow, the structure
which his predecessors had toiled to raise during two centuries.
When John, after the emperor's departure, returned to Kome,
he easily procured the deposition of Leo, and the acknowledg-
ment of his own claims. The restored pope began to exercise
great cruelties against his opponents ; but in the midst of his career
he was assassinated by a young nobleman, whom he had rivalled
in the affections of his mistress.
The adherents of John still refused to acknowledge Leo, and
without consulting the emperor they chose Benedict to succeed the
murdered pontiff. But the return of Otho threw them into confu-
sion : Benedict hastily tendered his submission to Leo, by whom
he was banished ; and the Roman nobility and clergy promised the
emperor that they would never confer the papal dignity on any
but a native of Germany. On the death of Leo, the electors,
obedient to their promise, chose John XIII. by the emperor's
permission. The pope was too giateful to his sovereign to resist the
encroachments of the imperial power on the city and the Church :
the turbulent Romans revolted, and threw John into prison, but
Otho soon came to suppress these disturbances. He restored John,
and severely punished the authors of the revolt. Thus the politi-
cal system of Popery seemed utterly ruined, the pontiff ruled the
Roman states as a lieutenant instead of a prince, and, far firom
being regarded as the supreme umpire of monarchs, he was re-
duced to the condition of a subject.
We have seen that the papacy owed its first success to the
national hatred between the Latins and the Byzantines ; strength
for a new struggle to retrieve its fortunes was derived from the
animosity with which the Germans were regarded by the Italians.
The deatii of Otho (a.d. 973) was the signal for new convulsions
in Italy ; the feudal lords aimed at independence, the cities tried
to establish freedom ; Pope John tried to uphold the imperial
cause, but he was arrested by Oincius, the head of the popular
ptatj, and strangled in prison.
STEUGGLE BETWEEN POPES AND EMPERORS. 73
Hincins and his faction chose Boniface Vn. for their spiritual
d ; the aristocratic party, headed by the counts of Tuscany,
5ted Benedict VIL; the former was soon driven from the
ital ; he sought shelter at Constantinople, where he 8tn»nu-
ly urged the Greek emperors to invade Italy. These princes
k hisadyice, and, uniting themselves with the Saracens, subdued
ulia and Calabria. Otho II. vanquished these enemies ; but
en he returned to Germany Boniface came back to Italy, made
Qself master of Rome, and threw his rival into a prison, where
was starved to death. Four months afterwards the murderer
d suddenly, and was succeeded by John XV.
5o low had the papacy now sunk, that the whole of John's reign
8 occupied by a struggle for the government of the city of Rome,
^scentius, an ambitious noble, eager to establish his own des-
ism under the name of freedom, persuaded the citizens to reject
I authority both of the pope and the emperor. Otho II. crushed
I revolt, and so firmly established the imperial authority, that
was enabled to nominate one of his creatures successor to John ;
I the cardinals received as their head Bruno, a Saxon stranger
0 took the title of Gregory V.*
^rescentius had little trouble in exciting a new insurrection ;
; the Italians were too feeble to contend with the entire strength
he empire ; they were defeated with ruinous loss, and their leader
itured and beheaded. On the death of Gregor}', Otho nomi-
ed G«rbert to the papal dignity, and he was installed undei the
e of Sylvester II. Although he did not foresee the consequences,
Ivester may be regarded as the first who made any progress in
toring the power of Popery. His personal virtues removed the
ndal which had long weakened the influence of his see ; his
Tonage of learning restored to the Church its superiority in
diligence; and, through his intimacy with the emperor, he
»ined a renewal of the temporal grants which Charlemagne and
pin had made to his predecessors. The popes now began to
yport the imperial cause against the turbulent nobles of Italy ; in
urn they were aided by the emperors in their struggles with the
man princes and citizens ; but by this alliance the pontifls were
) principal gainers, for the emperor's attention was distracted
various objects, while the popes were always on the spot to se-
re the fruit of every victory. So rapidly had their power been
lieved, that when Benedict VIII. crowned the Emperor Henry,
whom he owed the preservation of his dignity, he demanded
his benefactor, before he entered the church, * will you observe
OP fidelity to me and my successors in everything ?' and the
rperor had the weakness to answer in the afllrmative.
L Even- pope changes his name on his accession, in \m\taWon. cA ^V-
ter, whom our Lord caUed Cephas, or Peter, instead of Simon.
74 GBOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWEB.
But the factions of the Koman nobles and citizens preyented the
papal power from being consolidated ; three rival popes, each re-
markable for his scandalous life, shared the revenues of the Church
between them (a.d. 1045) ; they were finally persuaded to resign
by John Qratian^ a priest of piety and learning, and he was elected
to the vacant throne by the title of Gregory VL The Emperor
Henry procured the deposition of Gregory and the election of
Clement II.
The most remarkable of the deposed popes waa Benedict IX. ;
he was the son of a Tusculan count, and was raised to the chair of
St. Peter at the early age of ten years. His vices induced the
Bomans to raise rivals against him ; but, supported by the arislo*
cratic faction, he would probably have held his place, had he not
been bribed to resign in favour of Gregory. The agent in this
transaction was Hildebrand, the son of humble parents, who had
raised himself by the force of his abilities and his reputation for
piety to high rank in the Church and commanding influence in the
State. Gregory was undoubtedly a better ruler than his imme-
diate predecessors ; he expelled the robbers and freebooters who
infest^ the roads aroxmd Bome ; he opened a secure passage for
the pilgrims who wished to visit the shrine of St. Peter, and he
vigorously exerted himself to reform the administration of justice.
It was imprudent in the Emperor Henry to depose such a man at
the instigation of the enemies of order ; Clement 11. felt great
aversion to the proceeding, and very reluctantly consented to his
own elevation.
Gregory and Hildebrand, to the great regret of the Italian
people, and especially of the citizens of Bome, were driven into
exile ; they retired to the celebrated monasteiy of Clugni, where
Gregory cUed of vexation, leaving Hildebrand the heir of his
wealth and his resentment. Clement was poisoned by an emissaiy
of Benedict nine months after his consecration ; and his successor,
Damasus H., shared the same fate. When the news reached
Hildebrand, he immediately departed from the imperial court^
hoping to have some influence in the nomination of the next pope;
but on the road he learned that the Diet at Worms, directed by
the emperor, had elected Bruno, bishop of Toul, under the title of
LeoIX.
We have now reached an important crisis in the straggle
between the papal and the imperial power ; the latter had toudied
the highest point of its greatness, and was destined to fiill by the
dauntiess energies of one man, Hildebrand, the humble monk of
Soana
BEVI7AL OF THE PAPAL POWER. 75
SscElojr IV. Revival of the Pcqpal Power.
[ A.D. 1048 TO ▲.!>. 1070.
[iLDEBRAirD WBS piobablj smcere in his belief that the Church
ilied the only means by which the regeneration of Europe
id be effected. Feudalism, the worst of foes to social order,
d opposed to the soyereignty of the monarch and the liberty of
subject ; the emperors were too weak, the people too ignorant,
struggle against it; and the wise arrangements of Providence,
vrhich good has been so frequently wrought out of eril, made
zeyival of Popery the instrument by which Europe was
mad from barbarism. Hildebrand's personal character is really
latter of no importance ; his measures in the present age would
Hy subject him to the charge of extravagant ambition and
ndering tyranny; but in the eleventh century every one of
se measures was necessary to counteract some evil principle, and
der or more justifiable means would not have been adequate to
occasion. We must not pass sentence on an institution with-
examining the opinion on which it is founded ; and before we
g[e of the opinion we must estimate the circumstances by which
ras engendered. The disorganised state of Europe produced a
iKg opinion that some power for appeal and protection should
constituted — a power with intelligence to guide its decisions,
. sanctity to enforce respect for them. The revived papacy
ned an institution suited to these conditions, and under the
fumstances it was capable of being rendered the great instru-
it for reforming dvil society.
lildebrand's own writings prove that his design was to render
papacy such an institution as we have described; it was indeed
Bautiful theory to base power upon intelligence, and concentrate
h in the Church. But Hildebrand did not make a discovery
ieh too often has eluded reformers and legislators, that his plim
I suited only to peculiar circumstances, that it was only appli-
le to a period when state power was corrupt and popular inteUi-
ice restricted, and that to give it permanence was to extend its
■ation beyond the period of its utility, and consequently prepare
way for its becoming just as mischievous as the evils it had
n devised to counteract.
rhis general view of the state of society will enable us to form
letter judgment of the struggle in which Hildebrand engaged
n could be done if we confined ourselves to a simple narrative ;
shall now proceed to relate the course adopted by the enter-
fing monk to exalt the spiritual power.
Leo IX., on whom the emperor, as we have said, conferred the
76 GEOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER,
papacy, was a prelate of virtuous principles and strict integrity,
T)ut he was a man infirm of purpose and weak in understanding.
Hildebrand was well aware of the advantages that might be
derived from the pope's character, and in his first interview he
gained such an ascendancy over Leo's mind that henceforth the pope
was a passive instrument in the hands of his adviser. The pontiff
naturally dreaded that the circumstance of his having beeni
nominated by the emperor, and elected by a German diet, would
render him unpopular in Italy j but Hildebrand smoothed the
way, and by his personal influence secured Leo a favourable recep-
tion at Rome. This service was rewarded by an accumulation of
dignities; Hildebrand soon imited in his person the titles and
offices of cardinal, sub-deacon, abbot of St. Paul, and keeper of the
altar and treasury of St. Peter. The clergy and people of Rome
applauded these proceedings, because the favourite had induced.
Leo to gratify the national vanity by submitting to the form of a
new election immediately after his arrival in the city.
Leo made unremitting exertions to reform the clergy and the
monastic orders ; but in the fifth year of his reign he marched
against the Normans, who were ravaging the south of Italy, and
was unfortimately taken prisoner. Though the conquerors showed
every respect to their captive, the misfortune weighed heavily on
his proud spirit ; and his grief was aggravated by the reproaches
of some of his clergy, who condemned him for desecrating his
holy office by appearing in arms. He died of a broken heart soon
after his liberation, and the deposed Benedict IX. seized the op-
portunity of re-ascending the papal throne.
Hildebrand was opposed to the imperial influence, but he hated
more intensely the nearer and more dangerous power of the
Italian nobles, and therefore he became an active aud energetic
opponent of their creature Benedict. The monastic orders sup-
ported one whom they justly regarded as the pride and ornament
of their body, and by their means Hildebrand gained such a com-
manding influence over the Roman people that he could truly
represent himself to the emperor as their delegate in choosing a-
new pope. Henry nominated a German bishopto the dignity, who
took the name of Victor H., and the cardinal-monk hoped to
exercise the same authority in the new reign that he had possessed
imder Leo IX. The new pope, however, soon became weary of
having 'a viceroy over him ; ' he sent his ambitious minister into
France with the title of legate, under the honourable pretext of
correcting the abuses that had crept into the Galilean Church.
Hildebrand performed his task with more rigour than it would have
been prudent for a less popular minister to display ; he excom-
mimicated several inmiorsd priests and bishops^ and even sentenced
REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. 77
e monks to death for a breach of their monastic tows. After
iar's absence he returned to Rome more powerful than ever, and
tor was content to receive him as his chief adviser and director.
1 the mean time the Emperor Henry died, and was succeeded
lis son of the same name, who was yet an infant. Hildebrand
i too sagacious not to discover the advantage with which the
al power would struggle against the imperial during a minority,
he secretly prepared for the contest. The death of Victor,
edily followed by that of his successor, Stephen IX., delayed,
did not alter, the cardinal-monk's intentions, for circumstances
ipelled him to appear as an advocate of the imperial authority.
hi the death of otephen, the aristocratic faction, presuming on
minority of the emperor, rushed at night, with a body of armed
1, into the Vatican church, where they declared John, bishop
Velitri, one of their body, pope, with the title of Benedict X.
debrand received this intelligence as he returned from Germany ;
ras brought to him by the terrified cardinals and bishops who
i fled from Home ; he assembled the fugitives at Sienna, and
mailed upon them to elect the bishop of Florence, who took the
le Nicholas 11. The emperor's sanction was easily procured for
latter election, and the imperial court was persuaded that it
I supporting its own interests when it placed Nicholas upon the
lal tlurone.
yircnmstances soon occurred to prove that the Germans had
n deluded ; Nicholas assembled a council at Rome, in which it
i decreed that the cardinals alone should in future have a voice
the election of the pope ; but, to avoid any open breach with
I emperor, a clause was added, reserving to him all due honour
I respect. A less equivocal proceeding soon followed; the
rmans, who had settled in the south of Italy, had become more
enable to the Church than they had been in the days of Leo.
e lust of conquest was abated, and they were now anxious to
ain some security for their possessions ; they therefore tendered
lir alliance aiid feadal allegiance to the pope, on condition of
confirming their titles. By the advice of Hildebrand, Nicholas
re to Richard Guiscard the principality of Capua, and granted
bert Guiscard the title of duke, with the investiture of all the
ds he had conquered, or should conquer, in Sicily, Apulia,
I Calabria.
rhe pope readily granted that to which he had no right, a pro-
ding that might have cost him dear if the old emperor had but-
'fid ; the Normans, in return, lent their aid to punish the enemies
Nicholas in the Roman territory. The lands of the turbulent
stocracy were ravaged with unsparing cruelty, and it is to the
lolation thus produced that the depopulation of the country
ind Rome, even at the present day, must be attributed.
78 OBOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER
WHle Hildebrandwas maturing Ms plans forre-establisliingthe
papacy^ many circumstances occurred which proved the expediency
of establishing a central controlling power in the Church. The
ecclesiastics of Milan had been for nearly two hundred years inde-
pendent of the Holy See, and their church had become the scandal
of Italy. Benefices were openly sold, immoralities flagrantlj
practised, until at length a respectable portion of the laity re-
quested the interference of the pope. Peter Damian was sent as
a legate to Milan, but the populace, incited by the priests, raised
a formidable insurrection, and threatened to murder him for
menacing their independence. Peter, undismayed, ascended a
pulpit in one of their principal churches, and made such an efifeo-
tive discourse that the rioters not only submitted, but encouraged
him to pursue his task of investigation. The inquiry proved that
nearly every priest in Milan had purchased his preferment, and
lived with a concubine. The archbishop, after an obstinate resist-
ance, was brought to confess that he had transgressed the canons;
but he was pardoned by the legate, on condition of swearing, with
his clergy, to observe the ecclesiastical rules for the future.
Scarcely, however, had the legate departed, when the clergy assailed
the archbishop for betraying the rights of their church, and com-
pelled him to retract the conditions to which he had so recently
sworn. The troubles in Milan burst out afresh, and the profligacy
of the clergy seemed to have been increased by the temporary in-
terruption.
Ere Nicholas could make any effort to terminate these disorders^
he was seized by a mortal disease ; his death made a great change
in the political aspect of Italy, for the Church party, encouraged by
Hildebrand, set both the emperor and the aristocracy at defiance.
The cardinals and bishops, without waiting for the imperial sanc-
tion, conferred the papacy on Anselmo, bishop of Lucca, who took
the title of Alexander 11.; on the other hand, the counts of
Tuscany, hoping to recover the lands that had been wrested from
them by the Normans, declared that they would support the em-
peror's right of nomination. The Roman nobles had hitherto owed
their partial success to their having supported a national prelate;
they soon found that their strength was gone when they gave their
aid to a foreign competitor. Supported by a German and Lombard
army, Cadislaus, who had been chosen by the emperor, appeared
before the gates of Rome, but the citizens refused him admisnon.
At first the imperialists gained some advantages, but the arrival of
Duke Godfrey, with an auxiliary force of Normans, changed the
fortunes of the war. Cadislaus sought refuge in the castle of St
Angelo, where he was closely besieged. Soon afterwards, the
young emperor, having been removed by a stratagem from the pro-
KEVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. 79
m of his mother, was placed under the oontrol of the arch-
ipe of Bremen and Cologne ; at their instipration he recognised
ander as the legitimate pope, and Cadislaus, finding himself
ioned hy his principal protector, fied in disguise from the castle
» Angelo to his native diocese, where he died in ohscurity.
tiing the brief reign of Alexander, Hildebrand was the real
tnoT of the Church. As soon as the war with Cadislaus was
1, he directed his attention to the afikirs of Milan, excommu-
ed the perjured archbishop, and ordered that all the priests
were married, or who lived in concubinage, should be ejected
their cures. Supported by the populace and a large body of
lohles, the papal legate not only enforced this decree, but ob-
d from the clergy and people a solemn oath, that, for the
e, they would hold no election of a bishop valid unless it was
rmed by the pope.
le excommunicated archbishop resigned his see, and sent the
aia of his office, the pastoral rod and ring, to the emperor,
rey, a deacon of Milan, was appointed to supply the vacancy
6 imperial council ; but the citizens of Milan refused to re-
him, and chose for their archbishop, Atto, a nominee of the
A fierce war raged between the rival prelates, and Alexan-
indignant at the support that Godfrey received from the
roT; summoned that prince to appear before his tribunal, on a
'e of simony and granting investitures without the approba-
if the see of Rome.
ither the ambition nor the cares of Pope Alexander, or rather
latigator Hildebrand, were confined to the Italian peninsula,
leans of the popularity which the pretensions of the mendi-
&iars had given their order throughout Europe, he established
terest for himself in every part of Christendom. Faithful
s kept a strict watch ever the proceedings of the Emperor
fy legates were sent to Denmark and Norway, the allegiance
B king of Bohemia was secured by permission to wear the
, and the virtual independence of the Anglo-Saxon Church
iestroyed by the Norman conquest, to the success of which
iterference of the pope and of Hildebrand materially contri-
L
t Hildebrand did not extend to the Normans in Italy the
favour that he showed to their brethren in England. Aided
e forces of the Countess Matilda, a devoted adherent of the
ch, and heiress to considerable territory, he forced them to
I the districts they had wrested from the Holy See. Anxious
»in this sovereignty, Hildebrand violently opposed a marriage
sen the Countess and Godfrey Gobbo, a son whom her step-
r had by a former wife. Such a union, indeed, was warranted
'80 GEOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
by the strict letter of the canonical degrees, hut still it was, in
some degree, revolting to the feelings. Gohho was excommuni-
cated, hut Hildehrand secretly hinted that he might be reconciled
to the Church on making proper submissions.
But all these political struggles were cast into the shade by the
daring citation of the Emperor Henry : every one regarded it as a
declaration of war between the spiritual and tempond authorities,
and it must have been obvious to all that the death of Alexander
n. only delayed the contest. More had been done during the
reign of this pope to extend the authority of the papacy than in
any former pontificate ; but this must not be attributed either to
the faults or to the merits of Alexander, who was a miere instru-
ment in the hands of his ambitious minister. The monks, to raise
Hildebrand's fame, published tales of the numerous miracles he
wrought, which were greedily received by the superstitious popu*-
lace, and tended greatly to extend his influence.
Section V. Pontificate of Gregory VII,
7R0H A.D. 1073 TO A.D. 1086.
There were few statesmen in any part of Christendom who did
not dread the accession of Hildehrand to the papacy, but there
were none prepared to provoke his resentment by interfering to
prevent his election. The irregular and precipitate manner in
which he was chosen seems to prove that some opposition was
dreaded by his partisans ; and HUdebrand himself found it neces-
sary to disarm hostility by an affectation of submission to the em- '
peror. He wrote to Henry that he had been chosen against his
will, that he had no wish for the office, and that he would not be
consecrated without the imperial sanction. Deceived by this
hypocrisy, Henry ratified the irregular election, and Hildehrand
was enthroned with the title of Gregory VII.
No sooner was he secured on the throne than he began to put
in execution his favourite plan for securing the independence of
the Church, by preventing lay interference in the collation of
benefices. Before he had been a month elected he sent a legate
into Spain, to reform the ecclesiastical abuses of that kingdom ;
but principally to claim for the Apostolic See all the conquests
that had recently been made from the Moors, under the pretence
that the Spanish peninsula, before the Saracenic invasion, had
been tributary to the successors of St Peter. Henry was so much
daunted by this and similar displays of vigour, that he sent a
submissive letter to the pontiff, acknowledging his former errors in
his dispute with Alexander, which he attributed to his yocth and
PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY Vn. 81
influence of eyil oouncillon, desiring him to arrange the
bles in the church of Milan at his discretion, and promising to
(t him in ererything with the imperial authority,
he two great objects of the pope were, to enforce the celibacy
be clergy, and the papal right to the investiture of bishops,
former of these projects was a matter of discipline, defended
ilausible grounds of expediency. Its advocates pleaded, that a
jyman unencumbered with the cares of a family could devote
whole attention to the flock intrusted to his charge ; and that
shop without children would be free to exercise his patronage
tout being warped by domestic aflection. On the other hand,
were thus forced to sacrifice the noblest and best of human
ngs ; they were cut off from the influence of social life : the
rch became the country and the home of every person who
raced the ecclesiastical profession.
be pope's determination to destroy the practice of lay investi-
3 was defended on more plausible grounds. The administra-
of ecclesiastical patronage by the emperor and other temporal
»8 was liable to great abuses, and had actually led to many :
supplied vacancies with the ignorant, the depraved, and the
tnt ; they sought for the qualifications of a soldier or a politi-
when ikej had to elect a bishop. In a dark age, when
irchs and nobles were rarely able to write their own names ;
1 the knowledge of the alphabet, even in aristocratic families,
so rare as to be deemed a spell against witchcraft ; and when
ierce qualities of a warrior were valued more highly than the
stian virtues, it seemed almost necessary to render appoint-
l» in the Church independent of the state. But to this obvious
diency Gregory VII. added a claim of right, as Christ's vicar
urth, and inheritor of his visible throne,
regory, having assembled a general council at Home, ordained,
)nsent of the bishops present, that if any one should accept
ititure from a layman, both the giver and the receiver should
ccommunicated ; that the prelates who advised the emperor
iaim the collation of benefices should be excommunicated;
that all married priests should dismiss their wives, or
deposed. These decrees were communicated to the
reigns of Europe by Gregory himself, in letters that must
remain a monument of his consummate abilities. His mon-
IS claims for the universal supremacy of the Church and of the
ish See are proposed in a tone of humility and candour, well
ilated to win the unthinking and unwary; his dictations
me the form of affectionate suggestions, and his remonstrances
nble those of a tender and affectionate father,
it the pope did not confine his exertions to mere words; he
6
82 GEOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWEE.
obliged the Normans to quit their conquests in Campania, pro-
posed a crusade against the Saracens who were menacing C(m-
stantinople, and offered a province in Italy to Sweno, king of Den-
mark, under the pretence that the inhabitants were heretics. The
Emperor Henry was not deceived by Gregory's professions ; he
hated the pont^ in his heart, and had good reason to belieye that
the enmity was reciprocal It was therefore with mingled jealousy
and indignation that he saw a new power established which more
than rivalled his own, and he entered into a secret alliance with
the Normans against their common enemy. In the mean time, a
conspiracy was formed against the pope in Home itself by some
of the aristocracy whose privileges he had invaded. Cincius, the
prefect of the city, arrested the pontiff while he was celebrating
mass on Christmas-day, and threw him into prison ; but the popu-
lace soon rescued their favourite, Cincius would have been torn to
pieces but for Gregory's interference, and all who had shared in
this act of violence were banished from the city. Soon affcerwards
Gregory cited the emperor to appear before the council at Rome,
to answer to the charge of protecting excommunicated bishops,
and granting investitures without the sanction of the Holy See.
Henry, enraged by the insult, and relieved from his anxieties in Ger-
many by a recent victory over the Saxons, resolved to temporise
no longer ; he assembled a synod at Worms of the princes and
prelates devoted to his cause, and procured sentence of deposition
against Gregory, on a charge of simony, murder, and atheism.
Gregory was far from being disheartened by the emperor's
violence ; he assembled a council at Rome, solenmly excommuni-
cated Henry, absolved his subjects in Germany and Italy from their
oath of allegiance, deposed several prelates in Germany, France,
and Lombardy, and published a series of papal constitutions^
in which the claims of the Roman pontiffs to supremacy over all
the sovereigns of the earth were asserted in the plainest terms.
Both parties now prepared for the war, but all the advantages
were on the side of Gregory. At the very commencement of the
struggle, GK)bbo, the most vigorous supporter of the emperor,
died, and his widow, the Countess Matilda, placed all her resources
at the disposal of the pontiff. The Duke of Dalmatia, gratified
by the titie of king, and the Norman monarch of Sicily proffered
aid to the pontiff; even the Mohammedan emperor of Morocco
courted his favour, and presented him with the liberty of the
Christian slaves in his dominions.
Henry, on the contrary, knew not where to look for support ;
in every quarter of his dominions monks and friars preached
against their sovereign and the prelates by whom he had been
supported ; the Saxon nobles eagerly embraced a religious pretext
PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY Vn. SS
mew their iiuiiiTection ; the dukes of Suabia and Carinthia
imded a change of dynasty; even the prelates who had been
t sealous in urging Henry forward, terrified by threats of ex-
mnnicationy abandoned his cause. A diet was assembled at
nr, attended by two papal legates, in which it was resolved
i Henry should be deposed, unless within a limited period
■esented himself before the pope and obtained absolution.
he prelates and nobles of Lombardy alone maintained their
tage and boldly retorted the excommunications of Gregory,
mated by the hope of obtaining their efficient aid, Henry
Ired to cross the Alps instead of waiting for Gregory's arriyal
Jeimany. The hardships which the unfortunate monarch
srwent tluring this journey, in the depth of a severe winter —
iangers to which he was exposed from the active malice of
enemies — ^the sight of the sufferings of his queen and child,
could only travel by being enclosed in the hides of oxen, and
; dragged through the Alpine passes — would have broken a
ler sfkiit than Henry's. He entered Lombardy completely
eartened, and, though joined by considerable forces, he
ght only of conciliating his powerful enemy by submission,
bg obtained a conference with the Countess Matilda, Henry
tiled upon her to intercede for him with the pope ; and her
cession, supported by the principal nobles of Italy, induced
pory to grant an interview to his sovereign.
I the 21st of January, 1077, Henry proceeded to Canosa,
te the pope resided, and was forced to submit to the greatest
{iiities that were ever heaped upon imperial majesty. At the
barrier he was compelled to dismiss his attendants ; when he
M the second, he was obliged to lay aside his imperial robe^
issume the habit of a penitent. For three entire days he was
d to stand barefooted and fasting, from morning till night, in
mter court of the castle, during one of the severest winters
has ever been known in northern Italy, imploring pardon
is transgressions from God and the pope. He was at length
itted into the presence of the haughty pontiff, and, after all
ubmissions, obtained, not the removal, but the suspension of
)xcommunication.
ich harsh treatment sank deep into Henry's mind: and his
Jity to Gregory was exasperated by the pontiff accepting a
t of the Countess Matilda's possessions for the use of the
rch, which would legally revert to the empire after her
ise. The reproaches of the Lombards also induced him to
it of his degradation, and he renewed the war by a dis-
lurable and ineffectual attempt to arrest Gregory and Matilda.
he mean time, the discontented nobles of Gennany bad
a2
84 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
assembled a diet at Fercheim, deposed their sovereign, and elected
Kodolph^ duke of Suabia, to the empire. This proceeding greatly
embarra^ed the pope ; he dared not declare against Henrys who
was powerful in Italy, €ind if he abandoned Kodolph he would
ruin his own party in Germany; he therefore resolved to preserve
a neutrality in the contest.
A victory obtained by Rodolph induced Gregory to depart from
his cautious policy } he excommunicated Henry, and sent a crown
of gold to his rival. The indignant emperor summoned a council
in the mountains of the Tyrol, pronounced Gregory's deposition,
and proclaimed Gilbert, archbishop of Havenna, pope, by the
name of Clement III. Gregory immediately made peace with
-the Normans, and, supported by them and the Oount^ Matilda,
lie bade his enemies defiance. But in the mean time Rodolph
w^as defeated and slain, the discontented Germans were forced
1x> submit to the imperial authority, and Henry, at the head of a
vicftorious«rmy, crossed/the Alps. The Norman dukes, engaged
in war with the Greet emperors, neglected their ally, and the
forces of Hhe Countess Matilda were unable to c(^ with the
imperialists. Twice was Henry driven from before the walls of
!Rome J but the third time he gained an entrance, by a lavish
•distribution of bribes, and procij^ed the solemn installation of
Clement. The emperor's departure left his partisans exposed to
the vengeance of Gregory ; the pontiff returned at the head of a
Norman army, and gave the city to be pillaged by his barbarous
auxiliaries. Having reduced Home almost to a mass of ruins,
Gregory retired to Salerno, where he was seized with a mortal
disease. He died unconquered, repeating with his latest breath
the excommunications which he had hurled against Henry, the
anti-pope, and their adherents. He viewed his own conduct in
the struggle with complacency, and frequently boasted of the
goodness of his cause. ' I have loved righteousness and hated
Iniquity,' he exclaimed, ' and it is therefore I die an exile.*
SEcnoy VI. T?ie War of Investitures.
FBOli A.D. 10S6 to A.D. 1152.
Henbt gained only a brief respite by the death of his formid-
able and inveterate antagonist. Victor IH. was elected by the
cardinals, and during his brief reign he gained several advantages
over the imperial party. He was succeeded by Urban H., the
friend and pupil of Gregory, who commenced his pontificate by
sending an encyclical letter to the Christian churches, declaring
hiB resolution to adhere to the political system of his deceased
THE WAR OF INVESTITURES. 85
ter. Suppoirted by the Nonnans, Urban entered Rome, and
mbled a council of one hundred and fifteen biahopfl, in which
emperoT; the anti-pope, and their adherents were solemnly
)mnumicated. At the same time/ he negotiated a marriage
veen Ouelph, son of the duke of Bayaria, a distinguished
jMirter of the papal cause in Germany, and the Countess
ilda. From this union the present dukes of Brunswick and
lenbuzgh and the reigning family of England trace their
xdL Hemy marched into Italy, and, though rigorously
osed by Guelph, gained seyeral important advantages ; but the
al intngues raised enemies against him in the bosom of his
ily ; his eldest son Conrad rebelled, and was crowned king of
y by Urban. This revolt compelled Henry to abandon his
sijn acquisitions and retire towards the Alps,
k. council was summoned to meet at Placentia, and so large a
iber of bishops assembled that no church could contain them,
they were forced to deliberate in the open air. Most of
gory's decrees were re-enacted ; but, in addition to the afiair
nyestitures, the attention of the council was directed to the
d progress of the Mohammedans in the East, and the dangers
; threatened the empire of Constantinople (a.s. 1095). The
B of the persecutions to which the Christian pilgrims were
osed by the ferocious Turks, who bad become masters of the
y Land, had excited general indignation throughout Europe.
iT the Hermit, a wild fanatic, preached everywhere the ne-
ity of rescuing the faithful from the inBdel Saracen% as he
irantly called the Turks, and such a fiame was kindled by his
rtions, that a decree was issued by the Council of Clareroont,
iiorising the first crusade; and at the same time the king of
Qce, in whose dominions the council met, was excommunicated,
could only obtain absolution by humiliating submissions.
he general insanity diffused through Europe by the preaching
he first crusade, the multitudes that abandoned their homes
follow Walter the Pennyless or Godescald the Fanatic, the
eacres of the Jews, the sufferings and exploits of the disciplined
enturers that marched under the banners of Godfrey, will form
subject of the next section ; it is enough here to say that the
eral fanaticism proved of essential service to the papal cause,
that the partisans of Henry suffered severely from the fuiy of
Crusaders in their passage through Italy,
^aschal II. was the successor of Urban, and, like him, stedfastly
sued the policy of Gregory ; he easily triumphed over the anti-
e, who died of a broken heart ; and he urged a second general
jade, which the reverses of the Christians in the Holy Land
iered necessary. To consolidate the Dapal authority he
86 aROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
assembled a council atRome, and procured the enactment of a new
oath, to be taken by all ranks of the clergy. By this oath they
abjured all heresy, tiiey promised implicit obedience to the pope
and his successors, ta affirm what the holy and universal Church
affirms, and to condenm what she condemns (a.d. 1104). Soon
after, the old emperor Henry was treacherously arrested by his
own son, Henry V., and deprived of his imperial dignity j he
subsequently escaped, but before hostilities made any progress he
died of a broken heart. The bishop of Liege honourably in-
terred the body of his unfortunate sovereign, but papal enmity
pursued Henry beyond the grave; the benevolent prelate was
excommunicated, and could ooly obtain absolution by disinterring
the corpse.
Though Henry V. owed his throne to papal influence, he would
not yield the imperial right of granting investitures, and his
example was followed by the kings of England and Fiance. The
form in which monarchs gave investiture, by bestowing a pastoral
ring and staff, was regarded by the popes as an interference with
their spiritual jurisdiction ; and when the form was altered they
gave no further trouble to the English and French monarchs, but
in their disputes with the emperors they not only forbade ecclesi-
astics to receive investiture from laymen, but even to take an oath
of allegiance to them.
The fifth Henry proved a more formidable enemy to the papacy
than his father ; he led an army into Italy, made Paschal prisoner,
compelled him to perform the ceremony of his coronation, and to
issue a bull securing the right of investiture to the emperor and
his successors. But the remonstrances of the cardinals induced
the pope to annul the treaty, and he permitted Henry to be ex-
communicated by several provincial councils. The pontiff, how-
ever, did not ratify the sentence imtil the death of the Countess
Matilda, and then disputes about her inheritance created fresh
animosities between the empire and the Holy See.
The death of Paschal prevented an immediate war. His suc-
cessors, Gelasius II. and Calixtus H., however, supported his
policy, and after a long struggle the emperor was forced to resign
his claim to episcopal investitures, but he was permitted to retain
the investiture of the temporal rights belonging to the sees.
During the pontificate of Honorius H., the successor of Calix-
tus, the Church of Ireland for the first time was brought under
the supremacy of the pope by the exertions of St Malachi, a
monk of great influence and reputation. The greater part of the
reign of Honorius was spent in a contest with the Normans in
southern Italy, whom he forced to continue in their allegiance.
Innocent H. and Anacletus, elected by rival factions, were both
THE WAR OF INVESTITUREaL 87
hxtned ike atiiie day, and the papacy was conaeqnentlj rent by
shism. AnacletuB was tke grandson of a conyerted Jew ; he
Bcaeed gnat wealth, was a fiivoarite with the Roman populaoe,
. had an undoubted minority of the cardinals in his fsTour, yet
is stigmatised as an anti-pope. This was principally owing to
exertions of the celebrated St. Bernard, who warmly espoused
canae of -Lmoeenty and procuzed him the support of the
g of France and the German emperor. On the death of
adetnsy his party elected another anti-pope, but he soon made
submission to Innocent, and the schism was appeased.
1 general council was soon afterwards assembled at Home
D. 1139), at which no less than a thousand bishops were pre-
i, Sereral ordinances were made for completing the ecclesias-
il Qfganisation of the Church. The opinions of Arnold of
sada were condemned at this council; they were derived from
) celebrated Abelard, whose controversy with St. Bernard began
Bzdte uniTersal attention.
Abelazd was goaerally regarded as the most accomplished
olar and the best logician in Europe; crowds of disciples
!ked to hear his lectures, and, though he did not break through
i trammels of scholastic philosophy, he gave an impulse to ^e
tit of inquiry, which in a future age produced beneficial effects.
Bernard, whose opinions were invested by the iMshops with a
d of apostolic authority, accused Abelard of teaching heretical
mon& Abelard*s opinions were condemned by a council at
Bfl, bat ha was permitted to retire into the monastery of Clugny,
«ie he died in peace.
Fkis obscure controversy was the first symptom of the struggle
tween scholastic divinity and philosophy. Abelard was subdued,
t he bequeathed his cause to a succession of faithful disciples,
lo gradually emancipated knowledge from the confinement of
I cloister, tad liberated the human mind from the thraldom of
perj. Abelard's opinions were purely theoretical ; his disciple,
Bold of Bresda, abandoning his master's mysticism, directed
I attention to the reform of the Church and of the government.
I declared that the political power and wealth of the clergy
we inconsistent with the sanctity of their profession, and he
gan to preach these doctrines in Italy and Germany ; so great
IB his influence, that he was invited to Rome, in order to revive
i republic. Innocent 11., Celestine IL, Lucius 11., and Euge-
IB nL, had to struggle with ' the politicians,' as the followers
Arnold were called, for the maintenance of their domestic
^er ; and during this period the aggressions of popery on the
^ts of kings and nations were suspended. Rome set the
Bmple of resistance to the pontifEs; Italy, for a brief space,
88 GEOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
furnislied the boldest opponents to the papal nsurpalions ; but
when Europe began to profit by the example, the Italians dis-
covered that the overthrow of the papacy would diminish the
profits which they derived from the payments made by superstition
and ignorance to the Roman exchequer ; and they lent their aid
to the support of the lucrative delusion they had been the first to
expose, and even yielded their liberties to the pontiffs, on condition
of sharing in their unhallowed gains.
Section VII. The Grades.
The wars undertaken by the crusaders for the conquest of
Palestine, at the instigation of the popes, form an essential part of
the history of the great struggle between the spiritual and temporal
powers. To understand aright the influence they exercised it will
be necessary to cast a retrospective glance at their origin, and at
the state of society in the eastern and western world when first
this great movement began.
Pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and the localities that had been
hallowed by our blessed Saviour's presence, were common in the
earliest ages of the Church. They began to multiply very rapidly
at the beginning of the eleventh century in consequence of an
opinion very generally diffused that the end of the world was at
hand ; many persons sold their estates and migrated to the Holy
Land, to wait there the coming of the Lord. Whilst the Saracens
remained masters of Palestine, they encouraged and protected
visitors whose arrival brought them considerable profit ; but when
the Seljiikian Turks wrested the country from the khaliphs of
Egypt, the pilgrims were subjected to every extortion and outrage
that fanaticism and ignorance could dictate. Their sad recital of
the calamities they were forced to endure excited universal indig-
nation, and Gregory VIL was the first to propose a general arming
throughout Christendom, for the purpose of driving the Turks
beyond the Euphrates. The time was not propitious for such an
undertaking ; the wars of the empire engaged the attention and
employed the arms of the chief military leaders. But when the
Normans had completed the conquest of England and the two
Sicilies, when the imperial power had sunk before the popes in
Italy, and the feudal princes in Germany, vast hordes of military
adventurers remained without employment, ready to embrace any
cause that promised to gratify their love of glory and plunder. At
this moment an enthusiastic monk, usually called Peter the
Hermit, indignant at the oppression of the Christians which he
had witnessed in Palestine began to preach the duty of expelling
THE CRUSADEa 89
infidels firom the patrimony of Christ; and hy his energetic
lis widely diffused his own fanaticism,
ter's zeal was yigorously seconded by Pope Urban II. ; the
ff'went personally to France, and held a council at Clermont
1095); where the war was sanctioned with g^at enthusiasm,
nultitudes assumed the badge of the cross as the symbol of
enlistment. The first hordes of crusaders were ignorant
dcs; guided by men of no note or experience. They marched
out order or discipline, pillaging, burning, and plundering the
tries that they trayersed. So great was the delusion, that
e families joined in these wild expeditions ; farmers were seen
Dg carts containing their wives and children in the line of march,
3 boys bearing mimic implements of war sported round, mis-
g every stranger for a Turk, and every new town for Jerusalem,
i of these unhappy fanatics perished by fatigue, famine, disease,
le swords of the people they had outraged, but not before their
088 had indelibly stigmatised the cause in which they were
^ed. The Jews along the Rhine suffered most severely
them, since their leaders had persuaded them that the
ice of this unfortunate race would be the best propitiation to
e the success of the expedition. Accordingly thousands were
acred with every torture and indignity that malice could
Mt ; whole families were driven by despair to commit sui-
a few submitted to be baptized, and purchased safety by
acy. The archbishop of Mayence exerted all the means
I power to protect the wretched victims, but had the morti-
on to witness the murder of those who sought refuge in his
palace.
; length a regular army was organised, under the command of
^y of Bouillon, duke of Lower Lorraine, one of the most
anted generals of the age. No sovereign joined his standard,
many of the leading nobles of Christendom were enrolled
ig his followers, among whom may be mentioned Robert, Duke
srmandy, eldest son of William itie Conqueror, Hugh, brother
le king of France, Bohemond, prince of Tarentum, and Ray-
I, count of Toulouse. When the divisions of this formidable
f arriyed near Constantinople, Alexis, who then ruled the
ntine empire, was naturally terrified by the appearance of
I too powerful to be received as auxiliaries, and too formida-
0 be rejected as enemies. The crafty Greek had recourse to
iheiy and dissimulation ; after a disgusting train of fraudulent
tiations the Latin warriors passed into Asia, leaving behind
i worse enemies in the Christians of the Byzantine empire,
m it was part of their object to protect, than the Turks they
come to assail. Their early career in Asia was glorious^ but
90 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
purchased at an enormouB expenditure of life. Nicea^ the capital
of the sultany of Kiim, was taken ; a great yictory over the Sultan
Soleiman opened a passage into Syria ; Antioch was captured after
a siege of unparalleled difficulty, and, finally^ Jerusalem, which
had been recently wrested from the Turks by the Egyptians, fell
before the arms of the crusaders, and became the capital of a new
kingdom (a.d. 1099).
! Jerusalem was obstinately defended by the Mussulmans ; they
hurled beams and stones on the heads of those who tried to scale
the walls, and flung burning oil and sulphur on the movable
towers and bridges employed by the assailants. The crusaders dis-
played equal energy, but, on the second day of assault, just as
they were sinking under the united effects of weariness and a
burning sun, Godfrey declared that he saw a celestial messenger
on the Mount of Olives, cheering the Christians to the combat
The enthusiasm awakened by such a declaration bore down eyeiy
obstacle ; the crusaders made good their lodgment on the wall,
and the Mohammedans fled into the city. Amid the most raptu-
rous shouts of triumph the banner of the cross was planted on the
towers of Jerusalem, and as it unfurled itself in the wind many of
the bravest warriors wept for joy. But the triumph was sullied
by an indiscriminate and unsparing massacre ; a helpless crowd
sought shelter in the mosque of Omar, but the gates were speedily
forced and the fugitives butchered ; the knights boasted that they
rode in Saracen blood up to the knees of their horses. The
massacre lasted all day, but, when the shades of evening began to
close around, the crusaders suddenly recollected that they were in
the midst of those places which had been hallowed by the
presence and suflerings of their Saviour. As if by some conmion
and supernatural impulse, the savage warriors were suddenly
changed into devout pilgrims; each hasted to remove from hu
person the stains of slaughter ; they laid aside their weapons, and
in the guise of penitents, with bare heads and feet, streaming eyes
and folded hands, they ascended the hill of Calvary and entered
the church of the Holy Sepulchre. The services of religion wew
performed by the clergy of Jerusalem, who hailed their deliyereis
with enthusiastic gratitude.
Godfrey of Bouillon was chosen sovereign of Palestine ; he re-
fused the titie of king, declaring that Christ was the true monaich
of the Holy Land, and declined to wear a crown of gold when
his Saviour had borne a crown of thorns. Baldwin, his brother
and successor, was less scrupulous ; he assumed the royal ensigns
and title, and transmitted the throne to his cousin, Baldwin da
Bourg, whose posterity continued to reign in Palestine until the
kingdom was overthrown by Saladin (a.d. 1187). Several minor
THE CEU8ADE8. 91
60 were established hj the crusaders, of which the most re-
kable were the oonnty of Edeesa, the principality of Antioch,
oomitj of Tripoli, and, at a later period, the kingdom of
voB. None of these states had long duration ,* the Christians
he East, continually assailed by powerful enemies, could not
tersnaded to unite cordially for mutual defence ; Tictoriee were
cely less calamitous to them than defeats, on account of the
leulty of obtaining reinforcements from Europe ; and though
crusading enthusiasm endured for two centuries, its heat
iually abated, and nothing would haye kept it alive but the
ileges and grants made by the popes and the principal Enro-
ll potentates to those who joined in such expeditions. For
re a century and a half other similar expeditions followed the
great movement ; they were all either unsuccessful or pro-
tive of advantages as fleeting as they were trivial,
orty-eight years after Jerusalem had been taken by the Chris-
By the emperor Conrad EEL and Louis YII., king of France,
Brtook a second crusade to support the sinking fortunes of their
hren in Palestine (a.d. 1117). The Atta-beg Zenghi, who
by his superior prowess obtained the chief command over the
Idsh tribes in Irak, attacked the Christian territories beyond
Euphrates, and made himself master of Edessa, justly regarded
he bulwark of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Conrad proceeded
Constantinople without waiting for his ally. He had to en-
iter the treacherous hostility of the Bysantine emperor, which
-ed fatal to an army containing the flower of German chivalry,
iding a troop of noble ladies who served in the attitude and
our of men. Manuel, who then held the throne of Constan-
ple, gaye the sultan secret intelligence of the German line of
ch, and furnished Conrad with treacherous gfuides. After a
ions but unsuccessful battle on the banks of the Maeander,
rad was forced to retreat ; he met the French advancing from
Bosphorus, and the contrast of his own condition with the
p of Louis led him to desert the cause. The French, undis-
ed and unwarned, pursued their march with inconsiderate
d ; their rear-guard was surprised by the Turkish troops while
van was at a considerable distance, and the greater part put to
iword. Louis brought the shattered remnant of his forces by
to Antioch ; the Christians of Palestine joined him in an un-
eesfnl siege of Damascus, after which the monarch returned
Surope, dishonoured by a faithless wife, and deserted by un-
eful allies. This disgraceful termination of an expedition
i which so much had been expected difl^used feelings of
incholy and surprise throughout Europe. St. Bernard, abbot
/lairvauz, through whose influence the crusade was under-
92 GEOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
taken, liad to encounter the storm of public indignation : lie was
stigmatised as a lying prophet, who, by pretended inspiration and
false miracles, had lured myriads to a miserable doom. But Ber-
nard was not daunted by these reproaches ; he replied to those
accusations by pointing out the true causes of the failure, the fol-
lies and vices of the crusaders themselves ; he asserted that a new
expedition, undertaken in the spirit of piety, would be crowned
with success ; and he urged the states of Christendom to combine
in one great effort for securing the kingdom of Jerusalem. Bis
efforts to revive the crusading spirit were, however, unavalLing, and
death surprised him in the midst of his exertions.
Noureddin,* the son of Zenghi, destroyed the dynasty of the
Fatimite khaliphs in Egypt. His favourite, Saladin,' usurped the
government of Egypt, and, though a Kurd by descent, became
the favourite hero both of the Turks and Arabs. On the death of
his ancient master, Saladin invaded the Christian territories, and
after a brief siege made himself master of Jerusalem (a.d. 1187)*
The loss of the holy city filled all Europe with sorrow j the Em-
peror Frederic, the lion-hearted Kichard of England, Philip
Augustus of France, and several minor princes, assumed the cross;
while the maritime states of Italy, by sending immediate rein-
forcements to the garrisons on the coasts of the Mediterranean,
arrested the progress of Saladin. Frederic advanced through the
Byzantine territories, harassed at every step by Greek £»ud and
treachery. Having wintered at Adrianople, he crossed the
Hellespont, defeated the Turks in several engagements, and
stormed the city of Iconium. But in the midst of his glorious
career he was drowned in the river Cydnus (a.d. 1190). The army
persevered, and joined the eastern Christians in the famous aiege
of Acre.
While Acre was closely pressed by the Christians, the besiegers
were, in their turn, so strictly blockaded by Saladin that they suf-
fered more than the garrison. The kings of England and France,
however, followed by the flower of their dominions, appeared to-
gether as companions in arms, and reached Palestine by sea. The
siege of Acre was so vigorously prosecuted after the arrival of the
English, that the town was soon forced to surrender, and the
Christians began to indulge the hope of recovering Jerusalem.
Their expectations were frustrated by the jealousy which aroee
between the French and the English ; Philip, unable to brook the
superiority which Kichard acquired by his military prowess, and
perhaps in some degree by his wealth, returned home, leaving a
1 NtSr-ed-dfn signifies, * the light of religion.'
' Salah-ed-dfn signifies, * the safety of religion.'
THE CBUSADES. 93
of His anny under the command of the Duke of Burgundy
tlie defence of the Holy Land. But the animositj between
Frencli and English parties was increased rather tiian abated
he departure of Philip ; the envy of his companions rendered
Talorous exertions of Bichard unavailing ; he entered into a
ty with Saladin, obtaining for the Christians Aree access to
isalem and the Holy Sepulchre, and then hasted home to de«
1 his dominions from the attacks of his ancient rival (a.d.
2). On bis return the English monarch was seized and im-
toned by the Duke of Austria, whom he had grievously insulted
Palestine ; he was subsequently resigned to the custody of the
)eror of Germany, from whom he had to purchase his liberation
the payment of a large ransom. The illustrious Saladin did
long survive the departure of the royal crusader ; he died at
oascus, and the disputes that arose respecting his inheritance
rented the Mahommedans from completing iJbie destruction of
Latin kingdom of Palestine.
"he fourth crusade was undertaken at the instigation of Inno-
t m. (A.D. 1202); aided by a fanatic preacher, Foulke of
lilly. The fervour of enthusiasm had now abated : no great
sreign joined in the enterprise, but several of the most potent
latoriea offered their services, and Boniface, marquis of Mont-
at, was chosen commander-in-chief. The crusaders obtained
isports from the Venetians, by conqueiing Zara, in Dalmatia,
the republic of Venice, in spite of the threats and remonstrances
the pope, who was justly indignant at seeing their first efforts
xsted against a Christian city. But this departure from their
jinal design was followed by a still more remarkable deviation ;
:ead of proceeding to Palestine they sailed against Constanti-
le, to dethrone the usurper, Alexius Angelus. The crusaders
ceeded in restoring the lawful emperor, Isaac, to his empire ;
; the reward they claimed for their services was extravagant,
L Isaac's efforts to comply with the stipulations provoked such
entment that he was deposed by his subjects, and put to death,
ether witb his son. The crusaders instantly proclaimed war
unst the usurper, Mourzoufle, laid siege to Constantinople, took
> city by storm, pillaged it with remorseless cruelty, and
mded a new Latin empire on the ruins of the Byzantine
3). 1204). Baldwin, count of Flanders, was chosen sovereign of
) new state, which, under five Latin emperors, lasted little more
m half a century. Constantinople was recovered by the Greeks
D. 1261), and the hopes of uniting the eastern and western
arches, which the possession of the Byzantine capital had in-
red, were blighted for ever.
The fifth crusade was conducted by the king of Hungary. Two
94 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
hundred thousand Franks landed at the eastern mouth of the
Nile, persuaded that the conquest of Egypt was a necessary
prelhninary to the recovery and safe possession of Palestine
(a.d. 121S). After having obtained some important successes,
their cause was ruined by the arrogance and presumption of the
papal legate, who assumed the direction of the army. They
purchased some trivial concessions by evacuating all their con*
quests ; and the pope, who at first proposed to come in person to
their assistance, was too busily engaged in checking the progress
of heresy to venture on an expedition to Palestine.
Frederic IL, emperor of Germany, led a formidable army to
Palestine, after having been excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX.
for delaying his expedition — a sentence which was renewed
because he ventured to sail without waiting for the papal orders
(a.d. 1228). This war exhibited the strange anomaly of a
champion of the cross exposed to the bitterest hostility of the
Church. Frederic was everywhere victorious, but the papal legates
and the priests harassed him by constant opposition; a crusade
was preached against him in Italy, and efforts were made to
weaken his authority in his own hereditary dominions. On
receiving this intelligence, Frederic concluded an equitable treaty
with the Sultan Melek Kamel, crowned himself at Jerusalem, for
no ecclesiastic would perform the ceremony, and returned to
Europe, after having effected more for the Christians of Palestine
than any of their former protectors. Gregory again hurled
anathemas against a prince who had made a treaty with the
infidels ; but Frederic's vigorous exertions soon changed the aspect
of affairs; he reduced those who had rebelled during his absence,
dispersed the papal and Lombard troops, and won absolution by
his victories.
Tranquillity, which endured fifteen years, raised the Latins of
Palestine to a prosperous condition ; but a new and more formid*
able enemy, issuing from the deserts of Tartary, subverted the
kingdom which had been founded at such an expense of blood
and treasure. The Khorasmian Turks, driven from their native
deserts by the Mongols, threw themselves upon Palestine,
stormed Jerusalem, subverted the Latin principalities, and the
small Turkish states in Syria. Jerusalem, and the greater part
of Palestine, was subsequently annexed to the sultany of Egypt
Louis IX. of France, commonly called St. Louis, led the ninth
crusade. Egypt was the scene of his operations ; after obtaining
some important triumphs he was defeated, made prisoner, and
forced to purchase his freedom by the payment of a large ransom
(a.d. 1250). The pope's inveterate hostility to Frederic was one
of the chief causes that led to the ruin of this crusade. At the
THE CBUSADEa 95
lent that Loub sailed, Innocent was pieaching a crusade
nst the emperor in Europe, and the Dominicana were stima-
ig their hearers to rebellion and assassination. The lamentable
of the French army, the captivity of the ' most Christian
;,' and the utter ruin of the Latin kingdom in Palestine, failed
ihake the obstinacy of the pontiff. It seemed even that the
h. of Frederic redoubled his fury, as if his prey had escaped
1 his hands. ' Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be
L,' was his address to the clergy of Sicily, 'for the lightning
the tempest, wherewith God Almighty has so long menaced
X heads, have been changed, by the death of this man, into
eshing zephyrs and fertilising dews.'
Fntanght by calamity, Louis prepared for a second crusade ;
lis voyage to the place of rendezvous he was induced to steer
runis, in the wild hope of baptizing its king (a.d. 1270). In-
d of a proselyte, he found a tedious siege and a mortal disease,
his death the remnant of his army was led back to Europe
bout making any further effort The fate of Palestine was for
me delayed by the valour of Edward I. of England, who
)rted a three years' truce from the Mohammedans. At length
le excesses of the Latins provoked the resentment of the
nelnke Sultan Ehalil ; he resolved to expel them completely
a Palestine, and laid siege to their last stronghold, Acre
). 1291). The city was taken after a tedious siege, and after
fall the title of King of Jerusalem, still preserved by the
cistian princes, became an empty name.
Seohon VnL The Cnuade against the AlbigeMes.
T has been already mentioned that the growth of heresy was
linning to alann the advocates of papal supremacy in the reign
Alexander HL, and that a general council had pronounced a
3mn decree against the Albigenses. But the feudal lords of
ince and Italy were slow in adopting an edict which would have
uived them of their best vassals, and the new opinions, or
her the original doctrines, of Christianity were secretly preached
oughout the greater part of Europe. It may be conceded to
) defenders of the papal system, that there were some among
) preachers of a reformation who had given too great a scopd to
or imaginations, and revived many of the dangerous errors of
> Manichseans and Paulicians. There seems no just cause for
abting that a few enthusiasts ascribed the Old Testament to the
nciple of Evil; because, as they asserted, 'God is there
scribed as a homicide, destroying the world by water, Sodom
96 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
and Gomorrah by fire, and the Egyptians by the overflow of
the Red Sea.' But these were the sentiments of a very small
minority ; the bulk of the Albigensian reformers protested simply
against the doctrine of transubstantiation, the sacraments of con-
firmation, confession, and marriage, the invocation of saints, the
worship of images, and the temporal power of the prelates. Their
moral character was confessed by their enemies, but while they
acknowledged its external purity they invented the blackest
calumnies respecting their secret practices, without ever bringing
forward a shadow of proof, and consequently without incurrmg
the hazard of refutation. The progress of reform was silent ; for
the efforts of the paterinSj or Albigensian teachers, were directed
rather to forming a moral and pure society within the Church
than to the establishment of a new sect. Their labours generated
an independence of spirit and freedom of judgment, which would
probably have led to an open revolt, had not Innocent IH.
discerned the danger to which the papal system was exposed, and
resolved to crush freedom of thought before its exercise would
subvert his despotism.
Innocent's first step was to enlist cupidity and self-interest on
his side ; he abandoned to the barons the confiscated properties of
heretics, and ordered that the enemies of the Church should be
for ever banished from the land of which they were deprived.
He then sent commissioners into the south of France, to examine
and punish those suspected of entertaining heretical opinions, and
thus laid the first foundation of the Inquisition. The arrogance
and violence of these papal emissaries disgusted every class of
society. Finding that their peraecutions were impopular, they
resolved to support their power by force of arms, and they were
not long in discovering the materials of an army.
Raymond VI., Count of Toulouse, was engaged in war with
some of the neighbouring barons, and Peter de Castelnau, the
papal legate, offered to act as mediator. He went to the barons,
and obtained from them a promise, that if Raymond would con-
sent to their demands, they would employ all the forces they had
assembled to extirpate heresy. Castelnau drew up a treaty on
these conditions, and offered it to Raymond for his signature.
The count was naturally reluctant to purchase the slaughter of
his best subjects by the sacrifice of his dominions and the admis-
sion of a hostile army into his states. He peremptorily refused
his consent, upon which Castelnau exconmiunicated Raymond,
placed his dominions imder an interdict, and wrote to the pope for
a confirmation of the sentence.
Innocent HI. confirmed the legate's sentence, and began to
preach a crusade^ but his violence transcended all bounds when he
CBUSADE AGAINST THE ALBIGENSES. 97
irt Gutelnaa had been slain by a gentleman of Toulouse
^fcad peraonallj insulted (a.d. 1208). Though Raymond
li have had no share in this murder, it was against him
vapal vengeance was principally directed : he was «x-
■fedy his subjects absolved from their oath of allegiance,
Ikmch king was invited to despoil him of his estates.
Augustus was too busily engaged in wan with the king
id and the emperor of Germany to turn his attention to
fliion of heresy; but he permitted a crusade against the
li to be preached throughout his dominions, and the
fCiteauz became the chief missionaries of this unholy
f promised the pardon of all sins committed duriug their
Ma to those who should fall iu the war, unlimited indul-
0 protection of the Church, and a large share of spoil to
iryived. Whilst the monks were enlisting ferocious bands
m, who believed that they might expiate their former
rthe perpetration of fresh atrocities, Innocent was pre-
law mission to Languedoc, whose savage brutalities ex-
IM those of the crusaders. A new monastic order was
\f at the head of which was placed a Spaniard, named St
whose special object was to extirpate heresy, by preaching
m doctrines of those who dissented from the Church, and
f with death those who could not be convinced by argu-
Ub institution, too well known by the dreaded name of
kition, appears to have been originally planned by the
f Toulouse, who introduced it into his diocese about
MB before it was formally sanctioned by Pope Innocent at
■1 of Lateran.
spring of the year 1209 all the fanatics who had taken
he preaching of the monks of Citeaux began to assemble
Vtders of Languedoc : the land was spread in beauty
■m;— ere long it was to be a howling wilderness.
. yi. sank into abject cowardice; he yielded up his
i promised implicit submission to the legate, he even
iniself to be publicly beaten with rods before the altar,
toe for his errors. As a reward for his humiliation, he
itted to serve in the ranks of the crusaders, and to act as
It in the war against his nephew.
Iiew, Raymond Roger, viscount of Albi, showed a bolder
ling the papal legate implacable, he summoned his barona
and, having stated all his exertions to preserve peace,
Kning appeal to their generosity and their patriotism,
■d on an obstinate defence ; even those who adhered to
k of Rome justly dreaded the excesses of a fanatical horde,
bed blood and gratify a ruffian thirst for plunder. The
98 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
crusaders advanced: some castles and fortified towns were
abandoned to them; others, not subject to the imputation of
heresy, were allowed to ransom themselves ; Yillemur was bumedi
and' Ghasseneuil^ after a vigorous defence, capitulated. The gar-
rison was permitted to retire, but all the inhabitants suspected of
heresy, male and female^ were committed to the flames amid the
ferocious shouts of the conquerors, and their property abandoned to
the soldiery.
Beziers was the next object of attack ; the citizens resolved to
make a vigorous resistance, but they were routed in a sally by the
advanced guard of the crusaders, and so vigorously pursued^ that
the conquerors and conquered entered the gates together. The
leaders, before taking advantage of their unexpected success, asked
the abbot of Citeaux how they should distinguish Catholics from
heretics ; the legate's memorable answer was ^ Kill all : God vnll
distinguish those who belong to himself.' His words were too
well obeyed ; every inhabitant of Beziers was ruthlessly massacred,
and when the town was thus one immense slaughter-house it was
fired, that its ruins and ashes might become the monument of
papal vengeance.
Carcassonne was now the last stronghold of Raymond Koger, and
it was gallantly defended by the young viscount. Simon de
Montfort, the leader of the crusaders, found himself foiled by a
mere youth, and was detained for eight days before he could
master the suburbs and invest the town.
Peter 11., king of Aragon, whom the viscount of Albi and
Beziers recognised as his suzerain, took advantage of this delay to
interfere in behalf of the young lord, who was his nephew as well
as his vassal. The legate, unwilling to offend so powerful a
sovereign, accepted his mediation, but, when asked what terms
would be granted to the besieged, he required that two-thirds of
Carcassonne should be given up to plunder. Raymond Roger
spumed such conditions; Peter applauded his courage, and per-
sonally addressed the garrison. ' You know the fate that awaits
you ; make a bold defence, for that is the best means of finally
obtaining favourable terms.' The prudence of this advice was
proved by the legate's consenting to a capitulation ; but when the
viscount, trusting to the faith of the treaty, presented himself in
the camp of the crusaders, he was treacherously arrested, and
thrown, with his attendants, into prison. Warned by the fate of
their leader, the citizens of Carcassonne evacuated the town
during the night, but some of the fugitives were overtaken by the
cavalry of the crusaders ; the legate selected a supply of victims
from his prisoners ; four hundred of whom were burned alive,
and about fifty were hanged.
CBT78ADE AGAINST THE ALBIGENSEa 99
seemed that the object of the cruBade was obtained ; the
ft of Toulouse had submitted to every condition, howeyer
iliating; the yiscount of Narbonne abandoned every notion
•istance ; and the gallant lord of Beziers was a prisoner. The
idersy too, began to grow weary of the war; the French lords
I ashamed of the cruelties they had sanctioned, and the &ith
bad Tiolated; the knights and common soldiers, having oom-
id the term of their service, were anxious to revisit their
SB. But the legate Arnold was still unsatisfied ; he summoned
imcil of the crusaders, and tried to induce them to remain, in
r that they might protect their conquests of Besiers and
assonne, the investiture of which he conferred on Simon de
tfort, earl of Leicester. But the greater part of the French
» refused to remain longer, and Montfort had to defend his
acquisitions with the vassals from his own estates. The
nt Raymond Roger was detained a close prisoner in his own
lial ball at Carcassonne, where he soon died, the victim of a
itery, produced by grief, or, as was generaUy suspected, by
n.
le armies of the crusaders withdrew ; they left a desert, and
1 it peace; but the sufferings of the Albigenses were not
asted; the monks of the Inquisition, atteuded by trains of
itioners, went at their will through the land, torturing and
lering all who were suspected of heresy. Nor were the
CB of Citeauz idle ; they had found honour and profit in
:hing a crusade, and they were not disposed to relinquiih the
live employment Thus a new crusade was preached when
» was no enemy to combat, and new hordes of fanatics were
sd into Languedoc.
rengthened by these reinforcements, Simon de Montfort
w off the mask of moderation, and declared war against the
rtunate Count of Toulouse. Raymond was once more excom-
icated, and his dominions placed under an interdict. But the
of Leicester soon found that he bad been premature in his
lities ; tbe king of Aragon refused to receive his homage for
fiscounties of Beziers and Carcassonne, declaring that he
d support the claims of the legitimate heir, Raymond Tien-
I, the only son of the unfortunate Raymond Roger, a child
t two years old, who was safe under the guardianship of the
t de Foix. A dangerous insurrection was raised in the states
)cently assigned to Montfort ; and out of the two hundred
B and castles that had been granted to him eight only remained
8 possession.
le count of Toulouse was too much afraid of ecclesiastical
eance to defend himself by arms ; he sought the i^iotec\io^
b2
100 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
of the king of France, and he went in person to Rome to imploie
absolution. Innocent promised him pardon on condition of hia
clearing himself from the charge of heresy and of participation in
the murder of Castelnau ; but when he presented himself before
the council he found that his judges had been gained over by his
inexorable enemy, the abbot of Citeaux, and, instead of being
permitted to enter on his defence, he was overwhelmed by a
series of new and unexpected charges. His remonstrances were
neglected, his tears afforded theme for mockery and insult, and
the sentence of excommunication was formally ratified.
In the mean time^ the crusaders, under Simon de Montfort,
pursued their career of extermination; those whom the sword
spared fell by the hands of the executioner ; and the ministers of
a God of peace were found more cruel and vindictive than a
licentious soldiery. Even the king of Aragon became alarmed,
and sought to secure the friendship of the papal favourite by
affiancing his infant son to a daughter of De Montfort The
monarch probably expected that by this concession he would
obtain more favourable terms for Raymond, and he accompanied
the count to Aries, where a provincial council was assembled.
The terms of peace fixed by the legate were so extravagant, not
to say absurd, that even Raymond rejected them, and secretly
withdrew from the city in company with the king of Aragon.
Once more the count was excommunicated, pronounced an enemy
of the Church and an apostate from the faith, and declared to
have foifeited his title and estates.
The wiEur was now resumed with fresh vigour; after a long
siege, De Montfort took the strong castle of Lavaur by assault,
hanged its brave governor, the lord of Montreal, and massacred
the entire garrison. ' The lady of the castle/ says the Romish
historian, ' who was an execrable heretic, was by the earFs orders
thrown into a well, and stones heaped over her : afterwards the
pilgrims collected the numberless heretics that were in the for-
tress, and burned them alive with great joy.'
The same cruelties were perpetrated at every other place
through which the crusaders passed ; and the friends of the vic-
tims took revenge by intercepting convoys and murdering
stragglers. It was not until he had received a large reinforcement
of pilgrims from Germany that the earl of Leicester ventured to
lay siege to Toulouse. Raymond, in this extremity, displayed a
vigour and courage which, if he had manifested in the earlier part
of the war, would probably have saved his country from ruin. He
made so vigorous a defence, that the crusaders were forced to raise
the siege, and retire with some precipitation.
. The friendship between the monks of Citeaux and the crusaders
CKUSADE AGAINST THE ALBIGEN8ES. 101
I began to be iDterrapted by the ambitioii of the former.
ler pretence of reforming the ecclesiastical condition of Lan-
loCy ihej expelled the principal prelates, and seized for them-
es the richest sees and benefices. The legate Arnold took for
share the archbishopric of Narbonne, after which he aban-
ed Montforty and went to lead a new crusade against the
)r8 in Spain. Innocent UI. himself paused for a moment in his
ler of TengeancO) and^ at the instance of the king of Aragon,
nised Raymond the benefit of a fair triaL But it is easier to
36 than to allay the spirit of fanaticism ; disobeyed by hiH
kteSy and reproached by the crusaders, the pope was com-
ed to retrace his steps and abandon Raymond to the fury of
enemies.
be king of Aragon came to the aid of his unfortunate relative,
encountered the formidable army of the crusaders at Muret ;
he was slain in the beginning of the battle. The Spanish
ralry, disheartened by his fall, took to flight ; and the infantry
Toulouse, thus forsaken, could offer no effective resistance,
mpled down by the pUgrim-knights, the citizens of Toulouse
> followed their sovereign to the field were either cut to pieces
irowned in the waters of the Garonne.
'hilip Augustus had triumphed over his enemies, the king of
Inland and the emperor of Germany, just when the victory of
ret seemed to have confirmed the power of De Montfort But
ambitious adventurer derived little profit from his success, for
court of Rome began to dread the power of its creature
ft. 1215). His influence with the papal legates and the pre-
0 who had directed the crusade was, however, still very great,
i he procured from the Council of Montpellier the investiture
Toulouse and all the conquests made by 'the Christian pilgrims.'
ilip Augustus was by no means disposed to acquiesce in this
ingement; he sent his son Louis with a numerous army into
south of France, under pretence of joining in the crusade, but
Dy to watch the proceedings of l3e Montfort Louis sub-
nently returned to accept the proffered crown of England, and
t quairel in which this proceeding involved him with the pope,
lerted his attention from Languedoc.
Imold of Citeaux, having returned from his Spanish crusade,
k possession of his archbishopric of Narbonne, where he began
axercise the rights of a sovereign prince. Simon de Montfort,
JO had taken the title of duke of Narbonne in addition to that
count of Toulouse, denied that his old companion in arms had
ight to temporal jurisdiction ; he entered the city by force, and
leted his ducal standard. Arnold fulminated an exoommunica-
n against De Montfort, and placed the city imder an interdict
i
102 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
whilst he remained in it ; he founds however^ to his great surprise
and Texation, that these weapons were contemned by the formid-
able champion of the Chureh. But a more vigorous enemy
appeared in the person of Baymond YJI., son of the count of
Toulouse, who, in conjunction with his fj&ther, made a yigorons
effort to recover the ancient inheritance of his race. Simon de
Montfort, contrary to his own better judgment, was induced by
Foulke, bishop of Toulouse, to treat the citizens with treacherous
cruelty for showing some symptoms of affection to their ancient
lord; the consequence was, that they took advantage of his
absence to invite Raymond to resume his power ; and on the Idth
of September, 1217, the count was publicly received into his
ancient capital amid universal acclamations.
Simon, by the aid of the papal legate and the clergy, was able to
collect a large army ; but the bravest of the crusaders had either
fallen in the preceding wars or returned disgusted to their homes.
Every one now knew that heresy was extinguished in Languedoc^
and that the war was maintained only to gratify private revenge
and individual ambition. De Montfort laid siege to Toulouse, but
he was slain in a sally of the inhabitants, and his son Almeric,
after a vain effort to revenge his death, retired to Carcassonne.
The Albigensian war was not ended by the death of its great
leader. Almeric de Montfort sold his claims over Languedoc to
Louis Yin., king of France ; and though this prince died in the
attempt to gain possession of Toulouse, the war was so vigorously
supported by the queen-regent, Blanche, that Raymond VIL
submitted to his enemies, and his dominions were united to the
crown of France (a.d. 1229). The inquisition was immediately
established in these unhappy countries, which have never since
recovered completely from the calamities inflicted upon them by
the ministers of papal vengeance.
Section IX. Consequences of the Cfnuades,
Though the popes did not succeed in establishing their supremacy
over the eastern churches, as they seem to have expected, yet they
derived very important advantages from the wars of the crusaders.
Not the least of these was the general recognition of their right
to interfere in the internal management of states; they com-
pelled emperors and kings to assume the cross ; they levied taxes
at their discretion on the clergy throughout Christendom for the
support of these wars ; they took under their immediate protection
the persons and properties of those who enlisted, and granted
privileges to the adventurous warriors^ which it would have been
CONSEQUENCES OF THE CBU8ADK lOS
ed impiety to oontnyene. Thoee who joined in these wan
entlj bequeathed their estates to the Church, in the not im-
lUe oaee (tf their death without heirs; those whom cowardice
>liej detained at home, atoned for their absence by founding
siastical endowments. The popes, willing to improve these
atages, preaohed new crusades for the north and west of
pe ; wamors were iuTited to attack the Moors of Spain, the
irors and kings who displeased the pope, the pagan nations
h surrounded the Baltic, and the Hussite heretics.
Idle the papal power increased, that of monarchs declined ; in
oanj the Hohenstauffen gradually lost all influence; in
and the barons extorted a charter from John; and the
gpazian chiefe placed similar restrictions on their sorereign.
liar circumstances led to a contrary result in France; many
he gn^eat feudatories having fallen in a distant land, the
ircha were enabled to extend their prerogatives, while their
una were increased by seizing the properties of those who
without feudal heirs, or of those who were suspected of
lical opinions. The Christian kings of Spain and Northern
»pe derived also some profit from the fanaticism of the age,
; aided by troops of warlike adventurers, in extending their
inions at the expense of their Mohanmiedan and pagan
tibours.
livalry, though older than the crusades, derived its chief
ence and strength from these wars. The use of surnames,
I of arms, and distinctive banners, became necessary in armisH
posed of men differing in habits and foelings, collected at
jd from every Christian kingdom. Tournaments were the
ral result of pride and courage, in warriors naturally jealous of
. other's fame, while the institution of the military orders
sted knighthood with a mysterious religious sanction. The
of these was the order of the Hospitallers, or Knights of St
1 of Jerusalem, known subsequently as the knights of Malta.
y were formed into a confraternity by Pope Paschal (a.d.
t), but their order was greatly enlarged by Pope Calixtus.
y bore an octagonal white cross on their black robes, and were
nd to wage war on infidels, and attend to sick pilgrims. After
loss of the Holy Land, they removed successively to Cyprus,
ides, and Malta. Their order held Malta until a.d. 1798^ when
f were deprived of their last possession by Napoleon.
lie Knights Templars, distinguished by the red cross, were
ituted soon after the Hospitallers. Their original duty was to
p the roads free for the pilgrims that visited the Holy Sepulchre ;
as their numbers increased, they became the great bulwark of
Christian kingdom of Palestine) and the possessors of rich
I
104 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
endowments in every part of Western Europe.* At length their
wealth excited the cupidity of monarchs ; they were overwhelmed
hy a mass of forged accusations, many of the nohlest knights were
put to death hy torture, and the order wholly abolished at the
council of Vienne (a.d. 1312).
The Teutonic order was originally a confraternity of German
knights, formed, during the siege of Acre, for the relief of the sick
and wounded. It was formerly instituted by Pope Celestin TTT.
(a.d. 1192), and a code of regulations prescribed for its
direction. Their ensign was a black cross on a white robe.
They subdued the kingdom of Prussia (a.d. 1230), of which they
held possession until the progress of the Reformation gave that
country to a Protestant prince (a.d. 1625). The last great order
was that of St. Lazarus, instituted originally for superintending the
treatment of leprosy, a loathsome disease which the crusaders
introduced into Europe. It soon became military^ like the pre-
ceding, but never rose to similar eminence.
The Italian maritime states supplied the crusaders with trans-
ports, and conveyed to them provision and the munitions of war.
This traffic led to a rapid increase in the commerce and navigation
of the Mediterranean; a taste for spices and other articles of
Oriental luxury was gradually diffiised throughout Europe, and
trading depots were formed by Venice, Genoa, and other Italian
powers on the shores of the Levant, and the coasts of the Greek
empire. Several French towns imitated this example, and in the
remote north an association was formed for the protection and ex-
tension of commerce, between the cities of Lubeck and Hamburgh
(a.d. 1241), which laid the foundation of the Hanseatic league.
The progress of industry, the encouragement which sovereigns
found it their interest to grant to trade, and their anxiety to
check the arrogance and rapacity of their feudal vassals, led to a
great change in most European countries, the establishment of
municipal institutions.
Before this period, the inhabitants of towns were as much serfs
and vassals to their feudal superiors, as the peasantry. The counts,
or governors of cities, having rendered their power hereditary, soon
made it despotic. They used their power cruelly, and drove the
citizens at length to form associations for mutual defence. In Italy,
the maritime cities erected themselves into republics, and their
example was followed by the cities of Lombardy, during the wars
between the popes and the Emperor Henry IV. The French
communes owed their civil liberty to the policy and poverty of
Louis the Fat (a.d. 1108). He sold to his subjects the right of
1 The Temple in London belonged torv in Clerkenwell, part of which
to the Bed-cro83 knights ; the Hos- is still standing.
pitallera poaaesseA a splendid precep-
CONSEQUENCES OF THE CRUSADES. 105
remmeut, his example was followed by nioet of his powerful
and in a yeiy short time there were few cities which did
sess charters of incorporation. In England the cities and
lis were not only protected by the sovereigns against tlie
but their deputies were invited to take a share in the
J councils (a.d. 1266), an example subsequently imitated in
and Germany.
royal authority gained considerably by the extension of
.pal freedom. It checked the plundering habits which were
Uy formed by the private wars of the barons, and it placed a
at on the ambition of the nobles, who could no longer usurp
ges with impunity. The cities and towns saw that the
gn was the person most interested in protecting their
g freedom, and they therefore gladly gave him their support
struggles with the aristocracy and the clergy. The emanci-
of the serfs was a consequence of municipal freedom. The
ties granted protection to all who sought shelter within their
and the nobles saw that they must either ameliorate the
Lon of their vassals or witness the depopulation of their
k. Liberty thus gradually recovered its right; civilisation
oently began to extend its blessings over society, and to chase
the darkness which ignorance and superstition had spread
iurope.
imperial house of Hohenstauffen fell from its pride of place
) death of the Emperor Frederic U., the great opponent of
ipacy (a.d. 1250). His son Conrad fell a victim to disease,
k brief but troubled reign ; and the anarchy which succeeded
rmany is justly named the calamitous period of the great
^um. The wars between rival princes filled the country'
>lundering bands ; there would have been no security for life
sperty had not the cities combined for mutual defence,
ing the confederation of the Rhine, and greatly extending the
tatic league. The chief feudatories and great officers of the
t arrogated to themselves the right of election, which had
previously shared by all the German princes ; they sought to
ir the sovereignty on princes too feeble to resist the progress
sir ambition; William of Holland, and an English prince,
Brd, earl of Cornwall, were successively elected emperors, and
ed little more than the title. At length Kodolph, count of
burgh, was chosen (a.d. 1273), and showed himself worthy
e crown by his energy in suppressing the predatory wars
were waged by his vassals. In the mean time the popes, in
Ace of the rights of the Hohenstauffen, had bestowed the
lorn of Naples on Charles, duke of Anjou, brother to the king
ance. That prince hastened to secure his new grant ; Manfred,
ral son of Viedenc IL, who acted as Tegent dwi\w i\if4
106 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
minorily of young Conradin^ was defeated and slain near Bene-
vento; Charles became master of the two Sicilies^ where hia
cruelties soon rendered him detested.
The cruelties of the Duke of Anjou^ the insolence and exactions
of his followers, and the denial of redress to the injured, led
the Italians to invite young Conradin to assert the hereditary
claims of his family. At the age of sixteen this brave prince
entered Italy, where he was enthusiastically received. He pur-
sued his course in spite of papal excommunications, and obtained
possession of Home. But the Italians were not able to compete
with the French in the field ; when Conradin encountered CharleSy
his followers fled at the first onset, and he remained a prisoner.
The Duke of Anjou subjected the young prince to the mockery of
a trial, and commanded him to be executed. On the acaffidd
Conradin behaved with a courage worthy of his cause and of his
race. He saw without a shudder the head of his cousin, Frederic
of Austria, struck off by the executioner ; and, before he stooped
to the fatal blow, he threw his glove into the midst of the crowd,
a gage of defiance and of vengeance.
Thus fell the last prince of the house of Suabia, which had long
been the most formidable obstacle to papal usurpation. The
triumph of the papacy appeared complete : Italy was severed from
the German empire ; but the peninsula recovered its independence
only to be torn in sunder by factions ; the Church did not succeed
to the empire, and the pontiffs found that the spirit of freedom,
which they had themselves nurtured, was a more formidable foe
than the sovereigns of Germany.
Section X. Formation and Constitutional History of tne
Spanish Monarchy,
Fob several hundred years after the great Saracen invasion in
the beginning of the eighth century, Spain was broken up into a
number of small but independent states, divided in their interests,
and often in deadly hostility with one another. It was inhabited
by races most dissimilar in their origin, religion, and govern-
ment, the least important of which has exercised a consider-
able influence on the character and institutions of its present in-
habitants. By the middle of the fifteenth century, the number of
states into which the country had been divided was reduced to
four; Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and the Moorish kingdom of
Granadii. The last, comprised within nearly the same limits as
the modem province of that name, was all that remained to the
Moslems of their once vast possessions in the peninsula. Its
concentrated population gave it a degree of strength altogether
diBproportioned to the extent of its territory; and the profuse
HISTOBY OF THE SPANISH MONABOHY. 107
Scenoe of its court, which rivalled that of the ancient
\iB, was supported by the labours of a sober, industrious
» under whom agriculture and seyeral of the mechanic arts
lached a degree of perfection probably unequalled in any
Murt of Europe during the middle ages,
little kingdom of Navarre, embosomed within the Pyrenees,
ben attracted the avarice of neighbouring and more powerful
But since their selfish schemes operated as a mutual check
each other, Navarre still continued to maintain her inde-
loe when all the smaller states had been absorbed in the
lUy increasing dominion of Castile and Aragon. This latter
m comprehended the province of that name, together with
nia and Valencia. Under its auspicious climate and free
al institutions, its inhabitants displayed an uncommon share
Qectual and moral energy. Its long line of coast opened the
» an extensive and flouncing commerce ; and its enterprising
2idemnified the nation for the scantiness of its territory
ae by the important foreign conquests of Sardinia, Sicily,
ly and the Balearic Isles.
remaining provinces of the peninsula feU to the crown of
), which, thus extending its sway over an unbroken line of
y from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean, seemed, by
ignitude of its territory, to be entitled to some supremacy
ie other states of the peninsula ; especially as it was there
le old Gothic monarchy may be said first to have revived after
eat Saracen invasion. This claim, indeed, appears to have
■ecognised at an early period of her history. Aragon did
;e to Castile for her territory on the left bank of the £bro until
relfth century; as did Navarre, Portugal, and, at a later
, the Moorish kingdom of Granada. And when at length
nous states of Spain were consolidated into one monarchy,
pital of Castile became the capital of the new empire, and
dgruage the language of the court and of literature.
I Saracens, reposing under the sunny skies of Andalusia, so
dal with their own, seemed willing to relinquish the sterile
■ of the north to an enemy whom they despised. But when
Mmiards, quitting the shelter of their mountains, descended
he open plains of Leon and Castile, they found themselves
Bd to the predatory incursions of the Arab cavalry, who,
ing over the fiice of the country, carried off in a single foray
trd-eamed produce of a summer's toil. It was not until they
lached some natural boundary, as the river Douro, that they
enabled, by constructing a line of fortifications behind it, to
> their conquests, and oppose an effectual resistance to the
ictive inroads of their enemies. Their own dissensions were
«r cause of their tardy progress. The numerouB peUy a\Ai\Aa
i
108 GKOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
"whicli rose from the ruins of the ancient monarchy, seemed to re«
gard each other with even a fiercer hatred than that with which
they viewed the enemies of their faith ; a circumstance that more
than once brought the nation to the brink of ruin. More Chris-
tian blood was wasted in these national feuds than in all their
encounters vdth the infidel. The soldiers of Feman Gonzales, a
chieftain of the tenth century, complained that their master made
them lead the lives of very devils, keeping them in the harness
day and night, in wars, not against the Saracens, but one
another.
These circumstances so far checked the energies of the Ghm-
tians, that a century and a half elapsed after the invasion before
they had penetrated to the Douro (a.d. 850), and nearly thrice
that period before they had advanced the line of conquest to the
Tagus (a.d. 1147), notwithstanding that this portion of the coun-
try had been comparatively deserted by the Mohammedans. But
it was easy to foresee that a people living as they did under cir-
cumstances favourable to the development of both physical and
moral energy, must ultimately prevail over a nation oppressed by
despotism and the effeminate indulgence to which it was naturally
disposed by a sensual religion and a voluptuous climate. In truth,
the early Spaniard was urged by every motive which can give
energy to human purpose. Pent up in his barren mountains, he
beheld the pleasant valleys and fruitful vineyards of his ancestors
delivered over to the spoiler, the holy places polluted by abomi-
nable rites, and the crescent glittering on the domes which were
once consecrated by the venerable symbol of his faith. His cause
became the cause of Heaven. The Church published her bulls of
crusade, offering Hberal indulgences to those who served, and
paradise to those who fell, in the battle against the infidel The
ancient Castilian was remarkable for his independent resistance to
papal encroachment, but the peculiarity of his situation subjected
him in an imcommon degree to ecclesiastical influence at home.
Priests mingled in the council and the camp, and, arrayed in their
sacerdotal robes, not unfrequently led the armies to battle. Mira-
cles were received by the credulous Spaniards almost as ordinary
occurrences, so frequent were the annoimcements of their repeti-
tion. The violated tombs of the saints were said to have sent
forth thunders and lightnings to consume the invaders ; and wheo
the Christians fainted in the fight, the apparition of their patron
St. James, mounted on a milk-white steed, and bearing aloft the
banner of the cross, was averred to have been seen hovering in the
air to rally their broken squadrons and lead them on to victory.
Thus the Spaniard looked upon himself as peculiarly under the
care of Providence. For him the laws of nature were suspended.
HISTOBY OF THE SPANISH MONARCHY. 109
I a soldier of the cross, fighting not only for his country but
ristendoHL Indeed, Tolunteers from the remotest parts of
ui Europe eagerly thronged to serre under his banner, and
ae of religion was debated with the same ardour in Spain
tie plains of Palestine.
he extraordinary position in which the nation was placed
I referred the liberal forms of its political institutions, as
i8 a more early development of them than took place in
sountries of Europe. From the exposure of the Castilian
fco the predatory incursions of the Arabs, it became necessary,
ly that they should be strongly fortified, but that every
should be trained to bear arms in their defence. An im-
increase of consequence was given to the burgesses, who
onstituted the most effective part of the national militia.
la circumstance, as well as to the policy of inviting the
lent of frontier places by the grant of extraordinary privileges
inhabitants, is to be imputed the early date, as well as the
character, of the charters of community in Castile and Leon.
although varying a good deal in their details, generally
ied to the citizens the right of electing their own magistrates
> reg^ation of municipal affairs. Judges were appointed by
x)dy for the administration of civil and criminal law,
t to an appeal to the royal tribunal. No person could
ected in life or property except by a decision of this
ipal court; and no cause, while pending before it, could be
i thence into the superior tribunid. In order to secure the
rs of justice more effectually against the violence of power,
m superior to law in an imperfect state of society, it was
led in many of the charters that no nobles should be per-
L to acquire real property within the limits of the munici-
; that no fortress or palace should be erected by them there ;
Dch as might reside within the territory of a chartered city
rough should be subject to its jurisdiction ; and that any
ice offered by the feudal lords to its inhabitants might be
kL with impimity. Ample and inalienable funds were pro-
for the maintenance of the municipal functionaries, and for
public expenses. A large extent of circumjacent country,
icing frequently many towns and villages, was annexed
ch city, with the right of jurisdiction over it. An officer
ippointed by the crown to reside within each municipality,
I province it was to superintend the collection of the annual
fixed tribute paid in lieu of arbitrary taxes, to maintain
e order, and to be associated with the magistrates of each
n the command of the forces it was bound to contribute
rds the national defence. Thus, while the inhabitants of the
i
no GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
great towns in other parts of Europe were languishing in feudal
servitude, the Castilian corporations, living under the protection
of their own laws and magistrates in time of peace, and commanded
by their own officers in time of war, were in full enjoyment of all
the essential rights and privileges of freemen.
It is true that they were often convulsed by intestine fends ;
that the laws were often loosely administered by incompetent
judges ; and that the exercise of so many important privileges of in-
dependent states inspired them with feelings of independence which
led to mutual rivalry, and sometimes to open collision. But with
all this, long after similar immunities in the free cities of othw
coimtries, as Italy for example, had been sacrificed to the violence
of faction or the lust of power, those of the Castilian cities not
only remained unimpaired, but seemed to acquire additional
stability with age. This circumstance is chiefly attributable to the
constancy of the national legislature, which, imtil the voice of
liberty was stifled by the military despotism of the house of
Austria, was ever ready to interpose its protecting arm in defence
of constitutional rights.
The earliest instance on record of popular representstioD in
Castile occurred at Burgos in 1169 ; nearly a century antecedent to
the first convocation of the English House of Commons, in the
celebrated Leicester parliament. Each city had but one vote^
whatever might be the number of its representatives. A much
greater irregularity in the number of cities required to send
deputies to the Cortes on different occasions prevailed in Castile
than ever existed in England ; though, previous to the fifteenth
century, this does not seem to have proceeded firom any design to
infringe on the liberties of the people. The nomination of the
deputies was originally vested in the householders at large, but was
afterwards confined to the municipalities; a most mischievous
alteration, which subjected their election eventually to the oormpt
influence of the crown. They assembled in the same chamber with
the higher orders of the nobility and clergy ; but on questions of
importance retired to deliberate by themselves. After the trans-
action of other business their own petitions were presented to the
sovereign ; and his assent gave them the validity of laws. What-
ever may have been the right of the nobility and clergy to attend
the Cortes, their sanction was not deemed essential to the validity
of legislative act» ; for their presence was not even required in
many assemblies of the nation which occurred in the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries. The extraordinary power thus committed
to the Commons was, on the whole, unfavourable to their liberties.
It deprived them of the sympathy and cooperation of the great
orders of the state, whose authority alone could have enabled them
HI8T0BY OF THE SPANISH MONARCHY. Ill
ifltand the eiuictineiits of arbitraiT' power, and who in (act
antoally deaert them in their utmost need,
notwithstanding these defects, the popular branch of the
■n Cortes, yery soon after its admission into that body,
d functions and exercised a degree of power superior to that
i by the Commons in other European legislatures. It was
icognised as a principle of the constitution, that no tax should
osed without the consent of the repreeentatiyes of the people ;
express enactment to this effect was suffered to remain oh
Aute-book, after it had become a dead letter, as if to remind
tion of the liberties it had lost. The Commons showed a
oUdtude in regard to the mode of collecting the public
e^ often more onerous to the subject than the tax itself,
ratched carefully over its appropriation to its destined usee ;
iBtndned a too prodigal expenditure, and more than once
)d to regulate the economy of the royal household. A
t eye was kept on the conduct of public officers, as well as
I light administration of justice, and commissioos were
»d by the Cortes to inquire into any suspected abuses of
L authority. They entered into negotiations for allianoes
xreign powers, and by determining the amount of supplies
maintenance of troops in time of war, preeerred a salutary
»ver military operations. The nomination of regencies was
to their approbation, and they defined the nature of the
ty to be intrusted to them. Their consent was esteemed
usable to the validity of a title to the crown ; and this pre-
8, or at least the shadow of it, long continued to surviTe the
3f their ancient liberties. Finally, they more than once set
le testamentary provisions of the sovereign in regard to the
ion.
Duld be improper to pass by without notice an anomalous
ion peculiar to Castile, which sought to secure the public
llity by means which were themselves scarcely compatible
vil subordination. This was the celebrated Jlermandad, or
Brotherhood,' which was designed as a substitute for a
ly organised police. It consisted of a confederation of the
al cities, bound together by solemn league and covenant for
ence of their liberty in seasons of civil anarchy. Its affairs
mdueted by deputies, who assembled at stated intervals for
trpose, transacting their business imder a common seal,
g laws which they were careful to transmit to the nobles
) sovereign, and enforcing their measures by an armed body
sndanta. This wild kind of justice, so characteristic of an
ed state of society, repeatedly received the legislative sanction ;
wever formidable such a popular engine may have appeared to
112 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
the eye of a monarch, he was often led to countenance it by a &
of his own impotence, as well as of the overweening power of the
nobles, against whom it was principally directed. Hence these
associations, though the epithet may seem somewhat overstrained,
have received the appellation of ' Cortes Extraordinary.'
With these immunities the cities of Castile attained a degree of
opulence and splendour unrivalled, imless in Italy, during the
nfiddle ages. At a very early period indeed their contact wifii the
Arabs had familiarised them with a better system of agriculture,
and a dexterity in the mechanic arts unknown in other parts of
Cliristendom. On the occupation of a conquered town we find it
distributed into quarters, or districts appropriated to the several
crafts, whose members were incorporated into guilds, under the
regulation of magistrates and by-laws of their own appointment
Instead of the unworthy disrepute into which the more humble
occupations have since fallen in Spain, they were fostered by a
liberal patronage, and their professors in some instances elevated to
the rank of knighthood. The excellent breed of sheep, which early
became the object of legislative solicitude, furnished them with an
important staple ; which together with the simpler manufactures,
and the various products of a prolific soil, formed the materials of a
profitable commerce. Augmentation of wealth brought with it the
usual appetite for expensive pleasures ; but the surplus of riches
was frequently expended in useful public works.
The nobles, though possessed of immense estates and great
political privileges, did not consume their fortunes or their energies
in a life of effeminate luxury. From their earliest boyhood they
were accustomed to serve in the ranks against the infidel, and their
whole subsequent lives were occupied either with war, or those
martial exercises which reflect the image of it. Looking back witii
pride to their ancient Gothic descent, and to those times when they
had stood forward as the peers, the electors of their sovereign, they
would ill brook the slightest indignity at his hand.
The overweening self-confidence of the nobles, however, proved
their ruin. They disdained a cooperation with the lower orders ia
defence of their privileges, when both were assailed by the Austrian
dynasty, and relied too unhesitatingly on their power as a body, to
» feel jealous of their exclusion from the national legislature, when
alone they could make an effectual stand against the usurpations of
the crown. Spain was peculiarly the land of chivalry, and knight-
hood was regarded with especial favour by the laws of Cartile.
The respect for the fair sex, which had descended from theVisigothi,
was mingled with the religious enthusiasm which had been kindled
duiing the long wars with the infidel. An example of the extra-
vagance to which this chivalrous spirit was carried occurs in the
mSTOBY OF THE SPANISH MONARCHY. 113
ttli centiny, when a passage of arms was defended at Ochigo,
jr from Compostela, by a Castilian knight named Lenones,
is nine companions^ against all comers, in the presence of
[L and his court Its object was to release the knight from
bligation imposed upon him by his mistress of wearing
Ij an iron coUar round his neck every Thursday. The jousts
ued for thirty days, and the champions fought without shield
fet, with weapons bearing points of Milan steeL Six hundred
wenty-seyen encounters took place, and one hundred and
mx lances were broken, when the emprize was declared to be
achieved.
) l(Hig minorities with which Castile was afflicted, perhaps
than any country in Europe, frequently threw the govem-
nto the hands of the principal nobility, who perverted to their
molument the high powers intrusted to them. They usurped
Bsessions of the crown, and invaded some of its most valuable
ges ; so that the sovereign's subsequent life was frequently
in fruitless attempts to recover the losses of his minority,
netimes indeed, in the impotence of other resources, resorted
li unhappy expedients as treachery and assassination. A
at tale is told by the Spanish historians of the more innocent
of Henry m. for the recovery of the estates extorted from
iwn by the rapacious nobles during his minority,
aming home late one evening, fatigued and half famished,
. hunting expedition, he was chagrined to find no refresh-
irepared for him, and still more so to learn from his steward
B had neither money nor credit to purchase it The day's
however, fortunately furnished the means of appeasing the
ippetite, and while a hasty dinner was being prepared, the
d took occasion to contrast the indigent condition of the king
hat of his nobles, who habitually indulged in the most ex-
B entertainments, and were that very evening feasting with
shlnahop of Toledo. The prince, suppressing his indignation,
dned to inspect the afiair in person, and assuming a disguise,
need himself privately into the archbishop's palace, where he
Bed with his own eyes the prodigal magnificence of the
st, teeming with costly wines and t}^e most luxurious viands,
ext day he caused a rumour to be circulated through the
that he had fallen suddenly and dangerously ill. The
ffs, at these tidings, thronged to the palace, and when they
1 assembled, the king made his appearance among them,
^ his naked sword in his hand, and with an aspect of
il severity seated himself on his throne at the upper extremity
apartment After an interval of silence in the astonished
ily, the monarch, addressing himself to the archbishop of
I
11 4 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
Toledo, who was the primate of the kingdom, inquired of him,
* How many sovereigns he had known in Castile ? ' The prelate
answering, ^ Four,' Henry put the same question to the duke of
Benavente, and so on to the other courtiers in succession. None of
them, however having answered more than five, ' How is this,'
said the prince, ' that you who are so old should have known so
few; while I, young as I am, have heheld more than twenty?
Yes,' continued he, raising his voice to the astonished multitude,
* you are the real sovereigns of Castile, enjoying all the rights and
revenues of royalty, while I, stripped of my patrimony, have
scarcely wherewithal to procure the necessaries of life.' Then
giving a concerted signal, his guards entered the apartment, followed
hy the puhlic executioner, and bearing with them the implements
of death. The dismayed nobles, not relishing the turn the jest
appeared likely to take, fell on their knees before the monarch, and
besought his forgiveness, promising, in requital, complete restita-
tion of the fruits of their rapacity, Henry, contented with having
so cheaply gained his point, allowed himself to soften at their en-
treaties, taking care, however, to detain their persons as security for
their engagement, until such time as the rents, royal fortresses, and
whatever effects had been filched from the crown, should be restored*
Section XI. Survey of the Constitution ofAragon,
Abagk)N was first raised to political importance by its union with
Catalonia, including the rich county of Barcelona, and the sub-
sequent conquest of the kingdom of Valencia. The ancient county
of Barcelona had reached a higher degree of civilisation than
Aragon, and was distinguished by institutions even more liberal
than those we have described in the preceding section as belonging
to Castile. It was in the maritime cities, scattered along the
coasts of the Mediterranean, that the seeds of liberty, both in
ancient and modem times, were implanted and brought to maturity.
During the middle ages, when the people of Europe general^
maintained a toilsome and unfrequent intercourse with each other,
those situated on the margin of this great inland sea found an eai^
mode of communicatioi\ across the great highway of its waten
They mingled in war, too, as well as in peace, and this long period
is filled with their international contests, while the other fi«e cities
of Christendom were wasting themselves in civil feuds and
degrading domestic broils. In this wide and various collisioo
their moral powers were quickened by constant activity ; and mors
enlarged views were formed, with a deeper consciousness of their
own strength, than could be obtained by those inhabitants of the
interior who were conversant only with a limited range of object^
THE CONSTITUTION OF ARAGON. 115
jected to the influence of the same dull monotonous cir-
loes. Among these maritime republics, those of Catalonia
linentlj conspicuous. By the incorporation of this country
6 with the kingdom of Aragon, the strength of the latter
Atly augmented. The Aragonese princes, well aware of
eraJly fostered the institutions to which the country owed
ferity, and skilfully availed themselves of its resouroes for
nndisement of their dominions. They paid particular at*
to the navy, for the more perfect discipline of which a
I laws was prepared by Peter IV., in 1354, which was
1 to render it invincible. No allusion whatever is made in
SI code to the mode of surrendering to or retreating from
ny. The commander, who declined attacking any force not
ig his own by more than one vessel was punished with death,
alan navy disputed the empire of the Mediterranean with the
Pisay and still more with those of Genoa. With its aid
igonese monarchs achieved successfully the conquest of
Sardinia, and the Balearic Isles, which they annexed to
tpire. It penetrated into the farthest regions of the Le*
d a Catalan armament conquered Athens, giving to their
n the title of duke of that city.
hough the dominions of the kings of Aragon were thus ex*
ibroad, there were no sovereigns in Europe whose authority
imited at home. The national historians refer the origin
government to a written constitution of about the middle
ninth century, fragments of which are still preserved in
mcient documents and chronicles. On the occurrence of a
in the throne at this epoch, a monarch was elected by the
principal nobles, who prescribed a code of laws, to the
ice of which he was compelled to swear before assuming
tre. The import of these laws was to circumscribe within
row limits the authority of the sovereignty, distributing the
L functions to a judiciay or court ; and these peers were
ed, if the compact should be violated by the monarch, to
w their allegiance, and, in the bold language of the ordi-
to substitute any other ruler in his stead, even a pagan if
ted.' The great barons of Aragon were few in number,
dmed descent from the twelve electoral peers we have
d, and they very reluctantly admitted to equality those
be &vour of the sovereign raised to the peerage. No baron
\ divested of his fief unless by public seutence of the justicia
Cortes. The nobles filled of right the highest offices in
\ ; they appointed judges in their, domains for the cognisance
in civil causes, and they exercised an unlimited criminal
ion over certain classes of their vassals. They were
i2
116 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
excused from taxation, except in specified cases ; were exempted
from all corporal and capital punishments; nor could they be
imprisoned, though their estates might be sequestrated for debt
But the laws conceded to them privileges of a still more dangeioiu
character. They were entitled to defy their sovereign and publicly
renounce their allegiance, with the whimsical privilege, in additioiiy
of commending their families and estates to his protection, which
he was obliged to protect until they were again reconciled. The
mischievous right of private war was repeatedly recognised by
statute. It was claimed and exercised in its full extent, and
occasionally with circumstances of peculiar atrocity. An instance
is recorded by Zurita of a bloody feud between two of these noblesy
prosecuted with such inveteracy, that the parties bound themselves
by solemn oath never to desist from it during their lives, and to
resist every effort, even on the part of the crown itself, to effect A
pacification between them.
The commons of Aragon enjoyed higher consideration, and
still larger civil privileges, than those of Castile, For this they
were perhaps somewhat indebted to the example of their Catalan
neighbours, the influence of whose democratic institutions natu-
rally extended to other parts of the Aragonese monarchy. The
charters of certain cities accorded to their inhabitants privileges
of nobility, particularly those of immunity from taxation ; while
the magistrates of others were permitted to take their seats
in the order of the lesser nobles. By a statute passed in 1307
it was ordained that the Cortes should assemble triennially.
The great officers of the crown, whatever might be their personal
rank, were jealously excluded from their deliberations. The
session was opened by an address from the king in person, a point
of which the Aragonese Cortes was always very tenacioos:
after which the nobles, the clergy, and the commons vnthdrew
to their separate apartments. The greatest scrupulousness waB
manifested in maintaining the rights and dignity of the body;
and their intercourse with one another and with the king was
regulated by the most precise forms of parliamentary etiquette.
The subjects of deliberation were referred to a committee from
each order, who, after conferring together, reported to their
several departments. It was in the power of any member to
defeat the passage of a bill, by opposing to it his Tjeto or dissent
formally registered to that effect. He might even interpose his
negative on the proceedings of the house ; and thus put a stop
to the prosecution of all further business during the sesmon.
During the interval of the sessions of the legislature a committee
of two from each department was appointed to preside over public
affairs, particularly in regard to the revenue and the security
THE CONSTITUTION OF ARAGON. 117
»; with authority to conToke a Cortes extraordinary,
r the exigency might demand it
iortes exerdaed the highest functions, whether of a de-
3; legislatiye, or judicial nature. It had a right to he
I on all matters of importance; especially on those
or war. No law was valid, no tax could he imposed,
its consent ; and it carefully provided for the application
venue to its destined uses. It determined the succession
own ; removed ohnoxious ministers ; reformed the house-
I domestic expenditure of the monarch ; and exercised
sr in the most unreserved manner of withholding supplies,
IS of resisting what it regarded as an encroachment on the
of the nation.
](vernments of Valencia and Catalonia were administered
Bntly of each other long after they had heen consulidated
monarchy, hut they hore a very near resemhlance to
titution of Aragon. The city of Barcelona, which ori-
ttve its name to the county of which it was the capital,
inguished from a very early period by ample municipal
8. Under the Aragonese monarchs, Barcelona had so
>fited by the liberal administration of its rulers as to
ched a degree of prosperity rivalling that of any of the
^publics. She divided with them the lucrative commerce
ezandria, and her port thronged with foreigners from
tion, became b principal emporium in the Mediterranean
apices, drugs, perfumes, and other rich commodities
1st, whence they were diffused over the interior of Spain
European continent Her consuls and her commercial
were established in every considerable port in the Medi-
1 and in the north of Europe. The natural products
oil, and her various domestic fabrics, supplied her with
t articles of export Fine wool was imported by the
ts of this city in considerable quantities from England
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and returned there
tared into cloth ; an exchange of commodities the reverse
existing between the two countries at the present day.
alth which flowed in upon Barcelona, and the result
stivity and enterprise which the merchants of the place
d, was evinced by the numerous public works in which
1 example to all Europe. Strangers who visited Spain
burteenth and fifteenth centuries expatiate on the mag-
> of this city, its commodious private edifices, the cleanli-
h» streets and public squares, and on the amenity of its
and cultivated environs.
the peculiar glory of Barcelona was the freedom of its
118 GEOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
tnunicipal institutions. The government consisted of a senate
or council of one hundred, and a body of correfftdoreSy or coun-
cillors, varying at times from four to six in number ; the former
were intrusted with the legislative, the latter with the executive^
functions of administration. A large proportion of these bodies
Was selected from the merchants, tradesmen, and mechanics of
the city. They were invested not merely with municipal au-
thority but with many of the rights of sovereignty. They entered
into commercial treaties with foreign powers; superintended
the defence of the city in time of war ; provided for the security
of trade; granted letters of reprisal against any nation who
might violate it; and raised and appropriated public money for
the construction of useful works, or the encouragement of such
commercial adventures as were too hazardous or expensive fof
individual enterprise. The professors of the different arts, as
the trades were called, organised into guilds or companies^ con-
stituted so many independent associations, whose members were
eligible to the highest municipal offices.
Under the influence of these democratic institutionSy tfaa
burghers of Barcelona, and, indeed, of Catalonia in general,
which enjoyed more or less of a similar freedom, assumed a
haughty independence of character, beyond what existed among
the same class in other parts of Spain; and this, combined
with the martial daring fostered by a life of maritime adventure
and warfare, made them impatient, not merely of oppression,
but of contradiction on the part of their sovereigns, who have
experienced more frequent and more sturdy resistance fix)m this
part of their dominions than from any other.* Navagero, the
Venetian ambassador to Spain early in the sixteenth century,
although a republican himself, was so struck with what he deemed
the insubordination of the Barcelonians, that he asserts, *The
inhabitants have so many privileges that the king scarcely retains
any authority ovet them ; their liberty,' he adds, ' should rather
go by the name of licentiousness.' One example among many
may be given of the tenacity with which they adhered to their
most inconsiderable immunities.
Ferdinand I., in 1416, being desirous, in consequence of the
1 Barcelona revolted, and was most important events in the eaiij
twice besieged by the royal arms part of the eighteenth century,
under John II., once under Philip The late king of Spain, Ferdinand
IV., twice under Charles II., and VII., also had occasion to feel that
twice under Philip V. On the last the independent spirit of the Cata*
of these occasions (a.d. 1714), it lans did not become extinct with
held out against the combined forces their ancient constitution^ and every
of France and Spain under Marshal regency since his death haa been
Berwick, and the siege is one of the taught the same lesson.
THB CONSTITUTION OF ABAGON. 119
d state of the finances on bis coming to the throne,
the pajment of a certain tax or subsidy^ commonly paid
kings of Aragon to the city of Barcelona, sent for the
; of the ooonciU John Fiveller, to require the consent
ody to this measure. The magistrate, having previously
with his colleagues, determined to encounter any hazard
ban compromise the rights of the city. He reminded
If of his coronation oath, expressed his regret that he
ling so soon to deviate from the good usages of his
tors, and plainly told him that he and his comrades would
stray the liberties intrusted to them. Ferdinand, in-
at this language, ordered the patriot to withdraw into
apartment, where he remained in much uncertainty
e consequences of his temerity. But the king was dia-
rom violent measures, if he had ever contemplatetl them,
representation of his courtiers, who warned him not
m too much on the patience of the people, who bore
Section to his person, from the little familiarity with
le had treated them in comparison with their preceding
iSy and who were already in arms to protect their magis-
[n consequence of these suggestions, Ferdinand deemed
nt to release the councillor, and withdrew abruptly from
on the ensuing day, disgusted at the ill-success of his
le.
in the earlier stages of Spanish history, were the free
tions of Castile and Aragon ; but when these two king-
ere united into one great monarchy, it became the settled
f the sovereigns to destroy all the institutions by which
arties of the people were secured. As the power of
hammedans grew weaker, the kings of Castile had less
to grant municipal privileges on condition of defending
Btiers, and their nobles, continually engaged in mutual
ons, were xmable to check the inroads of the crown
ir aristocratic privileges. The nobles of Aragon indeed
Iways ready to combine in a common cause, and it was
aid by one of the monarchs, in reference to these two
fedes, that it was equally difficult to divide the nobles
gon and to imite those of Castile. But union availed
0 the Aragonese nobles, when the seat of government was
beyond the sphere of their influence, and when Castilian
were ready to crush the first appearance of insurrection.
|bo to be remarked, though rather in anticipation of what
n have to discuss hereafter, that the conquest of America
■ely gave the kings of Spain vast supplies of gold, without
keing compelled to have recourse to their parliamenta
120 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
or cortes^ but it also enabled them to create many lucrative
monopolies, for whicli tlie Spanisli nobles bartered the privilegee
of their order and the rights of the people. There is a closer
connection between freedom of trade and freedom of in8titution«,
than is generally imagined; every protected interest exists at
the expense of all the other classes of the community, and, being
itself based on injustice, must connive at injustice in othen.
Prospective loss, however great, is constantly hazarded by the
ignorant and unthinking for immediate gain, however small, and
it was this selfish folly which mainly enabled the Austrian line
of Spanish monarchs to overthrow the ancient constitution of
their country, and to render Spain a memorable and sad example
of the great truth, that a land of monopoly soon becomes a
land of slavery, and eventually a land of misery.
Section XIL State of Western Europe at the commencement
of the Fourteenth Century,
BoDOLPH of Hapsburgh had no sooner obtained possession of
the empire than he resolved to strengthen the sovereign authority,
by annexing some of the great fiefs to the crown. The usurpatiou
of the duchy of Austria by Ottokar, king of Bohemia, afforded
him a pretext for interfering in the disposal of that province ; he
defeated Ottokar, and deprived him not only of Austria but also
of Styria, Carinthia, and Camiola, which were formed into a new
principality, and the investiture given to Albert, the emperor's
son (a. d. 1282), who founded the imperial house of Austria.
But while the emperor's authority was extended in Germany,
it was almost unknown in Italy, where the republican cities gene-
rally withdrew even nominal allegiance from their former masters.
Of these commercial states Venice was the most important This
city had been originally founded by some refugees who sought
tihelter in the islands and lagoons of the Adriatic, from the ferocity
of the Hims (a. d. 452) ; but it first rose into importance under
the doge Piero Urseolo 11. (a. d. 992), who obtained freedom of
commerce for his fellow-citizens from the Byzantine emperor
and the sultan of Egypt, and subjected the maritime cities of
Istria and Dalmatia. In the wars between the empire and the
papacy they had generally supported the latter ) Pope Alexander
IIL, as a reward for their services, conferred on them the sove-
reignty of the Adriatic, and hence arose the singular ceremony
of celebrating annually a mystic marriage between that sea and the
Venetian doge. The crusades tended greatly to extend the power
of the republic, especially the fourth, in which, as we have already
stated, the Greek empire was dismembered. On this occasion the
RN EUBOPE IN THE F0T7BTEENTH CENTX7BY. 121
OS Teeeiyed from their allies seyeral maritime cities in
a, Albania, Epirus, and Greece, the islands of Crete, Corfu,
mia, and several others in the Ionian cluster,
the increasing wealth of Venice led to a fatal change in
ical constitution. The goyemment was originally demo-
the power of the doge being limited by a council, who
eely chosen by the citizens. Seyeral tumults at these
B furnished the doge, Peter Gradenigo, with an excuse for
ig a law abrogating annual elections, and rendering the
of councillor hereditary in the families of those who were
period members of the legislative assembly (iuD. 1208).
ahlishment of a dose aristocracy led to several revolts, of
that headed by Tiepolo was the most remarkable (a.d.
After a fierce battle within the city, the insurgents were
ten inquisitors were chosen to investigate the conspiracy,
8 commission was soon rendered permanent under the
f the Council of Ten, the most formidable tribunal ever
. to support aristocratic tyranny.
a, like Venice, owed its prosperity to its extensive com-
which flourished in spite of the several political con-
I that agitated the republic. The Genoese embraced the
f the Greek emperors, and helped them to regain Con-
yple. Their services were rewarded by the cession of
Lzov, and other ports on the Black Sea, through some of
hey opened a lucrative trade with China and India. They
i also Smyrna, and Pera, a suburb of Constantinople,
r with several important islands in the Archipelago. Nor
bey less successful in extending their power in Italy and
stem Mediterranean, though they had to contend against
il rivals in the citizens of Pisa. The mutual jealousies of
epublics, and the anxiety of both to possess the islands of
. and Sardinia, led to a long and sanguinary war. It
(A.D. 1290) in the complete overthrow of the Pisans,
Dommerce was annihilated by the loss of the island of Elba,
) destruction of the ports of Pisa and Leghorn.
ies of Anjou did not long enjoy the kingdom of the Two
w His subjects j ustly hated him for the murder of Conradin,
) insolence of the French soldiery confirmed their aversion,
xdous insult offered to a Sicilian lady provoked the celebrated
etion commonly called the Sicilian Vespers* (a. d. 1282),
• evening prayers in the historians describe this massacre as
t Church are called Vespers, the result of a deep and long-planned
$ revolt commenced as the conspiracy; but it is much more
pations were assembling at likely to have been simply a sadden
§ for the evening service, outbreak of popular indignation.
ghe festival of Easter. Some
i-
w
122 GBOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER
in which all the French residents in Sicily were massacred, irith
the exception of William Parcellet, whose virtues honourably dis-
tinguished him from his countrymen. The islanders placed them*
selves under the protection of the king of Aragon, and Charles^
though aided by the pope, was unable to regain his authority over
them.
Pope Martin, who was warmly attached to Charles of Anjon,
excommunicated the king of Aragon, and placed his kingdom
under an interdict; and finding these measures ineffectuid, he
preached a crusade against him, and gave the investiture of his
states to the count of Yalois, second son of the king of France.
He proclaimed Charles of Anjou champion of the Holy Churchy
and declared that this sanguinary tyrant was a prince chosen by
God himself. The pope, who thus bestowed crowns, and ex-
onerated subjects from their allegiance, was unable to maintain
himself in his own capital ; and, while he hoped to humble kings,
could not enforce the obedience of the Roman citizens. But this
is not the only instance of a simUiar anomaly in the history of the
papacy. Peter of Aragon, feigning obedience, exchanged his
title of king for that of a simple knight, retaining, however, all
the power of royalty ; but, dreading the succours that the king
of France sent to his uncle more than the papal menaces, he
sought out means of gaining time to organise the defence d
Sicily. Knowing the vain-glorious disposition of his rival, Peter
proposed that Charles and he, with a hundred knights at each aide,
should decide their respective titles in a combat, near Bordeaux.
The duke of Anjou, elated by the hopes of a duel with a prince
who added to his modest title, ' Knight of Aragon,' the soundii^
designations, 'Lord of the Seajs, and Father of Three Kings^'
accepted the terms ; and, while he prepared for the expected field,
neglected his preparations for war. Martin fulminated against the
duel, single combats being forbidden by the Church ; but Peter
had never intended to expose himself to the chance, and on the
appointed day Charles discovered that he had been overreached.
Martin more than shared the indignation of his favourite; he
renewed the preaching of the crusade against Peter, granting to all
who fought in the papal cause the same indulgences assigned to
those who joined in the expeditions for the recovery of Palestine ;
and he sent ambassadors urging the French king to hasten the
invasion of Aragon.
The anathemas of Martin did not deprive Peter of his crown ;
they scarcely even checked the current of his fortunes. All his
subjects, clergy, nobles, and commons, ostentatiously displayed their
attachment to their sovereign, and laughed the papal decrees to
scorn. The Aragonese admiral defeated the fleet of the duke of
BN EUBOFE IN THE FOURTEEyTH CENTURY. 125
within sight of Naples, and made bis son, Charles the
i prisoner (jl b. 1284). This scion of a detested race would
6 escaped the fury of the Messinians, who wished to sacri-
1 in reyenge for the murder of Conradin^ but for the
s interference of Queen Constance, Manfred's daughter, who
him from the fury of the populace, and sent him for secu-
Catalonia. Charles of Anjou did not long sunriye this
f ; the remembrance of his former triumphs and prosperity,
je, his contempt for his enemies, and shame for having been
by policy, aggravated the mortification of a defeat which he
er bad power to retrieve.
I continued divided into several small kingdoms, Christian
bammedan. To the former belonged Navarre, Aragon, and
of which the two last were gradually extending them-
it the expense of their Mohammedan neighbours. The
n monarchy Alphonso I., captured Madrid and Toledo
.086); he would probably have expelled the Moors from
had not a new burst of fanaticism in Africa supplied the
medans with hordes of enthusiastic defenders in the
t of danger. The Moors not only recovered their strength^
same so formidable that Pope Innocent III. published a
I against them. A numerous Christian army assembled on
afines of Castile and Andalusia ; they encountered their
B near the dty of Ubeda, and inflicted on them a defeat,
rhich the Spanish Mohammedans never recovered (a.d.
Ferdinand III., king of Castile and I^eon, profiting by the
188 of the Moors, subdued the little kingdoms of Cordova,
9 and Seville (a.d. 1250), so that the Mohammedans were
i to a single kingdom of Granada.
crusades in Spain led to the foundation of a new kingdom
ope. Henry of Burgundy, a member of the royal family of
ly was so eminently distinguished by his valour in the Mo-
Bdan wars, that Alphonso VI., king of Castile, gave him
ighter in marriage, with the investiture of the country of
^ as her dowry. Henry enlarged his territory at the ex-
of the Mohammedans, but his fame was eclipsed by that of
1 Alphonso, whom his soldiers proclaimed king on the glorious
f battle in which the power of the Mohammedans was de-
i (a.d. 1139). To secure his new royalty, Alphonso placed
If and his kingdom under the protection of the Holy See,
idared himself a liege subject of the pipe. His successors
^e Roman pontiffs by no means slow in availing themselves
I power thus ceded to them ; several violent struggles were
ty the kings to free themselves from the yoke, but the power
r popes prevailed, and a treaty was concluded, by which the
124. GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
Portuguese clergy were secured in extensive possessions, almoit
royal privilegeSi and a complete exemption from secular jurisdiction
(A.D. 1289).
As tlie governments of France and England began to ajssume a
stable form, rivalry arose between the two nations, which led to a
long series of sanguinary wars. From the time of Capet's usurpa-
tion, the policy of the French kings had been to lessen the power
of the great feudatories : and it was a perilous error in Philip L to
sanction the duke of Normandy's conquest of England, for he thu
permitted a vassal, already dangerous, to become his rival sove-
reign. The danger was greatly increased when Louis VU. divorced
his faithless wife Eleanor, the heiress to the provinces of Guienne,
Poitou, and Gascony. She married Henry IL, king of England,
and thus enabled him to add her inheritance to that of the Planta-
genets in France, which included the duchies of Normandy and the
counties of Anjou and Maine (a.d. 1152). The vassal was now
more powerful than his sovereign ; the throne of France indeed
would scarcely have been secure, had not the family disputes of
the Plantagenets, secretly fomented by the wicked Eleanor, caused
Henry's sons to revolt against their indulgent father, and brought
that able sovereign with sorrow to his grave. Philip Augustus
was the founder of the greatness of the French monarchy. The
Plantagenets of England sank rapidly before his superior talents.
Kichard I. was nothing more than a brave warrior, and unable to
compete with the policy of his rival j his successor, John, was
neither a soldier nor a statesman ; he provoked the resentment of
all his subjects, and, while assailed in England by the discontented
barons, and menaced abroad by the pope, he was deprived of most
of his continental dominions by the watchful king of France.
Philip's neighbours, and many of his vassals, were alarmed at the
vast increase of his power after his conquest of the Norman pro-
vinces J they formed a league against him, but at the battle of
Bouvines (a.d. 1214) he triumphed over the united forces of the
Germans, the English, and the Flemings, and by this victory
secured the possession of his acquisitions.
After the death of Nicholas (a.d. 1292), the papacy, as if ex-
hausted by its own excesses, seemed to have fallen into a lethargy.
The Holy See remained vacant for two years and three months ;
an interval which the heads of the Church might have improved
to accommodate the ecclesiastical system to the improved state of
intelligence, and the consequent changes in the wants and wishes
of Europe. But in an evil hour they had adopted the doctrine of
infallibility, and believed themselves bound to* keep their system
stationary while everything around was in progress. Li a former
age the papacy had taken the lead in the advancement of intelli-
PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VUL 125
tlie clergy and the friars were the missionaries of know-
but the Church had now fallen into the rear ; kings, not
were the patrons of learning ; in the new contest between
itual and temporal powers we shall find the latter con-
, because on their side were ranged all who took a share in
incement of civilisation.
'acancy in the papacy became the signal for civil vnirs in
ind throughout Itiily superstition attributed these calami-
ihe cardinals, who left the Church without a head : an
lermit stimulated the populace to menace them with death
they proceeded to an election, and they chose a feeble,
k old fanatic, who took the name of Celestine IV. Though
B of any other qualification, Celestine had at least the pride
tiff; the bridle of the ass on which, with blasphemous
n, he made his public entry into Aquila, was held by two
iharles IL, the peijured sovereign of Naples, and his son
Martel, nominal king of Hungary. But the cardinals soon
weary of an idiot monk forced upon them by an insane
Benedict Cajetan worked upon the weak mind of Celestine
I a dignity which he was unable to maintain, and, having
dy gained the suffrages of the college, ascended the throne
le name of Boniface VILL^
SBcnow XTTT. Pontificate of Boniface VIIL
historians assert that Boniface had recourse to very
ous artifices, in order to obtain the resignation of Celestine :
r this may be, the abdicated pontiff was immediately shut
prison, lest his scruples, or his remorse, should trouble his
T. Boniface to the ambition and despotic character of
• Vn. added a more crafty manner, and more dissimulation
d been recently seen in the chair of St. Peter. He aspired
ersal sovereignty over ecclesiastics, princes, and nations ;
iiligently sought out means for rendering them submissive
Kws. Aware that it would be impossible to revive the
ig passion in Europe, he resolved to make the recovery of
16 a pretext for interfering in the quarrels of sovereigns,
te to Philip the Fair, king of France, to Edward I. of Eng-
id to Adolphus, emperor of Germany, commanding them
ain of excommunication, to accommodate their differences ;
08t the only thing memo- Nazareth to the place where it now
the pontificate of Celestine stands, that it should not be polluted
t>led miracle of the Chapel by the Saracens. This absurd story
to, which was said to have w'as lon^ credited by the Romanists,
insported by angels from but is now derided even in Italy.
126 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
and he mediated a peace between the sovereigns of Fiance and
Aragon.
JameS; Mng of Aragon^ anxious to conciliate the pope, resigned
his pretensions to Sicily ; but the islanders detesting the house of
Anjou, and despising the commands of a sovereign who had so
weakly abandoned his rights, crowned Frederic, the brother of
James, at Palermo, and expelled the papal legates. Excommuni-
cations were fulminated against the Sicilians and the sovereign <^
their choice ; even the feeble James was induced to arm against
his brother, and aid in his expulsion from the island : and Hub
violation of natural ties was rewarded by the cession of Sardinia
and Corsica, over which the pope had not a shadow of right. But
the ambition of Boniface was not limited to bestowing islands and
Italian prmcipalities ; he resolved to establish his authority over
the most powerful sovereigns of Europe.
Philip the Fair was one ,of the most able monarchs in Christen-
dom ; resolute in establishing his influence over the great vassak
of the crown, he strengthened himself by the support of his people^
and resolved that the nobles and the clergy should, from henc^orth^
form classes of his subjects. Feudal anarchy disappeared, and
equal jurisdiction was extended over all ranks ; the lower classea
were delivered from the most galling burdens of vassiilage, and
the despotism of the sovereign became a blessing to the nation. In
the midst of his career he received an embassy from the pope^
commanding him to spare a conquered vassal, to abstain from
taxing the clergy, and to submit his disputes with the count of
Flanders to the arbitration of the Holy See. Philip spumed these
demands, upon which the pope issued the celebrated bull caUed,
from the words with which it commences, Clericis laicoa, excom-
municating the kings who should levy ecclesiaBtical subsidies, and
the priests who should pay them, and withdrawing the deigy
from the jurisdiction of lay tribunals.
This attempt to establish a theocracy, independent of monarchy,
excited general indignation. In England Edward ordered his
judges to admit no causes in which ecclesiastics were the com-
plainants, but to try every suit brought against them, averring
that those who refused to contribute to the support of the state had
no claim to the protection of the law. This expedient succeeded,
and the English ecclesiastics hasted to pay their subsidies without
further compulsion. Philip the Fair exhibited even more vigour;
he issued an edict, prohibiting the export of gold, silver, jewelsi
provisions, or munitions of war, without a licence ; and he forbade
foreign merchants to establish themselves in his dominions. Boni-
face, aware that these measures would destroy the revenue which
the court of Home deiived from France, remonstrated in urgent
POiniEICATE OF BONIFACE Vm. 127
izplained away the most olTexinTe parts of his fonner bully
tred seyeml advantages to the king if he would modify his
Philip allowed himself to be persuaded ; the bull ClericU
as rendered less stringent ; Louis IX. was canonised, and
XHild boast of having a saint for an ancestor; finally, the
omised that he would support Charles of Valois, as a can-
for the empire. Dazzled by these boons, the French
li accepted the arbitration of the pope in his disputes with
I of England and the count of Flanders. But Boniface to
fldshment, decided thatGuienne should be restored to Eng«
lat all his former possessions should be given back to the
f Flanders^ and that Philip himself should undertake a new
. When this unjust sentence was read in the presence of
Dch court by the bishop of Durham, Edward's ambassador,
a^ listened to it with a smile of contempt ; but the count of
emraged at such insolence, snatched the bull, tore it in
and flung the fragments into the fire. This was the only
returned : Philip, heedless of the pope*s anger^ renewed
hce YIIL little dreamed that Philip's resistance would be
inetic, or of such dangerous example : but he prepared for
ling struggle by securing his authority in Italy, and espe-
& Rome, where the papal power had been long controlled
factious nobles. Immediately after his elevation to the
ate he had caused himself to be elected senator, but the
lines rendered the dignity of such a magistrate very pre-
; it was necessary to destroy them, and in this instance
1 vengeance was united to the projects of ambition. The
of the Ghibelline faction at Home were the illustrious
of the Colonna; two cardinals of that name had strenuously
I the abdication of Celestine, and had long been marked
victims. Under the pretext of their alliance with the
if Sicily and Aragon, they were summoned to appear before
ipal tribunal; but, justly dreading that their doom was
irmined, they fled to their castles, protesting against the
» of him whom they denied to be a legitimate pope,
oe hurled the most terrible anathemas against them, declar-*
em infamous, excommunicate, and incapable of any public
, to the fourth generation : he devoted them to the fires of
iquisition, and preached a crusade for their destruction,
dated for a moment, the Colonnas submitted, and surren-
flieir town of Palestrina as a pledge of their fidelity. No
was Boniface master of this stronghold than, regardless of
ths, he levelled the fortress to the groimd, forbade it to be
t^ renewed his persecutions against the Colonnas, and com-
128 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
pelled them to fly from Italy. They sought shelter at the court
of France, where they were hospitably received by Philip,
who thus gave a signal proof of his independence and his
generosity.
Boniface was alarmed, but not dismayed ; he resolved to lull
the king's vigilance by stimulating his ambition ; for this purpose
he proposed to dethrone Albert, emperor of Germany, and give
the crown to Charles of Valois, whom he had already created
imperial vicar and captain-general of the Holy Church. Philip
turned a deaf ear to this tempting proposal j he even entered into
alliance with AJbert, and cemented the imion by giving his sister
in marriage to the emperor^s son, Kodolph, duke of Austria.
Boniface was enraged by this disappointment, but his attention
was diverted by the institution of a Jubilee to mark the com-
mencement of a new century (a.d. 1300). He published a bull,
promising full pardon and remission of all sins to those whoy
being confessed and penitent, should visit the tombs of the
apostles at Rome, during fifteen days. Multitudes of pilgrims,
anxious to obtain the benefits of the crusades, without the perils
of war, flocked to the city, and by their liberal expencQture
greatly enriched the Romans. This profitable contrivance was
renewed by the successors of Boniface, at intervals of fifty
years, and proved to be an efficacious means of recruiting the
papal treasury.
. Scarcely had the Jubilee terminated, when the disputes between
the pope and the king of France were revived, in consequence of
the rival claims for supremacy between the archbishop and the
viscount of Narbonne. The king supported his vassal ; the prelate
appealed to the pope, and Boniface promptly responded to the
calL A legate was sent to Philip, and the choice of an am-
bassador was almost a declaration of war. The pope^s messenger
was the bishop of Pamiers, a rebellious subject, whose treasons
were notorious, and whose insolence to his sovereign excited
general indignation. The seditious prelate was driven from the
court ; but the king, instead of bringing him to trial, complained
to his metropolitan, the archbishop of Narbonne, and demanded
justice. Boniface addressed an insolent bull to the king, sumr
moned the French bishops to meet at Rome, to consult respecting
the doom that should be pronounced on their sovereign, and
invited Philip himself to be present at this unprecedented con-
clave. But the king, supported by the legists, or professors of
the law, a body rising rapidly into importance, de'fied the papal
power and appealed to the good sense of his people. Bonifiice
had sent a bull, known in history by the name of AusculiaJUi,^ to
* * Listen, son,' — the words with which it commenced.
PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIIL 129
b, in which all the delinqnencies of Philip, not onl j towards
huzch but every class of his subjects, were portrayed with
mt moderation, but with great vigour and eloquence. Peter
, the royal chancellor, presented an abridgment of this
lent to the great coundl of the nation, craftily culling out
passages in which the papal pretensions were most offen-
put forward. This document called * the little bull/ was
ows: —
nifaoe, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Philip,
3f the Franks. Fear God and keep his commandments.
More you to know that you are subject to us in temporal as
8 in spiritual affairs ; that the appointment to benefices and
ids belongs not to you ; that if you have kept benefices
y the profits must be reserved for tiie legal successors ; and
have bestowed any benefice, we declare the appointment
[y and revoke it if executed. Those who oppose this judg-
haU be deemed heretics.'
ip ordered this declaration to be publicly burned, and he
led a memorable reply, which, however, was probably
sent to Rome. It is a very remarkable proof of the decline
papal power that such a manifesto should be issued, and
ted to the States-general of France, as their monarch's
* to the supreme pontiff. The letter of the king is thus
3y historians : —
tUp, by the grace of God king of the French, to Boniface,
ig to be pope, little or no greeting. May it please your
6 stupidity to learn, that we are subject to no person in
ral affairs ; that the bestowing of fiefs and benefices belongs
ty right of our crown ; that the disposal of the revenues of
sees is part of our prerogative ; that our decrees in this
; are yalid both for the past and for the future ; and that
11 support, with all our might, those on whom we have
ed or shall bestow benefices. Those who oppose this judg-
hall be deemed fools or idiots.'
manifestoes sent to Rome by the three orders of the States-
l, the nobles, the clergy, and the commons, are of greater
ance to the historian than ' the little bull ' or the royal
That of the French barons was addressed to the college of
lis; it openly accused the pope of having perilled the
»f the Church by his extravagant ambition, and it denied
strongest terms his right to appellate jurisdiction over the
m of France. The clergy addi^essed Boniface himself in a
■ed and respectful tone, but they declared that they had
i new oath to their sovereign that they would maintain the
odence of his crown. The declaration of the commons haa
130 GROWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
not been preserved, but, like that of the nobles, it appears to hare
been addressed to the college of cardinals. The court of Rome
was alarmed, letters of explanation were sent to the different
orders, but the pope declared he would not write to the king,
whom he considered subject to the sentence of excommunication.
Whilst Boniface VIII. was thus engaged with France and its
ruler, he did not lose sight of his pretensions over otber kingdoms.
Edward of England, having overcome the feudal turbulence of
his vassals, was about to undertake the conquest of Scotland,
when the Holy See forbade the enterprise. Edward in reply
traced his right to Scotland up to the age of the prophet Samuel,
and a synod of the English clergy declared that the claims of
their sovereign were better founded than those of the pontiff. A
legate, by command of Boniface, laboured to pacify Hungary,
which was divided between the grandson of Charles the Lamey
king of Naples, and Andrew the Venetian. On the death of the
latter prince, the Hungarian barons, fearing the loss of their
liberties under a king imposed upon them by the Church, elected
for their sovereign the son of the king of Bavaria, and he was
solemnly crowned by the archbishop of Colreza. The pope wrote
fierce denunciations against the election, and even commanded the
king of Bavaria to dethrone his own son. But though Hungary
refused submission, the obedience of Spain consoled the pontiff;
he declared the marriage of Sancho the Brave valid, after his
death, and, in consequence of this decision, Ferdinand IV., the
eldest son of that monarch, was permitted to retain the kingdom
of Castile.
Though Philip had ordered that the goods of aU the clergy
who quitted the kingdom should be confiscated, many of the
prelates, braving the penalty, proceeded to the court of Rome.
Conscious that this disobedience portended a struggle between
the spiritual and temporal power, the French king took the
imexpected precaution of denouncing the horrors of the Inquisi-
tion, and thus representing royalty as the shield of the people
against the tyranny of the priesthood. Boniface, encouraged by
the presence of the French bishops, yielded to the impetuosity of
his passions, and issued the famous bull Unam Sanctaniy in which
the claims of the papacy to universal dominion are stated with
more strength and precision than the court of Rome had yet
ventured to use. After this document had been sanctioned by the
council, a legate was sent to France, whose instructions contained
the demand that the king should not oppose the prelates who
vnshed to travel, the disposal of benefices by the Holy See, or
the entrance of legates into his kingdom ; that he should not
confiscate the properties of ecclesiastics, nor bring them to trial
PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE Vm. ISl
ctril courts; that the king should appear in person at
and answer the charge of having humed a hull sealed with
Igies of the holj apostles; and, finally, that he should
lense the losses occasioned hy the depreciation of the
sy, and ahandon the city of Lyons to its archhishop, as an
istical fief. Philip the Fair, undaunted by the threat of
nunication, peremptorily rejected all these demands, and
fcom caused Boniface to be accused by William de Nogaret,
yal advocate^ of usurpation, heresy, and simony. The
;te required that a general council should be summoned to
gate these charges, and that the pope should be detained in
until his guilt or innocence should be decided,
iface was now seriously alarmed ; when he ascended the
, Celestine had declared, ' This cardinal, who stole like a fox
e chair of St. Peter, will have the reign of a lion, and the
a dog : ' his violence in the struggle with the king of France
to realise both predictions. But it was necessary to obtain
and Frederick, king of Sicily, was won over to declare him-
vassal of the Holy See, by obtaining the recognition of his
itle, and absolution from the many anathemas hurled against
The Emperor Albert was similarly prevailed upon to re-
) the exiaravagant pretensions of the papacy, on obtaining a
jnfirming his election; he even issued letters patent con-
that the imperial power was a boon conferred at the
fe of the Holy See. Thus strengthened, Boniface laid aside
)earance of moderation, and solemnly excommunicated the
ladous king of France.
ip, on the other hand, assembled the states of his realm at
tuvre^ and presented to them a new act of accusation against
ce, in which he was charged with the most detestable and
iral crimes. It was voted that an appeal should be made to
pope and a general council, and so general was the disap-
ion of the pontifiTs ambitious schemes, that the greater part
French ecclesiastical dignitarieS| including nine cardinals,
I their adhesion to the appeal.
iface met the storm with fimmess; he replied to the charges
against him with more temper than could have been antici-
but he secretly prepared a bull of excommunication, de-
ig Philip of his throne, and anathematising his posterity to
orth generation. This final burst of hostility was delayed
he 8th of September (a. d. 1303), when the Romish Church
ites the nativity of the blessed Virgin, and Boniface awaited
J in the city of Anagni.
Qie eve of the Virgin's nativity the pope had retired to rest,
[p arranged Lis plans of vengeance for the foUovnng day ; he
x2
132 GBOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
was suddenly aroused by cries of 'Long live Philip! Death to
Boniface I ' Nogaret; at the command of the king of France, had
entered Anagni with three hundred cavaliers, and being joined by
some of the townsmen, was forcing his way into the palace.
Sciarra Colonna and Nogaret rushed together into the chamber of
Boniface ; they found the old man clothed in his pontifical robes,
seated on his throne, waiting their approach with unshaken dignity.
They made him their prisoner, and prepared for his removal to
France until a general council. But Nogaret having unwisely
delayed three days at Anagni^ the citizens and the neighbouring
peasants united to liberate the pontiff; Colonna and his French
allies were forced to abandon their prey, and could only save their
lives by a rapid flight. Boniface hastened to Home ; but fatigue,
anxiety, and vexation brought on a violent fever, which soon put
an end to his troubled life.
The reign of Boniface was fatal to the papal power; he ex-
aggerated its pretensions at the moment when the world had begun
to discover the weakness of its claims ; in the attempt to extend
his influence further than any of his predecessors he exhausted
the sources of his strength, and none of his successors, however
ardent, ventured to revive pretensions which had excited so many
wars, shed so much blood, and dethroned so many kings. The
priesthood and the empire, fatigued by so long and disastrous a
struggle, desired tranquillity, but tranquillity was for the court of
Rome a political death. The illusion of its own omnipotence
vanished with the agitations by which it had been produced, and
new principles of action began to be recognised in its policy.
The death of Boniface marks an important era in the hiatoiy of
Popery ; from this time we shall see it concentrating its strength,
and husbanding its resources ; fighting only on the defenaiye, it
no longer provokes the hostility of kings, or seeks cause of quarrel
with the emperors. A few pontiffs will be found now and then
reviving the claims of Gregory, of Innocent, and of Boniface ; but
their attempts will be found desultory and of brief duration, like
the last flashes, fierce but few, that break out from the ashes of a
conflagration.
Benedict XI., the successor of Boniface, hasted to exhibit proofii
of the moderation which results from defeat. Without waiting
for any solicitation, he absolved Philip the Fair from the anathe-
mas fulminated against him by Boniface ; recalled the Golonnas
from exile, and encouraged the Roman people to restore the ancient
inheritance of that illustrious family ; flnally, he exerted himself
to reconcile the Guelphs and Ghibellines in Tuscany, but unforta-
nately without effect His early death prepared the way for a new-
crisis, in which the political system of the papacy was destined to
B NOBTH IN THE F0X7BTEENTH GENTU&Y. 188
Miier shocks than any to which it had been yet exposed,
ye fresh proofs that it could not be improyedyeTen by the
Kxns of adversity.
XIV. State of England and the Northern Kingdoms at
the Commencement of the Fourteenth Century.
AX the Conqueror reduced the Saxon population of £ng<-
lihe most degrading state of vassalage, but he oould not
he love and memory of their ancient laws and liberties
by the nation. His sons, William Bufus and Henry L,
»esively enabled to seize the throne in prejudice of the
their elder brother Robert, by promising to restore the
aws of the kingdom. Heniy, to conciliate the English
ctnally, married a princess of Saxon descent ; on lus death
athed the crown to the surviving child by this marriage,
the wife of Geofl&ey Plantagenet, earl of Anjou. This
ent was defeated by the usurpation of Stephen : England
ulsed by a civil war, which was terminated by Stephen's
Henry, Matilda's son, as his successor.
IL, the first of the Plantagenet dynasty, on ascending
e, united to England the duchy of Normandy, the county
^ and the fiEdrest provinces of north-western France (a. d.
To these be added the more important acquisition of
partly by a papal donation, and partly by right of
L was at this period divided into five petty sovereignties,
3narchs harassed each other by mutual wars, and could
I induced to combine for their common interest The
1 been frequently devastated, and once completely subdued
anes ; several septs of these foreigners retamod possession
liief commercial cities, and even the king of Man was
le to a country distracted by intestine wars. When their
brethren conquered England, the Danes in Ireland entered
ose correspondence vritb William and his successors, a
ince which probably first suprgested to Henry the notion
iring the island. He applied to the pope for a sanction
terprise. Adrian, the only Englishman that ever filled
, tbrone, was at that time the reigning pontiff; his desire
r his native sovereign was stimulated by his anxiety to
lie papal authority. The Irish Church had been long
Bnt of Rome; and the connexion between its prelates
Mipacy was as yet insecure ; it was therefore on tiie con-
' subjecting Ireland to the jurisdiction of the Romish
hat a bull was issued, granting Henry peimiadon to in^ttdi^
134 GBOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
the country. The bitter feuds in the Plantagenet family, and the
state of his continental dominions, long prevented the English
monarch from availing himself of this permission. At l^ogth
Dermod, king of Leinster, driven from his dominions by a rival
sovereign, sought English aid, and was permitted to engage the
services of Strongbow, and some other military adventurers, on
condition of doing homage for his kingdom to Henry. The rapid
successes of Strongbow awakened Hemy^s jealousy j he went to
Ireland in person, and received the submission of its principal
sovereigns (a.d. 1172). He returned without completing the
conquest of the country, a circumstance productive of much mifleiy
and bloodshed through several successive centuries.
The reign of Richard L was a period of little importance in
English history ; but that of his brother and successor, the pro-
fligate John, led to the most important results. The banma^
provoked by his tyranny and his vices, took up arms, and compelled
him to sign the Great Charter^ which laid the first permanent
foundation of British freedom ; the pope forced him to resign his
crown, and to receive it back again only on condition of vassalage
to the Holy See, while Philip Augustus took advantage of these
circumstances to deprive the English monarchs of most of their
continental possessions. John's death saved England from be-
coming a province of France : absolved by Pope Innocent IIL from
his oath, he ventured to abrogate the Great Charter, upon which
the English barons proffered the crown to Louis, the eldest son of
Philip Augustus, who invaded England with the fairest prospects
of success. John was completely defeated (a. d. 1216) ; he fled
towards Scotland, but died upon the road. The English, already
disgusted with their French allies, embraced this opportunity of
rallying round Prince Henry, and Louis was glad to condude a <
treaty for abandoning the island.
Henry IH. was a monarch wholly void of energy ; it waa Mb
misfortune to fill the throne at one of the most turbulent peiiods
of English history, without talents to command respect, or reaolu-
tion to enforce obedience. During his long reign, England was
engaged in few foreign wars, but these were generally unfortunate.
On t^e other hand, the country was agitated by internal commo-
tions during the greater part of the fif^ years that he swayed the
sceptre. The discontent of the prelates and barons at the favour
that the king showed to foreigners induced them to form an
association, by which the king was virtually deposed, and the su-
preme authority vested in a committee of peers, with the earl of
Leicester at its head. Leicester introduced an important change
into the constitution, by summoning representatives of counties,
dtiea, and boroughs, to unite with the barons in the great couneil
2 NOBTH IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 1S5
ition (a. d. 1266). This innoTation laid the basis for the
: Commonsy which henceforth had an increasing share in
legislation. The tjrannj of the barons beinj^ found less
e than that of the king, Henry was restored to his former
ad his authority seemed tixtni so permanently, that Prince
led an armament to the Holy Land, in aid of the last
>f St. Louis. Henry died during bis son's absence (a. d.
>at though two years elapsed before Edward's return home,
[uillity of the country continued undisturbed,
lief object of Edward's ambition was to unite the whole
Britain under one sovereignty. Under the pretext of the
(Tince, Llewelyn, having refused homage, he invaded the
and completely subdued it ; but not without encountering
ite resistance. The English monarch stayed more than a
Vales to complete its pacification, and during that time
1, Eleanor, gave birth to a son in the castle of Carnarvon
34). The Welsh claimed the child as their countryman ;
ras declared Prince of Wales, a title which has ever since
ne by the eldest sons of the English sovereigns,
ilure of the direct heirs to the crown of Scotland gave
a pretence for interfering in the affairs of that kingdom,
impetitors, Baliol, Bruce, and Hastings, laid claim to the
to avert the horrors of civil war, they agreed to leave the
to Edward ; and he pronounced in favour of the first, on
1 of Baliors becoming a vassal to the king of England.
x>n grew weary of the authority exercised over him by
and made an effort to recover his independence; but
ifeated and taken prisoner, he abdicated the throne (a. d.
ad was confined in the Tower of London. The Scottish
hough vanquished, was not subdued ; several insurrections
jsed against the English yoke; but after the defeat and
of the Scottish hero Sir William Wallace, all hope of in-
Dce seemed to have vanished. At length, Robert Bruce
le standard of revolt, and was crowned king at Scone (aj>.
Edward once more sent an army into Scotland, and soon
i in person to subdue that obstinate nation. His death on
ler (a.d. 1307) freed Bruce from his most dangerous foe ;
he following reign the independence of Scotland was esta-
by the decisive battle of Bannockburn (a.d. 1314).
northern kingdoms of Europe, in the thirteenth and fuur-
lenturies, offer little to our notice but scenes of horror and
. The natural ferocity and warlike spirit of the N ;rthmen,
it of fixed rules of succession, and the difficulty of finding
ment for turbulent spirits in piratical expeditions when the
} of civilisation had given consistency to the govemmsntA Q(t
136 GEOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
the south, and enabled them to proTide for the protection of their
subjects^ multiplied factions, and produced innumerable ciyil wan.
Crusades, however, were undertaken against the Sclayonian and
other pagan nations, by which the kin^rs of Denmark and Sweden
added considerably to their dominions, and gave them a high rank
among the states of Europe. Prussia and Livonia were subdued
by the knights of the Teutonic order; and Hungary, affcer having
been almost ruined by the Mongolian hordes, began gradually to
recover its importance after the retreat of these barbaiians (^A.Jk
1244).
Section XV. JRevoMums in the East m consequence of (he
Mongolian Invasion.
Thebe is no phenomenon more remarkable in history than the
rise, progress, and extent of the Mongolian empire. It was thought
that no human power could ever surpass the conquests of the
Arabs, who in less than seventy years extended their sway over
wider territories than the Romans had acquired in five centuries;
but the Mongols, or, as they are commonly called, the MogulSy
from as humble an origin, obtained greater dominion in a less time.
Jenghiz Khan in a single reign, issuing from a petty principality
in the wilds of Tartary, acquired an empire stretching about six
thousand miles from east to west, and at least half that space firom
north to south, including within its limits the most powerful and
wealthy kingdoms of Asia.
The vast and varied countries loosely called Scythia by ancient,
and Tartary by modem writers are tenanted by hordes differing in
manners, language, and even physical constitution, but which are
frequently confounded with one another. Divided into numerous
tribes, the several hordes are almost incessantly engaged in mutual
wars, unless when some great leader arises, whose renown spreads
through the nation, and then all the tribes hasten to range them-
selves beneath his standard. When they invade a country, they
have no option between victory and death j for other hordes, ftt)m
more remote districts, press forward to occupy the pastures they
have quitted, and thus cut off the possibility of their retreat ; bat
these, at the same time, form a body of reserve, ready and willing
to supply the losses of war. The armies of a regular state contend
against such hordes at an immense disadvantage; a defeat is
ruinous, for they give no quarter ; a victory useless, for the invadois
have neither wealth nor country to lose, and are not conquered
imless they are exterminated.
The Mongols were first raised into eminence by Jenghiz Khan ;
his original name was Temujfn, and he was the chief of a small
BEVOLUnONS IN THE EAST. 1S7
lieh his &iber'8 Talour had elevated aboTe the snrrouDd-
L At an early age he was invited to the court of Vang
e nominal head of the tribes of the Tartarian deserts, and
Uie hand of that potentate's daughter in marriage. Ma-
mejBOon led to a war between Temujfn and his father-in-
latter was slain in battle, and Temujfn succeeded to his
On the day of his installation, a pretended prophet
okza, addressing the new sovereign, declared that he was
by God to name him Jenghiz Khan, that is, supreme
and to promise him the empire of the universe.
)d by this prophecy, which, however, he is suspected of
ogg^ted, Jenghiz zealously laboured to establish military
) among the vast hordes that flocked to his standard ; and
had organised an army, he invaded those provinces of
China called Khatai by the Oriental writers, and Cathay
Id English authors. In five years this extensive country
lued, and Jenghiz directed his arms westward, provoked
lutn^ of the sultan of Kharasm. This kingdom of
I was among the most flourishing in central Asia; the
eminence of Bokhara, and the commercial proi'perity of
od, were celebrated throughout the East. The sultans
aed, and his son and successor Jaloloddfn, were mouarchs
less bravery, but nothing could withstand the fury of the
I and not only Kharasm, but the greater part of northern
»m Persia, fell under the sway of Jenghiz. Astrachan
en by a Mongolian detachment^ and some of the hordes
iheir incursions as far as the confines of Russia. Jenghiz
jus seventy-sixth year (a.d. 1227), continuing his career of
i almost to the last hour of his life. Few conquerors have
d greater military abilities, none more savage ferocity. He
d in slaughter and devastation ; his maxim was to slaughter
mercy aU that offered him the least resistance,
nccessors of the Mongolian conqueror followed the course
traced. They completed the subjugation of China, they
iw the khalipbate of Bagdad (a. d. 1258), and rendered the
of Iconium tributary. Oktm Elhan, the immediate suc-
f Jenghiz, sent two armies from the centre of China, one
ihe peninsula of Cores, the other to subdue the countries
id east of the Caspian. This latter army, under the guidance
,Khan, penetrated and subdued the Russian empire (a.d.
thence the Mongols spread into Hungary, Poland, and
imd even reached the coasts of the Adriatic Sea. The ducal
fi Wladimir was the only native Russian dynasty that pre-
fltB existence ; it owed its good fortune to Alexander Newski,
jtarudent measures conciliated the favour of the conquerors
138 GEOWTH OF THE PAPAL POWER.
and secured him a tranquil reign. After the death of Kubla
Khan, the grandson of Jenghiz, the Mongolian empire was parti-
tioned by the proTincial governors^ and gradually sank undei
decay.
The overthrow of the Seljiikian sultans and the Fatimite
khaliphs^ by Noureddin and Saladin^ has been already mentioned.
The dynasty of the Ayiibites was founded by Saladin's descendants
in Syria and Egypt^ and this, after having been divided into
several states, was overthrown by the Mamelukes in the thirteenth
century.
The Mamelukes were Turkish captives, whom the ferocions
Mongols sold into slavery ; great numbers of them were imported
into Egypt in the reign of Sultan Saleh, of the Ayubite dynasty.
This prince purchased multitudes of the younger captives, whom
he formed into an army, and kopt in a camp on the sea-coast,
where they received instruction in military discipline.^ From,
this they were removed to receive the charge of the royal person^
and the superintendence of the officers of state. In a short timo
these slaves became so numerous and so powerful that they wero
enabled to usurp the throne, having murdered Tiiran Shah, tha
son and successor of Saleh, who had vainly endeavoured to break
the yoke which the Mamelukes had imposed upon their sultan
(a.d. 1250). This revolution took place in the presence of St.
Louis, who had been taken prisoner at the battle of Mansurah, and
had just concluded a truce for ten years with Tiiran Shah. The
Mameluke insurgent, named at first regent or atta-beg, was finally
proclaimed sultan of Egypt.
The dominion of the Mamelukes over Egypt lasted for more thax:
two centuries and a half. Their body, constantly recruited b^
Turkish and Circassian slaves, disposed of the throne at iti
pleasure ; the boldest of their chiefs, provided he could prove hii
descent from Turkestan, was chosen sultan. Notwithstanding tk<
frequent wars and revolutions necessarily resulting from th.€
licentiousness of military election, the Mamelukes made a successfiz^
resistance to the Mongols, and, after the death of Jenghiz Khan'fi
immediate heirs, conquered the kingdoms of Aleppo and Damascus^
which the Mongolian khans had taken from the Ayiibites (a. V-
1 Hence they were called the increased in power, and made the
Babarite or Maritime Mamelukes, Bahsrite dynasty underfco the fate
to distinguish them from the Borjite it inflicted on the AyiiWite sultans,
or Garrison Mamelukes, another They rone against 'their masters
bodv of this militia, formed by the (a. d. 1382), gained po«3e<sion of
Babarite sultan Kelaitn, to counter- the supreme authority, and placed
balance the authority usurped by one of their chi**fs onthe throne of
the Turkish emirs. The Borjites Egypt. The Borjites in their torn
derived their name from the forts were overthrown by the OUomans
which they garrisoned ; they soon (▲. d. 1517).
BEVOLUTIONS IN THE EAST. 1S9
The Bmriymg princes of the Ayiibite dynasty in Syria and
tendered their submission to the Mamelukes, who were
lasters of all the ancient Saracenic possessions in the
ine countries, with the exception of the few forts and cities
were still retained by the Franks and western Christians,
unelukes soon resolved to seize these last memorials of the
iS. They invaded the principalities of Antioch and Tripoli,
were subdued without much difficulty. A tierce resistance
ide by the garrison of Acre, but the town was taken by
and its gallant defenders put to the sword. Tyre soon after
lered by capitulation (a. d. 1291), and thus the Christians
oally expelled from Syria and Palestine.
140 PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
CHAPTER V.
THE REVIVAL OP LITERATURE; THE PROGRESS OF
CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
Section I. Decline of the Papal Power, The Great
Schism of the West,
/ELEMENT v., elevated to the papacy by the influence of the
\J French king Philip the Fair, to gratify his patron, abstained
from going to Rome, had the ceremony of his coronation per-
formed at Lyons, and fixed his residence at Avignon (a. d. 1^)9).
Philip further insisted that the memory of Boniface should be
stigmalised, and his bones disinterred and ignominiously burned.
Clement was afiraid to refuse ; but, at the same time, he dreaded
the scandal of such a proceeding, and the danger of such a precedent;
he therefore resolved to temporise, and persuaded Philip to adjourn
the matter imtil a general coimcil should be assembled. But
some sacrifice was necessary to appease the royal thirst for ven-
geance, and the illustrious order of the Templars was sacrificed by
the head of that Church it had been instituted to defend. On the
13th of October, 1307, all the knights of that order were simul-
taneously arrested ; they were accused of the most horrible and im-
probable crimes ; evidence was sought by every means that revenge
and cupidity could suggest ; the torture of the rack was used with
unparalleled violence to extort confession ; and sentence of con-
demnation was finally pronounced on these unfortunate men,
whose only crime was the wealth of their order, and their adherence
to the papal cause in the reign of Boniface.
The assassination of the Emperor Albert inspired Philip with
the hope of procuring the crown of Charlemagne for his brother,
and he hastened to Avignon to claim the promised aid of the pope.
But though Clement had abandoned Italy to tyrants and factions^
he had not resigned the hope of re-establishing the papal power
over the peninsula, and he shuddered at the prospect of a French
emperor reconciling the Guelphs and Ghibellines, crushing oppo-
sition by the aid of his royal brother, and fixing the imperial
authority on a permanent basis; he therefore secretly instigated
DECLINE OF THE PAP\L POWER. 141
man princes to hasten the election, and Henry VIL of
lOig was chosen at his suggestion. Though Henry pos-
ttle hereditary influence, hb character and talents secured
dience in Germany ; he had thus leisure to attend to the
f Italy, which no emperor had visited during the preceding
niry. He crossed the Alps with a band of faithful followers ;
s and their tyrants, as if impressed by magic with unusual
or the imperial majesty, tendered him their allegiance, and
insula, for a brief space, submitted to orderly government,
rivaliy of the chief cities, the ambition of powerful barons,
btrigues of Clement, soon excited fresh commotions, which
lad not the means of controlling.
ouncil of Vienne had been summoned for the posthumous
Boniface VIIL, and an examination of the charges brought
the Templars (a.d. 1309). Twenty-three witnesses gave evi-
;ainst the deceased pontifi^, and fully entablished the charges
gacy and infidelity ; but Clement's own immoralities were
■ant for him to venture on establishing such a principle as
dture of the papacy for criminal indulgences ; and the con*
hat Christianily had been described by a pope as a lucrative
IS justly regarded as dangerous, not only to the papacy but
on itselil Philip was persuaded to abandon the prosecution,
all was issued acquitting Boniface, but, at the same time,
ig the motives of his accusers. The order of the Templars
maUy abolished, and their estates transferred to the Hoe-
\, or Knights of St John of Jerusalem ; but the Hospitallers
reed to pay such large sums to Philip and the princes who
irped the Temple lands, that they were impoverished rather
riched by the grant. The council passed several decrees
heretics, and made some feeble efforts to reform the lives of
gy ; finally, it ordained a new crusade, which had no result
filling of the papal coffers with gifts from the devout, bribes
e politic, and the purchase-mcmey of indulgences fit>m the
iy-
n the Emperor Henry VH. was crowned at Rome, he esta-
a tribunal to support his authority over the cities and princes
; sentence of forfeiture was pronounced against Robert king
ies, on a charge af treason, and this prince, to the great
tion of the French monarch, was placed under the ban of the
The pope interfered to protect the cousin of his patron
the wars between the papacy and the empire were about
mewed, when Henry died suddenly at Bonconvento, in the
* Sienna. It was generally believed that the emperor was
d by his confessor, a Dominican monk, who administered the
lee in the eucharist. Clement fulminated two bulls against
142 PEOGEESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
Henry's memory, accusing him of perjury and usurpation ; lie alao
annuUed the sentence against Robert of Naples^ and nominated
that prince imperial vicar of Italy.
The death of Henry exposed Germany to the wars of a disputed
succession; that of Clement, which soon followed, produced
alarming dissensions in the Church. Philip did not long survive
the pontiif, and his successor, Louis X., was too deeply simk into
dissipation to regard the concerns of the papacy. Twenty-seyoi
months elapsed in contests between the French and Italian cardinals^
each anxious to have a pontiff of their own nation. When first
they met in conclave at Carpentras, the town was fired in a battle
between their servants, and the cardinals, escaping from their
burning palace through the windows, dispersed without coming t»
any decision. At length, Philip the Long, count of Poictiers, as-
sembled the cardinals at Lyons, having voluntarily sworn thaifc
he would secure their perfect freedom. During their deliberations^
the death of Louis X. gave Philip the regency, and, soon after, the
crown of France ; the first use he made of his power was to shut
up the cardinals in close conclave, and compel them to expedite
the election. Thus coerced, they engaged to choose the pontiff
who should be nominated by the cardintd de Porto ; this prelate, to
the great surprise of all parties, named himself and was soon after
solemnly installed at Avignon, imder the title of John XXII.
Europe was at th is period in a miserable state of distraction. Italy
was convulsed by the civil wars between the Guelphs and Ghibel-
lines, whose animosities were secretly instigated by the intrigues of
the king of Naples ; Spain and Portugal were harassed by the strug-
gles between the Christians and the Moors ; England and France
were at war with each other, while both were distracted by internal
commotions ; two emperors unfurled their hostile banners in Grer-
many ; and, finally, the Ottoman Turks were steadily advancing
towards Constantinople. In these difficult times John displayed
great policy ; he refused to recognise either of the rivals to the
empire, and took advantage of their dissensions to revive the X>apfll
claims to the supremacy of Italy. But the battle of Muhldoif
having established Louis of Bavaria on the imperial throne, John,
who had previously been disposed to favour the duke of Austria,
vainly attempted to gain over the successful sovereign. Louis sent
efficient aid to the Ghibellines, and the papal party in Italy seemed
on the point of being destroyed. John, forced to seek for alliea,
resolved to offer the imperial crown to Charles the Fair, who had
just succeeded his brother Philip on the throne of France. The
Germans, ever jealous of the French, were filled vdth indignation
when they heard that the pope was endeavouring to remove their
popular emperor ; Louis summoned a diet, in which he publicly
DECLINE OF THE PAPAL POWER 14S
iie charges brought against him by the court of Arignon ;
earned men published treatises to prove the subordination
idesiastical to the imperial authority ; the chapter of Frey-
cpelled the bishop for his attachment to the pope ; and the
of Strasburg threw a priest into the Rhine, for daring
a copy of John's condemnation of Jjouis to the gates of
9dra]. Even the religious orders were divided ; for while
dnicans adhered to the pope, the Franciscans zealously
d the cause of the emperor.
led rather than discouraged by anathemas, Jjouis led an
0 Italy, traversed the Apennines, received the iron crown
ardy at Milan, and, advancing to Rome, found a schismatic
illing to perform the ceremony of his coronation. It was
hat John declared these proceedings void, and issued bulls
imunication; the emperor conciliated the Guelphs by his
ret ended zeal for orthodoxy, and, confident in his stn*ngth,
. to pronounce sentence of depoitition and death against
d to procure the election of Nicholas V. by the Roman
nd people. The Franciscans declared in favour of the
, who was one of their body ; and if Louis had shown
) and forbearance equal to his vigour, the cause of Pope
old have been irretrievably ruined. But the avarice of the
alienated the affections not only of the Romans but of many
rinces who had hitherto been attached to the Ghibelline
le was deserted by his chief supporters, and he embraced
3zt afforded him by the death of the duke of Austria to
) Bayaria. Nicholas, abandoned by his allies, was forced
ider to the pope, and only obtained his life by submitting
r before John with a rope round his neck, and to ask pardon
pope and the public for the scandal he had occasioned
\S0), Though by this humiliation the antipope escaped
ite death, he was detained a close prisoner for the remainder
[ays, ^treated,' says a contemporary, 'like a friend, but
. like an enemy/
unperor would doubtless have suffered severely for his
1 the elevation of Nicholas, had not the Church been
d by a religious controversy. In a discourse at Avignon,
) maintfdned that the souls of the blessed would not enjoy
fruition of celestial joys, or, as he termed it, ' the beatific
until the day of judgment. The university of Paris, and
leaders of the mendicant orders, declared that such a
I was heretical ; Philip of Valois, who had only recently
1 the crown of France, required that the pope should
his assertions, and John was compelled to appease his
lies by equivocal explanations. The dispute afforded the
144 PROaEESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
emperor a pretext for refusing obedience to the papal bullS| and
appealing to a general council ; new wars were about to commence,
when John died at Avignon^ leaving behind him the largest
treasure that had ever been amassed by a pontiff.
It was not without cause that the Italians named the sojourn of
the popes in Avignon, ' the Babylonish captivity.* The strength
of the papacy was shaken to its very foundation, when its
possessors appeared mere dependents on the kings of France, the
instruments of war and of power, whose possession monaidis
contested, while they spumed their authority. The successor of
John owed his election to his promise that he would not reside at
Home : he took the title of Benedict XII., and began his reign by
an attempt to restore peace to the Church and to the empire.
Philip of Valois had other interests, and he compelled the pope to
adopt his views. Edward III. was preparing to assert his daiiu
to the crown of Prance, and Philip feared that he would be
supported by his brother-in-law, the emperor: he therefbn
threatened Benedict with his vengeance if he should enter into
negotiation with Louis, and, as a proof of his earnestness, he seised
the revenues of the cardinals. The king of England and the
German emperor, aware that the pope was a mere instrument in
the hands of their enemies, disregarded his remonstrances and
derided his threats. Benedict had not courage or talents adequata
to the crisis ; his death delivered the papacy from the danger of
sinking into contempt under a feeble ruler, who sacrifioed
everything to his love of ease; the cardinals, in choosing a
successor, sought a pontiff whose energy and ambition might
again invest the Church with political power.
Clement YL, unanimously chosen by the electors, commenced
his reign by claiming the restoration of those rights of the Holy
See which had fallen into abeyance during the government of his
feeble predecessor. The Eomans sent a deputation to request thst
he would return to the city, and appoint the celebration of a
Jubilee at the middle of the century ; Clement granted the latter
request, but he refused to visit Home, through dread of the
turbulent spirit of its inhabitants (a. d. 1343). But Clement did
not neglect the affairs of Italy, though he refused to reside in the
country. Roger, king of Naples, at his death bequeathed his
kingdom to his daughter Jane, or Joan, and named a council of
regency; Clement insisted that the government, during the
minority of the princess, belonged to the Holy See ; he therefore
annulled the king's will, and sent a papal legate to preside over
the administration. The Emperor Louis V. sent an ambassador
to the pope, soliciting absolution ; Clement demanded humiliatiBg
submissions, which were indignantly refused; upon which tht
DECLINE OF THE PAPAL POWER. 145
18 were lenewed, and the German electors were exhorted
\ a new sovereign. As if resolved to brave all the princes
osed the king of France, Clement nominated cardinals to
it benefices in England ; but Edward III., supported bj
J and people, refused to admit the intruders ; nor could
its of ecclesiastical censure shake his resolution. About
I time Clement conferred the sovereigntj of the Canaiy
n Prince Louis of Spain, as Adrian had given Lreland to
ish king. ' Li these grants,' says Henry, ' the pretensions
opes seem to be less remarkable than the credulity of
Dsillanimity of Louis V. is more surprising than the
of those who obtained papal grants to confirm questionable
tough supported by all the princes and most of the prelates
sny, the emperor sought to purchase pardon by sub-
but the Diet would not allow the extravagant claims of
to be recognised, and the humiliations to which Louis
i alienated his firiends, without abating the hostility of
ies.
aly was now the theatre of erents calculated to divert
tention from the quarrels of the pope. Jane, queen of
lad married Andrew, brother to the king of Hungary,
mily had ancient claims on the Neapolitan crown. Poli-
ousy disturbed the harmony of the marriage ; a conspiracy
ed by the courtiers against Andrew ; he was murdered in
I bed, and she was more than suspected of having con-
9 the crime. Clement shared the general indignation
y this atrocity, and, in his chimerical quality of suzerain
8, ordered that a strict search should be made after the
■8, against whom he denounced sentence of exconmiunica-
>. 1346). Jane soon conciliated the pontiff, and pur-
, sentence of acquittal, by selling her pretensions to the
f Avignon for a very moderate sum, which, it may be
ns never paid. But the king of Hungary was not so
isfied ; he levied a powerful army to avenge the murder
other ; and the emperor of Qermany gladly embraced the
ity of venting his resentment on the Guelphs and the
of the king of France, to whose intrigues he attributed
nuance of the papal exconmiunications.
nt saw the duiger with which he was menaced by the
m league; to avert it he negotiated with the king of
i, and prevailed upon some of the German electors to
I that monarch's son, Charles, marquis of Moravia, to
lire. The new sovereign agreed to recognise all the
not claims of the popes, which his predecessors had so
146 PROGEESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
strenuously resisted ^ but no real authority was added to the
papacy by this degradation of the empire : even Clement was
aware that his authority should be supported by artifice and nego-
tiation rather than by any direct assertion of power.
While the princes of Europe, were gradually emaneipating
themselves from the thraldom of the pontiffs^ a remarkable leyo-
lution wrested Kome itself from their grasp^ and revived for a
moment the glories of the ancient republic. Bienzi, a young
enthusiast of great learning but humble origin, addressed i^
pathetic speech to his countrymen on the deplorable state of their
city and the happiness of their ancient liberty. Such was the
effect of his eloquence, that the citizens immediately elected him
tribune of the people, and conferred upon him the supreme
power (a.d. 1347). He immediately degraded the senators ap-
pointed by the pope, punished with death several malefactors of
high rank, and banished the Orsini, the Colonnas, and other noble
families, whose factions had filled the city with confusion. The
messengers sent by the tribune to announce his elevation wera
everywhere received with great respect ; not only the Italian dtaeB^
but even foreign princes, sought his alliance ; the king of Hungaiy
and the queen of Naples appealed to him as a mediator and jadge,
the Emperor Louis sought his friendship, and the pope wrote 1dm
a letter approving all his proceedings. Such unexpected power
intoxicated the tribune ; he summoned the candidates for the em-
pire to appear before him, he issued an edict declaring Home the
metropolis of the world, and assumed several strange titlee that
proved both his weakness and his vanity. This extravagance
proved his ruin ; Kienzi was excommunicated by the pope, the
banished nobles entered Rome, the fickle populace deserted the
tribune, and, after wandering about for some time in various
disguisee^ he was arrested by the papal ministers, and sent to
Avignon, where he was detained a close prisoner.
In the mean time the king of Hungary had entered Italy ; Jane^
whose recent marriage to the duke of Tarentum, one of the mur-
derers of her husband, had given great offence to her sabjeetBy
abandoned the Neapolitan territories at his approach, and sought
refuge at Avignon. But a dreadful pestilence, which at this time
desolated southern Europe, compeUed the king of Hungaiy tf>
abandon the territories he had so easily acquired. About the same
time, the death of the Emperor Louis left Charles without a
rival ; and Clement resolved to take advantage of the favourable
juncture to restore the papal authority in Italy. He ordered a
Jubilee to be celebrated at Home ; he excommunicated Viscooti,
archbishop of Milan, but afterwards sold absolution to this prelate,
who was formidable as a statesman and a soldier; finadly^ he
DECMNE OF THE PAPAL POWER. 147
ed the king of Hungary and the queen of Naples to
their differences to his arbitration. But the court of Avig-
I devoted to the house of Anjou ; it did not venture topro-
the queen innocent, but it declared that a weak woman
ot redst the temptations of evil spirits, and decided that
lid be restored to her kingdom on paving a subsidy to the
Himgary. That generous prince refused the money,
g that he had taken up arms to avenge the murder of his
not to gain a paltry bribe. Thus the pontiff still seemed
hrator of kings: some years before, he had engaged
rty a prince <ii southern France, to bequeath his dominions
Wnch king, on the condition that the eldest son of that
I should take the title of Dauphin ; he had been victorious,
by accident, in his contest with the Emperor Ix>uis, and at
h. Clement left the papacy in full possession of all its
supreme power.
rhile the nominal authority of the papacy was as great
its real power was considerably weakened. Innocent VL,
to escape from the yoke which the kings of France had
on the popes during their residence at Avignon, resolved
rer the ancient patrimony of St Peter; Ilienzi was
zed from his dungeon, and was sent back to Kome with the
•enator. But the turbulent Romans soon grew weaiy of
xner favourite, and Rienzi was murdered by the populace^
me he was most zealously labouring to diastise the dis-
of public tranquillity, and rescue the people from the
on of the nobles (a.d. 1354). Soon afterwards the
r Charles IV. entered Kome, and, by the permission of the
IS solemnly crowned. This feeble prince negotiated with
as, and betrayed all ; he sold liberty to the cities, because
leither the military force nor the political power to defend
I, and he submitted to receive a passport from the pope,
kbide in Home only the limited period prescribed by the
of the pontiff.
Aough the popes, during their residence at Avignon,
L the discords of Italy, stimulated the mutual animosity of
dphs and Ghibellines, and encouraged civil war in the
they were deorous to terminate the sanguinary
e for the crown of France, and made several efforts to
B the English Edward to the house of Valois. Edward
to be checked in his career of victory; the glory of the
arms was destroyed at Cre^y, and the king of France
became a prisoner at Poitiers. It was through the
an of Innocent YI. that King John recovered his liberty,
war between England and France was terminated by the
l2
148 PEOGEESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
peace of Bretigny. Soon after his deliverance, John, beinp^ distressed
for money, was induced by a large bribe to give bis daughter in
marriage to Visconti, the most formidable enemy of the Oburch,
while Innocent was too occupied by nearer dangers to prevent an
alliance so injurious to his interests. The numerous bands of mer-
cenaries who were thrown out of employment by the restoration o^
peace formed themselves into independent bands, called Eree^
Companies, and quitting the southern districts of France, alreadjr
desolated by frequent campaigns, directed their march towards
Provence. The anathemas hurled against them neither retarded
their progress nor diminished their number ; a crusade was vainly
preached ; no soldiers would enlist when the only pay was indul-
gences; the plundering hordes approached Avignon, and the
treasures of the ecclesiastics were on the point of falling into
the hands of these unscrupulous spoilers. By paying a large bribe,
and giving them absolution for all their sins, Innocent prevailed
upon the Free Companies to turn aside from Avignon and enter
into the service of the marquis of Montferrat, who was engaged in
war against the Visconti.
Urban V. succeeded Innocent, and though, like him, inclined to
favour the king of France, he became convinced that the residence
of the popes at Avignon was injurious to his interests* The em*
peror solicited Urban to visit Rome, and the Free Companies
having again extorted a large bribe for sparing Avignon, the pope
hasted to leave a residence where he was exposed to insult and sub-
servient to foreign authority. The pope was received in Italy
with great joy; the emperor Charles hastened to meet him, and
gave the last example of imperial degradation, by leading the
horse on which the pontiff rode when he made his triumphal
entry into Borne (a.d. 1368). This spectacle, instead of gratifying
the Italians, filled them with rage ; they treated the emperor with
so much contempt that he soon returned to Germany ; and Urba%
finding that he could not check the republican licentiousnees
which had so long prevailed in Borne and the other cities of the
patrimony of St Peter, began to languish for the more tranquil
retirement of Avignon. The only advantage he gained by his
visit to Italy was the empty honour of seeing the emperor of the
East bow at his footstool, and offer, as the reward of aid against
the Turks, the union of the Greek and Latin Churches. But
Urban could not prevail upon the western princes to combine in
defence of Constantinople ; and the Greek emperor would hare
been unable to gain the consent of his subjects to lay aside either
the peculiar ceremonies or doctrines that had severed their Church
from the papacy. The renewal of the war between France and
England, when Charles Y. succeeded the imbecile Johoi a£Rirde4
DECLINE OF THE PAPAL POWER. 149
a pretext for returning to Avignon. Death seiied him
%er he reached the dty, and Gregory XI. was chosen iiis
or.
cry's great object was to break the power of the Msconti,
d become the virtoal sovereigns of northern Italy ; but he
neglect the general interests of the Churchy exerting him-
gently to suppress heresy. The emperor created the ponti£f
yr, and Gregory, to support his authority^ took some of the
)mpanies into pay^ and among the rest a band of Englishmen,
oded by John Hawkwood. It was of importance to gain
le city of Florence ; the papal legate thought that this
xmld best be obtained by producing a famine, and stimu-
the dtizens, by the pressure of want, to rise against their
nent. In pursuance of this infamous policy, means were
7 cut oS the import of com, while Hawkwood ravaged the
f of the city and destroyed the harvests. Of all the Italian
the Florentines had been the most constant in their attach-
» the cause of the Holy See— their indignation was there-
Mssive, and their hate implacable.
neral revolt against the papal power was soon organised
L Italy by the outraged Florentines ; they embroidered the
IBKBIAS on their standards in letters of gold, while their
ies preached freedom in the cities, in the castles, and in the
b; the summons was eagerly heard, and the states of the
. soon refused to recx>gnise the sovereignty of its head
f sent new legates, and menaced the confederates with ex-
nication ; he pronounced sentence of excommunication
the Florentines, exhorting aU princes to confiscate the
y of those who should be found in their several dominions
sell their persons into slavery — an iniquitous edict, which
rtially acted upon both in France and England ; new hordes
cenaries were taken into pay, and when the citizens of
a applied to the legate for pardon, he replied that he would
t their city until he had bathed his hands and feet in their
The Florentines were undaunted, but the disunion and
jealousies between the ocher confederates proved fatal to
ional cause ; the citizens of Home were anxious to have the
dal court restored to their city, and to obtain this desirable
they willingly sacrificed their claims to freedom. Li their
f moral degradation, indeed, they were unable to appre-
le advantages of rational liberty, and unfit to exercise its
l^es.
ng these commotions in Italy, Gregory, being informed
reformed doctrines, or, as he called them, the heresies, pub-
in England by John Wicklifie^ wrote to the chancelloi and
150 PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
university of Oxford, severely reproving them for permitting Bach-
opinions to be promulgated, and ordering that Wickliffe should be»-
brought to trial before an ecclesiastical tribunal. Similar letteiik.
were sent to Bichard U., the young king of England^ who had^
just succeeded his grandfather, Edward III., but the duke oF
Lancaster, and several other nobles, took the reformer imder theilP
protection ', Wickliffe was rescued from the malice of his enemies^
while his doctrines rapidly, though secretly, spread not onl^
through Italy but through Germany. The chief articles he wa0
accused of teaching were, ' That the wafer in the eucharist, after
consecration, is not the real body of Christ, but its figure onij ;
that the Boman Church had no right to be the head of all
churches; that the pope has no more authority than any other
priest ; that lay patrons may, and ought to, deprive a delinqaeiii
church of its temporal possessions ; that the gospel was sufiicieitt
to direct any Christian ; that no prelate of the Church ought to
have prisons for punishing delinquents.' The publication of these
sentiments enraged Gregory, who had from the very commencement
of his reign shown himself a virulent persecutor, and procured the
burning of several imfortunate wretches accused of heresy, both
in France and Germany. Scarcely had he made his triumphal
entry into Home, when he prepared to take some effective measures
for checking the progress of innovation. But domestic troublefl
soon engaged his attention ; the Bomans, who had received him
on his &rst arrival with so much enthusiasm, soon began to brave
his authority and disobey his edicts ; baffled in his expectationB of
peace and power, he even contemplated returning to Avignon,
where part of the papal court still continued. But before taking
this step, he resolved to secure the tranquillity of Italy, and, S
possible, avert the divisions which he foresaw would probably
trouble the Church after his death (a.d. 1878). A congress wu
opened at Sarzana, but before its deliberations could produce any
important result, Gregory was seized with mortal illness, and aU
hopes of peace were destroyed by the schism which arose lespectiDg
the choice of his successor.
The death of Gregory XI. was the commencement of a new era
for the ancient capital of the world, from which the popes had
been absent during so many years. Pride, interest, and self-lofva
attached the Bomans to the papacy ; had they combined with the
Florentines, it is possible that the cities of Italy might have formed
a confederacy suiiiciently strong to defy an absent pope, and an
emperor powerless and distant; perhaps they might even have
solved the problem which still continues to baffle statesmen, and
formed a federative union in Italy. But the Bomans were inca-
poble of such profound views ; they looked to nothing beyond the
DECLINE OF THE PAPAL POWER. 151
M to be derived from the residence of the papal court ;
ad of aiming at reviving their ancient glorj, they con-
lemselves with disputing the profits that had hitherto
yed by the city of Avignon.
ler had the cardinals — ^the majority of whom belonged to
sh party — shut themselves up in a conclave, than the
rere filled with alarm lest a Transalpine prelate should
I who would establish his court at Avignon. They aa-
n arms round the Vatican, and by their menaces sent
> its inmost recesses. They demanded that the new pope
I an Italian ; this was the only virtue they required in
Bor of St Peter. The French cardinals, already disunited,
nidated by these clamours ; they gave their votes to a
n archbishop, who took the title of Urban VI.
rdinals seem to have expected that Urban, who was
I for his modesty, his humility, and his skill in the canon
d have acknowledged that his election was vitiated by
that had been used, and that he would therefore have
the pontificate. But Urban soon convinced them of their
not only showed a determination to retain his power,
Y set the discontented cardinals at defiance. In a public
inunediately after his coronation, he severely reprehended
p and luxury, threatened to punish those who had been
of receiving bribes, and reproached some of them by
Dorresponding with the enemies of the Church. Exas-
f this austerity, the discontented cardinals fled to Anagni,
d the late election void, sent circulars to all Christian
lining them not to acknowledge Urban, took a body of
nto their pay, and, relying on the protection of this
force, excommunicated the new pope as an apostate
The duke of Brunswick, the husband of Jane, queen of
aomed at the prospect of a schism, attempted to mediate;
forts to effect a reconciliation were baffled by the resent-
lie cardinals and the haughtiness of Urban. On all sides
were made to assemble a general council, but the pope,
lals, and the emperor disputed the right of convocation ;
le of war could alone determine the fate of the Church,
ahowed no desire to conciliate his opponents; he an-
ei speedy creation of new cardinals to overwhelm their
L threatened the queen of Naples for granting them pro-
He showed similar severity in his conduct to the R<nnan
y, and, on a very slight pretext, ventured to deprive the
Fondi of his fiefs. The count at once declared himself a
if the cardinals; he gave them shelter in the town of
beze^ protected by Neapolitan troops, they proceeded to ^
152 PEOGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
new election. It is said by many historians that they would have
chosen the king of France, Charles V., had not his being maimed
in the left arm incapacitated him from performing the ceremomes
of the mass -, but their selection was scarcely less swayed by tem-
poral motives when they gave their votes to Cardinal Robert of
Geneva, who assumed the title of Clement VII. This prelate had
served in the field, and even acquired some reputation as a warrior;
but he was generally and justly hated by the Italians for having
massacred all the inhabitants of Cesena during the Florentine
war.
The death of the Emperor Charles IV. added new troubles to
the complicated policy of Europe ; that despicable slave of super-
stition had purchased from the venal electors the nomination of
his son Wenceslaus as his successor ; and the young prince^ from
the moment of his accession, gave himself up to the practice of
the meanest vices, and the most disgusting debauchery. These
crimes^ however, did not prevent him from enjoying the favour of
Urban, whose cause he warmly espoused — a merit which, in the
eyes of the pontiff, compensated for the want of all the virtues.
The queen of Naples declared in favour of Clement, and invited
him to her court. So great, however, was the hatred of a French
pontiff, that, in spite of the turbulent disposition of Urban, the
defection of the cardinals^ the authority of the queen, and the
jealousy of the states so recently at war with the court of Rome^
all Italy declared against Clement, and the Neapolitans showed
such hatred to his cause that he was forced to escape by sea to
Marseilles, whence he proceeded to establish his court at Avignon.
The king of France, Charles V., had eagerly espoused the
cause of the cardinals who had elected the antipope; most
of them were his subjects, and all were devoted to the interests of
France ; he therefore declared himself the partisan of Clement,
trusting that he would obtain important political advantages
by the residence of the pope at Avignon. Unfortunately ^e
first result was to involve his kingdom in a ruinous war, which
long doomed France to loss and calamity.
Urban's vengeance was promptly directed against the queen
of Naples, whose supposed murder of her husband, thirty years
before, was still remembered to her disadvantage; he declared
that she had forfeited her right to the throne, which he conferred
on her cousin Charles of Durazzo; and, to support this king
in his vengeance, he not only sold ecclesiastical benefices, but
pledged the plate belonging to the churches. Jane, driven from
her kingdom, adopted the duke of Anjou as her son and successor;
the French monarchs believed themselves bound to support
his claims, and exhausted their resources In the effort.
DECLINE OF THE PAPAL POWER. 15S
nope was divided by the schism: Italy, Holland, Geiv
ohemiay Poland, Hungary, Flanders, and England de-
>r Urban; while Clement was supported by Spain,
Scotland, Savoy, Lorraine, and France. The rival popes
nathemas agamst each other; excommunication was
by excommunication; and both prepared piles to bum
lans of their adversary as heretics. Charles V. set the
by issuing an edict confiscating the property and life
who ventured to recognise Urban in his dominions.
)torted by preaching a crusade against Charles; the
eagerly seized this pretext for renewing war against
ind a powerful army entered Brittany to support its
inst his liege lord.
ath of Charles V., and the minority of his son Charles VI.,
> the embarrassments of France ; the duke of Anjou
le royal treasures to support hb claims on Naples; the
38 imposed upon the people provoked insurrection; the
were punished with remorseless cruelty, and they,
&er hand, practised horrible retaliations whenever they
pportunity. Charles of Durazzo, in the mean time, found
iculty in taking possession of the Neapolitan territories ;
landoned by her subjects, was forced to surrender to
in, and, by his command, was strangled in prison (a.d.
Louis of Anjou immediately claimed her inheritance,
ing obtained the investiture of Naples from Clement,
Italy at the head of fifteen thousand men. No opposition
red to the French in their passage ; Louis reached the
of the Abruzzi in safety, and was there joined by several
an nobles attached to the memory of Jane, and anxious
ie her death.
ds was unable to meet his enemy in the field; but he
dd his fortresses, encouraged the peasantry of the Abruzzi
B the French by a guerilla warfare, and destroyed all
ige and provisions in the open country. Famine and
» wasted the gallant chivalry of France; the duke of
Sell a victim to a fever, whose severity was aggravated
disappointment; his army dispersed, and many noble
who had joined his banners were forced to beg their
one, amid the jeers and insults of the Italians. The
y conmianded by the bishop of Norwich, made a feeble
m the schismatic French; they were defeated, and the
returned with shame to his diocese,
a disapproved of the cautious policy of Charles, and pro-
to Naples began to treat the king as his vassal ; Charles
iied^ until the death of the duke of Anjou delivered
i
154 PBOGEESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
him from pressing danger, but then he refused all obedience
to the pope^ and treated Wl so uncivilly, that Urban remored
to Nocera. Several of the cardinals, vreary of the tyramij
to which they were subjected, plotted the murder of the pope ;
but their conspiracy was discovered, and six of them were
sentenced to suffer the tortures of the rack that they might
be compelled to betray their accomplices. Urban personally
superintended these cruelties, and suggested new modes of torture
to the executioners. When confessions were thus obtained^ he
degraded the cardinals from their dignity, and pronomioed
sentence of excommunication not only against them but against
the king and queen of Naples, the antipope Clement, his cardinalsy
and all his adherents. Charles, justly enraged, marched against
Nocera, and captured the town; but the pope found shelter
in the citadel, i^om a window of which he several times a day
fulminated anathemas with bell and candle against the king
of Naples and his army. Urban at length made his escapey
and, embarking on board some Genoese galleys, reached Genoa in
safety, where he was honourably received by the doge, who
deemed the city honoured by his presence. During his flight
he ordered the bishop of Aquila to be murdered, suspecting
that he meditated desertion; and soon after he put to death
five of the guilty cardinals, sparing the sixth, who was an
Englishman, at the intercession of Richard 11., — a monarch who
had given the weight of England's influence to Urban's cause.
Clement VII. did not conduct himself one whit better than
his rival ; he insulted and imprisoned the German and Hungarian
ambassadors who were sent to propose expedients for terminating
the schism ; his exactions from the churches that acknowledged
his authority alienated the minds of those whom their political
position had ranged on his side; his intrigues and his servility
were offensive to the kings that supported him. The double
papacy was found a heavy tax on Christendom; each pontiff
collected around him a court of dissolute and prodigal cardinals,
whose lavish expenditure was supported by alienating the revenues
of all the benefices within their grasp.
But the kingdom of Naples was especially destined to snfier
from the schism ; the rival pontiffs claimed the right of bestowing
the Neapolitan crown at their discretion, and their pretensions
perpetuated civil discord. Charles of Durazzo quitted his kingdom
to seek a new crown in Hungary, but fell a victim to assassins
in the hour of success; Margaret his queen on receiving the
news assumed the regency, and caused her son Ladislaus to
be recognised as sovereign by the states of the realm. But
Urban VL, who had exconmiunicated Charles pretended that the
DlBCLmE OF THE PAPAL POWER. 155
if Naj^es leyerted as a Tacant fief to the Holy See, and
rming a party against the queen. Clement on his
d a similar claim, and sold the church plate to pay
9 zealously supported the house of Anjou, and employed
runswicky the widower of the unfortunate Jane, to expel
' of Durazzo.
0 the division of the Church had been political; a
controversy, however, was added to the schism, which,
; led to no immediate results, deserves to be briefly
A Dominican doctor of divinity, John de Mon^on,
on the doctrine of original sin, declared that this
i inherent in all human creatures from the moment
eouoeption, and as it could only be effaced by the
n of Jesus Christ, he inferred that the Virgin Mary
ived in sin. This was merely an incidental illustration
rtablished doctrine, an example intended to make it
a and striking. But the faculty of theology in the
of Paris^ the Sorbonne, animated probably by an
asy of the Dominicans and Franciscans, with whom
rsity had frequent contest, undertook the examination
m's doctrine^ and declared that his assertion was an
utrage against the mother of Christ : the doctors added
prophesied sacrifice of Christ had an effect before its
hment on his birth and that of his mother^ and to
iption from the ordinary law of humanity they gave the
he immaculate conception.
orship of the Virgin Mary has always been the most
)ortion of the Romish Liturgy; the doctrine of the
seemed to confer new honour upon her name, and
iently received by multitudes of ignorant enthusiasts.
1^ alarmed at the ferment he had unwittingly excited,
Lvignon, where he trusted that his tenets would find
The entire order of the Dominicans, regarding them-
their capacity of Liquisitors, as the especial guardians
ority of the faith, were enraged to find one of their
accused of heresy; they sent seventy of their most
doctors to support Mon9on'8 opinions before the papal
and^ with a shrewd knowledge of the arguments most
at Avignon, they subscribed forty thousand crowns
to support his cause. The Sorbonne, on the other
puted its most eminent professors to prosecute Mon^on,
nre the condemnation &i his opinions. The pope was
abarrassed: the opposing parties were so powerful that
It wish to alienate either, and he therefore had recourse
i
156 PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
to the expedient of dismissing Monfon secretly, and sending him
to seek refuge in Aragon.
But the theologians of the Sorbonne would not rest satisfied
with an imperfect yictory; profiting by the popular ferment to
work on the mind of their sovereign, Charles VI., they persuaded
the king, who had not yet attained his twenty-first year, and
whose ignorance was extreme, to undertake the decision of a
question beyond the limits of human knowledge. His Majesty's
confessor shared the opinions of Mon^on ; the Inquisitors of ^e
Faith and the whole body of the Dominicans supported them, and
Pope Clement himself regarded them with favour ; but, in spite of
their united authority, the young and stupid king took upon him-
self to maintain that the Virgin Mary was free from the stain of
original sin ; he even sent to prison all who denied the doctrine of
the Immaculate Conception.
Clement VII., always in fear of being sacrificed to his rival,
Urban VT., and relying for support chiefly on the court of France,
did not venture to make any further resistance. He issued a bull
condemning John de Mon9on and all his adherents : he permitted
the king to institute a new festival in honour of the Inunaculate
Conception, and to constrain his confessor, as well as the most
celebrated Dominicans, to retract their opinions in presence of
the whole court. The whole order of St. Dominic was degraded
to the lowest rank of Monastics, and it was ordained that no
one of their body should in future hold the office of confessor to
the king.
Urban VI. paid little regard to theological controversies; he
was more anxious to reestablish his authority over southern Italy.
But as he marched towards Naples his troops mutinied for want
of pay, and he was forced to return to Rome. The dtizens
proved to be as discontented as the soldiers; to stifle their
murmurs he published a bull for the celebration of a jubilee the
following year at Rome, and ordered that this solemnity should
be repeated every thirty-three years, according to the number of
years that Christ remained upon earth. He hoped that this festival
would enrich the Romans and himself, but he died before the
time for its celebmtion (a.d. I3S9). It is supposed that his end
was hastened by poison, for his most ardent supporters were weary
of his tyranny.
A few days after the death of Urban the cardinals at Rome
chose a new pontifi^, who took the title of Boniface IX., and com-
menced his reign by an interchange of anathemas and excom-
munications with his rival at Avignon. More prudent than his
predecessor, Boniface hasted to make terms with the family of
Durazzo at Naples ; he recognised young Ladislaus as a legitimate
DECLINE OF THE PAPAL POWER. 157
king, and sent a legate to perform the ceremony of his coronation.
Ladislaus, in return, took an oath of fidelity and homage, binding
himself never to recognise the antipope at Avignon.
Clement VII. strengthened himself by a closer miion with the
king of France, whom he induced to visit Avignon, and to
witness the ceremony of the coronation of Louis 11. of Anjou, as
king of Naples. The imbecile Charles was so gratified by his
leception, that he projected a crusade against Home, but he was
soon induced to abandon his purpose, and he gave very feeble aid
to his cousin of Anjou, when he prepared an armament to invade
the Neapolitan territories. The doctors of the Sorbonne became
eager to terminate the schism ; and, encouraged by their success
in the controversy of the Inmiaculate Conception, they presented
to the king a project for restoring the peace of the Church, by
compelling the rival popes to resign, and submit the choice of a
new pontiff to a general council (a.d. 1394). Though this
council was not favourably received by the king, it gave great
alarm to Clement, and agitation of mind is supposed to have
produced the apoplectic fit which occasioned his death.
The French ministers wrote to the cardinals at Avignon, urging
them to embrace the opportunity of tei*minating the schism ; but
these prelates hasted to conclude a new election without opening
the letter, with the contents of which they were acquainted.
Peter de Luna, cardinal of Aragon, was nominated pope ; he took
the name of Benedict XTTL, and the schism became wider than
ever. When the news of the election reached Paris, Charles,
instead of recognising the pope of Avignon, convoked the clergy
cf his kingdom to deliberate on the means of restoring peace to
the Church. After some delay the convocation met, and came to
the inconsistent resolution of recognising Benedict, and proposing
that the schism should be terminated by the abdication of the
two popea Ajnbassadors were sent with this proposal to
Avignon, but a ridiculous though insuperable difficulty prevented
the success of their negotiations. The plenipotentiaries on both
ndes preached long sermons to each other, imtil the French
princes who were joined in the legation, completely fatigued, and
teeing no probable termination of the conference, returned home
indignant and disappointed. The king of England and the em-
peror of Germany joined the French monarch in reconmiending the
double application ; Boniface declared his readiness to resign, if
Benedict would set the example, but the latter pontifi^ absolutely
lefused submission. An army was sent to compel him to obe-
dience ; Avignon was taken, and Benedict besieged in his palace^
but his obstinacy continued unshaken^ and the party feuds which
158 PEOGEESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
the weakness of the king encouraged in France, gaye him hopes
of final triumph.
The state of the western goyemments tended to protract the
schism of the Church; the king of France fell into idiocy;
Bichard 11. was deposed in England hy his cousin Henry IV.;
the duke of Anjou was driven from Naples ; the Byzantine em-
peror and the king of Hungary were harassed by the Turks,
whose increasing power threatened ruin to both; the Spanish
peninsula was distracted by the Moorish wars ; and the Empeioi
Wenceslaus was forced to abdicate by the Germau electors.
Boniface took advantage of these circumstances to establish the
papal claim to the first-fruits of all ecclesiastical benefices, and to
render himself absolute master of Borne, by fortifying the citadel
and castle of St. Angelo. The Boman citizens were deprived of
the last shadow of their former franchises ; the readiness witii
which they submitted is, however, a sufficient proof that thef
were unworthy of freedom. The pope did not long survive this
triumph ; the Boman cardinals elected Innocent YH. to supplf
his place ; but he died about twelve months after his elevation^
and was succeeded by Gregory XH. (a.d. 1406). Benedict,
having in the mean time recovered his freedom, protested against
the Boman elections, but offered to hold a personal conference
with Gregory for reconciling all their differences. The cardinals^
weary of these controversies, deserted the rivals, and, having as-
sembled a general council at Pisa, elected a third pope, who took
the title of Alexander V.
There were now three heads to the Christian church ; Ladislans
and some of the Italian cities supported Gregory ; the kings of
Scotland and Spain adhered to Benedict : while Alexander was
recognised in the rest of Christendom. The disputes of these
hostile pontiffs had greatly tended to enfranchise the human
mind, and weaken the hold of superstition ; Wickliffe's doctrines
spread in England, and in Germany they were advocated by John
HusSy who eloquently denounced the corruptions that debased the
pure doctrines of Christianity. Pope Alexander was preparing to
resist the progress of the courageous reformer, when his death
threw the affairs of the Church into fresh confusion.
The presence of an armed force induced the cardinals to elect
John XXIIL, whose promotion gave great scandal, as he was
more remarkable for his military than his religious qualifications
(a.d. 1411). John soon compelled Ladislaus to abandon Gregory's
party; he then assembled a general council at Borne, where
sentence of condemnation was pronounced on the doctrines of
JIuss and Wickliffe. But Ladislaus soon grew weary of peace ;
he led an army against Bome, plundered the city, and compelled
DECLINE OF THE PAPAL POWER. 159
the pope to seek protection from Sigismond, emperor of Germany.
John consented very reluctantly to the imperial demand, that the
«ehism should finally he terminated hy a general council; he
made an ineffectual effort to have the assemhly held in one of his
0?ni cities, hut Sigismond insisted that it should meet in Con-
'ftance. John then, attempted to interpose delays, hut the general
Toice of Christendom was against him; he judged his situation
Accurately, when, pointing to Constance from the summit of the
Alps, he exclaimed, ' What a fine trap for catching foxes I '
The attention of all Christendom was fixed upon the delihera-
tions of the council of Constance, whither hishops, amhassadors,
and theologians flocked from every part of Europe (a.d. 1416).
John Huss, having ohtained the emperor's safe-conduct, appeared
before the council to defend his doctrines, hut Sigismond was
^rsoaded to forfeit his pledge, and deliver the courageous re-
Ibrmer to his enemies, to he tried for heresy. Pope John was not
treated hotter; a unanimous vote of the council demanded his
ahdication ; he fled to Austria, hut he was overtaken and detained
in the same prison with Huss, imtil he ratified the sentence of his
own deposition. Gregory XII. soon after abdicated the pontificate,
but Benedict still continued obstinate; his means of resistance,
however, were so trifling, that the council paid little attention to
Jiis refusal. John Huss, and his friend Jerome of Prague, were
ientenced to he burned at the stake as obstinate heretics, but their
BersecutoTS could not stop the progress of the truth ; the Hussites
m Bohemia had recourse to arms for the defence of their liberties,
•ndy under the command of the heroic Zisca, maintained the cause
of civil and religious liberty in many glorious fields.
The emperor, the princes of Germany, and the English deputies,
strenuously urged the council to examine the abuses of the Church,
and form some plan for its thorough reformation ; but the prelates,
fearing that some proposals might be made injurious to their in-
terests, steadily resisted these efforts ; declaring that the election
of a pope, ought to have precedence of all other business. After
long disputes, the choice of the electors fell on Otho Colonna, a
Boman noble, who took the title of Martin V. The new pontiff
combined vnth the cardinals to strangle all the plans of reform, and
the council, from whose deliberations so much had been expected,
terminated its sittings without having applied any effectual remedy
to the evils which had produced the schism. A promise, indeed,
was made, that another council would be convened, for the reform
of the Church, at Pavia, but no one cared to claim its performance ;
the conduct of those who met at Constance convinced the world
that no effectual redress of grievances could be expected from such
aaBemblies.
160 PEOGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INTENTION,
The projects of reform, begun at Constance, were revived at the
council of Basle (a.d. 1431) j but Eugenius IV., the successor of
Martin, soon felt that the proposed innovations would be fatal to
the papal authority, and dissolved the council. This precipitancj
caused another schism, which lasted ten years ; but at length the
ex-duke of Savoy, who had been chosen pope by the partisans of
the council, under the name of Felix V., gave in his submisdon;
and the council, from whose labours so much had been expected,
ended by doing nothing. Still the convocations of the prelates of
Christendom at Constance and Basle struck a fatal blow against the
despotism of the popes. Henceforth monarchs had, or seemed to
have, a court of appeal,— one so dreaded by the ponti£fs, that Ae
mere dread of its convocation procured from them liberal concessiona
But a new and more formidable enemy to the despotism of the
pontiffs than the resistance of kings or of councils, was the progress
of literature and knowledge, which brought the extravagant dainu
of spiritual and tempond rulers to be investigated on their real
merits, not according to their asserted claims.
Section n. First Hevival of Literature, and Inventions
in Science,
Is the controversy between Philip the Fair and Boniface Ylll.,
literary talent was for the first time employed against the Church
by John of Paris, isi celebrated Dominican, who advocated the loyal
independence with great zeal and considerable ability. The cele-
brated poet Dante Alighieri, who may be regarded as the founder
of Italian literature, and almost of the Italian language, followed
the same course, advocating strenuously the cause of the emperor
Louis of Bavaria. Their example was a model for many other
writers who laid aside the shackles of authority, and supported the
independence of states. But literature itself was subject to
trammels which checked the progress of improvement. Aristotle's
system of philosophy, not as originally formed by that great man,
but modified in Arabian translations, and cumbered by scholastic ie»
finements, was the only subject deemed worthy of attention. It
was deemed a crime scarcely less than heresy, to doubt of any ex-
planation given by the schoolmen of physical, mental, op moral
phenomena. Boger Bacon, a Franciscan monk, was the first who
revived experimental science; he made several important discoveries
in mechanics and chemistry, but his great merit is to be found, not
so much in his various inventions and projects, as in the bold appeal
which he made to experiment and the observation of nature. His
lectures at Oxford, published imder the title of ^ Opus Majus* (a.d.
1266); raised against him a host of enemies ; he was prohibited
REVIVAL OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCK 161
from giving instructions in the uniyersity, and was subjected to
confinement in his convent. His scientific discoveries were deemed
■ a species of magic in that age of ignorance ; he was the first of the
long list of victims of ecclesiastical persecution, and the leader of a
long line of patriots who supported the cause of intellectual and
moral liberty against the odious encroachments of spiritual despotism.
The emancipation of literature accompanied that of science ; the
impulse which Dante had given to the cultivation of Italian poetry
was long felt ; he was followed by Petrarch and Boccacio, whose
writings at once elevated the character and formed the language of
• their countrymen.
Several new inventions, or perhaps importations from the remote
East, accelerated the progress of men in learning and the arts. Of
these we may mention more particularly the art of forming paper
from linen rags, painting in oil, the art of printing, the use of gun-
powder, and of tiie mariner's compass.
Before the invention of linen-paper, parchment was generally used
in Europe, both for copying books and preserving public records.
This material was scarce and dear ; in consequence of its scarcity,
the writing was often effaced from ancient manuscripts, and new
matter written on the parchments. Some of the most valuable
classical works were thus sacrificed to make room for idle legends
of saints and trifling theological dissertations. In some of these,
called palimpsests, the old writing is faintly legible under that of
the monks, and some important fragments have thus been recovered.
When the Arabs conquered Bokhara (a. d. 704), they are said to
bave found a large manufactory of cotton-paper at Samarcand,
which is not improbable, as the fabric was known in China before
the Christian era. They brought the knowledge of the art into
their western territories, but the scarcity of the materials long im-
peded its progress. At length, in the thirteenth century, it was
discovered that linen would answer all the purposes of cotton; but
when, where, or by whom, this valuable discovery was made
eannot be ascertained. As flax and hemp are chiefly the growth
of northern countries, the claim of the Germans to the invention
aeems better founded than that of the Italians ; the first great
factory of linen-paper of which we have any certain accounts was
established at Nuremberg (a.d. 1390), but there is reason to
lielieve that paper was manufactured in W^estem Europe a century
earlier.
The invention of painting in oils is usually attributed to two
brothers^ Van Eyck, of whom the younger, called John of Bruges,
flourished towards the close of the thu'teenth century. The in-
Tention, however, is of much earlier date, but the brothers deserve
.the merit of having brought it into practical use, and carried it ta
M
162 PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
a higli degree of perfection. O^nng to this inyentioii, modem
paintings excel the ancient both in finish of executicm and per-
manence.
More important than either of those was the inyention of print-
ing, wliich seems to have been at least partially derived from the
East Solid blocks of wood, graven with pictures and legends,
were used in China from a very remote period. They were first
introduced into Europe for the manufacture of playing cards, which
became very popular about the close of the thirteenth eentuiy.
The card manufacturers soon began to publish woodcuts of re-
markable persons and events in sacred history, or the Lives of the
Saints, accompanied with brief descriptions graven on the block,
and thus we find a species of stereotype printing in use before the
discovery of movable types. The great improvement of having
separate types for each letter, was made by John Gutenberg, ft
citizen of Mayence (a.d. 1436) ; he used small blocks of wood,
but the matrix for casting metal types was soon after devised by
Peter Schoeffer, of Gemheim. Gutenberg established the first
printing-press known in Europe at Strasburgj thence he removed
to Mayence, where he entered into partnership with John Fust,
or Faustus, whose ingenuity greatly contributed to perfect the
invention. Gutenberg did not put his name to any of the boob
he printed; Faustus, more ambitious of fame, placed his name
and that of his partner to his celebrated Psalter, and thus received
no small share of the glory that properly belonged to the first dis-
coverer. The art of engraving on copper was discovered about the
same time as the use of movable types, but its history is very
obscure.
Scarcely less important than printing was the manufacture and
use of gunpowder.
The explosive power of saltpetre was probably known in the
East from a very remote age, for that substance is produced abun-
dantly, fit for use, both in India and China ,' and ancient traditions
describe the repulses of invaders by laimching artificial lightnings
from walls, manifestly referring to the use of some detonating sub-
stance. With less certainty we may conjecture that the process
of compounding saltpetre with other ingredients was brought from
the remote East by the Saracens. Friar Bacon the first European
writer who describes the composition of gunpowder, derived his
knowledge of chemistry chiefly from the Arabian vnriters, who
were the originators of that science. Among the Chinese, the use
of deflagrating compounds for artificial fireworks is of very andeot
date. The employment of gunpowder for throwing bullets and
stones began in Europe about the commencement of the fourteenth
century; it was introduced by the Saracens in their Spanish wa»;
EEVIVAL OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. 16S
he first certain account of this change in warfare is in an
[mi history of the siege of Baza, by the Mng of Granada
1812). It is generally supposed that the G^enoese were the
rlio used powder in mines, to destroy walls and fortifications,
» siege of Seranessa (a.d. 1487). Bombs and mortars are
OhaTe been invented by Malatesta, prince of Rimini (a.d.
I ; and about the same time guns, or rather portable cannons,
t to be used by soldiers. Several circumstances prevented the
diate adoption of fire-arms and artillery in war : long habit
many prefer their ancient weapons; the construction of
ito was imperfect, they were made more frequently of wood
ifer, with iron hoops, than of solid metal, and were therefore
i to burst ; the gunpowder was of imperfect manufacture, and
antly failed in the field.
B last great invention that requires notice, is the polarity ot
ikgnet, and its application to the mariner's compass. There
m European nations that have not at some time or other
ited to themselves the merit of this discovery ; but few more
hlully than the Italians, whose claims, until of late days,
keen regarded as established. It was generally believed that
If^ntor of this precious instrument was Flavio Gioia, a native
Hilfi in the kingdom of Naples; and so precise were the his-
li^ that they specified the date of the inventicm as either A. B.
M 1903. A more careful examination of the subject showed
lie magnet's polarity had been noticed by Chinese, Arabian,
Vol European writers, long before the commencement of the
Mtath century, and hence it was fairly inferred that the
ilans could only claim the merit of introducing the invention
ittope, or at most of applying it to the purposes of navigation.
M obscurity continued to rest over the question, imtil the
ion of the late celebrated Orientalist, Klaproth was directed
^ subject. His work is so little known, that it will be
ihting to extract from it some particulars respecting this
kting point in the history of human civilisation,
i time when the polarity of the magnet was first known to
jKnese is lost in the night of antiqui^. But many centuries
I the Christian era, this property of the loadstone was applied
i construction of magnetic chariots. In the front of these
Mi, a doll, made of light materiaLs, was fixed upon a pivot,
^letic bar was passed through its extended arm, so contrived
I invariably pointed to the south, which was f hat kihleh, or
[ point to which the Chinese always turned when performing
Isvotions. The original use of these chariots was merely to
Mr the hffflehj a purpose to which the mariner's compass is
(b^ applied among Mohammedan nations.
J£2
164 PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
It is obvious that the step from the magnetic chariot to the
mariner's compass is not one of great difficulty ; but it was pro-
bably not made until the Chinese began to direct their attention
to navigation^ under the Tsin dynasty, that is^ between the middle
of the third and the conunencement of the fifth centuries of our
era. The mode in which the magnet, or magnetised needle, was
at first used by Oriental nations, is thus described by Bailak, an
Arabian writer of the thirteenth century: 'The captains that
navigate the Syrian sea, when the night is so dark that they can-
not see a star by which they might determine the cardinal points,
fill a vessel with water and shelter it from the wind. They then
take a needle, which they stick into a splinter of wood, of a reed
in the form of a cross, and throw it upon the surface of the water.
Afterwards they take a piece of loadstone, large enough to fill the
hand, which they bring near the surface of the water, and then
give the water a motion towards the right, by stirring it, so that
the water begins to revolve. Then they suddenly withdraw their
hands, and the needle certainly points north and south.' This
clumsy contrivance, called the ^ water compass,' was the first kind
used both in Asia and Europe, and the Coreans had not abandoned
it so late as the middle of the last century. We have no certain
account of the introduction of the compass into Europe, but writers
of the tweKth century, speaking of it, as far as we know for the
first time, mention it as a thing generally known. From this
sudden notoriety of the polarity of the magnet, it seems probable
that its use had been practically known to sailors before it engaged
the attention of the learned. Only one century previous to this
notoriety, we find that the northern navigators had no better ex-
pedient for directing their course than watching the flight of birds.
' The old northern sailors,' says a Danish chronicle, ' took a supply
of ravens for their guides ; they used to let these birds fly fiim
their barks when in the open sea ; if the birds returned to the ship
the sailors concluded that there was no land in sight, but if they
flew off, the vessels were steered in the direction of their flight'
The improvements in the compass were made by slow degrees, and
for the most important of them the world is indebted to English-
;nen.
Section HI. Progress of Commerce.
From the beginning of the fourteenth to the middle of the
fifteenth cent*ry the commerce of Europe was engrossed by the
Italian, Hanseatic, and Flemish cities. The Italians, but more
especially the Florentines, Genoese, and Venetians, possessed the
trade of the Levant. The Genoese exclusively monopolised the
commerce of the Black Sea, while the Venetians traded to the
PEOGRESS OF COMMERCE. 165
ports of Syria and Egypt. The jealousy of the rival republics led
to sanguinary wars, which ended in rendering the Venetians
supreme in the Mediterranean. The manufacture of silk, which
had been introduced into Sicily from Greece, spread thence into
yarious parts of Italy, but the largest factories were established at
Venice. This city supplied the greater part of Europe with silks,
spices, and Asiatic produce. Italian merchants, commonly called
Lombards, carried these goods into the northern and western king-
doms. The privileges and exemptions granted them by sovereigns,
enabled them to rule the traffic of Europe, and to become the
chief bankers and money-dealers in its different states.*
But aU the Italian free cities did not enjoy equal prosperity.
The states of Lombardy that had wrested their freedom from the
German emperors, soon fell into anarchy. Disgusted with the
advantages by which they knew not how to profit, some voluntarily
resigned their liberties to new masters, while others yielded to
usurpers. Thus the marquis of Este became lord of Modena and
Reggio (a. d. 1336) ; the house of Gonzaga gained possession of
Mantua, and the Visconti took the title of dukes of Milan (a. d 1395).
Florence retained its freedom and prosperity for a longer period.
It was not until the reign of the emperor Charles V. (a. d. 1530)>
that its republican form of government was abolished, and the
supreme authority usurped by the princely family of the Medicis.
The rivalry between the Genoese and Venetians led, as we have
already mentioned to long and deadly wars. The last and most
memorable of these was that called the war of Chiozza (a. d. 1379).
The Genoese, after having gained a signal victory over the Venetian
fleet, before Pola, in the Adriatic Sea, penetrated into the inmost
lagoons of Venice, and seized the port of Ohiozzo^ Had the Genoese
acted with more promptitude, Venice itself might have been taken,
its citizens, in the first moment of dismay, having resolved to quit
their country and seek refuge in Candia. The tardiness of the
Genoese admiral afforded them time to recover their courage.
Excited by a generous emulation, all classes vied with each other
to repel the invaders ; a new fleet was equipped in a very brief
space, Chiozza was recovered, and the Genoese received so severe
a check, that they were no longer able to contest the supremacy of
the sea with their rivals.
But these wars were not the only cause of the decline of Genoa j
the streets of the city frequently streamed with the blood of rival
* The street in London where) alls exhibited over pawnbrokers'
these foreigners were settled still re- shops are the arms of Lombardy,
tains the name of Lombard Street, and have been retained as a sign
and continues to be the chief seat of ever since the Lombards were tJtie
banking establishments. The three sole money-lenders of Europe.
166 PBOGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
factions; the nobles and commons fought for supremaeyy which
want of internal union prevented either party from matntaining ;
and at length, incapable of governing themselves, they sought ^e
protection of foreign powers. With their usual inconstancy, the
Genoese were ever changing masters ; twice they placed themselves
under the king of France, but after a short experience of French
rule, took for their sovereign, £rst the marquis of Montferrat, and
afterwards the duke of Milan. From the year 1464, Genoa re-
mained a dependency on the duchy of Milan, until 1628^ when it
recovered its former freedom.
Whilst the power of the Genoese republic was declining, that of
Venice was increasing by rapid strides. The permanence given to
its government by introducing the principle of hereditary aristocracy
saved the state from internal convulsions, while the judicious
establishment of commercial stations^ on the shores of the Adriatic
and Levant, secured and fostered its trade. The greatest advantage
that the Venetians obtained over their commercial rivals, arose horn
their treaty with the sultan of Egypt (a. d. 1343): by this alliance
the republic obtained full liberty of trade in the Syrian and
Egyptian ports, with the privilege of having consular establish-
ments at Alexandria and Damascus. These advantages boqd
enabled them to acquire supreme command over the trade of central
and southern Asia; the spices aad other commodities of India were
brought to Syrian markets, and the Genoese establishments on the
Black Sea soon became worthless. The territorial acquisitions of
the republic on the northern coasts of the Adriatic, formed a
powerful state about the middle of the fifteenth century. Daimai
and Friuli were wrested from the king of Hungary, and tbe most
important districts of eastern Lombardy conquered from the dukes
of Milan. But the power of the republic was less secure than it
appeared ; oppressive to its dependencies, it provoked hostile feel-
ings which only waited for an opportunity to blaze forth in open
rebellion ; insolent to all the surrounding powers, a secret jealousy
and enmity were excited, which, at no distant date, exposed Venice
to the resentments of a league too powerful to be resisted.
We have abeady mentioned the Hanseatic confederation of the
commercial cities in northern and western Europe, to protect their
trade from pirates and robbers. In the fourteenth century the
league became so extensive as to form an important power, t^at
claimed and received the respect of kings and emperors. The
maritime cities of Germany, from the Scheldt and the isles of
Zealand, all round to the borders of Livonia, joined the confederacy,
and several cities in the interior sought its protection, and admis-
sion into its alliance. The first known act of confederation was
signed by the deputies of the several cities at Cologne (a..d. 1364).
PEOGBESS OF COMMERCE. 167
All the allied cities were divided into four circle8> whose limits
and capitals varied at different periods ; the general administration
of the confederacy was intrusted to a congress which assemhled
triennially at Luheck. In the early part of the fifteenth century
jio lesa^than eighty cities sent delegates to the congi-ess, while
many others were connected with the league, though they had
not the power of sending delegates. Possessing the exclusive com-
merce of the Baltic Sea, the Hanse towns exercised the right of
making war and peace, and forming alliances; they equipped power-
ful fleets and waged successful wars with the northern sovereigns
that attempted to interfere with their monopoly, or limit the privi-
leges extorted from the ignorance or weakness of their predecessors.
The Hanseatic ships exported from the north seas, hemp, flaxi
timber, furs, leather, copper, com, and the produce of their
fisheries. Herrings, which were at that time taken in great
Abundance on the Norwegian coast, formed one of their most
lucrative articles of commerce, on account of the strictness with
which Lent was observed by the southern nations of Europe. The
produce of the north was exchanged in the western markets for
dotha, stuffs^ wines, drugs, and spices. The principal marts were
Bruges for the Flemish countries, London for England, Bergen for
Norway, and Novogorod for Kussia. In the close of the fifteenth
oentury, Novogorod was deprived of its republican constitution,
and the merchants migrated to Narva and Revel. Through the
Flemings the Hanseatic commercial cities were brought into con-
nexion with those of Italy ; the merchants of both met in the fairs
imd markets of Bruges, where the produce of the unexplored North
was exchanged for that of the unknown regions of India. The
progress of trade, and the intercourse thus effected between remote
nations, excited a love for maritime and inland discoTery, which
poon produced important changes, and aided the other causes that
necessarily led to the overthrow of the coi 'ederation.
Extensive as was the commerce of the Haoseatic cities, it
did not enjoy any long duration of prosperity. Having neither
produce nor manufactures of their own, the merchants had merely
a carrying trade, and the profits of simple barter ; consequently the
progress of industry, especially in countries where the useful aits
were cultivated, raised powerful rivals against them, and gave
eommerce a new direction. The establishment of stable govem-
nients was also injurious to a confederation, whose chief utility
was to afford protection against the piracy of northern adventurers,
•imd the robbery of turbulent feudal lords. When the limits of
imperial and feudatory power were finally determined, the German
princes gradually acquired the commanding influence that neces-
sarily results from territorial possessions^ and lecovered their
168 PEOGRESS OF CIVILrSATION AND INVENTIOK.
supremacy over the cities that had been withdrawn from thor
authority. This result was hastened by the internal dissendooB d
the confederate cities. Situated at considerable distances from
each other, their interests often dashed; and the congress, oconpied
in reconciling disputes^ could never direct its attention to /my plan
for colonial or territorial acquisition ; still less could they form a
systematic union of mercantile establishments in which the gain of
one necessarily insured the loss of the other. When the northen
sovereigns, enlightened on the advantages that their subjecte
might derive from commerce, assailed the privileges of the Hasse
towns by force of arms, many of the southern cities withdrew
themselves from the league ; and the northern confederates, thus
deserted, were unable to preserve their monopoly of the Baltic
trade, which they were forced to share with the merchants of
England and Holland. The confederacy thus gradually declined,
until, in the seventeenth century, this league, once so extenave,
included only the cities of Hamburgh, Lubeck, and Bremen.
In Flanders commercial prosperity was based on manufacturing
industry : the Flemings supplied the principal markets of Europe
with cloth in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; while,
through the commercial cities of Italy, they were enabled to send
the produce of their looms to the ports of the Levant^ and ex-
change them for spices, jewels, and other articles of Oriental
luxury. The wealth, the population, and the resources of these
cities rendered the earls of Flanders more wealthy, and scarcely
less powerful, than their nominal sovereigns, the kings of France.
When Edward L of England wished to recover Guienne, which
had been wrested from his predecessors, he sought the alliance
of Guy de Dampierre, earl of Flanders, and proposed to make the
earl's daughter, Philippa, his queen, being attracted both by her
personal charms and the enormous sums promised as her dowry.
So great was the lady's wealth, and such the importance attached
to the Flemish alliance, that Philip the Fair had recourse to the
most infamous treachery in order to defeat the marriage. As he
was the godfather of the young lady, he invited her and the earl
to pay him a visit in Paris ; but no sooner did they reach the
capital than he threw them both into prison, declaring that the
marriage of so wealthy an heiress could not be arranged without
the consent of the superior lord, and that the earl was guilty of
felony in promising the hand of his daughter to an enemy of the
kingdom. Guy escaped from prison, but his daughter died a
captive, under circumstances which led to a strong suspicion of
poison; the earl believing, or feigning to believe, the charge,
assembled his chief vassals at Grammont, and there,* in the pre-
B&uce of the ambassadors from England, Germany, and Lorraine,
PEOGEESS OF COMMEECE. 169
lie solemnly renounced his allegiance to the crown of France and
proclaimed war against Philip. Such was the commencement of
the long series of Flemish wars, which early assumed the form of
a desperate struggle between the mercantile and landed aristocracy.
Commerce and manufactures had brought together a large and
• wealthy population into the cities of Flanders ; the burgesses had
purchased charters of privileges from their respective lords, being
well aware that mimicipal freedom was necessary to commercial
prosperity j they began to rival their former masters in wealth and
influence, and they formed an order of their own, which was as
■ much respected in the trading conmiunities as the landed aristo-
cracy in tlie rural districts. The nobles soon began to view the
rapid progress of the merchants and traders with jealousy and
dislike. Not only were the lords grieved at the loss of their
power to extort discretionary imposts, but they regretted the
growth of that mercantile wealth which invested counting-houses
Jind stores with a political influence not inferior to that which had
liitherto attached exclusively to castles and estates. Municipal
immunities were found to be at variance with feudal privileges ;
neither the merchants nor the nobles would make such conces-
■flions as might form the basis of a reasonable compromise, and war
was thus rendered inevitable. Under the guidance of several
eminent and popular leaders, particularly the two Artaveldes, the
mercantile Flemings maintained a long and vigorous warfare
•gainst their earls and aristocracy, though the latter were sup-
ported by the whole power of France. At the close of the contest,
the trading cities preserved their immunities ; but in the course
*of the war capitalists had been ruined, artisans had fled to more
peaceful lands, the nobles were impoverished, and the peasants
leduced to despair. Though the Flemings continued to retain a
large share of their commercial and manufacturing supremacy,
they had the mortification to witness the rise of a powerful rival
in England, where the woollen manufacture gradually attained to
■ a greater height than it had reached even in Flanders.
Wool was the most important article of British produce ; and
the Plantagenet monarchs endeavoured to secure for themselves a
large share of the profits arising from all transactions connected
with it, by forbidding it to be bought or sold in any markets
azcept the staple towns. Considerable embarrassment was pro-
duced by frequent changes of the staple ; and, as these alterations
were usually made for the convenience of foreign purchasers, they
laid the foundation of that jealousy of foreigners which more than
any other cause had deranged the commerce of England. In 1261
ihe barons, enraged by the partiality which Heniy III. showed to
the French connexions of his queen, passed a law prohibiting the
170 PROaRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INTENTION.
exportation of wool, and ordaining that no woollen dotlis shodd
be worn except such as were woven at home. At this time, zaw
wool was the most important of British exports ; for in ld49 we
find the parliament remonstrating that the king, bj an illegil
imposition of forty shillings on each sack of wool exported^ had
levied £60,000 a-year, which would make the annual expoot ef
wool eleven millions of pounds avoirdupois. The medium price of
wool at the time was about £6 per sadk ; the whole aniiual viliie
of export £150,000. Such a sum was too important to the po-
ducers to be lost ; the law prohibiting exportation was either n-
pealed or permitted to Ml into desuetude, for about the middle of
the fourteenth century we find that wool constituted about thirteeo-
fourteenths of the entire exports of the kingdom.
Little doth was made in England, and that only of the coancit
description, until Edward HI., in the year 1381, invited weavefi^
dyers, and fullers to come over from Flanders and. settle in
England, promising them his protection and favour on eonditioa
that they would carry on their trades here, and teach tiie
knowledge of them to his subjects. The native wool-growers and
merchants looked upon these foreign manufacturers with veiy
jealous eyes, especially when Edward created a monopoly in thdr
favour, by prohibiting the wearing of any cloth but of English
fabric j and many petitions are preserved from the weav«n of
woollen stu£&, complaining of the heavy impositions laid upon
them by the corporations, in which the corporation of Biistol is
especially conspicuous. The manufacture, however, took root and
flourished, though it received a severe check from the jealousy of
parliament, which, by a very unwise law, prohibited the exp<»t ot
woollen goods, and permitted that of unwrought wool.
The land-owners of England were slow iu discovering that th«r
own prosperity was connected vrith that of the manufaeturiBg
interest. Their avowed object in legislation was to keep up the
high price of the raw material, the wool grown upon their estates;
and they had the honesfcy to say so in the preamble to a statute
(14 Rich. II. c. 4) prohibiting any denizen of England from buying
wool except from the owners of the sheep and for his own use.
This of course closed the home-market ; the grower, in his anxiety
to grasp the profits of the wool-merchant and retaUer in addition
to his own, found that he had turned oS his best customers ; and
we learn from a contemporary historian that the growers were
reduced to the greatest distress by having the accumulated stock
of two or three yeai-s left on their hands.
In the reign of Henry VI., not more than a century after its
introduction, the woollen manufacture had thriven so well, that it
was made to contribute to the revenue, and we were enabled to
PROGBESS OF COMMERCE. 171
compete with the nations by whom we had been taught it, on
^ual terms ; a reciprocity law^ passed at this time, ordains that
• if our woollen goods were not received in Brabant, Holland, and
Zealand, then the merchandise growing or wrought within the
•dominions of the duke of Burgundy shall be prohibited in England
Wider pain of forfeiture/ But there was already a growing
jealousy between the landed and manufacturing interests, caused
"by the rise in the price of labour, resulting from increase of
employment ; for so early as the reign of Henry IV. an act was
passed 'that no one should bind his son or daughter to an
ppprenticeship imless he was possessed of twenty shillings.' This
attempt to limit the supply of labour in manufacture would have
wholly destroyed the woollen trade, had not the first monarch of
the house of Tudor granted an exemption from the act to the city
of Norwich, and subsequently to the whole county of Norfolk.
The besetting error of legislators in this age was the belief that
gold and silver had some inherent and intrinsic value in
lliemselves, independent of their exchangeable and marketable
yftlue. They could not understand that the very essence of all
(Bommeree is barter, and that money only serves as a third term or
^mmon measure for ascertaining the comparative value of the
articles to be exchanged. Ignorant of this fact, which, by the
way, is not universally understood at the present day, they made
several attempts to compel foreigners to pay for English goods in
money. In 1420, a law was passed that no Englishman should
aeU goods to foreigners except for ready money, or other goods
delivered on the instant.
This was such a fatal blow to trade, that, in the very next year,
Die parliament was compelled to relax so far as to admit of the
isle of goods on six months' credit. With equal wisdom, and for
tile same perplexing reason, 'the prevention of the exportation of
toeasure oat of the country,' a law was passed prohibiting ' foreign
Merchants from selling goods in EngWd to any other foreigner.'
33iis precious piece of legislation did not, of course, prevent the
exportation of the precious metals, but it prevented the import of
BMrchandise and of bullion, a result which quite perplexed the
legislature, but did not lead to the abolition of the foolish law.
Hieniy YIL removed a still greater check to industry, by
iwtraining the usurpations of corporations. A law was enacted,
Jihat corporations should not pass by-laws without the consent of
Hiree of the chief officers of state ; they were also prohibited from
ioucting tolls at their gates. The necessity of legislative inter-
ference was proved by the conduct of the corporations of Gloucester
and Worcester, which had actually imposed transit tolls on the
8eyeni| — ^theae^ of course, were abolished. But the monarch was
172 PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
not superior to the prejudices of his age ; he affixed prices to.
woollen cloths; caps, and hats, which of course led to a detericnr-
ation of the sevend articles. Yet this law was highly extolled as
a master-stroke of policy by the statesmen of the day.
The parliaments in the reign of Henry VIII. were too busily
engaged in enforcing the king's caprices, by inconsistent laws
against heresy and treason, to pay much attention to trade and
commerce; One circumstance, however, connected with the
woollen trade deserves to be noticed. So greatly had our wooflen
manufactures increased, that the Flemings, no longer able to com-
pete with the English as producers, entered into the canyiog
trade, bought the English commodities, and distributed them into
other parts of Europe. In 1528 hostilities commenced between
England and the Low Countries ; there was an immediate stagnsr
tion of trade ; the merchants, having no longer their usual Flemish
customers, could not buy goods from the clothiers ; the dothien
in consequence dismissed their workmen, and the starving opera-
tives tumultuously demanded * bread or blood.' Shakspeare, whose
father was a woolstapler, and who therefore perhaps had heaid,
traditionally, as well as historically, of the sufferings of the
clothiers, makes it a ground of charge against V7olsey, though he
assigns another cause —
The clothiers all, not able to maintain
Tlie many to them 'longing, have put off
The spinsters, carders, fullers, weavers, who
Unfit for other life, compelled by hunger
And lack of other means, in desperate manner
Daring the worst to the teeth, are all in uproar,
And danger serves among them. — Henry VIIL Act L se. 2.
Wolsey scarcely knew how to account for these riots j he tried
force with the workmen, but hunger was stronger than the law ;
he threatened the clothiers unless they gave employment, but
wages could not be paid from empty purses ; at length he sent for
the merchants, and commanded them to buy cloth as usual I The
merchants replied that they could not sell it as usual ; and, not-
withstanding his menaces, would give no other answer. At length
the true remedy was discovered ; an agreement was made that com-
merce should continue between the two states even during war.
In the reign of Edward VI. an act was passed, by which every
one was prohibited from making cloth imless he had served an
apprenticeship of seven years ; this law was repealed in the first
year of Queen Mary, as the preamble of the act states, ' because it
had occasioned the decay of the woollen manufactory, and had
ruined several towns.' It was, however, subsequently restored by
Elizabeth.
The persecutions of the Protestants in France, but more espe-
PEOGEESS OF COMMERCE. 173
ciallj in Flanders, drove many eminent manufacturera to seek
lefuge in England, where they were graciously received by Eliza-
beth. She passed an act relieving the counties of Somerset,
Gloucester, and Wiltshire, from the old oppressive statutes, which
eonfined the making of cloth to corporate towns ; and trade, thus
bennitted to choose its own localities, began to flourish rapidly.
In a remonstrance of the Hanse towns to the diet of the empire,
in 1582, it is asserted that England exported annually about
900,000 pieces of cloth. In this reign, also, the English merchants,
instead of selling their goods to the Hanseatic and Flemish traders,
1>egan to export themselves ; and their success so exasperated the
Hanse towns, that a general assembly was held at Lubeck to con-
cert measures for distressing the English trade. But the jealousy
of foreigners was far less injurious to British commerce than the
monopolies which Elizabeth created in countless abundance. An
attempt, indeed, was made to remove one monopoly ; but the ex-
periment was not fairly tried, and its consequent illnsuccess was
used as an argument against any similar efforts. By an old patent,
the Company of Merchant Adventurers possessed the sole right
of trading in woollen goods. This monstrous usurpation of the
staple commodity of the kingdom was too bad even for that age
of darkness, and Elizabeth opened the trade; but the Merchant
Adventurers entered into a conspiracy not to make purchases of
doth, and the queen, alarmed at the temporary suspension of
trade, restored the patent.
. In the reign of James L it was calculated that nine-tenths of
the commerce of the kingdom consisted in woollen goods. Most
ti the clotbi was exported raw, and was dyed and dressed by the
Dutch, who gained, it was pretended, 700,000/. annually by this
manufacture. The king, at the instigation of Cockayne and some
other London merchants, issued a proclamation prohibiting the
exportation of raw cloths ; the Dutch and Germans met this piece
of legislation by prohibiting the importation of English dyed
doth } the consequence was, that our export trade was diminished
hy two-thirds, and the price of wool fell from seventy to eighty
per cent. The king was forced to recall his proclamation. In the
year 1622 a board of trade was erected, as the commission states,^
* to remedy the low price of wool, and the decay of the woollen
manufactory.' It is recommended to the commissioners to examine
f whether a greater freedom of trade, and an exemption from the
restraint of exclusive companies, would not be beneficial,' — a gra*
lifying proof of the progress of intelligence ; but unfortunately it
led to no practical result.
English commerce increased greatly xmder the Commonwealth,
because no regard was paid to the prerogative whence the charters
174? PEOGEESS OF CIVTLISATION AND INVENTION.
of tlie exdufiiTe oompanioB were derived, and beeaiue ihe pro^res'
of democratical principles led the country gentlemen to bind tiidr
sons apprentices to merchants. But with the Bestoration cams
tiie old rage for prohibitions and protections; two thousand manth
facturers from Warwickshire, and a great number from Herefoid-
shire, emigrated to the Palatinate ; and, in 1662^ the Company of
Merchant Adventurers declared, in a public memorial, that the
white-clothing trade had abated from 100,000 pieces to 11,0001
In 1668, however, some Walloons were encouraged to introduce
the manufacture of fine cloths, from Spanish wool only, witiioot
the admixture of any inferior wool ; but the progress of this bnndi
of trade was very slow, owing chiefly to our municipal laws, wMdi
pressed heavily on foreigners.
It could not be asserted that the slow progress of the wooDea
manufactory was owing to any want of le^uslative protection; the
exportation of wool, facetiously called owling in our old laws,
because it was principally carried on during the night, was pro-
hibited by many severe statutes. One, passed in the reign of
Elizabeth, makes the transportation of live sheep, or the embarking
them on board any ship, ' for the first offence, forfeiture of goods
and imprisonment for one year, and that at the end of the year the
left hand shall be cut off in some public market, and shall there
be nailed up in the openest place ; and the second offence is felony/
And this statute is the more remarkable when contrasted with
one then in force, by which it was enacted that ' no person shiU
keep or have more than two thousand sheep, on pain to psf a
heavy forfeit for every sheep above the nimiber.'
It is not necessary to bring down the history of our great staple
manufacture to a later date. What has been already stated it
suifident to illustrate the evils which arose from legislative inter-
ference with the natural course of commerce, industry, and capital
in past ages. It must not, however, be supposed that this impoMcy
was peculiar to England ; on the contrary, English statesmen were
generally in advance of the rest of Europe, and monopolies were
only supported by corrupt adventurers. The nobility and the
country gentlemen of England resisted the imposing of any unne-
cessary shackles on trade until after the Bestoration of Chitfles 11^
when the system of protection began to be introduced ; that system
derived its chief support from the short-sighted cupidity of the
manufacturers themselves, and the entire blame must not tiierefare
be attributed to the legislature.
The extension of English commerce during the period of history
we have been examining was very slow. The long wars of Eranes
and the civil wars of the Boses diverted attention from the peaceful
pursuit of trade. It VTas not until after the accession of Henry VIL
EEVOLUnONS OF GERMANY, FRANCE, AND SPAIN. 175
ttat England began to feel the impulse for maritime discovery
Old commercial enterprise which had hitherto been confined to
aoutlien] Europe ; the effects of this change belong, however, to a
Bore advanced period oi history^ and will come under con^' deration
ia a future chapter.
Sscnoir IV. Itevohdions tf Germany^ France^ and Spain.
"Fbok the period of the accession of Rodolph, the first emperor
if the house of Hapsburgh, the German empire began to assume
ft constitutional form^ and to be consolidated by new laws. Under
tbe goyemment of Albert, the son of Hodolph, an important
change took place in Switzerland, which, at the commencement of
the fourteenth century, was divided into a number of states, both
•scalar and ecclesiastical. The cantons of Uri, Schwitz, and
Und^rwalden were immediate dependencies of the empire, while
WOBOB minor adjoining districts belonged to the dukes of Austria as
•oonts of Hapsburg. Albert, anxious to found a new kingdom
jfar one of his younger children, resolved to annex the imperial to
fte Austrian cantons ; and in order to reconcile the hardy moun-
tmoeen that inhabited them to the intended yoke, he sanctioned
ind encouraged the cruel tyranny of their German governors.
Thiee brave men resolved to attempt the delivery of their country;
Ihey secretly engaged a number of partisans, who surprised the
hsperial forts on the same day (a. d. 1308), and accomplished a
Isolation without shedding a drop of blood. The Austrians
Mide s vigorous effort to recover their supremacy, but they suf-
isred a ruinous defeat at Morgarten (a. d. 1315), which secured the
iidep^ndeiice of the cantons. Their league of union was renewed
il Brmmeni in a treaty that became the base of the federate union
if Switserland. Five other cantons successively joined the former
ihree, and the Helvetic possessions of the house of Austria were
tooqjaexed by the Swiss during the interval in which the family of
#le eonnts of Hapsburg ceased to wear the imperial crown.
On the death of Albert (a.d. 1308), Henry VH., count of
JiUismberg, was chosen emperor; he was a brave and politic
fvince ; taking advantage of the pope's absence at Avignon, and
#le distracted state of Italy, he made a vigorous effort to restore
Ae imperial authority in the peninsula, and would probably have
jTCffHidfd but for his premature death.
The troubled reign of the Emperor Louis of Bavaria, his con-
tsst for the empire with Frederic, duke of Austria, and the wars
oeeasioiisd by his efforts to restrain the extravagant pretensions of
the popo^ 1^ ^6 German princes to discover the necessity of
htmag a written constitutian. On the accession of Oharles of
176 PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTIOK.
Luxemburg (a.d. 1347), the calamities of a disputed election to
the empire were renewed, and after a long series of wars and
disorders a diet was convened at Nuremberg, to form a code of
laws, regulating the rights and privileges of the spiiitoal and
temporal authorities. The result of the diet's labours was pub-
lished in a celebrated edict, called a Golden Bull, from the biiSaj
or seal of gold, affixed to the document (a.d. 1356). This buU
fixed the order and form of the imperial elections, and the
ceremonial of the coronation. It ordained that the crown should
be given by the plurality of votes of seven electors ; the prince
chosen emperor having a right to give his sufirage. The right of
Yoting was restricted to possessors of seven principalities, called
electorates, of which the partition was prohibited, and the regu-
larity of their inheritance secured by a strict law of primog^nitoze.
Finfdly, the Oolden Bull defined the rights and privileges of the
several electors, confirming to the princes of the Palatinate and
Saxony the administration of the empire during an interregnmn.
The next reign, nevertheless, evinced the danger of investing
the electors with such preponderating authority. Wenceelaii^
the son and successor of Charles, was a supine and voluptuous
prince, who paid little attention to the interests of the emjaie;
he was deposed by a plurality of votes (a.d. 1400), and Robert^
the elector palatine, chosen in his stead. Several of the states
continued to acknowledge Wenceslaus, but Robert is iisuaDy
regarded as the legitimate emperor. On Robert's death the
empire returned to the house of Luxemberg, Wenceslaus having
consented to resign his pretensions in favour of his brother
Sigismond, king of Hungary.
A cloud had long hung over the house of Hapsburg ; it was
dispelled by the fortunate union of Albert, duke of Austria^ with
Sigismond's only daughter, queen in her own right of Hungaiy
and Bohemia. On the death of his father-in-law (a.d. 1437) he
succeeded to the empire, but survived his elevation only two
years. Albert's posthumous son Ladislaus inherited his mother*8
realms j his cousin Frederic, duke of Stiria, was chosen emperor,
and from his posterity the imperial dignity never departed until
the extinction of his male issue (a.d. 1740).
The wise policy of Philip Augustus, in weakening the power
of the feudal aristocracy and re-uniting the great fiefs to the crowui
was vigorously pursued by his successors, but by none moi»
effectually than Philip the Fair. On the death of that monarch
(a.d. 1314), the king of France was undoubtedly the most power-
ful sovereign in Europe. Philip left three sons, who successively
reigned in France; — ^Louis, sumamed Hutin, Philip the Long,
and Charles the Fair j together with a daughter named Isabel|
DEVOLUTIONS OF GERMANY, FRANCE, AND SPAIN. 177
lUirried to Edward II., Ising of England. The three French
lovereigns just mentioned died without leaving male issue ; all
had daughters, but Philip and Charles asserted that no female
tould inherit the crown of France. The claims founded on this
law of succession were but slightly questioned ; and, on the death of
[Hiarles IV., Philip, count de Valois, the nearest male heir, ascended
lie throne without encountering any immediate opposition (a.d.
LB28). Edward in. of England resolved to claim the kingdom
a right of his mother Isabel, but the distractions of his native
lominions long presented insuperable obstacles to his projects.
9e even did liege homage to Philip for the province of Guienne,
knd fop several years gave no sign of meditating such a mighty
aiterprise as the conquest of France.
Aided by his son, the celebrated Black Prince, the English
BOnarch invaded France, and, contrary to the expectations of all the
Bontemporary princes, was everywhere victorious (a.d. 1338).
the war was maintained by Philip of Valois and his son and
iDCcessor John, with more obstinacy than wisdom ; the former
mffered a terrible defeat at Crecy, where Edward commanded in
person I King John was taken prisoner by the Black Prince at the
batde of Poitiers. But these achievements, however glorious,
cxmld not insure the conquest of France ; the country was too
htfge, the French nation too hostile to the invaders, and Edward's
ttmy too small, for such a revolution. Both sides became weary
rf the contest, a treaty was concluded at Bretigny, by which
lereral important provinces were ceded to Edward, on the condi-
tion of his renouncing his claims to the French crown (a.d. 1360).
iL troubled period of eight years followed, which can scarcely
be called a peace, although there was a cessation from open
boetilities.
There is scarcely a calamity by which a nation can be afflicted
ttnt did not visit France during this disastrous season. A foreign
toemy was in the heart of the kingdom ; the seditions of the
ttipital deluged its streets with blood ; and a treacherous prince
rf the blood, Charles the Bad, king of Navarre, was in arms
Igainst the sovereign authority. Famine devastated the land,
md a plague of unparalleled virulence (a.d. 1348) consummated
&e work of hunger and the sword. The companies of adven-
knrers and mercenary troops that remained unemployed during
Bie trace that followed the victory of Poitiers spread themselves
flfrer the land in marauding troops which there was no force to
irithstand. So little scrupidous were they, that they assailed the
pope in Avignon, and compelled the pontiff to redeem himself by
i ransom of forty thousand crowns. Finally, the peasantry of
teveral districts, impatient of distress, and maddened by the
178 PROGKESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTION.
oppressions of their lords, broke out into a fearful insarrectioo.
This was named the Jacquerie, from the contemptuous phrase
'Jacques bon homme/ applied by the nobles to their serfe, and it
was marked by all the horrors that necessarily attend a serrile
war, when men, brutalized by tyranny and maddened by wzongi^
seek vengeance on their oppressors.
Edward the Black Prince was entrusted by his father with tbe
government of the French provinces. A brave and adyentuionf
warrior, Edward was deficient in the qualities of a statesmtt.
Having exhausted his finances by an unwise and fruitlefls invi-
sion of Castile, he laid heavy taxes on his subjects, and they in
anger appealed for protection to their ancient sovereigns. Ohfidei
v., who had succeeded his father John on the throne of France,
gladly received this appeal; and summoned Edward to appetr
before him as his liege lord (a.d. 1368). Though enfeebled Ij
sickness, the answer of the gallant prince to this summons was a
declaration of war, but the tide of fortune was changed, and in a
few campaigns the English lost all their acquisitions in France,
with the exception of a few important sea-ports.
The weakness of Kichard 11. and the doubtful title of Hemy
rV., prevented the English from renewing the war with France
during their reigns ; indeed they would probably have been ex-
pelled from all their continental possessions, but for the deplonUe
imbecility of the French monarch, Charles VI., and tiie san-
guinary contests of the factions of Orleans and Burgundy. The
English nation had been long commercially connected with
Flanders, and when that country was annexed to the dachy of
Burgundy provision had been made for the continuance of trade
by separate truces. Encouraged by the promised neutrality, if
not the active co-operation, of the Burgundian duke, Henry V.
invaded France, and destroyed the flower of the French chivaliy
on the memorable field of Agincourt (a.I). 1415). The progreee
of the English was uninterrupted imtil the defection of the dnloe
of Burgundy (a.d. 1419), an event which seemed to threatea
Henry with ruin ; but that prince having been assassinated, lua
partisans in revenge joined the English, and this circumstanoe,
combined with the unnatural hatred of the French queen Isabel
to her son the Dauphin, led to the treaty of Troyes, by whidi
Henry, on condition of marrying the princess Catherine, was
appointed regent of France, and heir to the unconsciooB
Charles VI.
Notwithstanding this arrangement, Charles VII., on the death
of his father, was recognised as king in the southern provinces of
France, while Henry VI., the infant inheritor of the crowns of
England and France, was proclaimed in the northern provincea
REVOLUTIONS OF GERMANY, FRANCE, AND SPAIN. 179
mder the regency of his uncle the duke of Bedford (a.d. 1422).
At first the fortunes of Charles wore the most unfavourable
^earance^ and the siege of Orleans (a.d. 1428) threatened to
deprive him of hope. A simple country girl overthrew the
lower of England. Joan of Arc, called also the Maid of Orleans,
whether influenced by enthusiasm or imposture it is not easy to
determine, declared herself supernaturally inspired to undertake
file deliverance of her country. The English felt a superstitious
nre^ and lost their conquests one by one, and after a protracted
kot feeble struggle no memorial of the victories of Edward and
Benry remained but the town of Calais and an empty title
A.i>. 1449). The destruction of the French nobility in this long
eries of wars enabled Charles Vll. to mould the government
nto a despotic form, which was permanently fixed by his crafty
inocessor, Louis XI. Scarcely a less important change was made
n ecclesiastical affairs ; Charles VII. secured the Galilean Church
kam any future encroachment of the Holy See, by adopting
leiveral decrees of the council of Basle which were solemnly
Rtcognised in a national assembly held at Bourges (a.d. 1438),
Bid published under the name of the Pragmatic Sanction.
• Spain, during this period, continued to be divided into several
kingdoms; the Christian monarchies of Navarre, Castile, and
Aiagon could not be brought to combine against the Moors, whose
llrength was concentrated in the province of Granada. Alphonso
XL was the only Castilian monarch who distinguished himself in
Mur against the Mohammedans ; he defeated the combined forces
of fhe kings of Morocco and Granada, who had imited to besiege
ItanSBk (a. p. 1340), and by this victory not only delivered his own
ftimtieis, but acquired several important fortresses. The power of
Qbstile was weakened by the unexampled tyranny of Peter the
CfraeL He was dethroned by his illegitimate brother, Henry,
Qonnt of Tiastamare, but was subsequently restored by Edward
tfie Black Prince. Proving ungrateful to his benefactor^ he pro-
voked a second contest, in which he lost his kingdom and life.
Xhe kingdom now passed to the house of Trastamare (a.i). 1368),
■id for a considerable period enjoyed peace and prosperity. Though
Hie kingdom of Aragon was inferior in extent to that of Castile,
jet the advantages of a better government, and wiser sovereign,
with those of industry and commerce along a line of sea-coast,
Kndered it almost equally important. The Aragonese kings ac-
qnired Ihe kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Balearic Islands,
Sardinia, and the coimty of Barcelona, with several other Catalonian
districts. They would probably have struggled for the supremacy
€i Spain, had not the crowns of Aragon and Castile been united by
fhe marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella (a.d. 1469).
X 2
180 PROGEESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTIOK.
A similar event had nearly united the crowns of Castile and
Portugal. Ferdinand, Idnj? of Portugal, having no male heir;
wished to secure the succession for his daughter Beatrice, and
married her, at the early age of eleven, to John L, king of Castile*
On the death of Ferdhiand, his illegitimate brother, Don Juan,
commonly called John the Bastard, profiting by the national hatred
between the Portuguese and Castilians, usurped the regency. A
fierce war ensued ; the Castilians were overthrown in the decLdye
battle of Aljubarota (a. s. 1385), and John was proclaimed king
of the states of Portugal. The war was continued for several
years, but finally a treaty was concluded, by which the Castilian
monarchs resigned all claim to the inheritance of Beatrice.
SEcnoN V. The State of England and the Northern Kingdom
in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Ctmturies,
The inglorious reign of Edward II. in England was not on the
whole unfavourable to the progress of constitutional liberty. Alber
the weakness of the king and profligacy of his favourites had for
four years disgusted the nation, the barons compelled the monaich
to grant a reform of abuses in full parliament (a.I). 1311). The
Great Charter was renewed, and a fresh clause added, of too much
importance to be omitted even in this scanty page : — ^ Forasmuch
as many people be aggrieved by the king's ministers against right,
in respect to which grievances no one can recover without a com-
mon parliament ; we do ordain that the king shall hold a parlia-
ment once in the year, or twice, if need be.' But this security
against misgovemment proved inefficacious, the monarch was
deposed, and soon after murdered (a.d. 1327). Edward HI. was
proclaimed king ; and during his minority the administration was
intrusted to Queen Isabella. After the lapse of three years, Isa-
bella, who had disgraced herself by a criminal intrigue with
Mortimer, earl of March, was stripped of power, and her paramour
beheaded.
Edward III. rendered his reign illustrious, not more by his
splendid achievements in France than by the wise laws he sanctioned
in England. These, perhaps, must be ascribed less to the wisdom
of the sovereign than the increasing spirit of the commons. It was
during this long and prosperous reign that parliament established
the three fundamental principles of our government — ^the illegality
of raising money without the consent of parliament ; the neceasitr
of both houses concurring in any alteration of the laws ; and the
right of the commons to investigate public abuses, and impeadi
the royal ministers for maladministration. While in the midst of
victory, able to boast of his queen having conquered and captured
ENGTAND AND THE NORTHERN KINGDOMS. 181
ihe king of Scotland^ and of his son having taken the king of
France prisoner, Edward found his parliaments well disposed to
■econd all his efibrtS; and gratify all his wishes ; but when the
tide of fortune turned he had to encounter the hostility of a con-
gtitutional opposition, at the head of which appeared the prince of
Walea On the death of the heroic Black Prince, the royal
fiiYOurite^ the duke of Lancaster, became supreme in parliament :
but the fruits of the victories acquired by the patriots were not
lost, the statute law of the realm was improved, the administration
of justice reformed, and the great security of ministerial responsi-
Inlity established. English literature began to assume a settled
form ; Ohaucer, the great^t poet that modem Europe had pro-
duced, with the exception of Dante, flourished in the time of
Edward ; and the language had become so far perfect that it waa
xesolved to have all laws written in English instead of the Norman
French, which had been used since the time of the Conquest.
Hichard 11., son of the Black Prince, succeeded his grandfather
(a. d. 1377) ere he had attained his twelfth year. The early part
cf his reign was troubled by the contests of his ambitious uncles
for the regency, and by a dangerous insurrection of the peasants,
Iieaded by the celebrated blacksmith, Wat Tyler. About the same
time, the zeal with which Wickliffe denoimced the corruptions of
the Church provoked the hostility of the clergy; his doctrines
'irere condemned by a national synod (a.d. 1382), but they had
'taken fast hold of the people, and some of his disciples carried them
to the continent, more especially into Bohemia, where they con-
tinued to flourish in spite of persecution. The continued mis-
goyemment of Richard provoked a revolution while he was absent
n Ireland. Henry of Lancaster, duke of Hereford, enraged at the
forfeiture of his paternal estate, headed the revolt; Hichard on his
letum, finding the royal cause hopeless, siurendered to his haughty
^usin, and was forced to abdicate the crown (a. d. 1399).
^ The throne, thus vacated, was claimed by Henry, as representa-
tive of the duke of Lancaster, the third son of Edward III. ; but
'tihe hereditary right belonged to Edmund Mortimer, earl of March,
Hke lineal descendant of Lionel, duke of Clarence, second son of
Edward m. The Mortimer claim, at a later period, was vested
hy marriage in the family of York, descended from the fourth son
t3f Edward. Henry of Lancaster, however, was the idol of the
feople and the master of the parliament ; his demand passed with-
,0at question, and the first acts of his reign were well calculated to
make the nation acquiesce in his title. The eflbrts of some dis-
eontented nobles to restore Richard were crushed by the spon-
taneous exertions of the populace, and the death of the deposed
monarch seemed to secure tranquillity. !^ut the fourth Henry
182 PROGRESS OF CIVILISA.TION AND INVENTIOK.
found that discontented fiiends were the most dangerous enemiefl;
the proud Percys, to whom he owed his elevation, dissatisfied with
the scanty reward of their services, took up arms, and involved the
country in civil war. The Percys were overthrown at Shrewa-
bury (A.D. 1403), but their Welsh ally, Owen Glendower, main-
tained a stem resistance to the house of Lancaster for aevenl
years.
On the death of Henry IV., his son, Henry of Monmouth, as-
cended the throne (a.d. 1413). His dissipation in youth gavo
little promise of a glorious reign ; but immediately after his aoces-
sion he resigned all his follies, and having secured the tranquillity
of England by judicious measures of reform, he revived the dsims
of Edward to the throne of France. The glorious battle of Apn-
court left him master of the open field, the crimes and follies of
the French court gave him possession of Paris ; he died in the
midst of victory (a. b. 1422)^ leaving a son only nine months old
to inherit his kingdoms.
The early part of Henry VL*s reign is occupied by the series of
wars that ended in the expulsion of the EngUsh from their con-
tinental possessions. The loss of trophies so gratifying to popular
vanity alienated the affections of the nation from the house of
Lancaster, and this dislike was increased by the haughtiness d
Henry's queen, Margaret of Anjou, and the ambition of unprin-
cipled favourites. Kichard, duke of York, sure of succeeding to the
crown, would probably not have asserted the claims of his house,
but for the unexpected birth of a prince, on whose legitimacy
some suspicion was thrown. Encouraged by many powerful
nobles, he took up arms ; the cognisance of the Yorkists was 8
white rose, that of the Lancastrians a red rose } and the fierce
contests that ensued are usually called the ' wars of the roses.'
After a sanguinary struggle, marked by many vicissitudes of for-
tune, the white rose triumphed, and Edward IV., son of Richard,
duke of York, became king of England (a. d. 1461). Ten yean
afterwards his triumph was completed, and his rights soured, by
the battle of Tewkesbury, in which the Lancastrians were
decisively overthrown. Edward's reign was sullied by cruelty and
debauchery ; after his death (a. d. 1483) the crown was usurped
by Richard, duke of Gloucester, who endeavoured to secure
himself by the murder of his nephews. But the pretensions of the
Lancastrian family were now revived by Henry Tudor, earl of
Richmond, who claimed to be considered the heir to that house in
right of his mother ; and a proposal, favoured by the principal
nobles, was made for marrying this nobleman to the princess
Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV., and thus extinguishing the
hostility between the rival houses. At the decisive batde of
ENGLAND AND THE NORTHERN KINGDOMS. 183
Bosworth Field Kicliard was defeated and slain (a.d. 1485);
Henry became king of England, and his marriage with Elizabeth
vnited the rival claims of York and Lancaster in the Tudor family.
The wars excited by disputed successions in Scotland were
terminated by the transfer of the crown to the family of the
Stuarts (a.d. 1371). Under this dynasty, the royal authority,
which had been almost annihilated by the nobles, was greatly
extended, and judicious laws enacted for restraining the turbulence
of the aristocracy.
Intestine wars long harassed the northern kingdoms, but their
tranquillity was restored by Queen Margaret, commonly called the
Semiramis of the North, who united Denmark, Norway, and
Sweden into one state by the treaty of Calmar (a.d. 1397). The
predilection shown by Margaret's successors for their Danish
sabjects displeased the Swedes; and, on the death of King
Christopher without issue, they separated from the union, and
chose Charles Vni., one of their native nobles, to be their
•overeign. The Danes conferred their crown on Christian L,
eount of Oldenberg (a.b. 1450), and it has ever since continued in
"hoB family.
Daring the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Kussia was divided
onto several principalities, all of which were under the Mongolian
joke, while the western provinces had the additional misery of
hemg ravaged by the Poles and Lithuanians. A diversion in their
iavour was made by the Teutonic knights, who added several rich
ftoYjnceB to their Prussian dominions; but the oppressive
gOTemment of the order provoked insurrections, of which the
Poles took advantage, not only to regain their former provinces,
'bat also to acquire a considerable portion of Prussia, which was
ceded to them by the peace of Thorn (a.d. 1466). A great
xevolation in the Polish form of government roused the martial
cothosiasm, but proved fatal to the tranquillity of the Poles.
Cammir the Great, having no male issue, wished to secure the
locoession for his nephew, Louis, king of Hungary, and convoked a
general assembly of the states (a. d. 1339). The nobles, to whom
an appeal was thus made, took advantage of the circumstance to
lender the throne elective, and to place great restrictions on the
iDjal authority. When Louis of Hungary became king of Poland
(a.i>. 1370) he was obliged to swear fealty to a constitution which
dianged the monarchy into a republican aristocracy. On his
^death, the crown of Poland was given to Jagellon, duke of
lithoania (a. d. 1382), who renounced paganism on his election,
and established the Christian religion in his hereditary estates.
Though the crown continued elective, the Polish kings were
always chosen from the Jagellon family, until its extinction in the
sixteenth century.
184 PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTIOK.
Section VI. Rise and Proffreas of the Ottoman Empire,
Under the administration of the Palseologi^ the Bjzantine empire
sunk into hopeless decay; its history presents an unyaried pictun
of vice and folly j the weakness of the sovereigns, the exorbitant
power of the patriarchs and monks, the fury of theological
controversy, the multiplication of schisms and sects, would hare
ruined the state, without the external pressure of the Mohammedan
dynasties ; while, on the other hand, the triumph of these enemies
was delayed by the revolutions in the sultanies of Anatolia, and
the difficulties that the siege of a maritime capital presents to
hordes ignorant of navigation. But when the power of the
Ottoman Turks became consolidated, it was manifest that the &te
of Constantinople could not be averted, though its fall was long
delayed.
The power of the Ottoman Turks commenced in Asia Minor;
when the Mongolian hordes overthrew the Seljukian dynasties, a
small wandering tribe of Turks sought refuge in Ajmenia, but,
after seven years of exile, seized what they deemed a favourable
opportunity of returning to their ancient possessions. While
fording the Euphrates the leader of the Turks was drowned, and
the tribe was divided into four by his sons. Ertogrul, the warlike
leader of one division, resolved to return into Asia Minor: the
sultanies into which the Seljukian empire had been divided were
harassing each other with mutual wars, and could not be persuaded
to combine against either the Mongols or the crusaders, and
consequently a band of adventurous warriors might reasonably
hope to obtain fame and fortune in such a distracted country.
During ErtogruVs retrograde march, he met two armies engaged
in mortal combat, and, without giving himself the trouble of
investigating the cause, he took the chivalrous resolution of
joining the weaker party. His unexpected aid changed the
fortunes of the day, and he was rewarded by the conqueror, who
proved to be a chief of the Seljiikians, with the gift of a moun-
tainous district forming the frontiers of ancient Bithynia and
Phrygia.
Othman, or Ottoman, usually regarded as the founder of the
Turkish Empire (born A. D. 1258), succeeded his father Ertogrul
at an early age. He was fortunate in winning the friendship of a
young Greek, who embraced Islamism to please his patron, and
instructed the Turkish prince in the art of government. From
this renegade descended the family of Mikal-ogli,^ which so often
appears conspicuous in Turkish history. To the information
1 Sons of Michael.
AND PROGRESS OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 186
ltd from this Greek Othman owed the supremacy which he
ly acquired over his Seljiikian rivals;* aided by the
aiding emirs^ he wrested several important places from the
line empire, particularly Prusa, the ancient capital of
ida, which under the slightly altered name of Bnisa became
Btropolis (a. s. 1327). The new kingdom^ thus formed at
^^ense of the sultans of Iconium and the Greek emperors,
nd rapidly, and soon became one of the most flounshing
In the East.
hasif the son and successor of Othman, instituted the military
rf the Janissaries, to which the Turks owed the chief part of
iDCoess. Having greatly enlarged his dominions, he took
la of sultan, and began to expel the Greeks from Anatolia.
I Orkhan pursued his victorious career .in Asia, his son
IB crossed the Hellespont (a.d. 1368), captured Gallipoli,
as laid the first foundation of the Turkish power in Europe,
■rath, or Morad I., steadily pursued the policy of his father
Bother. He captured Adrianople (a.b. 1360), which he
hds capital. He subdued Thrace, Macedon, and Servia, but
■ Turkish historians, with
lAntal taste, cannot be satis-
Ih so simple an explanation,
Mjy attribute all Othman's
to a dream. This celebrated
svfaich evenr Turk learns by
|B his childhood, possesses
|h historical importance to
MM. It is only necessary to
1^ that Othman was at the
Uting a sheikh, named Ede-
1^ whose daughter he was
t but bad not at first been
r-gain the sheikh's consent,
puned that he was reposing
Ete couch as his host ; sud-
moon seemed to emerge
tali's person, and, after
f^tained wondrous size and
F", to enter his own breast.
' there sprung from his
Immense tree, rapidly ac-
^Iresh size and foliage, until
■dies shaded Europe, Asia,
■ml Beneath this tree the
iM of Caucasus, Atlas, and
Imdsed their snowy summits,
■Md to be the columns that
id this leafy tent. From
Mi of the tree sprang the
pli« Euphrates, the Nile, and
mnbe, whose waters were
liidden by forests of masts.
luurvests covered the plains,
waving woods crowned the hills
and mountains, countless rivulets
meandered through groves and gar-
dens. Through the vistas of the
valleys were seen cities adorned
with domes, cupolas, towers, obe-
lisks, and columns. The crescent
gleamed from every spire, and on
every minaret was heard the voice
of the muezzin, summoning the
faithful to prayer ; the sound
mingling with the notes of count-
less nightingales, and the chattering
of millions of parrotit, whose gay
plumage exhibited all the colours of
the rainbow. These birds sported
gaily through the immense mass of
fbliage, and seemed not to fear the
leaves, though they were long,
pointed, and glittering like sabres.
Suddenly a wind arose, and directed
the points of all these sabre-like
leaves towards the principal cities
of the universe, but especially
towards Constantinople, which,
placed at the junction of two seas
and two continents, resembled a
noble diamond, set between two
sapphire stones and two emeralds,
forming the precious jewel of the
ring of a vast dominion, that circled
the entire world ; a ring destined to
grace the finger of Othman as soon
as he woke.'
186 PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INVENTIOIT.
fell at the battle of Cossoya, one of the most sangaixuuy eyer
fought between Turks and Christians.
Bayezid, or Bajazet, sumamed Ilderm^ or the Thnndareri put an
end to all the petty Turkish sovereignties in Asia Mjnor; lie
subdued Bulgaria, and maintained his conquest by the deciaive
victory that he gained at Nicopolis over Sigismond^ king of
Hungary. His pride, cruelty, and bravery have been celebrated
in history and romance. Southern Greece, the countries along the
Danube, and the western districts of Thrace, submitted to hii
arms j the empire of Constantinople was bounded by the waUa of
the city ; even this was held blockaded for ten years, and miat
eventually have fallen, had not Bayezid's attention been directed
to Asia by the rapid successes of a conqueror more savage tlitt
himself.
Timiir Lenk, that is to say, 'lame Timiir,' a name commooly
corrupted into Tamerlane, was the son of a Jagatay Turk, wh«
ruled a horde nominally subject to the descendants of Jen|^
Elian. His amazing strength, exhibited even in early infan^i
procured him the name Timiir, which signifies 'iron.' While y«t
a youth, he resolved to deliver his country &om the Mongohan
yoke, but at the same time, aware of the Mgh value placed upon
illustrious birth, he pretended to be descended from Jenghiz, and
on this account he is frequently called Timiir the Tartar ; and this
error was perpetuated in India, where his descendants, the em-
perors of Delhi, have been denominated the Great Moguls. He
was as indefatigable a student as he was a warrior. His published
works prove that he was deeply read in the Kordn and its most
approved commentaries, and that he was familiar with Persian
literature and the Mongolian traditions and laws. On account <£
his literary acquisitions, he is a great favourite with the Oriental
writers j ' he knew,' they say, ' how to rule the world he had
subdued ; while other conquerors left no trace of their empire, he
imprinted a character on many succeeding generations.' IEb
empire was rapidly extended from the wall of China to the Medi-
terranean Sea ; India in the South, and Russia in the north, ac-
knowledged his sway, and his determination to wrest Syria and
Anatolia from the Turks compelled Bayezid to abandon ttie siege
of Constantinople, and hasten to the defence of his Asiatic do-
minions (a.s. 1403). Before he could reach the scene of action,
Sivas (the ancient Sebaste) had fallen, and the bravest warriors of
the garrison had been buried alive by the ferocious victor. Da-
mascus soon after shared the same fate ; it was laid waste by fiie
and sword, and a solitary tower alone remained to mark the spot
that had once been a city.
Bayezid encountered Timiir in the plains of Angora; he wis
RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 187
defeated with great losS; and taken prisoner. The Turkish his-
torians assert that Bayezid was confined by the conqueror in an
iron cage, but Timiir's own companion and historian asserts that
tiie conqueror treated his captive with great lenity ; all that can
l>e determined with certainty is that the sultan died in the enemy's
eamp. Timur himself fell a victim to disease, while preparing to
invade China (a.d. 1405) ; his empire was dismembered after his
death, but Baber, one of his descendants, established an empire at
Delhi, in northern India (a.d. 1626), which, sadly shorn of its
ancient glories, subsisted almost to our own times under the name
of the Empire of the Great Moguls.
After a long fratricidal war, Mohammed I., the youngest of
•Bayezid's sons, succeeded to his father's dominions. The greater
part of his reign was spent in restoring the Ottoman power in
•western Asia, and thus the Byzantines obtained a respite, by which
■ihej knew not how to profit. Morad, or Amurath II., raised the
glory of the Ottomans to a height greater than it had yet attained.
Me deprived the Greeks of all their cities and castles on the
£uzine Sea, and along the coasts of Thrace, Macedon, and Thes-
j/bIj ; he even stormed the fortifications that had been constructed
across the Corinthian isthmus, and carried his victorious arms into
iiie midst of the Peloponnesus. The Grecian emperors acknow-
ledged him as their superior lord, and he, in turn, accorded them
protection. Two Christian heroes arrested the progress of the
wltan, John Hunniades, and George Castriot, better known by
^e name of Scanderbeg. Himniades was a celebrated Hungarian
general; he drove the Turks from Servia, whose possession they
eagerly coveted, and long impeded their progress westward. Scan-
,derb^ was an Albanian prince, possessing a small district in the
JBpirote moimtains, of which Croia was the capital At the head
of a small but faithful band of followers he long resisted the mighty
annies of the Ottomans, and compelled Amurath himself to raise
tiie siege of Croia.
At length Mohammed 11. ascended the Ottoman throne (a.d.
1451), and from the moment of his accession directed all his efforts
to the capture of Constantinople. At the head of an army of
tiiree hundred thousand men, supported by a fleet of three hundred
•ail, he laid siege to this celebrated metropolis, and encouraged
Ids men by spreading reports of prophecies and prodigies that
portended the triumph of Islamism. Constantine, the last of the
Gbeek emperors, met the storm with becoming resolution; sup-
ported by the Genoese, and a scanty band of volunteers from
western Europe, he maintained the city for fifty-three days, though
tiie fanaticism of his enemies was raised to the highest pitch by
fheir confident reliance on the favour of heaven, while prophecies
188 PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION AND INYENTION.
of impending woe and desolation proportionally depressed the
inhabitants of Constantinople. At length, on the 20th of May,
A.s. 1453, the Turks stormed the walls, the last Constantino fell
as he boldly disputed every inch of ground, multitudes of his sub-
jects were massacred in the first burst of Turkish fuiy, the rest
were dragged into slavery, and when Mohammed made his trium-
phal entry he found the city a vast solitude. A shade of melan-
choly mingled with the pride of victory; he vented his feelings
in a quotation from the Persian poet Sadi^ —
The spider spreads the hangings of the palace of CsBsar,
The owl relieves the sentry on the towers of Afrasiilb.
The conquest of Constantinople was followed by that of Servia,
Bosnia, Albania, Greece, including the Peloponnesus, several
islands of the Archipelago, and the Greek empire of Trebizond.
AU Christendom was filled vnth. alarm ; Pope Pius II. convened
a council at Mantua, for the purpose of organising a general
association to resist the progress of the Turks (a.d. 1459). A
crusade was preached by his order; and he was about to imdertake
the command of the expedition in person, when death cut short
his projects at Ancona (a.s. 1464). The Christian league was
dissolved by his death, the Turks were permitted to establiah
their empire in Europe, and this received a great increase both
of security and strength by the voluntary tender of allegiance
which the khans of the Crimea made to Mohammed IL (I.B.
1478). After the first burst of fanaticism was over, Mohammed
granted protection to his Christian subjects, and by his wise
measures Constantinople was restored to its former prosperity.
189
CHAPTER VI.
THE REFORMATION, AND COMMENCEMENT OF THE
STATES-SYSTEM IN EUROPE.
Section L Progress of Maritime Discovery*
rE rapid progress made in maritime discovery at the close of
the Middle Ages camiot be fully appreciated without some
knowledge of the state of navigation among the ancients, and we
gladly avail ourselves of some valuable articles on the subject in
the Saturday Magazine, to give an outline of the amount of mari-
time science and information which existed before the use of the
mariner's compass was introduced into Europe.
The scene of the earliest known navigation was the Medi-
terranean Sea^ which naturally seemed to the ancients to be
situated m the middle of the earth ; as is implied by its name. As
navigation advanced only at a creeping pace, and as but a small
amount of fresh experience was laid up by one generation for the
benefit of the next, it took very many ages to explore the Medi-
terranean, Tyrrhene, Hadriatic, and ^gean seas. The people of
Tyre and Sidon, the Phoenicians, 'whose merchants were princes'
(Isaiah xxiii 8), were among the first whom the spirit of com-
merce and the desire of gain had made dissatisfied with what had
hitherto seemed the natural limits of marine excursion. The
great antiquity of the Phoenicians, however, is perhaps the reason
why our knowledge of them is obtained from incidental and
isolated accounts; but on the naval spirit and industry of
Carthage, a colony planted by the former power, in the ninth
century before Christ, the light of history, owing to their connec-
tion with the Romans, is more abundantly shed. With the
Carthaginians, perhaps, had originated the idea of quitting the
Mediterranean by the straits of Gades (now Gibraltar), of
sailing southward, circumnavigating the coast of Africa, and then
returning northward by the Red Sea, towards the I^evant, or
eastern side of the Mediterranean. This notion seems to have
been cherished for ages, as the prime, the crowning enterprise,
long thought of and debated; but which only a solitary few, at
190 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
long intervals of time, determined to try to effect. Knowing only
a portion of the globe, and conceiving that portion to be upon an
extended plane, those who held a voyage from Crete to Egypt to
be a signal proof of naval courage, and who had never reached
Sicily or Africa but by a wayward tempest, or by shipwreck, and
who were then objects of wonder at having escaped the dangers
of Scylla and Charybdis and the Syrtes, those wave-bound prisons
of mariners, might justly have feared for themselves, in being
conmiitted to unknown waters, and in tracking shores which the
reports of others who had never seen these regions, no less than
their own fears, had represented as the abode of every horror. In
short, distance from the land seems to have alarmed all the
ancients ; who, upon every occasion, when quitting sight of the
shore, fancied they saw, as Homer tells us : —
A length of ocean and unbounded sky.
Which scarce the sea-fowl in a year o'erfly.
The general truth of these observations is corroborated by the
story of the Pamphylian, who was taken prisoner and canied to
Egypt. He was kept as a slave for a very long time at a town
near one of the mouths of the Nile, where Damietta now stands.
Being frequently employed to assist in maritime business, he con-
ceived the idea of committing himself to the mercy of the waves
in a sailing boat, in order that he might once again behold his
native country. Having provided himself to the best of his means
and ability, he set sail, resolving rather to perish in the bosom of
the old ocean than to remain longer in captivity. He traversed
the vast expanse of waters which lies between Egypt and Asia
Minor, and arrived safely at Pamphylia. From tMs bold and
imusual adventure he lost his original name, and received the
appellation of MononauteSj gt the lone sailor j which for a long time
after, we may presume, served his family as a patent of nobility.
We have the foregoing account from Eustathius, the commentator
of Homer.
The first great natural assistance given to ancient navigation was
the discovery of the trade-winds which prevail in the Indian Ocean.
These winds, from the dependence which may be placed upon
them, and from their consequent value to commerce, are called
trade-ioindSj and extend about thirty degrees on each side of the
Equator. These winds, however, maintain their regularity only
in the open ocean. Where land breaks the continuity of the liquid
surface great changes are produced; but the most remarkable
effects exist in the Indian Ocean. The third degree of south lati-
tude is a boundary between distinct winds ; from that boundary
northward to the continent of Hindostan a north-east wind blows
from October to April^ and a south-west from April to October;
PROGEESS OF MARITIME DISCOVERY. 191
vhile, from the same boundary to the tenth degree of south lati-
tnde, a north-west wind blows from October to April, and a south-
east &om April to October. These winds are called monsoons.
The term monsoon, or, according to the Persian, monsum, implies
masons ; and is so used in the Malayan, moossin, and other dialects
of the East. The breaking up of the monsoons, or periodical changes
in the direction of these winds, divides the Indian year into two
ieasons. The monsoons on the eastern side of the globe originate
with the trade- winds, of which they are a species, produced by
the diversity of continent and islands, seas and gulfs, in this part
^f the world. These periodical currents of winds, if noticed by
the Airabians, were not made to serve their maritime trade, until
the keener enterprise of the West, in the person of Hippalus (about
A.D. 50)^ first ventured to steer off from the Arabian and Persian
•hores, and to be impelled eastward in the direction of the wind.
A voyage which had consumed years now took up but as many
months, by a conformity, on the part of the mariner, with this
invariable law of nature. The means of profit and information
were now less monopolised, and the West became better acquainted
with the inhabitants and produce of the East.
The navigation to the Indies was continued, when the Komans
became masters of Egypt, by sailing down the Arabian Gulf, and
from thence to the mouth of the river Indus, along the southern
toasta of Arabia and Persia. But, under the Emperor Claudius,
this route was so far changed that after emerging from the Arabian
(3iilf they cut across the Indian Ocean directly to the mouth of the
indua, by noticing, and taking advantage of, the time when the
•outh-west trade-wind blew. The trade was carried on with India
tints : — ^the goods that were intended for the Indian markets were
cmbariced at Alexandria, and carried up the Nile, a distance of
about three hundred miles, to Coptus. From the latter place the
merchandise was carried on camels' backs to Berenice, a distance
of two hundred and sixty miles. Berenice is on the shore of the
Bed Sea, and there the goods were warehoused imtil the proper
•eaaoQ for sailing, when they steered for the opposite coast of
Arabia, and took on board frankincense and other Arabian com-
modities, giving arms, knives, vessels, &c., in return. They now
|iroceeded on their voyage to India ; whence, having disposed of
their articles of merchandise, and got gold, spices, drugs, &c., in
letuzny they pursued their voyage back to Alexandria, where they
usually arrived about December or January. The Indian com-
modities were conveyed from Berenice to Alexandria in the way
before described ; and a fleet sailed annually from the latter place
to Home; conveying the treasures of the East.
When the Constantinopolitan empire was formed, by the divi-
192 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
sion of the Roman empire into two parts, their maritime and com-
mercial arrangements were very extensive. One fleet, called the
fleet of Alexandria, was destined to bring to the capital the pro-
duce of India, as conveyed to the Bed Sea. Anotiier fleet "was
that of Seleucia, on the river Orontes, by which an intercourse
was kept up with Persia and higher Asia. A third fleet was star
tioned in the Euxine, or Black Sea, }>y which intercourse could be
kept up with the nations of Eastern Europe, while at the same
time a check could be given to the ravages of the undvilised tribes
of Scythia.
When the Arabians, in their rapid career of conquest, had
reached the Euphrates, they immediately perceived the advantages
to be derived from an emporium situated upon a river which
opened on the one hand a shorter route to India than they bad
hitherto had ; and on the other an extensive inland navigatioQ
through a wealthy country j and Bassora, which they built on the
west bank of the river (a. s. 636), soon becjome a great commerdal
city, and entirely cut off the independent part of Persia from the
Oriental trade. The Arabian merchants of Bassora extended their
discoveries eastward, far beyond the tracks of all preceding navi-
gators, and imported directly from the place of their growth many
Indian articles, hitherto procured at second-hand in Ceylon ; which
they accoTdingly furnished on their own terms to the nations of
the Westc
The Saracens continued for a long period to maintain a naval
superiority in the Mediterranean, whether for the purposes of war
or of commerce. Some of the Saracenic vessels were of a very
large size. About the year 970, Abderrahman, the Saracen sultim
or caliph of the greater part of Spain, built a vessel larger than
had ever been seen before in those parts, and loaded her with in-
numerable articles of merchandise, to be sold in the eastern regicms.
On her way she met with a ship carrying despatches from the
emir of Sicily to Almoez, a sovereign on the African coast, and
pillaged it. Almoez, who was also sovereign of Sicily, which he
governed by an emir or viceroy, fitted out a fleet which took the
great Spanish ship returning from Alexandria loaded with rich
wares for Abderrahman's own use. Many other instances of ships
of a. very large size having been constructed by the Saracens
have been recorded ; and it has been suggested as probable that it
was in imitation of those ships that the Christian Spaniards intro-
duced the use of large ships, for which they were distinguished
down to the time of Philip the Second, whose ' Invincible Armada'
consisted of ships much larger than the English vessels opposed to
them.
As an instance of the depressed state of human knowledge
PEOGRESS OF MARITIME DISCOVERY. 193
during the middle ages, we may mention that Oosmas, a Greek
merchant of the sixth century, wrote a book called Christian Topo-
graphy, the chief intent of which was to confute the heretical opinion
of the earth being a globe, together with the pagan assertion that
there was a temperate zone on the southern side of the torrid zone.
He informed his readers that, according to the true orthodox system
of cosmography, the earth was a quadrangular plane, extending
four hundred courses, or days' journeys, from east to west, and
exactly half as much from north to south, enclosed by lofty moun-
tains upon which the canopy or vault of the firmament rested :
that a huge moimtain on the north side of the earth, by inter-
cepting the light of the sim produced the vicissitudes of day and
night ; and that the plane of the earth had a declivity from north
to south, by reason of which the Euphrates, Tigris, and other
rivers running southward, are rapid ; whereas the Nile, having to
run up-hilly has necessarily a very slow current. Many otiier
specimens of the blending of truth and fiction, or of the propagation
c^ the latter alone, may be afforded. Masudi, who wrote a general
history of the known world in the year 947, compares the earth to
a bird, of which Mecca and Medina are the head, Persia and India
the right wing, the land of Gog the left, and Africa the tail.
• The Feroe Islands had been discovered, about the latter end of
the ninth century, by some Scandinavian pirates ; and soon after
this Iceland was colonised by flok, the Norwegian. Iceland, it
appears, had been discovered long before the Norwegians settled
there ; as many relics, in the nature of bells, books in the Irish
language, and wooden crosses, were discovered by Flok, in dif-
ferent parts of the island : so that the Irish seem to have first set
foot upon that isle. The Icelandic chronicles also relate, that
about these times the Northmen discovered a great country to the
west of Iceland, which account has by many been deemed apocry-
phal *, for, if true, they must be held to be some of the early dis-
eoverers of America; but it seems pretty clear that they made
their way to Greenland in the end of the tenth century. The
■ettlement effected in Greenland, though comprising but a small
population, seems to have been very prosperous in these early
times in mercantile affairs. They had bishops and priests from
Europe ; and paid the pope, as an annual tribute, 2,600 pounds'
weight of walrus-t^eth, as tithe and Peter's pence. The voyage
from Greenland to Iceland and Norway, and back again, consumed
five years ; and upon one occasion the government of Norway did
not hear of the death of the bishop of Greenland until six years
after it had occurred : so that the art of navigation after all must
have been in these times but at a very low pitch.
The description left of Greenland by the old navigators agrees
0
19* THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
with modem observations. It presents the same dreaay i^pdtf-
ance now as it did then ; looking like a vast bat irregular aoctuno-
lation of rocks and glaciers. £kiormou8 icebergs floated along the
coast, and filled every inlet. The awfiil appearance of nature in
these parts of the world, its remoteness, and ihid horrors €i the
stormy seas which intervened, soon made it, in the popular belief
a land of wonders. The surrounding sea was said to be inhabited
by marine giants of both sexes ; and the terrific icebergs, as they
moved along, were reported to be guided by invisible hands. It
was also said that a man named HoUur G^it walked from Nonray
to Greenland on the ice, conducted by a goat The northern
horrors just alluded to are well portrayed by the poet of the
Setuons: —
III fares the bark with trembling wretches charged;
That, tossed amid the floating fragments, moora
Beneath the sheher of an icy isle,
While night o'erwhelms the sea, and horror looks
More horrible. Can human force endure
Th' assembled mischiefs that besiege them round?
Heart -gnawing hunger, fainting weariness,
The roar of winds and waves, the crush of ice,
Now ceasing, now renewed with louder rage,
And in dire echoes bellowing round the main.
Greenland, of which we have spoken above, seems to have been
called Viinland, or Finland, from the vines which were discerned
by the early discoverers as abounding in this coimtry ; and, in
fact, wild vines are found growing in sdl the northern districts of
America. A German, one of the party who first went to these
coasts, having observed the vines, and having shown his companions
the use of this vegetable produce, they agreed to call the place
Vimlandj or land of wine. Some Normans landed there soon after,
and saw there many of the natives, of diminutive stature, whom
they called dwarfs, in canoes covered with leather. These persons
appear to have been the Esquimaux, with whom they carried on
a very lucrative trade in furs. This Viinland is, however, supposed
by some persons to have been Newfoundland ; and if soy America
must in reality have been discovered as much as five centuries
before Columbus sailed so far as the West Indies ; and, moreover,
it has been supposed that the many traditions about the West,
existing in the time of Columbus, first set him to prosecute the
idea of discovering another world.
The impulse which the cultivation of ancient learning had re*
ceived in Europe was greatly strengthened by the downfall of
Constantinople, which dbrove the most learned Greeks into exile :
they sought refuge for the most part in Italy, and the libraries of
that peninsula became the depositories of what remained of the
ancient treasures of Greek literature and philosophy. It was hence
PROGKESS OF MARITIME DISCOVERY. 195
iiiat the finit stimulus was given to the study of the Greek Ian-
fpoLBLge in Europe. Translators of the Greek authors, and com-
mentators upon them, began to multiply, and the rapid progress
of the art of printing, gave an additionid impulse by the facilities
it afforded for the dissemination of learning. The belief that there
existed a fourth division of the globe, larger than any fet dis-
eovered, had been encouraged by some of the ancient philosophers ;
•nd it had been so generally received, that two eminent fathers of
the Church, St Augustine and Lactantius, had zealously laboured
to refute the theoiy, believing it inconsistent with the doctrines of
Christianity. With the cultivation of Greek literature the old
notion was revived, and at the same time the rapid development
of the spirit of maritime discovery induced several nations, but
especially the Portuguese, to search out new and unknown lands.
The Canaries, or Fortunate Islands, were the first discovery that
followed the introduction of the mariner's compass ; they became
known to the Spaniards early in the fourteenth century, but no
regular attempt was made for their colonisation. Various circum-
ttances prompted the Portuguese to exert their energies in maritime
affairs ; after the expulsion of the Moors they engaged in fierce
wars with the Mohammedan states of Africa, and thus kept alive
tiie martial and adventurous spirit of the nation.
In the early part of the fifteenth century John I., king of Portugal,
had effected some very important conquests over the Moors ; in
which he had been very materially assisted by his son, Prince
Beniy, who also took delight in the more solid glories of learning
and sdenoe. Upon the cessation of hostilities he retired to the
promontory of St. Vincent, and lived at the sea-port town of
Sagrea^ which he had himself founded, where he cultivated the
adenoe of astronomy, for the purpose of making it available to the
Banner in guiding him over the ocean, when he had quitted the
aanile tracking of the shore. He in fact established a naval
aoUege and an observatory. He engaged to his assistance all the
test-informed men of his time ; and the point to which he espe-
cially directed his attention was the practicability of sailing round
Africa, and of thus reaching the East Indies. His ideas respecting
tiie accomplishment of this project had been awakened, or enlarged,
by intercourse with some well-informed persons at Ceuta, a town
on the coast of Africa, opposite to Gibraltar, whither his father's
Biilitary proceedings against the Moors had carried him. Prince
Henry did not live to see the whole of his views accomplished ;
hat tiie many minor discoveries which were effected under his
anspicee laid up a fund of knowledge and experience for succeeding
navigators to profit by. Maps were formed under his superintendence ;
Vy which means all the geographical knowledge respecting the
o2
196 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
earth was brought together ; the different parts were marked out;
and the rocks, coasts, and quicksands to be ayoided, were all noted
down.
The southernmost cape of Africa known in those days was Cape
Non, which received ^ns appellation from the idea that it was
utterly impossible to get beyond this cape; but the officers of
Henry haying at length doubled it, found Cape Bojador in the
distance, whose violent currents and raging breakers, running for
miles out to sea, seemed a barrier which could not even be ap-
proached with safety by mariners who were in the habit of coasting
along the shore. Secmien now began to be more alarmed than
ever at the idea of the torrid zone, and to propagate the noti(m
that he who should double Cape Bojador would never return. At
length this awful cape was passed by; the region of the tropica
was penetrated, and divested of its fancied terrors; the river
Senegal was observed, the greater part of the Afiican coast, from
Cape Blanco to Cape de Verde, was explored, and the Cape de
Verde and the Azore Islands were discovered ; the Madeiras and
Canaries had been visited for the first time by the Spaniards some
years before. This prince died in the year 1473, after having ob-
tained a papal bull, investing the crown of Portugal with sovereign
authority over all the lands it might discover in the Atlantic, to
India inclusive.
Many of the inhabitants of the African coast felt the moat
curious sensations of astonishment and fear at the sight of tiie
vessels, which probably for the fii*st time had reached their shoiea
When they first saw the ships under sail, they took them for large
birds with white wings, that had come from foreign countriee;
but when the sails were furled, they thought, from the great
length of the vessels, and from their swimming on the water, that
they must be great fishes. Others believed that they were spirits
that wandered about by night, because they were seen at anchor
in the evening at one place, and would be a hundred miles distant
by the morning. Not being able to conceive how anything human
could travel more in one night than they could in three days,
they set down the European vessels for denizens of another
world.
The passion for discovery languished after the death of Prince
Henry ; but it was revived by his grand-nephew. King John H,
with additional ardour (a. d. 1481). In his reign the Portuguese
for the first time crossed the equator, and for the first time beheld
the stars of a new hemisphere. They now discovered the error of
the ancients respecting the torrid zone, and practically refuted the
common belief that the continent of Africa widened towards the
aouth; for they beheld it sensibly contracting and bending towards
PBOGEESS OF MARITIME DISCOVERY. 197
the east. The hopes inspired by this discovery induced the Por-
tngnese monarch to send ambassadors in search of an miknown
potentate supposed to profess the Christian religion, by whose aid
h was hoped that a lucrative trade might be opened with India,
and the progress of the true faith secured.
Early in the thirteenth century reports were prevalent in Europe
of some great potentate in a remote part of Asia having embraced
the Christian faith.^ In consequence, the pope, Innocent IV.,
sent two monks to preach Christianity in the Mongolian court
(a.d. 1246); and soon after, St. Louis of France employed the
eelebrated Bubruquis to seek the aid of the supposed Christian
•overeign^ who was commonly called Prester John, in the crusade
that he contemplated. A Venetian named Marco Polo visited the
most distant parts of Asia (a.d. 1263), and penetrated to Pekin,
the capital of China. He was followed by Sir John Mandevile,
an Ei^lishman (a.d. 1822), and the narrations of both, though
deficient in accuracy of information, contributed to keep alive
the feelings of interest and curiosity which had been excited in
Europe.
While the Portuguese monarch's emissaries were engaged in a
hopeless search for Prester John, and the more useful task of
mvestigating the state of navigation in the Indian seas, an expe-
dition from Lisbon, conducted by Bartholomew Diaz, had actually
disooyered the southern extremity of the African continent (a.d.
1483). A storm prevented him from pursuing his career; he
■amed the promontory that terminated his voyage ' the Cape of
Tempeste; ' but King John, aware of the vast importance of the
discovery, called it ' the Cape of Good Hope.' At the same time
letters were received from the monks who had been sent overland,
in which the practicability of reaching the East Indies, by sailing
found Africa, was strenuously maintained. But the intervening
&00Yery of America diverted, for a season, men's minds from
Has Toyage round Africa ; and fifteen years had nearly elapsed
More Yasco de Gama, having rounded the Cape of Good Hope,
neached India, and anchored in the harbour of Calicut, on the
eoast of Malabar (May 22, a.d. 1498).
Among the adventurers who fiocked to join the Portuguese
from every part of Europe was Christopher Colon, or Columbus,
ft natiye of G^noa. The narrative of Marco Polo had led to the
lielief that the extent of India^ beyond the Ganges, was greater
tiian that of the rest of Asia ; and as the spherical figure of the
1 It is probable that this error ceremonials of the Buddhist priests
arose from some inaccurate descrip- bear a striking resemblance to those
tkm of Baddhism. Most persons of the Boman Catholic Church.
an aware that the rituafs and
198 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUEOPB.
earth was known, he was naturally led to the condiiflion that
India might more easily be reached by sailing westwards than Ij
the long and tedious circumnayigation of Africa. CoIhiuIhu
made proposals sucoessiyely to the republic of Genoa, the king of
Portugal, and the king of England, but was mortified to find tliat
his plans were regarded as visionary, finally, he applied to tiie
Spanish court, then rising rapidly into importance, in consequence
of the union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile by the ncuuniige of
Ferdinand and Isabella. After enduring many disappointment^
Columbus obtained a small armament through the favour of the
queen ; and, on the Srd of August, a. d. 1402, sailed from the little
port of Polos, in Andalusia, to discover a New World.
Duiing the long voyage the crew of Columbus was more than
once on the point of mutinying and turning back in despair; at
length land was discovered on the 12th of October, and Columbus
found himself soon in the midst of that cluster of islands, which,
in consequence of the original error about the extent of India, weie
named the West Indies. On his return to Europe he was received
by Ferdinand and Isabella with the highest honours ; a second ex-
pedition was prepared to extend and secure his discoveiies^ but
before his depai'ture application was made to the pope for a giant
of these new dominions ; and Alexander YI. shared all the un-
known regions of the earth inhabited by infidels between the
Spaniards and Portuguese, fixing as their common boundary an
imaginary line drawn from pole to pole one hundred leagues to
the west of the Azores, and assigning all west of that line to Spain,
and all east of it to Portugal.
Columbus continued to extend his discoveries after his retain to
the New World, but he was destined to experience the ingratitude
of Spain, and the injustice of mankind. The suggestions of envious
courtiers caused him to be sent to Europe a prisoner and in fetters;
the new continent, instead of being called after the first discoverer,
derived its appellation from Americo Yespuccio, who visited the
southern part in company with a Spanish captain, and gave bis
name to the countries ^at he depicted on his chart.
The Spaniards conquered the islands and the countries of Ame-
rica as fast as they discovered them. Excited by the thirst oi
gold, which the New World offered them in abundance, they
were guilty of the most shocking cruelties that ever disgraced
humanity. Millions of the unfortunate natives were massao^d or
drowned; those who were spared were compelled to work fe
their savage masters in the mines : and, to supply this drain of
the population, negroes were imported from the coast of Africa,
and the execrable slave-trade firmly established. The principal
conquests of the Spaniards in America were made during the
PROGRESS OF MARITIME DISCOVERY. 199
reign of the Emperor Charles V. It was in his reign that Cortez,
with a mere handful of followers^ subdued the great empire of
Mexico (a.d. 15&1), whose last sovereigns, Montezuma and
Guatimozin, were put to death with cruel tortures. Peru was
conquered by Pizarro, its last monarch, Atabalipa, put to death;
and in both countries the massacres of the natives were equally
ruthless and desolating.
The colonies established by the Spaniards differed from those
founded by other European countries. The Spaniards were not
a trading people ; indeed ignorance of the advantages that result
irom commerce has been always a characteristic of that nation ;
the precious metals were the only objects that excited their atten-
* tion, and for a series of years they devoted themselves, exclu-
sively to the exploration of mines. It was only when the
augmentation of the European population and the diminished
returns from the mines forced their attention to agriculture, that
they began to pay any attention to raising colonial produce. In
consequence of these restricted views, the commercial and colonial
policy of Spain was always the worst possible ; it was fettered
by monopolies, exclusions, and restrictions equally injurious to the
parent state and its dependencies ; and perseverance in this erro-
neous system is a principal cause of the low state of civilisation
both in Spain and its late colonies.
The success of the Portuguese in India, though not so brilliant,
was scarcely less important than that of the Spaniards in America.
Albuquerque conquered Goa (a.d. 1511), and made it the capital
of the Portuguese establishments in the !E)ast; the leagnes of the
Mohammedan princes for the expulsion of the Christians from
India were defeated, and the Molucca islands brought xmder
subjection. But the Portuguese generally abstained from terri-
torial acquisition ; they contented themselves with commercial
establishments along the coast, whence they exported from India
direct the articles which the Venetians had formerly supplied to
Europe through Egypt and the Levant. This event made a com-
plete revolution in the commercial condition of Europe ; the trade
which had been confined to the Mediterranean now traversed the
Atlantic, and the western nations hasted to share in its gains.
With characteristic indolence the Portuguese carried the Indian
produce no farther than Lisbon, where it was sold to foreign mer-
ehants for transmission to other countries. The Dutch engaged
yery eagerly in this carrying trade, and foimd it so lucrative,
that they took the earliest opportimity of excluding the Portu-
Siese themselves from all share in their conmierce by depriving
em of their colonies.
Not only the Dutch, but the English and French, were xoua^
200 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUEOPB.
to emulation by the success of the Spaniards and Portugoese. In
the reign of Henry YII., Cabot, a mariner of Bristol, made some
considerable additions to maritime knowledge 4 but it was not
until the time of Elizabeth that reg^ular plans of colonisation were
formed. Sir Walter Raleigh founded the first English colonji
Yiiginia (a.d. 1584), in North America; and in the following
reigns the number of these establishments was greatly increased
by the multitudes whom religious disputes, and the intolerance of
the Stuarts, drove from England to seek 'freedom to worship God'
in the wilds of America. The Canadas, and the West Indian
islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe, were colonised by tiie
French; but many circumstances combined to prevent the
progress of French colonisation, and the Dutch and English
may be considered as the only rivals and successors of the
Spaniards and Portuguese.
The growth of commerce in this age was very rapid, but there
appeared still room for further discoveries, until ike globe was
circumnavigated by Magellan (a.d. 1521). From that time the
attention of nations began to be directed more to completing old
discoveries than to the search for new lands. The navies of
Europe began to assume a formidable aspect; manufactures
multiplied, and states previously poor became suddenly lich.
Sovereigns and governments began to direct their attention to
commerce, justly persuaded that mercantile wealth is equally the
source of the prosperity and glory of nations.
Section n. Origin of t?te JReformaUon,
The extravagant claims of the popes to temporal, as well as
spiritual, supremacy had been early resisted by several men of
learning, whose works did not die with them, but continued to
exercise a powerful though secret effect on succeeding generations.
This repugnance to ecclesiastical domination was greatly increased
by the scandalous schism at the close of the fourteenth and
commencement of the fifteenth century. Two or three popes
reigning at the same time, excommunicating each other, appealing
to the laity for support, compelled men to exercise the right dt
private judgment, and directed attention to the ecclesiastical
abuses that had produced such unhappy fruits. The partial
reforms, or rather attempts at reformation, made by the councils
of Constance and Basle, spread the disrespect for the Romish See
still wider; their deposition of contending pontifis taught men
that there wa3 a jurisdiction in the Church superior to the papal
power; their feeble efforts to correct abuse brought the evils
prominently forward, and left them unamended to meet the public
ORIGIN OF THE REFORMATION. 201
gaze. WMle this dissatisfaction was hourly increasing, the papal
chair was filled successively hy two pontifis, whose career of
unscrupulous guilt was sufficient to disgust even a less enlightened
age. Alexander VI., profligate in private life, cruel and ty-
rannical in his public administration, was followed by Julius II.,
whose overbearing ambition led him to trample on the very
semblance of justice and moderation when they interfered with
the success of his schemes. The sovereigns of France and
Germany, alternately engaged in active hostilities with these
heads of the Church, could not prevent their subjects from
ridiculing papal pretensions and assailing papal vices. Nor were
these scandals confined to the papacy ; the licentious lives of the
ecclesiastics in Italy and Germany, the facility with which they
. obtained pardons for enormous crimes, their exorbitant wealth,
their personal immunities, and their encroachments on the rights
of the laity, had given just offence^ and this was the more
sensibly felt in Germany, because most of the great benefices
were in the hands of foreigners.
"When men^s minds were everywhere filled with disgust at the
existing administration of ecclesiastical affairs, and eager for some
diange, a dispute, trivial in its origin, kindled a fiame which rapidly
spread over Europe, destroying all the strongholds that had been
80 laboriously erected for the security of tyranny and superstition.
Leo X., on his accession to the papal chair, found the treasury of
theOhuTch exhausted by the ambitious projects of his predecessors,
Alexander YI. and Julius IL Generous in his disposition, magni-
ficent in his habits of life, eager for the aggrandisement of his
fiunily, the princely Medici, he could not practise the economy
necessary to recruit his finances, and he therefore had recourse to
•very device that his ingenuity could suggest to raise money for
tiie sple^idid designs he contemplated. Among these he introduced
an extensive sale of indulgences, which often had proved a source
of large profits to the Church.
The origin of indulgences has been sometimes misrepresented by
eminent writers ; and as we have now reached a period when their
abuse produced the most decisive blow which the papacy had yet
leeeived, it will be necessary to take a brief survey of their history.
Li the primitive church it was customary that those who had com-
mitted any heinous offence should perform a public penance before
the congregation, ' that their souls might be saved in the day of the
Lord; and that others, admonished by their example, might be the
more a&aid to offend.' In process of time rich and noble offenders
"became anxious to avoid public exposure, and private penances or
a pecuniary compensation, were substituted for the former discipline.
On this change the popes founded a new doctrine, which, combined
202 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPR
with the commutation of indulgences, opened the way for profitable
traffic. They taught the world that all the good works of the
saints, over and ahoye those which were necessary to their own
justification, are deposited, together with the infinite merits of
Jesus Christ, in one inexhaustihle treasury. The keys of this were
committed to St. Peter and his successors the popes, who may open
it at pleasure, and by transferring a portion of this superabundant
merit to any particular person for service in a crusade, or for a sum
of money, may convey to him either the pardon of his own sins, or
a release for any one in whose happiness he is interested irom the
pains of purgatory. These indulgences were first issued to those
who joined personally in the expeditions for the recovery of the
Holy Land ; subsequently, to those who hired a soldier for that
purpose ; and finally, to all who gave money for accomplishing
any work which it pleased the popes to describe as good and pious.
Julius n. bestowed indulgences on all who contributed to the
building of St. Peter's at Home, and Leo continued the traffic under
the same pretence.
Different orders of monks derived considerable profit from the
sale of indulgences, and great indignation was excited among the
Augustinian friars when the monopoly of the trade in Germany
was granted to their rivals the Dominicans. Tetzel, the chief
agent in retailing them, was a man of licentious morals, but of an
active spirit, and remarkable for his noisy and popular eloquence.
He executed his commission with little regard to discretion or
decency, describing the merits of the indulgences in such a blas-
phemous style of exaggeration, that all men of sense were disgusted,
and even the ignorant began to suspect the worth of pardons for
sins dispensed hymen whose profligacy was notorious and disgusting.
The princes and nobles of Germany were enraged by witoessing
the large sums of money drained firom their vassals to support the
lavish expenditure of the pontifi^, and many of the higher ranks of
the clergy viewed with jealousy the favour displayed to the
monastic orders.
Mabtin Littheb, an Augustinian friar of great learning and
indomitable courage, had prepared his mind for the noble career on
which he was about to enter by a diligent study of the Holy Scrip-
tures; the question of indulgences early engaged his attention, and
he convinced himself that the Bible, which he began to consider
as the great standard of theological truth, afforded no countenance
to a practice equally subversive of faith and morals. Having
vainly sought to procm-e the suppression of the traffic from the
archbishop of Magdeburg, he appealed to the sufirages of men of
letters, by publishing ninety-five theses condemning the sale of
indulgences as contrary to reason and Scripture.
OEIGIN OF THE EEFORMATION. 203
Luther comprehended the state of public opinion ; his publica-
tions were the manifestation of the revolt of reason against autho-
nty, rather than a distinct exposition of theology. Ilis perseYerance,
the very violence and grossness of his invectives showed that he felt
human reason to be on his side. If he had not at first calculated
the effects of his first blow, he showed great sagacity in measuring
its results. Numerous echoes responded to his summons ; Zuin-
glius began to preach in Switzerland, and the reform engaged the
attention of enlightened men of letters ; among others, the cele-
brated Erasmus pointed out corruptions in the Church, though he
had not moral courage enough to separate himself from it openly.
The papal party accepted Luther*s challenge, fully believing that
the slightest exertion of power would at once stifle opposition (a.d.
1520). Leo X.y too indolent to examine the state of the public
mind, and too proud to trouble himself about the opposition of a
simple friar, published a bull condemning the theses of Luther as
heretical and impious (a.d. 1520). The bold reformer at once
declared open war against the papacy, by appealing to a general
council, and burning the bull of excommunication in presence of a
vast multitude at Wittemberg. He treated the volumes of the
canon law with the same contumely, and justified his action in a
manner more offensive to the advocates of the papacy than the
action itself. Having collected from the canon law some of the
most extravagant propositions with regard to the plenitude and
omnipotence of the papal power, as well as the subordination of all
secular jurisdiction to the authority of the holy see, he published
these, with a oonunentary, pointing out the impiety of such tenets^
and their evident tendency to subvert all civil governments. From
this time, the interest of princes were even more deeply engaged
on the side of Luther than popular reason. In fact, as a Romish
historian has remarked, 'policy became more Lutheran than reli-
gious reform ! ' Sovereigns naturally received with enthusiasm
a doctrine which placed at their disposal the enormous wealth of
the clergy, and gave them mastery over more riches than could be
acquired by the most formidable force or the most sanguinary
combats. Thus, in Gennany, Luther, who could at first with
difficulty procure a horse when he had to appear before the diet^
soon counted princes and entire nations among his disciples.
Frederick the Wise, duke of Saxony, wa3 the first among his con-
verts, and the most powerful of his protectors.
It is assuredly very inconsistent in the advocates of the Romish
Church to expose the mixture of secular and religious motives in
th<9 active supporters of the Reformation ; for the abuses which
they oondenmed were equally temporal and spiritual Indeed, it
IB very obvious that the corruptions of doctrine were introduced tQ
20* THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
6erve the political purposes of the papacy; a sordid desire for
wealth was the foundation of the system of indulgences^ which
first provoked the revolt; an ambitious lust fo^ power had caused
the subversion of the independence of the national Churches,
which it was the earliest object of the Lutherans to restore.
Politics influenced the enemies of the papacy only because Popeiy
was itself a political system, and because in the struggle that
now menaced its existence it had at once recourse to secular
auxiliaries.
John Calvin, another reformer, was a follower of Zuinglius ; he
was a native of Noyon, in Picardy, and began first to publish his
opinions at Paris (a.d. 1632). Driven from thence by the perse-
cutions of the French clergy, he removed to Strasburg, where he
soon rendered himself so eminent by his talents as a writer and a
preacher, that the name of Calvinists was given to that section of
the reformed congregations which had at first been named Zuin-
glians.
Calvin was subsequently invited to Geneva, where he organised
a system of church-government on the presbyterian principle ; and
under the pretence of providing for purity of morals and the con-
tinuance of sound doctrine, he contrived to transfer no small por-
tion of the power of the state to the ecclesiastical courts.
Unfortunately, these courts soon began to emulate the tyranny of
the Komish inquisition, by persecuting those who differed from the
standard of religious opinion adopted by the Church of Geneva,
and an unfortunate Spaniard, named Servetus, was burned alive
for publishing some obnoxious doctrines on the subject of the
Trinity. The differences which arose between the followers of
Luther and Calvin, the obstinacy manifested by each of the parties
in support of their own opinions, and the virulence with, which
they inveighed against each other, sadly checked the progress of
the Reformation, and produced a reaction which enabled the
court of Home to recover several countries which it had very
nearly lost.
Although much of the early success of the Beformation was
owing to the general progress of intelligence and scientific research,
there were many among the leading reformers who viewed aU
secular learning with suspicion, and thus enabled their adversaries
to identify their cause with ignorance and barbarism. This was a
serious injury to the progress of improvement, for there were many
like Erasmus who would gladly have joined ia overthrowing the
monkish corruptions which had defaced Christianity, but who
were alarmed at the prospect of being subjected to the bigoted
caprice of the presbyteries and other bodies which began to claim
and exercise a power of control over opinion in most of the cities
NEGOTIATIONS AND WAES EESPECTING ITALY. 205
li^ere the refonned religion was established. Whether the
Bomish Church would have displayed a greater spirit of conces-
aon, had the reformers exhibited more moderation in their
demands for innovation, may be questioned, but it is certain that
the papal party could not have made so effectual a struggle as it
maintained, had it not taken advantage of the violence, the impru-
dence and the dissensions of the reformers themselves.
The rapid progress of the new doctrines was attempted to be
checked by the diet of Spires (a.d. 1529), where a decree was
promulgated, forbidding any innovation until the assembling of a
general coundL Luther's friends and followers protested against
this decree, and hence the professors of the reformed religion
received the common name of Protestants. Soon afterwards they
presented a general confession of their faith to the emperor at
Augsburg; but unfortunately this celebrated document showed
that there were irreconcilable differences between the Calvinistic
and Lutheran sections of the reformers.
As the struggle, once begun, was maintained with great obsti-
nacy, it soon led to serious political convulsions. Half of Ger-
many, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Prussia, and Livonia, adopted
the doctrines of Luther, as taught in the confession of Augsburg.
England, Scotland, Holland, and Switzerland embraced the tenets
of Zuinglius and Calvin ; while efforts to establish similar piinci-
ples were made in France, Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland.
The means taken to end the controversy only aggravated the evil.
It was proposed that the entire matter of dispute should be sub-
mitted to a general council, but it was impossible to determine the
basis on which it should be convoked. After much delay, a council
was assembled at Trent (a.d. 1545), whose sittings were continued
with some interruption for several years ; but when, at the close
(a.d. 1568), its decrees were published, they were rejected not only
by the Protestants, but by many Catholic princes, especially the
Idng of France, as subversive of the independence of national
churches, and destructive of the lawful authority of sovereigns.
Sxcnoir UL History of the Negotiations and Wars
respecting Italy,
Js the midst of the civil and ecclesiastical changes produced by
the progress of intelligence, a system of policy for regulating the
external relations of states was gradually formed, and attention
began to be paid to what was called the Balance of Power ; that
is, the arrangement of the European states in such a system that
the weak might be protected from the aggressions of the powerful
and the ambitious. This system first began in Italy, which was
206 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
divided into a number of petty states ; its chief members were tlie
duchy of Milan and the republic of Venice in the north; the
republic of Florence and the states of the Church in the centre;
and the kingdom of Naples in the south. Encouraged by the
distracted condition of the peninsula, foreigners were induced to
attempt its conquest ; and the kings of France and Spain, and the
emperors of Germany, made this country the battle-field of iiTal
ambition.
After the expulsion of the house of Anjou from Italy, it was
established in the petty principality of Provence, where the graoee
of courtly refinement and light literature were more seduloualj
cultivated than in any other part of Europe. Rend, the last
monarch of the line, the father of the heroic English queen,
Margaret of^njou, is justly described by Shakspeare as bearing
.... the style of king of Naples,
Of both the Sicilies and Jerusalem,
Yet not so wealthy as an English yeoman ;
he had the prudence not to hazard his security by mingling in the
troubled politics of France and Burgundy, but amused himself and
his subjects by floral games and poetic contests, heedless of the
sanguinary wars that convulsed the surrounding states. His cha-
racter, so strangely contrasted with that of the artful Louis XL of
Fnmce, or the danng Charles the Bold of Burgundy, is thus faith-
fully portrayed by Sir Walter Scott : —
Av, this is he who wears the wreath of lays
Wove bv Apollo and the sisters nine.
Which Jove's dread lightning scathes not He hath doft
The cumbrous helm of steel, and flung aside
The yet more galling diadem of gold ;
While, with a leafy circlet round bis brows.
He reigns the king of lovers and of poets.
As Ben^ had no male heirs, the succession to Provence was
claimed even in his lifetime by the king of France and the duke
of Burgundy, but neither felt disposed to injure the harmless
monarch, or deprive him prematurely of his little kingdom. They
seem to have regarded him with mingled feelings of compassion
and contempt, and to have allowed him to play a farce of mimic
royalty as a child is permitted to amuse itself with toys. But
when Charles of Burgundy began to exhibit those signs of im-
patient ambition which brought him to an untimely end, Bend
believed it right to place himself under the protection of the king
of France, whom he recognised as his heir. On Rent's death
Provence became a county under the French crown, and was justly
deemed a most important acquisition (a.d. 1481). But with the
substantial dominions of the house of Anjou, the French monarcbs
NEGOTIATIONS AND WARS RESPECTING ITALY. 207
•Iso inherited its pretengions to the thrones of Naples and Sicily.
Louis XL was far too prudent a monarch to waste his strength on
the assertion of such illusory claims ; he directed his attention to
a far more useful object, — the establishment of the royal power
over the great vassals of the crown, sereral of whom possessed
greater real power than the nominal sovereign. The means em-
ployed by Louis were base and dishonourable, but the object at
which he aimed was beneficial to his country, for the clashing
pretensions of the feudal lords of France with the king and each
other kept the country in a perpetual state of civil war, which
not only rendered the monarchy weak but the country miserable.
Charles VIII. departed from his father's prudent line of policy ;
instead of securing the royal authority at home, he directed his
attention to foreign conquests, and resolved to assert his imaginary
claims to the throne of Naples. He was instigated also by the
invitations of Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan, and by some
romantic hope of overthrowing the Turkish empire. A French
army crossed the Alps (a.d. 1494), and marched through the
peninsula without encountering any effective opposition. Rome,
Florence, and Naples submitted to the conqueror, and Ferdinand 11.
fled to the island of Ischia. But during the progress of the expedi-
tion, a league was formed for the expulsion of all foreigners from
Italy ; the Venetian republic was the moving power of the con-
federacy, in which the pope and even Sforza were associated,
while tiie Emperor Maximilian and Ferdinand of Spain, secretly
&voured its designs. Alarmed by the coming danger, Charles,
leaving half his army to protect his conquests, led the remainder
back to France. He encountered the Venetians on his road, and
gained a complete victory ; but the forces he left in Italy were
compelled to capitulate, and Ferdinand H. was restored to the
throne of Naples.
Charles VUL was bent on vengeance, and the distracted state
of the peninsula gave him hope of success ; but before he could
eomplete his arrangements for a second expedition, he was snatched
away by a sudden death (a.d. 1498). His cousin the duke of
Orleans, who succeeded him as Louis XH., in addition to his claims
on Naples, inherited from his grandmother a title to the duchy
of Milan. But before undertaJdng such an extensive conquest,
he deemed it necessary to strengthen himself by alliaQces with the
lepublic of Venice, Pope AJexander VI., and Ferdinand, king of
Spain. Thus strengthened, he found little difficulty in overrunning
Itely ; Milan was captured (a.d. 1499), and the turbulent Sforza,
after vain attempts to re-establish his power, died in captivity.
Naples was next attacked ; Ferdinand of Spain, who had entered
into alliance with the Neapolitan monarch Frederic, and his
208 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE,
invader Louis, secretly detennined to cheat both. By his aid the
kingdom of Naples was subdued, and the dupe Frederic impri-
soned for life (a.b. 1501) ; but no sooner was the conqiiest
completed, than the Spaniard prepared to secure the whole
of the spoiL Aided by the abilities of Gt>nsalY0 de CordoTa,
Perdinand succeeded in expelling the French from Naples } and
the kingdom was finally confirmed to him on his marriage irith
Germaine de Foix, niece of Louis XU., with whom the French
monarch, on the receipt of a million of ducats, assigned oyer his
claims on Naples as a dowry (a.d. 1605).
Italy, howeyer, was soon destined to haye its tranquillity dis-
turbed by the grasping ambition of Pope Julius II. Anxious to
recover the dependencies of the holy see which had been seized bj
Venice, he organised a confederacy against that republic, of whidi
he was himself the head ; while Louis, Maximilian, and Ferdinand
were active members (a.d. 1509). The republic would have been
ruined had the union of the confederates been sincere and pe^
manent ; but, owing to the mutual jealousies of its enemies, it
escaped when brought to the verge of destruction. The impetisons
valour of the French disconcerted all the measures the Yenetiass
had taken to preserve their territories ; and the total ruin of thdi
army at Aguadello (a.d. 1509) le'ft them wholly without defence.
Julius seized all the towns which they held in the ecclesiastical
territories ; Ferdinand added all their sea-ports in Apulia to his
Neapolitan dominions ; but at the moment when the dismember-
ment of the republic seemed inevitable, the mutual jealousies of
Louis and Maximilian dissolved the confederacy. The Yenetaaoa
appeased the pope and Ferdinand, by large concessions, which
were the more readily accepted, as Julius had now formed the
design of expelling all foreigners from Italy, especially the French,
of whose valour and ambition he was justiy afraid.
From the fragments of the league of Cambray, a new and
stronger confederacy was formed against France, and Henry YIIl,
who had just ascended the throne of England, was engaged to
divert the attention of Louis from Italy, by an invasion of his
dominions (a.d. 1511). The master-stroke, however, of the pope's
policy was winning over the Swiss, whose mercenary infant]^ was
the best body of troops then used in war. Louis XIL resisted all
the efforts of this formidable conspiracy with undaunted fortitude.
Hostilities were carried on during several campaigns in Italy, on
the frontiers of Spain, and in Picardy, with alternate success. Bat,
weakened by the loss of his allies, Florence and Navarre, of which
the former, having been subjected to the.Medicis, joined the league
(a. d. 1512), and the latter was conquered and annexed to Spidn,
Louis would probably have been reduced to great distress, had not
HISTOEY OF BUEGHNDY. 209
the death of Pope Julius (a.d. 1513) come to his relief. Leo, of
the princely house of the Medicis, succeeded to the papacy, and
immediately made peace with France ; Spain, England, and the
empire, followed this example, and the war terminated with the
loss of everything which the French had acquired in Italy,
except the castle of Milan and a few inconsiderable towns in that
duchy.
Section IV. The History of Burgundy under tJie Princes of the
House of Vahis,
No feudal state was more important in the middle ages than
the duchy of Burgundy, and its history is the best calculated to
illustrate the political condition of states, and the relations
between powerful princes and their sovereign, produced by the in-
stitutions of feudalism. At the same time, the history of
Burgundy must in some degree be regarded as an episode in the
general annals of Europe, for though its existence was brilliant, it
left no permanent trace behind, save the resentment between the
houses of France and Austria, arising from the division of its
spoils.
The duchy of Burgundy lapsed to the crown of France soon
after the liberation of King John from the captivity in which he
had been detained by the English after the battle of Poitiers. He
xesolved to bestow this rich inheritance upon his third son, Philip,
sumamed the Hardy, who had fought gedlantly by his side in the
unfortunate battle of Poitiers, though only sixteen years of age,
and who when John was taken prisoner had accompanied him to
England to share his captivity. John's bequest was honourably
executed by his son and successor, Charles V. of France ; he gave
to Philip the investiture of the duchy with all legal forms, and on
the 2nd of June, 1364, the new duke entered upon his inheritance ;
he soon afterwards married the only daughter of the count of
Flanders, and thus became involved in the wars which that
nobleman waged against the insurgent citizens of Ghent, and
at the same time he actively assisted his brother against the
Boglish.
After a long war, in which the burgesses of the free cities of
Flanders sustained with great bravery their municipal franchises
•gainst the feudal chivalry of their count and his allies, the in-
•tmgents suffered a severe defeat at Bosebecque, in which their
gallant leader, the younger Artevelde, was slain. Philip took
advantage of the crisis to mediate a peace between the count of
Flanders and the revolted cities, which was finally concluded on
Tery equitable conditions. When tranquillity was restored, tha
P
210 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
duke directed his whole attention to the affiurs of Franoei and
duiing the reign of his unfortimate nephew, Charles YI., took a
principal share in the government of that kingdom. Whilst he
was thus engaged; amhassadors arrived from the king of Hungaiy
to announce that the Turks not only menaced his territories with
ruiU) but avowed their determination to subdue the whole of
Christendom. Sultan Bayezid openly vaunted that his cavalry
should trample on the cross in every Eiiropean city, and that he
would himself feed his horses on the altar of St. Peter^s, in Rome.
Duke Philip eagerly seconded the solicitations of the Hungarian
ambassadors : under his auspices a crusade was proclaimed ; the
great body of French chivalry and all the young nobility embraced
the project with the greatest ardour, and the young count de
Nevers, heir of Burgundy, was appointed to command the ex-
pedition. Philip lavished the wealth of his duchy and of Flanders
on the equipment of his son^s army; banntrs embroidered with
gold; horses with caparisons decorated as for a triumphal processioo,
tents of green silk; and armour of the highest cost; filled Fnmoe
and Germany with admiration. When the count de Nevers com-
menced his march (April 30th; a.d. 1396); he boasted that he
would not only deliver Hungary, but expel the Turks from
Europe, pursue them across the Hellespont; chase them through
Anatolia, Syria; and Palestine, and restore the Christian kingdom of
Jerusalem. The march of the army through Bavaria and Austria
resembled rather the return of conquerors from battle than the
advance of soldiers to a dangerous war. They indulged in the
most extravagant luxury and wanton licentiousness ; the property
and the persons of the peasants through whose landLs they passed
were cruelly and ostentatiously violated, while the remonstrances
made by the ministers of religion were answered with mockery
and insult.
Sigismund of Luxemburg, king of Hungary, was far from b^ng
gratified by the arrival of such auxiliaries. Bayezid, engaged in
suppressing some petty insurrections in his Asiatic dominions, had
concluded a truce with the Hungarians, and the prudent king was
far from being disposed to revive a war with so dangerous an
enemy. His remonstrances were wasted on the proud chivalry of
France ; the count de Nevers at once crossed the Turkish frontier,
and after capturing some places of minor importance, laid siege to
Nicopolis. In the hxirry of their advance the French had left
their battering artillery behind ; they were therefore compelled to
blockade the place in the hope of reducing it by famine. An army
of twenty thousand Turks advanced to relieve the town ; a trifling
victory gained over one of its detachments by the sire de Coucy so
increased the presumption of the French, that they neglected the
HISTORY OF BUEGUNDY. 211
discipline of their camp; which became one wide scene of riot and
debauchery.
Intelligence of this folly was soon conveyed to Bayezid; he
learned with some astonishment, but greater joy, that the Franks
lived in open violation of the principles of that religion which they
declared that they had taken up arms to support, aud as he was
himself a rigid observer of the morality prescribed by the Moham-
medan law, he at once despised the luxury and detested the
licentiousness of the western crusaders. So little vigilance was
exhibited by the Christiaiis, that the garrison of Nicopolis had
intelligence of the near approach of Bayezid before the Christians
knew that he had commenced his march. The news that the
sultan was close at hand filled their camp with confusion ; the
siege of Nicopolis was precipitately raised, and in the first alarm
the knights massacred all their prisoners, forgetting that t&e
chances of war might expose themselves to a terrible retribution.
They, however, were all eager to come to an immediate engage-
ment ; the Hungarians vainly advised them not to hazard a battle
until they had ascertained the number of the Turks, and the tactics
which the sultan intended to employ. Some of the more aged
and experienced warriors seconded this advice, but they were over-
borne by the clamours of the yoimg knights, whose ardour was far
too great to be moderated by prudence.
Bayezid had arranged his troops in the form of a crescent, with
the convex side turned towards the enemy ; he expected thus to
induce the Christians to attack his centre, by gradually with-
drawing which he might reverse the form of his line, and thus
getting his enemies into the concavity of the crescent, avail himself
of hifl vast superiority of numbers to overwhelm them on both
flanks. The Christians fell into the snare ; so soon as they came
within sight of the hostile lines, the French knights charged at
the top of their speed, leaving the Hungarian infantry designed for
their support far in the rear. They foimd the Turkish line pro-
tected by a hedge of sharp stakes which for some time checked
their ardour, but they forced their way over this obstacle under a
tremendous fire of arrows and other missiles, and then charged
through the Turkish infantry of the advanced guard, which was at
once put to the rout. Behind this line they found a brilliant body
of cavalry, which they imagined to be the sultan's main body, and
therefore charged it with all their former impetuosity; as had been
arranged, the Turkish squadrons gave way, and the French hurried
forward in disorderly pursuit. No sooner, however, had they
advanced into the middle of the plain than the Turks turned round
and renewed the combat, while Bayezid's two wings advancing
with loud shouts, aided by the clang of the cymbals and the bray-
p 2
212 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
ing of trumpets; attacked the knights on both flanks, closed upon
their rear, and held them completely surrounded. The Hnng^arian
infantry, left exposed by the rapid advance of the knighte, was
broken by a charge of a select body of the Turkish cavaliy;
Sigismund and the grand master of Khodes escaped in a small
boat, leaving their allies to their fate ; the palatine of Hungary
alone remained with a small body of his countrymen to rescue the
French from the consequences of their rashness.
Friends and foes have equally celebrated the desperate valour of
the French knights on this fatal day; by general consent the
admiral of Vienne is declared to have most vigorously supported
the honour of the French chivalry. Six times he recovered the
banner of France, and rallied a few of his companions around their
national standard ; as often the Turkish squadrons overwhelmed
his party by their vast superiority of numbers, and flung the
banner in the dust. At length, left alone, and bleeding from
countless wounds, he dashed into the midst of the enemy, and
foimd death upon a heap of the slain.
The Turks at first gave no quarter ; it was late in the day before
Bayezid commanded them to make prisoners, and even then he
was induced to do so by no feelings of mercy, but by his desire to
have an opportunity of revenging the fate of the Turks who had
been slaughtered in the camp before Nicopolis. Two knights were
also saved under circumstances too singularly illustrative of the
spirit of adventure which characterised the chivalry of the age to
be omitted. The incident is thus told by Froissart. ' There was
a knight from Picardy, Sir James de Helly, who had resided some
time in Txirkey, and had served in arms under Amurath (Morad),
father of the Sultan Bajazet (Bayezid), and who knew a little of
the Turkish language. When he saw the day was lost, he thought
of saving his life, and as he Imew the Saracens to be a covetous
race, he surrendered himself to them on their granting him his
life. Thus did he escape, and also another squire from the
Toumaisis, called James du Fay, who had formerly served Tamer-
lane (Timiir Lenk), king of Tartary ; but when he learned that
the FVench were marching to Turkey, he quitted Tamerlane and
joined his countrymen. He was at this battle, and saved by
Tamerlane's men, who had been ordered thither in compliance tHtii
the request made to him for assistance by Bajazet.'
Bayezid recognised Sir James de Helly as one of his old com-
panions in arms, and ordered him to be set at liberty by his
captors. He then commanded him to point out who were the
greatest lords among the Christian captives, that they might he
spared for the sake of their ransoms. The count de Nevers and
several other princes were pointed out to the sultan as ' of the
noblest blood in France, nearly relatfe^ tot\ift kin^, and willing to
HISTORY OF BURGUNDY. 213
pay for their liberty a great sum of money.* The sultan said, ' Let
these alone be spared; and all the other prisoners put to death, to
free the country from them, and that others may take example
from their fate.'
We shall quote what followed from the picturesque narrative of
Froissart. ' The sultan now made his appearance to his people
before the tent, who, bowing down, made him their obeisance.
The army was drawn up in two wings on each side ; the sultan
with his nobles, the count de Nevers, and those who were to be
spared, were in the centre ; for he would they should witness the
execution of their companions, which the Saracens were eager to
perform. Many excellent knights of France and other nations,
who had been taken in battle or in the pursuit, were now brought
forth in their shirts, one after the other, before Bajazet (Bayezid),
who eyeing them a little, they were led on, and as he made a
signal, were instantly cut to pieces by those waiting for them with
drawn swords. Such was the cruel justice of Bajazet this day,
when upwards of three hundred gentlemen of different nations
were thus pitilessly murdered. It was a cruel case for them thus
to suffer for the love of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and may he
receive their souls I '
Three knights in addition to Sir James de Helly were saved
from the slaughter, that the count de Nevers should choose one of
them to go as ambassador to his father for the purpose of pro-
curing his ransom. The young coimt selected Helly, and the
other three were immediately doomed to share the fate of their
companions. According to a legend faithfully preserved by the
credulous historians of a later age, Bayezid would not have spared
the young heir of Burgimdy, had he not been informed by an
astrologer that the count would in the course of his life cause a
greater efi^ion of Christian blood than any Mohammedan hero.
When Sir James de Helly brought the intelligence of these sad
events to France, the whole kingdom was filled with mourning.
There was scarcely one noble family which had not to bewail the
loss of a father, a brother, or a child. Mothers, sisters, and wives
ran raving through the streets, bewailing their losses ; even those
whose relatives remained prisoners lamented them as dead, fearing,
not without reason, that the Turks might destroy them in some
fit of fanaticism, or that the captives might sink under the pro-
verbial privations and sufferings of a Turkish prison. All grieved
for those brave warriors who fell in a foreign land without the
presence of a friend to close their dying eyes. The entire kingdom
was in mourning; the churches were only opened for funeral
solemnities and masses for the dead, at which the king of France
regularly attended as chief mourner for the flower of his nobility.
214 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
Heavy taxes were laid on the states of Burgundy to raise the
enormous sum which the sultan demanded as a ransom for the
heir of the duchy. To increase the difficulty of the transaction,
the king of Hungary refused to allow such rich treasures to pass
through his dominions for the purpose of strengthening his enemies.
It was not until after the lapse of several months that a Grenoese
merchant; named Pellegrini, in the island of Chios, undertook to
arrange the terms of ransom : and the sultan more readily accepted
the security of a commercial house, which could only exist by
credit, than the plighted oaths of kings and princes, which he
knew were too often most flagrantly and shamelessly violated.
While the count de Nevers was thus engaged in the East, his
brother-in-law, the count of Ostrevant, aided by his father, Albert,
duke of Bavaria, was carrying on a war scarcely less destructive
against the Frisons. These barbarous tribes sent out piratical
expeditions which ravaged the coasts of Holland, Flanders, and
sometimes of France ; the naval forces maintained to keep them in
check were found very expensive, and not always efficacious, so
that the Flemings and Hollaoders supplicated their princes to
attack the Frisons in their native fastnesses. An immense arma-
ment was prepared for this hazardous enterprise j auxiliaries were
obtained from England, France, and Western Germany, while
crowds of Hollanders and Flemings hastened to volunteer their
services against enemies who had been their constant plague.
The Frisons made vigorous preparations for resistance; they
elected as their chief, Invingen, a warrior whose exploits had been
celebrated through the entire north of Europe, and conferred upon
him the title of the Great Frison. Invingen was well aware of
the inferiority of his countrymen in regular war j they had neither
shields, cuirasses, nor coats of mail j for defensive armour they
used cloths of felted hair, leathern jerkins, or hauberks of twisted
cord. He therefore recommended them to bum their villages and
retire into the woods when the enemy approached ; but the
multitude of the Frieslanders rejected this advice, and taking
the crosses and banners from their chiirches, hasted to repel the
invasion.
Duke Albert was landing his men when the Frison army came
to prevent him. A woman, supposed to be an idiot, clothed in a
blue dress, marched in front of the barbarous host, using the
most insulting words and gestures to the Hainaulters and Hol-
landers. They were so much enraged at this, that several of them
leaped into the water, and rushing on the unfoi'tunate creature,
hewed her in pieces with their swords. This was a prelude to
two desperate battles, in which the Frieslanders were defeated by
the superior weapons and discipline of the invaders ; and in the
mSTOKY OF BURGUNDY. 215
last of these fights^ their leader^ the Great Frison^ was slain.
After his death, the Frieslanders began to follow the advice he
had first given them; they avoided a general engagement, but
harassed the invaders by ambuscades and skirmishes, in which
they neither took nor gave quarter. In about five weeks after
the landing, winter set in with unusual severity, and at an
earlier period than had been known for many years before. The
duke was forced to evacuate the country and disband his army j
but about three years after he took advantage of the civil dissen-
sions among the Frisons to reduce the entire country to obedience.
The administration of the government of France by Philip, duke
of Burgundy^ was on the whole advantageous to the nation. It
was chiefly owing to his prudence that the insanity of Charles VI.
did not produce the calamities of civil war. He had, however,
one great fault; his expenditure, both public and private, was
most extravagant, and at his death his sons were forced to sell his
plate in order to defray the expenses of his funeral. He died of
fever (April 27th, 1404), generally regretted, for it was not diffi-
cult to foresee the commotions that would ensue when the conduct
of the state, which had taxed his talents and energies to the utmost,
should be entrusted to a feebler hand.
Section V. The History of Burgundy (continued),
John the Fearless succeeded Philip the Hardy, and immediately
began to take measures for procuring to himself the same influence
in the government of France which his father had possessed ; he
was opposed by the queen and the duke of Orleans, who justly
dreaded his ambition, and the means which he employed to gain
his objects amply justified the prediction of the Tiirkish astrologer
which had saved his life when count of Nevers. In the fury of
civil contest he hired assassins to murder the duke of Orleans ; and
this atrocious crime was perpetrated in the very midst of Paris.
Such, however, were the power of the duke and the apathy of the
times, that he would probably have obtained a justification of his
conduct from the court, had he not been obliged to retire to his
territories to quell an insurrection of the citizens of Liege ; the
partisans of Orleans took advantage of his absence to raise a cry
for justice, and being joined by all the enemies of Burgundy, they
soon formed a very powerful faction. A desultory civil war
ensued ; the citizens of Paris declared for the duke of Burgundy,
and massacred the Armagnacs, as the favourers of Orleans were
called, wherever they could find them ; but after some time, with
their usual instability, they began to favour the adverse faction,
and the duke found his power and popularity waning more rapidly
216 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUKOPE.
than they had been raised. At this crisis the English monarchy
Henry V., invaded France, took Harfleur by storm, and destroyed
the flower of the French chivalry at the battle of Agincourt
These calamities did not check the feuds between the Buigundiaos
and Armagnacs : intent only on mutual slaughter, they allowed a
mere handful of Englishmen to overrun a great part of France
without opposition, and it was even suspected that the duke had
secretly entered into an alliance with the invaders.
The general belief that the duke had committed treason against
the state, enabled the faction of Orleans to persuade the dauphin
that his death was necessary for the safety of the kingdom, and to
join in a perfidious plot for his assassination. Ambassadors weie
sent to invite John the Fearless to an interAiew with the dauphin
on the bridge of Montereau, in order that they might in common
concert measures for the defence of the kingdom. In spite of the
remonstrances of his friends and servants, who had obt^ed in-
formation that the Orleans faction was all-powerful with the
dauphin, John went to the appointed rendezvous with a very
scanty trcdn, armed only with such weapons as gentlemen of the
period usually wore on visits of ceremony.
A saloon of wood was constructed in the middle of the bridge,
having two very narrow entrances ; no barrier was raised to divide
the parties, as was usual at interviews of the kind ; but deputies
were appointed to stand at the entrances of the saloon, and receive
the oaths of peace from the rival princes. The dauphin and his
followers entered the saloon a little before Burgundy made his
appearance ; the duke having heard of his arrival, advanced to
meet him, leaving the greater part of his train a little behind. So
soon as he came into the dauphin's presence, he took off his velvet
cap, and bent his knee in token of homage ; but before he could
rise, he was struck down by the axes and swords of the royal
guards, and butchered with such of his train as had entered the
saloon. The murder was completed in less time than it has taken
to relate it, and the excuse made by the dauphin that the duke
had insulted and menaced him, was contradicted by the partisans
of Orleans, who declared that the whole plan had been arranged
months before, in revenge for the assassination of their patron
(a.d. 1419). The murder of the duke of Orleans was almost the
only stain upon the memory of John the Fearless ; his Flemish
subjects, whose franchises he had protected, and whose trade he
had fostered, were most grieved for his loss j but they respected
his memory most for his having intrusted the education of his
eldest son to the magistrates of the free cities, and in fact the
young prince had been educated as a Fleming rather than as a
Burgundian.
HISTORY OF BURGUNDY. 1^17
Philip the Good, immediately after his accession, prepared to
take vengeance for the murder of his father ; his Flemish educa-
tion had prevented him from having any very strong sense of the
feudal ohligations which bound the duchy of Burgundy to the
crown of France; he therefore did not hesitate to enter into
alliance with Henry Y. of England, and recognised him as the
legitimate heir to the crown of France, on condition that Charles VI.
should not be deprived of his regal dignity during the remainder
of his unhappy existence. It is doubtful whether Charles had
sufficiently recovered his senses to understand that he was disin-
heriting his son 'y the queen had no such apology for her conduct,
and the virulent hatred which she manifested towards her eldest
child excited indignation throughout France.
The war between the English and French now became iden-
tified with the struggle between the Burgundians and Armag-
nacs ; the virulence of private animosities was thus added to the
horrors of open war, and the atrocities committed on both sides
were shocking to human nature. One outrage which excited great
notice may be briefly related as an illustration of the manners of
the age. One of the most renowned captains in the Orleans faction
was designated the bastard of Vaiirus ; he had been originally in
the service of the count of Armagnac, and to revenge the death of
his master he practised the most dreadful cruelties on all the
Burgundians who fell into his power. An elm-tree near Meaux
received his name, because he hung from it those victims who
were unable to pay the enormous ransoms he demanded. A
young farmer became his captive, and the bastard put him to
the torture; the wife of the prisoner, who had been about a year
married, appeared before the barbarian, and besought mercy for her
husband. The bastard fixed an immense sum as the price of his
liberation, and required that it should be paid before a certain
day. Notwithstanding all her exertions the vmfortunate woman
was a few days too late ; but not believing that Vaurus would
execute his savage threat, she proceeded to Meaux, and tendered
the ransom. Overwhelmed with fatigue and anxiety, she fainted
on her arrival before the bastard, and when she recovered her first
question was for her husband. * Pay the money,' said Vaurus,
< and then you shall see him.' She complied, and was then
informed that he had been hanged on the appointed day. Her
shrieks and reproaches filled the city with horror ; but the bastard,
indignant at her grief, ordered her to be stripped naked, and ex-
posed under the tree where he was accustomed to hang his
victims. The cruel orders were so rigidly obeyed that the cords
which bound her to the tree were so tightly drawn as to cut
through her fiesh to the bone. The night on which she was thus
218 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUEOPE.
exposed was dark and stormy ; its terrors were heightened by the
quivering of the corpses suspended fix)m the tree, the feet of
which frequently touched her head as the branches swayed in the
wind. In this situation she was seized with the pangs of prema-
ture labour ; her cries of mortal agony were heard in the distant
town, but dread of the bastard prevented any one from coming to
her assistance. The wolves, which in the distracted state of
France prowled everywhere through the fields, soon scented their
victim : on the following morning she was found a mangled corpse,
with the torn remains of her unborn infant by her side. Hemy V.
immediately laid siege to Meaux ; the defence was protracted for
seven months, but it was at length taken by assault, the bastard
of Vaurus was hanged on his own tree, and several of his assodateB
shared his fate.
The death of Henry V. of England, followed speedily by that
of Charles VI. of France, produced a great change in the aspect d
the war. Henry VI. who was proclaimed king of Englimd and
France, was an infant in the cradle, while the dauphin was in the
very prime of life, surrounded by the greater part of the French
nobility, and warmly supported by the bulk of the nation. Though
severely defeated, and apparently brought to the brink of rain,
when his chief city, Orleans, was besieged, a deliverer suddenly
appeared in the person of Joan of Arc; the tide of prosperity,
which had hitherto flowed in favour of the English suddenly
turned, and the duke of Burgundy opened negotiations with the
dauphin. It was at this crisis that Philip instituted the order of
the Golden Fleece, on the occasion of his marriage with Isabella
of Portugal (a.d. 1430), an order of knighthood which soon
became the most illustrious in Europe. Soon after his marriage,
the alienation of the duke from the English interest continued to
increase, and finally, under the auspices of the }>ope, he concluded
a treaty with Charles VU., whom he consented to recognise as
legitimate sovereign of France.
Having disengaged himself from the French wars, the duke of
Burgundy devoted himself to the improvement of his dominions
in the Low Countries. His brilliant court realised the visions of
chivalry; the jousts and tournaments given under his sanction
surpassed in magnificence any that had yet been witnessed in
Europe ; the wealth of the conmiercial cities in Flanders was
i^ely poured forth to defray the expenses, and noble knights from
all parts of Europe flocked to the court of Burgundy to prove their
valour in the lists. Philip encouraged this taste for display
amongst his subjects from political motives ; he foimd that luxnry
diverted the attention of the tiirbulent municipalities and their
magistrates from affairs of state, and suspended, if it did not
mSTOKY OF BUKGUNDY. 219
eradicate, the ancient jealousies between commercial freedom and
feudalism.
Nearly a century and a half had now elapsed since the Swiss
cantons had emancipated themselves from the yoke of the house
of Austria ; the free states had become jealous of each other, some
leagued with their ancient enemies, others sought alliances with the
petty princes of Germany, and the feudal powers, to whom the
example of Swiss independence seemed fraught with dangerous
consequences, believed that an opportunity was offered of reducing
the mountaineers to their former bondage. A league for the pur-
pose was formed by the potentates of Western Germany under the
-direct sanction of the emperor, and application was made to the
duke of Burgundy for assistance. He received the proposal very
coolly, upon which the imperialists sought the aid of the king of
France, who was very anxious, now that the wars were over, to
:get rid of the Armagnacs, and other companies of soldiers, who
Hyed at free quarters on the peasantry and prevented the country
from enjoying the blessings of tranquillity. An immense army
-was soon raised and placed under the command of the dauphin ; it
■dvanced towards the frontiers of Switzerland, desolating the
provinces through which it passed, and actually commenced
tiie siege of Basle before the Swiss had made any arrangements
for defence. Intelligence of the danger. of Basle reached the Swiss
may engaged in the siege of Famsburg ; the leaders were anxious
to retire to the mountains, but the patriotic soldiers insisted on
"being led to the succour of their countrymen, and the generals were
loiced to gratify their ardour.
On the morning of the 24th of August, 1444, Switzers and
I^renchmen met for the first time in mortal combat. The advanced
guard of the French, which alone was ten times more numerous
than the entire Swiss army, occupied the heights on the right
bank of the river Birs, while the main body remained on the left
bank, urging forward the siege of Basle. Though fatigued by
fheir forced march, and exhausted by want of sleep and refresh-
ment^ the Swiss did not hesitate one moment in assaulting the
btrenchments of the French ; their desperate valour bore down
' rveij obstacle, the Armagnacs were driven from the heights, and
fled in confusion across the Birs. It was proposed by the Swiss
' leaders to rest satisfied with this success, to fortify themselves on
the heights which they had just won, and wait until the contin-
gents from the other cantons arrived before renewing the engage-
bent ; but the impetuosity of the Swiss soldiers was not to be
leetrained by the counsels of prudence ; they rushed down from
Hie heights, plunged into the river, and broke their ranks as they
itruggled through the waters.
220 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUKOPE.
The dauphin took the necessary precautions to meet the daiing
onset; he posted his main body in such a position as to pievent
oommunication between the Swiss and the garrison of Basle, which
had actually made a sally, in the hope of efiecting a junction. The
Swiss reached the left bank of the Birs under a heavy fire of
cannons and culverins ; but when, on emerging £rom the riyer, they
attempted to form into line, they were charged so fiercely bj tha
Germans and Armagnacs that they were broken into separate
bodies and surrounded by overwhelming numbers. Each detached
body of the Swiss maintained a fight with all the courage cf
despair ; during ten hours they resisted every effort made to dme
them into the Birs ; they fell on the ground which they had occu-
pied, and the dauphin's victory was obtained with the loss of eight
thousand of his best soldiers. The French were not willing to
fight a second battle with such fearless warriors ; in spite of the
remonstrances of the Germans, the dauphin resolved to act tiie part
of mediator, and a peace was concluded under his auspices, by
which the liberties of the Swiss cantons were formally recognisei
The duke of Burgimdy took no share in this war ; he was too deeply
engaged by the troubles of Flanders, where a formidable revolt hid
been raised by the citizens of Ghent. After a sanguinary strog^
the insurgent Flemings were subdued, and Ghent was deprived of
most of its municipal privileges.
The dauphin of France, afterwards Louis XI., having provoked
his father to war, waa obliged to fly from his estates and seek
shelter with the duke of Burgundy, who was at the time rendered
uneasy by the turbulent disposition of his own son, the count of
Charolais, subsequently known in history as Charles the Bold.
These family disturbances embroiled the courts of France and
Burgundy for several years, but at length the death of GhaileB
VII. rendered the dauphin king of France j the duke escorted him
safely to his dominions, rendered him homage as' his sovereigOy
and a.ssisted in the ceremonies of his coronation. Louis was &i
from being grateful for these benefits ; he formed several plots to
seize the person of the count of Charolais, foreseeing that he would
become his most formidable rival, and he broke all the engage-
ments he had made to restore the towns which had at variooa
times been wrested from the dukes of Burgundy by the monaichfl
of France. The count of Charolais was not disposed to endure
these wrongs with patience ; contrary to the wishes of his father,
he supported the nobles of France in their revolts against their
sovereign, and had just organised a formidable league against
Louis when the death of Duke Philip compelled him to adjoun
his warlilie designs until he had secured to himself his inheritanoe
of the duchy of Burgimdy.
mSTOEY OF BUEGUNDY. 221
Few sovereigns were more generally and justly lamented than
Philip the Good ; during the fifty years of his reign Burgundy
'Was the most wealthy, prosperous,, and tranquil of all the states of
Sarope ; and had he pleased to assert his independence, he might
Jmve become a more powerful sovereign than the king of France
Himself. The general grief for his loss was increased by the
dread which the character of his successor inspired ; the rashness,
tile pride, the obstinacy, and the cruelty of Charles the Bold
kad stained his entire career as count of Charolais ; his subjects
■ad his neighbours were equally filled with alarm lest the same
malities should be still more signally manifested in the duke of
Burgundy.
SECTioir VI. The History of Burgundy {concluded),
IiocBDiATELY after his installation as duke of Burgundy, Charles
&e Bold, on the invitation of the principal citizens, paid a visit
to Ghent, accompanied by his daughter Mary and a very limited
«gcort. A popular festival celebrated during his visit brought the
■embers of the old trading corporations together ; they began to
complain to each other of the loss of their municipal privileges,
tiie heavy taxes imposed upon them by the late duke, and the
tyranny of the officera who had been placed over them on the
Abolition of the civic magistracy. Some daring spirits proposed
to take advantage of the crisis and obtain a redress of grievances.
An insurrection was organised on the spot, and ere the duke knew
Aat any disturbances were meditated he was closely besieged in
Us palace, and the whole city was at the mercy of the revolters.
li was with the greatest difficulty that his coimcillors prevented
4e haughty duke from falling on the infuriate populace at the
'Head of his guards ; but he soon discovered that force would be
inayailing against such a multitude ,* he was forced to yield to
iBbB popular demands, but in doing so he made a secret vow that
'\^ would exact deadly vengeance for the insult which had been
: ^eied to his authority. His indignation was increased by similar
wvolts in the cities of Brabant and in Liege, which he justly
ittributed'to the example of Ghent, aided by the secret intrigues
flf French emissaries.
The troubles of Brabant were easily quieted ; but the citizens
} tf Liege, relying on the indistinct promises of aid made by the
. king of France, not only raised the standard of revolt, but com-
tdttod such atrocious crimes that Charles determined to destroy
^ city. With some difficulty his councillors dissuaded him from
Izecuting his design ; the insiirgents, after having been defeated
h a pitched battle, were forced to capitulate ) the duke compelled
222 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUEOPR
them to submit to very severe terms, he refused to enter thor dij
through the gates, and caused a hreach of more than a hundred
yards in breadth to be made in the walls, through which he led
his army with all the insulting pomp of an ancient triumph.
In revenge for the incentives to rebellion which the king of
France was more than suspected of having supplied to the people
of Liege, Charles entered into a dose league witii the disconteoted
French princes who had taken up arms against Louis XL, i^uk
that monarch renewed his intrigues with the discontented bur-
gesses in all the cities subject to the duke of Burgundy. Loin
was, however, far the more successful in this species of unavowed
warfare ', cold, cautious, and cimning, he was able to conduct com-
plicated intrigues, and to await their success with patience, while
the violent temper of Charles frequently led him to frustratettiie
plans on which he had bestowed the most care and attention. In
one memorable instance the reliance of Louis on his own craft
had nearly proved his destruction ; finding that his envoys did not
produce the effect he desired on the mind of his rival, he resolved
to try the effect of a personal interview, and unexpectedly pre-
sented himself at the duke of Burgundy's court in Peronne, es-
corted by a feeble company of his personal retainers. The interview
between the king and the duke was far from satisfactory ; thdr
mutual jealousies soon began to threaten a rupture, when the
intelligence of a new revolt in Liege, and the massacre of all the
partisans of Burgundy in that city, including the prince-bishop, so
roused the fury of Charles, that he made his sovereign a prisoner,
and would probably have proceeded to further extremities but ftr
the interference of his council.
Louis, taken in his own toils, was obliged to submit to the
terms of peace dictated by Charles : the most mortifying condition
of his liberation was that he should lead an army against the
insurgent citizens of Liege, and thus aid his vassal in suppresfling
a revolt which he had himself secretly instigated. The ducal and
royal armies were soon assembled, and they marched together
against the devoted citizens of Liege, who had never imagined the
possibility of such a combination. They did not, however, de-
spair, but defended themselves with great courage, until the ad-
vanced guard of the Burgundians had forced its way through the
breaches of the walls, and made a lodgment in the principal street.
All resistance was then at an end ; the city became the prej of
the barbarous soldiers ; it was cruelly pillaged for several daj9»
and those citizens who escaped the sword either perished of hun-
ger as they wandered through the woods and fields, or were
delivered over to the executioner. After this scene of massacre
had lasted eight days, Charles left the city, after having given
HISTORY OF BURGUNDY. 223
orders that every edifice in Liege should be destroyed, except the
diurches and the houses belonging to the clergy. As Liege was
an episcopal city, the clergy possessed or claimed a very consider-
able portion of it, and the exception made in their favoiir saved it
from ruin.
Louis never forgave the indignities which he had endured at
Peronne, and in his forced march to Liege; without openly
declaring war against Burgundy, he secretly raised up enemies
against the duke in every quarter, and Charles, by the violence of
lis passions, constantly exposed himself at disadvantage to the
machinations of his rival. Rendered insolent by continued pros-
perity, he alienated from him the brave chivalry of Burgundy by
bestowing ail his confidence on a foreign favoiirite, the count of
Campo-Basso, who flattered his vanity by an absolute submission
to his caprices. Louis had the good fortime to win the friendship
of the Swiss, whom his rival had changed from friends into foes
by the most wanton violation of treaties ; and Charles, to whom
the very name of freedom was odious, on account of the revolts of
Ghent and Liege, resolved to bring the independent mountaineers
once more under the yoke of feudal bondage.
Rarely had Europe seen so splendid an army as that which
Charles led to the invasion of Switzerland ; it consisted of thirty-
iix thousand soldiers, long inured to military exercises, accom-
panied by the most formidable train of artillery that had ever yet
been brought into the field. Coimt de Nomont, who commanded
tike advanced guard, opened the campaign by laying siege to
Tverdun, a city which had formed part of his domain, and where
h» had numerous partisans. The gates of the city were treacher-
ously opened to the Burgundians during the night ; but the Swiss
gairison, though surprised and half naked, made a desperate re-
ibtance, and finally succeeded in cutting their way to the castle.
Count de Nomont immediately invested this fortress, declaring
tiiat the Swiss should receive no quarter if they made the slightest
, vesistance. His menaces were received with defiance, and his first
' iaBOolt was repulsed with great loss. He then ordered his soldiers
[ to fill the ditch with fascines of dried wood, straw, hay, and other
! combustibles, to which he set fire, and in a few minutes the con-
i flagiation spread round the castle. Suddenly the gates were
! opened and the drawbridge fell ; the Swiss, linked together in a
linied phalanx, rushed upon the Burgundian lines, broke their
Way through them, and leisurely retired to Granson, having suf-
fcred but a trifling loss.
The duke himself advanced to besiege Granson ; it was bravely
^fended, but the walls soon began to crumble under the heavy
4re of the Burgundian artillery, and several of the citizens,
224. THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUEOPE.
seduced by promises and bribes, clamoured for a capitulation. It
was agreed that the governor and the best soldiers of the gairiscm
should present themselves before Charles and demand to be
admitted to mercy, as his emissaries had promised. The moment,
however, that they appeared, Charles ordered them to be aeiod
and bound ; without listening to their appeals or to the lemon-
strances of his own nobles, he commanded the governor and his
officers to be hanged, and all the rest to be hurled as they weie,
bound hand and foot, into the lake. About two hundred Swiss
were thus treacherously massacred : they died without murmur or
complaint, fully persuaded that their miuxLer would be avenged I7
their countiymen.
Intelligence of this event spread rapidly through the cantons;
on every side the bold mountaineers flew to arms, while the dnke^
having formed an intrenched camp at Granson, advanced with a
strong detachment towards Neufchatel. Pride had rendered liim
so regardless of ordinary precautions that he came imexpectedlyin
presence of the main body of the Swiss in the mountain defiles^
when with his usual impetuosity he gave the signal to engage.
The Swiss pikemen, formed in close line, drove back Ae
Burgundian cavalry, and steadily advancing in close order forced
the squadrons of horse before them, destroying some of the
bravest knights of the enemy as they got entangled in the press.
Every effort which the duke made to extricate his gallant
chivalry only added to the confusion, and, whilst he vainly strove
to form his lines, fresh troops appeared upon the heights on his
left flank, raising the war-cry of ' Granson I Granson ! ' to ehow
that they came to revenge the massacre of their brethren. Soon
after the horns of Uri and Unterwalden were heard in the
distance; they were two enormous horns which according to
tradition had been bestowed upon these cantons by Pepin and
Charlemagne; their sound had often filled invaders with dread
during the old wars of Austria, and appeared on the preaent
occasion scarcely less ominous to the Burgundians.
The retreat of the advanced guard of Charles became eveiy
moment more disorderly^ it was at length converted into a
precipitate flight, and the fugitives on reaching the intrenched
camp filled it with the same terror and confusion by which they
were possessed themselves. In vain did Charles attempt to
remedy the disorder ; his artillerymen, after a feeble and inef-
fectual fire, abandoned their guns; his Italian auxiliaries fled
without striking a blow ; and at length, being left almost alonef
he quitted his camp with a few attendants, leaving to the Swisa
the richest booty that had been gained in war for several centoiiea
Among the spoHs thus abandoned were three celebrated diamonds^
HISTORY OF BURGUNDY. 225
of whicli one now adoms the tiara of tlie pope^ a second is reckoned
amongst the most splendid treasures of the emperor of Austria, and
the third, usually called the Souci diamond, was long the richest
fcrilliant in the crown of France.
Grief and rage for his defeat reduced Charles to a state
)K>rdering on insanity. It was not until after the lapse of several
weeks that he hegan to take active measuies for repairing his
losses and preventing the king oi France from profiting hj his
leverses. All the wealth which he had hoarded during his reign^
all the treasures which he could procure from the wealtiiy
commercial cities in Flanders and Brabant, were freely poured
forth to recruit his army ; the bells of the churches were melted
down and cast into cannon to repair the loss of his artillery at
Qxanson ; he hired auxiliaries from France, from Italy, and from
Sbigland ; the chronicles assert that his English legion, consisting
of three thousand men, was the only trustworthy division of his
tnny. On the other hand, the Swiss employed themselves in
fortifying Morat, which they regarded as the key of Berne, and
ient pressing messages to their confederatea to hasten the arrival
llf their respective contingents.
On the 27th of May, 1476, Charles quitted his camp at Lausanne
|o commence the siege of Morat ; rarely has a place been more
vigorously assailed or more obstinately defended ; the walls were
Iweac^ed in several places, but every assault of the Burgundians
was repulsed, and the duke himself was twice driven back from
iSiie rained ramparts. This marvellous resistance gave the Swiss
time to assemble their armies, but Morat was on the point of
fclling when they advanced to its relief. Several of his officers
advised Charles to raise the siege on the approach of the Swiss,
and retire to ground more favourable for a field of battle ; but he
was as obstinately deaf to good counsel as he had been at Granson,
and Ids passions had produced a kind of fever which rendered him
io irritable that his dearest friends were afraid to approach him.
The Swiss formed their line of battle under the shelter of a line
jtf hills covered with trees, which effectually concealed their
movements from their enemies; Charles advanced to dislodge
them from this position im a tempest of rain which injured his
Ihowder and relaxed the bow-strings of his archers. The Bur-
tamditos, finding that they could not get through the wood nor
Intice the Swiss from their lines, began to retire towards their
aampj drenched with rain and exhausted by their useless march.
The Swiss general, Hans de Hallwyll, who had already earned
kigh fame in the wars of Hungary, gave the signal of pursuit :
Ben6, the young duke of Lorraine, whom Charles had stripped of
kis paternal dominions^ advanced at the head of the cavalry of tho
226 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUKOPK
confederates, and the Burgandians were attacked in their In-
trenched camp. Charles could scarcely he persuaded that the
Swiss would have hararded so perilous an attempt ; he hastened
to hrlng up his men-at-arms to the place where the chief assault
was made, and at the same time opened a heavy fire from his
batteries on the advancing columns. His best artillerymen,
however, had fallen at Granson ; his cannon being ill-served did
but little execution, whilst Hallwyll under cover of the smoke led
a body of troops along the Burgundian lines, and, suddenly fidling
on their exposed flank, forced his way into the midst of the camp
before the manoeuvre was discovered. On the other extreme the
Burgundians were equally surprised by an unexpected sally from
the garrison of Morat ; they fell into remediless confusion j the
battle was no longer a fight but a carnage, for the Swiss sternly
refused quarter, so that ^ cruel as at Morat ' long continued to he
a proverb in their mountains.
The states of Burgundy, Flanders, and Brabant refused to grant
the duke the enormous sums which he demanded to raise a third
army, and whilst he was engaged in threatening them with his
wrath and collecting as many soldiers as he could procure from his
own resources he learned that Lorraine was nearly recovered hy
its young duke Ren6, who, after making himself master of several
towns with little or no opposition, had laid siege to Nancy. The
city was taken before Charles was ready to march, and Ren^
having secured it with a faithful garrison, proceeded to the Swiss
cantons to solicit aid against their common enemy. Sieges were
always unfavourable to the duke of Burgundy ; he was unable to
reduce Nancy, but he obstinately persisted in remaining before the
walls, while his army suffered severely from an inclement winter
and the increasing want of pay and provisions. In fact the
unfortunate duke was now sold to his enemies by his favourite
Campo-Basso, and his rash cruelty had led him to precipitate the
execution of the chief agent of the plot, whom he had by chance
made prisoner.
On the 4:th of January, 1477, Ren^ of Lorraine, at the head of
the Swiss confederates, was seen from the Burgxmdian camp ad-
vancing to the relief of Nancy. Li the very beginning of the
battle the desertion of the ti'aitor Campo-Basso decided the fate of
the day, but the brave chivalry of Burp^undy in this the last of
their fields maintained a desperate resistance until night put an end
to the combat. The fate of the duke of Burgundy waa for a long
time uncertain, but after a tedious search his body was found
covered with wounds, some of which had every appearance of
being inflicted by assassins. Ren^ paid every possible respect to
the remains of the unfortunate Charles, and he liberated all his
BuTgundian prisoners that they ^might attend the funeraL
THE AGE OF CHAELES V. 227
The history of Mary of Burgundy, the daughter and successor
of Charles the Bold, must be related briefly. No sooner was the
news of her father's death known than the king of France prepared
to seize on her dominions in Burgundy, and the Flemings rose in
insurrection against her authority. Louis was at first disposed to
force her to marry the dauphin, and thus re-unite Burgundy to
France, but the tortuous course of policy which he pursued
defeated his object. The Flemings discovered the intrigue ; they
seized on the favourite councillors of the unhappy princess, and
beheaded them before her eyes in the market-place of Ghent.
Mary was subsequently married to Duke Maximilian of Austria,
but he only obtained possession of her dominions in the Nether-
lands ; Burgundy was conquered by the French, and Maximilian
had neither the energy nor the wisdom to recover it from Louis.
This was the origin of the bitter hostility between the sovereigns
of France and Austria, which for a long series of years kept the
Continent of Europe in almost perpetual war.
Section VIL The age of Charles V.
The political idea of maintaining a balance of power, which was
first formed in Italy, began to spread north of the Alps in
consequence of the rapid and overwhelming increase of the
Austrian power. Maximilian of Austria, son of the Emperor
Frederic III., married Mary of Burgundy, daughter and heiress of
Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy (a.d. 1477), as has been
already related, and in her right obtained possession of the fertile
and wealthy provinces of the Netherlands. His son, Philip the
Fair, was imited to Joanna, infanta of Spain, daughter of
Ferdinand and Isabella, whose union had joined the kingdoms of
Aragon and Castile. The fruit of Philip's marriage with Joanna
was two sons, Charles and Ferdinand ; and the elder of these, at
the age of sixteen, inherited the crown of Spain and its colonies,
in addition to his paternal dominions in the Netherlands (a.d.
1616). The death of his grandfather Maximilian transmitted to
liim the Austrian territories and the other domains of the house of
Hapsburgh, and the electors chose him to fill the vacant throne of
ihe empire. Thus Charles, the First of Spain, and the Fifth of
'A.e empire, possessed greater power than any sovereign that had
flourished in Europe since the days of Charlemagne. In the
beginning of his reign he resigned his hereditary dominions in
Germany to his brother Ferdinand, who afterwards succeeded him
in the empire, and became the founder of the second Austrian line
of emperors, which ended with Charles VI. (a.d. 1740). From
the Emperor Charles descended the Austrian family of S^«.\i\&\i
q2
228 Tmi STATES-SYSTEM OF EUBOPE.
kings, whicli was tenninated by the deatH of Cliarles IL (a.1).
1700).
These two branches of the Austrian house^ the German and th»
Spanish, long acted in concert to secure reciprocal advantages, and
were fortunate in strengthening their power by new alliances.
Eerdinand married Anne, sister of Louis king of Hungary and
Bohemia ; and, when that monarch fell in war against the Turks,
added both these kingdoms to the hereditary dominions of Austria,
Charles V., by his marriage with Isabella, daughter of Emmanuel,
king of Portugal, prepared the way for his son Philip's annexation
of that country to Spain.
Two monarchs, contemporary with Charles, were almost equally
bound by their interest to check the preponderance of the house of
Austria, Henry VHL of England, and Francis I. of France.
Henry VII., after the victory of Bosworth Field had given him
undisputed possession of the crown, laboured diligently and
successfully to extend the royal authority, and to raise the com-
mercial prosperity of the nation. On his death (a. s. 1509) he
bequeathed to his son a rich treasury and a flourishing kingdom.
Henry VHI. had also very considerable talents, but no steadiness
of principle ; he was the slave of his caprice, of his passions, and
often the tool of anyone who chose to flatter him. Some of the
most impolitic measures of the early part of his reign must, how-
ever, be ascribed to the pride and ambition of his first prime
minister, Cardinal Wolsey, who sacrificed the welfare of England
and the honour of his sovereign to further his private ends or
gratify his idle vanity.
Francis I. was a prince of inferior talents and not greater
steadiness ; with some of the noble qualities, he had not a few
of the faults, usually ascribed to the spirit of chivalry; bold,
enterprising, and personally brave, he did not always regulate
his actions by prudence, and his rashness lost what his valour
had won. Soon after coming to the crown, he undertook to re-
cover Milan, and overthrew Sforza and the imperialists at
Marignano. The defeated duke resigned his country for a
pension ; the pope and the northern Italian states assented to the
arrangement, and the possession of the contested duchy seemed
secured to France by the conclusion of a treaty with the Swiss
cantons (a.d. 1516). Nearly at the same time a treaty was 'made
with Charles, who had not yet succeeded to the empire, which
seemed to establish peace, but only rendered war more certain.
Henry and Francis were both candidates with Charles for the
empire ; the former, however, had no rational hopes of success,
while Francis could not hide his anticipations of success, no
more than his mortification when he failed. The mutual jealousies
of the French and Spanish monarchs were aggravated by hostile
THE AGE OF CHARLES V. 229
tlaims ; Cliarles, by riglit of descent, could demand the ancient
possessions of the duke of Burgundy, and he was feudal sovereign,
as emperor, over the northern Italian states, the chief duchy of
which had been recently annexed to France. On the other hand,
Francis had claims to the thrones of Navarre and Naples, which he
was very unwilling to resign. Peace could not long subsist between
these potentates, neither were their forces so unequally matched as
might at first be supposed. The extensive dominions of Charles were
|;ovemed by different constitutions j in none, not even in Spain,
was he wholly unfettered, while Germany, where the Reformation
was constantly raising embarrassing questions, and the princes
ever anxious to circumscribe the imperial authority, added more to
his nominal than to his real strength. His finances were also em-
barrassed, and he often found it an almost insuperable difficulty to
provide for the pa^'^ment of his troops, most of whom were neces-
Barily mercenaries. On the other hand, Francis inherited almost
despotic authority ; his power was concentrated, his own subjects
were enrolled as his soldiers, and the regular organisatica of the
French government freed him from the financial embarrassments of
hb rivaJ. Both strengthened themselves by alliances; Charles
gained the aid of the pope, and won Henry VIII. to his side by
duping the egregious vanity of Wolsey ; Francis, on the other hand,
was supported by the Swiss and the Venetians. The war began
nearly at the same moment in Navarre, the Netherlands, and
Lombardy. The treachery of the queen-mother, who withheld
from the French commander, Lautrec, the money necessary to pay
the troops employed in Italy, led to the loss of Milan and the
greater part of the duchy. An effort made to recover the lost
ground led to the battle of Bicocca (a.d. 1622), in which the
[French were totally defeated and finally expelled from Italy j and
Genoa, their most faithful ally, was subjected to the power of their
enemies. An event of scarcely less importance was the death of
Leo and the elevation of Adrian, a devoted adherent of Charles to
,tbe papal chair; and this was soon followed by the desertion of the
Venetians to the imperial side.
Francis might have still recovered the Milanese, where the
onperor's troops had been disbanded for want of pay, had not the
qneen-mother, blinded by passion, induced him to treat the
constable of Bourbon with such gross injustice that this powerful
noble entered into a secret intrigue with the emperor, and agreed
to raise the standard of revolt The discovery of the plot delayed
the French king's march into Italy ; and though he protected his
own territories, the Milanese was irrecoverably lost. Encouraged
hy this success, Charles commanded the imperial generals to invade
J^rauice on the side of Provence, while the king of England ^TOt£d&^^
230 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUEOPE.
to attack it on the north. Had this plan beeti executed Francis
must have been ruined ; but Wolsey, provoked by the elevation of
Clement VII. to the papacy on the death of Adrian, avenged
himself for the broken promises of the emperor, abated Henry's
ardour for enterprise, and persuaded him to keep his forces at home
under pretence of resisting the Scots, who had embraced the side
of the French king. Charles, unable to conmiand money, could
not moke a diversion on the side of Spain or the Netherlands; and
the imperialists^ having uselessly wasted the country, were compelled
to retire from Provence.
Elated by his success, Francis hastened to invade Italy; but,
instead of pressing the pursuit of the shattered imperialists, he laid
siege to Pavia, and thus gave his adversaries time to strengthen
and recruit their forces. With similar imprudence he sent a large
detachment to invade Naples, hoping that the viceroy of that
kingdom would v^ithdraw a large portion of the imperialists from
the Milanese for its defence. But Charles's generals, having
received a strong reinforcement raised in Germany by the constable
of Bourbon, attacked the French in their intrenchments, and
gained a decisive victory, in which Francis himself was made
prisoner.
This great calamity was principally owing to the romantic notioM
of honour entertained by the French king ; he had vowed that he
would take Pavia or perish in the attempt ; and, rather than expose
himself to the imputation of breaking a promise of chivalry, he re-
mained in his entrenchments, though the means of safe retreat weie
open to him. Never did armies engage with greater ardour than
the French and imperialists before the walls of Pavia (February
24th, 1525). On the one hand a gallant young monarch, seconded
by a generous nobility, and followed by subjects to whose natural
impetuosity indignation at the opposition which they had en-
countered added new force, contended for victory and honour. On
the other side, troops more completely disciplined, and conducted
by generals of greater abilities, fought, from necessity, with courage
heightened by despair. The imperialists, however, were unable to
resist the first efforts of the French valour, and their firmest
battalions began to give way. * But the fortune of the day wa«
quickly changed. The Swiss in the service of France, unmindful
of the reputation of their country for fidelity and msirtial gloiyi
abandoned their posts in a cowardly manner. The garrison d
Pavia sallied out and attacked the rear of the French during the
heat of the action with such fury as threw it into confusion ; and
Pescara, falling on their cavalry with the imperial horse, among
whom he had prudently intermingled a considerable number of
Spanish foot, armed with the heavy muskets then in use, broke
THE AGE OF CHARLES V. 231
this formidable body by an unusual method of attack, against which
they were totally unprovided. The rout became universal, and
resistance ceased in almost every part but where the kiog was in
person, who fought now, not for fame or victory, but for safety.
Though wounded in several places and thrown from his horse,
which was killed under him, Francis defended himself on foot with
an heroic courage. Many of his bravest officers, gathering round
him and endeavouring to save his life at the expense of their own,
fell at his feet The king, exhausted with fatigue and scarcely
capable of further resistance, was left almost alone, exposed to the
fiiry of some Spanish soldiers, strangers to his rank, and enraged at
his obstinacy. At that moment came up Pomperant, a French
gentleman who had entered together with Bourbon into the
emperor's service, and, placing himself by the side of the monarch
against whom he Bad rebelled, assisted in protecting him from the
violence of the soldiers, at the same time beseeching him to
surrender to Bourbon, who was not far distant. Imminent as the
danger was which now surrounded Francis, he rejeected with
indignation the thoughts of an action which would have afforded
such triumph to his traitorous subject; and, calling for Launoy
who also happened to be near at hand, gave up his sword to him ;
which he, kneeling to kiss the king's hand, received with profound
respect; and, taking his own sword from his side, presented it to
him, saying, ^ that it did not become so great a monarch to remain
disiurmed in the presence of one of the emperor's subjects.'
Although Launoy ti-eated his royal captive with all the marks
of respect due to his rank and character, he nevertheless guarded
him with the utmost precaution. lie was solicitous, not only to
prevent any possibili^ of his escaping, but afraid that his own
troops might seize his person, and detain it as the best security for
the payment of their arreara. In order to provide against both
these dangers, he conducted Francis, the day after the battle, to a
strong castle, and committed him to the custody of an officer re-
markable for the strict vigilance which such a trust required.
Francis^ who formed a judgment of the emperor's disposition by
his own, was extremely desirous that Charles should be informed
of his situation, fondly hoping that from his generosity or sym-
pathy, he should obtain speedy relief. He therefore gave a
passport to an imperial officer to carry the intelligence of the battle
of Pavia and his own capture through France, as the communication
with Spain by land was the most safe and certain at this season of
the year.
• Charles received the account of this signal success with affected
moderation, but at the same time deliberated with the utmost solici-
tude how he might derive the greatest advantages ixom the miafoi-
232 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUftOPE.
tunes of Ms adversary. His first demands were that Frands should
restore the duchy of Burgundy, which, as we have seen, was
dishonourably wrested from his ancestors by Louis XL ; that Pro-
vence and Dauphind should be erected into an independent kingdom
for the Constable of Bourbon ; that satisfaction should be made to
the king of England for his claims on France and that all the pre-
tensions of France to territories in Italy should be renounced for
ever. Francis was so indignant at being required to make such
ignominious concessions that he drew his dagger and made an
attempt tu commit suicide ; he was of course prevented, and it WM
hinted that a personal interview with the emperor would lead to the
offer of more equitable conditions. Francis himself was of the same
opinion ; he was sent in a Spanish galley to Barcelona, from whence
he was removed to Madrid ; but on reaching that city he was sent
to the Alcazar and guarded more carefully than ever, and it appeared
evident that the king's reliance on the emperor's generosi^ had
been wholly misplaced.
But this triumph, which seemed to have made Charles master
of Italy and arbiter of Europe, so far from yielding the substantia
advantages which might reasonably have been expected, served only
to array against him the jealousy of England, of the Italian states^
and of the Protestant princes of Germany. At the same time tiie
disorganised condition of his finances, and the consequent difficultf
of finding pay, subsistence, or the munitions of war for his soldien^
reduced his Italian armies to inactivity in the very moment of
victory. Henry VIU. was the first of the imperial allies to set the
example of defection; he entered into a defensive alliance with
Louise, the queen-regent of France, in which all the differences
between him and her son were adjusted ; at the same Id me he en-
gaged that he would employ his best offices in order to deliver his
new ally from a state of captivity. Imprisonment soon began to pro-
duce such injurious effects on the mental and bodily health of Francis
that Charles began to fear that all his plans might be frustrated by
the death of his captive, and he therefore sought a personal inter-
view with him, in which he held out a hope of milder conditions of
liberation.
The chief obstacle that stood in the way of Francis's liberty was
the emperor's continuing to insist so peremptorily on the restita-
tion of Burgundy as a preliminary to that event. But the history
of Burgundy while an independent duchy, as detailed in preceding
sections, sufficiently proves that compliance with such a demand
would have reduced the monarch of France to a state of complete
dependence on his nominal vassals. Francis often declared that he
would never consent to dismember his kingdom ; and that, even if
he should so far forget the duties of a monarch as to come to such
a resolution, the fundamental laws of the kingdom would prevent
THE AGE OF CHARLES V. 23S
its ttJnng effect. Finding that the emperor was inilexihle on the
point, he suddenly took the resolution of resigning his crown, with
all its rights and prerogatives, to his son the dauphin, determining
rather to end his days in prison than to purchase his freedom hy
concessions imworthy of a king,
. Charles was so alarmed hy this resolution that he consented to
modify his demands so far as not to insist on the restitution of
Burgundy until the king was set at liberty. The remaining con-
ditions of the treaty were sufficiently onerous ; but a few hours
before the signing them Francis assembled such of his councillors
as happened to be in Madrid, and having exacted from them a
Jolemn oath of secrecy, he made a long enumeration in their
^presence of the dishonourable acts as well as unprincely rigour
which the emperor had employed in order to insnare or intimidate
Inni. For that reason he took a formal protest in the hands of
notaries that his consent to the treaty should be considered as an
involuntary deed and be deemed null and void. By this disin-
^;enuous artifice, for which the treatment he had received was no
apology, Francis endeavoured to satisfy his honour and conscience
In signing the treaty, and to provide at the same time a pretext on
•^hich to break it.
About a month after the signing of the treaty the regent's ratifi-
cation of it was brought from France, and two princes of the blood
aent as hostages for its execution. At last Francis took leave of
the emperor, whose suspicion of the king's sincerity increasing as
liie time of putting it to the proof approached, he attempted to
"fcind Mm still faster by exacting new promises, which after those
^e had already made the French monarch was not slow to grant.
He set out from Madrid, a place which the remembrance of so
aany afiiicting circumstances rendered peculiarly odious to him,
with the joy natural on such an occasion, and began the long
avished-for journey towards his dominions. He was escorted by a
liody of horse under the command of Alar^on, who, as the king
4rew near the frontiers of France, guarded him with more scrupu-
lous exactness than ever. When he arrived at the river Andaye,
^hich separates the two kingdoms, Lautrec, one of his favourite
generals, appeared on the opposite bank, with a guard of horse
equal in number to Alar^on's. An empty bark was moored in the
middle of the stream; the attendants drew up in order on the
opposite banks ; at the same instant Launoy put off with eight
gentlemen from the Spanish, and Lautrec with the same number
ftom the French, side of the river ; the former had the king in his
boat ; the latter the two princely hostages, the dauphin and the
duke of Orleans ; they met in the empty vessel ; the exchange was
jnade in a moment i Francis, after a short embrace of his cbildieU)
234 TH^ STATES-SYSTEM OF EUBOPE.
leaped into Lautrec's boat, and reached the French shoie. He
mounted at that instant a Turkisl^ horse^ waved his hand over Mb
head; and with a joyous voice, cried aloud several limes, 'I am
yet a king ! ' then, putting spurs to his horse, he galloped at full
speed to St. Jean de Luz, and thence to Bayonne. This event^ no
less impatiently desired by the French people than their monaich,
happened on the 18th of March, 1526, a year and twenty-two dijB
after the fatal battle of Pavia.
The states of Burgundy afforded Francis the first opportimity of
refusing to fulfil the conditions of his liberation. They represented
to the monarch that he had no right to make a transfer of their
allegiance without their consent, and that they would rather assert
their independence than submit to a foreign dominion. Upon thi%
Francis, turning towards the imperial ambassadors, represented to
them the impossibility of performing what he had imdertaken, and
offered, in lieu of Burgundy, to pay the emperor two milliooB of
crowns. The ambassadors, who were well aware that the entire
« scene had been concerted between the king and the states, refosed
to admit any modification of the treaty ; they returned to Madridi
and Charles, who perceived that he had been over-reached, ex-
claimed in the most public manner and in the harshest terms
against Francis, as a prince void of faith and honour. The French
king, on the other hand, asserted that no promise obtained byforee
was binding, and easily obtained from the pope a full absolution
from all the obligations which he had contracted.
During this period Germany was cruelly harassed by insunee-
tions of the peasants, goaded to madness by the oppressioDS of
their lords. In Thuringia, where a great part of the population
had been converted to Lutheranism, Muncer, a wild fanatic^ be-
came the leader of the insurgents, and by stimulating ihor
ignorant zeal added religious bigotry to the horrors of civil war.
Luther sincerely lamented the scandal that these disturbanceB
brought on the cause of the Reformation j but his own marriage
vdth a nun who had broken her vows gave such general offeooe,
that his influence for a season was greatly diminished.
Francis was not long at liberty before he not only protested
against the treaty of Madrid and refused to fulfil any of its stipula-
tions, but organised a new league against Charles, which was
named 'Holy,* because the pope was its nominal head. The
Venetians, the duke of Milan, and the English king joined the
confederacy ; but their operations were so slow and feeble that the
imperialists easily maintained their ascendency in the north of
Itfidy. The constable of Bourbon, irritated by the vacillating con-
duct of the pope, marched against Kome, heedless of the truce that
had been granted to the pontiff" by the viceroy of Naples. * The
THE AGE OF CHARLES V. 235
iternal city * was taken by assault, and suffered more severely from
the soldiers of a Catholic king than from the barbarous pagans of
m earlier age. Bourbon fell in the assault ; but the command of
the imperialists devolved on the prince of Orange, who besieged
^e pope in the castle of St. Angelo, and compelled him to yield
.himself a prisoner (a.d. 1527). Charles received the intelligence
of this success with contemptible hypocrisy ; he professed the most
■ncere sorrow for the captivity of the holy pontiff, and ordered
pmyers to be offered for his deliverance in all the Spanish churches,
iostead of sending orders for his liberation. So great was the in-
Agnation excited by the harsh treatment of the pope, that Francis
Vfts enabled to invade Italy and penetrate to the very walls of
Staples. But here his prosperity ended ; the pope, liberated from
Qaptivity, resolved to conciliate the emperor j the Venetians became
jealous of the French power, and finally the Genoese hero, Andrew
Doria, roused by the wrongs which Francis had inflicted on him-
lelf and his country, revolted to the emperor, and turned the scale
if the war by making the imperialists superior at sea. Doria's
bst care was to restore the republic of Genoa ; and such was the
Ipnion entertained of his patriotism and disinterestedness^ that he
VS8 nniversally called 'The fatheb of his covntby and the
|I8tori:b of its liberty ' (a.d. 1528). These circumstances, and
Sie defeat of his army in the Milanese, inclined Francis to peace ;
I treaty was negotiated at Cambray by the emperor's aunt and the
Ipng's mother, but the fair diplomatists left enough of disputable
points unsettled to furnish grounds for a future war.
Charles, having thus prevailed over France, resolved to make a
li(g^rous struggle to crush the Reformation in Germany ; but the
Brotestant princes, undismayed by his power, formed a league for
Dheir mutual protection at Smalkald (a. d. 1530), and applied to
Bke kings of France and England to patronise their coi^ederacy.
tfeory YIII. was eager to grant them support ; he was desirous to
be divorced from his wife, Catherine of Aragon, the emperor's
Mmt^ and attributed the pope's reluctance to the intrigues of
Charles. Hostilities were for a time averted by the emperor's
inking some important concessions, for he was anxious to have his
bother Ferdinand chosen as his successor, with the title of king of
Hie Komans, and the progress of the Turks on his eastern frontiers
liNild only be resisted by the united strength of the empire.
Francis had concluded peace at Cambray because he was no
\fmgee able to maintain war. He sought the earliest opportunity
oC -renewing hostilities, and secured the friendship of the pope by
■Biting his son, the duke of Orleans, to the pontiff's niece, Catherine
jk Medicis. But though he thus gained one ally, he lost others.
Henry VIII., inflamed by love of Anne Boleyn, and enraged b^
9SG THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
the pope's confirmation of his marriage with Catherine, no longer
kept any measures with the court of Rome ; his subjects seoondBd
his resentment; an act of parliament was passed, abolishing the
papal power and jurisdiction in England (a.d. 1534); by another
act, the king was declared supreme head of the Church, and all
the authority of which the popes were deprived was Tested in him.
Henry was thus disinclined to support the pope*s ally, and the
Protestant princes of Germany viewed Francis with some suspidoo,
because he persecuted the reformed in his own duminions. The
death of Clement YII., and the election of Paul TIL, an adherent
of the emperor, suddenly deprived Francis of the papal aid, on
which he had confidently calculated, and compelled him to debf
his projects for troubling the peace of Europe.
The insurrection of the Anabaptists, a new set of fanatics in
Germany, and the emperor's expedition against the piratical ststee
of Barbary, employed men's minds for a season. The st^pree-
sion of the fanatics and the conquest of Tunis crowned the em-
peror with glory, yet it was at this moment that Francis chose
to renew the war (a. d. 1536). Savoy was immediately ovemmlij
the French troops, and its unfortunate duke in vain implored the
aid of the emperor, whose resources had been exhausted in the
African war. It was on this occasion that Charles challenged his
rival to single combat in which farcical proposal he only imitstod
the former follies of Francis. On the other hand, ihe death of the
dauphin amid the joy occasioned by the repulse of the impeiialiBte
who had invaded Provence, was absurdly attributed to poison
administered by emissaries of Charles. To complete the ezhihitaoa
of folly, Francis summoned Charles, as count of Flanders, to appear
before the parliament of Paris, and, on his refusal, he was dedared
to have forfeited the Low Countries to his feudal superior. The
war itself was languidly conducted, but the pope, alarmed by the
progress of the Turks, personally interfered, and a truce often yean
was concluded between the two sovereigns at Nice (a.b. 1538).
The religious disputes in Germany between the princes of the
Protestent and those of the Catholic league, the struggles made by
the pope to prevent the meeting of a general council, unless under
circumstances that would give him complete control oyer its de*
liberations, filled Charles with anxiety, which was not a little
increased by the turbulent disposition of his Flemish subjects and
the success of the Turks in Hungary. Notwithstending all these
difficulties, he undertook an expedition against Algiers (a.d. 1541),
but his fieet was shattered by a storm, his army wasted by a pesti-
lential disease, and his stores of provision rendered unavailing.
He was compelled to return, overwhelmed with loss and disgrace^
THE AGE OF CHAHLES V. 237
and liis defeat raised the courage of his enemies so high that he had
to encounter a new war in Europe.
Francis was eager to take advantage of his rival's distress, and
I2ie crime of the imperial governor of the Milanese furnished him
■with a decent pretext. This imprudent functionary seized two
tmbassadorSy sent from the Parisian court to Turkey^ and put them
to death, in direct violation of the law of nations. Francis now
dianged his plan of operations ; acting on the defensive in Italy, he
invaded the Netherlands and Koussillon (a.d. 1542), hut failed to
i&ake any permanent impression. Charles found an ally in the
king of England : the death of his aunt had removed the great
aoorce of enmity between the emperor and Heury, and the close
illiance between France and Scotland, recently cemented by the
marriage of the Scotch king, James V., to a French princess, Mary
of Guise, had excited great jealousy and alarm in England. Henry,
irith his usual impetuosity, having introduced the Reformation
into England, became anxious that Scotland should also withdraw
its allegiance from the pope, and endeavoured to win his nephew
James to adopt his plan, by the most advantageous offers. The
influence of the Scottish clergy prevailed over that of the English
nonarch, and Henry in his fury proclaimed war against Scotland,
ii the midst of these troubles, James V. died, leaving his dominions
tdhisin&ntdaughter^ Mary, the celebrated and unfortunate queen of
Scots. This changed all Henry's plans ; he aimed at uniting the
tiro kingdoms, by effecting a marriage between his son Edward and
kazjy but he knew that this could only be effected by crushing the
feench party in Scotland, and, eager to accomplish this object, he
iBadily entered into the alliance against Francis.
The French monarch, on the other hand, entered into close union
iHth the Turks, and courted the support of the German Pro-
testants; but the princes of the empire refused to join so bitter a
|0r8ecator of the reformed doctrines, and his only ally, the duke
of Oleves, was forced to submit to Charles. The sultan afforded
fcim more effective support; he invaded Hungaiy in person, and
Wntthe celebrated admiral and pirate, Barbarossa, to join the French
i^ inyading Italy. Nice was besieged by their united forces ; to
ke astonishment and scandal of all Christendom, the lilies of
Hiaace and the crescent of Mohammed appeared in conjunction
igaiiist a fortress, on which the cross of Savoy was displayed. The
^es were finally compelled to raise the siege, and Francis had
i|Ot even the poor consolation of success, in return for the infamy
if having taken as auxiliaries the deadly enemies of Christianity.
Tke battle of Cerisoles (a.d. 1644) gave his arms the fame of
Meless victory, but it did not prevent the invasion of France by
ihe emperor on the side of Lorraine, and the English through
238 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUEOPE.
Calais. Had Charles and Henry acted in concerfc^ Francis must
have yielded unconditionally, hut he took advantage of their
disunion to conclude a separate peace with the emperor at Crespj
(a.d. 1644). Henry VIH. continued the war for some time
longer, hut it did not produce any event of consequence. Charles
had now secured his predominance in Italy, and was secretly
preparing to restore the imperial authority in Germany. Deali
removed his two powerful contemporaries, Francis and Henry, in
the same year (a. d. 1647), hoth of whom would have heen
dangerous antagonists. Though Henry's motives in favouring the
Reformation were not very pure, his intense hatred of the popes
must have induced him to protect the Protestant interest in 6e^
many.
The secularisation of Prussia, hy Alhert of Brandenbuig (aj.
1525), was the first example of the seizure of church property
consequent on the change of religion ; hut the indignation of ^
Catholic princes, and the ambition of the Protestants, wen
restrained hy the Turkish and the French wars. Still the emperor's
conduct at the diets of Spires and Augsburg, the pope's anxiety to
convene a council subservient to his will, and the intrigues of the
ecclesiastics in the states that retained their connection with Borne,
compelled the Protestants to renew the league of Smalkald, and
assign the fixed contingent of men and arms that should be supplied
by the several members. When the council of Trent finally opened
(a.d. 1646), its very form and its first decision rendered it impossible
for the Protestants to take any part in it. But the peace of Crespy
left them unprotected, and their want of mutual confidence pre-
vented them from acting in concert. At the very commencement
of the war, Prince Maurice of Saxony deserted the league and
joined the emperor ; John Frederic, the elector of Saxony, and chief
leader of the Protestants, was made prisoner at the battle of
Miihlberg (a.d. 1647), and his dominions rewarded the treacheiy
of Maurice.. The landgrave of Hesse, the last hope of the
Reformers, was inveigled to visit the emperor at Halle^ and dis-
honourably detained as a captive.
This rapid success of the emperor alarmed the pope, who began
to fear that Charles would prevail upon the council to limit his
pontifical authority, and the two potentates, apparently believing
the Protestant cause crushed, began to seek for their own private
advantages. Charles published a code of doctrines called the
'Interim,* because the regulations it contained were only to he in
force until the convocation of a free general council, and this edict,
which was strictly conformable to the tenets of the Romish Church,
he resolved to enforce on the empire (a.d. 1548). Catholics and
Protestants equally declaimed against this summary mode of
THE AGE OF CHAm^S V. 239
•ettling a nation's faith, but the emperor scarcely encountered any
open resistance, except from the free city of Magdeburg, and an
«nny sent to reduce this disobedient place was intrusted to
Maurice of Saxony.
Maurice was secretly dissatisfied with the conduct of the emperor,
and was especially grieved by the detention of his father-in-law,
the landgrave of Hesse. He formed a bold plan for compelling the
emperor, by a sudden attack, to establish religious freedom, and
liberate the landgrave, but concealed his projects, imtil the most
&vourable moment for putting them into execution. On the
Murender of Magdeburg (a.d. 1661), he contrived to win the con-
Idence of the garrison and the citizens, without awakening the
luspicions of the emperor, and he entered into a secret treaty with
Henry IL of France, the son and successor of Francis. No words
tan describe the astonishment and distress of the emperor, when
Maurice, having completed his preparations, published his manifesto
detailing the grievances which he required to be redressed. The
active prince proceeded with so much promptitude and vigour, that
Charles narrowly escaped being made piisoner at Innspruck. The
teuncil of Trent was broken up ; the prelates tumultuously voted a
prorogation for two ^ears, but more than ten elapsed before its
proceedings were renewed. The emperor had the mortification to
■ee all his projects overthrown by the pi-ince whom he had most
trnsted, and was compelled to sign a treaty at Passau, by which
the captive princes were restored to liberty, and a free exercise of
^eir religion secured to the Protestants (a.d. 1662). The war
idth France lasted three years longer ; it was conducted vTithout
toy great battles, but, on the whole, proved unfavourable to the
emperor. From the hour that the treaty of Passau had wrested
licom Charles V. the fruits of his whole political career, he felt that
■lis crowns were heavy on his brows. The principles of mutual
toleration were formally sanctioned by the diet of Augsburg:
Paul rV., who may be esteemed the successor of Pope Julius, — for
llie twenty days' reign of Marcellus produced no political event, —
was so offended, that he became the avowed enemy of the house
^ Austria, and entered into close alliance with the king of France.
The Protestant religion was first legally established in England
fcy Edward VI., the pious son of the profligate Henry. But the
troubles occasioned by his minority, and the ambition of his
guardians, prevented the Reformed Church from being fixed on a
l^rmanent foundation. Edward died young (a. d. 1663), and the
papal dominion was restored by his bigoted successor and sister,
Mary. Charles, having failed to procure the empire for his son
Philip, negotiated a maniage between the prince and Queen Mary,
which was concluded much to the dissatisfaction of the British
240 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
nation. Maiy's cruel persecutions of the Protestants failed to
reconcile her subjects to the yoke of Home, and on her death
(a. d. 1558), the reformed religion was triumphantl7 restored Ij
her sister Elizabeth.
The diet which assembled at Augsburg (a.d. 1655) did not
secure to the Protestants all the advantages they had a right to
expect. Maurice had fallen in a petty war, and they had no leader
fit to be his successor. With strange imprudence, the Lutherans
consented to the exclusion of the Calvinists from the benefits of
religious toleration, and left several important questions undecided^—
the pregnant source of future wars. When the labours of the diet
terminated, Charles, mortified at being forced to resign the hope of
securing the empire to his son, saddened by his experience of tb
instability of fortune, and broken down by illness, resolved to
abdicate his double authority. He resigned the sceptre of Spain
and the Netherlands to his son, Philip U., and the i^operial crown
some months after to his brother Ferdinand : he then retired to the
monastery of St. Justus, in Valladolid, where he died (a.d. 1558).
The long struggle for religious freedom during the reign of
Charles V. terminated in favour of the Eeformation ; but the
Eomish Church was far from being subdued, and it derived moat
efficient support from the institution of the Jesuits, a political
rather than religious society, admirably organised for the support
of the highest and most unyielding assumptions of papal authoritj.
This body became formidable from its unity and the secrecy of it»
operations, but it at length excited the alarm of Catholic pnncesi
and was suppressed in the last century.
In the course of the wars between Charles and Francis, tlie
republic of Venice, which, at the beginning of the sixteenth century,
had appeared so formidable that almost all the potentates of Europe
united in a confederacy for its destruction, declined &om its and^t
power and splendour. The Venetians not only lost a great part of
their territory in the war excited by the league of Cambray, but
the revenues as well as vigour of the state were exhausted by thor
extraordinary and long-continued efforts in their own defence, and
that commerce by which they had acquired their wealth and power
began to decay without any hopes of its reviving. All the fatal
consequences to their republic, which the sagacity of the Venetian
senate foresaw on the first discovery of a passage to the East Indies
by the Cape of Good Hope, actually took place. Their endeavoura
to prevent the Portuguese from establishing themselves in the Eaat
Indies, not only by exciting the Mameluke sultans of Egypt and
the Ottoman monarchs to turn their arms against such dangeroua
intruders, but by affording secret aid to the infidels in order to
insure their success, proved inefiectual. The activity and valour
THE AGE OF CHARLES V. 241
of the Portuguese surmounted every obstacle, and obtained such a
firm footing in that fertile country, as secured to them large
possessions with an influence still more extensive. Lisbon instead
of Venice became the mart for the precious commodities of the
East. The Venetians, after having possessed for many years the
monopoly of that beneficial commerce, had the mortification to be
flOLcluded from almost any share in it. The discoveries of the
Spaniards in the western world proved no less fatal to inferior
Inranches of commerce. When the sources from which the state
derived its extraordinary riches and power were dried up, its
interior vigour declined, and of course its external operations
became less formidable. Long before the middle of the sixteenth
eentnry, Venice ceased to be one of the principal powers in Europe,
and dwindled into a secondary and subaltern state. But as ^e
■enate had the address to conceal the diminution of its power under
ihe veil of moderation and caution ; as it made no rash effort that
could discover its weakness ; as the symptoms of political decay in
•tates are not soon observed, and are seldom so apparent to their
aeighbours as to occasion any sudden alteration in their conduct
towards them, Venice continued long to be considered and respected.
She was treated not according to her present condition, but accord-
ing to the rank which she had formerly held. Charles V., as
well as the kings of France, his rivals, courted her assistance with
emulation and solicitude in all their enterprises. Even down to the
dose of the century, Venice remained not only an object of
attention, but a considerable seat of political negotiation and
intrigue.
That authority which the first Cosmo de Medici and Lorenzo
Ibs grandson had acquired in the ^republic of Florence by their
beneficence and abilities, inspired their descendants with the am-
bition of usurping the sovereignty in their country. Charles V.
|laced Alexander de Medici at the head of the republic (a.d. 15d0),
■id to the natural interest and power of the family added the
weight as well as the credit of the imperial protection. Of these
Ins successor Cosmo, sumamed the Great, availed himself; and
•ttabliahing his supreme authority on the ruins of the ancient
lepublican constitution, he transmitted that together with the
fitie of grand duke of Tuscany to his descendants. Their dominions
were composed of the territories which had belonged to the three
•ommonwealths of Florence, Pisa, and Sienna, and formed one ol
Hw moet respectable of the Italian states.
242 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPR
Section Vni. The Age of Mizabeth.
Thb accession of Elizabeth was tlie crisis of the Befonnation in
Great Britain ; as she was the daughter of Anne Boleyn, whose
marriage with Henry VIEL had not been sanctioned by the Romish
Church, her title was not recognised by the Catholics, and the
king of France permitted his daughter-in-law, Mary, queen of
Scots, to assume the arms and title of England. Elizabeth secoied
herself by entering into secret alliance with the heads of the
Protestant party in Scotland, who succeeded in withdrawing that
kingdom from its allegiance to the pope, and so fettering the royal
authority, that the queen dowager, who acted as regent for her
daughter, was too much harassed at home to make any hostile
attempt on England. Connected with the cause of the ReforiDA-
tion by her own interests, Elizabeth was naturally regarded as the
head of the Protestants in Europe, while Philip II. was the
champion of the Catholics. Hence England became the counte>
poise to Spain in this age, as France had been in the preceding.
But the ancient rivalry between France and Spain was of the
highest importance to Elizabeth ; it prevented a cordial union
between the Catholic powers of Europe for checking the progieffl
of the Reformation, and it secured support for her doubtful title,
ere her noble qualities, becoming known, earned for her the hest
of all securities, the affections of the English nation.
Mary, queen of Scots, was the niece of Henry VIII., and next
heir to his crown if the illegitimacy of Elizabeth were established;
she was wedded to the heir-apparent of the French monarchy ; her
maternal uncles, the princes of Lorraine, were remarkable for
capacity, valour^ and daring ambition, and she had reasonahle
prospects of success at a time when Scotland was divided between
the contending communions, Ireland was altogether Catholic, and
Catholics predominated in the noi*th of England. The death of
Henry II., by a mortal wound in a tournament, raised Mary's
husband, the feeble Francis IT., to the French throne, and tiie
young queen's influence transferred the power of the monarchy to
the princes of Lorraine. The bigoted Philip II. was so alarmed at
the probable accession of power to his great rivals, that he not
only acknowledged Elizabeth's title, but proffered her marriage.
She declined the offer, and Philip gave his hand to the princess
Elizabeth of France, and concluded a treaty with that power at
Cateau Cambresis. Though no express stipulations were made,
it was well known that the extirpation of heresy formed a part of
this alliance between the two great Catholic powers ; it led to a
furious war of religion, which ended in the establishment of a new
JSurqpean state.
THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. 243
Before entering on tlie history of the religious wars in France
and the Netherlands, it is of importance to examine the state of
England and Scotland during the early part of Elizabeth's reign.
On the death of Francis 11. (Dec. 1560), Mary was compelled to
return to her native dominions by the jealousy of her mother-in-law,
Catherine de Medicis, who secretly envied the power of the princes
of Lorraine. She left France with a heavy heart, and from the
very iirst moment of her landing had to endure indignities the most
mortifying to her proud spirit. Popery had been overthrown in
Scotland, but the Protestantism erected in its stead was just as
bigoted and as intolerant as the ancient creed had been in the
worst of times. Still the winning manners of the queen, and the
weakness of her party, prevented any immediate outbreak ; and
the confidence of the Protestants in the earl of Moray restrained
the violence of their fanaticism. The marriage of Mary to the
young Lord Damley, in spite of the remonstrances both of Eliza-
beth and Lord Moray (a.d. 1565), led to the first open breach
between the queen and her subjects. Several lords, indignant at
the refusal of indulgence to the Protestant religion, sought safety in
England, and they soon gained Damley himself to join their asso-
ciation. An Italian, of mean birth, David Eizzio, having been
appointed private secretary to the queen, gained such an ascendency
over her, that Damley 's jealousy was roused; he entered into a
conspiracy with the exiled lords, introduced an armed band secretly
into the palace, arrested Eizzio in the queen's presence, and
murdered him at the door of her chamber. The birth of a son led
to an apparent reconciliation between Mary and her husband ; but
its hollowness was proved by Damley's being excluded from
Witnessing the baptism of his own child. The appearance of
lenewed affection was maintained notwithstanding this insult;
Damley fell sick, Mary visited him with apparent anxiety, and,
Imder tiie pretence that quiet was necessary to an invalid, removed
him to a solitary house called the Kirk of Field. On the 9th of Feb-
ruary, 1567, this house was blown up with gunpowder, and the
unfortunate Damley's lifeless body carried to some distance, where
it was found without any external mark of violence. The measures
taken by Mary to screen Bothwell, universally regarded as the
author of this crime, and her subsequent marriage to that nobleman,
aeemed to many conclusive evidence that she had countenanced her
husband's murder. The Scottish lords flew to arms; Mary was
forced to yield herself a prisoner to her irritated subjects, and
Bothwell fled into exile.
The unfortunate queen, confined in Lochleven castle, was forced
to abdicate in favour of her son, who was crowned vdth the title of
James YL She escaped from her prison, and soon found hdta^li
b2
244 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
at the head of a numerous army, but within eleven days firom her
deliverance she was completely defeated in the battle of LangsidOi
and forced to seek refuge in England (a.s. 1568). Elizabeth
placed the fugitive in close custody, a measure which her safety
perhaps demanded, but which was scarcely consistent with hear
honour. The insurrections of the Catholic lords in the northem
counties, and Mary's intrigues with the duke of Norfolk, combined
with the open attempts of the Catholic states against Elizabeth^
rendered the unfortunate queen's detention a matter of prudent
expediency, if not of prime necessity.
Like his father Charles V., Philip was ambitious of universal
monarchy, but he used different means; he hoped to gain the
cler^ by his zeal, to win the nobles by bribes which the wealth
of Spanish America enabled him to offer, and to subdue the people
by the united efforts of ecclesiastical and aristocratic influence.
But in the Netherlands, as in France, the proposal to establish the
Inquisition was a fatal error of despotism ; it provoked the fierce
resistance of all who were worthy of their country, it identified the
papacy with cruelty and slavery, it gave to the reformed leaders the
/ proud title of deliverers of their country. The election of PiusIV.
' to the chair of St. Peter precipitated the civil war in France
(a.d. 1660). A conspiracy was formed for removing the Guisea,
in which many ardent Catholics joined ; it was discovered and
defeated, but the sanguinary cruelty of the Lorraine princes
rendered their victory injurious to their cause; the memory of the
martyrs they slaughtered won proselytes, and confirmed opposition.
So powerful were the Huguenots that liberty of conscience was
sanctioned in an assembly of the Notables at Fontainebleau; and
it was proposed to convoke a national council for regulating the
affairs of the Gtdlican Church. Had France been ruled by an
energetic sovereign, acquainted with the interests of his crown and
the wishes of the nation, the French Church at this moment might
have been rendered as independent of Home as the English; the
pope saw the danger, and he induced Francis to abandon the
national synod, by promising the speedy convocation of a general
council. Both the emperor and the king of France objected to
re-assembling the bishops at Trent, declaring that its name was
odious to the Protestants ; but the ill health of Francis IL, who
was fast sinking into the grave, induced Pius to quicken his pro-
ceedings, and bulls for the continuation of the council were issued.
In the mean time the States-General assembled in France. The
prince of Cond^ and the king of Navarre, the great leAders of the
Huguenot party, were arrested, when they appeared at court, and
the former received sentence of death. But the queen-mother,
Catheiine de Medicis, dreading that the regency would be seiied
THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. 245
by the Guises when the king died, secretly intrigued with the
Huguenots to secure their support, and the Hfe of Cond^ was the
pledge and the reward of their assistance. But while she thus courted
the alliance of the Protestants, she secretly informed Philip II.
that her hatred of the Reformation was unabated, and that she
only waited a favourable opportunity to imitate his example of
merciless butchery and persecution. She intrigued with both
parties, a fatal error ; for had she frankly embraced one she would
have stamped the other with the character of revolt : her Italian
cunning only served to render civil war inevitable.
The duke of Guise saw clearly that to sustain the part he
designed to act it was necessary to attempt something of more than
ordinary magnitude j he raised the cry, ^ The Church is in danger ; '
ignorance and bigotry responded to the summons ; he placed him-
self at the head of the zealous supporters of papal infallibility,
hoping to destroy, by one blow, the queen-regent. Like his oppo-
nents he appealed to the people, and attempted to guide public
opinion ; like them, too, he declared himself the stedfast friend
of the monarchy ; thus the struggle between the two parties had
for its prize the throne of France, and for its pretext the defence of
royalty.
In the mean time the council of Trent continued its deliberations,
without showing any symptom of a desire to conciliate the spirit of
the age by improving either the doctrine or the discipline of the
Church. The bishops wasted their time in scholastic disputations,
and proved how delusive were their professions of a desire for
peace by celebrating the victory obtained over the Huguenots at
Dreux by a public thanksgiving. In fact, the council terrified
nobody but Pius IV., who saw his power attacked on every side.
Maximilian, the son of the Emperor Ferdinand, having been
elected king of the Romans, refused for a long time to receive the
sanction of his election from the pontiff, and finally accepted it as
a mere ceremony, venerable on account of its antiquity ; it would
have been better for the Holy See to have abjured such a
privilege than to have it preserved as a subject of ridicule and
mockery.
But though the public proceedings at Trent were far from in-
juring the progress of the Reformation, there were secret plans
devised fraught with imminent peril to the Protestants. One of
these was revealed, by the imprudence of the cardinal of Lorraine.
On the 10th of May, 1563, he read a letter from his niece, Mary,
queen of Scots, * submitting herself to the council, and promising
that, when she succeeded to the throne of England, she would
subject both her kingdoms to the obedience due to the Apostolic
See.' He added, verbally, that she would have sent prelates, as
246 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUBOPR
representatiyes of Scotland, to the council, had she not heen
restrained by the necessity of keeping terms with her heretical
councillors. The Italians were engaged everywhere alarming
monarchs with the repuhlican tendency of the Keformaticm ; a
charge which seemed to derive some support from the revolts of
the peasants in Germany, the troubles in Flanders, and the con-
fusion of France. Philip 11. was not the only sovereign who
regarded heretics as rebels, and believed that the papacy would be
found an efficient aid to despotism in crushing civil as well as
religious liberty.
At length the council of Trent terminated its sittings ; eighteen
years of debate had produced no plan of reform for ecclesiasticfil
morals, discipline, or doctrine (a.d. 1564). One of the last acts of
the assembled fathers was to issue an anathema against heretics^
which justified the Protestants in their refusal to recognise the
acts of the council. But we should commit a great error if we
supposed that this last of the general councils produced no change
in the constitution of the papacy; it organised the spiritual despotism
of the popes, clearly perceiving that the temporal empire was irre-
coverably lost, and it placed the Holy See in the position of an
ally to the monarchs who were eager to maintain despotic power.
From the time of this council to the present day, every sovereign
of France and Spain remarkable for hostility to constitutional
freedom has been equally conspicuous for his attachment to the
Holy Sde and the articles of faith ratified by the council of Trent
It was by this assembly that the marriage of priests was definitely
prohibited. We have already shown how necessary an element this
law has been to the spiritual despotism possessed, and the temporal
supremacy claimed, by the pope. Family and country had no ties
on the bishops of the Cathofic church ; Rome enjoyed exclusive
possession of every feeling that can render a man a good subject or
a good citizen ; the infallibility and omnipotence of the pope were
made articles of faith by prelates whose hearts were engaged in sup-
porting the supremacy of the Holy See ; the popes could rouse
nations to revolt, and trouble empires, because they had obedient
emissaries in every parish ; the doctrine of implicit submission to
the successors of St. Peter was taught by priests, when it could not
be enforced by armies, and it was found sufficiently efficacious to
harass Europe with a century of war. Pius IV. comprehended the
immense value of an unmarried clergy ; though he had violently
condemned the administration of the eucharist in both kinds, he
relaxed the prohibition at the instance of the Emperor Maximilian,
and permitted the cup to be given to the laity in Germany ; but on
the point of celibacy he was inflexible, for he was justly convinced
that it was the great bond by which all the portions of papal
THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. 247
ination were united^ and that if it should be relaxed the entire
36 would fall in sunder.
Iter the dissolution of the council a general suspicion was
•ed through the Protestants of Europe that a league for their
netion had been formed bj some of the leading Catholic
m. It is now sufficiently notorious that these suspicions
I not groundless, and that Pius IV. was weary of the slow
I by which the members of this pretended holy alliance
need to the verge of an exterminating war. He earnestly
d a personal interview between Catherine de Medicis and
Ip IL; it was declined by the latter on account of his ill
th; but he sent a worthy representative, the duke of Alva, to
a conference with the queen-regent and her son, Charles IX.,
layonne. The pretext for the meeting was an interview
raen the young queen of Spain and her mother, Catherine de
ioB ; but the presence of the duke of Alva, the avowed enemy
M Protestants, whose extirpation he openly proclaimed to be
Boet solenm duty to God or man, was a clear proof that more
irtant designs were contemplated. The days were spent in all
iports and festivities that are to be found in a luxurious and
ttious court. But at the dead hour of midnight, when the
tiers, exhausted by the tournament, the table, and the dance,
ed to repose, Catherine held secret conferences with Alva in
i^artments of her probably unconscious daughter Elizabeth.
f agreed in their object, the destruction of the Huguenots and
he parties disposed to place restrictions on the royal authority
he French and Spanish dominions, but they differed very
ily as to the means by which this might be most effectually
■iplished. Alva recommended the most violent measures,
fai of extermination supported by powerful armies, military
ntion of all who ventured to offer any opposition, and a
nl massacre of the Huguenot congregations. But though
Mirine would not have shown any scruple in adopting these or
1 more atrocious plans, she was well aware that Alva's projects
dL not be executed vdthout the aid of a Spanish army, and she
too jealous of her own authority to allow a foreign court to
eise any influence in the kingdom which she governed as
nt. She relied on her own craft and cunning to retain power,
her zeal for religion was always made subservient to her
Kion, and she was infinitely more afraid of any combination of
nobles of France to restrain the royal authority than of the
or supposed progress of heretical opinions. She hated the
inenots rather as a political than as a religious body, for the
XMsratic leaders of the sect were more bent on rendering the
Im independent of the crovm than on delivering the Galilean
2*8 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUBOPE.
Ohurcli from the power of the pope ; and it was the azistocratic
character thus imprinted on the principles of the Befbimation in
France which prevented the Protestant moyement from ever
becoming popular with the great body of the middle and lower
ranks in France. In their minds it was associated with feudalism,
which had become so odious to the !EVench people that they
would have accepted the worst form of Oriental despotiam is
preference.
Philip began to execute his part of the agreement by avigorons
effort to establish the Inquisition in Flanders ; and^ to put an end
to the insurrection which such a measure provoked, he appointed
the duke of Alva lord-lieutenant of the Netherlands, with almost
absolute authority. Many of the Flemish merchants and mann-
fjEicturers left their country ; they brought their industry and iheiz
capital to England, — a circumstance which had no small share in
the rapid growth of England's commercial prosperity. The
cruelties of Alva, the noble resbtance of the prince of Orange, long
the head and hope of the Protestant party in Europe, and tiie final
establishment of the independence of the Seven United Frovincefly
belong to general history ; but in this narrative we must not omit
to mention that Philip's brutal obstinacy was frequently blamed
by the court of Rome ; the crafty Italians would have preferred
fraud to violence, and assassination to the perils of ofg&a war
(a.d. 1672). It must also be mentioned, that the Turks joined in
the contest as the protectors of the Flemings, and that their
defeat by Don John of Austria, at Lepanto, finally delivered
Europe from the perils with which it was menaced by Moham-
medan barbarism. Pius V., who ascended the papal throne (ld.
1666), was disposed to take advantage of the victory at Lepanto,
and organise a league against the Turks; but Philip was jealous
of the glory acquired by his brother, and he declared that notiiing
should divert him from the prosecution of the war in FlandeiB.
This pontiff, who was afterwards canonized as a saint, was
inflexible in his hatred of the Protestants; but he made some
efforts to remedy the evils of the Church by founding schools and
colleges, and excluding persons of immoral life from ecclesiastical
dignities. He was succeeded by Gregory XIII.
In the spring of 1660 the French Protestants were detected in
a conspiracy for taking the infant king out of the hands of the
persecuting Guises, and expelling the entire Lorraine family £rom
France. The massacres with which this crime waa punished
produced retaliation ; a civil war ensued, which, interrupted by
short and unsteady truces, lasted to 1570, when a treaty,
favourable to the Huguenots, was concluded at St. Germains. To
cement this peace a marriage was proposed between the young
THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. 249
king of Navarre^ the hereditary leader of the French Protestants,
and the Princess Margaret, the beautiful sister of the king of
France. The proposal diffused such universal joy that even the
more violent of the Catholic paity were forced to acquiesce, and
preparations vrere made for celebrating the nuptials at Paris with
extraordinary magnificence. Admiral Coligni and the other
Protestant leaders were invited to witness the festivities, and the
chief Catholic lords, headed by the duke of Guise, came to share
in the general reconciliation.^
The events which led to the fearful tragedy that accompanied
ibis marriage have been so misrepresented by party vniters on
every side, that it is desirable to state the facts at some length as
they have been narrated by the principal actors themselves. At
ibis period the populace of Paris was the most bigoted and
sanguinary mob to be found in Europe. They went beyond the
most cruel edicts of their rulers in persecuting all who were
gnspected of heretical opinions, and not unfrequently took the law
into their own hands, against the wishes of the court and the
dergy. The presence of Coligni and the Protestant lords was,
tilierefore, a source of indignant grief to the fanatical multitude,
and nothing but the presence of the royal guards prevented
eutbursts of popular violence. Guise and his friends, opposed to
the Huguenots as heretics, and to their leaders afi rivals, fostered
this general discontent, while the queen-mother, Catherine,
aegotiated vdth both parties, believing that she could only retain
power by balancing one against the other.
Charles IX., feeble in body and weak in intellect, had just
attained his legal majority, but the real power of the states was
wielded by Catherine and her favourite son Henry, for whom she
always showed herself willing to sacrifice the rest of her children.
Li some of his conversations vdth the Protestant lords Charles
eomplained very bitterly of the state of thraldom in which he was
lield, and Coligni, commiserating the unhappy monarch, promised
to aid in his deliverance. The king soon began to vaimt of his
design to assume the reins of power and to remove his mother and
brother from the court; they took the alarm, and easily dis-
eovering by whose counsels the king was influenced, resolved to
assassinate the Admiral Coligni. Henry hired a man for the
purpose, and lent him his own gun; but, in order to avert
suspicion, he stationed the assassin in the lodgings of a retainer of
the duke of Guise. Coligni was shot as he passed the house, but
the wound was not mortal ; before his friends could break open
the door the assassin had escaped, leaving his gun behind him.
At first the suspicions of the Protestants were directed against the
duke of Guise, but the gun, and some other circumstances^ soon led
250 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUBOPE.
them to discover the real instigators of the plot, and tiiey yery
imprudently proclaimed their intention to exact heavy vengeance
upon Catherine and her favourite son.
In this emergency Catherine convoked a secret coundl of her
Mends, and there it was resolved to massacre all the Huguenots
on the eve of St Bartholomew (a.d. 1572), and thus crush the
entire party at one hlow. The conspirators, seven in numher,
were well aware that they could rely on the royal guards, who
were still animated hy all the passions of the late religious wais,
and they also knew that the Parisian populace waited but for a
signal to indulge in the excess of savage bigotry. It was further
resolved that the atrocious plot should be kept secret firom the
king until it was on the eve of execution, but that all arrangements
for effectually accomplishing the general slaughter should be made,
and everything kept in readiness to begin the moment that his
consent had been obtained.
It was late in the evening when Catherine went to Charles,
accompanied by her chosen advisers, and told him that the
Protestants had formed a plan for the extermination of the royal
family, which could only be frustrated by the most immediate and
decisive measures. The feeble monarch, who was not many
degrees removed from idiocy, exhibited every sign of helpless
alarm : whilst in this condition, his mother placed before him the
dreadful decree of extermination^ and demanded his signature;
Charles at first refused, and for some time it was doubtful whether
his consent could be obtained. At length, in a paroxysm of lago
mingled with insanity, he exclaimed, ' I consent, provided that you
kill them all, and leave no survivor to reproach me.*
It was about midnight that the sounding of the tocsin summoned
the bands of murderers to commence the work of destructioat
Most of the unsuspecting Huguenots were massacred in their heds^
or shot on the roofs of their houses while attempting to escape ;
Charles himself, armed with a gun, stationed himself in a tower,
from which he fired upon such fugitives as attempted to escape
across the Seine ; the palace itself was not respected ; several of
the attendants of the young king of Navarre were murdered in
the royal apartments^ and he was himself exposed to considerable
danger.
The massacre lasted for eight days and nights without any
apparent diminution of the fury of the murderers; several Catholics
perished, the victims of mistake or of private animosity, and similar
atrocities were perpetrated in the principal cities of the MngdoDL
At first the court seemed disposed to throw the blame of this
fearful atrocity on the duke of Guise and his faction, but, finduig
that the guilt could not be concealed, it was openly avowed, and a
THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. 251
toyal manifesto issued in its justification. The wish of Charles
that none should survive to reproach him was not fulfilled j nearly
two millions of Huguenots still survived to avenge the fate of their
murdered brethren ; the civil war was renewed with greater fury
than ever ; the Protestants felt themselves strengthened by the
sympathy of all whom bigotry had not rendered callous to every
feeliig of humanity ; and the authors of this imparalleled crime
had the mortification to discover that it had been perpetrated in
vain.
While public rejoicings were made at Rome and Madrid for the
Supposed overthrow of heresy in France, the horror and indignation
excited by the massacre in northern Europe, not only amongst
Protestant but even Catholic princes, proved a serious injury to the
Catholic cause. The prince of Orange placed himself at the head
of the revolters in the Netherlands, the Gueux, or Beggars, as they
were contemptuously called by their oppressors. Though at first
imsuccessful, he gave the insurrection a determined character by
the capture of Brille (a.d. 1672), a conquest which secured him a
naval station for his daring cruisers, and encouraged the cities of
Holland and Zealand to reject the Spanish yoke. The massacre
of Saint Bartholomew weakened the insurgents by depriving them
of the aid of the French Huguenots ; but instead of quelling their
courage it only stimulated them to perseverance. Defeated by
knd, and deprived of their strongest cities, they attacked the
Spaniards on sea, and captured several rich freights. At length
Alva retired in despair, and was succeeded by Zunega y Requesens
(Dec. 1573).
In the very commencement of his administration Requesens
gained a decisive victory over the insurgents at Monher Moor, near
Kimeguen. The three brothers of the prince of Orange fell in this
fttal battle, which would probably have terminated the war but for a
mutiny of the Spanish soldiers. The turbulence of the royal army,
the insolence and licentiousness of the Spaniards, and the pillage of
Antwerp by the mutineers, excited the indignation of Catholics
and Protestants. Five of the Batavian and six of the Belgic
proYinces entered into the pacification of Ghent, which provided
for the expulsion of foreigners, the repeal of Alva's sanguinary
edicts, and restoration of the ancient power of the states-general
(i.D. 1576). Don John of Austria, who had succeeded Requesens
in the government, disarmed suspicion by acceding to the league of
Ghent; but this confederacy soon fell to pieces, owing to the
jealousy between the Protestant and Catholic states. It now
Wame manifest that freedom could be attained only by a close
Union of the northern provinces, and a final rupture with Spain,
•^^cting on this belief, the prince of Orange organised the confederacy
252 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPK
of Utrecht, the basis of that commonwealth so renowned under the
name of the Republic of the United Provinces (a^d. 1679).
But, notwithstanding these precautions, the nomination of the
duke of Parma to the regency threatened to ruin all the projects of
the prince of Orange. The southern provinces, inspired with a
jealousy of the Protestant designs on the Catholic religion^ entered
into an alliance with the regent, and levied an army against the
insurgents of the north. But the Hollanders, thus deserted, did
not lose courage ; they formally renounced their allegiance to the
Spanish crown, and chose the duke of Anjou, brother to the Idsg
of France, for their sovereign (a.d. 1581). But this choice did not
produce the expected advantages ,* and the duke of Anjou after a
brief struggle abandoned all hopes of competing with the duke of
Parma, and returned to France. It is probable that the states
would have chosen the prince of Orange for their constitatifinal
sovereign, but that hero was stabbed by a fanatic, whether instigated
wholly by bigotry, or partly seduced by Spanish gold it is now
difficult to determine (a. b. 1584). Amid the general gloom epread
over the Protestant confederates by the loss of their illustrious
leader, the Hollanders and Zealanders chose Maurice, his son, a
young man of eighteen years, their stadth older and captain-gemeral
by sea and land. The war still continued; but though the duke
of Parma prevailed in the field, and finally captured the important
city of Antwerp (a.d. 1585), the confederates never dreamed of
submission. They offered the sovereignty of their republic to
Queen Elizabeth on certain conditions, and though she rejected
the proffer, she sent the earl of Leicester to their aid with a con-
siderable army. The misconduct of Leicester prevented Hie
Hollanders from gaining all the advantages from the English
auxiliaries that might have been expected ; but the breaking oat
of war between England and Spain, the death of the duke of Parma
in the civil wars of France, and the heroism of Prince Manrioe,
gave them such a decided superiority by sea and land, that their
independence was secured and finally recognised by Spain
(A.D. 1600).
Before entering on the history of the war between England and
Spain, it is necessary to take a retrospective view of the state of
France. On the death of Charles IX. his brother Henry IH.
resigned the throne of Poland for that of France (a.d. 1574). This
prince on his return began a war of persecution, and concluded 1*^
an ignominious peace with his own subjects, in less than a year.
He then abandoned himself to the lowest debaucheries, strangely
combined with the practice of the most degrading superstitioDi*
Opposed to the king were the princes of Lorraine, whose chiet
Henry, duke of Guise, was deservedly regarded as the leader of the
THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. 253
Tiolent Catholic party in France. Noble in person, polished in
demeanour^ endowed with superior talents, and animated by
grasping ambition, he seemed formed by nature to become the
leader of a faction, and art had lent its aid to improve all these
advantages. The utter contempt into which Henry III. had fallen
and the rage of the Catholics at the tolerance granted to the
Protestants by the late pacification, encouraged the duke of Guiso
to raise the cry of religion in danger, and the fanatic populace,
loused by this hypocritical pretext, began to take arms to defend
fheir Church. The Holy League, drawn up by Guise's uncle, the
eardinal of Lorraine, for the defence of the Catholic religion, was
signed and sworn to by Catholics of all ranks and conditions in
Paria and the provinces. The duke of Guise was appointed head
of the league ; the pope and the king of Spain declared themselves
its protectors, and the wretched Henry was forced to yield to the
Action, assemble the states at Blois, and revoke the freedom of
conscience granted to the Huguenots. The consequence was a civil
war, the ninth which afflicted France since the death of Francis IL
The fate of the unhappy queen of Scots, which had been deter-
mined ever since the massacre of St. Bartholomew, was precipitated
ly the formation of the Holy League. Some enthusiastic English
Oatholics entered into a conspiracy for assassinating Elizabeth; they
irere mostly men high in Mary's favour, but her knowledge of their
fk>t is more than doubtful. However, an act of parliament was passed
inthorising her trial ; commissioners were sent for the purpose to
Fotheringay Castle, the place of her confinement, and after an in-
TBstigation, in which the forms of law and the principles of justice
ipere little regarded, she was condemned to death. Elizabeth with
Much apparent reluctance signed the warrant of execution, and
|laced it in the hands of Davison, her private secretary, enjoining
mm not to use it without further orders (a.d. 1587). Davison,
however, showed the warrant to the members of the council, and
4iey, without further consulting Elizabeth, had the unhappy Mary
lieheaded. Henry HI. of France soon afterwards had his capital
Miemied the duke and cardinal of Guise assassinated; but this
itrocious crime only roused the leaguers to more vigorous measures ;
4ey assembled a parliament, deposed the king, and created the
duke of Mayenne Ueutenont-general of the kingdom.
Philip II., in the mean time, prepared an expedition which he
tmdly hoped would conquer England, and thus destroy the great
Itay o£ Protestantism in Europe. Ships were prepared in all the
ports throughout his extensive dominions, Spain, Portugal, Naples,
Ittd those parts of the Low Countries which still recognised his
ibthority. An army of 30,000 picked men was assembled under
the moat experienced officers of Italy, Spain, and Germany, and the
^.54 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUBOPE.
chief command was intrusted to the celebrated duke of Parma.
The pope blessed an expedition that seemed destined once more to
restore the supremacy of the Holy See ; and the Catholics throughout
Europe were so confident of success that they named the armament,
'The Invincible Armada.' Elizabeth undaunledly prepared to
meet the danger. She intrusted the command of her fleet to ao
experienced seaman. Lord Howard of Effingham, while the land
army was placed under the command of the earl of Leicester.
Nothing could exceed the enthusiastic determination of the English
people to defend their religion and liberties, though the queen bad
but one ally on whose assistance she could reckon, James^ king of
Scotland ; she trusted to the attachment of her people, and found
that the love of her subjects was the best security of her throne.
On the 30th of May, 1588, the Armada sailed from Lisbon; but
having been shattered by a storm it was forced to stop at Comnna,
and it did not reach the English Channel until the 19th of July.
Here the Spanish admiral, the dukis of Medina Sidonia, was siupiiaed
to find that the duke of Parma was not prepared to join him with
a fleet and army. While he hesitated, the light English squadrons
assailed his heavy vessels on all sides, and after seven days, three
of which only passed without warm actions, though there was no
decisive engagement, the Armada was so shattered by English
skill and bravery that it was forced to take shelter in the roads of
Calais. Lord Effingham, following up his advantage, sent in
fire-ships during the night, which destroyed several vessels, and
threw the others into such confusion that the Spaniards no longer
thought of victory, but escape. The duke of Medina Sidonia,
dreading again to encounter the English fleet, attempted to retum
home by sailing round the north of Scotland ; but dreadful storms
overtook the Armada, many of the ships were driven on the shores
of Norway, Lreland, and the north of Scotland, and out of the
triumphant navy that sailed from Lisbon only a few shattered
vessels returned to bring intelligence of the calamity that had
overwhelmed the rest.
This glorious success was deservedly regarded not so much as
the triumph of England as of the Protestant cause throughout
Europe ; it virtually established the independence of the Dutch,
and it raised the courage of the Huguenots in France. It com-
pletely destroyed the decisive influence that Spain had acquired in
the aflairs of Europe ; ever since the shipwreck of the Armada the
Spanish state and people seem to have lost all energy, and sunk
into almost hopeless decay.
Henry HI. of France, obliged by the violence of the league to
seek the aid of his Protestant subjects, was murdered by a fanatic
monk, just as he was upon the point of driving his enemies from
THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. 255
Paris. By his death the house of Valois became extinct, and the
right of inheritance passed to the Bourbon family, descended from
Robert, the sixth son of St. Louis. Its representative was Henry
of Navarre, who now claimed to be Henry IV. of France, a warlike,
chivalrous prince endowed with many amiable qualities, but dis-
liked by his new subjects on account of his attachment to the
Protestant religion. After a long struggle Henry found it neces-
sary to abjure his faith, in order to secure his crown; but he
atoned to the Huguenots for his compulsory desertion by issuing
the celebrated edict of Nantes. Still he had to make good his
rights by the sword ; for his abjuration could not induce either
the pope or Philip H. to give up their plans. He received some
aid from Elizabeth, but his final success was mainly due to his
own eminent abilities ; his triumph was virtually completed by
the capture of Paris (a.d. 1594), but Spain persevered in its
hostility until the peace of Vervins (a. d. 1598).
The close of Elizabeth's reign was clouded by sanguinary wars
against her Irish subjects, and by the execution of her ill-fated
favourite the earl of Essex. But notwithstanding these domestic
calamities she maintained the war against Spain with gi*eat vigour,
and encouraged her subjects to undermine the strength of that
kingdom by enterprises against its commerce. The annexation of
Portugal to the crown of Spain apparently gave the subjects of
Philip n. complete command of the Indian, as well as the South.
American trade ; but the wars of that monarch with England and
Holland raised both countries to a rivalry that terminated to the
disadvantage, if not to the ruin, of the Spanish commerce. In
1691 the English, for the first time, performed the voyage to India ;
md in 1600, the year in which the East India Company was
founded, they took possession of the island of St. Helena. The
fianseatic league, now fast sinking into decay, complained loudly
of the encouragement given by the English government to its
native merchants, and prohibited the English from trading in
Germany ; but this unwise attempt to enforce monopoly produced
measures of retaliation that speedily proved fatal to their privileges
and their power. During Elizabeth's reign England attained the
bighest rank among European states, and may be said to have
held the balance of power in Christendom ; that this was owing in
ao small degree to the personal character of the sovereign is mani-
fest from the rapid decline of British influence when the sceptre
. to the feeble house of Stuart.
ose THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUEOPE.
Section IX. The Age of Gustavus Adolphus,
From the death of Charles Y. to the accession of Ferdinand II.
there were few events in German history that produced anyimportaot
result in the general politics of Europe. Ferdinand I. and his son
Maximilian II. were sincerely attached to peace, and Rudolph IL
was willing to leave the world in quiet, if the world would have
left him undisturbed. From the time of his accession (a.d. 1676),
Kudolph's great anxiety was to unite the Oermanic princes in a fiim
league against the Turks ; but theological discussions^ united with
political ambition, served to prepare the way for firesh canvulsioDfli
The influence of the Jesuits in the imperial court so alarmed the
Protestants, that they formed a new alliance called ' The Evan-
gelical Union/ of which the elector-palatine was declared the chief
(a. d. 1609), and this was opposed by a Catholic league, in which
foreign as well as German princes were joined. In this unsetded
state of affairs the competition for succession to a small piincipalily
had nearly involved Europe in a general war. Henry IV. of
France, after having secured himself on the throne, intrusted the
chief management of his affairs to the duke of Sully, under whose
wise administration the finances were so improved, and the strength
of the kingdom so consolidated, that France began to take the
lead in European policy. Henry had formed a great scheme for
making all Christendom a federate republic, in which the rights
and independence of the several states should be firmly seciued.
A more immediate project was the humiliation of the house of
Austria, whose increasing power in Germany and Spain was deemed
dangerous to all the surroundiQg countries. The vacancy in the
duchies of Cleves and Juliers, which, on the death of the duke
without male heirs, had been seized by the emperor as lapsed fiefs^
gave Henry a pretext for interfering in the affairs of Germany; he
formed alliances with several of his neighbours, and especially
with the king of England and the Italian princes. But while pie*
paring to assist at the coronation of his queen, Mary de Medidi^
he was stabbed by a fanatic named Eavaillac (a.d. 1610), and the
disturbances that ensued prevented the French from making further
exertions in Germany. The dissensions in the Austrian family
contributed to avert a general war. Rudolph was gradually driven
from his whole dominions by his brother Matthias; deserted bf
his ancient partisans, he became melancholy and distrustful, shnt*
ting himself up in his palace, where grief and want of exercise soon
produced a mortal disease, which brought him prematurely to the
grave (a.d. 1611).
Matthias succeeded to the imperial crown ; and, though he had
been previously befriended by the Protestants, he threw himaelf
THE AGE OF GUSTAVUS AD0LPHU3. 257
Into the arms of the Catholic party, and thus increased the dis-
satisfaction which had led to the Evangelical Union ; he procured
the crown of Bohemia for his cousin Ferdinand, archduke of Gratz,
and this bigoted monarch soon forced his Protestant subjects to
revolt. While the war was yet in progress Matthias died, and
Ferdinand, to the great alarm of the Protestant party, was elected
emperor (a.b. 1619). Ferdinand entered into close alliance with
the Spanish branch of the house of Hapsburg ; but this family
compact was not so formidable as it had been heretofore. The
imion of the crown of Portugal to that of Spain had not added
much real strength to Philip 11. ; the Portuguese hated the Spa-
niards, especially as they were compelled to abandon their lucrative
commerce with the revolted Hollanders, and were finally deprived
of the greater part of their Indian colonies by the successful re-
publicans. The defeat of the Armada, followed by these colonial
losses, rendered the reign of Philip 11. calamitous to the Peninsula ;
but on his death (a.d. 1698) it was destined to sufier still greater
losses from the bigotry of his successor. Philip III. expelled the
Horiscoea or Moors, who had remained in the Peninsula after the
overthrow of the last Mohammedan dynasty, and thus deprived
himself of the services of more than a million of his most in-
dustrious subjects (a.d. 1610). He intrusted the administration
of the kingdom to favourites, chosen without discrimination, and
made the custom of governing by ministers a maxim of state. On
his death (a.d. 1621), Spain, though still respected and even feared,
was in reality deplorably weak ; but the reign of Philip IV. almost
completed its ruin ; the Catalans revolted, and placed themselves
under the protection of France ; the Portuguese, choosing for their
monarch the duke of Braganza, achieved their independence (a.d.
1640), and the Neapolitans, harassed by the premier, the coimt-
duke of Olivarez, attempted to form a republic.
These events were not foreseen when Ferdinand became emperor.
The Bohemian Protestants, dreading his bigotry, chose Frederick,
the elector-p^alatine, son-in-law of the British monarch, for their
sovereign j and in an evil hour for himself Frederick assumed the
xoyal title. James I. was a monarch of much learning and little
wisdom ; the natural timidity of his disposition, and his anxiety to
secure the hand of a Spanish princess for his son, induced him to
observe a neutrality in this dispute, contrary to the ardent wishes
of his subjects. Duped by vanity, he believed himself a consummate
master of diplomacy, and entered into a series of negotiations
which only showed his weakness and rendered him contemptible in
the eyes of Europe. Deserted by his father-in-law, and by many of
the Protestant princes on whose assistance he relied, the elector^
s
258 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUEOPE.
palatine lost not only Bohemia but his hereditary dominions, which
were shared by his enemies (a.d. 1623).
Circumstances, in the mean time, had occurred to change the
neutral policy of England. The young prince Charles, accompanied
by his favourite the duke of Buckingham, had made a romantic
journey to Madrid, which, contrary to general expectation, led to
the breaking off of the Spanish match. The discovery of a con-
spiracy for blowing up the British king and parliament with
gunpowder (a.d. 1605) inflamed the English nation against the
Catholics, because the plot had been devised by some fanatics of
that religion, who hoped, in the confusion that must have ensued,
to restore the supremacy of their Church. Finally, Count Mansfelt,
the ablest of the Protestant leaders, succeeded in convincing James
that he had been egregiously duped by the Spaniards. A new
Protestant union was formed, of which Christian IV., king of
Denmark, was chosen the head, and the war burst forth with firedi
violence. The imperial generals, Tilly and "Wallenstein were far
superior to their Protestant adversaries. Wallenstein, having been
created duke of Friedland and chief commander of the imperial
army raised by himself, acted with so much vigour, that Chiistian,
threatened with the loss of his own dominions, was forced to
purchase peace by renouncing all right to interfere in the affairs of
Germany, and abandoning his allies, especially the dukes of Meck-
lenburg (a.d. 1629). Wallenstein obtained the investiture of
Mecklenburg, and claimed henceforth a rank among the princes of
the empire.
England had borne little share in this arduous contest. On the
death of James (a.d. 1626), his son Charles I. ascended the British
throne, and was almost immediately involved in a contest with his
parliament, which effectually diverted his attention from foreign
affairs. The principal causes of this were, the growing love of
liberty in the English people ; the suspicions of danger to religion
from the king's marriage with so bigoted a Catholic as the Princess
Henrietta Maria of France ; the unpopularity of Buckingham, the
royal favourite ; and the increasing hostility of the Puritans to the .
episcopal form of church government. The troubles and dis-
tractions, by which France was weakened during the minority and
the early part of the reign of Louis XIII. began to disappear when
Cardinal Richelieu was placed at the head of the administratioD.
His great talents and singular jfirmness acquired for his country a
new and vigorous influence in the political system of Europe, at
the very moment when a counterpoise was most wanting to the
overgrown power of the house of Austria.
Richelieu's first operations were directed against the Huguenots,
whom he completely subdued and rendered utterly helpless by the
THE AGE OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. 259
capture of Hochelle. Scarcely had the reduction of this important
city been effected, when the cardinal commenced his war against
Austria by endeavouring to secure the duchy of Mantua for the
duke of Nevers, in opposition to the emperor, the king of Spain,
and the duke of Savoy. The war was terminated by the treaty of
Chierasio (a.d. 1631), which destroyed the Spanish supremacy in
Italy, restored the old influence of France, and gave that power
possession of several of the most important fortresses on the
frontiers. But far more important was the share which Richelieu
had in renewina: the war in Germany, and bringing forward a
Protestant leader able and willing to cope with the imperial
generals.
During the war of the Mantuan succession the Emperor Fer-
dinand published an edict at Vienna commanding the Protestants
to restore all the ecclesiastical benefices of which they had taken
possession since the treaty of Passau. Some submitted, others
remonstrated ; imperial commissioners were sent to decide on the
claims of the bishops and monks to restitution ; the execution of the
decree was intrusted to Wallenstein, who acted with so much
rigour that the Protestants were inflamed with just rage, and even
the Catholics joined in demanding justice against him from the
emperor. So great was the clamour, that the emperor was forced
to dismiss his general and confer the command of the imperial
army upon Count Tilly. Scarcely had this important step been
taken, when Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, secretly urged
by some of the discontented Protestant princes, published a
declaration of war against the emperor, and after having captured
the important island of Kugen landed in Germany (Jime 24, 1630).
An alliance was formed between the leading Protestant princes of
Pomerania, Brandenburgh, and Hesse ; Saxony, after some efibrt
to preserve neutrality, was forced to accede to the league ; and
Richelieu, who had no small share in forming the original plan,
secured for the confederates the co-operation of France. The early
successes of Gustavus would have been more decisive but for the
jealousy of the Saxon princes, who prevented his passage through
their dominions, and thus hindered him from relieving the city of
Magdeburg, hard pressed by Count Tilly and the imperial forces.
The unfortunate city was finally taken by assault ; the cruel Tilly
would show no mercy, — thirty thousand of the inhabitants perished
by water, fire, and sword ; and of this once flourishing city nothing
'waa left standing except the cathedral and about one hundred and
fifty fishing huts on the banks of the Elbe.
This atrocious cruelty cemented the alliance between Gustavug
and the Protestant princes ; the elector of Saxony, justly alarmed
by the fate of his neighbours^ and irritated by the menaces of Tilly,
s2
260 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
whom his recent success had filled with presumptuous pride, joined
the king with all his forces at Wittemberg. A resolution to try the
chances of battle was taken ; and at Leipsic the imperialists were
so decisively overthrown, that if Gustavus had marched imme-
diately to Vienna, that city would probably have fallen. All the
members of the Evangelical Union joined the king of Sweden ; the
measures of the Catholic confederates were disconcerted, and the
whole country between the Elbe and the Rhine was occupied by
the Protestant forces. Early in the following year Count Tilly
was killed in disputing with the Swedes the passage of the Lecb,
and Gustavus overran Bavaria.
The emperor, in his distress, had recourse to Wallenstein, who
was restored to command with unlimited powers. Qustavns
attacked the imperialists in their intrenchments at Nuremberg, and
was defeated with some loss ; but, anxious to retrieve his fame, he
sought an early opportunity of bringing his rival to a second en-
gagement. The armies met at Lutzen (Nov. 16, 1632), the
confederates attacked the imperials in their intrenchmenis, and
after a dreadful contest, that lasted nine hours, put them com-
pletely to the rout. But the victors had little cause to triumph ;
Gustavus fell, mortally wounded, in the middle of the engagement,
and died before the fortune of the day was decided. His death
produced great changes in the political state of Europe. The
elector-palatine, believing all his hopes of restoration blighted, died
of a broken heart ; the Protestant confederates, deprived of a head,
were divided into factions ; while the Swedes, overwhelmed with
sorrow, saw the throne of their heroic prince occupied by a girl
only seven years old. But the council of regency appointed to
protect the minority of the young queen Christina intrusted the
management of the German war to the Chancellor Oxenstiem, a
statesman of the highest order ; under his guidance the Protestant
alliance again assumed a formidable aspect, and hostilities were
prosecuted with vigour and success by the duke of Saxe Weimaf
and the generals Banier and Horn. An unexpected event added
to their confidence ; Ferdinand became jealous of Wallenstein, and
suspected him, not without cause, of aiming at sovereign power.
The emperor was too timid to bring this powerful leader to a legal
trial; he therefore had recourse to assassination (a.d. 1634), and
Wallenstein was murdered in his own camp.
The confederates did not gain all the advantages they anticipated
from the fall of the duke of Friedland ; the emperor's eldest son, the
king of Hungary, having succeeded to the command, gained seve-
ral advantages, and twenty thousand Spaniards arrived in Germany
to the aid of the imperialists, under the duke of Feria. The
Protestant leaders, anxious to stop the progress of the king
ADMINISTRATION OF RICHELIEU AND MAZARINE. 261
of Hungary, attacked him at Nordlingen. The battle was
one of ihe most obstinate recorded in history ; it ended in the
complete rout of the confederates, notwithstanding the most
vigorous efforts of the Swedes. The emperor improved his victory
by negotiation; he concluded a treaty with all the Protestant
princes, except the landgrave of Hesse, at Prague (a.d, 1635), and
thus the whole weight of the war was thrown on the French
and the Swedes.
Sbctiow X. Administration of the Cardinals Richelieu and
Mazarine,
BiCHELiETr ruled France with a rod of iron ; hated alike by the
nobility and the people, he continued to hold the reins of govern-
ment, and all conspiracies formed against him ended in the ruin of
the contrivers. Jealousy of Gustavus prevented him from cordially
co-operating with that prince, and Oxenstiem afterwards was
unwilling to give the French any influence in Germany. But the
battle of Nordlingen rendered a change of policy necessary, and the
Swedish chancellor offered to put the French in immediate possession
of Philipsburg and the province of Alsace, on condition of their
taking an active share in the war against the emperor. Richelieu
readily entered into a treaty so favourable to his projects for
humbling the house of Austria. He concluded treaties with the
Dutch republic and the duke of Savoy, proclaimed war against
Spain, and in a very short space equipped five armies, to act at once
in Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands. The balance now turned
against the imperialists ; the duke of Saxe Weimar proved a worthy
successor to the king of Sweden, and Banier restored the lustre of
the Swedish arms by the victory he gained over the elector of
Saxony at Wislock. The death of the emperor Ferdinand II.
(A.D. 1637), and the accession of his son, Ferdinand HI., made
little alteration in the state of the war ] the victorious leaders of
the confederates invaded the hereditary dominions of Austria^ but'
in the midst of their triumphant career the duke of Saxe Weimar
fell a victim to poison (a.d. 1639), said to have been administered
by an emissary of Richelieu, for the cardinal had reason to fear
that the prince's patriotism would prove a serious obstacle to the
aggrandisement of the French power.
The war was stiH continued, but, though the imperialists were
generally worsted, disunion crept into the coimcils of the con-
federates, and prevented them from improving their advantages.
Baniers death might have proved their ruin, had he not been
succeeded by Torstenson, a general of scarcely inferior abilities.
262 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
While the Swedes^ under their new leader, maintained their former
eminence in Germany, and gained a complete victory at LeipfiiG|
almost on the very ground where Gustavus had triumphed, the
French were equally successful in Spain, having reduced Goliourd
and Perpignan.^ The death of Bichelieu, and his master, Louis
Xni., the accession of the infant Louis XTV. (aj). 1643), and
some changes in Germany, for a time inclined the Swedes to peace ;
hut when it was found that Cardinal Mazarine had resolved to
pursue Kichelieu's plans, and that France possessed such generals
as Cond^ and Turenne, the hopes of the confederates were once
more revived, and the Swedes had even the courage to provoke a
fresh enemy hy invading the dominions of Denmark. After several
vicissitudes the triumph of the confederates was so decided that
the emperor found it necessary to solicit terms of peace. After
long and tedious negotiations, which varied according to the
vicissitudes of the war, the celehrated peace of Westphalia was
signed at Munster (a.d. 1648), and hecame a fundamental law of
the empire.
While the Protestant cause was thus triumphant in G^ermany,
England was convulsed hy civil war. The failure of the expedition
to relieve Rochelle, and the complete overthrow of the Huguenots
in France, had caused great discontent in England, and embittered
the dispute between the king and his parliament respecting the
extent of the royal prerogative. The Petition of Bight, extorted
from Charles I., might have laid the foundation of a constitutional
monarchy had the king adhered strictly to its spirit f but he con-
tinued to levy taxes by his own authority; and, when the
remonstrances of the Commons became too energetic, he dissolved
the parliament (a.d. 1629), with a fixed resolution never to call
another until he should see signs of a more compliant disposition
in the nation. Keligious disputes aggravated these political
animosities. When the ecclesiastical jurisdiction was wrested
from the See of Rome the people of England had submitted to a
jurisdiction no less arbitrary in the prince, and the sovereign
obtained absolute power in all affairs relative to the government of
the Church and the consciences of the people. An ecclesiastical
tribunal, called the High Commission Court, was established under
the immediate direction of the Crown. Its judges enforced con-
formity with established ceremonies by fines and imprisonment
There were many who thought the English Reformation incomplete ;'
they deemed that the Church had not been sufficiently purified from
' Richelieu had just detected and following laconic letter : * Sire, yW^
punished a conspiracy when Perpig- enemies are dead, and your troops ia
nan was taken. He sent intelligence possession of Perpignao.'
of both events to Louis XIII. in the
ADMINISTEATION OF KICHELIEU AND MAZARINE. 263
Bomish errors, and they wished for the simpler forms of worship
that had been established in Scotland and Germany. Many of the
Puritans, as these reformers were called, alleged political reasons
also for their discontent ; they regarded the ecclesiastical sovereignty
of the monarch as dangerous to general liberty ; and they were
anxious to transfer a portion of the authority to parliament. About
this time a sect, called from their founder the Arminians, had
rejected the strict doctrines of predestination and absolute decrees
maintained by the first reformers. Their number in England was
yet small, but, by the favour of James and Charles, some who held
the Arminian doctrines were advanced to the highest dignities of
the Church, and formed the majority of the bench of bishops.
They, in return for this countenance, inculcated the doctrines of
passive obedience and unconditional submission to princes. Hence
Arminianism was regarded by the patriots in the House of Com-
mons with as much horror as Popery, and the preacher of either
doctrine was voted a capital enemy to the state.
The success of Charles I. in his struggle with the Commons
depended very much upon the character of his ministers. The
chief of these were Wentworth, earl of Strafford, a deserter from
the popular party, and Laud, archbishop of Canterbuiy; they
were both men of arbitrary principles, and Strafford, especially,
was very unscrupulous in the use of means to gain a favourite end.
Without any regard to the Petition of Right, which was directly
opposed to such measures, tonnage, poundage, and other taxes
were levied ; the penal laws against Catholics were suspended on
the payment of stipulated sums; and such extensive jurisdiction
^ven to those arbitrary tribunals, the Courts of Star Chamber and
High Commission, that the ordinary constitutional administration
of justice almost entirely ceased.
While these innovations spread secret discontent throughout
England, Laud^s efforts to model the Scottish Church after the
English form produced a dangerous outbreak initScotland. The
attempt to introduce a liturgy, similar to that used in the English
Church, provoked a formidable riot; and finally, *The solemn
League and Covenant,' a bond of confederation for the preservation
of the national religion, was signed by a vast nimiber of the higher
and lower classes (a.d. 1638). Cardinal Richelieu, fearing that
the English government might oppose his designs on the Low
Countries^ and aware that he was disliked by the English queen
Henrietta, secretly encouraged the Scottish Covenanters, and
8up][>lied their leaders with money, which, in spite of their
exaggerated pretensions to patriotism and sanctity, they did not
8d>uple to accept. Armies were levied, but neither party wished
to merit the imputation of commencing civil war. A. treaty was
264 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
concluded at Berwick (a.d. 16SI&), by wHch Olmrles displeased
hia friends, who thought that he made concessions nnworthy of a
prince, and did not conciliate his opponents, who were resolved to
be satisfied with nothing less than his full acceptance of the
Covenant.
As might have been foreseen, the treaty of Berwick proved to
be merely a suspension of arms. Strafifbrd and Laud considered
the rebellion of the Scots to be so manifest that they deemed the
people of England could not entertain a doubt on the subject^ and
that the king would be supported in its suppression by a parliament
Charles adopted the same opinions, and called a parliament^ hoping
to obtain a sufficient grant for carrying on the war (a.I). 1640);
but the House of Commons, postponing all consideration of taxes,
applied itself directly to the redress of grievances, and an
examination of the recent measures of the government Incensed
by this conduct, Charles dissolved the parliament, and attempted
to raise money by new and unconstitutional expedients. The
Scotch, not waiting to be attacked, crossed the borders, defeated
the f arl of Northumberland at Newbum, and occupied Newcastle
and Durham. The king was unable to cope with them in the
field, and he therefore entered into a treaty by which he agreed to
provide subsistence for the hostile army imtil terms of pacificatioa
could be arranged. A new parliament was convoked, and, on the
very first day of its meeting, the House of Commons manifested its
uncomplying disposition, by choosing as its speaker a vehement
opponent of the court. A more important and decisive step was
the impeachment of the earl of Strafford and Archbishop Laud on
a charge of high treason; after which, the armistice with the
Scottish army was prolonged, and the Scots described, not as
enemies or rebels, but brethren I Strafford's trial soon engrossed
public attention; he was condemned to death by an act of
attainder, and Charles after a long delay was forced to consent to
the public execution of his favourite minister. An attempt was
next made to exclude the bishops from parliament ; a bill for the
purpose passed the Commons, but was rejected by the Lords; asy
however, the public excitement continued, the bishops resolved to
abstain from further attending their duty in parliament, and twelve
of them published a protest, declaring everything null and void
that should be determined during their absence. For this ill-
advised proceeding they were accused of high treason, and
committed to the Tower (a.d. 1641).
Charles, dismayed by the hostility of the English, resolved to
seek a reconciliation with his Scottish subjects, and for this purpose
undertook a journey to Edinburgh. His measures were not well
suited to effect his object, and before anything satisfactory could
ADMINISTRATION OF RICHELIEU AND MAZARINE. 265
be done the insurrection of the Irish Catholics produced a change
in the position of parties most fatal to the royal interests. Few
events have heen so much misrepresented as the Irish civil war,
and in order to view it correctly we must go back to an earlier
period of history.
The Norman settlers in Ireland paid but a nominal allegiance to
the English crown ; the most powerful of them acted as independent
princes, and adopted the customs of the native Irish. The Tudor
monarchs were anxious to break the power of this aristocracy,
which was as injurious to the national happiness as it was opposed
to the royal power ; but unfortunately they combined this object
with the reform of religion, and with a system of confiscation
equally impolitic and imjust. The Irish lords took up arms, to
defend at once their religion and their power; they were defeated
by Elizabeth's generals, and many of them were deprived of their
estates, which were shared among English colonists. James I.,
under the pretence of a meditated rebellion, confiscated the greater
part of the province of Ulster, and deprived all the innocent
vassals of their property, for the unproved guilt of their chiefs.
IVoperty was rendered still more insecure by an inquisition into .
titles, on the legal pretence that the right to land belongs primarily
to the king, and consequently that every estate ought to be for-
feited for which a royal grant could not be produced. The efiect
of this principle would be, not only to strip all the native Irish of
their estates, but also to confiscate the lands belonging to the
greater part of the lords descended from the companions of Strong-
bow and Henry 11. When Straflbrd became lord-lieutenant of
Ireland, he began to enforce the system of confiscation with a rigour
which exceeded all former precedent. Every legal pretext was
employed to expel the Irish from their possessions and transfer
them to strangers ; judges were bribed, juries threatened, and
witnesses suborned, with the most shameless efi&ontery. The
English nation was induced to countenance this injustice by the
belief that it would be useful to substitute a more noble and
dyilised race of men for the barbarous Irish ; though, in fact, the
new settlers were for the most part rapacious adventurers or
indigent rabble. Religious intolerance was united to political
'wrongs ; Catholics were excluded from all public offices and the
acquisition of landed property ; their churches and chapels were
violently closed, their clergy expelled, and their children given to
Protestant guardians. They applied to the king for protection, and
gave a large sum for a charter of graces, which would secure their
persons, property, and religion. Charles took the money, but
refused the graces, instigated by Straffi3rd, who had devised apian
for rendering his master absolutely despotic in Ireland, as a pre-
paratory step to his becoming supreme in England.
266 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
The success of the Scots in securing their national relig^oo, and
placing restrictions on the royal power, induced many of the Irish
lords to devise a plan for obtaining similar adyantagBs, Acddent
precipitated an outbreak ; the Ulster Irish, who had been expelled
from their lands, hastened to attack the settlers that occupied them
as intruders, and they sullied their cause by many acts of violence,
which were easily exaggerated by persons who had derived mudi
profit, and expected more from the trade of confiscation. The Bngliah
House of Commons regarded the Irish as a degraded and oonquerod
people ; they deemed their efibrts acts of treason, not so mocfa
against royal power as English supremacy, while the difference
of religion embittered this feeling of national pride, and rendeiedt
peaceM termination of the contest hopeless. It was studiously
reported that Charles himself had instigated this revolt in order to
obtain unlimited power by aid of the Catholics ; to refiite this
suspicion, he iatrusted the conduct of Irish afiairs to the Eng-
lish parliament ; and that body, with inconceivable precipitation,
resolved that the Catholic religion should no longer be tolerated in
Ireland ; that two millions and a half of acres should be confiscated
.to pay the expenses of the war; and that no quarter should he
given to the insurgents or their adherents. These ordinances led
to a civil war, whose history may be told in a few words; the Irish
Catholics, after having gained possession ofnearly the entire king'
dom, were broken into parties more opposed to each other than to
the common enemy : in the midst of this disunion, Cromwell with
a mere handful of men, conquered them in detail, and gave their
estates to his victorious followers. The new settlers were
confirmed in their possession after the restoration of Charies H,
and the greater part of the ancient Irish landowners were ledaced
to beggary.
Charles gained little by sacrificing the Irish to the parliament;
finding that his concessions only provoked fresh demands, he
attempted to arrest five of the leading members for high treason,
but the popular indignation compelled him to abandon the charge,
and soon after to quit the capital. Negotiations were tried to
avert the horrors of civil war, but the requisitions of the ConmionSy
if granted, would have destroyed all royal authority, and Charies,
on the 25th of August, 1642, caused the royal standard to be raised
at Nottingham. War immediately commenced ; it was conducted
with spirit, and was at first favourable to the king. The EngM
parliament, alarmed at the progress of Charles, entered into sn
alliance with the Scottish Covenanters, and on the 15th of
January, 1644, a Scotch auxiliary army, commanded by Qenenl
Leslie, entered England. Fairfax, the parliamentary leader in tiw
north, united his forces to those of Leslie; and both genezals
ADMINISTRATION OF RICHELIEU AND MAZARINE. 267
immediately laid siege to York. Prince Rupert, the son of the
imfortunate elector-palatine, hasted to the relief of this important
city, and effected a junction with the army of the marquis of
Newcastle. Fairfax and Leslie retired to Marston Moor, whither
they were followed by the Royalists, who were urged to this rash
proceeding by the fiery Rupert. Fifty thousand British combatants
eqgaged on this occasion in mutual slaughter ; the victory was long
undecided ; but iBnally the skill of Lieutenant-General Cromwell
prevailed over the rash valour of Rupert, and the Royalists were
signally defeated, with the loss of all their baggage and artillery. A
second defeat, at Newbury, so weakened the royal cause, that the
king must have been forced to immediate submission but for the
divisions that arose among his adversaries.
The Presbyterians and the Independents had combined against
the Church of England as their common enemy ; but when epis-
copacy was abolished the latter saw with great indignation the
Presbyterian efforts to establish a system of ecclesiastical tyranny,
differing from the papal only in form, the power being lodged in
the general assembly of the clergy instead of a single head. The
Presbyterians had the majority in parliament, but the great bulk of
the army favoured the views of the Independents, which were also
supported by some of the most active members of the house of
Commons. A law called the Self-denying Ordinance, prohibiting
members of parliamant from holding military commissions, gave
the greater part of the army into the hands of the Independents,
especially as an exception was made in favour of Oliver Cromwell,
their principal leader. The battle of Naseby was decided in favour
of the parliamentarians, principally by Cromwell's prudence and
valour, an event which gave so much strength to his party, that
the Presbyterian majority in the House of Commons feared to
accept the king's proposals for an accommodation, contrary
to their open professions and secret wishes. Meanwhile Charles,
being unable to keep the field, threw himself on the mercy
of hj8 Scottish subjects ; and having opened negotiations, with
their leader through the French ambassador, ventured on the
faith of uncertain promises to present himself in their camp. He
had the mortification to find himself treated as a prisoner, while all
the towns and fortresses that had hitherto supported his cause feU
into the hands of the parliament. .
The war was at an end, but civil dissensions raged with more
fiuy than ever. The Presbyterians and Independents were each
anxious to gain the king over to their side ; and the former, by a
treaty with the Scots, gained possession of his person. Scarcely
had they acquired this advantage, when the discontent of the army
threatened them with xmexpected danger^ Cromwell encouraged
268 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
the soldiers to resist the orders of the parliament, and hy a bold
measure, gave fresh confidence to his party. Comet Joyce, acting
under his orders, removed the king from Holmby House, and
brought him to the army. Cromwell and his friends made such
a judicious use of the advantage thus obtained that the Presbyterian
party soon lost all their influence. The behaviour of Charles at
this cnsis, was very injudicious ; he negotiated with both parties^
and by his obvious insincerity displeased all. Finally, he attempted
to escape ; but, seekmg shelter in the Isle of Wight, he was seued
by its govenor, Hammond, and from that moment Cromwell
became the master of his fate. Another opportunity of escaping
from the perils that surrounded him was offered to the king ; the
Scotch took up arms in his favour, but they were routed by
Cromwell with great slaughter, and all hopes from their assistance
destroyed. But the parliament, having reason to dread Cromwell's
ambition, opened negotiations with the king on receiving the news
of this victory, and the wisest of the royal counsellors entreated
their master to seize this opportunity of concluding a treaty.
Unfortunately he hesitated, and delayed the arrangements for more
than three months, until the army once more took possession of his
person, and conveyed him to Hurst. The two Houses, indeed,
voted that the royal concessions were sufficient grounds for settling;
the peace of the kingdom ; but two days afterwards the avenues to
the House of Commons were beset with soldiers, and all the
members supposed favourable to the king forcibly prevented from
taking their seats. In this diminished House the resolutionfl
leading to reconciliation with the king were revoked, and pro-
posals were made for bringing him to a public triaL The final
resolution for impeaching the king of high treason before a coiiTt
of justice constituted for the purpose was adopted by the House of
Commons (January 2, 1649) ; it was at once rejected by the Lords;
but their opposition was disregarded, and the court regularly con-
stituted. The form of trial was but a solenm mockery ; Charles
vdth great spirit refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the
court, upon which some witnesses were called to prove — what
everybody knew — ^that he had appeared at the head of his annj,
which his judges declared to be Reason against the people, and a
crime wortiiy of death. Sentence was pronounced on the 27th of
January; and on the 30th of the same month the misguided and
unhappy Charles was beheaded in front of Whitehall, amid the
unaffected sympathy of crowds of spectators.
The death of Charles was followed'by the usurpation of OromvoD,
and Great Britain was subjected to a despotism more galling and
severe than that of any monarch who ever swayed its sceptre.
STATES-SYSTEM OF THE NORTH. 269
Section XI. Formation of the Statea-system in the
Northern Kingdoms of Europe,
The revolutions in the northern kingdoms during the progress of
the Keformation were scarcely less important than those in central
Europe. Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, imited by the treaty of
Calmar, were never blended into a uniform government; the
Swedish nobles kept their country in continued agitation ; without
severing the imion, they chose administrators to the kingdom whose
allegiance to the crown of Denmark was merely nominal. Christian
II., a tyrannical prince, resolved to destroy the Swedish inde-
pendence ; he overthrew the administrator at the battle of Bagesund,
and had the ceremony of his coronation performed at Stockholm
(a. d. 1620). A few days after this solemnity Christian perfidiously
violated tiie amnesty he had published; and, to gratify the
vengeance of the archbishop of Upsal, whom the Swedes had
deposed, caused ninety- four of the principal nobles to be publicly
executed. This massacre was the signal for a revolution ; Gustavus
Vasa, son of one of the murdered nobles, escaped to the mountains
of Dalecarlia, and, supported by the hardy peasants of that province,
proclaimed the freedom of his country. Victory crowned his
efforts, and he finally became king of Sweden (a.d. 1523).
Christian 11. was deposed by the Danes, and the crown conferred
on his uncle Frederic ; he wandered about for some years, vainly
seeking support, but was finally seized by his subjects and throvTU
into prison, where he ended his days. The Danish monarchs,
for nearly half a century, renewed their pretensions to the Swedish
throne ; but, finding that their efforts only exhausted their own
resources, they recognised the independence of Sweden by the
treaty of Stettin (a.d. 1670).
Denmark thus lost the ascendency which it had long maintained,
and it was further injured by a disastrous change in its internal
constitution. The aristocracy established a vicious supremacy over
the prerogatives of the crown and the rights of the people. The
senate, composed entirely of nobles, seized on all the authority of
the state; the national assemblies ceased to be convoked; the
elections of the kings were confined to the aristocratic order, and
the royal power was restricted by capitulations, which the senate
prescribed to the kings on their accession to the throne.
It was in the reign of Frederic I., the uncle and successor of the
tyrannical Christian, that the principles of the Keformation were
first established in Denmark. The king invited several of Luther*s
disciples to preach the new doctrines in his kingdom ; he openly
professed them himself, granted liberty of conscience to all his
subjects, and sanctioned the marriages of priests throughout his
270 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
dominions. Cliristian IDL completed tlie religious refvolationrin
a general assembly of tlie states he procured the abrogation of
episcopacy, and the suppression of the Homish worship (a.d. 1696).
The castles, fortresses, and vast domains of the bishops were re-
united to the crown ; and the rest of their revenues applied to the
maintenance of Protestant ministers, the purposes of general
education, and the relief of the poor. From Denmark the revolution
extended to Norway; and about the same time this kingdom,
having supported the deposed Christian IE., was deprived of its in-
dependence and reduced to a Danish province.
Christian IV. was distinguished among the northern Bovereigns
by the superiority of his talents and the zeal that he showed in
reforming the different branches of the administration. In Uf
reign the Danes first directed their attention to the Asiatic trade,
and founded an East India Company ; a commercial establishment
was formed at Tranquebar, on the coast of Coromandel, which was
ceded to the Company by the rajah of Tanjore. Seyeral laige
manufactories were estabUshed, and many cities founded, by t2u<
wise monarch, who was also a judicious patron of sdence and
literature. He was less successful in his wars against Austria and
Sweden, but this was owing rather to the restrictions which the
nobles had placed on his power, than to any want of talent
Sweden, from having been subject to Denmark, rose to be its fla^
cessful rival, and even menaced its total overthrow. It owed this
preponderance to two of the greatest men of the period, GostaviM
Vasa and Gustavus Adolphus. After Vasa had liberated his countiT
he was raised to the throne, and by his wise government justified
the choice of the nation. He directed his attention both to tiie
political and religious reformation of the country ; instead of the
aristocratic senate he introduced a diet, composed of the diffeient
orders of the state, and, by his influence with the CommaoB,
introduced Lutheranism, though opposed by the bishops and nobke.
He also established the hereditary succession of the crown, which
was extended to females in the reign of his son, Charles IX.
Gustavus Adolphus, the grandson of Vasa, raised Sweden to tiie
summit of its greatness. Involved in wars at his accession (i.B'
1611), he gained signal advantages over the Kussians and Polefl^
which so extended his fame that he was chosen, as we have aeen,
to be the leader of the Protestant confederacy against the houae of
Austria. After a glorious career of two years and a half he fell in
the battle of Lutzen : but the victory which the Swedes won after
his death was chiefly owing to his skilful arrangements. The war
was continued imder the minority of Christina, and brought to a
successful issue, as was also the war waged at the same time against
Denmark. By the peace of Bromsebro (a. d. 1645), Sweden obtained
STATES-SYSTEM OF THE NOETH. 271
tlie firee navigation of the Sound, and the cession of several important
islands in the Baltic.
Prussia, under the electors of Brandenburg, gradually increased in
strength and power, especially during the administration of
Frederick William, the true founder of the greatness of his house.
His abilities were particularly conspicuous in the Protestant wars
of GFermany ; and he obtained such an accession of territory by the
treaty of Westphalia that his son Frederic assumed the title of
king of Prussia.
The dismemberment of Livonia led to a fierce struggle between
the northern powers, each of which sought a portion of the spoil.
Russia, which had slowly acquired consistency, obtained a con-
riderable portion, which, however, it was forced to yield to Poland.
After having long submitted to the degrading yoke of the Mongols,
the grand-dukes of Moscow, strengthened by the union of several
small principalities, began to aspire after independence, which was
achieved by Iwan III. This able ruler, having refused to pay the
customary tribute to the barbarians, was attacked by the khan of
the Golden Horde, as the leading sect of the Mongols was deno-
minated. Instead of acting on the defensive, Iwan sent a body of
troops into the very centre of the horde, and ruined all their
establishments on the Volga. So great were the losses of the
Mongols that the Golden Horde disappeared, and left no traces but
a few feeble tribes. Iwan IV. laboured to civilise the empire
acquired by the valour of his predecessors; he invited artisans
hdn. England and Germany, established a printing press at Moscow,
and raiaed the standing army of the Strelitzes to curb his turbulent
nobles. It was in his reign that Siberia was discovered and annexed
to the Russian dominions, but the complete reduction of that
country belongs to the reign of his son F6dor (a.d. 1587), who
founded the city of Tobolsk.
On the death of F^dor without any issue (a.d. 1508), Russia
was involved in a series of calamitous civil wars, which ended in
the elevation of Michael Fedrowetsch to the crown. He found his
dominions exhausted by the late commotions, and could only procure
peace firom Sweden and Poland, by the cession of many valuable
provinces (a.d. 1634).
During the reigns of the Jagellons Poland was one of the most
flourishing northern powers. The Reformation was favoured by
Sig^smond Augustus H., the last of this dynasty ; but the want of
a middle order of society, which has ever been the cause of Polish
miaerj, prevented evangelical principles from taking deep root in
the country and producing the benefits that had resulted from
them in other states. When the male line of the Jagellons
became extinct^ on the death of Sigismond (a.d. 1572), the throne
272 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPR.
of Poland became elective without any restrictions^^ and the right
of voting was given to all the nobles, who met in arms to choose a
sovereign. These elections were generally marked with violence
and bloodshed; but, though the nobles were divided among
themselves, they readily united to restrict the royal authority;
every sovereign, on his accession, was obliged to sign certion
capitulations, which greatly limited his rule, and secured the chief
powers of the state to the aristocracy. Under its new constitution,
Poland was internally weak and miserable, though some of its
monarchs still distinguished themselves by foreign conquestB,
especially Yladislaus IV., who wrested the duchy of Smolensko
from Kussia.
Section Xn. Progress of the Turkish Power in JEurope.
The successors of Mohanmied 11. on the throne of Constantinople
imitated the vigorous policy of that conqueror, and, for nearly a
century, were the terror of Christendom. Bayezfd IL subdued
Bessarabia and acquired some important provinces in Asia. He
was forced to resign the throne by his son Selim (a.d. 1510), and
was murdered in prison. Selim I., sumamed Gavtiz, or the
Savage, was obliged to maintain the throne he had so criminaUj
gained by a series of sanguinary wars with the other members oi
his family. Having triumphed over these competitors, he tamed
his arms against the Persians, and gained a complete victory oyer
Ismael Sofi[ at Tabrfz (a.d. 1514). In consequence of this and
other successes, Diarbekr and several other provinces beyond tiie
Tigris were annexed to the Turkish empire. The Mameluke
sultans of Egypt having assisted the Persians in this war, Selim
led an army into Syria, and encountered Sultan Gaurf near Aleppo.
After a sanguinary engagement, the Mamelukes were defeated and
their leader slain, upon which Aleppo and Damascus submitted to
the Turks. This success opened the way for invading Egypt:
Tiiman Bey, who had been elected sultan in place of Qaiaif
assembled the remnants of the Mamelukes tmder the waUs of
Cairo, and, having procured some auxiliary forces from the Arabs^
prepared to meet the enemy. Selim advanced steadily, and
attacked the hostile camp. The battle was obstinate and bloody,
but the superior fire of the Turkish artillery, which was serrod
principally by Christian gunners, decided the fkte of the day, and
Tiimdn Bey, after having done everything that could be expected
from an able officer and a brave warrior, was driven into Cairo
(a.d. 1517). Selim stormed the city ; but Tiim^, not yet die*
heartened, fled across the Nile, and by incredible exertions onoe
more collected an army. The Turks pursued him closely, and
1 See p. 183.
PROGRESS OF THE TURKISH POWER IN EUROPE. 273
forced him to a final engagei^ient, in which the Mamelukes were
utterly routed, and their gallant sultan taken prisoner. Selim
was at first disposed to spare the captive, but his officers, who
feared and envied Tiiman, persuaded him that such clemency
might inspire the Mamelukes with the hope of recovering their
dominions, and the unfortunate sultan was hanged at the principal
gate of Cairo.
Soleyman, usually sumamed the Magnificent, succeeded his
father Selim, and, emulous of the fame acquired by the conquest
of Egypt, resolved to turn his arms against the princes of
Christendom. Hungary, during the reign of Matthew Corvinus,
had become a powerful and flourishing kingdom. Inspired by the
example of his father, the renowned Hunniades, Corvinus wrested
Bosnia from the Turks, and maintained his supremacy over
Transylvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia. But during the reigns of
his indolent successors, Uladislaus II. and IjOuIs, who were also
kings of Bohemia, Hungary was distracted by factions and ravaged
by the Turks. Soleyman took advantage of the minority of Louis
and the weakness of Hungary to invade the kingdom. He
captured with little difficulty the important fortress of Belgrade,
justly deemed the bulwark of Christian Europe (a.d. 1521).
Inspired by his first success, he returned to the attack ; having
traversed the Danube and the Drave without meeting any
resistance, he encountered the Christians in the field of Moha^z,
and gained over them one of the most signal victories that the
Turks ever won (a d. 1526). King Louis, and the principal part
of the Hungarian nobility, fell in this fatal battle, the entire
country was laid at the mercy of the invaders; but Soleyman,
instead of securing a permanent conquest, laid waste the land
with fire and sword, and carried myriads of the inhabitants as
slaves to Constantinople.
A triumph of even greater importance was gained by the Turks
during the Hungarian war. .Rhodes, the seat of the heroic
knights of St. John, was besieged by Soleyman's vizier. All the
arts of assault and defence that had yet been devised by human
ingenuity were used in this siege, which lasted more than five
months. The assailants and the garrison fought with such fury,
that it seemed a contest rather for the empire of the world than
the possession of a single city. The sultan himself came in person
to superintend the operations of his army, while the knights were
not only neglected by the Christian powers but expovsed to the
open hostilities of the Venetians. They protracted their re-
sistance until every wall and bulwark had crumbled beneath the
overwhelming fire of the Turkish batteries, when they surrendered
on honourable conditions j and on Christmas-day (a.d, 1522)
274? THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
Soleyman made his triumphant entry into what had been a city,
but was now a shapeless mass of ruins.
On the death of Louis, Ferdinand of Austria, who had married
the sister of the unfortunate monarch, claimed the crowns of
Hungary and Bohemia. He received quiet possession of the latter
kingdom; but the Hungarians chose for their sovereign John
Zapolya, prince palatine of Transylvania. Zapolya, finding him-
self unable to resist the power of Ferdinand, claimed the protection
of the Turks. Soleyman marched in person to his aid, and, not
satisfied with expelling the Austrians from Hungary, pursued
them into their own country and laid siege to Vienna (a.d. 1629).
He failed in this enterprise, and was compelled to retreat, after
having lost eighty thousand men.
The Emperor Charles V., alarmed at the progress of the Turks,
tried to form a general confederation of the German princes
against them, but found that the troubles occasioned by the
progress of the Reformation would prevent nny cordial union. He
resolved, however, to check the growth of their naval power in
the Mediterranean, where Khair-ed-din,^ or Barbarossa, a pirate
whom Soleyman had taken into his service, captured Tunis and
Algiers, and was collecting a formidable naval force. Charles
took advantage of Soley man's being engaged in conquering the
pashalick of Bagdad from the Persians to invade Africa, where he
made himself master of Tunis. Soleyman, returning victorious
from Asia, was so enraged at his losses in Africa, that he resolved
to attempt the conquest of Italy. The imprudence of a Venetian
captain turned the wrath of the sultan upon the republic of
Venice; he attacked two Turkish galleys in the Adriatic, for some
mistake about their signals, and, satisfaction being refused,
Soleyman proclaimed war.
But while thus engaged in the West, Soleyman did not neglect
the enlargement of his Eastern dominions. His generals con-
quered the whole of Arabia, and his admirals, issuing from the
Red Sea, attacked, but without success, the Portuguese dominions
in India. In the meantime the Venetian senate entered into an
alliance with the Emperor Charles V., and the pope, PaulUL;
their united navies were placed under the command of the
celebrated Doria, but his success was far from according with the
expectations that the allies had formed. The war, however, led
to no decisive result j it was suspended by occasional truces,
during which Soleyman took the opportunity of enlarging his
Asiatic dominions at the expense of Persia.
The knights of St. John, expelled from Rhodes, obtained a
* Khair-ed-din signifies *lhe of the Christians was named Barbu-
goodness of the faith.* This terror rossa, on account of his ' red beard.'
PROGEESS OF THE TURKISH POWER IN EUROPE. 275
settlement in the island of Malta ; they directed their attention to
naval affairs, and inflicted severe damages on the Turks by sea.
Soleyman, roused by the complaints of his subjects, resolved that
Malta should share the fate of lihodes, and collected all his forces
for the siege (a.d. lodo). The knights maintained their character
for obstinate valour with more success than on the former
occasion ; after a sanguinary contest, for five months, the Turks
were forced to retire, with the loss of twenty-four thousand men
and all their artillery. Soleyman prepared to take revenge by
completing the conquest of Hungary, but, while besieging Sigeth,
he fell a victim to disease, produced by old age and fatigue (a.d.
1566), after having raised the Turkish empire to the highest pitch
of its greatness.
Selim II., soon after his accession, made peace with the Germans
and Persians, but renewed war with the Venetians, from whom he
took the important island of Cyprus (a.d. 1671). But while the
Turkish army was thus engaged, their fleet was utterly destroyed
in the battle of Lepanto by the allied Venetian, imperial, and papal
navy. The aUiea neglected to improve their victory, and Selim
floon I'epaired his losses. But this sultan sank into the usual
indolence of oriental sovereigns; his successors followed his
example, and the Ottoman power began rapidly to decline. The
Austnan rulers became convinced of the impolicy of harsh measures,
and conceded to the Hungarians full security for their political and
zeligious liberties at the diet of Presburg; Hungary was thenceforth
united to Austria, and the last war directly resulting from the
Reformation happily terminated.
Section Xni. History of the Jesuits.
The rapid progress of the Reformation convinced the rulers of
the Romish Church that their ecclesiastical power could not be
maintained by the old machinery which had previously kept
Christendom in subjection; they eagerly sought for some new
engine of dominion, and found one of great promise in the order
of the Jesuits, which had been founded by Ignatius Loyola.
The monastic orders arose in ages of darkness and ignorance ;
their privileges were ratified by silent prescription, and had, in the
course of time accommodated themselves in some degree to existing
institutions. But Jesuitism appeared in an age of light and know-
ledge, when men were able and willing to criticise its nature and
tendency; not only Protestants but Roman Catholics saw the
danger of establishing papal garrisons throughout Europe, and
sanctioning an institution which must necessarily be the rival of
civil government. Bishops and parliaments protested against the
t2
276 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUEOPE.
admission of the order into their dioceses and states ; — ^trae^ the
constitution of the other orders was equally adverse to the laws of
the state and the church ; but men will submit to an old abuse
who will not endure a new one : and, besides, the weapons of the
preaching friars were antiquated and rusty ; their tactics belonged
to a former age, while the Jesuits possessed arms of the newest
pattern, and discipline superior to any yet practised. The Domini-
cans, Cordeliers, Augustinians, &c., had motives equally powerful
to oppose the Jesuits: they saw with indignation, at the veiy
moment when the gains of the monastic orders began to be
restricted, a fresh ho»t of claimants demanding to share in them;
and they had the art to concentrate against these new rivals all
the jealousy which Protestants and Roman Catholics generally and
justly felt against all the bodies of the papal militia.
The founder of this society was a gentleman of Biscay; he
entered the army, and had his leg broken by a stone at the siege
of Pampeluna (a.d. 1521) ; the leg was set by an unskilful sui^geon,
and threatened to produce personal deformity, to prevent which,
Loyola, who was rather vain of his person, had the courageous
weakness to cause the leg to be broken and set a second time. The
operation failed, and he continued lame for Hfe. While confined
to his bed, he wished to amuse himself with some of the romances
of chivalry so popular in Spain before the publication of Don
Quixote ; none could be found in the house, but their place was
supplied by a work called The Flowers of Sanctity ^ which contained
the miraculous histories of St Anthony, St. Francis, and St. Dominic.
The perusal of this volume, which, we may remark, is still popular
in Spain, inspired him with visions of spiritual chivalry quite as
romantic as those that guided the hero of Cervantes, and, in some
respects, of the same nature. He declared himself the knight of the
Virgin Mary, and, to do all things in proper order, proceeded to
keep his vigil of arms in the monastery of Montserrat. On his
road he met a Moor, with whom he entered into a sharp controversy
on the mystery of the Incarnation, but the Mussulman was a better
logician than the enthusiast, and Ignatius, completely silenced,
turned off the road to conceal his indignation. Immediately after*
wards, his conscience reproached him for having permitted a
blasphemer to escape ; he turned back, and, coming to a place where
two roads met, threw the reins on the neck of his mule, that
Providence might determine whether he should slay the Mussulman
or not. Luckily the mule turned into a different road from that
which the Moor had taken, and this event is recorded among the
miracles of St. Ignatius. Having performed his vigil, he consecrated
his weapons to the Virgin, and coveiing himself with rags, undertook
various pilgrimages; in the course of which he visited Jerusalem.
HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 277
Soon after His return he published a work entitled Spiritual
ExerciseSj so full of absurdity that one of the few blunders committed
by the Jesuits was that they did not allow it to sink quietly into
obliyion, but recommended its perusal, and used every effort to give
it general circulation. Since the revival of the order, the Exercises
of Loyola have been withdrawn, and in their stead the Jesuits have
generally recommended a work of far superior merit, the treatise
of Thomas k Kempis on the Imitation of Christ, Though tinged
with the spirit of monasticism, the treatise of K^npis is equally
valued by Protestants and Catholics for the depth of its piety and
the purity of its devotion.
On his return to Spain, Loyola was seized with the ambition of
becoming a celebrated preacher; his ignorance, however, was a
formidable obstacle, and, to overcome this, at the age of thirty-three
lie went to school, and began to learn the rudiments of Latin. But
learning was a work of time, and Loyola could not wait ; he began
to teach while yet a scholar, and his singular sermons attracted
crowds of auditors. The Inquisition took alarm at the novelty,
and Ignatius, after having been frequently imprisoned by the fol-
lowers of St. Dominic, thought it prudent to quit Spain, and went to
pursue his studies in the University of Paris.
In Paris Loyola made converts, or rather disciples, of six of his
fellow pupils ; — Francis Xavier, subsequently canonized as a saint
and designated the Apostle of the Indies ; Laines, the successor
of Loyola in the presidency of the order ; Salmeron, whose writings
liave been proscribed by the Inquisition as heretical ; Bobadilla,
Bodriguez, and Lefebvre, remarkable for nothing but their fana-
ticism and credulity. The first project of this infant society was
•nfficiently extravagant ; it was forthwith to undertake the con-
Tersion of the Turks, and they plighted their faith to make the
effi^rt in a chapel at Montmartre, on the night of the 15th of August,
1554.
From Paris Loyola proceeded to Rome, preaching at every
fitvourable opportunity on the road, making few converts and many
' enemies. He obtained an interview with the pope, and submitted
to him his plans for the formation of a new religious society. Paul
HL saw at a glance the advantages which the Holy See would derive
£rom such an institution, and he legally established the society by
a bull dated the 27th of September, 1540. Loyola was nominally
employed to prepare the rules of the order ; but the task really
devolved upon Laines and Salmeron, men of superior talents, who
. were able to arrange the materials collected at hazard by fanaticism
into an orderly and permanent code.
The rest of the life of Ignatius is identified with the history of
the order he founded; but our readers would derive neither
278 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
pleasure nor profit from a recital of his pretended mirades and
absurd visions. He died at the age of sixty-five, on the last day
of July, 1556, and his memory has been ever since the theme of
extravagant eulogy and equally extravagant satire. His diadplee
have made him a saint, which, of course, was easy enough;
but they also wish to make him a great man, which is quite a
different matter. He was merely a visionary enthusiast, whose zeal
was wasted, until it was secretly directed by more powerful minds.
The biography of Loyola has employed the pens of more than
thirty different authors, and no one of them has attributed to
Loyola a sentiment or expression manifesting superior acuteneas
or intelligence. Absurd and ridiculous as the lives of Loyola are,
it is scarcely possible to read them without perceiving that the
imfortunate man was the dupe of some crafty and designing persona,
who moulded and directed his enthusiasm to forward their own
purposes. From the very outset Laines gave to the new order the
form and consistency of a political association. The court of Rome
secretly watched its growth, ready to disavow the experiment if ^
failed, and to adopt it if it succeeded. Nor was this cautious
policy quite abandoned during the whole period of Jesuit history;
the order bore the blame of every defeat, and the Papal See profited
by every triumph. The Jesuits felt the disadvantage of such a
position, and more than once assumed an attitude which made
them virtual masters of the papacy. On such occasions the popes
complained of the yoke imposed upon them in very angry terms,
and Clement XI. is reported to have said that the Jesuits were
perilous servants and tyrannical masters.
We have already said that the leading principles of the Jesuit
constitution were the same as those which had been long before
established in the orders founded by St. Francis and St. Dominic;
but there were some points of difference, which it is material to
notice. The superiors of the Mendicant orders possessed aveiy
limited authority ; the power of the general of the Jesuits was
unlimited ; he had not to consult chapter, preceptory, or congregation,
and there was no one who could of right claim admission to his
councils. He had, moreover, the power of dismissing from the
order any members who were unfit to support its interests ; and,
finally, he could dispense with the long and fatiguing ritual, the
repetitions of masses, rosaries, and legends, imposed upon the other
monastic orders. The Jesuits were encouraged to undertake any
employment for which their tastes and talents were suited ; they
were exhorted to cultivate the arts and sciences ; and theur body
contained some of the most eminent men in literature and philo-
sophy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But these
advantages, great as they were, did not give the Jesuits so complete
HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 279
a superiority as they derived from their successful superintendence
of the instruction of youth. Their schools, gratuitously open to
all, afforded an education infinitely superior to any that could be
obtained in the universities of Fnmce, Spain, or Catholic Germany j
and the influence which they acquired by these means was honour-
ably won, though it was sometimes unfairly exercised. Not less
creditable to them was their rule prohibiting: the acceptance of
fees for the performance of religious offices. We find in the history
of the council of Trent that several bishops declaimed with great
vigour on the scandal of making baptisms, marriages, masses, and
burials, matters of traffic, and nearly all who were present lamented
the abuse ; but no remedy was devi^^ed.
The enemies of the Jesuits asserted that the gratuitous instruc-
tion of youth and performance of religious offices were not
disinterested acts of benevolence, but were artful means for
obtaining political influence. There was truth in the accusation,
but the same means could have been equally employed by their
adversaries ; and the answer of the Spanish Jesuit to the bishop
of Salamanca, *Go and do thou likewise,' is a very conclusive
defence. It must, however, be observed, that the administration
of the Offices of the Church has been long a subject of contention
between the regular and secular clergy in most Catholic countries.
The parochial clergy in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Ireland com-
plain that their influence over their flocks is weakened 'by the
interference of monks and friars, who acquire great power by the
Ikmily secreta revealed to them in confession. The Jesuits knew
that such secrets were more valuable than money, nnd it was to
obtain the monopoly of such a formidable source of influence that
they tendered their gratuitous services on all occasions.
The last difference between the Jesuits and the other monastic
orders was the vow of implicit obedience to the pope. This
iBCured them the protection of the Holy See, although the pontiffs
•ome times found that there was a reservation in the promised
•Uegiance which greatly diminished its value.
From what we have said it is manifest that the great object of
Jesuit institution was to maintain the temporal power of the
papacy, and realise, if possible, Hildebrand's great scheme of a
European theocracy. Had such a society existed in the time of
Chregory VH., it is possible that the project of that eminent pontiff
might have succeeded; but the Jesuits came too late, and the
Idstory of their struggles is a powerful example of the inutility of
all efforts to defend worn-out institutions against the steady pro-
gress of advancing intelligence.
Jesuitism, lilie the infant Hercules, had to contend with serpents
in its cradle. The secular clergy of Italy, the monastic bodies,
280 THE STATES^YSTEM OF EUEOPE.
and the imiversities, combined to strangple tlie rising society, and
the first college which they established at Padua became the sabject
of a lawsuit before the senate of Venice. Loyola appealed inyain
to the zeal and justice of the Venetian senators; his coadjutor,
Laines, showed more tact— he administered a bribe to the doge's
mistress ; in consequence of which the Jesuits retained their college,
and a rich priory besides, to which their claim was more than
questionable. Charles V. could not be persuaded either to en-
courage or to oppose the order, but after his resignation the
Jesuits applied to Francis de Borgia, one of the illegitimate
descendants of Pope Alexander VI., who had risen to the high
dignity of viceroy of Catalonia. This nobleman, equally ignorant
and credulous, agreed to become a Jesuit himself, and he ranks as
a saint next to Ignatius Loyola. The Dominicans were furious;
they stigmatised the Jesuits as the precursors of Antichiist, they
dedared that the Spiritual Exercises of Loyola were a mass of
indecency and impiety ; but they had the mortification to find tiie
pope and the Spanish nation ranged on the side of their adversaries.
The king of Portugal invited the Jesuits to his dominions, and he
opened to them the career in which they merited and acquired
most fame, by soliciting Loyola to nominate missionaries to all the
heathen countries which had been opened to Europe by Porta-
guese enterprise.
The JUstory of St, Francis Xavier has been written by John
Dryden and John Wesley. Neither has fairly appreciated his
character ; in their admiration of his ardent zeal they slur over his
fanaticism, his founding the Inquisition at Goa, his preaching a
crusade with all the energy of St. Bernard, and with the same evil
fortune. The Jesuit missionaries subsequently took up their abode
among the people they designed to convert, studied their language
and laws, and investigated the nature of the religion against whidi
they were to preach, as well as that which they were to recommend.
In Paraguay they adopted the policy of the Benedictines, and
formed colonies to teach the Indians the arts of civilised life ; and
the influence which they acquired over these simple tribes was the
most legitimate species of power, for it was founded on experienced
benefits.
But the missionary exertions of the Jesuits in Asia and'Afiica
were designed in no small degree to extend the influence of the
order in Europe, and hence studied exaggerations of their success
were circulated with gi eat zeal and industry. When we sit down
coolly to examine the account of their conversions, we find the state-
ments of numbers vague and dubious, and in almost every certain
case the amount of the change appears to be that a few barbarians
exchanged unmeaning ceremonies for an unintelligible rituaL
mSTOBY OF THE JESUITS. 281
It was chiefly, lioweTer, owing to the celebrity of the Jesuit
Inissions that the opposition made to them in Boman Catholic
comitries was relaxed ; Laines, their second general, fostered the
delusion, and persuaded many able men that missionaries of the
order would be just as successful with Protestants as they had been
with the heathen. * The Dominicans/ said one of his partisans,
' are wolves who, with their Inquisition, destroy stragglers; the
Jesuits are trained dogs who will lead them back to the fold.' In
an evil hour for the oi-der the popes gave credence to the boast,
and employed Jesuits almost exclusively as their emissaries, not
only in Protestant countries, but in Catholic courts whose adhesion
to the papacy was suspicious. We say that this was unfortunate
lor the order, because it had to bear exclusively the blame of all
the plots and conspiracies devised by all the bigots of the Homish
Church, — popes, kings, and monks included.
The fear inspired by the intrigues of the Jesuits must be borne
in mind whenever the policy of the penal laws enacted against the
Romanists in England and other Protestant countries, at the
1>eginmng of the last century, is examined. When even Portugal,
Spain, and France showed signs of alarm at the new form assumed
Vy Popery, it would, assuredly, be strange if Protestant powers
Jieglected to take measures of precaution, or refused to see the
approach of danger. Doctrines subversive of civil liberty, of
Intimate government, and even of social order, were promulgated
q^tematically and pertinaciously ; they were so blended and con-
founded with other doctrines universally received by the Homish
Church that it was impossible to draw a line of separation ; and
Protestants were compelled, for their own security, to exclude
Pomanists from power altogether.
It would be impossible in our limited space to enter on a full
liistoiy of the Jesuit missions, but there are three whose great
importance merits our attention : these are Paraguay, Japan, and
China. It was about the commencement of the seventeenth century
iiiat the Jesuits first established themselves in Paraguay, one of
fhe most fertile countries in South America. They found the,
inhabitants strangers to the arts of social life, deriving a precarious
aabsistence from hunting and fishing, and hardly acquainted with
the first principles of government. The Jesuits instructed and
civilised these savages. They taught them to cultivate the ground,
domesticate animals, live in villages, and to appreciate the blessings
ef order and tranquillity. But this meritorious conduct was desisfned
to establish the independent sway of the society; they instilled
into the minds of the natives a jealous hatred of the Spanish and
Portuguese settlers, which has not yet been effaced; and they
prohibited private traders from entering the territories under their
282 THE STATES-SYSTEM OF EUROPE.
jurisdiction. They would not permit the Indians to leam the
Spanish or Portuguese languages, but selected one of the South
American dialects, which they laboured to make the uniyeFBal
language throughout their dominions. They even levied annies^
taught their subjects the use of fire-arms, formed them into
regiments of cavalry and infantry, provided a regular train of
artillery, and magazines well stored with all the munitions of
war.
It was long believed by some sentimental people that the JesuitB
took all these precautions that they might protect the innocent
Indians from the contagion of European vices, and it was the
fashion to represent Paraguay as a paradise of Arcadian simplicity;
indeed, this amiable delusion is not unfrequently repeated hj
writers of modem times ; but the truth was manifested when the
kings of Spain and Portugal resumed their authority over these
districts.
The Indians were instructed up to the point when t^ey becinw
valuable slaves, and there their education terminated. They were
held in a state of degrading thraldom, not the less oppressive be-
cause it was supported by moral influences rather than pbyrical
force J and all the profits of their toil, beyond what was necesaaiy
to support existence, went to sweU the treasury of their task-
masters.
"When the Jesuits were expelled, in 1760, the evil influence of
their instructions was fatally manifested ; the jealous hatred ^of the
Europeans which they had sedulously inculcated, led the Indians
to refuse allegiance to the king of Portugal, and they were not
reduced until a destructive war had swept away half of the popn-
lation of the country. The principles of the Jesuits are still main-
tained to a great extent in Paraguay, and all intercourse between
that rich territory and the surrounding districts is strictly po-
hibited.
Before entering on the history of the Japanese missiona, we
must say a few words on that of India, where first the close con-
nexion between the Jesuits and the Inquisition was established.
Xavier, who has been sometimes called the Apostle of the Indies^
established the Inquisition at Goa, in pursuance of the principle
stated by Gemon, in his apology for his order : * Inasmuch as from
the nature of their institute and their fourth vow it belongs to the
Jesuits to exercise the office and function of inquisitors in countries
where no Inquisition is established.' The Jesuits had not long to
wait for the organisation of the tribunal at Goa ; it soon became
the scourge of the Portuguese dominions in the East, and it>
horrors have been established by incontrovertible testimony,
Christianity was first introduced into Japan by Xavier (a.iIi
HISTOEY OF TILE JESUITa 28S
we have already seen how carefully the Jesuits laboured to
sxclusive possession of this mission, for they hoped that it
become as profitable to them as Paraguay. Unfortunately
tgan their political intrigues before they had a sufficient
r of converts, and manifested an intolerant spirit which pro-
tihe animosity of princes and people ; and provoked a perse-
irhich annihilated the infant church. In a.d. 1690 twenty
id Christians were massacred, in 1638 thirty-seven thou-
lore shared the same fate, and since that time till very
r all Christians were carefully excluded from the island ;
bd exception of the Dutch, who were permitted to trade to
I port. But in the year 1858 the Tycoon accepted presents
A queen, and permitted Lord Elgin to visit the country to
te a commercial treaty. Such a treaty was concluded, and
it was unpopular with a large body of the Japanese nobles,
lUgh we have since been compelled to use force to secure
onuance, and to protect our countrymen who have been led
» settle there, no doubt can be entertained that the Japanese
kes will eventually see the benefits which they derive from
•n commerce, and that a trade will be established which
fxrofitable to both nations.
Jesuits too introduced Christianity into China. Kuggiero
3ci entered the country in the disguise of Buddhist priests,
ft the respect of the Chinese by their skill in various branches
nee. Kicci penetrated to Pekin (a.d. 1601), and made
converts, several of whom were persons of high distinction.
bsr his death a fierce persecution was raised against the
me (a.d. 1615) ; the missionaries were either banished to
or forced to conceal themselves in the houses of their con-
Sat they recovered their lost favour by offering to support the
ft government against the invasion of the Mantchoo Tartars,
tg to send auxiliaries and gunners from Macao to direct
perial artillery, and instruct the Chinese in European
ft Schaal, a German Jesuit, gained even greater influence
ft first Tartar emperor than Ricci had enjoyed under the
Ig dynasty. But after the accession of Kang-he the fire of
lion, nourished by jealousy and national antipathy, raged
(iously (a.d. 1664). The missionaries had to suffer cruel
pi and imprisonments ; some sealed their faith with their
Others were sent to Canton. 
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