<•. '•vTv^* r.'*' vs ''?..•* .c; BARNES ONE-TERM SERIES A BRIEF HISTORY OP MEDIEVAL AND MODERN PEOPLES WITH SOMK ACCOUNT OF THEIli IXSTITLTFONS, ARTS, MANNERS. ANP CITSTOMS BY JOEL DORMAN STEELE, Ph.D., F.G.S. AND ESTHER BAKER STEELE, Lit.D. .,-«;s^ Jt * ^- NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY wo COPIES RECEIVED, Library of Csni^^^* Office of th« fteglster of CopyrjgJ>tfc THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHIJiQTOK BARNES BRIEF HISTORY SERIES. 12mo. illustkateu. By Joel Dorman Steele and Esther B. Steele. BARNES BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, FOK THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND FOK PRIVATE READING. BARNES BRIEF HISTORY OF FRANCE, Fou the Use OF SCHOOLS AND FOR PRIVATE READING. BARNES BRIEF HISTORY OF GREECE, WITH Select Readings from Standard Authors. BARNES BRIEF HISTORY OF ROME, with Select Readings from Standard authors. BARNES BRIEF HISTORY OF ANCIENT PEOPLES, FOR THE Use of Schools and for Private Reading. BARNES BRIEF HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL AND MODERN PEOPLES, for the Use of Schools and for Private Reading. BARNES BRIEF GENERAL HISTORY, Ancient, Me- DI^VAL, AND MODERN PEOPLES. Copyright, 1883, hy A. S. Banies & ^O'Ocr^nMD COPY Copyright, 1899, hy American Book Compomy'. W. P. 4 I. MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. PAGE 1. Introduction 9 2. Rise of the Saracens 20 3. Rise of the Frankish Empire 25 4. Rise of Modern Nations 31 I. England 31 II. France 48 HI. Germany 67 IV. Switzerland 81 5. Italy in the Middle Ages 84 6. The Crusades 91 7. The Moors in Spain 98 8. Asia in the Middle Ages 99 9. MEDiiEVAL Civilization 102 II. MODERN PEOPLES. 1. Introduction 117 2. The Sixteenth Century 124 I. The French in Italy 124 11. The Age of Charles V 127 III. Rise of the Dutch Republic 139 iv CONTENTS. The Sixteenth Century (Continued). page IV. Civil-Religious Wars of France 144 V. England under the Tudors 149 VI. The Civilization 161 3. The Seventeenth Century 174 I. The Thirty- Years' War 174 II. France in the Seventeenth Century 180 III. England under the Stuarts 188 IV. The Civilization 207 4. The Eighteenth Century 214 I. Peter the Great and Charles XII 214 11. Rise of Prussia: Age of Frederick the Great.. 220 III. England under the House of Hanover 226 IV. The French Revolution 230 V. The Civilization 247 5. The Nineteenth Century 253 I. France 253 II. England 277 III. Germany 282 IV. Italy 286 V. Turkey 290 VI. Greece 292 VII. The Netherlands 292 VIII. Russia 293 IX. Japan 294 X. China 296 XI. Africa 297 XII. The Spanish Colonies — South America 298 III. APPENDIX. 1. Historical Recreations i 2. Index , xv LIST OF MAPS. 1. Map of the Nations of Western Europe (Fifth Century) 11 2. Map of the Empire of the Caliphs (Eighth Century) 21 3. Map op the Empire of Charlemagne 27 4. Map Illustrating the Four Conquests of England ... 32 5. Map op France in the Time of Hugh Capet 51 6. Map of Burgundy under Charles the Bold 64 7. Map of the German Empire under the Hohenstaupens (including Naples and Sicily) 72 8. Map of Syria in the Time op the Crusades 95 9. Map of the Iberian Peninsula in the Fifteenth Century 98 10. Map Illustrating the Great Voyages of Discovery. . . 120 11. Map of Italy from the Fifteenth Century 125 12. Map Illustrating the Wars in France, the Nether- lands, AND Civil Wars in England 141 13. Map of Central Europe. (The Thirty-Years' and Seven-Years' Wars) , 175 14. Map of Eastern Europe (Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries) 189 15. Map of Modern Nations of Europe, Western Asia, AND Northern Africa 226 16. Map of Napoleonic Wars 254 MEDI^^YAL PEOPLES. " We may gather out of History a policy no less wise than eternal, by the comparison of other men's miseries with our own like errors." Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World. BLACKBOARD ANALYSIS Introduction. f 1. Chief events of Middle Ages. Charactekisiics. I 2. GENERAL Divisions. I 3. THE Teutonic Settlements. ^ 4. THE character OF THE TEUTONIC CONQUEST. I 5. THE Eastern Empire. 6. The Papacy. I 7, Early German Civilization. Mohammed, the Caliphs. Extent of Empire. ^' '^'l^ra^rL*.!'® 1 3- SARACENS IN EUROPE. odrdteni. | ^ saracen Divisions. i .5. SARACEN civilization. ^ „. . ., (1. clovis and the Franks. Merovingian Dynasty, 6, nise ot the j 2. Pepin the Short, carlo vingian dynasty. Prankish Empire. j 3. Charlemagne. 1. His Conquests. 2. Crowned Emperor. 3. Government. 4. Charlemagne and his Court. Homan. The Four Conquests. Growth of Constitu- tional Liberty. RiseoflVlod- ern Nations. b. Anglo-Saxon. c. Danish. d. Norman. \ a. Bunnymede I and Magna { Charta. I b. The Mouse of ( Commons. Conquest of Ireland. Conquest of Wales. Conquest of Scotland. Wars of the Roses. Early English Civilization. Rollo and the Norsemen. Capet. Tlie Capetian Dynasty. Weakness of the Monarchy. ( a. Philip Augustus, h. Louis IX. c. Philip IV. d. Louis XI. —Triiimph of [ solutisvfi. House of Valois. The Hundred- Years' War. The Kingdom of Burgundy. Consolidation of Fiench Monarchy. Early French Civilization. Growth of the Mouarcliy under Ah. 3. Germany. 5. Italy In the Middle Ages 1. Comparison with France. 2. The Saxon Dynasty. 3. Tlie Franconian Dynasty. 4. Tlie Hoheustaufen Line. 5. (^reat Interregnum. 6. The Hapsburgs. 1. Origin. 4. Switzerland. < 2. Three Great Battles. 3. Growth of the Confederacy. Papal power. r 1. Venice. J 2. Florence. 1 3. Naples. [ 4. Rome. f 1. I"- Italian Cities. The Crusades. The Moors in Spain. Asia in the Middle Ages. 9. Medisva! Civilization. 1-8. the Eight Crusades. 9. Effects of the crusades. J 1. The isroNGOLs. The Turks. f 1. Feudalism. I 2. The Castle. I 3. Chivalry. { 4. The Knight. I 5. The Tournament. I 6. Education and literature I 7. Manners and Customs. [When writing upon the blackboard, the pupil can fill out the subdivisions from the headings of the paragraphs in the text.] KeDl^^i^ ?^^^^& INTRODUCTION. The Middle Ages extend from the faU of Rome (476) to the capture of Constan- tinople (1453),— nearly 1000 years. Their principal events were the migrations of the northern barbarians (Anc. Peo., p. 266) ; the invasion of the Saracens ; the establishment Geographical Questions.— These queries are inteuded to test the pupil's knowl- edge, to make him familiar with the maps of the middle ages, and to prepare him to locate the history he is about to study. See list of maps, p. v. Bound Syria, Arabia, Gaul, Britain, Spain, Norway, Sweden, France, Italy, Germany, Hungary, m SIGHT OF ROME. 10 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. of tlie Frankish kingdom, including the empire of Charle- magne; the rise of the modern nations; the Crusades; the Hundred- Years' War ; and the Wars of the Roses. The era was in general characterized by the decline of letters and art, the rise of feudalism or the rule of the nobles, and the supremacy of the papal power. Two Divisions. — Six of the ten centuries composing this period are called the BarU Ages, — a long night following the brilliant day of Roman civilization. The last four centuries constitute the dawn of the modern era. Wandering tribes then became settled nations, learning revived, and order and civilization began to resume their sway. A New Era of the world began in the 5th century. The gods of Greece and Rome had passed away, and a better religion was taking their place. The old actors had vanished from the stage, and strange names appeared. Europe pre- sented a scene of chaos. The institutions of centuries had crumbled. Everywhere among the ruins barbarian hordes were struggling for the mastery. Amid this confusion we are to trace the gradual outgrowth of the modern nation- Poland, Russia.— Locate Carthage, Jerusalem, Mecca, Damascus, Bagdad, Alex- andria, Acre, Tunis, Moscow, Delhi, Constantinople. Locate Tours, Rheims, Fontenay, Verdun, Cr6cy, Poitiers, Agincourt, Limoges, Calais, Rouen, Orleans, Metz, Avignon, Bordeaux.— Locate Cordova, Seville, Gra- nada, Castile, Aragon, Leon. Locate Lomhardy, Sicily, Pisa, Genoa, Rome, Florence, Milan, Naples, Venice, Salerno, Legnano, Padua, Bologna, Savoy. Locate London, Hastings, Oxford, Runnymede, Lewes, Bosworth, Dover, Ban- nockhurn.— Locate the Netherlands (Low Countries), Flanders, Bouvines, Courtrai, Ghent, Bruges, Rosebecque, Aix-la-Chapelle.— Describe the Indus, Rhine, Rhone, Danube, Seine, Loire.— Point out Bavaria, Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, Thuringia, Basle, Prague, Worms, Waiblingen. Point out the French provinces : Normandy, Provence, Aquitaine, Brittany, Bur- gundy, Champagne, Maine, Anjou, Toulouse, Valois, Navarre, Gascony, Lorraine, Armagnac, Alsace, Franche Comt6.— Locate Granson, Morat, Nancy, Morgarten, Sempach, Geneva. ^ I X K V ^ / 12 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. alities.^ Heretofore the history of one great nation has been that of the civilized world, changing its name only as power passed, from time to time, into the hands of a different people. Henceforth there ^re to be not one but many cen- ters of civilization. Teutonic Settlements. — The Teutons or Germans (p. 16) were the chief heirs of Rome. By the 6th century the Vandals had established a province in northern Africa; the Visigoths had set up a Gothic kingdom in Spain and southern Gaul (Anc. Peo., p. 268) ; the Franks, under Clovis, had firmly planted themselves in northern Gaul ; the Bur- giindians had occupied southeastern Gaul ; and the Anglo- Saxons had crossed the Channel and conquered a large part of Britain. The Ostrogoths, under Theodoric (489), climbed the Alps and overthrew Odoacer, King of Italy (Anc. Peo., p. 269). Theodoric set up his governnient at Ravenna, under a nomi- nal commission from the Emperor of Constantinople. The Visigoths accepted him as chief, and his kingdom ultimately extended from the heart of Spain to the Danube. An Ai-ian, he yet favored the Catholics, and, though unable to read or write, encouraged learning. "The fair-haired Goths," says CoUier, " still wearing theii' furs and brogues, carried the sword ; while the Romans, wrapped in the flow- ing toga, held the pen and filled the schools." Character of the Teutonic Conquest.- — In Italy, 1 The thoughtful student of history sees in the middle ages a time not of decay, but of pieparation ; a period during which tlie seeds of a better growth were germi- nating in the soil. Amid feudal cliaos, the nations were being molded, language was forming, thouglit taking shape, and social forces were gathering that were to bear mankind to a higher civilization than the world liad ever seen. 2 While the Teutonic conquest, in the end, brought into mediaeval civilization a new force, a sense of personal liberty, and domestic virtues unknown to the Ro- mans, yet, at tlie time, it seemed an undoing of the best work of ages. During the merciless massacre that lasted for centuries upon the island of Britain, the priests were slain at the altar, the churches burned, and the inhabitants nearly annihilated ; INTRODUCTION. 13 Gaul, and Spain, the various Teutonic tribes did not expel, but absorbed, the native population. The two races gradu- ally blended. Out of the minghng of the German and the Roman speech, there grew up in time the Romance lan- guages, — Spanish, Itahan, and French. Latin, however, was for centuries used in writing. Thus the Roman names and forms remained after the empire had fallen. The in- vaders adopted the laws, civilization, and Christian religion of the conquered. The old clergy not only retained their places, but their influence was greatly increased 5 the churches became a common refuge, and the bishops the only protectors of the poor and weak. On the contrary, the Anglo-Saxons, who conquered Brit- ain, enslaved or drove back the few natives who survived the horrors of the invasion. Not having been, while in Germany, brought in contact with the Roman power, these Teutons had no respect for its superior civihzation. They did not, therefore, adopt either the Roman language or rehgion. Christianity came to them at a later day ; while the English speech is still in its essence the same that our forefathers brought over from the wilds of Germany. The Eastern, Greek, or Byzantine Empire, as it is variously called, was governed by effeminate princes until the time of Justinian (527), who won back a large part of while tlie Eoraan and Christian civilization was blotted out, and a barbaric rule set up in its place. The Vandals in Spain (Anc. Peo., p. 269) found fertile, populous Roman provinces; they left behind them a desert. Tlie Burgundians were the mildest of the Teutonic conquerors, yet wliere they settled they compelled the in- habitants to give up two thirds of the laud, one half of the houses, gardens, groves, etc., and one third of the slaves. Italy, under tlie ravages of the teirible Lombards and other northern hordes, became a " wilderness overgrown with brushwood and black with stagnant marshes." Its once cultivated fields were barren; a few miser- able people wandered in fear among the ruins of the churches,— their hiding-places,— while the land was covered with the bones of the slain. Rome became almost as desolate as Babylon. " The baths and temples had been spared by the barbarians, and the water still poured through the mighty aqueducts, but at one time there were not five hundred persons dwelling among the magnificent ruins." 14 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. the lost empire. His famous general, Belisarius, captured Cartilage,^ and overwhelmed the Vandal power in Africa. He next invaded Italy and took Rome, but being recalled by Justinian, who was envious of the popularity of his great general, the eunuch Narses was sent thither, and, under his skilful management, the race and name of the Ostrogoths perished. Italy, her cities pillaged and her fields laid waste, was now united to the Eastern Empire, and governed by rulers called the Exarchs of Ravenna. So Justinian reigned over both new and old Rome. The Koman Laws at this time consisted of the decrees, and often the chance expressions, of the threescore emperors from Hadrian to Justinian. They filled thousands of vol- umes, and were frequently contradictory. Tribonian, a cele- brated lawyer, was employed to bring order out of this chaos. He condensed the laws into a code that is still the basis of the civil law of Europe. Dm4ng this reign, two Persian monks, who had gone to China as Christian missionaries, brought back to Justinian the eggs of the silkworm concealed in a hollow cane. Silk manufacture was thus introduced into Europe. The Lombards (568), a fierce German tribe, after Jus- tinian's death, poured into Italy and overran the fruitful plain that still bears their name. For about 200 years the Lombard kings shared Italy with the Exarchs of Ravenna. The Papacy. — During these centuries of change, confu- sion, and ruin, the Christian Church had alone retained its 1 Among the treasures of Carthage were tlie sacred vessels of the Temple at Jeru- salem taken by Titus to Rome, and tlience carried to Carthage by Genseric. As these relics were thoiiglit to piesage ruin to the city which kept them, they were now returned to the Cathedral at Jerusalem, and their subsequent fate is unknown. According to the legend, contradicted by many liistorians but eagerly seized by poets and painters, Belisarius in his old age was falsely accused of treason, degraded from his honors, and deprived of liis sight: often tliereafter the blind old man was to be seen standing at the. Cathedral door, begging "a penny for Belisarius, the general." INTRODUCTION, 15 organization. The barbarians, even the Lombards, — the most cruel of all, — were in time converted to Chi-istianity. The people, who, until the overthrow of the emperor, had been accustomed to depend upon Rome for political guid- ance, continued to look to the Bishop of Rome for spiritual control and as a natural consequence tlie Church gradually became the center of vast temporal power also. Thus for centuries the papacy (Lat. papa, a bishop) gained strength; the Christian fathers Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Gregory the Great, and a host of other active intellects, shaping its doctrines and discipline. The Patriarch of Constantinople also asserted the pre- eminence of his See, and, on account of the opposition he met from Rome, the Eastern or Greek Church gradually separated from the Western or Roman, in interest, disci- pline, and doctrine. THIi PAFAL INSIGNIA. 16 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. EARLY GERMAN CIVILIZATION. Two thousand years ago, in the dense forests and gloomy marshes of a rude, bleak land, dwelt a gigantic, white-skinned, blue-eyed, yel- low-haired race. The Men, fierce and powerful, wore over their huge bodies a short girdled cloak, or the skin of some wild beast, whose head, with pro- truding tusks or horns, formed a hideous setting for their bearded faces and cold, cruel eyes. Brave, hospitable, restless, ferocious, they wor- shiped freedom, and were ready to fight to the death for their personal independence. They cared much less for agriculture than for hunting, and delighted in war. Their chief vices were gambling and drunken- ness ; their conspicuous virtues were truthfulness and respect for women. The Women — massive like the men, and wooed with a marriage gift of war-horse, shield, and weapons — spun and wove, cared for the household, tilled the ground, and went with their lords to battle, where their shouts rang above the clash of the spear and the thud of the war- ax. They held religious festivals, at which no man was allowed to be present, and they were believed to possess a special gift of foresight ; yet, for all that, the Teuton wife was bought from her kindred, and was subject to her spouse. As priestesses, they cut the throats of war- captives and read portents in the flowing blood ; and after a lost battle they killed themselves beside their slaughtered husbands. The Home — when there was one — was a hut made of logs filled in with platted withes, straw, and lime, and covered by a thatched roof, which also sheltered the cattle. Here the children were reared, har- dened from their babyhood with ice-cold baths, given weapons for play- things, and for bed a bear's hide laid on the ground. Many tribes were such lawless wanderers that they knew not the meaning of home, and all hated the confinement of walled towns or cities, which they likened to prisons. Civil Institutions and Government.— Every tribe had its nobles, freemen, freedmen, and slaves. When there was a king, he was elected from a royal family, — the traditional descendants of the divine Woden. All freemen had equal rights and a personal voice in the government ; the freedman or peasant was allowed to bear arms, but not to vote ; the slave was classed with the beast as the absolute property of his owner. The Land belonging to a tribe was divided into districts, hun- dreds, and marks. The inhabitants of a mark were usually kindred, who dwelt on scattered homesteads and held its unoccupied lands in INTRODUCTION. 17 common. The mark and the hundred, as well as the district, had each its own stated open-air assembly, where were settled the petty local disputes ; its members sat together in the tribal assembly, and fought side by side in battle (compare with Greeks, Anc. Peo., p. 192). The General Assemhhj of the tribe was also held in the open air, near some sacred tree, at new or full moon. Hither flocked all the freemen in full armor. The night was spent in noisy discussion and festive carousal. As the great ox-horns of ale or mead were passed from hand to hand, measures of gravest importance were adopted by a ringing clash of weapons or rejected with cries and groans, till the whole forest resounded with the tumult. When the din became intolerable, silence was proclaimed in the name of the gods. The next day the few who were still sober reconsidered the night's debate, and gave a final decision. The Family was the unit of German society. Every household was a little republic, its head being responsible to the community for its acts. The person and the home were sacred, and no law could seize a man in his own house ; in extreme cases, his well might be choked up, and his dwelling fired or unroofed, but no one presumed to break open his door. As each family redressed its own wrongs, a slain kinsman was an appeal to every member for vengeance. The bloody complications to which this system led were in later times mitigated by the weregeld, a legal tariff of compensations by which even a mur- derer (if not willful) might " stop the feud " by paying a prescribed sum to the injured family (p. 42). Fellowship in Arms. — The stubbornness with which the Ger- man resisted personal coercion was equaled by his zeal as a voluntary follower. From him came the idea of giving service for reward, which afterward expanded into feudalism (p. 102), and influenced European society for hundreds of years. In time of war, young freemen were wont to bind themselves together under a chosen leader, whom they hoisted on a shield, and thus, amid the clash of arms and smoke of sacrifice, formally adopted as their chief. Henceforth they rendered him an unswerving devotion. On the field they were his body-guard, and in peace they lived upon his bounty, sharing in the rewards of victory. For a warrior to return alive from a battle in which his leader was slain was a lifelong disgrace. — These voluntary unions formed the strength of the array. The renown of a successful chief spread to other tribes ; presents and embassies were sent to him ; his followers multi- plied, and his conquests extended until, at last, — as in the Saxon inva- sions of England, — he won for himself a kingdom, and made princes of his bravest liegemen. The Germans fought with clubs, lances, axes, arrows, and spears. They roused themselves to action with a boisterous war-song, increas- 18 MEDIAEVAL PEOPLES. ing the frightful clamor by placing their hollow shields before their faces. Metal armor and helmets were scarce, and shields were made of wood or platted twigs, l Yet when Julius Caesar crossed the Rhine, even his iron-clad legions did not daunt these sturdy warriors, who boasted that they upheld the heavens with their lances, and had ELEVATING ON THE SHIELD. not slept under a roof for years. They fiercely resisted the encroach- ments of their soutliern invaders, and when, at the close of the 2d century a. d., the emperor Commodus bought with gold the peace he could not win with the sword, he found that one tribe alone had taken fifty thousand, and another one hundred thousand, Roman prisoners. The Teutonic Religion encouraged bravery and even reckless- ness in battle, for it taught that only those who fell by the sword could enter Walhalla, the palace of the great god Woden, whither they 1 What they lacked in armor they made up in pluck and endurance. When the Cimhri invaded Italy by way of the Tyrol (102 B. c), they stripped their huge bodies and plunged into the frozen snow, or, sitting on their gaudy shields, coasted down the dangerous descents with shouts of savage laughter, while the Romans in the passes below looked on in wondering dismay. INTRODUCTION. 19 mounted on the rainbow, and where they fought and feasted forever. Those who died of illness or old age went to a land of ice and fogs. The gods — including the sun, moon, and other powers of nature — were worshiped in sacred groves, on heaths and holy mountains, or under single gigantic trees. Human sacrifices were sometimes offered ; but the favorite victim, as in ancient Persia, was a horse, the flesh of which was cooked and eaten by the worshipers. In later times the eating of horseflesh became a mark of distinction between heathen and Christian. Our week-days perpetuate the names under which some of the chief Teutonic gods were known. Thus we have the Sun-dsbj, the Moon-day , TiiPs day, Woden^s day, Thorns day, Freija-da.y, and Sceter-daj. Agriculture, Arts, and Letters.— Among the forests and the marshes of Germany, the Romans found cultivated fields and rich pas- tures. There were neither roads nor bridges, but for months in the year the great rivers were frozen so deeply that an army could pass on the ice. From the iron in the mountains the men made domestic, farming, and war utensils, and from the flax in the field the women spun and wove garments. There were rude plows for the farm, chariots for religious rites, and cars for the war-march ; but beyond these few simple arts, the Germans were little better than savages. — The time of Christ was near. Over four centuries had passed since the brilliant age of Pericles in Athens, and three centuries since the founding of the Alexandrian library ; Virgil and Horace had laid down their pens, and Livy was still at work on his closely written parchments ; Rome, rich in the splendor of the Augustan age, was founding libraries, es- tablishing museums, and bringing forth poets, orators, and statesmen ; yet the gi'eat nation whose descendants were to include Goethe, Shakspere, and Mendelssohn, had not a native book, knew nothing of writing, and shouted its savage war-song to the uproar of rude drums and great blasts on the painted horns of a wild bull. The Germans in Later Times.— Before even the era of the Great Migration (Anc. Peo., p. 266), the fifty tribes had become united in vast confederations, chief among which were the Saxons, AUemanni, Burgundians, Goths, Franks, Vandals, and Longobards (Lombards). Led sometimes by their hard forest fare, sometimes by the love of ad- venture, they constantly sent forth their surplus population to attack and pillage foreign lands. For centuries Germany was like a hive whence ever and anon swarmed vast hordes of hardy warriors, who set out with their families and goods to find a new home. Legions of German soldiers were constantly enlisted to fight under the Roman eagles. The veterans returned home with new habits of thought and life. Their stories of the magnificence and grandeur of the Mistress of the World excited the imagination and kindled the ardor of their lis- teners. Gradually the Roman civilization and the glory of the Roman 20 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES, name accomplished what the sword had failed to effect. Around the forts along the Rhine, cities grew np, snch as Mayence, Worms, Baden, Cologne, and Strasburg. The frontier provinces slowly took on the habits of luxurious Rome. Merchants came thither with the rich fabrics and ornaments of the south and east, and took thence amber, fur, and human hair, — for, now that so many Germans had acquired fame and power in the imperial army, yellow wigs had become the Roman fashion. Commerce thus steadily filtered down through the northern forests, until at last it reached the Baltic Sea. GKOUP OF ANCIENT ARMS. RISE OF THE SARACENS OR ARABS. Mohammed. — Now for the first time since the over- throw of Carthage (Anc. Peo., p. 235), a Semitic people comes to the front in history. Early in the 7th century there arose in Ai-abia a reformer named Mohammed/ who 1 Mohammed, or Mahomet, was born at Mecca about 570 A. D. Left an orphan at an early age, he became a camel-driver, and finally entered the service of a rich ■widow named Khadijah. Slie was so pleased with his fidelity, that she offered him her hand, although she was forty, and he but twenty-five, years old. He was now free to indulge his taste for meditation, and often retired to the desert, spending whole nights in reverj"-. At tlie age of foity— a mystic number in the East— he de- clared that the angel Gabriel had appeared to him in a vision, commissioning him to preach a new faith. Khadijah was his first convert. After a time he publicly re- nounced idol-worship, and proclaimed himself a prophet. Persecution waxed hot, and he was forced to flee for his life. This era is known among the Moslems as the Hegira. Mohammed now took refuge in a cave. His enemies came to the mouth, but, seeing a spider's web across the entrance, passed on in pursuit. The fugitive secured an asylum in Medina, where the new faith spread ^apidl^^ and Mo- hammed soon found himself at the head of an army. Full of courage and enthusiasm, he aroused his followers to a fanatical devotion. Thus, in the battle of Muta, Jaafer, RISE OF THE SARACENS, 21 taught a new religion. Its substance was, "There is but one God, and Mohammed is his prophet." Converts were made by force of arms. " Paradise/' said Mohammed, '' will be found in the shadow of the crossing of swords." The only choice given the vanquished was the Koran, tribute, or death. Before the close of his stormy life (632), the green- robed warrior-prophet had subdued the scattered tribes of Arabia, destroyed their idols, and united the people in one nation. The Caliphs, or successors of Mohammed, rapidly fol- lowed up the triumphs of the new faith. Syria and Palestine were conquered. When Jerusalem opened its gates, Omar, the second caliph, stern and ascetic, rode thither from Me- dina upon a red-haired camel, carrying a bag of rice, one of dates, and a leathern bottle of water. The mosque bear- when his right hand was struck off, seized the banner in his left, and, when the left was severed, still embraced the flag with the bleeding stumps, keeping liis place till he was pierced by fifty wounds.— Mohammed made known his doctrines in fragments, which his followers wrote upon sheep-bones and palm-leaves. His successor, Abou Beker, collected these so-called revelations into the Koran,— the sacred book of the Mohammedans. 22 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. [668. ing his name still stands on the site of the ancient Temple. Persia was subdued, and the religion of Zoroaster nearly extinguished. Forty-six years after Mohammed's flight from Mecca, the scimiters of the Saracens were seen from the walls of Constantinople. During one siege of seven years (668-675), and another of thirteen months, nothing saved new Rome but the torrents of Greek fire^ that poinded from its battlements. Meanwhile, Egypt fell, and, after the capture of Alexandria, the flames of its four thou- sand baths 2 were fed for six months with the priceless man- uscripts from the library of the Ptolemies. Still westward through northern Africa the Arabs made their way, until at last their leader spurred his horse into the waves of the Atlantic, exclaiming, " Be my witness, God of Mohammed, that earth is wanting to my courage, rather than my zeal in thy service ! " Saracens invade Europe. — In 711 the turbaned Mos- lems crossed the Strait of Gibraltar. Spain was quickly overrun, and a Moorish^ kingdom finally established that lasted until the year of the discovery of America (p. 99). The Mohammedan leader boasted that he would yet preach in the Vatican at Rome, and capture Constantinople, then, having overthrown the Roman Empire and Christianity, he would return to Damascus and lay his victorious sword at the feet of the caliph. Soon the fearless riders of the desert poured through the passes of the Pyrenees and devastated southern Gaul. But on the plain of Tours 1 This consisted of naphtha, sulphur, and pitch. It was often hurled in red-hot, hollow balls of iron, or blown tlirough copper tubes fancifully shaped in imitation of savage monsters, that seemed to vomit forth a stream of liquid fire. 2 Gibbon rejects this story: but the current statement is that Omar declared, " If the manuscripts agree with the Koran, tliey are useless ; if they disagree, they should be destroyed." 3 The Saracens in Spain are usually called Moors,— a term originally applied to the dark-colored natives of northern Africa. 732.] RISE OF THE SARACENS, 23 (732) the Saracen host met the Franks (p. 25). On the seventh day of the fnrious struggle the Cross triumphed over the Crescent, and Europe was saved. Charles, the leader of the Franks, received henceforth the name of Mar- tel (the hammer) for the valor with which he pounded the CHARLES MARTEL AT THE BATTLE OF TOURS. Infidels on that memorable field. The Moslems never ven- tured northward again, and ultimately retired behind the barriers of the Pyrenees. Extent of the Arab Dominion. — Exactly a century had now elapsed since the death of Mohammed, and the Saracen rule reached from the Indus to the Pyrenees. No empire of antiquity had such an extent. Only Greek fire on the East, and German valor on the West, had prevented the Moslem power from girdling the Mediterranean. Saracen Divisions. — For a time this vast empire held 24 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. [800. together, and one caliph was obeyed alike in Spam and in Sinde. But disputes arose concerning the succession, and the empire was divided between the Ommiades, — descendants of Omar, — who reigned at Cordova, and the Ahhassides, — descendants of the prophet's uncle, — ^who located their capi- tal at Bagdad. The year 800, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor at Rome (p. 27), saw two rival emperors among the Chris- tians, and two rival caliphs among the Mohammedans. As the Germans had before this pressed into the Roman Empire, so now the Turks invaded the Arab Empu*e. The Caliph of Bagdad formed his body-guard of Turks, — a pohcy that proved as fatal as enhsting the Goths into the legions of Rome, for the Turks eventually stripped the caliphs of their possessions in Asia and Africa. As the Teutons took the religion of the Romans, so also the Turks accepted the faith of the Arabs ; and as the Franks ultimately became the vahant supporters of Christianity, so the Turks became the ardent apostles of the Koran. Saracen Civilization. — The furious fanaticism of the Arabs early changed into a love for the arts of peace. Omar, with his leathern bottle and bag of dates, was followed by men who reigned in palaces decorated with arabesques and adorned with flower-gardens and foun- tains. The caliphs at Cordova and Bagdad became rivals in luxury and learning, as well as in politics and religion. Under the fostering care of Haroun al Raschid, the hero of the " Arabian Nights " and con- temporary of Charlemagne, Bagdad became the home of poets and scholars. The Moors in Spain erected structures whose magnificence and grandeur are yet attested by the ruins of the Mosque of Cordova and the Palace of the Alhambra. The streets of the cities were paved and lighted. The houses were frescoed and carpeted, warmed in winter by furnaces, and cooled in summer by perfumed air. Amid the ignorance which enveloped Europe during the dark ages, the Saracen Empire was dotted over with schools, to which students resorted from all parts of the world. There were colleges in Mongolia, Tartary, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Morocco, Fez, and Spain. The RISE OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE. 25 vizier of a sultan consecrated 200,000 pieces of gold to found a college at Bagdad. A physician declined to go to Bokhara, at the invitation of the sultan, on the plea that his private library would make four hundred camel-loads. Great public libraries were collected, — one at Cairo being said to number 100,000 volumes, and the one of the Spanish caliphs, 600,000. In science the Arabs adopted the inductive method of Aristotle (Anc. Peo., p. 176), pushing their experiments into almost every line of study. They originated chemistry, discovering alcohol and nitric and sulphuric acids. They understood the laws of falling bodies, of specific gravity, of the mechanical powers, and the general principles of light. They applied the pendulum to the reckoning of time ; ascer- tained the size of the earth by measuring a degree of latitude ; made catalogues of the stars ; introduced the game of chess ; employed in mathematics the Indian method of numeration ; gave to algebra and trigonometry their modern forms ; brought cotton manufacture into Europe ; invented the printing of calico with wooden blocks ; and forged the Damascus and Toledo scimiters, whose temper is still the wonder of the world. RISE OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE. The Franks, a German race, laid the foundation of France and Germany, and during nearly four centuries their history is that of both these countries. The conversion to Christianity of their chieftain Clovis was the turning-point in their career. In the midst of a great battle, he invoked the God of Clotilda, his wife, and vowed, if victorious, to em- brace her faith. The tide of disaster turned, and the grate- ful king, with three thousand of his bravest warriors, was soon after baptized at Rheims (496). The whole power of the Church was now enlisted in his cause, and he rapidly pushed his triumphal arms to the Pyrenees. He fixed his capital at Paris, and estabhshed the Merovingian, or first Prankish dynasty (Brief Hist. France, p. 13). The Descendants of Clovis were at first mcked, then weak, until finally all power fell into the hands of the prime minister, or Mayor of the Palace. We have already heard 26 ' MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. [732. of one of these mayors, Charles Martel, at Tours. His son, Pepin the Short, after his accession to office, was determined to be 'king in name as well as in authority. He deposed Childeric, — the last of the ''do-nothing" monarchs, — and Pope Stephen the Third confirmed, by his apostolical author- ity, both the deposition and the Carlovingian claim to the throne. This done, Pepin was lifted on a shield, and made king. Thus the Carlovingian, or second Frankish dynasty, was established (752). At the request of the Pope, then hard pressed by the Lombards, Pepin crossed the Alps and conquered the province of Ravenna, which he gave to the Holy See. This donation was the origin of the temporal powder of the Pope, which lasted 1115 years. With Charlemagne (Charles the Great), Pepin's son, began a new era in the history of Europe. His plan was to unite the fragments of the old Roman Empire. To effect this, he used two powerful sentiments, — patriotism and re- ligion. Thus, while he cherished the institutions which the Teutons loved, he protected the Church, and carried the cross at the head of his army. He undertook fifty- three expeditions against twelve different nations. Gauls, Saxons, Danes, Saracens,^ — all felt the prowess of his arms. Entering Italy, he defeated the Lombards, and placed upon his own head their famous iron crown. After thirty-three years of bloody war, his scepter was acknowledged from the German Ocean to the Adriatic, and from the Channel to the Lower Danube. His renown reached the far East, and Haroun al Raschid sought his friendship, sending him an 1 While Charlemagne's army, on its return from Spain, was passing through tlie narrow pass of Roncesvalles, the rear-guard was attacked by the Basques. According to tradition, Roland, the Paladin, long refused to blow his horn for aid, and only with his dying breath signaled to Charlemagne, who returned too late to save his gal- lant comrades. " Centuries have passed since that fatal day, but the Basque peasant still sings of Roland and Charlemagne, and still the traveler seems to see the long line of white turbans and swarthy faces winding slowly through the woods, and of Arab spear-heads glittering in the sun." 800.] RISE OF THE FRANKISH EMPIRE. 27 elephant (an animal never before seen by the Franks), and a clock which struck the hours. Charlemagne crowned Emperor.— On Christmas Day, 800, as Charlemagne was bending in prayer before the high altar of St. Peter's at Rome, Pope Leo unexpectedly Boundary of Empire of Charhmagne Division of ' ' < < Biiundaries of Ine Seven Kingdoms ^ hj Treaty of Verdun ^ + + +^ + -1- and and MAP OF THE KMIMKE OF CIIAULEMAGNE. placed on his head the crown of the Cgesars. The Western Empire was thus restored ; the old empire was finally divided ; there were two emperors, — one at Rome, and one at Constan- tinople 5 and from this time the Roman emperors were "Kings of the Franks." They hved very little at Rome, 28 MEDIAEVAL PEOPLES. [768-814. however, and spoke German, Latin being the language only of religion and government. CI I A ItLE JI AU N E Cl:0 W N K D. Government.— -Charlemagne sought to oi-ganize by law the various peoples he had conquered by the sword. His vast empire was divided into districts governed by counts. Royal delegates visited each district four times a year, to redress grievances and administer justice. Diets took the place of the old German armed assemblies, and a series of capitularies was issued, containing the laws and the advice of the emperor. But the work of Charlemagne's life per- ished with him. A Division of the Frankish Empire. — His feeble son Louis quickly dissipated this vast inheritance among his children. They quarreled over their respective shares, and after Louis's death fought out their dispute on the field of Fontenay. This dreadful "Battle of the Brothers" was fol- 843.] RISE OF THE PRANKISH EMPIRE. 29 lowed by the Treaty of Verdun (843), which divided the empire among them. Beginnings of France and Germany. — Lothaue's kingdom was called after him Lotharingia, and a part of it is still known as Lorraine. Lonis's kingdom was termed East Frankland, but the word Deutsch (German) soon came into use, and Germany in 1843 celebrated its 1000th anniversary, dating from the Treaty of Verdun. Charles's kingdom was styled West Frankland (Lat. Francia, whence the word France) ; its monarch still clung to his Teutonic dress and manners, but the separation from Germany was fairly accomplished ; the two countries spoke different lan- guages, and Charles the Bald is ranked as the first king of France. Thus, during the 9th century, the map of Europe began to take on something of its present appearance, and for the first time we may venture to use the geographical divisions now familiar to us, though they were still far from having their present meaning. Charlemagne and his Court. — In person, dress, speech, and tone of mind, Charlemagne was a true German. Large, erect, mus- cular, with a clear eye and dignified but gracious man- ner, his shrill voice and short neck were forgotten in the general grandeur of his presence. Keeii to de- tect, apt to understand, pro- found to grasp, and quick to decide, he impressed all who knew him with a sense of his power. Like his rude ancestors of centuries be- fore, he was hardy in his CHARLEMAGNE. 30 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. habits, and unconcerned about his dress ; but, unlike them, he was strictly temperate in food and drink. Drunkenness he abhorred. In the industrial schools which he established, his own daughters were taught to work, and the garments he commonly wore were woven by their hands. He discouraged extravagance in his courtiers, and once when hunting, — he in simple Frankish dress and sheepskin cloak, they in silk and tinsel-embroidered robes, — he led them through mire and brambles in the midst of a furious storm of wind and sleet, and afterward obliged them to dine in their torn and bedraggled fineries. Twice in his life he wore a foreign dress, and that was at Rome, where he assumed a robe of purple and gold, encircled his brow with jewels, and decorated even his sandals with precious stones. His greatest pride was in his sword, Joyeuse, the handle of which bore his signet, and he was wont to say, " With my sword I maintain all to which I afi&x my seal." Generous to his friends, indulgent to his children, and usually placable to his enemies, his only acts of cruelty were perpe- trated on the Saxons. They, true to the Teutonic passion for liberty, for thirty-three years fought and struggled against him ; and, though by his orders forty-five hundred were beheaded in one day, they con- tinued to rebel till hopelessly subdued. The Imperial Palaces were magnificent, and the one at Aix-la- Chapelle was so luxurious that people called it ''Little Rome." It contained extensive halls, galleries, and baths for swimming, — an art in which Charlemagne excelled, — mosaic pavements and porphyry pillars from Ravenna, and a college, library, and theater. There were gold and silver tables, sculptured drinking-cups, and elaborately carved wainscoting, while the courtiers, dressed in gay and richly wrought robes, added to the brilliancy of the surroundings. Charlemagne gave personal attention to his different estates ; he prescribed what trees and flowers should grow in his gardens, what meat and vege- tables should be kept in store, and even how the stock and poultry should be fed and housed. The College at Aix-la-ChapeUe was presided over by Alcuin, an Anglo-Saxon monk whom Charlemagne had invited to his court, — for he surrounded himself with scholars rather than warriors. With his learned favorites and royal household the Great King devoted himself to science, belles-lettres, music, and the languages, and became, next to Alcuin, the best-educated man of the age. It was an arousing of literature from a sleep of centuries, and while Alcuin explained the theories of Pythagoras, Aristotle, and Plato, or quoted Homer, Virgil, and Pliny, the delighted listeners were fired with a passion for learn- ing. In their enthusiasm they took the names of their classical favorites, and Homer, Pindar, Virgil, Horace, and Calliope sat down together in the Frankish court, the king himself appearing as the royal RISE OF MODERN NATIONS — ENGLAND. 31 Hebrew, David. Besides this court school, Charlemagne organized at Paris the first European university, established academies throughout the empire, and required that every monastery which he founded or endowed should support a school. He encouraged the copying of ancient manuscripts, and corrected the text of the Greek gospels. Like Pliny, he had books read to him at meals, — St. Augustine being his favorite author, — and, like Pisistratus, he collected the scattered frag- ments of the ancient national poetry. He even began a German gram- mar, an experiment which was not repeated for hundreds of years. Yet, though he mastered Latin, read Greek and some oriental lan- guages, delighted in astronomy, attempted poetry, and was learned in rhetoric and logic, this great king stumbled on the simple art of writ- ing ; and, though he kept his tablets under his pillow that he might press every waking moment into service, the hand that could so easily wield the ponderous iron lance was conquered by the pen. Wonderful indeed was the electricity of this powerful nature, the like of which had not been seen since the day of Julius CaBsar, and was not to reappear until the day of Charles V. But no one man can make a civilization. ''In vain," says Duruy, ''did Charlemagne kindle the flame ; it was only a passing torch in the midst of a profound night. In vain did he strive to create commerce and trace with his own hand the plan of a canal to connect the Danube and the Rhine ; the ages of commerce and industry were yet far distant. In vain did he unite Germany into one vast empire ; even while he lived he felt it breaking in his hands. And this vast and wise organism, this revived civiliza- tion, all disappeared with him who called it forth." RISE OF MODERN NATIONS. We now enter upon the early political history of the prin- cipal European nations, and shall see how, amid the darkness of the middle ages, the foundations of the modern states were slowly laid. I. ENGLAND. The Four Conquests of England.— (1) Roman Con- quest — About a century after Caesar's invasion, Agricola reduced Britain to a Roman province. Walls were built to keep back the Highland Celts ; paved roads were constructed ; fortified towns sprang up j the Britons became Christians ; 32 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. [410. and the young natives learned to talk Latin, wear the toga, and frequent the bath. (2) Anglo-Saxon Conquest. — While Alaric was thunder- ing at the gates of Rome ( Anc. Peo., p. 267), the legions were recalled to Italy. The wild Celts of the north now swarmed over the deserted walls, and ravaged the country. The Britons, in their extremity, appealed to Horsa and Hen- TIME OF NORMAN CONQUEST Med — Saxon IJeptarc THE FOUK CONQUESTS OF ENGLAND. gist, two German adventurers then cruising off their coast. These di'ove back the Celts, rewarding themselves by seizing the land they had delivered. Fresh bands of Teutons — chiefly Angles (English) and Saxons — followed, dri\^ng the remaining Britons into Wales. The petty Pagan kingdoms 827.] RISE OF MODERN NATIONS — ENGLAND. 33 which the Germans established (known as the Saxon Hep- tarchy) were continually at war, but Christianity was reintro- duced by St. Augustine,^ and they were finally united in one nation (827) by King Ugherf, a contemporary and friend of Charlemagne. (3) Banish Conquest. — During the 9th century, England, like France (p. 48) and Germany, was ravaged by hordes of northern pirates. In their light boats they ascended the rivers, and, landing, seized horses and scoured the country, to plunder and slay. Mercy seemed to them a crime, and they destroyed all they could not remove. The Danish invaders were finally beaten back by Egbert's grandson,'^ Alfred the Great (871-901), and order was restored, so that, according to the old chroniclers, a bracelet of gold could be left hang- ing by the roadside without any one daring to touch it. A century later the Northmen came in greater numbers, bent on conquering the country, and the Danish king Canute (Knut) ^ won the Enghsh crown (1017). (4) Norman Conquest. — The English soon tired of the reckless rule of Canute's sons, and caUed to the throne Edward the Confessor (1042), who belonged to the old 1 Gregory, when a deacon, was once attracted by the beauty of some light-haired boys in the Roman slave-market. Being told that they were Angles, he replied, " Not Angles, but angels." When he became Pope, he remembered the fair cap- tives, and sent a band of monks under St. Augustine as missionaries to England. They landed on the same spot where Hengist had nearly 150 years before. 2 The early chronicles abound in romantic stories of this "best of England's kings." While a fugitive from tlie Danes, he took refuge in the hut of a swineherd. One daj' the housewife had him turn some cakes that were baking upon the hearth. Absorbed in thought, the young king forgot his task. When the good woman returned, finding the cakes burned, she roundly scolded him for his carelessness. 3 Manj^ beautiful legends illustrate the character of this wonderful man. One day his courtiers told him tliat his power was so great that even the sea obeyed him. To rebuke tliis foolish flattery, the king seated himself by the shore, and ordered the waves to retire. But the tide rose higher and higher, until finally the surf dashed over his person. Turning to his flatterers, he said, "Ye see now Jiow weak is the power of kings and of all men. Honor then God only, and serve Him, for Him do all things obey." On going back to Winchester, he hung his crown over the crucifix on the high altar, and never wore it again. 34 MEDIiEVAL PEOPLES. [1066. Saxon line. On his death, Harold was chosen king. But William, Duke of Normandy (p. 50), claimed that Edward had promised him the succession, and that his cousin, Harold, had ratified the pledge. A powerful Norman army accord- ingly invaded England. Harold was slain in the battle of Hastings, and on Christmas Day, 1066, William was crowned in Westminster Abbey as King of England. The following table contains the names of the English kings from the time of the Conquest to the end of the middle ages. The limits of this history forbid a description of their separate reigns, and permit only a consideration of the events that, during this period of fom- cen- turies, were conspicuous in the ''making of England." WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR (1066-87). I I I I William rufus (1087-1100). Henry beauclehc adela, m. Stephen (1100-35). of Blois. I STEPHEN (1135-54). Matilda, m. Geoffrey PLANTAGENET Of AlljOU. I I HENRY II. (1154-89). I I I RICHARD CCEUR DE LION (1189-99). JOHN (1199-1216). HENRY III. (1216-72). EDWARD I. (1272-1307). Edward II. (1307-27). I EDWARD III. (1327-77). I Oh LIONEL, DUKE OF CLARENCE EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE. , I (Third son Of Edward III.). | ^ I RICHARD II. (1377-99). JOHN OF GHENT, J ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^j ^^^^^.^ jjj Duke of Lancaster I HENRY IV. (1399-1413). HENRY V. (1413-22). < I I ,^ [ HENRY VI. (1422-61). ^iA f Edward IV. (1461-83). Descendant of Lionel, third son of Edward III. Dp I I O*^ { Edward V. (1483). With his brother Richard, murdered in the Tower. Wfe i O L RICHARD III. (1483-8.5). Youngest brother of Edward IV. Fell at Bosworth. RISE OF MODERN NATIONS — ENGLAND. 35 Results of the Norman Conauest. — William took advantage of repeated revolts of tlie English to conquer the nation thoroughly, to establish the feudal system ^ in Eng- land, and to confiscate most of the large domains and confer them upon his follow- ers. Soon every office in Church and State was filled by the Nor- mans. Castles were erected, where the new nobles lived and lorded it over then- poor Saxon dependants. Crowds of Norman workmen and traders flocked across the Channel. Thus there were two peoples living in Eng- land side by side. But the Normans were kinsfolk of the English, being Teutons with only a French veneer, and the work of union began speedily. Henry I., the Con- queror's son, married the niece of Edgar Atheling, — the last of the Saxon princes ; while, from the reign of Henry H., ties of kmdred and trade fast made Normans and Englishmen indistinguishable. Finally, in Edw^ard L, England had a king who was English at heart. At fii'st there were two languages spoken ; the Norman being the fashionable tongue, and the Saxon the common WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 1 The pupil should here carefully read the sections on feudalism, etc., p. 102, in order to understand the various feudal terms used in the text. 36 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. speech ; but slowly, as the two peoples combined, the two languages coalesced. From time to time many of the English took to the woods and lived as outlaws, like the famous Robin Hood in the days of Richard I. But the sturdy Saxon independence and the Norman skill and learning gradually blended, giving to the English race new Uf e and enterprise, a firmer government, more systematic laws, and more permanent institutions. The Saxon weapon was the battle-ax- the Norman gen- tleman fought on horseback with the spear, and the footman with bow and arrow. Less than three centuries found the English yeoman on the field of Crecy (p. 55), under Edward III. and the Black Prince, overwhelming the French with shafts from their longbows, while the English knight was armed cap-a-pie, with helmet on head, and lance in hand. William, though King of England, still held Normandy, and hence remained a vassal of the King of France. This complication of English and French interests became a fruitful source of strife. The successors of Hugh Capet (p. 50) were forced to fight a vassal more powerful than themselves, while the EngUsh sovereigns sought to dismem- ber and finally to conquer France. Long and bloody wars were waged. Nearly five centuries elapsed before the Eng- lish monarchs gave up their last stronghold in that country, and were content to be merely British kings." Growth of Constitutional Liberty.— 1. Runny mede and Magna CJiarfa. — William the Concjueror easily curbed the powerful English vassals whom he created. But during the disturbances of succeeding reigns the barons acquired great power, and their castles became mere robbers' nests, whence they plundered the common people without mercy. The people now sided with the Crown for protection. Henry II. established order, reformed the law-courts, organ- 1215.] RISE OF MODERN NATIONS — ENGLAND. 37 ized an army, destroyed many of the castles of the tjTannical nobles, and created new barons, who, being English, were ready to make common cause with the nation. Unfortu- nately, Henry alienated the affections of his people by his long quarrel with Thomas a Becket, who, as a loyal English priest, stood up for the rights of the Church, — through the middle ages the refuge of the people, — and opposed to the death the increasing power of the Norman king. Henry's son John brought matters to a crisis by his brutality and exactions. He imposed taxes at pleasiu^e, wi-onged the poor, and plundered the rieh.^ At last the patience of peasant and noble alike was exhausted, and the whole nation rose up in insurrection. The barons marched with their forces against the king, and at Runnymede (1215) compelled him to grant the famovis Great Charter (Magna Charta). Henceforth the king had no right to demand money when he pleased, nor to imprison and punish Avhoni he pleased. He was to take money only when the barons granted the privilege for pubhc purposes, and no freeman was to be pun- ished except when his countrymen judged him guilty of crime. The courts were to be open to aU, and justice was not to be " sold, refused, or delayed." The serf, or villein, was to have his plow free from seizure. The Church was secured against the interference of the king. No class was neglected, but each obtained some cherished right. Magna Charta ever since has been the foundation of Eng- lish hberty, and, as the kings w^ere always trying to break it, they have been compelled, during succeeding reigns, to con- firm its provisions thirty-six times. 2. House of Commons. — Henry HI., foolishly fond of for- eign favorites, yielded to their advice, and lavished upon 1 At one time, it is said, he threw into prison a wealthy Jew, Avho refused to give him an enormous sum of monej-, and pulled out a tooth every day until the tortured Hebrew paid the required amount. 38 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. [13th cent. tliem large sums of money. Once more the barons rose in arms, and under the lead of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, — a Frenchman by birth, but an Englishman in feeling, — defeated the king at Lewes. Earl Simon thereupon called together the Parliament, summoning, besides the barons, two knights from each connty, and two citizens from each city or borongh, to represent the freeholders (1265). From this beginning, the English Parliament soon took on the form it has since retained, of two assemblies, — the House of Lords and the Honse of Commons. By de- grees it was estabhshed that the Commons should have the right of petition for redress of grievances, and the sole power of voting taxes. The 13th century is thus memorable in English history for the granting of Magna Charta and the forming of the House of Commons. Conquest of Ireland begun. — Henry IL, having ob- tained permission from the Pope to invade Ireland, author- ized an army of adventurers to overrun that island. In 1171 he visited Ireland, and his sovereignty was generally acknowledged. Henceforth the country was under Enghsh rule, but it remained in disorder, the battle-ground of Irish chiefs, and Norman-descended lords who became as savage and lawless as those whom they had conquered. Conquest of Wales (1283).— The Celts had long pre- served their liberty among the mountains of Wales and Scotland. Edward I.'s ambition was to rule over the whole of the island. When Llewellyn, the Welsh chieftain, refused to yield him the usual homage, he invaded the country and annexed it to England. To propitiate the Welsh, he prom- ised them a native-born king who could not speak a word of English, and thereupon presented them his son, born a few days before in the Welsh castle of Caernarvon. The young 1283.] RISE OF MODERN NATIONS — ENGLAND. 39 Edward was afterward styled the Prince of Wales, — a title ever since borne by the sovereign's oldest son. Conquest of Scotland. — Edward I., ha\dng been chosen umpire between two claimants for the Scottish throne, — Robert Bruce and John Baliol, — decided in favor of the latter. Both had agreed to pay homage to the English monarch as their feudal lord. The Scots, impatient of their vassalage, revolted, whereupon Edward took possession of the country as a forfeited fief (1296). Again the Scots rose under the patriot ^^lUi((m Wallace; but he was defeated, taken to London, and brutally executed. Robert Bruce was the next leader. Edward marched against him, but died in sight of Scotland. The English soldiers, however, harried the land, and drove Bruce from one hiding-place to another. Almost in despair, the patriot lay one day sleepless on his bed, where he watched a spider jumping to attach its thread to a wall. Six times it failed, but succeeded on the seventh. Bruce, encouraged by this simple incident, resolved to try again. Success came. Castle after castle fell into his hands, until only Stirling remained. Edward II., going to its relief, met Bruce at Bannochhurn (1314). The Scottish army was defended by pits, having sharp stakes at the bot- tom, and covered at the top with sticks and turf. The English knights, galloping to the attack, plunged into these hidden holes. In the midst of the confusion a body of sut- lers appeared on a distant hiU, and the dispirited English, mistaking them for a new army, fled in dismay. Scottish Independence was acknowledged (1328).^ After 1 It is noticeable that there existed a constant alliance of Scotland and France. Whenever, during the Hth and 15th centuries, war broke out between France and England, the Scots made a diversion by attacking England, and their soldiers often took service in the French armies on the continent. So if we learn that, at any- time duiing this long period, France and England were fighting, it is pretty safe to conclude that along the borders of England and Scotland there were plundering-raids and skirmishes. 40 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. [14th CENT. this, many wars arose between Scotland and England, but Scotland was never in danger of being conquered. The Hundred- Years' War with France was tlie event of the 14th and the first half of the 15th century (p. 54). Wars of the Roses (1455-85).— About the middle of the 15th centuiy a struggle concerning the succession to the Enghsh throne arose between the Houses of York and Lan- caster, the former being descended from the thii-d, and the latter from the fourth, son of Edward III. (p. 34). A civil war ensued, known as the Wars of the Roses, since the adherents of the House of York wore, as a badge, a white rose, and those of Lancaster, a red one. The contest lasted thirty years, and twelve pitched battles were fought. During this war the House of York seated three kings upon the throne. But the last of these, Richard III., a brutal tyrant whom prose and poetry ^ have combined to condemn, was slain on the field of BostvortJi, and the red rose placed the crown on the head of its representative, Henry VII. Thus ended the Plantagenet Line, which had ruled England for three centuries; the new house was called the Tudor Line, from Henry's family name. The Result of this civil war was the triumph of the kingly power over that of the aristocracy. It was a war of the nobles and their military retainers. Except in the immediate march of the armies, the masses pursued their industries as usual. Men plowed and sowed, bought and sold, as though it were a time of peace. Both sides pro- tected the neutral citizens, but were bent on exterminating each other. No quarter was asked or given.^ During the war, eighty princes of the blood and two hundred nobles 1 Read Sliakspere's play, Richard III. 2 When Edward IV. galloped over the field of battle after a victory, he would shout, " Spare the soldiers, but slay the gentlemen." 1485.] RISE OF MODERN NATIONS — ENGLAND. 41 fell by the sword, and half the families of distinction were destroyed. The method of holding land was changed, and "landlord and tenant" took the place of "lord and vassal." The Earl of Warwick, whose powerful influence in seating and unseating monarchs won him the title of "The King- maker," was also " The Last of the Barons." The king hence- forth had little check, and the succeeding monarchs ruled with an authority before unknown in English history. Constitutional liberty, which had been steadily growing since the day of Runnymede, now gave place to Tudor absolutism. The field of Bosworth, moreover, marked the downfall of feudalism; with its disappearance the middle ages came to an end. EARLY ENGLISH CIVILIZATION. The Anglo-Saxons. — The German invaders brought to England their old traits and customs, in which traces of Paganism lingered long after Christianity was formally adopted. Coming in separate bands, each fighting and conquering for itself, the most successful chieftains founded kingdoms. The royal power gradually increased, though always subject to the decisions of the Witan, composed of earls, prel- ates, and the leading thanes and clergy. The Witenagemot (Assem- bly of Wise Men), a modification of the ancient German Assembly, was held at the Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide festivals. This body could elect and depose the king, who was chosen from the royal family. 1 The earls or du'kes represented the old German nobility ; the thanes or gentry were attached to the king and nobles ; and the ceorls or yeomen, freemen in name, were often semi-servile in obligations. Lowest of all, and not even counted in the population, was a host of thralls, — hapless slaves who were sold with the land and cattle, one slave equaling four oxen in value. A ceorl who had acquired "five hides 2 of land, church and kitchen, bell-house and burh-gate-seat, and special duty in the king's hall," or a merchant who had thrice crossed 1 Every tribal king claimed descent from Woden. To the House of Cerdic, the founder of the West-Saxon dynasty, is traced the pedigree of Queen Victoria. 2 The dimensions of a hide were perhaps about thirty acres. The burh was the home-yard and buildings, entered through a gate in the earth-wall inclosure. 42 MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. the seas on his own account, might become a thane ; and in certain eases a slave might earn his freedom. Shires, Hundreds, and Tithings.— Ten Anglo-Saxon families made a tithing, and by a system of mutual police or frank-pledge, each one became bail for the good conduct of the other nine. Ten tithings made a hundred, names which soon came to stand for the soil on which they lived. The land conferred in individual estates was called hoMancl (book-land) ; that reserved for the public use was follland. The wercgeUl (life-money) and wihtgcld (crime-money) continued in force, and covered nearly every possible crime, from the murder of a king to a bruise on a comrade's finger-nail. As part of the crime-money went to the Crown, it was a goodly source of royal income. The amount due increased with the rank of the injured party ; thus, the weregeld of the West-Saxon king was six times that of the thane, and the thane's was four times that of the ceorl. The weregeld also settled the value of an oath in the law-courts: '' A thane could outswear half a dozen eeorls ; an earl could outswear a whole township." The word of the king was ordered to be taken without an oath. Some crimes, such as premeditated murder or perjury after theft, were inexpiable. The Ordeals were used in cases of doubtful guilt. Sometimes a caldron of boiling water or a red-hot iron was brought before the court. The man of general good character was made to plunge his hand in the water or to carry the iron nine paces ; but he of ill repute immersed his arm to the elbow, and was given an iron of treble weight. After three days he was declared guilty or innocent, according to the signs of perfect healing. Sometimes the accused was made to walk blindfolded and barefooted over red-hot plowshares ; and sometimes he was bound hand and foot, and thrown into a pond, to establish his innocence or guilt, according as he sank or floated. Ordeals were for- mally abolished by the Church in the 13th century. The Duel, in which the disputants or their champions fought, was transplanted from Normandy about the time of the Conquest ; and the Grand Assize, the first establishment in regular legal form of trial by jury, was introduced by Henry II. Commerce was governed by strict protective laws ; and every pur- chase, even of food, had to be made before witnesses. If a man went to a distance to buy any article, he must first declare his intention to his neighbors ; if he chanced to buy while absent, he must publish the fact on his return. Nothing could be legally bought or sold for three miles outside a city's walls, and the holder of wares whose purchase in open market could not be proved, not only forfeited the goods, but was obliged to establish his character for honesty before the legal inspector of sales. Judging from the laws, theft and smuggling, though pun- ished with great severity, were prevalent crimes. RISE OF MODERN NATIONS — ENGLAND, 4S Solitary travelers were regarded with suspicion, and an early law declared that '' if a man come from afar or a stranger go out of the highway, and he then neither shout nor blow a horn, he is to be ac- counted a thief, either to be slain or to be redeemed." THE SCKU'TOUlUil OF A MONASTKKY.— A MOXK ILLUMINATING A MANUSCRIPT. Literature and the Arts flourished only in convents, where the patient monks wrought in gold, silver, and jewels, and produced exqui- sitely illuminated manuscripts. The name of "T/