Class. J J Book ■ . GoEyriglitl^^ JO COPYRIGHT DEPOSir. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/briefhistoryofnaOOfish / THL GKEAT Sl'IlINX NEAR THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH. Frontispiece. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NATIONS AND OF THEIR PROGRESS IN CIVILIZATION H H, BY GEORGE PARK FISHER, D.D., LL.D. PROFESSOR IN YALE UNIVERSITY ^ ^\\Vo ^•'^> NEW YORK:- CINCINNATI:- CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY i\ rs-v Copyright, 1896, by AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. GEN. HIST. — FISIIKR. E-P 1 PREFACE Although this work is based on the author's larger work, the "Outlines of Universal History," which is designed for more advanced pupils, it is not a mere abridgment of that work, but a considerable portion of the matter is recast. In the present volume, the aim is to bring together the most important facts of history in their due order and connection, with the inclusion, as far as the space will permit, of such illustrative details as may prevent the narrative from being a dry summary — a skeleton without flesh and blood. Of course, a book which is intended for pupils and readers gener- ally should eschew everything that savors of the spirit of sect or party, and record only well-established judgments respecting persons and events. In the Introduction the author has aimed to present certain underlying facts of history and to explain the nature of his- torical evidence, and thus to open the way for a clear compre- hension of the narrative that follows. While the Ancient Period is treated with sufficient fullness to meet the wants of the pupils for whom the book is written, more room is given to the Mediaeval and Modern Periods than is customary in the books of this character. It is the author's conviction that the broad field of history since the fall of the Eoman Empire demands a larger space in popular instruction than is usually allotted to it. Neither the fact that the record becomes more complex as we approach the present time, nor the circumstance that we are more exposed to the necessity of treading upon ground disputed among disciples of diverse yi PREFACE political and theological creeds, should be allowed to cut off an adequate treatment of this portion of history, with which we are more immediately concerned. The idea of a General History has been carried out by con- necting, as far as practicable, in a single chain of narration, contemporary events in different countries where the several countries stand in so close a mutual relation that the events are interlinked. This method is specially appropriate in dealing with the Mediaeval Period. For example, the Empire and the Papacy are inseparably associated in the movement of the historic stream, and the fortunes of England and France are for a long period so interwoven that the history of each is intermingled with that of the other. Under this method a somcAvhat greater effort of attention and memory may here and there be required of the pupil ; but even if this be a dis- advantage it is more than made up by a counterbalancing gain. In general, it is possible to go too far in the direction of seek- ing to make even introductory studies in history easy to the learner. The main particulars attending the growth of nations and the rise and succession of their rulers may easily be learned in the years when the memory is specially alert and retentive. One may even err in excluding details on these topics which clearly explain historic changes for the sake of sparing a little more effort on the part of the learner. In the many divisions of so large a subject, great pains are requisite in order to incorporate the latest discoveries and corrections of historical explorers. While it is too much to hope that errors have been wholly escaped, it has been possible silently to introduce no small number of modifications of traditional statements which recent studies have made indis- pensable. The author, as in the Preface of his previous work, would here likewise acknowledge the large debt which he owes, especially in the Ancient and Mediaeval Periods, to Weber's copious LehrbucJi der Weltgeschichte. The historical maps to illustrate the text have been mostly drawn on the basis of maps in Spruner, Droysen, Putzger, Freeman, etc. George's PREFACE Vll Genealogical Tables have been of essential service. Valuable assistance in the labor of revision has been generously afforded the author by his friends and colleagues in different depart- ments of instruction in Yale University, — Professors Seymour, Morris, Hopkins, Peck, Adams, Bourne, Sanders, and Mr. F. W. Williams. The author would also express his obligation for important aid rendered by his son-in-law. Professor George Wharton Pepper, of the Law School of the University of Penn- sylvania. The Index, which includes a glossary of pronuncia- tion of proper names, and is so constructed as to be of service in reviews in the class-room, has been made in accordance with the author's plan, by an accurate scholar. Professor James A. Towle. LIST OF MAPS Ancient Egypt 25 Babylonia and Assyria 38 Ancient Palestine 48 Greece 60 Kingdom of Alexander the Great 98 Kingdoms of Alexander's Successors 106 Ancient Italy 112 Roman Empire 142-143 The New Nations after the Migrations 200-201 Empire of Charlemagne 235 Empire of Charlemagne, a.d. 843 240 Empire of Charlemagne, a.d. 887 240 Mediterranean Lands at the Time of the Crusades 270-271 France and England, 1154-1189 287 Italy about the Middle of the Sixteenth Century 388 Central Europe, 1360 and 1660 402 Europe about the Middle of the Eighteenth Century (1740) .... 441 Europe about the Time of Napoleon's Greatest Power 488 Central Europe in 1815 495 France since 1871 528-529 German Empire since 1871 534-535 Turkish Empire, Greece, etc., since 1878 538-539 Territorial Growth of the United States 544-545 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Introduction 1 ANCIENT HISTORY I. ORIENTAL NATIONS II. China 15 III. India 21 II. THE EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS IV. Egypt 24 V. Assyria and Babylonia 37 VI. The Phoenicians and Carthaginians . 46 VII. The Hebrews 48 VIII. The Persians 54 III. GREECE IX. Introduction 59 Period I. — Greece Prior to the Persian Wars X. The Prehistoric Age 62 XL The Formation of the Principal States 71 Period II. — The Flourishing Era of Greece XII. The Persian Wars 77 XIIL The Ascendency of Athens 80 XIV. The Peloponnesian War 89 XV. Relations with Persia ; The Spartan and Theban Hegemony 95 Period III. — The Macedonian Era XVI. Philip and Alexander 99 XVII. The Successors of Alexander . 105 ix TABLE OF CONTENTS IV. ROME PAGE CHAPTKR XVin. Introduction ^^ Period I. — Rome under the Kings and the Patricians XIX. Rome under the Kings 117 XX. Rome under the Patricians 125 Period II. —To the Union of Italy XXI. Conquest of the Latins and Italians 129 XXII. War with Pyrrhus and Union of Italy 131 Period III. — The Punic Wars XXIII. The First and Second Punic Wars 134 XXIV. Conquest of Macedonia ; The Third Punic .War ; The Destruction of Corinth 141 Period IV. — The Era of Revolution and of the Civil Wars XXV. The Gracchi ; The First Mithridatic War ; Marius and Sulla 147 XXVI. Pompeius and the East ; To the Death of Crassus . . 154 XXVII. Pompeius and Caesar ; The Second Triumvirate ... 161 Period V. — The Imperial Monarchy XXVIII. The Reign of Augustus 167 XXIX. The Emperors of the Augustan House 177 XXX. The Flavians and the Antonines 182 XXXI. The Emperors made by the Soldiers ; The Absolute Monarchy ; The Downfall of Heathenism 190 MEDIAEVAL HISTORY XXXII. Introduction 199 Period I. — From the Migrations of the Teutonic Tribes to the Carolingian Line of Frankish Rulers XXXIII. Causes of the Fall of the Western Empire ; The Teu- tonic Confederacies 203 XXXIV. The Teutonic Migrations and Kingdoms 208 XXXV. The Eastern Empire 219 XXXVI. Mohammedanism and the Arabic Conquests .... 225 Period II. — From the Carolingian Line of Frankish Kings to the Romano-Germanic Empire XXXVII. The Carolingian Empire to the Death of Charlemagne . 234 TABLE OF CONTENTS XI CHAPTER PAGE XXXVIII. Dissolution of Charlemagne's Empire ; Rise of the Kingdoms of France, Germany, and Italy . . . 241 XXXIX. Invasions of the Northmen and Others ; The Feudal System 245 Period III. —From the Establishment of the Romano- Germanic Empire to the End of the Crusades XL. The Church and the Empire ; Predominance of the Empire ; To the Crusades, a.d. 1096 258 XLI. The Church and the Empire ; Predominance of the Church ; To the End of the Crusades, a.d. 1270 . . 266 XLII. England and France ; The First Period of their Rival- ship (1066-1217) 288 XLIII. Rise of the Burgher Class ; Society in the Era of the Crusades 297 Period IV. — From the End of the Crusades to the Fall of Constantinople XLIV. England and France ; Second Period of Rivalship ; The Hundred Years' War (1270-1453) 306 XLV. Germany ; Italy ; Spain ; The Scandinavian Countries ; Poland and Russia ; Hungary ; Ottoman Turks ; The Greek Empire 323 XLVI. The Countries of Eastern Asia 342 MODERN HISTORY XL VII. Introduction 347 Period I. — From the Fall of Constantinople to the Reformation XL VIII. France ; England ; Spain ; Germany ; Italy ; The Otto- man Turks ; Russia ; The Invasions of Italy . . . 349 XLIX. Invention and Discovery ; The Renaissance .... 365 Period II. — The Era of the Reformation L. The Reformation in Germany, to the Treaty of Nurem- berg (1517-1532) 374 LI. The Reformation in Teutonic Countries : Switzerland, Denmark, Sv^eden, England 381 LII. The Reformation in Germany, from the Peace of Nu- remberg to the Peace of Augsburg (1532-1555) . . 386 Xll TABLE OF CONTENTS CIIAPTEU PAGE LIII. Calvinism in Geneva; Beginning of the Catholic Counter- Reformation 389 LIV. Philip II. and the Revolt of the Netherlands 391 LV. The Civil Wars in France, to the Death of Henry IV. (I(;i0) 393 LVI. The Thirty Years' War, to the Peace of Westphalia (1618- 1648) 397 LVII. Second Stage of the Reformation in England ; To the Death of Elizabeth (1547-1603) ^.403 LVIII. The English Revolution and the Commonwealth (1603- 1658) 410 LIX. Colonization in America ; Asiatic Nations ; Culture and Literature (1517-1648) 417 Period III. — From the Peace of Westphalia to the French Revolution (1648-1789) LX. Introduction 424 LXI. The Preponderance of France ; First Part of the Reign of Louis XIV. (to the Peace of Ryswick, 1697) ; The Res- toration of the Stuarts ; The English Revolution of 1688 425 LXII. War of the Spanish Succession (to the Peace of Utrecht, 1713) ; Decline of the Power of France ; Power and Maritime Supremacy of England 434 LXIII. The Great Northern War ; The Fall of Sweden ; Growth of the Power of Russia 439 LXIV. War of the Austrian Succession ; Growth of the Power of Prussia ; The Destruction of Poland 442 LXV. Contest of France and England in America ; War of American Independence ; The Constitution of the United States 448 LXVI. Literature, Science, and Religion 460 Period IV. — The Era of the French Revolution LXVII. Introduction 464 LXVIII. The States General ; The National and Legislative Assem- blies ; War with Austria and Prussia ; Trial and Exe- cution of the King (1789-1793) 465 LXIX. Politics in England ; The Jacobin Revolution ; Reign of Terror in France (Jan. 21, 1793-July 27, 1794) ... 473 LXX. The Directory ; The Career of Napoleon to the Establish- ment of the Empire (1794-1804) 479 TABLE OF CONTENTS Xlll CHAPTER PAGE LXXI. The Empire of Napoleon : To the Russian Campaign (1804-1812) 485 LXXII. The Kussian Campaign (1812) ; Fall of Napoleon ; Waterloo ; Abdication of Napoleon (1814-15) . . . 490 LXXIII. American History in this Period (1789-1815) . ... 496 Period V. — From the Congress of Vienna (1815) to the Present Time LXXIV. Introduction 504 LXXV. Europe, from the Congress of Vienna (1815) to the French Revolution of 1830 507 LXXVI. Europe, from the Revolution of 1830 to the Revolu- tionary Epoch of 1848 510 LXXVII. Europe, from the Revolutions of 1848 to the Austro- Prussian War (1866) 515 LXXVIII. Europe, from the Beginning of the Austro-Prussian War to the End of the Franco-German War (1866- 1871) 520 LXXIX. Europe, from the Third French Republic, and the Union of Italy (1871) , 527 LXXX. The United States since 1815 ; Mexico ; South Ameri- can States ; Eastern Asia 543 LXXXI. Discovery and Invention ; Science and Literature ; Progress of Humane Sentiment ; Progress towards the Unity of Mankind 561 INDEX 567 GEI^ERAL HISTORY CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Definition of History. — History is the narrative of past events in which men have had a part. It is the story of the past. It is not a bare chronicle of occnrrences, but it aims to point out their connection with one another, or their causes and effects. Biography gives an account of the life of the individ- ual. What it may say about his times and about the people to which he belongs is in order to shed light on the course of one man's life. On the contrary, history has to do with a people taken as a unit. When particular persons are described, it is for the sake of showing the character and progress of the community as a whole. For history deals with nations. Savage tribes whose occupations and traits remain the same, so that the story of one generation, with a change of names and dates, would answer for an account of any other, furnish very scanty materials for history.. Their habits and ways it is interesting to investigate, but to do this belongs to a dis- tinct branch. Anthropology. When we would relate the his- tory of a group of nations, or of the peoples of mankind taken together, we must attend to their relations to one another. A¥e must consider them in their mutual influence, and in their joint influence in shaping the current of events. Sources of History. — How shall we find out what has taken place in past times ? What are the sources of history ? The entire generation, all who are living at any particular date, soon pass away. No living witnesses of what occurred remain. Of 1 2 SOURCES OF HISTORY course, we must depend for our knowledge of the past upon direct and indirect testimony. One channel by which the re- ports of witnesses may reach us is tradition, and tradition has its value. Yet unwritten tradition falls under the kind of proof termed by lawyers " hearsay evidence." The oftener the tale is repeated, the less trustworthy it becomes, and before long it groAvs to be entirely worthless. Hence authentic history dawns only when men begin to make some kind of records of their doings and experiences. As civilization advances beyond its first steps, such records become more full. At length histori- cal writers spring up who take a special interest in inquiries about what has occurred, or about what is taking place in their own time. This sort of inquiry was the original meaning of the Greek word from which our word history is derived. Of course, ancient buildings of every kind, such as still remain, like the pyramids of Egypt, or those whose ruins, as in the case of Babylon and Nineveh, are dug up, tell us much respect- ing extinct peoples. This they do, not only by their deciphered inscriptions, but also by their style of structure and their deco- rations. History and Geography. — Attention to geography is essential in the study of history. Names of places have different mean- ings at different dates. The boundaries of countries do not remain the same. " France," for examjole, signifies limits and an extent of territory Avhich vary greatly in successive periods. Physical geography, in its three divisions, land, sea, and air, is at least equally helpful. The traits, employments, and fort- unes of nations are greatly affected by climate and by the con- figuration of the portions of the globe which they occupy. For example, if the Atlantic coast in North America had been as near to a chain of mountains as the Pacific coast is, or even if there had been as few harbors on the Atlantic as on the Pacific border, the histor}^ of our country must have taken a very different turn. Chronology. — The method of dating from the birth of Jesus was introduced by Dionysius Exiguus, a Roman abbot, about KINSHIP OF NATIONS 6 the middle of the sixth century. But that starting-point was placed by him too late. The birth of Jesus was four years earlier than the date assigned to it. Pope Gregory XIII. cor- rected another error in the calendar. The " ISTew Style," which then came in, was gradually adopted. It made a difference of eleven days in the last century, and requires us to add in the present century twelve days. The Mohammedans reckon from the Hegira, or Flight from Mecca to Medina of Mohammed, the founder of their religion (622 e.g.). Kinship of Nations : Evidence from Physical Characteristics. — Ethnology is a new science having a close connection with history. It explores the origin and kinship of the nations existing now and in the past, and the rise of their customs and beliefs. Beside written memorials, there are two sources of information on the subject of the relationship of different peoples to one another. The first is physical characteristics, or peculiarities of form and feature and color. By this criterion, mankind are divided by many into three classes or races, — the Caucasian or White race, the Mongolian or Yellow race, and the Ethiopic or Negro race. By others the number of these varieties is made to be larger. In any case, there are no hard- and-fast lines between the so-called races. There are numerous intermediate variations, or gradations of shape and complexion. Moreover, the defining characteristics of the several races are not always found together. Thus, woolly hair is not uniformly associated with a dark skin. It is the Caucasian variety which, up to this time, has played the important part in history, for the ancient Egyptians were Caucasians. Civilization and progress are, in the main, the creation of this dominant race. Evidence of Language. — More instructive to the historical scholar than physical characteristics are likenesses and differ- ences in language. They serve as a clew in the search into the genealogy of nations. Looking abroad over the face of the globe, we observe a multitude of languages and dialects. But, on a close study, a great many of these almost countless varie- 4 THE ARYANS ties of speech arrange themselves in a comparatively few fam- ilies or groups. In each of a number of these the members are plainly seen to have sprung from a common stock. Thus it is shown that those who first spoke the tongues comprised in each family had common ancestors. The Aryan Family. — There is, first, the Aryan, or Indo- European family. Its oldest branch, in many particulars, is the Sanskrit, the language in which the Vedas — the ancient sacred books of the Hindus — were written. Other members of the same family are the Iranian or Persian, the Armenian, the Greek, the Latin, the Celtic languages, the Germanic or Teutonic languages, — which include the Scandinavian, or the tongues of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, — and the Slavo- nian languages. AVhen all these Aryan languages are compared, they are found to be at the basis identical. This is true of their gram- matical forms and of their words. They have so many words in common that something may be learned from them even in respect to the ideas and customs of the progenitors of all the Aryan nations. Thus the words father, mother, sister, daughter, and other names of blood relations are the same. The word wagon, under the disguises of altered spelling, is found in all the tongues of the Aryan race. First Abode of the Aryans. — The earliest abode of the Aryans, so far as our knowledge of them extends, was Iran, or the tablelands of eastern Persia. Some contend that we have earlier traces of them along the southern course of the Volga. On the other hand, some hold that there was such an older center in northern Europe. There is no decisive proof in •relation to this question. From Iran conquering emigrants went forth on the one hand into India, and on the other, in successive waves, westward. The Aryans in Europe. — Of this widely dispersed Aryan race, the Celts were once spread over nearly all western Europe, but they are now confined mostly to the highlands of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, and the coast of Prance. The SEMITIC AND TURANIAN GROUPS 5 Basques, in the southwestern corner of France, are the rem- nant of a race which preceded even the Celts and were driven out by them. It was the Teutons who drove the Celts into the territories that are now left to them. In like manner, also, the Slavonians, from whom are sprung the Russians, the Poles, the Bohemians, etc., crowded upon the Teutons and drove them out of a portion of their conquests. The Teutonic nationalities include, besides the Scandina- vian peoples, England, Holland, and Germany. The Romanic or Italic tongues of southern Europe — the tongues of Portu- gal, Spain, Provence, Italy, Wallachia, and the Grisons of Switzerland — are a mixture of the Latin with the provincial dialects once spoken by the common people in these regions. With the exception of the Basques, the Einns, the Hungarians, and the Turks, all Europe is inhabited by Aryans. The world is now practically subject to their power. Beyond Europe they are spread over not far from a third of Asia. The Semitic Family. — A second family of languages is the Semitic, a name given to the tongues of the communities described in the book of Genesis as the descendants of Shem. Under this head belong the Assyrian and Babylonian, the Hebrew and Phoenician, with the Syrian and Aramaic, and the Arabic. The Phoenician dialect spread among the numer- ous colonies of Tyre. The Arabic followed the course of the Mohammedan conquests. There have been three periocis of Semitic might. The first was the era of the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian empires ; the second that of the flourishing Phoenician cities and their colonies; the third the period of the Arabic-Mohammedan conquests. In the Semitic race, the three great monotheistic religions — the Hebrew, the Christian, and the Mohammedan — had their origin. The Turanian Group. — The third class of languages is the Turanian. Its principal seat is central Asia, but the class is of much wider extent. The representatives of this class in Europe are the Einns, Hungarians, and Turks, mentioned 6 EXCHANGE OF LANGUAGES above. Their tongues are rather a group than a family ; that is, their actual kinship is less close. It is often obscure and indistinct. Hence the boundaries of this class are not well defined. The Turanian languages differ from the Aryan and Semitic in not being inflected. The roots of the words do not unite with the suf&xes, but these are joined on. Hence these tongues are called agglutinative. Unclassified Languages. — Xot a few languages thus far do not admit of a sure classification. The old Egyptian tongue, which is often called Hamitic, has some points of likeness to the Semitic languages, but not enough to show an identity at the basis. Whether the Chinese has a Turanian kinship is not yet determined. Languages may be dropped. — In investigating the kinship of nations as evinced in their speech, it must not be forgotten that a portion of a people, or even an entire people, may change its language. History is full of records of the mixture of races. The Irish people offer an instance of the adoption by a nation of a foreign language. From the tongue spoken by them at present, it might be inferred that they are of the very same stock as the English. But while the English are Teutons, the Irish are Celts, having exchanged the Celtic for the tongue which they now speak. The English blood is compounded of the blood of Danes, Saxons, and Normans. The adoption of the English language by large bodies of emigrants to the United States, from different parts of the continent of Europe, is a fact with many parallels in histor}^ The distinction of tribes was recognized by the Hebrews from the way in which they pronounced the word shibboleth. To St. Peter it was said, "Thy speech bewrayeth thee." His provincial accent proved him to be from Galilee, where the guttural letters of the Hebrew alphabet were uttered indistinctly, and sh changed into th. But such an inference, although frequently just, is far from always settling the question of lineage, even though it may point out the place, of birth and of present abode. TABLE OF LANGUAGES TABLE OF LANGUAGES Aryan or Indo-European Family. 1. The Indie Branch : (1) Ancient Sanskrit (Yeclic) ; Modern Sanskrit. (2) Pali, the language of Buddhism. (3) Vari- ous modern East Indian Dialects and groups of Dialects. 2. The Iranic Branch: (1) Old Bactrian or Avestan (no modern representatives). (2) Ancient Persian. (3) Modern Per- sian. 3. The Armenian Branch, by some regarded as belonging to the Iranic Branch. 4. The Greek Branch : Old and Modern Greek Dialects, and Albanian. 5. The Italic Branch : (1) Oscan and Umbrian. (2) Latin. (3) The Romanic Languages (derived from the Latin), including Italian, French, Provencal, Spanish, Portuguese, Roumanian, and the language of the Swiss Grisons. 6. The Celtic Branch : (1) Cymric; includes Welsh, Cornish, Armorican. (2) Gadhaelic ; includes Gaelic (Scotland), Irish, Manx. 7. The Slavic Branch : (1) Eastern Division, Bulgarian, Servian, and Russian. (2) Western Division, Bohemian, Polish. To the general head of Slavic is often reckoned Lithua- nian, though the latter more properly makes a branch by itself, consisting of Lithuanian, Lettic, and Old Prussian, distinct from the Slavic, yet closely related to it. 8. The Teutonic Branch: r(l) Gothic. East "I (2) Scandinavian: Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, [ Danish. '(3) Low German, Dutch (English), Flemish, -and ,,^ , several old and modern dialects in Germany, West-! 1 • n • ^1. AT ^-u chiefly m the North. (I) High German, — old, middle, and modern. 8 TABLE OY LANGUAGES Gothic and Scandinavian are sometimes grouped as Eastern Teutonic, as distinguished from the West- ern Teutonic. Some place English as a distinct group. Another Teutonic language, Frisian, lies between these groups and is often included with Low German. II. Semitic Family. 1. The Northern Division: the Hebrew or Phoenician, the Aramaic or Syrian, the Assyrian or Babylonian. 2. The Southern Division : the Arabian and the Ethiopian. III. Scythian or Turanian Family. 1. The Finno-Hungarian Branch : The language of the Finns, the Hungarians, the Lapps, etc. 2. The Samoyed Branch : Spreading on the Siberian coast from the White Sea to the Ural Mountains. 3. The Turkish Branch. 4. Tlie ]\fongolian Branch : East of the Turkish, but not reaching to the ocean. 5. The Tungusic : 1 the N.E. conquerors and rulers of China In the N.E. of Asia, and the language of the Manchu Languages often classified as Turanian but in regard to whose classi- fication scholars are not yet agreed, are the Japanese, the Chinese, the languages of Farther India, the languages of the Pacific islands S.E. of Asia, including the Malay-Polynesian group of languages, and the Dravidian group of Southern India. Unity of Descent. — Natural Science teaches that the phys- ical characteristics of the different races of men do not dis- prove unity of descent, or the fact of a common but remote parentage. So linguistic science teaches that the existing varieties of speech, while they do not prove such a unity, are. not inconsistent with it. Language, before its sounds are set PREHISTORIC PERIOD 9 down in Avriting, and especially in its infancy, is subject to radical changes. Its "wear and tear" among tribes, when parted from the common center and from one another, may easily cause all features of likeness in speech to vanish. In other words, philology, like zoology, has no answer to give on the question of monogenesis, or the descent of mankind from one pair. It should be noted that the lines dividing mankind by the touchstone .of language by no means always coincide with those founded on physical resemblances and differences. Prehistoric Period : Older Stone. Age. — It is now established that the globe on which we live has been a great deal longer in being than was once believed, and that men have lived upon it much longer than was once, on the ground of what was thought to be the biblical chronology, supposed to be the fact. In the dark background of all directly attested history is a prehistoric period. Its long duration is proved by relics of uncivilized peoples which lived in places where the climate is proved to have been extremely unlike what it is now. This last fact respecting climate is shown by the remains of animals of which there is no account in recorded history, and some of which could not possibly live in these regions. In -r^ T ^ . . Stone Axe with Wooden Handle found France, and to some extent ^^ ^^ English bog in England, there are found tools or weapons, made chiefly of flint, which have been carried down by the swift current of rivers and deposited in beds. All these implements are of unpolished stone. Implements are discovered of a somewhat better make, either of stone or of bone or horn, and having on some of them rough drawings of animals. Such remains are shown, from the places where they are found, to have been fashioned by men whose dwell- ings were caves and who lived at a very remote day. These relics belong to the older stone, or paleolithic, age. 10 PREHISTORIC PERIOD Later Stone Age. — " Kitchen middens," or great mounds con- taining mostly shells of oysters and other shellfish, are found in the neighborhood of the Baltic. These relics mark the be- ginning of the later stone, or neolithic age. In this stage of progress the implements were furnished with handles, were polished, and more numerous, and certain animals — of which the dog seems to have been the first — were domesticated. The barrows, or tombs of earth,, in different countries, indi- cate a much further progress in the variety and make of stone Neolithic Stone Tools from Denmark tools. The lake-dwellers of Switzerland, whose huts were built over the water on piles as a means of safety against attacks of enemies, had cattle, cultivated trees, and wove cloth. Bronze and Iron Ages. — The stone age was followed by the age of bronze, when implements were made of copper, or a mixture of copper and tin. The relics do not indicate so wide a gap between the neo- lithic and the bronze ages as that between the paleolithic and the neolithic. In many lands rude structures are found which are composed of huge stones. These structures are of uncer- tain date, and served originally as sepulchers and sometimes as altars. They are called dolmens or cromlechs. Stonehenge, near Salisbury, is one of the best known of these ancient monu- BRONZE AND IRON AGES 11 ments. From its remains tlie lines of the two concentric cir- cles and of the two ellipses within them can be distinctly traced. The implements found in the tumuli or barrows near by, which stand in some relation to the cromlech, are of bronze. Hence it is the opinion of some learned archaeologists that Stonehenge the old Britons who built Stonehenge lived in the bronze period ; but this opinion is not accepted by all. Finally, we reach the traces of the more advanced iron age, when this metal was brought into use in the making of tools for industry and weapons of war. It is to be observed that the lines between these several " ages " are not sharply drawn. The eras lap over one another. Nor is there evidence that these several steps of progress in one region were contem- poraneous with like steps in every other. Moreover, it cannot be affirmed, in the present state of our knowledge, that in all peoples once civilized there was at some time a passage through these consecutive eras. It may be remarked that the products left behind from prehistoric time afford no proof that the intellectual capacity of men was inferior to what it is now. The drawings — for example, drawings of the reindeer on bone by the paleolithic inhabitants of France — would incline us to think highly of their natural powers. 12 LANDMARKS IN HISTORY Design in History. — There are traces of design in history as there are in the kingdom of nature. All who believe in Provi- dence hold that the plan of God extends over all mankind and embraces all the ages of man's existence on the earth. But this plan as yet is only partly carried out. The past is only a frac- tion of the entire course of events. Its meaning, or the design connected with it, can, therefore, be fully discerned only in the light that will be cast back upon it in the future. The drama of history is incomplete. As far as the Aryan family is concerned, by which, in the main, civilization has been built up, a certain order and unity are plainly traceable. Yet India, not less than China with its non-Aryan population, stand apart from the great stream of historic progress. The nations of eastern Asia are now coming into a closer contact and union with the other peoples, and seem about to take an active part in the world's onward movement. Their part in the drama of human affairs may be com^Dared to that of late comers upon the stage. But the modern Aryan nations, compared with the civilized Aryan peo- ples of antiquity, are new in their rise and their enlightenment. Landmarks of History. — The real landmarks of history are not separated by intervals of uniform length. They are to mark, not the lapse of a certain amount of time, but turning points in the course of events. There is a real foundation for the general distinction of Ancient and Modern History. Ancient History is the record of a by-gone state of things ; Modern History, of a state of things now existing. There are striking differences between these two great eras. Ancient History has its center in the Mediterranean. The peoples that lived in the three continents, on the borders of that sea, generally became subject to Eome. The empire of Rome was extended to the Euphrates on the east, to the deserts of Africa on the. south, and northward to Britain, and to the shores of the Rhine. In the fourth century began the irruption from the north of the unconquered Teutonic tribes, and with it the breaking up of that wide-spread empire. In 476, the city of Rome itself fell into the hands of the invading barbarians. LANDMARKS IN HISTORY 13- With the breaking up of the Eoman Empire, Ancient His- tory ends. The new races of conquerors took power into their hands; new centers of rule arose north of the Alps; a new type of culture and civilization grew up. Yet in the temporary eclipse of civilization there was no gulf of separation from the old order of things. The new era was the heir of priceless treasures handed down from the past. In them were included Christianity and the guidance of the Church. To be sure, no change so stupendous as the shipwreck of the Eoman Empire has since taken place. Nevertheless, after a long interval, which comprises the " middle ages," there occurred, in the fif- teenth century, events and changes so momentous as to occa- sion frequently a triple division of history into the ancient, mediaeval, and modern eras. In this classification the term "modern" is used in a special, more limited sense. During the middle ages, the peoples in the different countries into which the Eoman Empire of the West was broken, were in a process of development. They were becoming distinct from one another, in their la^nguage and institutions, although united by the common bond of ecclesiastical union to Eome. At the same time, the Eastern Eoman Empire, which had its ancient capital at Constantinople, was going through a slow process of decay and dissolution. Slavonian tribes seized upon portions of it, just as the Teutons had established themselves in the provinces of the AYest. Arabic Mohammedan conquerors tore from it extensive territories. Finally, in 1453, Constantinople was taken by the Turks, and the Empire of the East was no more. This catastrophe, with the events that led up to it and followed it, had a great influence on society in western Europe. In connection with the revived study of Antiquity, the modern period arose. A new freedom of thought began to manifest itself. A fresh impulse was given to the spirit of invention and discovery. National feeling gained strength, and the ecclesiastical unity of Europe was broken. The secu- lar interests of society excited an increased attention, while 14 DIVISIONS OF HISTORY political affairs and the rivalry of princes and peoples assumed a new importance. Yet, notwithstanding the planting of the Turkish power in Europe, Europe as a whole has advanced steadily towards a controlling influence among the nations of the earth. History may then be divided into three parts : — I. Ancient History, to the migrations of the Teutonic tribes (375 A.D.). 11. Mediaeval History, from 375 a.d. to the Fall of Con- stantinople (1453). III. Modern History, from 1453 until the present. AJ^CIEJNTT HISTORY >J^c I. ORIENTAL NATIONS CHAPTER II CHINA Physical Geography. — We speak of the Continent of Europe and of the Continent of Asia, but also of the Eastern Con- tinent, which comprises both. This last expression is not incorrect, since Europe and Asia form one vast land-mass, with only a partial boundary between them, which is made by the Ural Mountains and the deep beds of the Caspian and Black seas. An immense plateau, traversed by chains of mountains, stretches all the way from the Black Sea to Corea. It is divided into two unequal parts by the Hindu- Kush range. The eastern portion, which is generally lower, the plateau of central Asia, has been the abode of wandering Mongol and Tartar tribes. While these have been too weak to conquer and hold the fertile regions of central China and Hindustan, they have yet been able, at different periods, to devastate these lands by pouring into them hosts of invad- ers. The western plateau is bordered on the southwest by the plains of Mesopotamia. Arabia is a low plateau of vast extent, between which and the mountainous regions of Asia Minor are the plateau and mountains of Syria. Egypt was reckoned by 15 16 ORIENTAL NATIONS the ancients as a part of Asia. In our time, the Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean and the Bed seas. Civilization sprang up on the shores fertilized by great rivers, the Nile in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates, the Indus and the Ganges, and, in China, the Hoang-Ho and the Yang-tse-Kiang. Early Annals. — The nucleus of this people, which is more ancient than any other existing nation, is supposed to have been a band of emigrants of the Turanian race, who entered China, following the course of the Hoang-Ho, or Yellow River. It is not much that we know of them. There are not wanting arguments for the opinion that their starting point was the tribes of Elam in Babylonia. There is evidence that they brought with them some knowledge of astronomy, of the con- struction of canals, of bricks made of clay, of writing, of music, of certain domestic animals, and the practice of ancestral rites of worship. By degrees they absorbed or drove out the native tribes, and occupied a territory which in the middle ages was called by Europeans " Cathay." The early annals of the Chi-' nese, as of most other nations, are made up of myths and fables. Probably the migration just referred to was not far from 2200 b.c. This mythological age is made, by Chinese chroniclers, to stretch over from forty-live thousand to five hundred thousand years. It is filled up with imaginary lines of dynasties. Particular discoveries and inventions are ascribed severally to particular sovereigns. For example, Fu-hi has the credit of discovering iron. The date of Fu-hi, like the dates of other epochs along the course of Chinese history, cainiot be settled. The isolation of China cuts us off from a comparison of its annals with those of other nations. Yaou ; Yu ; the Chow Dynasty. — With Yaou (2076 b.c.) we begin to tread upon firmer ground. There is a larger mixture of fact in the mass of legends, although the Avheat cannot be sifted from the chaff. There is the story of a great inundation from the rising of the rivers in the reign of Shem. The acces- sion of Yu the Great (about 1950 b.c.) is celebrated by the chronicles as a happy event. But later kings of the Shang CHINA 17 dynasty ruled badly, and things went ill until the Chow dynasty, in the person of Wu Wang, acceded to the throne, in 1123 b.c. Wu Wang was a warlike and virtuous prince, but he crip- pled the central power by establishing a feudal system, com- posed of a great number of petty states. Civil war naturally followed, and this opened the way for incursions of the Tartars. It was in a period of disorder and danger that the great teacher of China, Confucius, was born (551 b.c). Lao-tse, also a famous teacher, was a few years older. Mencius was a third distinguished teacher, who, after a long life, died in 289 B.C. The Tsin Dynasty. — The era of feudal strife and confusion was ended by the founder of the Tsin dynasty, a powerful feudal ruler in the northwest. The work which he began was completed by Chi Hwangti (" Emperor First "), who succeeded him in 246 b.c. He restored unity, and divided the country into provinces, over each of which he placed a governor. He also erected public buildings, and built roads and canals. He connected and lengthened the short walls, w^hicli had been raised by certain princes in the northern states to keep out the Huns, and thus constructed the Great Wall of China. It ex- tended across the whole northern frontier, from the sea as far west as the desert. Its total length was fifteen hundred miles. Either from vanity, in order to blot out the memory of his predecessors who might be his rivals in fame, or because recol- lections of the past might create discontent with his maxims of government, he ordered all books of a historical kind to be* destroyed. No doubt copies of many of the old writings were hidden and thus preserved. The Han Dynasty. — The Tsin dynasty, after about forty years, gave way to the Han dynasty, which was set up by an ambitious soldier (206 b.c), and lasted for about four hundred years (until 221 a.d.). It was a period marked by the progress of learning and by literary productions. Under Mong-ti (65 A.D.), the religion of which Buddha was the founder made a multitude of converts in China. It had been introduced be- 18 ORIENTAL NATIONS fore, but now the Buddhistic books were sent for by the Emperor and brought out of India. The sway of the Chinese was extended, and for a while was kept up even as far to the west as the Caspian Sea. These campaigns brought to the Chinese their first knowledge of the Romans. After the Han dynasty, there came the "era of the three kingdoms.'' It was a long period of discord and division, interrupted once (265 a.d.) by a partial reunion of the sun- dered states, but not ending until 590 a.d. Then Tang Keen restored unity and order by bringing all China to submit to his rule. Isolation of the Chinese. — The separation of China from other nations, and their dislike of intercourse with foreigners, is owing partly to circumstances, and partly to their natural qualities. For ages they were begirt by deserts and mountains, and their contact with foreigners was confined to resisting bar- barian incursions. Their language has remained in the rudi- mental stage. It is made up of monosyllables. There is no alphabet. For words a host of characters serving as symbols are employed. These are altered and abbreviated pictures of objects, pictures of objects having been the original form of writing. Of course, it is a language very difficult for foreign- ers to learn. An ingrained, excessive veneration for the past has been a principal hindrance to the admission of changes, and to intercourse with other peoples who might seek to effect them. Literature in China. — Yet the Chinese have been a literary people. Their writings, however, have been mostly prosaic in their form and contents. They furnish information, rather than kindle imagination or feeling. The esteem for learning is shown in the requirement that candidates for public offices shall undergo examinations to test their literary knowledge. But the mass of the people have been left in ignorance. At the foundation of all learning are the nine classics, five written, or edited, by Confucius, and four by his disciples and by Mencius. CHINA 19 The Religion of China. — The religion of CMna was poly- theistic. The supreme divinity, Tien or Shang-ti, was the heaven above, personified. Two features are stamped upon the religion of China. One is the worship of ancestors. The other is reverence for Confucius. This sage did not pretend to explain things supernatural. His teaching consists of moral and political maxims. It comprises wise counsel to parents and rulers. He inculcates the golden rule on its negative side : " Do not unto others what you would not that others should do unto you." Lao-tse is the founder of Taoism, which has in it more that is mystical, but also contains good precepts. It came to be mixed with fanciful speculations and with notions and rites borrowed from Buddhism, which prevails very widely among the common people. A peculiarity of China is that its several religions not only subsist together, but are mingled in the faith and |)ractices of their respective adherents. There is a State religion, a showy ritual consisting of appointed ceremonies which are conducted at stated times by the Emperor. Offerings are made by him to numerous divinities, the highest of whom are the heavens, or sky, and the earth. These objects, which are vaguely conceived of and adored, make up, with the Emperor himself, a triad. The Government of China. — The government of China is a paternal despotism. It is checked and modified, however, by an established system of laws, for the observance of which the Emperor is held answerable. The remedy for lawlessness on his part is revolution. The Arts in China. — In many useful arts the Chinese antici- pated other nations. Printing by wooden blocks was known to them as early as the sixth century a.d. The first use of movable types among the Chinese, was perhaps as early as the tenth century. Gunpowder was used as early as 250 a.d., and it has been thought that the comx3ass was employed as a guide in journeys on land long before it was invented in Europe for purposes of navigation. In various branches of manufactures — as silk, porcelain, 20 ORIENTAL NATIONS carved work in ivory, wood, and horn — the Chinese have, at least until a recent period, been preeminent. Their crude implements in husbandry are in contrast with their exhibi- The Great tions of skill in other directions. Although imitation long ago stifled the activity of inventive talent, to China belongs the distinction of being a civilized land before the nations of Europe had emerged into being. CHAPTER III INDIA The Aryan Invaders. — The history of India begins in a con- test between the bands of Aryans who crossed the Himalayas from tlie northwest and subdued its native inhabitants. The Vedas, the sacred books of the Sanskrit-speaking invaders, show^ them to us on the fertile plains watered by the Indus. This migration and conquest was probably somewhat earlier than 2000 b.c. The Eigveda exhibits them as herdsmen, but with a warlike spirit. The non-Aryan inhabitants were driven out. The conquerors and even the conquered barbarians dwelt in villages and towns. The former made use of boats. They had learned to use chariots in battle. Among them Avere blacksmiths and other artisans. >j j|Fne Religion of the Aryans. — The religion of these Aryan settlers was polytheistic. The gods were the powers of nature. The chief of the Aryan divinities is thought to have been originally the Heaven-Father. The same divinity was adored in Greece under the name of Zeus, and in ancient Italy under the name of Jupiter. He is the god of the shining sky, at first not distinguished from the material heavens, conceived of as personal. Other gods in India were Varuna, sometimes not regarded as distinct from Heaven-Father; Indra, the god of thunder and raiii; and A^gni, the god of fire. Worship was through offerings and prayers. It was felt to be necessary that it should be sincere, for the gods will not tolerate deceit. Sometimes, the divinities are said to be many thousands in number. There was a tendency to concentrate worship for the time being upon one, as if the others were out of mind. 21 22 ORIENTAL NATIONS This monolatry, or singleness of the object of worship, is called henotheism. The Aryans on the Ganges. — Before 1000 B.C. the Aryan invaders are found to have transferred their abode to the plains of the Ganges. Great changes have taken place. The most important of them is the rise of the castes. The lowest caste was composed, naturally, of the Sudras, or serfs, who were the conquered natives. Next above them were the tillers of the soil ; then the warriors, and above all were the priests, or Brahnians, who after a time had a complete ascendancy. They were the literary class. They managed the tribal sacrifices. Brahmanism. — The primitive polytheism, mingled with monol- atry, gradually resolved itself into pantheism. The beginnings of this change are plain in the later Yedic writings. In them the supreme god, Brahma, was imagined to be without con- scious life or will. He was not thought of as a creator, but as the eternal source whence all things — gods, nature, and men — emanate. All living things partake of the life that flows out from the Supreme. Existence separate from Brahma is an evil. The greatest good, the highest aspiration, is to be reabsorbed in him. To reach this goal, the soul must be puri- fied. Its sufferings here are the penalty of sins in a preexist- ent state. Hence the transmigration of souls, or the reentering of the soul into another body — it might be the body of a re- pulsive animal — was an article of faith. With these beliefs were connected severe penances, many varieties of self-torment, endured for the purpose of getting rid of defilement. In all these points the Brahmanical system is distinguished from the earlier religion of the Yedas, which knows nothing either of these austerities or of transmigration. Buddhism. — Brahmanism has never been overthrown, but it has been modified. A great epoch in the religion of India was the rise of Buddhism. The story of the founder, Buddha, is mingled with legends. He died, according to most scholars, between 482 and 472 b.c, being then eighty years old. Born of a noble but not of a royal family, Buddha was so struck INIDIA 23 with the miseries of mankind tliat lie renounced kixury, and forsook parents, wife, and son, tliat he miglit meditate on the cause of human suffering and devise a remedy. After many years of thought and inward struggle, he found, as he believed, the secret of spiritual peace. Buddha made no attack on Brahmanism. He left untouched the gods and their worship, and also the caste system. He taught that the method of salvation lay not in asceticism, but in the cjuenching of all desires, which disturb the soul, and, in particular, all evil passions, such as revenge and impurity. By this means the horrors of transmigration will be avoided, and the soul will attain to Nirvana, or the rest of unconscious- ness. Buddha's teaching contained humane and excellent precepts, but later, in connection with it, there grew up a vast system of ascetic practices, not less burdensome than the tyranny of caste. Spread of Buddhism. — Buddhism was spread abroad by Bud- dhistic missionaries. There was a reaction, however, of Brah- manism, which took up a portion of the Buddhistic ideas, but, instead of forsaking the old ceremonial system, made it more rigorous and oppressive. In course of time, new practices were brought in, one of which was the burning of the widow on the funeral pile of the husband. Buddhism in India finally became extinct, having melted away into the Brahmanical system. Abroad, in Ceylon, Burmah, central Asia and China, it won a vast multitude of converts. The Greek Period, the Middle Ages. — In 327, Alexander the Great led his forces into India, leaving garrisons in different places, but did not advance as far as the Ganges. From this time, more or less intercourse continued between India and and the kingdoms of the AYest. The commerce that was car- ried forward in the middle ages led to the efforts of navigators to find a shorter passage from the marts of Europe to the ports of India. One of these enterprises undertaken for this purpose issued in the discovery of America by Columbus. 11. THE EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS CHAPTER IV EGYPT The Inhabitants. — Even before the Christian era Roman travelers visited Egypt to see what to them were the monu- ments of a remote antiquity, just as modern travelers, from a like curios- ity, now visit Rome. This fact helps us to conceive how far back the story of Egyptian civilization carries us. In the distant past there existed, in the valley of the Nile, a peox)le of a dark color, tinged with red. They were (Jancasians who are thought to have been of Asiatic origin, although by some they are believed to have l)een African emigrants from Lybia. On the south of them was Nubia, whose inhabitants were negroes. Eastward there dwelt a dusky people of a dif- ferent race, a branch of the widely dif- fused Cushites. The Nile ; Geographical Divisions. — The old Greek historian, Herodotus, said of Egypt that it was " the gift of the Nile." It was the deposits of mud from the yearly inundations of the river, when its sources in 24 Wooden Imagk of an Egyptian OF Rank in the Old King- dom (BiUak Jfuseum) EGYPT 25 tropical Africa were swollen by rains, that made the land on its borders extremely fertile. On either side of this land was a barren waste with high monntains on the east and low hills on Map of Egypt the west. As the Nile approached the Mediterranean, the fer- tile area spread out into the Delta, through which the river cut its channels and poured its waters into the sea. Egypt originally embraced two kingdomSc The part of the country north of Memphis, comprising the Delta, is Lower 26 EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS Egypt. Upper Egypt, with Thebes for its principal city, ex- tended sontliward to the First Cataract. This boundary of the country was sometimes carried by great kings as far as the Second Cataract and even to the Sudan. Early Civilization. — Very early, perhaps six thousand years ago, there existed in Lower Egypt an advanced culture. The art of writing was knoAvn. Vast buildings were erected. The sepulchers and pyramids imply much skill in the mechanical arts. There was a division of the year, the beginnings of science and literature, and a well-ordered govern- ment. The country was divided into about twenty nomes, or districts. In each there was a leading city, the seat of the local government, and a center of worship. In art, indus- try, religion, and in man- ners and customs generally, there was a strong tendency to follow fixed rules and patterns. This was partly owing to the fact that for a long period Egypt, like China, stood by itself, with very little inter- course with other peoples. The spirit of the nation set bar- riers to progress beyond a certain limit. Sources of the History. — Eor our knowledge of Egyptian annals we depend very much upon the history of Manetho, an Egyptian priest (about 250 e.g.), or rather upon extracts from his Avork in other ancient Avriters, and upon the inscriptions on the monuments. Herodotus visited Egypt and collected information about the past ; but although honest, he was cred- ulous. Questions of chronology are still unsettled. Tlie date of Menes, the first historic king, is not later than 3000 b.c, while some learned scholars think it was 2000 years earlier. Egyptian Hok (Bas-relief from the tomh of Ti) A Suue.makkk's Shop {Chamjiollion'' s Monuments of Egyj)t) EGYPT 27 Hieroglyphics. — Writing among the Egyptians was first by means of liieroglyphs, or pictures of objects. This continued to be the method used in official writing carved upon stone. The pictures were abridged in the hieratic writing, and still more in the demotic. Besides literal pictures there was a symbolic use of them. Thus, a disc O, which meant the sun, stood as the symbol of day. There was an alphabet of twenty- four consonants, together with numerous signs of words and syllables. To these signs were added determinatives, to make their phonetic sense clear. The determinatives Avere pictures of the things meant. Thus writing became quite complex. Eras in the History. — From Menes, stretching down the course of Egyptian history, is a long series of dynasties, which are designated by numbers. Each of them has its list of Pharaohs, the name by which all the monarchs were desig- nated. The history prior to the Persian conquest (525 b.c.) divides itself into three sections: the Old Empire, having its seat at Memphis, or the Memphite Period, from the first to the tenth dynasty ; the Middle Empire, from the eleventh to the twentieth dynasty, with Thebes for its capital, but includ- ing the rule of the foreign Hyksos, or Shepherds; and the New Empire, from the twenty-first to the thirtieth dynasty, an era called by some the Saite Period, divided into two sections by the Persian conquest. The Old Empire ; the Pyramids. — It was in the period of the Old Empire (reaching to about 2100 B.C.), that the great pyramids were erected. They were the sepulchers of kings. Chufu, the Cheops of the Greeks, built the largest of them at Gizeh. Its original perpendicular height was 480 feet, and the length of its side 764 feet. Within it was the sarcophagus of the sovereign. The pyramid of Gizeh that is the next in 28 EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS size was the work of Cliafra. A third and smaller pyramid at (jfizeh was raised by Menkaura. Dominion of Thebes. — Pepi was the most powerful monarch of the sixth dynasty. He conc^uered the negroes of Nubia and routed the Syrian Bedouins. In the interval from the seventh to the eleventh dynasties there were revolts and revo- lutions. Then the princes of Thebes attained to the throne, and extended their sway over the land. Under this twelfth dynasty there were kings who displayed military prowess, by . -tit' " -^ ^ \ ^^^f« --— . ■» s *■' ...--,r| The Great Pyramids {From a photograph) whom the region of the Upper Nile was conquered, a prosper- ous trade carried forward with Syria, and vast edifices, like the temple of Amnion at Thebes and the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, were constructed. Amenemhat III. built the immense artificial reservoir, Lake Moeris, to receive and dis- tribute the waters of the Nile. Literature flourished. Art attained to a degree of perfection beyond which it did not afterwards advance. It was the golden age of Egyptian culture. This era was succeeded by a period of calamity. The four- teenth dynasty was overcome by a horde of Asiatic Bedouins, EGYPT 29 Amenemhat III. {Plaster cast in the Berlin JIuseum) called Hyksos (or Sheplierds), who overran a great part of Egypt. They established their throne at Tanis, but did not succeed fully in subduing Lower Egypt. They adopted the customs of the subdued people, yet the native people continued hostile to them. They held their power for a number of centu- ries. Their expulsion, after a long struggle, was at last effected by Aahmes I., the first king of the eighteenth dynasty. The Martial Spirit ; Thothmes III. — From this time the Egyp- tians, from being a comparatively mild people, disposed to the arts of peace, were converted into a warlike nation, bent upon foreign conquests. Horses now came to be used in battle. Special homage is paid to war-gods. More- over, the priestly class becomes more imited and dominant. The principal buildings erected are temples, in the place of massive sepulchers. Thothmes I. made plundering campaigns in Ethiopia, and in Syria, advancing as far as the Euphrates. The great Egyptian conqueror, Thothmes III., in the course of a series of victorious campaigns in Syria, captured the strong city of Megiddo, subdued Syria and Palestine, and returned home, laden with booty, and bringing with him a multitude of hostages and prisoners. The gigantic structures of Karnak and Luxor testify to the grandeur of these military monarchs. They were built in honor of Amnion, the god of war. The achievements of Thothmes III. were inscribed upon their walls. Ramses I. ; Seti I. — Through the foreign conquests, Asiatic influences came to prevail in the Egyptian court. This Avas especially true under Amenophis IV., who established at Thebes the Asiatic divinity Aten, the god of the disc of the 80 EAHLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS sun, in whose honor he changed his name to Chu-en-Aten. '^the Ulster of the solar disc." The great monarchs of the nineteenth dynasty were hostile to this Asiatic influence and worship. This not surpass as ing dynasty, better how to Seti I., having the Canaanites was true of E-amses I. If they did conquerors, the kings of the preced- especially Thothmes III., they knew retain and organize their conquests, defeated the Arabian tribes, vanquished and built strong places in their land. In the conflict with Mautenouer, the king of the Hittites, he gained no decisive success. The Hittites were a brave nation, advanced in culture, whose dominion was between the EGYPT 31 Orontes and the Euphrates. A smaller branch of this people dwelt in Canaan, of whom we have notices in the Old Testa- ment, at the same time that intimations are given of a knowl- edge of the powerful nation bearing the same name. The Lybian Incursions. — Thothmes in a series of attacks repelled the Lybian tribes. These enemies constantly threat- ened Egypt, until, four centu- ries later, one of their kings was able to get possession of the Egyptian throne. They had first been received into the Egyptian army as mer- cenaries. Seti raised mag- nificent edifices, mostly at Thebes. Ramses II. ; War with the Hittites. — Eamses II., his son and successor, named Sesostris by the Greeks, al- though a great warrior, is not entitled to all the glory that the legends of the Greeks attribute to him. The chief contest in which he was en- gaged was with the Hittites and the peoples allied with them. 7lt Kadesh, on the Orontes, Eamses turned the tide of battle by his personal valor. The victory is cele- brated in the heroic poem of Pentaur, the Homer of Egypt. But the defeat of the enemy could not have been overwhelming, for it was fol- lowed by a treaty of peace and alliance, of which the record remains. In the reign of Ramses II., which lasted sixty-eight years, the relations of Egypt with the Asiatic countries speak- Statue of Eamses II. {Turin Museum) 32 EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS i^^^i^^e \ I ^M ;? uni m ijii(i'tnPiero, The Dawn of Civilisation) ing .the Semitic tongues became more intimate. His most splendid monuments as a builder are at Thebes. One of them is the "House of Eamses," south of Karnak. Exodus of the Hebrews. — Hostility to the religious changes by Amenophis IV. and to the Asiatics in Egypt will account for the oppression of the Israelites by the Pharaoh, who was probably E-amses II. They escaped from Egypt dur- ing the reign of one of his succes- sors, either Men- ephthah, or possi- bly Kamses III., who reigned about half a cen- tury after Ram- ses II. The dominion over Canaan was held by Egypt only for a short time after its conquest hy Seti I. From about 1500 to 1300 n.o., Egypt in arts and in arms Avas the foremost of the nations. Lybian kings held the scepter for a century and a half. After this time there was a series of Ethiopic rulers. Assyrian Conquest ; Persian Conquest. — Egypt could not re- sist the power of Assyria. About G50 b.c. Psammetichus I., one of the local rulers and an ally of the Assyrians, made himself independent, and gained supreme authority. He made friends with the Greeks. From this time their influence in- creased. Neclio II. was no match for the power of :N"ebuchad- nezzar, King of Babylon, by whom he was vanquished in the great battle of Carchemish, by the Euphrates. Egypt escaped from permanent subjugation under the As- syrians and Babylonians, but another powerful empire, that of the Persians, founded by Cyrus, reduced it to subjection. It was conquered by Cambyses, the successor of Cyrus, who made it a Persian province (525 b.c). The last of the Persian kings EGYPT 33 of Egypt was detlironed by Alexander the Great, who left Egypt in 331 b.c. In the division of Alexander's empire, Egypt felL to the share of the first king of the Greek line of Ptolemies. Pharaoh gives Audience to One of his Ministers {Maspero, The Bawn of Oimlisation) Rulers and Classes. — The monarchs of Egypt were regarded with superstitious veneration, and were looked upon as related to the gods, and as destined hereafter to be their associates. They reigned in splendor and selected the chief officers of state. The land was held by the nobles, generals, and priests. The civil administration was an orderly system and there was 34 EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS an effective training for military service. There were no rigid barriers of caste and it was possible for the lowly to rise. From the beginning of the New Empire there was a middle class which included in it artisans. Not until the New Empire was there a great exaltation of the priesthood. Religion of the Egyptians. — The religion of the Egyptians was poly- theistic. Personal life was attri- buted to the various objects and operations of nature. What has been thought to be monotheism was a kind of monolatry, which bears the name of henotheism; that is, as previously explained, an exclusive worship at different places, for the time at least, of some one divinity. But this did not imply any denial of the exist- ence and agency of other gods. It was not until the days of the New Empire that a certain tendency to j)an- theism appears in the hymns of priests. The per- sonality of the Sun-God, or the old Harvest-God, is indistinct. The chief divinities of Egypt were con- nected with the sun. They were gods of light. Sacked Bull (Apis) The sun was WOr- {Sculptor's model hi the Buluk Museum) HORTTS ( WUkijuon's Egyptians) EGYPT 35 shiped under tlie names of Ea and Horns. Osiris, Isis, a female divinity, and Horns, were linked together in a triad. A like grouping of gods, as liusband, wife, and son, was com- mon in the popular religion. Osiris came to be considered the god who reigns in the kingdom of the dead. He sits in judgment upon them, having associated with him forty-two subordinate judges. The good he takes to himself. But all nature w^as conceived of as full of deities. Especially was the beneficent Nile an object of worship. Above all, animals in their mysterious life w^ere adored, and some of them cher- ished with slavish devotion. When the sacred steer Apis died, the land was in sorrow, until another was found by the priests to take its iDlace. The sacred crocodile w^as decorated with costly jewels, and tended with a debasing homage. The Bodies of the Dead. — The Egyptians took all possi- ble pains to preserve the bodies of the dead. This was owing to their belief that the well- being of the soul depended on the preservation of the body. The dead were embalmed with much painstaking, and, in the case of those who could afford the expense, at great cost. They were swathed in linen bandages. Kesin and other gums and aromatics were used to keep the form and features of the mummies, as far as could be, unchanged. On the case in which the mummy was placed his face and figure were painted Mummy of Seti I. {Buldk Museum) 36 EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS in colors. On the outside was an epitaph recording the name and rank of the deceased. Within was inscribed a chapter from the Book of the Dead, which was a description of rules and ceremonies relating to the dead, and of petitions and pray- ers to be said by the soul to different divinities in the course of its long journey in the abodes of the departed. The design was to secure a contented, happy life to the different parts of one's being. In later times the case of the mummy was fash- ioned to fit the form and countenance of the person inclosed. Recent discoveries have enabled us to look upon the withered faces of famous Egyptian monarchs and conquerors. IS'iLE STATUE {Vatican J/atieinii, Itomt) ,tr''^, CHAPTER V ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA Geography. — Assyria and Babylonia were geographically one country, inliabited by one race. For the greater part of their history they were united under one government. In the north, the dis- trict between the Tigris and Euphra- tes is mountainous and hilly. The rivers, in their descent from their sources in the mountains of Arme- nia, gradually approach one another, at a distance of about three hundred and fifty miles from their outlet in the Persian Gulf. Prom that point, the lowlands begin, the fertile plains of Babylonia. The overflow of the rivers, the waters of which were dis- tributed by the inhabitants through artificial canals and dikes, increased the breadth of the fertile region, and added to its productiveness. The Early Inhabitants of Babylo- nia. — Babylonia has been inhabited from the earliest times. When the Semites entered this region they found it settled and somewhat civilized. The northern half, in which Babylon was included, was known as Akkad, and the southern as Sumer. The earlier inhabitants of southern Babylonia, the Sumerians, are thought to have come down from the north, and originally, as some learned scholars 37 Statue of a Sumerian Woman {Louvre) 38 EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS judge, from beyond the Caspian Sea, as their language is thought to be allied to that of the Turks who dwelt in that region. The Sumerians and the Semites mingled together, and the resultant civilization contained both Semitic and non-Se- mitic elements. The kingdom of Ur bears date about 3000 b.c. '^^^^3s> AlfCIENT BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA Between 3000 and 2000 b.c. the Chaldeans, whose home was a district on the Persian Gulf, planted themselves in Babylonia. Repeatedly they got possession of Babylon, and finally gained the mastery in that region. The language which prevailed was that of the Semitic rulers. The Semitic element was even more mixed in Assyria. ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 39 Tlie History of Babylon is ascertained partly from fragments of their native historian, Berosus, but the annals of both Babylonia and Assyria are brought to light chiefly by the cuneiform, or wedge-shaped, inscriptions upon the ruins of their cities, especially those of Nineveh, which have been unearthed in recent times. Chaldean Household Utensils The Legendary Period. — The old kingdom of Babylon pre- ceded the Assyrian monarchy. The mythical tales of Baby- lonian annalists cover a period of 432,000 years. At this point they present an account of a deluge, much resembling in its particulars the narrative in Genesis. Then follows a period of 36,000 years before we reach the Persian conquest which brought the Babylonian power to an end. About the name of Sargon I. numerous legends cluster. The Early Civilization of Babylonia. — The early Babylonians made considerable attainments in astronomy. They marked down the signs of the zodiac, and made that division of time into months, weeks, days, hours and minutes, which still sub^ sists. They invented weights and measures, and the j)otter's wheel, and had no small skill in the manufacture of cloths. They made a beginning in trade and commerce. Elamite invaders came in, and from the east of the Tigris established 40 EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS Old Bahvlum.' Nebuchadnezzar I. boundary stone) a dynasty in Babylon. The same thing was done by warlike Cossaeans, wlio kei:)t their control for a long time. Recent discoveries make it clear that Babylonian power and cul- ture were dominant in Palestine at a very early day. Thus the art of writing in the use of the l>abylonian characters was widely spread, and extended as far as the frontiers of Egypt. This is thought to have been the fact a good while before the time of Moses. A temporary conquest by the Assyrians, in particular that of Tigiath Pileser I., was succeeded by an era of domestic strife and anarchy. Early Assyrian History. — Assyria at length became the great conquering power of Western Asia. In the Greek legends, Ninus and Semiramis, his queen, figure prominently. Assliur V f c^.~ V- \ l^M'u L ^^z wL\^ / -iv. \ {4^ ^ .. /. Cmii DoMFsrK Vmmm-^ in im Khion oi iiu ttniRATi' {From an Asfiyrian bas-relief) was the first capital. We have the record of the building of a temple there in 1820 b.c. Later, Nineveh became the capital. ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 41 For many centuries after 1900 e.g., Assyria had but a small territory. Tigiatli Pileser I. (1130 e.g.) carried his conquests to Cilicia and the Mediterranean, and south to the Persian Gulf, but this extension of power was of short continuance. About the middle of the tenth century a series of warlike kings arose. Asshur-naqir-pal (called by the Greeks Sarda- napalus I.) made conquering incursions into Phoenicia and Babylonia, brought back the spoils of victory, and built palaces and temples. Progress of Assyrian Con- quests. — Tiglath Pileser II. opened a new era. He set about organizing the coun- tries that were conquered, and sought to establish over them a permanent system of government. He defeated the league of Syria and Judea, and subdued Babylon, as well as Iran and Armenia. These countries submitted to the Assyrian yoke. Sargon, in 722 B.C., captured Samaria, and dragged off as captives a great part of the people, — called the " Ten Tribes,'^ — whom he dispersed in various Median cities. At Eaphia, in southern Palestine, in 720, in a pitched battle, he vanquished the Egyptians and their confederates, and then Egypt was forced to pay tribute. In 717 Sargon captured Carchemish, the cap- ital of the Hittites, and a center of trade with the East. A revolt in Palestine was put down, and Jerusalem was taken. Babylonia had renounced its subjection, but its king was car- ried in chains to Nineveh, and Sargon was crowned at Babylon. King Asshur-nacir-pal {Relief from Mmrud, British Museum) 42 EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS Summit of Assyrian Power. — The reign of Sennacherib (705- 681 B.C.) was an eventful one. He was obliged to raise the siege of Jerusalem, which was held by Hezekiah, and was pre- vented from attacking his helper, Tirhaka, king of Egypt. He destroyed the city of Babylon, which was rebuilt by Es aril add on. Under this mon- arch, Assyria ar- rived at the sum- mit of its power. One of his achieve- ments was the al- most complete subjugation of the Phoenician cities. S i d o n was de- stroyed. In the next reign Tyre was taken, and its trade was largely trans- ferred to Carchemish. The other principal achievement of this monarch was the conquest of Egypt. He marched into that country, took possession of Memphis and Thebes, and placed governors, or native rulers, over different parts of the land. In 66S B.C. he was succeeded by his son, Assurbanij^al. Gyges, king of Lydia, of his own accord sent him tribute. But in 652 B.C. Gyges joined in an insurrection of subject peoples. In this struggle, Egypt was lost to Assyria. The Magnificence of Assurbanipal. — The Assyrian king dis- played magnificence in his court. He built splendid palaces. From his library of clay books, dug in recent times from its grave, much of our knowledge respecting Babylonian and Assyrian history is obtained. The Fall of Assyria. — Saracus, or Esarhaddon II., witnessed the downfall of the Assyrian empire. This Avas accomplished by an alliance of the Medes and Babylonians. The Medes, Lion from Nimrud {British Jliiseum) ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 43 an Aryan people, had been snbject to Assyria for a century. Tliey rose in revolt under Phrartes, a native chief, and under the leadership of his son, Cyaxares. Cyaxares was joined by Nabopolassar, the viceroy in Babylon, who had thrown off the Assyrian yoke. Cyaxa- res had carried his arms as far as the river Ha- lys, the eastern limit of the kingdom of Lydia. He had succeeded in a conflict with a horde of Scythians which had overrun Syria and Ba.by- lonia, only the cities holding out against them. By the allied sovereigns, Cyaxares and N^ebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar, Nine- veh was taken, and As- syria was divided be- tween Media and Babylonia, with the Tigris for the divid- ing line. Customs and Religion of the Assyrians. — The Assyrians were more fierce than the Babylonians, and treated their captives with more cruelty. The Babylonians were the teachers in the arts and in literature. Among them monogamy was general, but kings and other great personages had a plurality of wives. Slavery existed in both lands. The sun and moon and many other natural objects were worshiped. The gods were often grouped in triads. The national divinity in Babylon was Marduk ; in Assyria, Asshur. In both countries there was a goddess, called Mylitta in Babylon and Ishtar in Assyria, who Genius with Eagle's Head {British Miisewm) K 44 EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS was at once a goddess of war and of love. She was worshiped in part by unchaste rites and practices. Under the names of Ashtoreth and Astarte her worship spread in other regions, especially in Asia Minor. Prayers and psalms, some of the latter being pure in their tone, show to us the best side of Babylonian devotion. Winged Bull, Kiioksabad The Conquests of Babylon ; Nebuchadnezzar. — The fall of Nineveh left three principal powers on the stage of action. The fourth great power, Egypt, was inferior to Babylon in strength. Nebuchadnezzar was now in a situation to lord it over Syria. In 598 B.C., he captured Jerusalem and carried away the Jewish king, Jehoiakim, as a captive. But Jehoia- kim's uncle, Zedekiah, who was left on the throne, with Egypt and the Phoenician cities for allies, rose in revolt. Again Jeru- ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 45 salem was besieged and captured, the Egyptian ally, Apries II., being driven liome. The temple and palace were burned, and the king, whose eyes were put out, and all the families of the upper class, were carried away to Babylon (586 e.g.). The next year the city of Tyre was likewise taken by assault. The City of Babylon. — The reign of Nebuchadnezzar was one of unrivaled vigor and splendor. Wealth and luxury abounded. The city of Babylon now surpassed all ancient cities in size, as well as in wealth and grandeur. Its walls, with their hundred gates, were forty miles in circumference, and inclosed gardens, orchards and fields. Thus the means of subsistence for the population in case of a siege were furnished from within. In ancient times, as the means of defense kept in advance of the means of attack, it was seldom that a walled city could be taken, save as the result of treachery or famine. In the case of Babylon, the wall was surrounded by a deep moat, while the two sides of the Euphrates were connected by drawbridges. The temple of Belus, a square inclosure about a quarter of a mile in length and breadth, was sur- mounted by a shrine in which were a golden table and couch. The outermost of the three walls of the royal palace, the exte- rior of which was built of baked brick, was three miles in length. The Hanging Gardens were a vast structure, ascended by steps on the outside, and rising, story above story, to the height of seventy-five feet. On the top was a garden in which grew flowers and shrubs, and even large trees. Fall of Babylon. — Under the successors of Nebuchadnezzar there was a loss of vigor in administration. In 538 e.g. Baby- lon was conquered by Cyrus, the Medo-Persian king. The last king was Nabonetus, who reigned in connection with Bel- shazzar. CHAPTER VI THE PHOENICIANS AND CARTHAGINIANS Home of the Phoenicians. — A narrow strip of the coast of the Mediterranean, west of the monntains of Syria and Pales- tine, a strip about one hundred and fifty miles in length, was the home of the Phoenicians. They were the earliest of the great seafaring and commercial peoples of antiquity. Sidon was the first of the Phoenician cities to grow in power and prosperity, but it was early eclipsed by Tyre, with its added New Tyre on a neighboring rocky island. Arts and Commerce of the Phoenicians. — The Phoenicians adopted and improved upon the arts of Babylon and Egypt. Through them the alphabet, in a purely phonetic form, was carried to the Greeks. Their purple dyes, extracted from a shell fish, were everywhere famed, and colored the robes of kings. They were skilled in mining, in casting metals, in the manipulation of cloths, and in other handicrafts. Their cities on the coast were connected by caravan routes with the East. Thus they became flourishing marts of commerce. Naturally the Phoenicians became a seafaring people, convey- ing westward the products of many countries. The vessels of the Phoenicians sailed beyond the straits of Gibraltar, and under the auspices of the Egyptian king Necho (611-600 b.c.) they made a voyage round the southern cape of Africa. Their colonies were widely scattered. They planted trading settle- ments in Cyprus, Crete, the islands of the Aegean Sea, in southern Spain, and in North Africa. Cadiz, the oldest town in Europe, was founded by them (about 1100 b.c). " Ships of Tarshish" was the designation of large vessels capable of making long voyages, Tarshish being a Phoenician settlement 46 PHOENICIANS AND CARTHAGINIANS 47 on tlie Spanish coast. Tyre was a link between tlie East and tlie West. It was at the height of its power under King Hiram, who lived in the time of Solomon (about 1000 B.C.). • The Government and the Religion. — The Phoenicians were more eager for traffic than ambitious to make foreign conquests. Their government was a monarchy limited by the lay and priestly aristocracy. The mercantile class had much influence. Their religion made prominent the less worthy, sensual side of Semitic heathenism. It did not check, but rather fostered, lust and cruelty. The chief deities were Baal and Aschera, with the latter of whom another goddess, Astarte, was at length identified. To appease Moloch, "horrid king," children, even the sons and daughters of noble families, were cast into the fire. Baal and Moloch became fused in one divinity, Melkarth, in whose honor costly temples were raised at Tyre and Cadiz. Loss of Independence. ^- The Phoenicians stoutly defended themselves against the Mesopotamian empires. It was five years before' insular Tyre surrendered to the Assyrian king Sargon. It was held against ^Nebuchadnezzar for thirteen years. But the power to resist Babylon in time gave way. Later, Tyre was incorporated in the Persian empire. Sidon became again the chief city. Tyre was among the conquests of Alexander the Great (332 e.g.). Carthage. — The most famous of the Phoenician settlements was Carthage. It had one of the best of harbors, and the land adjacent to it was fertile. Its merchants, as in Tyre, exerted much power in public affairs. Its government was vested in a council or senate, which was presided over by two kings, but the " hundred judges," an aristocratic body, were supreme. Naval Power of Carthage. — The Carthaginians, after 600 e.g., took up arms to defend the Phoenician colonies against the Greeks, the rivals of the Tyrians in trade and colonization. In the fifth century e.g! there were repeated wars of Carthage with the Greek towns in Sicily. The effect of these struggles in this and in the following century was to make Carthage the strongest of naval powers. CHAPTER VII THE HEBREWS Early History. — The Israelites traced their descent to Abra- ham, who from the plains of Mesopotamia led his flocks and herds into the land of Canaan. The motive assigned for this forsaking of Chaldea was the desire to avoid the spreading in f ecti on of idolatry. His nomadic descendants, permitted to settle in Egypt near He- liopolis, dwelt there for several centuries, a sepa- rate people, yet generally Avell treated. A change of policy and the cruelty of the reigning Pharaoh, about 1300 E.G., caused the Israelites to depart in a body into the wilderness beyond the Red Sea. Their leader, Moses, the founder of the Hebrew Commonwealth, conducted them to the borders of Canaan, which they en- tered and gradually con- quered, save the tribes on the seacoast. Thus they became the neighbors of the Phoenicians. 48 rBethleheni| Hebron'^ MW^\ ^KINGDOM OF P \ JUDAH y^^o " \"""o"^^ Map of Palestine HEBREWS 49 Laws and Religion. — In the laws and institutions of the Hebrew people, their religion was exalted to the highest place. That religion centered in the worship of one God, to the exclu- sion of all other divinities and of all visible objects of wor- ship. More and more, under the guidance of their teachers, the prophets, among whom Moses was ever held to have been foremost, Jehovah was acknowledged by the whole people as just and holy, and as the sole Creator and Sovereign of the world. The struggle of the prophets against polytheism^, and idolatry ended in the complete victory of the true religion. In the legal system of the Israelites, impiety was dealt with The Golden Candlestick The Ark of the Covenant as treason. The priesthood was vested in the line of the successors of Aaron. Political authority in each of the He- brew tribes was exercised by the patriarchal chief and by the Elders, the assembly of the tribe having the privilege of a veto upon measures proposed by the magistrates. Era of the Judges. — The era of the Judges follows that of the first invasion and settlement. It extends for about two centuries from the date of the Exodus. It was an era of anarchy and confusion. As a sign of the ]3revailifig disor- der there were, we are told, no roads in those days. There were local leaders, here and there, but no union. The Phi- listines on the western coast overran the country as far as the Jordan, and on the east of the Jordan, the tribes were threatened by the Amorites. So things went on until a 50 EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS great reformer was raised up in the person of the Prophet Samuel. Rise and Power of the Monarchy. — Samuel unwillingly yielded to the popular demand for a king. Thus authority came to be centralized in the monarchs. But at the side of the kings were the prophets. They had no civil office, but were owned as the inspired guides and teachers of the people, and did not hesitate to rebuke and resist apostate or tyran- nical rulers. The first king was Saul, but during his lifetime '-i\ V-^ ^-7 The Tabernacle Samuel anointed David as his successor. The reign of David is the era of Israel's greatest power. He carried his arms as far as the Eed Sea and the Euphrates, and crushed the old enemies of Israel, the Philistines. In after times, he was honored, not only as a valiant warrior, but also as a religious poet, and, despite grievous faults, as a saint. The reign of Solomon, David's successor, was a period of luxury and splendor. He sought to rival the great foreign monarchs of the time. Solomon built a palace and established a harem at Jerusalem. He erected a magnificent temple, ob- HEBREWS 51 taining the timber from Hiram, King of Tyre. He organized an army, bringing tlie horses for the cavalry out of Egypt. The Two Kingdoms ; the Fall of Samaria. — After the deatli of Solomon there was a revolt of the ten northern tribes, who demanded of his successor, Eehoboam, that their burdens should be lightened, for Solomon's grandeur had been very costly. They were tired of the hard exactions of the govern- ment at Jerusalem. Their complaint was treated with con- tempt. Hence they broke off their connection with the tribes .=^_^^n>^-;^J!^^K:rf^t^jcii:^^ > The Temple at Jerusalem of Judah and Benjamin. This division into two kingdoms brought on the destruction of both. There was a struggle of both against foreign powers. The prophets — of whom Elijah and Elisha were the chief — constantly resisted the inroads of idolatry from abroad. At one time Shishak, King of Egypt, captured Jerusalem. The northern kingdom was for a while a prey to Syria. Each of the kingdoms vainly sought in foreign alliances a defense against the growing might of Assyria. Sargon subdued the northern kingdom, captured Samaria, its capital, and carried away the king and a great 52 EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS part of his subjects to the Euphrates and the Tigris (722 b.c). The Samaritans, notwithstanding their continued adherence to the Mosaic worship, were hated by the Jews as heretics, and as having heathen blood in their veins. Hezekiah (725-696 b.c.) Avas a noble and prosperous prince. He was a champion of the true religion, and stood by the pure teaching and exhortations of the prophets. Sennacherib, the Assyrian ruler, led his forces against Jerusalem, but a provi- dential interference saved it from being taken. After Heze- kiah came IManasseh (696), and for more than half a century a loose rein was given to immorality and foreign superstitions. The party of truth and righteousness found a voice in the prophet Jeremiah. The good King Josiah (638-609) pro- claimed anew the laws of Jehovah. He paid tribute to Bab}^- lon, which had got the upper hand in conflict with Assyria. Fighting for Babylon against Necho, King of Egypt, Josiah was slain in the battle of Megiddo. 'The Babylonian Captivity. — His successors engaged in rash revolts against the Babylonian suzerains. The insurrection of Zedekiah had for its result, in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian Captivity. In this era of terror and disas- ter, the conviction that Israel was in possession of the one true faith, and that its religion must everywhere prevail, Avas deeper than ever. The expectation of a Messiah, the coming of a righteous, triumphant Deliverer, became more earnest and definite. Through Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon (539 B.C.), the exiled Hebrews were set free, and a great many of them went back to their own land. After the Return. — Prominent among the later leaders in this E-eturn of the Jews were Ezra and Nehemiah. The temple was rebuilt. There was an intense zeal for the observance of the sacred ceremonies. The era of the "hagiocracy," or con- trolling influence of the priests, ensued. But national inde- pendence perished, except for a brief period under the Maccabees. This was a family under whose leadership the yoke of the Syrian successors of Alexander the Great was HEBREWS 53 thrown off. But the faith of Israel from the days of the Exile was cherished with an increased tenacity. In the loss of political freedom^ the distinction of possessing the true religion was more highly prized, and the political situation favored its diffusion beyond the bounds of Palestine. The Legal System. — The legal system of the Hebrews was established by Moses. No doubt, even by him, older customs and rites were taken up into the codes. But the codes were not shut up so that new enactments, both civil and religious, such as altered circumstances called for, might not be brought in under the sanction of the prophetic guides of the people. The Literature. — The Hebrews were not adepts in art or science. Even in connection with religion, the danger of idolatry kept them from cultivating, like other nations, the arts of painting and sculpture. The literature of the Hebrews is animated by the spirit of their religion. Their histories were written, not as the early Greek histories were written, to minister to the curiosity of the present and future times, but from the point of view of religion. They were to unveil the ways of Providence and strengthen faith in the character and designs of Jehovah. Even the fragmentary narratives of the remotest past differ from the accounts found among the other Semitic nations, by their exclusion of heathen ideas concern- ing divine things, and their pure and exalted theism. In the principal prophets and in the Psalms, the spirit of devotion, coupled with intense moral earnestness in relation to the con- duct of life, finds expression in sublime and pathetic jjoems. The greatest of the prophets, who were authors of writings, belong to the Assyrian and Babylonian age. Such were Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. CHAPTER VIII THE PERSIANS The Medes and the Persians were Aryan tribes that moved westward from the plateau of Iran and the adjacent region. They made their way to the south of the Caspian Sea and the northern shores of the Persian Gulf. The Zoroastrian Religion. — The original seat of the religion of the Iranians was Bactria, the region of the upper Oxus. In process of time this religion underwent various additions and other changes. The sage by whom it was framed into a system was Zoroaster, whose date is thought to have been somewhere about 1000 b.c. Their sacred book, the Zenda- vesta, is made up of parts composed at different times. The religion, unlike that of their Aryan kinsmen who planted themselves in India, grew into a dualism. There were two antagonistic hosts of spirits, the one good and the other evil. Ormuzd, the god of light, was the head of one of them; Ahriman, the god of darkness, of the other. The Medes and Persians were fire-worshipers. They paid homage to the rising sun. The task which men had to perform was to keep off the spirits of evil. All good and useful things were ascribed to the good spirits ; all evil things, as disease, death, filth, falsehood, to the evil spirits. The Magi. — In early times there were no images of the gods. In later times, the superiority ascribed to Ormuzd, as the first victor over the opposing spirits, gave a monotheistic aspect to the Persian religion. The leaders of worship in this developed, dualistic system were the Magi, who sprung from one noble family. They were also privy-counsellors of the 64 PERSIANS 55 king. They were not a caste, however, as members might be brought in on other grounds than that of descent. Median Independence and Conquests. — The rise of the Medes was in the time of the decline of Assyrian power. Their contest for independence against the Assyrians began with Phrartes (647-625 e.g.). Ecbatana was made the Median capital. The struggle for freedom was completed by Cyax- ares, by whom and his allies the hostile Assyrian Empire was broken down. He subdued the Persians about Pasargade and Persepolis, and pushed his dominion into Asia Minor as far as the Eiver Halys. Under his son, Astyages, these conquests were lost. Conquests of the Persians under Cyrus. — Cyrus, the leader of an insurrection of the Persians against the Medes, succeeded to power. He was one of the most renowned of all the ori- ental conquerors and monarchs. During his reign (559-530 B.C.) he annexed to his Persian Kingdom two principal states, Lydia and Babylon. The wealthy Croesus, the last of the Lydian kings, was overthrown in battle. The Greeks had the story that he was sentenced to be burned, but that just as the fire was to be kindled, he was heard to utter the name "of Solon. Questioned by Cyrus as to his meaning, he repeated the observation once made to him by Solon, the Greek sage, who, after beholding his treasures, had refused to call him the most fortunate of men, giving as a reason that " no man can be called happy before his death," for no man can know what calamities may befall him. Thereupon, as the tale runs, Cyrus spared the life of Croesus, conferred honor on him, and treated him with confidence. Persian Conquest of Egypt. — The Persian conquest of the Greek colonies on the coast of Asia Minor followed upon the conquest of Lydia. The deliverance of the Israelites from the Babylonian exile and their grateful attachment gave Cyrus a friendly people to assist in keeping up his sway in Syria and in opening a path towards Egypt, the one power that remained to be conquered. The annexation of Egypt was secured by 50 EARLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS the arms of the successor of Cyrus, Cambyses (592-522 b.c). There were traditions of the cruelty of Cambyses to the family of Psammeticus III., and of his having poured contempt on the Egyptian priesthood and faith by stabbing the sacred steer. Some of these stories, were we sure of their truth, would indicate that he was not of sane mind. Darius and his Conquests. — For a short time, — less than a year, — a usurper occupied the Persian throne. He was cast down and slain by Darius, the son of Hystaspes, who married the daughter of Cyrus. As usual on the death of an oriental emperor, revolts broke out on all sides in the subject kingdoms. These Darius had to reconquer. He proved himself a great organizer. He divided his vast dominions into about twenty sections, each under the rule of a subordinate governor, called a satrap. Darius sent forces into India, explored the Indus, and conquered the Punjab. He sent a strong army to the Scythian shores of the Black Sea, and if he effected no con- quest there, he impressed on the barbarians a sense of his power. Thrace was conquered as far as the bounds of Mace- donia. Darius put down and harshly punished the rebellion of the Greek cities on the Asia Minor coast. His later con- flicts with the Greeks on the mainland will be referred to on a subsequent page. The Persian Government. — The Persian Empire was of vast extent. It extended from east to west for a distance of three thousand miles, and was from five hundred to fifteen hundred miles in width. The head of the empire, the emperor, was a despot, and the most abject homage was paid to him. He was attired and lived in a gorgeous style; his hunting-grounds were 'paradises,' or extensive parks, such as the Persians generally delighted in, planted with trees and shrubbery. In the government there was a council made up of the seven principal families, and a body composed of the nobles of a lower class ; but practically neither had any considerable power. The satraps were despots, whose doings were reported through spies, " the eyes and ears " of the king. When at PERSIANS 57 length the command of the troops was given to the viceroys, there was less check upon their power. Darius established a system of taxation and a uniform coinage. Susa, the seat of the government, was connected even with the most remote provinces, by great roads and x:)ostal communication. The length of the road from Susa to Sardis was seventeen hundred miles. The Persian Armies. — The bowmen and the cavalry were the most efficient of the Persian troops. The soldiers wore a costume peculiar to the several nations to which they belonged. The king was guarded by a body of ten thousand footmen, the " Immortals," as they were styled. In Avar the Persians, when compared with other nations, especially the Assyrians, treated their enemies humanely. Persian Traits. — Persian youth were taught to read and trained in athletic exercises. Rules of etiquette were highly valued. The Persians did not excel in science and displayed no striking artistic talent. Of the Persian architecture and sculpture, we derive our knowledge from the massive ruins of the capital, Persepolis, Avhich was burned by Alexander the Great, and from the remains of other cities. The distinction of this people lay in their ability as soldiers and rulers. Retrospect. — The building up of the Chinese nation was the principal achievement of the Mongolian race, but China exerted no power in shaping the general course of history, and halted at a certain stage of progress. India, a home of Caucasians and of Aryan immigrants, yet played no effective part in the general movement of history. From 1500 to 1300 B.C., Egypt had the leading place among nations, but at an early date Egyptian civilization crystallized in an un- changing form. -The rise of the Semitic states deprived that country of its preeminence. Babylon, the ancient Chaldea, shared Avith Egypt the distinction of being one of the tAvo chief fountains of culture, — the source Avhence astronomy, writing, and other useful arts Avere disseminated among other 58 EAKLIEST GROUP OF NATIONS Semitic peoples. Babylon was a hive of industry, and was active in trade, serving as a link between the East and West. But this place was filled more effectively by the Phoenicians, the first great commercial and naval people of antiquity, whose power reached its acme about 1000 b.c. Among the Hebrews, the foundations of the true religion, the religion of monotheism, were laid. Meantime the Assyrian monarchy was rising and spreading its dominion westward, bringing many nations under its yoke. But it was overthrown by an Aryan race, that of the Medes and Persians, who, having, under the lead of Cyrus, captured Babylon and thus destroyed Semitic power, subdued Lydia and Egypt, and acquired a supreme sway. Asiatic Civilization. — The extended empires of Egypt and Asia combined warring tribes and built cities protected by walls, fought off Scythian barbarians, and gave room for the rise of useful arts and for trade and commerce. But knowl- edge was shut up to limited lines of progress. War was full of barbarities. The fine arts were in a rudimental state, as is seen in architecture, where magnitude is more sought than elegance, and buildings are rather monuments of labor than of genius. Literature, except among the Hebrews, is monoto- nous, and, with the same exception, religion is void of an elevating and purifying influence, but is more apt to foster sensuality and revenge. Government is an iron despotism, leaving no freedom for individual energy and development. It was on the soil of Europe and among the Greeks that the true idea of liberty, and a type of manhood much nearer to the ideal, were to spring up. III. GREECE CHAPTER IX INTRODUCTION The Land. — " Greeks " is not a name which the people who bore it applied to themselves. It was a name given them by their kinsfolk, the Romans. They called themselves Hellenes, and their land they called Hel- las. Hellas, or G-reece proper, in- cluded that portion of the penin- sula which lies south of Mount Olympus, and is bounded by the Aegean, the Mediterranean, and the Adriatic. Hellas is some- what smaller than Portugal ; but it is itself divided by the moun- tain ranges which cross it from north to south and from east to west, into a number of smaller districts, each with a seacoast of its own, and (in almost every instance) with one or more commodious harbors. There are no navigable rivers, but communication between different places is easier by sea than by land. It follows that the physical features of the country fitted it for the development of many small active and independent states. The Grecian States. — Greece included (1) Northern Greece, lying north of the Malian and Ambracian gulfs ; (2) Central 59 Zeus of Otkicoli {Vaiican Museum, Rome) A D B J ^ INTRODUCTION 61 Greece, extending thence to the Gulf of Corinth; (3) the Peninsula of Peloponnesus to the south. ISTorthern Greece contained among other countries the states of Thessaly and Epirus. Thessaly was the largest of the Grecian states. Central Greece contained eleven states, among them Boeotia, the chief city of which was Thebes. Attica lay southeast of Boeotia; its only important town was Athens. In southern Greece were eleven countries. The principal cities were Corinth and Sparta, the latter being the capital of the state of Lacedaemon. The waters between Europe and Asia were not a separating barrier, but a close bond of connection be- tween the two continents. Greek towns were scattered along the western coast of Asia Minor, and the Aegean Sea was studded with Greek islands. Among them were Lemnos, Samothrace, Delos, and ISTaxos in the northern and central Aegean, and Crete in the southern Aegean. The Greeks, or Hellenes, were not so much a nation as a united race. Their sense of brotherhood, which existed in spite of political divisions, is implied in the fabulous belief in a common ancestor named Hellen. In addition to their fellow- ship in blood, there was a community in language and religion. They celebrated together great national festivals, and repaired to the hallowed shrines of Zeus or Apollo much as the Jews as one family went up to Jerusalem to celebrate their sacred rites. Divisions of Greek History. — Greek history embraces three general periods. The first is the formative period, and extends to the Persian wars, 500 b.c. The second covers the flourishing era of Greece, from 500 b.c. to 359 b.c. The third is the Mace- donian period, when the freedom of Greece was lost, — the era of Philip and Alexander, and of Alexander's successors. PerioO I. is divided into (1) the mythical, or prehistoric, age, extend- ing to 776 B.C. ; (2) the age of the formation of the principal states. Period II. includes (1) the Persian wars, 502-479 b.c. ; (2) the period of Athenian supremacy, 478-431 b.c ; (3) the Peloponnesian war, 431-404 B.C., witli the Spartan, followed by the Theban ascendency, 404-362 b.c Period III. includes (1) the reigns of Philip and Alexander, 359-323 b.c; (2) the kingdoms into which the empire of Alexander was divided. PEKIOD L — GREECE PRIOR TO THE PERSIAN WARS CHAPTER X THE PREHISTORIC AGE The ancestors of the Greeks and Italians were of Aryan stock, but the differences between the Greek and Latin lan- guages prove that the two peoples had long dwelt apart. The Greeks, when they first become known to us, consist of two great branches, the Dorians and lonians, together with a less distinct branch, the Aeolians. It is probable that the halting place of the Hellenes, after their separation from the primitive Aryan stock, was Phrygia, in northwest Asia Minor. Thence in successive waves they passed over into Greece, whither it seems they had been preceded by an older branch of their own stock, to whom tlie Greeks gave the name of Pelasgians. With the advent of the more energetic and gifted Hellenes, the Pelasgians disappeared from view, leaving the ancestors of the lonians upon the coast of Asia Minor, and the ancestors of the Dorians in tlie highlands of northern Greece. The one tribe was eventually to be the founders of Athens ; the other, of Sparta. Foreign Influences. — The legends of the Greeks bear traces of foreign influence from Phoenicia and Egypt, as well as from Phrygia. It is probable that as early as the close of the ninth century b.c. the alphabet was introduced into Greece by the Phoenicians, who first came into contact with the Greeks through commercial visits to their ports. In later times, the 62 PREHISTORIC AGE 63 Greeks were fond of tracing their knowledge of the arts to Egyptian sources ; but it is probable that what they owed to Egypt was derived from lonians who had previously planted themselves in that country. The Dorian Migration. — It was in the prehistoric time that the Dorians left their home in northern Greece, and migrated Lion Gate at Mycenae into Peloponnesus, where they proved themselves stronger than the lonians and the Achaeans dwelling there. They left the Achaeans on the south coast of the Corinthian Gulf, in the district called Achaia. Nor did they conquer Arcadia. But of most of Peloponnesus they became masters. This is the portion of historic truth contained in the myth of the Return of the Heradidae, the descendants of Hercules^ to the old king- dom of their ancestor. 64 GREECE Migrations to Asia Minor. — The Dorian conquest is said to have been the cause of three distinct migrations to Asia Minor. The Achaeans, with their Aeolic kinsmen on the north, estal> lished themselves on the northwest coast of Asia Minor, Lesbos and Cyme being their strongliolds, and by de- grees got control in Mysia and the Troad. Ionic emigrants from ^. Attica joined their / "^ ,1 brethren on the same \.^ ' ' ^ V ilk cf^ast. The Dorians set- tled on the southwest coast; they also settled Cos and Rhodes, and at length subdued Crete. The Dorian conquest of Peloponnesus, and the migrations just spoken of, were slow in their progress, and possibly stretched over centuries. Character of the Greeks. — Originality \s a distinguishing trait of the Greeks, and even when they borrowed from others they were never mere copyists. When we leave Asia for Greece we find ourselves in another atmosphere and we feel the influence of the si)irit of humanity which pervades their life. A regard for reason, a sense of order, a disposition to keep everything within measure, is a marked characteristic. "Do nothing in excess " was their favorite maxim. Their sense of form, which included a perception of harmony and proportion, made them in politics and letters the leaders of mankind. Their language in itself seems like a work of art, so unrivaled is it in flexibil- ity, in symmetry, and in perfection of sound. The use of such a lucid and discriminating language was itself an education to the young Greek, and its effect upon his mind was like the The Wrestlers {Florence) PREHISTORIC AGE 65 effect of the invigorating climate of Greece upon his body. By physical training he acquired great vigor and grace, and he was thus fitted in mind and body to take part in that development of civil polity, of artistic discernment, and of complex social life which made his people the principal source of modern culture. Their moral traits, however, were not so admirable. As a race they were less truthful and less marked for their courage and loyalty than some other peoples inferior to them in intellect. Religion. — In early days the simple religion of the Aryan fathers received new elements from abroad. The Tyrian deity Melkarth appears at Corinth as the hero Melicertes. Astarte becomes Aphrodite (Venus), who springs from the sea. The myth of Dionysus (Bacchus) and the worship of Demeter (Ceres) may be of foreign origin. The same may be true of Poseidon (Neptune), the god of the sea, and Apollo, the god of light and of healing, whose worship carried in it cheer and comfort. Homer and Hesiod, the great poets of the prehistoric age, depicted the gods in their dynasties, offices, and mutual rela- tions. In later times, there were twelve great gods, whose dwelling-place was Mount Olympus in Thessaly. Over them Zeus presided. There were also numerous other divinities not included among the Olympic, but scarcely less important than they. Below the gods were the demigods, or heroes. The Greeks filled the space before the beginning of authentic records with mythical tales of gods and heroes. The exploits of Heracles (Hercules) have a prominent place among these legends. This hero of Argos was represented, while in the service of a cruel tyrant, as delivering men from dangerous beasts by prodigious labors, of which the killing of the Lernaean hydra was one. The three most famous legendary stories are The Seven against Thebes, The Argonautic Expedition, and The Trojan War. The first of these stories relates to the fortunes of Oedipus and the tragic fulfilment of a prophecy that he should, in ignorance, slay his own father and marry his own mother. 66 GREECE The second deals with the adventures of Jason and his com- rades in their search for the gohlen fleece. The third — and the most celebrated of all — has for its subject the besieging of Troy in Asia Minor by the armies of Greece. The great Apollo Belvidere {Vatican Museum, Eomt) Homeric poem, the Iliad, describes this mythical war which was waged to avenge the wrong done to Menelaus, King of Sparta, in the carrying off of his wife Helen by Paris, son of Priam, King of Troy. Among the Greek chieftains were PREHISTORIC AGE 67 Agamemnon, Achilles, and Odysseus (Ulysses). The wander- ings of Odysseus in his journey home from Troy form the sub- ject of the second great Homeric poem, the Odyssey. Within the last century there has been much discussion about the au- thorship of these two poems. Even in ancient times seven places contended for the honor of having given birth to Homer, the blind bard. Smyrna pre- sented the strongest claim. Whatever their authorship, it is probable that these Ionic lays were transmitted through the oral repetition of them at popular festivals by Aeolian minstrels, or Ehapsodists. The composition of most of these lays probably was as early as 900 B.C. Social Life in the Homeric Age. — These poems present an invaluable picture of Greek life. (1) Government. The tribe appears to be ruled by a king who takes counsel of his chiefs and bows to the authority of traditional customs. (2) Manner of life. People live in towns or hill-villages, some of which were surrounded by walls. Life is patriarchal and, as regards the domestic circle, humane. Polygamy does not exist, but slavery is firmly established. Women are held in high regard. While supreme honor is given to military prowess, a noble refine- ment of thought and sentiment often appears in the Homeric poems. (3) Arts and Industry. The useful arts are in a rudi- mentary stage. The principal metals are in use and the art of forging them. There is no coined money; payment is made in oxen. (4) Beliefs. The earth is regarded as flat, with the river Oceanus flowing round it. The gods are human beings with greatly magnified powers. Their chief blessing is IIUMEU {Sans Souci) 68 GREECE that they never taste of death. Morality is interwoven with religion, sacrifice and supplication being the chief forms of devotion. The dead live as flitting shadows in Hades. Unions of Tribes. — During the period when the Greek popula- tion was gradually planting itself in the districts in which we Diadem from Mycenae find its several fractions in historic times, there arose unions among neighboring tribes for the celebration of festivals, the care of temples, and other religious purposes. Thus there was gradually formed a system of federal unions, in each of which one strong state would have the hegemony, or lead. Thus twelve tribes in northern Greece banded themselves together in early times for the worship of Apollo at Delphi. It was Dagger from Mycenae called the Delphic Amphictyony, or League of Neighbors. The league adopted regulations relating to the conduct of wars; and the sanctuary at Delphi, with its prophetic oracle, became the inost famous temple in Greece. In early times the influ- ence of the managing priests was a wholesome one. In later times they lost their reputation for honesty and impartiality. PREHISTORIC AGE 69 70 GREECE Games. — More important as bonds of union among Greeks than religious associations were the national games. The con- tests which determined superiority in every kind of activity were keenly relished. Successful comi)etitors in physical con- tests, as well as in art and literature, Avere highly honored. There was a great foiulness for gymnastic exercises. Of the four great festivals for public games the Olympic was the most celebrated. From the year 77G B.C., which was called the "first Olympiad," this festival gathered every fourth year, at Olympia in Elis, a great concourse of combatants and spec- tators. Any free-born Greek, of whatever country, might enter as a competitor in the games, which, after a time, were Boxing Glove, with Hard Leather Knuckles arranged to last for five days. They consisted of various trials of skill and strength, such as running, jumping, boxing, wrest- ling, as well as horse races and chariot races. On the head of the victor was placed a wreath of olive branches, and a palm was placed in his hand. Other more substantial, if not more coveted rewards, were generally bestowed by his native city. Political advancement not unfrequently followed upon triumphs gained at Olympia. Greek Literature. — The chief types, both of poetry and of prose, originated with the Greeks. Their earliest poetry prob- ably consisted of hymns to the gods, and was an outpouring of personal feeling. The lyrical type was followed by the epic, where heroic deeds are the theme of the song. The epic poetry culminated in the ///(/(/ and the Odyssey. CHAPTER XI THE FORMATION OF THE PRINCIPAL STATES Aristocratic Government. — The early kings were oljeyed as miicli for their vakjr and strength as for their hereditary title. By degrees the noble families about the king took control, and the kingship then gave way to the rule of an aristocracy. The nobles held sway over the dependent farmers who tilled their land. The tillers of the soil, artisans, and seamen constituted the Demos, or people. Then there was the priestly class — particu- lar families who held the hereditary offices, as those at Athens who had charge of the Eleusinian Mysteries. There was also the slave class, com- posed of foreigners, and the Metoeci, or resident foreigners without political rights. The demos was originally without a share in govern- ment, but as this class grew in strength and knowledge, they began a long-continued struggle for freedom. The Constitution of Lycurgus. — Tradition tells us that, after the Dorian Conquest, the strife between victors and vanquished caused disorders in Sparta, and that Lycurgus, a man of royal blood, was led to retire to Crete in consequence of them. In Crete the old Dorian customs were still observed, and on his return he gave to the Spartans a constitution which was held in reverence for many generations. The form of government established by Lycurgus was an aristocratic republic. The council of twenty-eight elders chosen for life by the three 71 Greek Woman Embkoidering 72 GRKECE Phylae, or tribes, was presided over by two hereditary kings. The authority of the kings in war time was supreme, but in time of peace they had little power. The authority of the five Ephors, chosen yearly by the Phylae, greatly increased as tiine went on. The Crypteia was an organized guard of young Spartans, whose business it was to prevent insurrection. Laws and Customs. — The Spartan State was thus aristo- cratic and military. The State took into its own hands the education of the young, who received not much literary instruc- tion, but whose chief training was in gym- nastics. Healthy chil- dren at the age of seven were taken from their homes to be trained, while weak and deformed infants were left to perish in a ravine of Taygetus. Girls were separately drilled in gymnastic exercises, and made to be as hardy as boys. The Spartan men fed at public ta- bles, and slept in bar- racks, making only occasional visits to their own h o m e s. Marriage was regu- hited by the State. There was more purity, and Avomen had more influence in Sparta, than in other parts of Greece. Cow- ardice was treated with contempt. The strength of the Spar- tan army was in the hoplites or heavy-armed infantry. Hegemony of Sparta. — Having thus organized the body politic, Sparta began wars of conquest. First it conquered HoPLiTE (^Bro)izt from Dodoita) FORMATION OF THE PRINCIPAL STATES 73 Messenia in two great wars, from 743-724 b.c, and from 685-668 B.C. The leader of the vanquished Messenians in the first war was Aristodemus, and in the second Aristomenes. In the second struggle the Spartans were inspirited hj the war songs of the Athenian poet Tyrtaeus. Next Sparta con- quered the Arcadians (about 600 b.c), and in 549 b.c. Argos succumbed, and the Argive League was dissolved, Sparta gain- ing the right to command in all wars waged in common by the Peloponnesian states. Sparta also entered into negotiations with Lydia (555 b.c), and as early as 510 b.c interfered in the affairs of Attica and other states north of the Corinthian isthmus, thus sowing among the Athenians the seeds of lasting enmity. Government in Athens : Draco. — According to tradition Codrus, who is said to have died 1068 b.c, was the last of the Athenian kings. After the abolition of monarchy an Archon was substituted for the king. He was chosen by the Eupatrids, or noble families, who stood in a sort of patriarchal relation to the common people. The inhabitants were divided into four tribes. These Avere subdivided: first, into Brother- hoods and Clans ; and secondly, into classes based on consan- guinity and classes arranged for taxation, military service, etc. The entire community comprised the loobies, the Farm- ers, and the Artisans. Soon after we hear of the division of the men of the Plain, of the Shore, of the Upland. In process of time the oppression of the nobles, in whose hands political power was lodged, occasioned the demand for a body of written laws. About 624 b.c, in compliance with this demand, a harsh and rigid code was framed by the archon Draco. An unsuc- cessful rebellion by Cylon was the occasion (594 b.c) of the introduction of the constitution of Solon, one of '^ the seven wise men of Greece." Regulations of Solon. — Solon divided the people into four classes, according to their incomes. The archons were chosen from the richest, and only they who had served as archons were admitted into the Areopagus, the chief court of Athens. 74 GREECE The Ecclesia, or assembly of the whole people, was revived, and courts of apjoeal with jury trials were instituted. Servi- tude for debt was abolished. Every father was required to teach his son a handicraft. Parties in Athens. — The legislation of Solon was a com- promise. In his old age he beheld the contests between three parties, — a reactionary party under Lycurgus, a mod- erate party under Megacles, and a progressive party under Pisistratus. The Tyrants. — As monarchy had given place to aristocracy in almost all of the Grecian states, so the reign of a few (oligarchy) Avas threatened by the rise of the demos. The popular leader, or "demagogue," was usually some conspicuous noble. In the seventh and six centuries most of the states were governed by absolute rulers who, whether their administra- tion was unjust or fair, were termed Tyrants. The oligarchies sought to dethrone them, and their overthrow often resulted in the introduction of popular sovereignty. Among the most noted tyrants were Periander of Corinth (G55-625 B.C.), Pitta- cus in Lesbos (589-579 e.g.), and Polycrates in Samos {o3d- 522 B.C.). The Pisistratids. — In Athens, Pisistratus, the leader of the popular party, finally gained control of the city by force of arms. He managed the government with shrewdness and energy. Industry flourished, and the city was beautified. After his death, in 527 b.c, Hippias, his son, governed with mildness until his younger brother, Hipparchus, was slain by Harmodius and Aristogeiton. Then in revenge he laid heavy taxes upon the people, and was finally exiled in 510 b.c. The Athenian Democracy. — Cleisthenes became the leader of the popular party, and may be said to have been the founder of the Athenian Democracy. The power of the archons was reduced ; all free inhabitants of Attica were admitted to citi- zenship, and a council of five hundred (fifty from each tribe of ten denies, or hamlets) supplanted Solon's council of four hundred. Courts were reorganized, and the banishment, with- FORMATION OF THE PRINCIPAL STATES T5 out trial, of dangerous persons by secret vote (ostracism) was introduced. Under this system of free government, patri- otism and zeal for the honor of the city increased amazingly. Athens became more and more prosperous, and culture kept pace with prosperity. Literature. — In the eighth century, with the tendency to democracy, new types of lyrical poetry appeared. These were Interior of a Greek House {Restoration) the Elegiac and the Iambic. Mimnermus, Solon, Theognis, and Simonides were among the most famous masters of the former type of verse, and Archilochus was one of the earliest masters of both. Music developed in connection Avith lyric poetry. Of the Aeolian lyrists of Lesbos, the two great representatives were Alcaeus and Sappho. Greek lyric poetry reached its climax in Simonides of Ceos, and Pindar, a Boeotian. This age also witnesses the beginning of historical writings and of philosophic speculations. The Ionian school led the way, with Thales of Miletus (620-560 b.c.) as one of its chief 76 GREECE exponents. Tlie Eleatic school conceived of tlie world as one in substance, and held that natural phenomena are unreal. To this school belonged Xenophanes, Parmenides, and Zeno. Other philosophers were Heraclitus, Empedocles, and Anax- agoras. The theory of Py- thagoras (580-500 B.C.) Avas that the inner substance of all things is number. He was an ascetic and a mystic, discipline of character being the primary object of his system. Colonies. — Mo3t of the Greek colonies were established between 750 and 550 b.c. They were either independent communities or settlements of the nature of garrisons. In Sicily were both Dorian and Ionian communities, and the southwestern portion of Italy was termed Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). Cyrene, on the coast of Africa, was a Dorian colony, and Corcyra was colonized by Corinth. The northern shores of the Aegean and the Propontis, and the whole coast of the Euxine, were strewn with Greek settle- ments. The Greek towns in western Asia Minor, especially Miletus, themselves sent out colonies. Lyres AsciEXT Greek Lamp PEEIOD IL — THE PLOUKISHING EEA OF GREECE CHAPTER XII THE PERSIAN WARS The Ionian Revolts. — The cities of Asia Minor were oppressed by Persian tyrann}'^, and Miletus under Aristagoras rose in re- volt. Athens and Eretria sent help. The insurrection was put down, Miletus was destroyed (495 b.c), and the Persian monarch Darius swore ven- geance upon those who had aided the rebellion. The Battle of Marathon. — The first expedi- tion sent by Darius under Mardonius was unsuccessful, as a storm destroyed the fleet off Athos, and the Thracians defeated the army. A stronger force under Datis and Arta- phernes at first met with some success. At Marathon, however, on the coast of Attica, the Athenians under Miltiades met and defeated the invaders (September, 490 e.g.). The Athenians had been left to bear the brunt by themselves. Philippides, one of the swiftest of runners, had been sent to Sparta to invoke aid, and had reached that city, about one hundred and forty miles distant, the next day after he had started. But the Spartans were deterred by religious scruples, real or pretended, from march- ing before the time of the full moon. The Athenians received no reenforcements except a thousand men from Plataea, al- though the Persians outnumbered them ten to one. Athens 77 Miltiades 78 GREECE had protected Plataea against Thebes, and thus Plataea repaid the debt. The credit of the victory is due to Athenian valor and the skill of Miltiades, who had obtained leave to tight only by the casting vote of the Polemarch. He chose the critical moment for the attack. By a rapid march he prevented the Persians from attacking Athens after their repulse at Mara- thon. This struggle between the East and the West — between Asia and Europe — is one of those decisive battles which form turning points in the world's history. Aristides and Themistocles. — Miltiades subsequently failed in his attempt to conquer l*aros, an Aegean island which had submitted to the Persians. Accused of making false promises to the people, he was fined fifty talents, but died before the sum could be collected. His son Cimon paid the fine. A rivalry sprang up at Athens between the two leading men, Aristides, styled the Just, and Themistocles, an able and ambitious man, expert in duplicity and intrigue. Aristides was ostracized (484 b.c), and Themistocles was thus left free to carry out his favorite policy of strengthening the naval forces of the State. The War with Xerxes : Thermopylae. — After the death of Darius in 485 n.c. Xerxes carried out his father's plan of organizing another expedition against Greece. A fleet of twelve hundred large vessels cooperated with an immense army, which tradition numbers at one million seven hundred thousand men. After seven days spent in passing the bridge of boats which spanned the Hellespont, the Persian army advanced to meet the forces of Greece, united, through the efforts of Themistocles, under the hegemony of Sparta. Arrived at Thermopylae, a narrow pass, through Avhich the invading force sought to pour itself in resistless numbers, the Persian monarch was confronted by Leonidas, King of Sparta, with a small army of patriots. In July, 480, the attack began. For several days the Spartans repulsed every attempt to force their position. It was not until a traitor enabled the Persians to fall upon their rear that the gallant band were overwhelmed PERSIAN WARS 79 and cut to pieces. When the Persians reached Athens they found the city deserted. All citizens capable of bearing arms were on board the fleet: the women, with the children and movable property, had been removed to places of safety. Salamis. — The Greek fleet under the Spartan Eurybiades had come from victory at Artemisium into the Gulf of Salamis. By means of a device of Themistocles, the Spartans were pre- vented from withdrawing their forces to the Corinthian isth- mus, where the Peloponnesians had built a wall, for their own protection ; and a sea-fight was brought on, of which the Athe- nians in Salamis, and Xerxes himself from a hill on the main- land, were anxious spectators (Sept. 20, 480). Once more the cause of civilization was staked on the issue of a conflict. The Greeks were completely victorious, and their land was saved. Xerxes hastily marched towards home, thousands of his army perishing on the way from hunger, cold, and fatigue. The Spartans gave to Eurybiades the prize of valor, to Themistocles an olive crown for his wisdom and sagacity. Plataea ; Mycale ; Eurymedon. — Xerxes left three hundred thousand men behind in Thessaly, under the command of Mardonius. In the spring, incensed at the proud rejection of his overtures, he marched to Athens, whose people again took refuge in Salamis. In the great battle of Plataea (479 b.c), the Greeks, led by the Spartan Pausanias, inflicted on him such a defeat that only forty thousand Persians escaped to the Hellespont. On the same day at Mycale, the Persian fleet was vanquished in a sharp encounter, where, as usual, a Spartan commanded, but Avliere the Athenians were the most eflicient combatants. Sestos, Lemnos, Imbros, and Byzantium were taken by the Greeks ; and a double victory of Cimon, the son of Miltiades, at the Pamphylian river Eurymedon, over both the land and naval forces of the Persians, brought the war to an end (466 b.c). CHAPTER XIII THE ASCENDENCY OF ATHENS Pausanias and Themistocles. — Both of the generals by whom the Persians had been overcome fell under the displeasure of the states to which they belonged. Pausanias was starved to death in a temple to which he had fled for refuge upon the dis- covery of his plot to raise himself to supreme power by the help of the Persians. Themistocles caused Athens to be sur- rounded by a wall, and built the first of the two long walls from the city to the Piraeus, which he had moved the people to select for their harbor. This provoked the jealousy of the Spartans, who, in conjunction with his Athenian enemies, procured his banishment. He fled to Persia, where Artaxerxes I. received him with favor and gave him a princely domain in Asia Minor. There he died in 460 b.c. Cxrave as his faults were, Themis- tocles was the founder of the historical greatness of Athens. Confederacy of Delos. — Aristides succeeded in bringing about a confederation of Grecian islands and seaports with Athens at their head. The object of the Confederacy of Delos was the protection of Greece against Persia. Under the command of Cimon, the Athenian fleet was greatly strengthened, and gradually the Aegean islands and the small maritime states were brought under Athenian sway. The Persians were driven out of Thrace and the Chersonese was wrested from them. To the Peace of Pericles. — Under the leadership of such men Athens became more and more powerful. Aegina, a rich and prosperous island, became an Athenian colony, and Megara was reduced to the position of a dependency. Sparta could not check the growth of her rival, as she had been weakened by a 80 ASCENDENCY OF ATHENS 81 struggle with Argos and had suffered severely from the results of an earthquake which laid most of the city in ruins (465 b.c). Sparta even invoked the aid of Athens against the Messenians and, through the influence of Cimon, reenforcements were sent to her. The jealous distrust of the Spartans, however, led them to send the troops back, and this indignity resulted in the banishment of Cimon. Sparta sought to reduce the power of Athens by raising Thebes to the hegemony of the Boeotian West Front of the Partiiexox {From the model in the Metropolitan Museum, New York) cities. In the conflicts which now ensued Sparta is to be regarded as the champion of aristocracy, and Athens of democracy. After their defeat at Tanagra (457 b.c.) the Athenians re- called Cimon, who, after a victory over Sparta by Myronides, negotiated a truce between the states. He was a great general and a worthy citizen, and he left his country on a lofty pinnacle of power and dominion. Though the allies in the confederacy of Delos had all become tributaries, Athens had fierce enemies 82 GREECE in the exiled nobles. Her antagonists became so strong that they inflicted npon her a severe defeat at Coronea (447 b.c). At this critical moment Pericles concluded a treaty between the cities, according to the terms of which there was to be free commercial intercourse between them, and each was to keep the hegemony in its own circle (445 b.c). The Age of Pericles. — For fifteen years, as the first citi- zen of Athens, and holding the office of general, Pericles virtu- ally ruled the commonwealth. Though he came of an old fam- ily, he was democratic in his l)olitics. He stripped the Areop- agus of many of its high pre- rogatives. He secured the adoption of a measure allowing a stipend to all who entered the public service. He caused mag- nihcent buildings to be erected, of which the Parthenon, the temple of Athena (Minerva) on the summit of the Acropolis, is a celebrated example. Sculpture vied with architecture in the work of adornment. Phidias, who had cluirge of the erec- tion and decoration of the Parthenon, and of the other build- ings of the Acropolis, counted among his nuirvelous creations the colossal statue of the Olympian Zeus. Pericles was at once a statesman, an orator, a soldier, and a man of elegant culture. In his hospitable house, where Aspasia, a beautiful and cultured woman, was his companion, men of genius found a ready welcome. It was the blossoming season of the Greek intellect as regards literature and the fine arts. The drama reached its j^erfection in the masterly tragedies of Aeschylus, Sojjhocles, and Euripides, and in the comedies of Aristophanes. (Vatican Jfit.seniii, Howe) ASCENDENCY OF ATHENS 83 The Athenian community, through its political eminence, its intellectual character, so original and diversified, its culture, — such that almost every citizen was qualified for civil office, — has no parallel in his- tory. It is the elevation, not of a select class of the citizens, but of the whole society, which gives to Athens its unique distinc- tion. Public sx^irit and enterprise, which made her navy prominent in the Aegean and over the seacoast of Asia Minor, went hand in hand with delight in eloquence and in the creations of genius. There was not, however, as some have affirmed, in the prevalent absorption in the affairs of state, a neglect of the labors of agriculture and Forms of Sandals Styles of HairdreIssing of mechanical industry. The pleasure of refined social inter- course was appreciated. The prevalent artistic taste was grati- fied by comely attire in men and women. Athens. — No other description of the city itself is equal to that contained in the Funeral Oration delivered by Pericles for those who had fallen in the war (431 b.c). He dwells upon the excellencies of her form of government and upon the merits of her military system. He praises the public spirit of her 84 GREECE citizens and pays a tribute to their patriotism. •' To sum up," he concludes, " I say that Athens is the school of Hellas, and that the individual Athenian in his own person seems to have the power of adapting himself to the most va- ried forms of action with the utmost versatility and grace." It is to the histo- rian Thucydides that we owe the report of this celebrated oration. Religion. — We find in Sophocles a much purer moral and religious feel- ing than in Homer. The gods are still conceived of as in bodily form, but they are referred to as if a single agency were in the writer's mind. The regal sway of Zeus is em- phasized and a monothe- istic tendency is manifest. Zeus is the fountain of law. All those who trans- gress are punished. Di- rect revelation through prophecy was believed in. Oracles acquired a new and vast importance. Moral excellence centered in moderation and self-gov- ernment — a spirit which included temperance and justice. There was a deeper sense of sin than in the Homeric era, and death was an object of gloomy anticipation. Domestic affec- tion was strong, but every duty merged in patriotism. Sophocles {Lateran Museum, Home) ASCENDENCY OF ATHENS 85 The Drama. — Thespis (about 536 b.c.) was the founder of the Greek drama. The Greek theaters were large and open to the sky. At first there was only one actor : Aeschylus introduced a second actor, and Sopliocles a third. These authors, with Euripides, brought the tragic drama to per- fection. Comedy, in which Aristophanes (452-388 b.c.) was Theateu of Dionysos {Restoration) the principal author, dealt largely in satire. Socrates was a target for the wit of Aristophanes. Greek Art. — The architecture of the Greeks combined sym- metry with beauty and grandeur. They more and more broke away from the conventional styles of Oriental art. Three styles were developed — the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian. In the first the column and entablature have the most solid and simple form. The column has no base but the common platform on which all the pillars stand, and the capital is a plain slab. The Ionic column has a distinct base. It is taller and more slender, and its capital has two spiral mouldings.; 86 GREECE The capital of the Corinthian cohimn represents flower calyces and leaves. The Doric and Ionic temples were marvelous em- bodiments of dignity and grace. The Greeks mastered the art of realizing in stone that harmony of which they had a faultless ideal. They ascertained and carried out a law of proportion. Every part in the edifice was matched to every other. There 'mm Kf.i.i.-i^iJAiL^...^^:,j:viA 1 ^^, ^ Doric Ionic Orders of Greek ARCiiixECTrRK Cotintftian was a certain relation between the width and the height of the temple, and between these two dimensions and its length. The diameter of the column at its base being the unit of measure, the Doric column was from four to six diameters in height. The Ionic column was on an average eight diameters. In both orders, the column lessened in size towards the upper part, the Doric a little more than the Ionic. The unity and impressiveuess of the entire structure depended on the definite ASCENDENCY OF ATHENS 87 mutual relation of its component parts, just as the power of music to enchant the listener is the effect of the mutual rela- tion and concord of sounds, and through the harmonious rela- tions of color a painting delights the eye. Whereas the early statues had been of wood, they were now made in brass and marble. In sculpture the lofty style of Phidias (488-432 b.c.) and of Polycletus of Argos became prevalent in the flourishing I'UM .1 Paesi period of Greek liberty. The Greeks appreciated to the full the beauty of nature. Their mythology, '^ rightly understood, is an exquisite poem ... and their art is a translation of that poem into visible forms of beauty." In the period of Greek sculpture which terminated with the death of Alexander the Great (323 b.c), the greatest mas'ters were Praxiteles and Scopas. The Laocoon, a product of the Rhodian school of sculpture, although a masterly group, has features which mark it as belonging to a later than the period 88 GREECE when Greek art appears in its perfection. In the reahn of painting the hrst artist of whom we know ninch is Polygnotns (about 420 n.c). Apollodorn of Athens was distinguished. r5i/-^^ '" ^^ ^^'^^ shortly after this change M r^\ that the trial and death of Socrates '^ X f occurred, the wisest and most virtu- ^^£i) A^f ous man of ancient times (399 b.c). '%h\ ■[^*i^ Philosophy. — Socrates stands at ( % J\j^^i*' the head of Greek philosophy. He was the founder of moral philoso- ])h3^ He w^as original, being in- debted for his ideas to no previous school. He opposed the sophists, ^""•^":^ who instructed young men in logic {Villa Alfxini, Rome) i i i . j_ i • r? ^ • ^ and letters, taking lees — r/hich was contrary to the custom of the Greek philosophers — and culti- vating intellectual keenness and dexterity, often at the ex- m PELOPONNESIAN WAR 93 pense of depth and sincerity. The Oracle at Delplii called Socrates the wisest of men. He attributed this to the fact that he did not erroneously deem himself to be knowing. His maxim was, ''Know thyself." By a method of quiet cross-examination he made those with whom he conversed aware of their lack of clear ideas and tenable, consistent opinions, and endeavored to guide them aright. The soul and its moral improvement was his principal theme. He asserted Theism, and taught the doctrine of a universal Providence. He was charged with corrupting the young with his teachings, and with heresy in religion. Plato has given the " Apology " which Socrates made before his judges. He was convicted, and after conversing with his disciples in his customary tran- quil tone, he drank the cup of hemlock and expired (May, 399 B.C.). Plato (429-348 b.c), the foremost of his disciples, founded the philosophical school known as the Academy. Plato, in his discussions, is one of the most inspiring and instructive of all authors. No other heathen writer presents so many points of affinity with Christian teaching. Aristotle (384-322 b.c.) studied under Plato, but elaborated a system of his own. He is the founder of the science of Logic. His treatises on Ehet- oric and on Ethics have been hardly less important in their influence. The impulse given by Socrates gave rise to other schools of philosophy. Among these were the Cynics, founded by Diogenes. They looked with disdain on the ordinary com- forts of life. Their manners were as savage as their mode of living. Historical Writings. — The three principal historical writers were Herodotus (c. 484- c. 424 B.C.), a charming but uncritical chroni- cler of what he heard and saw ; Thucydides, who himself took part in the Peloponnesian erodotus war ; and Xenophon, an author characterized by naturalness, sim- plicity, and a religious spirit. Thucydides displays a profound 94 GREECE perception of character, an insight into the causes of events, a skill in arrangement, and a condensation and eloquence of style which are truly admirable. Demosthenes corrected his de- fects of speech by speaking with pebbles in his mouth, and trained himself to face a noisy assembly by declaiming in storms on the sea- shore; but this prince of orators fashioned his style by the study of Thucydides, whose history, as the story ran, he had copied eight times and even learned by heart. The historian had seen the growth of Athens in his early days, and its beauty in the time of Pericles, when it was adorned with works of art of which he writes that "the daily delight of them banishes gloom." He spared no pains to ascertain the truth and to relate it with accuracy, although, after the usual manner of ancient histo- rians, he himself composes the speeches, in which, as he avows, are embodied what are conceived to be the motives and feelings of the actors in the great struggle. Yet the general piu^port of what they said he professes to have faithfully rendered in lan- guage of his own. AVhen he is obscure, it is owing to his effort to be brief, and to his economy of words; for every sentence is filled with meaning. CHAPTER XV RELATIONS WITH PERSIA — THE SPARTAN AND THEBAN HEGEMONY The Retreat of the Ten Thousand. — The Persian Empire was torn with civil strife. Xerxes and his eldest son had been murdered (465 b.c), and on the death of Darius II. (423-404 B.C.) the Younger Cyrus undertook to dethrone his brother, Artaxerxes 11. His army, made up largely of hired Greek troops, was defeated at Cunaxa, not far from Babylon, and Cyrus fell in the combat. Clearchus, the Greek commander, was slain through an artifice, and Xenophon, who had accom- panied the army as a volunteer, conducted the celebrated Retreat of the Ten Thousand. The story of his march is told by him in the Anahasis. The Corinthian War and the Peace of Antalcidas. — Tissapher- nes, the antagonist and successor of the Younger Cyrus, united with Sparta in attempting to overthrow the Ionic cities which had espoused the cause of Cyrus. King Agesilaus defeated the Persians near the Pactolus (395 B.C.). Then the Persians stirred up an enemy nearer home by the use of gold, and the Boeotians, Corinthians and the Argives, joined by Athens, took up arms against the Lacedaemonians. Lysander fell in battle with the allies (395 b.c). Conon, the Athenian commander, destroyed the Spartan fleet at Cnidus. Agesilaus was recalled, but his victory at Coronea (394 b.c.) did not avail to turn the tide in favor of Sparta. Conon rebuilt the long walls at Athens with the assistance of Persian money. The issue of the conflict was the Peace of Antalcidas with Persia (387 b.c.) by which the Grecian cities of Asia Minor were given up to the Persians, together with the islands of 95 96 ' GREECE Clazomenae and Cyprus. With the exception of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros, which the Athenians were to control, all of the other states and islands were to be free and independent. This was a great concession to Persia. Greek union was broken up ; each state was left to take care of itself as it best could. Antalcidas cared little for his country ; his treaty was the natural result of Spartan aggressiveness and selfishness. Contest of Thebes and Sparta. — The Spartans had fallen away from the old rules of life ascribed to Lycurgus; they were possessed by a greed for gold, and there were extremes of wealth and poverty among them. After the treaty of Antalcidas, they still lorded it over other states, and were bent on governing in Peloponnesus. At length they were involved in a contest with Thebes. This was caused by the seizure of the Cadmeia, the Theban citadel, by the Spartan Phoebidas, acting in conjunction with an aristocratic party in Thebes (383 b.c). The Theban democrats, who, under Pelop- idas, made Athens their place of rendezvous, liberated Thebes, and expelled the Spartans from the Cadmeia. Hostile attempts of Sparta against Athens induced the Athenians to form a new confederacy (or symmachy) com- posed of seventy communities (378 B.C.) ; and after they had gained repeated successes on the sea, the two states concluded peace. Athens had become alarmed at the increased power of Thebes, and was ready to go over to the side of Sparta, her old enemy. It was a feeling in favor of a balance of power like that which had prompted Sparta at the close of the Peloponnesian war to refuse to consent to the destruction of Athens, which Thebes and Corinth had desired. Cleombrotus, King of Sparta, again invaded Boeotia. The principal Boeotian leader was Epaminondas, one of the noblest patriots of all Grecian history, — in his disinterested spirit and self-govern- ment resembling Washington. The Spartan king Avas defeated by him in the great battle of Leuctra (371 b.c), and was there slain. At this time the rage of party knew no bounds. The SPARTAN AND THEBAN HEGEMONY 9T wholesale massacre of political antagonists in a city was no uncommon occurrence. Theban Hegemony. — The victory of Leuctra gave the hegem- ony to Thebes. Three times the Boeotians invaded the Spartan territory. They founded Megalopolis in Arcadia, to strengthen the Arcadians against their Lacedaemonian assailants (370 e.g.). They also revived the Messenian power, recalled the Messenians who had long been in exile, and founded the city of Messene. In the battle of Mantinea (362 e.g.), Epaminondas, though victorious against the Spartans and their allies, was slain. Peace followed among the Grecian states, the Spartans alone refusing to be a party to it. In the course of this intestine war, the Thebans had broken up the new maritime sway gained by them. The AciiuPoLis in its rniitiKAT Condhtun ( PEEIOD III. — THE MAOEDOmAIf EKA CHAPTER XVI PHILIP AND ALEXANDER The Macedonians. — The Macedonians were a mixed race, partly Greek and partly Illyrian. At first an inland com- munity, living in the country, rough and uncultivated, they had been growing more civilized by the efforts of their kings to introduce Greek customs. The people were hardy and brave. When Epaminondas died, Philip (359-336 b.c.) was on the Macedonian throne. He had lived three years at Thebes and had learned much from Epaminondas, the best strategist and tactician of his day. Philip had a well-drilled standing army, while the Greeks, exhausted by long-continued war, had come to rely much on mercenary troops and were just in a condition to fall under the dominion of Macedonia. Philip made the Olynthians his allies, crossed the Strymon, and conquered the western part of Thrace. There for purposes of defense he founded the city of Philippi. The Sacred War. — The Phocians in their contest to throw off the Theban supremacy had seized the lands of the temple of Delphi. Philip availed himself of the Sacred War, which then ensued, to unite with the Thessalian nobles and array himself against Athens and Sparta, which had joined the Phocians. In his character of champion of the Amphictyonic Council, he overcame his adversaries and took his place in that body in the place of the Phocians (346 b.c). 99 100 GREECE Demostiiex ks ( J/« n ic/i) Demosthenes. — The Athenians, at the head of an Aegean League, might have checked Philip had they managed with more spirit and prudence. There was, however, only one man who penetrated the designs of Philip, and exerted all his powers to stimulate his countrymen to resistance. This was Demosthenes (385- 322 B.C.). Overcoming natu- ral obstacles, he attained a place at the head of all ora- tors, ancient and modern. | He was a great statesman f ' and an ardent patriot. On k Philip's conquest of Thes- saly, Demosthenes made against him the first of a series of famous speeches known as Philippics (352 b.c). His Oration on the Crown was a splendid defense of what he had done in behalf of Athens and for Greek liberty. A Macedonian party was formed at Athens, a foremost leader of which was AescHines, not a good citizen, but an orator only second in rank to Demosthenes. As Philip con- quered and destroyed city after city, they contended that it was futile to resist his advance. Demosthenes endeavored in vain to dissuade the Peloponnesian cities from continuing to adhere to Philip. He gathered a strong party about him at Athens. Philip's overtures of peace were rejected, and Athenian forces obliged the king to give up the siege of Byzantium (341 b.c). Though the influence of Demosthenes was thus enlarged, Aeschines, as a deputy to the Amphictyonic Council, contrived to bring about another Holy War, which gave Philip the command, and enabled him to seize Elatea. Aroused by Demosthenes, Athens and Thebes formed an alli- ance, but the allies were defeated at the fatal battle of PHILIP AND ALEXANDER 101 Chaeroiiea (August, 338 b.c), where Alexander, Philip's youth- ful son, decided the fortune of the day by vanquishing the Theban Sacred Band. The Thebans were treated with severity, but favorable terms were granted to Athens. Charging into Peloponnesus, Philip took away most of Sparta's territory and apportioned it among the Messenians, Argives, and Arcadians. At a national assembly at Corinth, he caused himself to be created leader of the Grecian forces against Persia, with the powers of a dictator. Not long after- wards, at the marriage festival of his daughter, he was assas- sinated by means of a con- spiracy in which his queen is thought to have been a part- ner (336 B.C.). Alexander the Great. — Alexan- der was twenty years old when his father died. His bodily health and vigor qualified him for combats and toils which few soldiers in his army could en- dure. His energy, rapidity, and military skill lift him to a level with Hannibal and the fore- most commanders of any age. He was not without a gener- ous appreciation of art and literature. The great philosopher Aristotle had been one of his tutors. Por the eminent authors and artists of Greece he cherished a warm admiration. Homer was his delight, and in Homer he took Agamemnon for his model. His temper was passionate and imperious. Espe- cially when his passions were inflamed by strong drink, — as at banquets, occasions where Macedonian princes before him had been wont to drink to excess, — he was capable of savage deeds. Alexander in Greece : his Army. — Alexander was recognized as the leader of Greece at a congress in Corinth. While he '■J Alexander {Found in IIadrian''s Villa) 102 GREECE was absent upon an expedition against the barbarous peoples north of Macedonia, a false report of his death led to an • uprising of the Greeks. Eeturning suddenly, he leveled ^ Thebes with the ground, by way of revenge, and he spared Athens only in response to her prayer for pardon. Thus ended resistance in Greece, and Alexander turned his atten- tion to the conquest of the Persian Empire. His army was strong through its valor and discipline rather than in num- bers. The phalanx of native Macedonians was used for the decisive charge in battles in which other troops began the fighting. A second body of picked men was known as the Guard, and there was a band of young Macedonian soldiers called pages. There were not more than forty thousand men in all ; but in Alexander they had a general who was a mili- tary genius of the first order. The Campaign of Alexander : To the Battle of Issus. — In the spring of 334 B.C., having crossed the Hellespont, Alexander performed various rites at Ilium (Troy) in honor of the heroes of the Trojan war, since he regarded himself as their lineal descendant and his expedition as a renewal of the old conflict. At the passage of the river Granicus, he defeated a Persian army and gained the submission of the whole of Asia Minor. At Tarsus he was cured by his physician Philip of a dangerous fever, brought on by a bath in the chilly water of the river Cydnus. In 333 b.c, he met and defeated Darius III., the king of Persia, in a valley near Issus in Cilicia. This memo- rable battle settled the fate of the Persian Empire. To the Battle of Arbela. — Syria and Phoenicia submitted, although Tyre fell only after a siege of seven months. After capturing Gaza, Alexander entered Egypt and founded the city of Alexandria, in its consequences one of the most memo- rable acts of his life. He marched (331 b.c.) through Libya to the temple of Jupiter Amnion, where the priest addressed him as the veritable son of the god. Having thus subdued the lands on the west, he passed through Palestine and Syria by way of Damascus, crossed the Euphrates and Tigris, and at PHILIP AND ALEXANDER 103 Arbela defeated a Persian army more than twenty times as large as his own (October, 331 b.c). To the Invasion of India. — Babylon and Susa, as well as Persepolis and Pasargadae, fell into the conqueror's hands. He reduced Persepolis to ruins, and pursued the flying king Darius into Parthia, where, to prevent a surrender, the fugitive was murdered by Bessus, one of his own nobles. Marching east and south through Persia and the modern Afghanistan, he put Philotas, one of his best officers, to death, on the charge of conspiracy against his life, and ordered the murder of his best general, Parmenio. He founded cities in different places, and crossed the Oxus and Jaxartes. At Samarcand, in a drunken revel, he slew Clitus, the friend who had saved his life in the battle of the Granicus. In a fit of remorse, he went without food or drink for three days. In Bactria he married Eoxana, a princess of the country. By this time his head was turned by success, and he began to demand of his followers the cring- ing adulation paid to Oriental monarchs. To the Death of Alexander. — Crossing the eastern Caucasus (the Hindu-Kush), Alexander moved down the Indus and defeated the Indian prince Porus on the farther side of the Hydaspes. At the river Hyphasis the Macedonian troops would go no farther, and Alexander turned back (327 b.c), moving down the Plydaspes with army and fleet to the Indus, and down the Indus to the sea. Nearchus, his admiral, sailed along the shore to the west, while Alexander conducted the rest of the army, amid infinite hardships, through the desert, and finally met him on the coast. At Susa, in 325, he mani- fested his purpose of combining Macedonia and Greece with the East in one great empire. He adopted the Persian custom and ceremonial, and married both the daughter of Darius III. and the sister of Artaxerxes III. He prevailed on eighty of his Macedonian officers and ten thousand Macedonian soldiers to take Persian wives. He himself exacted the homage paid to a divinity. These measures were unpopular with his old comrades and subjects, and he was called upon to quell a 104 GREECE mutiny, which he did with great skill and courage (Jul}^, 324 B.C.). After a reign of twelve years and eight months, a fever contracted in the marshes about Babylon, and aggravated by daily revels, terminated his remarkable career. Influence of Alexander.— Alexander has been called an adven- turer. To overcome the gigantic Persian Empire, however, although it had but little vitality, required not only wonder- ful military talents but also unmatched vigilance and pains- taking. His exploits read more like fable than history. The most substantial result of them was to spread Hellenism, — to diffuse at least a tincture of Greek civilization, together with some acquaintance Avith the Greek language, over the lands of the East. This result has had a bearing not only upon the history of antiquity, but more remotely on the history of all subsequent times. Greek Shields CHAPTER XVII THE SUCCESSORS OF ALEXANDER Divisions of the Empire. — Alexander left no legitimate chil- dren. Alexander the younger, the child of Koxana, was born after his father's death. The empire naturally fell to his princij^al generals, who were soon reduced to three, — Antip- ater, Craterus, and Perdiccas. Ptolemy withdrew from the rivalship, preferring to devote himself to his own province of Egypt. The government was carriecL on in the name of Roxana's son and Alexander's half-brother, Arrhidaeus. Per- diccas, finding that each general was disposed to be a king in his own dominion, formed a plan to seize the empire for him- self. In a series of wars lasting for twenty-two years, Per- diccas, who was contending for the unity of the empire, was defeated by the rebellious satraps, of whom Antigonus was the most powerful. He, in his turn, attempted to make himself sole ruler, and the formation of a league against him (315 b.c.) led to a treaty of peace by which Cassander, the son of Antipater, was to retain Macedonia. By him Eoxana and the young Alexander were put to death. In a second war against Antigonus, Cassander was victorious at Ipsus (301 b.c). An- tigonus was slain, and his son Demetrius fled to Greece. The final result of the protracted contest was the division of the Macedonian Empire into three principal monarchies, — Mace- donia, under the Antigonidae ; Egypt, under the Ptolemies ; and Syria, under the Seleucidae. I. The Kingdom of the Ptolemies Ptolemy Lagi (323-283 b.c). — "When Alexander transferred the seat of power in Egypt from Memphis to Alexandria, he 105 SUCCESSORS OF ALEXANDER 107 accomplislied results which he could not at all foresee. The Greek element became predominant in Egyptian affairs. A great stimulus was given to commerce and to foreign inter- course. The Egyptians themselves entered zealously into industrial pursuits. Ptolemy Lagi, the first of the new sover- eigns, was wise enough to guard his own territory, and even to establish his rule in Palestine, Phoenicia, and Coele-Syria, but to avoid extensive schemes of conquest. He subdued Cyrenaica, on the west of Egypt, and the intermediate Libyan tribes. Ptolemy was an absolute monarch, but he retained promi- nent features in the old Egyptian administrative system, gave offices to Egyptians, and protected their religion. In Alex- andria the Jews were very numerous. The Hebrew Scriptures were there translated into Greek in the version called the Septuagint. The most important civil and all military offices were reserved for Graeco-Macedonians : Alexandria was a Greek city. Erom the beginning Ptolemy fostered learning and science. He set to work to collect a great library in a building connected with his palace. He founded the Museum, which was a college of professors. It attracted a great body of students, and became the university of the eastern world. Under his patronage, mathematicians, poets, and critics of high repute flourished. Among the structures raised by him were the lighthouse of vast height on the island of Pharos, which was connected with the shore by a mole, or cause- way, a mile in length ; the Soma, or mausoleum, said to have contained the body of Alexander ; the Temple of Serapis, com- pleted by his son ; and the Hippodrome. Ptolemy Philadelphus. — Ptolemy IL, surnamed Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.), with less talent for war than his father, greatly enlarged the library, and did much to encourage learning and commerce. Ptolemy Euergetes. — Ptolemy III. (247-222 e.g.), surnamed Euergetes (the benefactor), was also a patron of art and litera- ture. He raised Egypt to the highest pitch of prosperity, but was followed by a series of nine incompetent and depraved kings- 108 GREECE II. Macedox axd Greece When Alexander was in the far East, the Spartan king Agis III. (330 B.C.) headed an nnsuccessfnl revolt against Antipater. The death of Alexander rekindled the hope of regaining liberty among patriotic Greeks ; a confederacy was formed, and Leosthenes, the Greek commander, defeated Antip- ater and shut him up within the Lamia. The Greeks were finally beaten at Crannon. Favorable terms were granted to all cities except Athens and Aetolia. Demosthenes was forced to take refuge in the Temple of Poseidon (Neptune) on the little island of Calaurea. Finding himself pursued by an offi- cer of Antipater, this intrepid statesman, who had served the cause of liberty amid direst perils, ended his life by taking poison. The Democracy again accpiired power temporarily, and Phocion, the leader of the anti-democratic party, was condemned to death. The Achaean League. — The growth of the Achaean League and the Aetolian League was favored by the conquest of Macedonia by a horde of Gauls who swept into Greece in 279 B.C. The Achaean League was at first made up of ten Achaean cities. Its object was to free Greek cities from sub- jection to the Macedonians. Peloponnesus, except Sparta, joined it, together with Athens and Aegina. The Aetolian League. — The Aetolian League obtained com- mand of Phocis, Locris, and Boeotia. A praiseworthy attempt at reform Avas made in Sparta by the king Agis IV. (240 b.c), who was opposed by the rich and put to death. Cleomenes, his successor, engaged in conflict with the Achaean League, which then called in Macedonian help (227 b.c). Sparta was overthrown. Soon a war between the Leagues broke out, and the Achaeans again called on the Macedonians for aid. These conflicts were but manifestations of the suicidal spirit of disunion which at many crises splintered the power of Greece when she needed all her strength to meet a foreign foe. She owed her downfall to the desolating influence of faction ; for SUCCESSORS OF ALEXANDER 109 the conflicts which have just been described were followed by the interference of the Komans. Greek Philosophy and Culture. — In the Greek world the prog- ress of investigation and reflection tended to produce disbelief in the old mythological system. With the loss of liberty, Greek philosophy developed a tendency to look at mankind more as one community. This was a feature of the philosophy of the Stoics, who taught that virtue is the only good ; that it consists in living according to nature ; that reason should be dominant, and that the emotions should be kept down by an iron Avill. This is the Stoic apathy. The Epicureans, on the other hand, made pleasure the chief good, holding that it was to be secured by such a regulation of our desires as will yield, on the whole, the largest amount of happiness. In the Greek cities which were founded by the Macedonians the political life and independence which Greeks had for- merly enjoyed did not exist. The Hellenistic literature and culture, as it was called, lacked the energy and spirit of the old time. Poetry languished. The prose was the prose of learned inquiries, criticism, and science. Euclid systematized geometry. Archimedes, who died in 212 e.g., is said to have invented the screw and was skillful in mechanics. Eratos- thenes founded geography, descriptive astronomy, and scientific chronology. '^The Alexandrian Age busied itself with literary or scientific research, and with setting in order what the Greek mind had done in its creative time." III. The Syrian Kingdom The Syrian kingdom Avas founded by Seleucus I. (Nicator) (312-280 B.C.). From Babylon he extended his dominion to the Black Sea, the Jaxartes, and even to the Ganges. He founded Antioch on the Orontes and made it his capital. He likewise founded Seleucia on the Tigris, which as a com- mercial city was second only to the Parthian metropolis of Ctesiphon opposite it. With his son Antiochus I. begins the 110 GKEECE decline of the Empire tlirougli the influence of oriental luxury and vice. Syria lost eastern Asia Minor through the invading Gauls, and Antiochus II. (261-246 b.o.) was unable to hold the provinces in subjection. Antiochus III. (the Great) (223- 187 B.C.) checked the Parthians and ]>actrians, and expelled the Egyptians from Asia, but prepared for the downfall of the Syrian Empire by provoking the hostility of the Eomans. Palestine ; the Maccabees ; the Idumaean Princes. — Palestine, Avhich had fared comparatively well when the Ptolemies had control, was surrounded and invaded by Gentilism when it fell under the sway of Syria. The perils to which their religion was exposed by the heathen without, and by a luke- warm party within, made earnest Jews (the bulk of the ]>eo]^le) more inflexible in their adherence to their law and customs. The party of the Pharisees grew out of the intensity of the loyal and patriotic feeling which was engendered in the periods following the exile. The synagogues, centers of worship and of instruction scattered over the land, acted as a bulwark against the intrusion of heathen doctrine and heathen prac- tices. The resistance to these dreaded evils came to a head when the Syrian ruhn-, Antiochus Epiphanes, embittered by his failures in conflict with Egypt, resolved to break down religious barriers among his sul)jects, and, for this end, to exterminate Jewish worshi]!. In iCxS ];.c., he set up an altar to Jupiter in the temple at »Iei'usalem, and even compelled Jewish i)riests to immolate swine. Then the revolt broke out in which the family of Maccabees were the heroic leaders. Judas jMaccabeus recovered the temple, but fell in battle (160 b.c). Under his brother Simon victory was achieved, and the independence of the nation secured. The chief power remained in the hands of this family, the Asmonaean princes, until their degeneracy paved the way for Roman intervention under Pompeius. His adviser was the Idumaean, Antipater, a Jewish proselyte, who was made procurator of Judea by Julius Caesar (47 b.c), and whose son Herod was made king (;)9 n.c). MACEDONIAN ROYAL HOUSES 111 "I ■? s HS •I 3 •=5 2 J-w 9) a ^C^ 11 c o 3 ^ ■©s O S a - a P4 -i CO s; 3 C ^S ZTJJT- \ / '-J^t^ TYRRHENIAN Fre.e.^Vf' -^oMtJ SEA PonusAu,. y^ 1 _ MAP OF ROME AND VICINITY u^ \- T^ ly. ROME CHAPTER XVIII INTRODUCTION Place of Rome in History. — Rome is the bridge which unites, while it separates, the ancient and the modern world. The history of Kome is the narrative of the building up of a single city, whose dominion gradually spread until it comprised all the countries about the Mediterranean, or what were then the civilized nations. " In this great empire was gathered up the sum total that remained of the religions, laws, customs, lan- guages, letters, arts, and sciences of all the nations of antiquity which had successively held sway or predominance." Under the system of Roman government and Roman law they were combined in one ordered community. It was out of the wreck of the ancient Roman Empire that the modern European nations were formed. Their likeness to one another, their bond of fellowship, is due to the heritage of laws, customs, letters, religion, which they have received in common from Rome. The Inhabitants of Ancient Italy. — Until a late period in Roman history, the Apennines, and not the Alps, were the northern boundary of Italy. Most of the region between the Alps and the Apennines, on both sides of the Po, was inhab- ited by the Gauls, akin to the Celts of the same name north of the Alps. On the west of Gallia were the Ligurians, a rough people of unknown extraction. People thought to be of the same race as the Ligurians dwelt in Sardinia and in 113 114 ROME Corsica, and in a p"art of Sicily. On the east of Gallia were the Venetians, who were prol)ably of Illyrian descent. The Apennines branch off from the Alps in a southeasterly direction until they near the Adriatic, when they turn to tlie south, and descend to the extreme point of the peninsula, thus forming the backbone of Italy. On the west, in the central portion of the peninsula, are the hilly district called by the ancients Etruria (now Tuscany), and the plains of Latium and Campania. What is now termed the Campagna, the district The Cami'agna and Aoi i; about Rome, is a part of ancient Latium. The Etrurians dif- fered widely, both in appearance and in language, from the Romans. They were not improbably Aryans, but nothing more is known of their descent. In the east, in what is now Calabria, and in Apulia, there was another people, the lapy- gians, whose origin is not certain, but who were not so far removed from the Greeks as from the Latins. The southern and southeastern portions of the peninsula were the seat of the Greek settlements, and the country was early designated Great Greece. Leaving out the Etrurians, lapygians, and Greeks, Italy, south of Gallia, was inhabited by nations allied to one another, and more remotely akin to the Greeks. These INTRODUCTION 115 Italian nations Avere divided into an eastern and a western stock. The western stock, the Latins, whose home was in Latium, was much nearer of kin to the Greeks than was the eastern. The eastern stock comprised the Umbrians and the Oscans. It included the Sabines, Samnites, and Lucanians. Italy and Greece. — In two important points, Italy is geo- graphically distinguished from Greece. The seacoast of Italy is more uniform, not being broken by bays and harbors ; and it is not cut up, like Greece, by chains of mountains, into small cantons. The Eomans had not the same inducement to become a seafaring people ; there were fewer cities ; there was an opportunity for closer and more extended leagues. It is remarkable that the outlets of Greece were towards the east; those of Italy towards the west. The two nations were thus averted from one another; they were, so to speak, back to back. The Greeks and Romans. — The Greeks and Eomans were diverse in their natural traits, although sprung from a com- mon ancestry and preserving common features in language and in religion. The Greeks had more genius ; the Eomans more stability. In arts and letters the Eomans were followers of the Greeks. They had less delicacy of perception and native refinement of manner; but they had more sobriety of charac- ter, more discipline, and more endurance. In their discipline lay the secret of their supremacy in arms, and of their ability to give law to the world. The Eoman was grave and virile. The versatility of the Greek was accompanied by levity. The Eoman, strong in the sense of right and of justice, had a true political instinct and a capacity for building up a political system on a firm basis. The noblest product of the Latin mind is the Eoman law, which is the foundation of modern continental codes, and has exerted a powerful influence di- rectly upon the law of England, and more remotely upon the jurisprudence of the United States. But while the Eomans were lovers of justice and of order, their history is stained here and there with acts of unexampled atrocity. In private 116 ROME life, when the rigor of self-control gave way, they sank into extremes of vulgar sensuality. If, compared with the Greeks; they stood morally at a greater height, they might fall to a lower depth. Roman Religion. — The difference between the Greek and Eoman mind was manifest in the sphere of religion. While Jupiter, like Zeus, was the old Aryan god of the shining sky, yet the Greek conception differed from the Eoman. When the Romans came into intercourse with the Greeks they iden- tified the Greek divinities with their Cwn, and linked the tales of Greek mythology to their own deities. They had no oracles of their own, but in the e^lier times, in emergencies, resorted to the oracles of Greece. | The myths of Roman origin were heroic, not religious. They related to the deeds of valiant men. Their deities were less endowed with distinct personal characteristics. Worship was treated as something due to the gods, to be discharged like any other debt. The word reliyion had the same root as the word obh'(jatio)i. The Romans were watchful to omit nothing required to avert the disi)leasure of their deities. If they brought a foreign people to Rome, they invited its gods to make their abode tliere. I Origin of the Romans. — The Romans attributed their origin to Aeneas, who fled with a band of fugitives from the flames of Troy, and whose son Ascanius settled in Alba Longa, in Latiuni. Other cities ascribed their origin to this mythical founder. Rome was in truth a settlement of Latin farmers and traders on the seven hills near tlie border of Latium, on the Tiber. Of the three clans which united to form Rome — the Ramnes, Titles, and Luceres — the first was Latin, the sec- ond Sabine, and the third was of an unknown origin. The city was at first a trading village for the exchange of the prod- ucts of the farming district in which it was placed. Situated at the head of navigation for small vessels, such an outpost would be useful to guard Latiuni against the Etrurians across the river. Even at the outset, Rome derived its strength from a combination of closely related tribes. \ PEEIOD I. — EOME UTOEE THE KIMS AND THE PATEIOIAITS (753-304 B.C.) CHAPTER XIX EOME UNDER THE KINGS (753-509 b.c.) Character of the Legends. — The kings under whose rule the Romans lived for a time were neither hereditary rulers, like the Greek kings, nor were they chosen from a single family. The stories told about them in later times are laden with im- probabilities — and even impossibilities — which prove them to be the fruit of the imagination. They are the tales which in the course of centuries were woven out of traditions, molded and recast from time to time, until they assumed the form in which they are recorded by the historian Livy, in the reign of Augustus. The Roman legends, including dates, such as are recorded in this chapter, are fabrications to fill up a void in regard to which there was no trustworthy information and to account for beliefs and customs the origin of which no one knew. Mingled in them are fragments of veritable history, and they are of some help in ascertaining the character of the Roman constitution in the prehistoric age. The Legendary Tales. — Romulus and Remus, so the legend runs, were sons of the god Mars, by Rhea Silvia, a priestess of Vesta, whose father, Xumitor, had been driven from his throne by his wicked brother, Amulius, who thereby made himself King of Alba Longa. The twins, by his command, were put 117 118 ROME Bronze Wolf Statue (Rome) into a basket and thrown into the Tiber. The cradle w^as caught by the. roots of a fig tree; a she-w^olf came out and suckled them, and ^- - ^ J/^^^^^^.»^t^^^r ^ "SI^""-^Tw^ Faustulus, a shep- .J^'%.s\--\~-.\'< . .' •-• ' -.' ? '=^^ herd, brought them up as his own chil- dren. E o m u 1 u s grew up and slew the usurper, Amu- lius. The two brothers founded a city on the banks of the Tiber, where they had been rescued (753 B.C.). In a quarrel the elder killed the younger, and called the city after himself, Roma. Romulus, to increase the number of the people, founded an asylum on the Capitoline Hill, wdiich gave wel- come to robbers and fugitives of all kinds. There was a lack of women; but, by a cunning trick, the Romans seized on a large number of Sabine women, who had been decoyed to Rome with their fathers and brothers to see the games. The angry Sabines invaded Rome. Tarpeia, the daughter of the Roman captain, left open for them a gate into the Capitoline citadel, and so they won the Capitol. In the war that fol- lowed, the Romans and Sabines agreed, on the intervention of the Sabine women, to live peaceably together as citizens of one town, under Romulus and the Sabine Tatius. After the death of Tatius, Romulus reigned alone, and framed laws for the two peoples. During a thunder-storm he was translated to the skies, and worshiped as the god Quirinus (716 b.c). After a year Numa Pompilius, a Sabine, w^as elected king (715-673 B.C.). He stood in close intercourse with the gods, was full of wisdom and of the spirit of peace. He framed the religious system, with its various offices and rites. The ROME UNDER THE KINGS 119 gate of tlie arch of Janus, closed only in peace, was shut during his mikl reign. He died of old age, without illness or pain. The peaceful king was followed by the warlike king, Tullus Hostilius (673-664 b.c). AVar breaks out with Alba. The two armies face each other, and the contest is decided by the single combat of the three Horatii, champions of the liomans, and the three Curiatii, champions of Alba. One Koman, the victor and sole survivor, is led to Eome in triumph. Thus Alba became subject to Eome. Afterwards Alba was de- stroyed, but the Albans became Eoman citizens. The fourth king, Ancus Marcius (641-616 b.c), loved peace, but could not avoid Avar. He fought against four Latin towns, brought their inhabitants to Eome, and planted them on the Aventine hill. He fortified the hill Janiculum, on the right bank of the Tiber, and connected it by a wooden bridge with the town. The next king was by birth an Etruscan. His father is said to have been a Corinthian. Lucumo and his wife, Tanaquil^ emigrated to Eome. Lucumo took the name of Lucius Tarqui- nius, was stout, valiant, and wise, a counselor of Ancus, and chosen after him instead of one of the king's sons, whose guar- dian he was. Tarquinius Priscus (616-578 b.c.) waged successful wars with the Sabines, Latins, and Etruscans. The Etruscans owned him for their king, and from them came the crown of gold, the scepter, the ivory chair, the embroidered tunic, the purple toga, and twelve axes in as many bundles of rods. He made a reform of the laws. He built the temple of Jupi- ter, or the Capitol, laid out the Forum for a market place, made a great sewer to drain the lower valleys of the city, leveled a racecourse between the Aventine and Palatine hills, and intro- duced games like those of the Etruscans. Tarquinius was killed by the sons of Ancus ; and Servius Tullius (578-534 b.c), the son of Ocrisia, a slave woman, and of a god, was made king through the devices of Tanaquil. He 120 ROME united the seven hills, and built the wall of Eome. He re- modeled the constitution by the census and the division of the centuries. The obligation to render military service was laid on the possessors of land, who were divided according to the amount of their property into five classes. The census Avas a complete land register. The military body, or Assembly of Hundreds, met on the Field of Mars {Campus Martins). Under this king Rome joined the Latin League. He was murdered l)y his flagitious son-in-law, Tarquinius Superbus (534-510 b.c.) — Tarquin the Proud. He ruled as a despot, surrounding himself with a bodyguard, and, upon false accusation, inflicting death on citizens whose property he coveted. By a treacherous scheme he got possession of the town of Gabii. He waged war against the Volscians, a powerful people on the south of Latium. He adorned Home with nuany buildings, and lived in pomp and extravagance, while the people were impoverished and helpless. The in- spired Sibyl of Cumae offered him, through a messengei', nine books of prophecies. The price required excited his scorn, whereiq)()n the Avoman avIio brought them destroyed three. This led Tarquin to pay the price Avhen she appeared the third time Avith the books that were left. They Avere carefully preserved to the end, that in times of danger the Avill of the gods might be learned. Another story told of the haughty king was that, Avhen he had grown old, and Avas frightened l)y dreams and omens, he sent his two sons to consult the oracle at Delphi. With tliem Avent his sister's son, Junius, Avho Avas called Lrutus on account of his supposed silliness, Avhich Avas really feigned to deceive the tyrant. The offering Avhich he brought to tlie Delphian god Avas a sim})le staff. His cousins, Avho laughed at him, did not know that it Avas stuffed Avith gold. The god, in ansAver to a question, said that he should reign at Rome Avho should first kiss his mother, lirutus diAuned the sense of the oracle, pretended to stumble, and kissed the mother earth. ROME UNDER THE KINGS 121 The cruel outrage of Sextus Tarquinius, the king's son, of which Lucretia, the wife of their cousin, was the pure and innocent victim, caused the expulsion of the house of Tarquin, and the abolishing of regal government. Her father and hus- band, with Brutus and the noble Publius Valerius Poplicola, to whom she related the " deed of shame " wrought by Sextus, swore, at her request, to avenge her wrong. She herself plunged a dagger into her heart, and expired. Brutus roused the people and drove out the Tarquins. In place of the king two consuls, of whom Brutus was one, were appointed to rule for one year. When it was ascertained that his own sons had taken part in a conspiracy of the higher class to restore Tarquinius, the stern Eoman gave orders to the lictors to scourge them, and to cut off their heads with the ax. Now the senate and people decreed that the whole race of Tarquinius should be banished for ever. Tarquinius went among the Etruscans, and secured the aid of the people of Tarquinii, and of Veil. In a battle Aruns, the son of Tar- quinius, and Brutus, both mounted, ran upon one another, and were slain. Each army marched to its home. Tarquinius then obtained the help of Porsena, King of the Etruscans, with a strong army. They took Janiculum; but Horatius Codes, with two companions, posted himself at the entrance of the bridge, and kept the place, Horatius remaining until the bridge had been torn away behind him. He then, with his armor on, leaped into the river, and swam back to the shore. The town was hard pressed by the enemy and by famine. Mucins Scaevola went into Porsena's camp, resolved to kill him, but he slew another whom he mistook for the king. When threatened with death, he thrust his right hand into the fire, to show that he had no fear. Porsena, admiring his courage, gave him freedom ; and, on being informed that three hundred young Romans were sworn to undertake the same deed which Mucins had come to perform, Porsena made peace without requiring the restoration of Tarquinius. Tarquinius, 122 EOME not despairing, persuaded the Tusculans. and other Latins to begin war against Rome. To meet the exigency the Romans appointed a dictator, Aulus Postumins. In a battle near Lake Regillus, when the Romans began to give way, the dictator invoked Castor and Pollux, vowing to dedicate a temple to them in case he was victorious. Two young men on white chargers appeared at the head of the Roman troops, and led them to victory. Tarquinius now gave up his effort, and went to Cumae to the tyrant Aristodemus, where he lived until his death. Truth in the Legends. — In the legends certain facts are embedded. Alba was at one time the head of the Latin con- federacy ; the Sabines invaded Latium, settled on some of the hills of Rome, and united with the Romans in forming one state. To this union is ascribed the tradition of the two kings Romulus and Tatius. It is thought that military kingship succeeded an earlier priestly royalty. It is probable that the Etruscans, who had made much progress in civilization, gained control in Latium. Civilization advanced under them and the people were divided into classes. The upper class were called Patricians, and the common people, who were free but without political rights, were known as Plebeians. Of this latter class some who were under the special protection of citizens, their patrons, were called Clients. Under the old constitution, ascribed in the legends to Romu- lus, the patricians under the name of Populus formed the mili- tary force and were divided into districts, or Curiae, each curia being composed of a number of families, or gentes. The assem- bly of the citizens was called the Comitia Curiata. The bur- gesses were all equal as to their legal rights. The Comitia chose the king. The Senate Avas a council of elders or " fathers," representative of the gentes. The name of the clan or gens was part of the proper Jiame of every citizen and was placed between the personal name (or praeiiomeii) and the designation of the special family Avithin the gens. Thus in the case of Caius Julias Caesar, '-Caius" — more correctly, Gains — was i ROME UNDER THE KINGS 123 Fasces the personal name, " Julius " was the designation of the gens, and " Caesar " of the family. Magistrates. — AYhen the kingship was abolished, two officers of the patrician class, styled Consuls, exercised regal power during their term of office. They were at- / ^ tended by twelve Lictors, who carried the fasces — bundles of rods fastened around an ax — which symbolized the power of the mag- istrate to flog or behead offenders. The power to elect the consuls, to hear appeals in capital cases, and to accept or reject bills laid before it, was finally acquired by the Comitia. In times of peril a Dictator was selected by one of the consuls, with a Master of Horse to command the knights under him. These were originally simply the horsemen in the Roman army, but became eventually a distinct class or order. For the time the dictator had absolute authority. Religion. — The head of the household, the Paterfamilias, offered regular sacrifices for his family, but as regards the whole people, worship was under the direction of the priests and the Pontifex Maximus. The Pontiffs were not so much priests as guardians and interpreters of divine law. They had the control of the Calendar. The Augurs con- sulted the will of the gods as disclosed in omens. The Petiales performed the rites attending the declaration of war or the conclusion of peace. The Soothsayers learned divine will by examining the en- trails of slaughtered victims. The Fla-' mens were the priests in charge of the worship of particular divinities, while the Vestals were virgins who ministered in the temple of Yesta and kept the sacred fire burning. The Salii were priests con- nected of old with the worship of Mars, and having in charge PlOman Domestic Altar 124 ROME tlie twelve shields, one of which was believed to have dropped from the sky in the time of Numa. The chief gods worshiped were Jiqnter, the god of the sky ; his wife, Juno, the goddess of maternity; Minerva, the goddess of wisdom ; Apollo, the god of augury and the arts ; Diana, the goddess of the chase and archery; Mars, the god of war; and Mer- cury, the god of trade. The Lares and Penates were household divinities, guardians of the family. Of all the divinities Jupi- ter was " the best and most ^ high." His principal tem- ple was on the Capitol. Thence he surveyed the city of which he was the powerful guardian. Con- suls Avhen they entered upon their office, generals at the end of a campaign, conquerors who enjoyed the honors of a tri- umph, offered to him solemn worship. All stood in awe of the deity who could hurl thunderbolts from above. Vestal CHAPTER XX ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS (509-304 b.c.) Rivalry of Classes. — After the abolition of royalty there was a series of struggles between the |)atricians and the plebe- ians. The poorer plebeians suffered greatly, especially at the hands of their rich creditors. A threat made by the united plebeians that they would found a town three miles from Eome led to an agreement providing for the election of Tribunes of the People, who should have the right to veto any legal or administrative measure. The power of the tribunes gradually became controlling, and they used it (among other ways) to prevent unfairness in the conscription or military enrolment. The Plebeian Assembly. — About this time a new Assembly, the Comitia of Tribes, was instituted. This body chose the tribunes. Its rights were extended more and more, and in time it chose the two Aediles, assistants of the tribunes, who superintended the business of the markets. The consul Spurius Cassius (486 b.c.) framed a law to remove the restric- tions upon occupation of public land by plebeians. When he retired from office, he was put to death by the ruling class. War with the Aequians and the Volscians. — In the early part of the fifth century the league comprising the Eomans, the Latins, and the Hernicans became involved in a war with the Aequians and Volscians. Cains Marcius Coriolanus, a brave patrician, had incurred the anger of the plebeians and had been banished. He went to the Volscians and led a strong army against Eome. He withstood the efforts of several embassies to turn him from his purpose, but finally yielded to the entreaties ■ of Veturia, his mother, and Volumnia, his 125 126 KOME wife, exclaiming, " Oli ! my mother ! Eome thou hast saved, but thou hast lost thy soul" He died among the Volscians^ (491 B.C.). The tale, certainly in most of its parts, is fic- titious. The story of Cincinnatus in essential particulars is probably true. AVhen the Romans were hard pressed by the Aequians, the messenger of the Senate found him plowing in the held and asked him to become dictator. He accepted the post, by his prudence and vigor delivered the state, and on the sixteenth day laid down his office and went back to the farm. The time required for the task was doubtless much longer than the legend allows. The Decemvirs. — In 171 b.c. the Publilian Law was passed to establish fully the right of the plebeians alone to elect their tribunes. The plebeians also proposed the Terentilian Law (462 B.C.), to secure to them the same private rights as the patricians enjoyed. The demand was more and more heard for the safeguards afforded by definite statutes. Finally it was agreed that ten men, Decemvirs, should be chosen indis- criminately from both classes to frame a code and, in the meantime, to control the government (151 b.c). Many obsta- cles were put in the way of the plan by the conservative patricians. It is a plausible theory that one of their number, Appius Claudius, sided with the people and that the familiar story of Yirginius was a later invention to discredit him. According to this story Yirginius, a brave plebeian, gave a signal for a revolt of the people by plunging a dagger into the breast of his fair young ' daughter, to prevent her from falling into the clutches of Claudius. Political Equality. — The laws of the Twelve Tables lay at the basis of all Roman legislation. In 448 b.c. it was ordained that the enactments of the plebeian Assembly, which were drawn up by the decemvirs and engraved on tablets of brass, should be binding on the whole Roman people. In 445 b.c. marriage between plebeians and patricians was made lawful. In 444 B.C. the plebeian office of Military Tribune was estab- ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS 127 lished, and by way of off-set, the new patrician office of Censor was created. The duties of the censors included matters relat- ing to the census, the collection of taxes, and the supervision of public manners and morals. About the year 400 b.c. the plebeians elected several military tribunes, and in 388 b.c. the Licinian Laws secured to them the political equality for which they had so long contended. War with the Etruscans. — While this class struggle was going on, the Etruscans, weakened by defeats at the hands of the Greeks on the sea, were attacked by the Romans on land. Yeii was captured by the Eoman general Marcus Furius Camil- lus after a siege of ten years. Invasion of the Gauls. — The Eomans joined the Etruscans in attempting to resist the Gauls. . At the Allia, a brook eleven miles north of E-ome, the Koman army was defeated on the 18tli of July, 390 b.c. The invaders under Brennus plundered and burned the city. A story of later date describes the rousing of the garrison in the Capitol by the cackling of the geese, which thus gave warning of the approach of the enemy. Another story represents Brennus as throwing his sword into the scale when the Romans complained of false weight in measuring the ransom, exclaiming as he did so, '•' Woe to the conquered ! " At that moment Camillus appeared and drove the Gauls out of the city. It is at all events certain that the Gauls retired from Eome and that the city was rebuilt without much delay. The Licinian Laws. — The long contest of parties was not unlike the party conflicts in English history. It trained the Romans in a habit of judicious compromise, of perseverance in asserting just claims and of yielding to just demands. The Licinian Laws mark an epoch in the controversy (367 b.c). They made provision for the relief of debtors, for limiting individual holdings of land, for the abolition of the military tribuneship and for the choice of at least one of the two consuls from the plebeians. A new patrician office, the Prae- torship, was founded, the holders of which were to govern in 128 ROME the absence of the consuls. Before the close of the century, the plebeians became eligible to one after another of the- remaining important offices. The patrician order gradually became a social, not a legal, distinction. A new nobility in time arose, made up of both patricians and plebeians, any of whose ancestors had held the curule public office. These were the Optimates, plebeians being in the majority among them. A plebeian commonalty was thus left on a lower social plane, which eventually fell under the control of a new governing class. The Senate became the principal executive body. The condition of the people was improved and the constitution of the army was revised. The sort of army constituted was not to depend on property qualifications. Thereafter there were to be three lines in battle — the first two to carry a short spear {pilum) and the third the long lance (liasta). The Appian Way and Tomb of Cecilia Metella PEEIOD IL — TO THE UNIOIf OF ITALY (304-264 B.C.) CHAPTER XXI CONQUEST or THE LATINS AND ITALIANS (304-282 b.c.) Wars with the Gauls. — Tlie adjustment of tlie conflict of classes enabled the Homans to wage four wars in succession against the Gauls, who had permanently planted themselves in Northern Italy. The last of these ended in a signal victory for the Roman side (367-349). Wars with the Etruscan cities brought the whole of southern Etruria under Roman rule (358-351). First Samnite War. — During the latter part of the period of conflict with the Gauls, the Romans began a struggle with their strong and warlike neighbors, the Samnites, which lasted with intermissions for fifty years. In the first of the Sam- nite wars the Romans gained three notable victories. Valerius Corvus was the hero of the first victory, and the elder Decius Mus of the second. War with the Latins. — During this struggle the Latins dis- puted the title of Rome to the headship of the league. They wanted to escape from their political inferiority. War ensued, and the Romans under the plebeian consul, Decius Mus the younger, and the patrician consul, Titus Manlius, were finally victorious. The league was broken up, the cities became sub- ject to Rome, and colonies of Roman citizens were settled here and there between the conquered cities, in order to make the results of the conquest permanent. The Latin communities no 129 130 KOME longer had any power to act in common. Whatever privileges they possessed were held by them separately. The supremacy of Rome was completely secured. Second Samnite War. — Provoked by the encroachments of the Romans, the Samnites began a second war. At first mis- fortune befell the Roman arms. In the Caudine Pass, in 321, the Roman army was surrounded and was compelled to sur- render. At a later stage of the contest the Romans, under Papirius Cursor and Pabius ]Maxinius, gained a victory at Capua and built the Appian Way, a great military road from Rome to Capua, the remains of which may still be seen (312). The result of the war was favorable to the Romans, in conse- quence of a single victory at Vadimonian Lake in 310, and the capture of Bovianum, the capital of the Samnite league, in 305. Third Samnite War. — Peace was not of long continuance. The Samnites once more armed themselves for a desperate conflict, having on their side the Etruscans, the Umbrians, and the Gauls (300). The Italian peoples which had been at war with one another joined hands in this contest against the common enem}^ A decisive battle was fought at Sentinum, where Decius Mus the younger, following his father's example, devoted himself to death. It resulted in the defeat of the Samnites and of their allies (295). Rome was delivered from the danger of further attacks from the Gauls. Soon after, the Samnite general, Pontius, fell into the hands of the Romans. The Samnites kept up the contest for several years, but in 290 they found that they could hold out no longer. Although vanquished, they were permitted to become allies. The Romans secured themselves by fortresses and by colonies, the most important of which was that of Yenusia, at the boundary of Samnium, Apulia, and Lucania, where they placed twenty thousand colonists. CHAPTER XXII WAR WITH PYRRHUS AND UNION OF ITALY (282-264 b.c.) Tarentum and Pyrrhus. — In the war against the Samnite coalition the Lucanians had rendered decisive support to Rome. Tlie Romans accordingly gave up to the Lucanians the non-Dorian Greek cities east of the Tarentine Gulf. Tarentum, a rich and prosperous Dorian city, viewed this step Avith suspicion. The Lucanians soon became embroiled with the Romans, and in the contest which followed the Romans were victorious ; and having already made themselves masters of central Italy, there were left for them to conquer only the Greek cities on the south. Ten Roman ships came into the harbor of Tarentum while the Tarentines were listening to a play in the theater. Under a sadden impulse of wrath, a mob attacked them and destroyed five. A strong war party was formed, which made an alliance with Pyrrhus, the Greek king of Epirus, who came over with a large army and joined his forces to the Tarentines. Pyrrhus was a relative of Alexander the Great. He was a man of fascinating person and address and a brilliant and famous soldier. He was adventurous, however, and he lacked the coolness and prudence requisite to carry out his great project of building up an Hellenic empire in the western Mediterranean and even to subdue the great Phoenician city of Carthage and its dominions. Events of the War. — The Romans refused to treat with him and put forth every effort to meet the threatened peril. At Heraclea (280 b.c.) the Roman cohort and the Macedonian phalanx met for the first time. It was a stniggle between the 131 132 ROME Greek and the Eomaii for the ascendency. The confusion caused by the elephants of Pyrrhus turned the tide in his favor ; but- after the battle he is said to have exclaimed : "A few more such victories and I am undone." His suggestions of peace were spurned through the influence of the aged Appius Claudius, who begged the Komans to make no peace as long as there was an enemy in Italy. Pyrrhus gained a bloody victory at Ascu- lum (279), and after two years' absence in Sicily he again faced the Komans at Beneventum. In this great battle he was com- pletely vanquished and was compelled to return to Epirus. After his death in 272, Tarentum surrendered to the Romans (in 266). The sway of Rome was established over the whole peninsula. Citizenship. — In order to understand Roman history, it is necessary to have a clear idea of the Roman system in respect to citizenship. All burgesses of Rome enjoyed the same rights. These were both public and private. The private rights of a Roman citizen were (1) the power of legal marriage with the families of all other citizens ; (2) the power of making legal purchases and sales, and of holding property ; and (3) the right to bequeath and inherit property. The public rights were^ (1) the power of voting wherever a citizen was permitted to vote ; (2) the power of being elected to all offices. | Conquered Towns. — "The Roman dominion in Italy was a dominion of a city over cities." With regard to conquered towns there were (1) Municipal cities (^niunicipia), the inhabit- -■ ants of which, when they visited Rome, could exercise all the rights of citizens. (2) Municipal cities which haxl the private, but not the public, rights of citizenship. Some of them chose their own municipal officers, and some did not. (3) Latin Colonies, as they were called. Lands ceded by conquered places were divided among poor Roman citizens, who consti- m tuted the ruling class in the communities to which they were ■ transplanted. In the Latin colonies the citizens had given up their public rights as citizens. (4) Towns of a lower class, called Praefectures. In these the principal magistrate was the WAR WITH PYRRHUS AND UNION OF ITALY 133 Prefect, who was appointed by the Praetor {Praetor Urhanus) at Rome. The Allies (Socii). — These were a more favored class of cities. They had their relation to Eome defined by treaty. Generally they appointed their own magistrates, but Avere bound, as were all subject cities, to furnish auxiliary troops for Eome. The Latin Franchise. — This was the privilege which was first given to the cities of Latium, and then to inhabitants of other places. It was the power, on complying with certain conditions, of gaining full citizenship, and thus of taking part in elections at Eome. Roman Colonies. — The Eoman colony (which is not to be confounded with the Latin colony referred to above) was a small body of Eoman citizens transplanted, with their families, to a spot selected by the government. They formed a military station. To them lands taken from the native inhabitants were given. They constituted the ruling clfiss in the com- munity where they were established. Their government was modeled after the government at Eome. They retained their rights as Eoman burgesses, which they could exercise when- ever they were in that city. By means of these colonies, planted in places wisely chosen, Italy was kept in subjection. The colonies were connected together by roads. The Appian Way, from Eome to Capua, was built in square stones, laid on a platform of sand and mortar. In later times the Eoman Empire was traversed in all directions by similar roads. PEEIOD III — THE PUNIO WAKS TO THE CONQUEST OF CARTHAGE AND OF THE GREEK STATES (264-146 B.C.) CHAPTER XXm THE FIRST AND SECOND PUNIC WARS (264-202 b.c.) The First Punic War. — Having accomplished the union of Italy, Rome turned her attention to the great commercial state of Carthage, her rival power in the west, which was advancing steadily to the control of all that portion of the Mediterranean. Sicily, from its situation between the two states, could hardly fail to furnish the occasion of a conflict between them. The Mamertines, a set of Campanian pirates, had captured Messana. They were attacked by Hiero II., King of Syracuse. A part of them besought help of the Romans, and a part applied to the Carthaginians. The Romans granted the request, crossed the channel in ships furnished by their southern Italian allies, and drove the Carthaginian garrison from Messana. The Cartha- ginians declared war (264). Hiero Avas gained over to the side of the Romans, and after a blood}^ conflict they captured Agrigentum. The Romans had begun as early as 311 to create a fleet, but they were still novices on the sea, where the Carthaginians were supreme. With characteristic energy, however, they set about strengthening their naval forces, and, though at first defeated, they Avon a great naA^al victory at Mylae in 200. An invasion of Africa Avas then determined upon. At Ecnomus the Cartlia- 134 THE FIRST AND SECOND PUNIC WARS 135 A EoMAN "Wakship giniaii fleet was vaDquished by the Roman vessels under the command of the consul, M. Atilius Regulus. After landing at Clypea, the Romans ravaged the adjacent district, but one of the consuls, Manlius, was unwisely recalled by the Senate, and with a large part of the troops re- turned to Rome, leaving Regulus in possession, with fifteen thou- sand men. At Tu- nis, in 255, he was defeated and cap- tured. The story of his embassy to Rome with the Carthaginian offer of peace, of his advising the Senate not to accept it, of his voluntary return according to promise, and of his cruel death at the hands of his captors, is probably an invention of a later time. Hasdrubal, the Carthaginian general, was defeated at Panor- mus (251), but, two years later, at Drepanum the Romans were vanquished on sea and on land. Hamilcar Barcas maintained his position in the south of Sicily and gained temporary suc- cesses for the Carthaginian arms on the water; but in 241 Hanno, in command of the Carthaginian fleet, was overcome by C. Lutatius Catalus off the Aegates Islands. The Cartha- ginians, whose naval supremacy was once more lost, were forced to conclude peace. They gave up all claim to Sicily and the neighboring snjall islands. They were to pay an indemnity equal to four million dollars in ten years. The western part of Sicily became- the first Roman province. Conquest of Cisalpine Gaul. — While the Carthaginians were engaged in putting down a revolt of their mercenary troops, the Romans extorted from them a cession of the island of Sardinia. By the conquest of the Illyrian pirates, Roman 136 ROME sway in the Adriatic was secured. Then Eome was threat- ened by the advance of the Cisalpine Gauls, Avho called in the help of the Transalpine Gauls, and entered Etruria with sev- enty thousand men. At Telamon the invaders were routed with great loss (255), and the Konians, marching northward, subdued the Insubrians, the most powerful of the Gallic tribes. Their capital, Mediolanum (Milan), became subject to the Roman rule. Later, Cisalxjine Gaul became a Roman province. Carthaginians in Spain. — Carthage, under Hamilcar and his three sons, was, in the meantime, ))uilding up a flourishing dominion on the south and east coasts of Spain. The Ro- mans compelled Hasdrubal, the son-in-law of Hamilcar, to declare in a treaty that the Ebro should be the limit of Carthaginian conquests (22G). Rome also made a protective alliance with Saguntum, a rich and powerful trading city on the south of that river. Hasdrubal was murdered in 221 ; and the army chose as their general the son of Hamilcar Barcas, Hannibal, who was then only twenty-eight years old. Laying hold of a pretext, he attacked Saguntum and captured it after a stout resistance which lasted for eight months (219). Rome thereupon declared war. The Second Punic War. — When the treaty of Catulus, which ended the first Punic War, was made (241), all patriots at Carthage felt that it was only a truce. They must have seen that Rome would never be satisfied with anything short of the abject submission of so detested and danger- ous a rival. There was a peace party, an oligarchy, at Carthage ; and it Avas their selfishness which ultimately brought ruin upon the state. But the party which saw that the only safety was in aggressive action, found a military leader in Hannibal, — a leader not surpassed, and perhaps not equaled, by any other general of ancient or modern times. He combined skill with daring, and had such command over men that under the heaviest reverses his influence was not broken. If he was cruel, it is doubtful whether he went be- THE FIRST AND SECOND PUNIC WARS 137 yoncl the practices sanctioned by the international la\y of the time and by Eoman example. When a boy nine years old, at his father's reqnest, he had sworn upon the altar never to be the friend of the Eoman people. That father he saw fall in battle at his side. The oath he kept, for Eome never had a more unyielding or a more powerful enemy. Hannibal in Italy. — In the summer of 218, Hannibal crossed the Ebro, pushed into Gaul, and made his memora- ble march over the Alps, probably by the Avay now known as the Little St. Ber- nard Pass. Through ice and snow, amid perpetual con- flicts with the rough moun- taineers, his army of fifty thousand foot, twelve thou- sand horse, and thirty-seven elephants, made its terrible jour- ney into northern Italy. Half the troops, with all the draught animals and beasts of burden, perished on the way. At Tici- nus, however, the valiant Eoman consul, Cornelius Scipio, was defeated in a cavalry battle, and his colleague, Sempronius, was routed with great loss on the Trebia. The Cisalpine Gauls joined Hannibal, who flanked the Eomans by marching through the swampy district of the Arno, and completely defeated the consul, Elaminius, in the battle of Lake Trasu- menus (217). The Eoman army of thirty thousand men was slaughtered and made prisoners, and Flaminius himself w^as killed. Hannibal moved towards Eome. When wuthin a few days' march from the city, he turned eastward. His constant aim was to drive the allies of Eome into revolt. In this effort he ^(t2JIe6) 138 KOMK signally failed of success. The undaunted Eomans appointed Quintus Fabius Maximus dictator. His x^olicy was to follow and watch his enemy, inflicting what injuries he could, but avoiding a pitched battle. This wise and effective policy gained for him the title of the Cunctator (Delayer), and he was therefore recalled at the instance of the impatient Roman populace. The consulship was then given to Paulus and Varro. The latter precipitated a battle at Cannae (216), where the E-omans suffered the most terrible defeat they had ever experienced. At the lowest computation they lost forty thousand foot and three thousand horse, with the consul Paulus and eighty men of senatorial rank. lUit the Senate did not lose heart. They mustered out all who could bear arms, including boys and even slaves. They put into their hands weapons from the temples, the spoils of former victo- ries. Hannibal, however, did not immediately attack Rome. Had he done so, what might have been the course of European history ? Even the Roman schooll)oys in later days discussed the question whether he did not make a mistake in turning aside to capture ( -apua, the second city in Italy. There he went into winter quarters, and his army was in a measure enervated by pleasure and vice. The Carthaginians made x)owerful alliances. Philip of Macedon promised to send a force into Italy (215 b.c). Syracuse revolted, and Carthaginian troops were sent over to Sicily. But fortune turned in favor of the Romans. At Nola, Hannibal was defeated by Marcellus (215), who crossed into Sicily, and after a siege of three years cap- tured Syracuse, which had been aided in its defense by the philosopher Archimedes. Capua surrendered to Rome, Han- nibal's allies forsook him, and his only reliance was on his brother in Spain, where the Roman cause was successfully maintained for a long time by the two l)rothers Publius and Cnaeus Sci})io. I)ut they were finally defeated and slain (212). Scipio : Zama. — The failure of Hannibal's great crusade against Rome was owing to a combination of causes. One was the miserablv factious condition of Carthage itself, and THE FIRST AND SECOND PUNIC WARS 139 Scipio {Naples) the denial of adequate lielp and of confidence to its great gen- eral. Another cause was the impossibility of shattering the Eoman alliances in Italy. A third cause has been shown to be the fact that the command of the sea was to so great an extent in the hands of the Eomans. He could not keep open communica- tions by water with Spain, his most Valuable base of supplies. The same cause prevented Philip of Macedon from transporting troops to Italy. Publius Corne- lius Scipio, son of one and nephew of the other Scipio named above, a young man twenty-five years old, and a popular favorite, was given the command, and gained important successes ; but he could not keep Hasdrubal from going to his brother's assistance in Italy. The Romans, however, were able to prevent a junc- tion of his force with that of Hannibal; and Hasdrubal was vanquished and slain by them in the battle of Sena Gallica, near the little river Metaurus (207). Scipio expelled the Carthaginians from Spain, and, having returned to Kome, was made consul (205). His plan was to in- vade Africa. He landed on the coast, and was joined by Masinissa, the King of Numidia, who had been driven from his throne by Syphax, the ally of Car- thage. The defeat of the Carthagin- ians, and the danger of Carthage itself, led to the recall of Hannibal, who was defeated, in 202, by Scipio in the decisive battle of Zama. Carthage made peace, giving up all her Spanish possessions and islands in the Medi- Ballista (A Military Engine) 140 ROME terranean, handing over the kingdom of Syphax to Masinissa, and agreeing to pay a yearly tribute equal to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for fifty years, to destroy all her ships of war but ten, and to make no war without the consent of the Romans (201). Scipio Africanus, as he was termed, came back in triumph to Eome. The complete subjugation of Upper Italy followed (200-101). Sicily and Spain. — The prospect of any successful resist- ance to Roman rule in the west was now at an end. The entire island of Sicily was incorporated in the Roman prov- ince. In Spain two provinces were constituted, but military contests of long continuance were required finally to quell the spirit of revolt among the native tribes. The Roman legionaries engaged in these struggles frequently married Spanish wives and remained in the country. The capture of Numantia in 133 b.c. put an end to the last possible in- surrection against Roman authority. Tkiumpu of a General CHAPTER XXIV CONQUEST OF MACEDONIA; THE THIRD PUNIC WAR; THE DESTRUCTION OF CORINTH (202-146 b.c.) Philip III.; Antiochus III. — The Eomans^ now dominant in the west, tnrned their attention to the affairs of the east, where they had formed connections, principally commercial, with dif- ferent states. Their policy was to protect Greek communities, and to prevent the growth of any kingdom that might bring danger to themselves. They engaged in a war with Philip III. of Macedonia, who had made an alliance with Hannibal, and whose ambitious schemes occasioned anxiety. In 197 Philip was defeated at Cynoscephalae in Epirus by the Roman army under T. Quintius Elamininus. The Greek cities were declared independent ; but when they found that their freedom was more nominal than real, the Aetolians took up arms and obtained the support of the king of Syria, Antiochus III. This prince, with whom Hannibal as a fugitive had taken refuge, was not wise enough to follow the advice of the great Carthaginian as to the conduct of the war. He was accordingly vanquished at Magnesia by L. Cornelius Scipio and Scipio Africanus. He was forced to give up all his Asiatic possessions as far as the Taurus Mountains. Seven years afterwards (183) Hannibal, who had taken refuge at the court of Prusias, king of Bithynia, finding that he was to be betrayed, took poison, and died. Perseus. — At Pydna (168 b.c.) the Romans defeated Per- seus, who had renewed the war begun by his father Philip. This victory marked an epoch in the progress of the Roman power in the east. Perseus himself, who had sat on the 141 THE ROMAN EMPIRE SCALE OF MILES 10 '' Long-itude East 4 POATESENGH'S I 144 ROME throne of Alexander, was led in triumpli through the Roman streets. The cantons of Cxreece were made subject to Kome. One thousand Achaeans of distinction, among them the his- torian Polybius, were carried to Italy and kept there for many years. The imperious spirit of Rome, ^ and the deference accorded to her, is illustrated in the interview of C. Popilius Laenas, who delivered to Antiochus TV. of Syria a letter of the Senate, directing him to retire before Alexandria. When that monarch replied that he would confer with his counselors on the matter, the haughty Roman drew a circle round him on the ground, and bade him decide before he shoidd cross that line. Antiochus said he would do as the Senate ordered. The Third Punic War. — The Carthaginians took up arms against Masinissa, who served Rome as his suzerain. This act the Romans construed as a breach of treaty. They were still anxious lest the old enemy should recover strength. The stern old senator, M. Porcius Cato, had for a long while contended that Carthage should be destroyed. War ,,.pL.-u^ ,i|^"-^^^ /^^^^^ ^^ '^^ accordingly declared : and although the Romans were at hrst unable to re- sist the patriotic frenzy of the devoted Cartha- KuMAN Helmets giuiaus, they at length captured the city and de- stroyed it (146). The defenders fought from street to street and house to house. Only a tenth of them were left alive, and these were sold into slavery. The victorious P. Scipio Aemili- anus would have spared the city, but the Senate was inexor- able. The territory of Carthage became the Roman province of Africa. Destruction of Corinth. — The atrocious crime of the destruc- tion of Carthage was more than matched by the contempo- raneous destruction of Corinth. Greece, as of old, was torn by the conflict of factions. Macedonia had become a Roman DESTRUCTION OF CORINTH 145 province in 146, but an anti-E-oman party grew in strength, and helped to bring on a war with the Achaean League, whose growth and spirit were watched by the Senate with suspicion. After a victory at Leucopetra, the consul L. Mum- mius occupied Corinth. Men were put to the sword, women and children were sold at auction, the treasures of art were carried off to E-ome, and the city was consigned to the flames. All the native confederacies were broken u^^, and, after the usual fashion, the cities were as far as possible disconnected from one another. At a later date Greece became a Eoman province under the name of Achaia. Literature and Philosophy. — The intercourse of the Eomans with the Greeks opened to the former a new world of art, literature, and philosophy. Eoman poets began to write in imitation of Greek models. Such were Plautus (who died in 184), and the less original, but more refined Terence (185- 159), who had been the slave of a senator. Ennius (239-169), a Calabrian Greek, wrote epics, and also tragedies and come- dies. Him the later Eomans regarded as the father of their literature. The beginnings of historical writing — which go beyond mere chronicles and family histories — appear, as in the lost work on Eoman history by M. Porcius Cato (Cato the Censor, 284-149). The great historian of this period, how- ever, was the Greek Polybius. The introduction of the Greek philosophy was opposed by such austere conservatives as Cato. The Stoic teaching was, however, adapted to the Eoman mind, and the Platonic philosophy as well as the Epicurean found many adherents. The State of Morals. — The conquest of the East brought an amazing increase of wealth. The optimates left their small dwellings for stately palaces, and built country villas sur- rounded by extensive grounds and beautiful gardens. The women indulged in lavish display, and plunged into gaieties inconsistent with household virtues. Slaves multiplied, and the race of farmers dwindled. The seeds of demoralization and decay were planted. 146 ROME Numantian War. — Such being the condition of things at home, it often happened that the oppression of the colonies provoked resistance. Many of the peoples of Spain carried on a vigorous and prolonged contest with the Romans, in which many marked successes w^ere gained by the patriots. It was in 133 that Scipio Africanus Aemilianus captured the impor- tant city of Xumantia, which brought the war to an end. Pergamon. — In the East the Romans found greater subserv- ience. Attains III., King of Pergamon, an ally of Rome, left his kingdom and treasures, by will, to the Roman people. They detached Phrygia Major and gave it to Mithridates lY., King of Pontus, who had helped them to subdue the feeble opposition of the disai^pointed heir of Attains. Roman Lakdeb {Fresco at Uerculaiieum) PEKIOD lY. — THE EEA OF EEYOLUTION AND OP THE CIVIL WAKS (146-31 B.C.) CHAPTER XXV THE GRACCHI; THE FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAR; MARIUS AND SULLA (146-78 b.c.) Condition of Rome. — The Licinian Laws (p. 127) had pro- vided for a system of internal economy designed to improve the condition of the poor and to limit the power of the rich. Had they been carried out, the situation would not have been what it actually was. Their adoption was followed by an era of internal strife. The power of the Senate was more and more exalted. The chief officers were drawn from a small circle of rich families, and the gulf between the poor and the rich was constantly widening. Slaves furnished labor at the cost of bare subsistence, and it was hard for a poor man to earn a living. Tiberius Gracchus. — Tiberius Gracchus, the son of Cornelia, vfho was the daughter of the great Scipio Africanus, proposed to limit the amount of public land which any one man could hold and to divide a portion of it among poor citizens. His plan was adopted through the passage of the Agrarian Laws, in spite of the bitter opposition of the nobility (133). In order to gain his end he had taken several steps of doubtful consti- tutionality, and the optimates succeeded in stirring up the people so that an infuriated mob slew him and three hundred of his followers. 147 148 ROME Caius Gracchus. — The laws of Cams Gracchus, the brother of Tiberius, Avere of a more sweex^iiig character. They were aimed directly against the Senate, which stood in the way of the passage of laws for the benefit of the poorer citizens. He caused measures to be passed, and colonies to be sent out, by decrees of the people, without any action of that body. He renewed the agrarian law, and caused a law to be passed for selling corn for less than the cost to all citizens who should apply for it. He also caused it to be ordained that juries should be taken from the knights, the Equites, instead of the Senate. These were composed of rich men. The tendency of the law would be to make the equestrian order distinct, and thus to divide the aristocracy. The proposal (122), which was not passed, to extend the franchise to the Latins, and per- haps to the Italians, cost him his popularity, although the measure was just. The Senate gave its support to a rival tribune, M. Livius Drusus, who outbid Gracchus in the con- test for popular favor. In 121 Gracchus was not made tribune. In the disorder that followed he, with several hundred of his followers, was killed by the optimates, and before long most of his enactments were reversed. The law for the cheap sale of corn, the most unwise of his measures, continued. The Jugurthine War. — Jugurtha, the adopted son of the King of Numidia, wishing the kingdom for himself, killed one of the sons of the late king and made war upon the other. The surviving son, whose father had been an ally of Eome, apjjealed to the Romans for help. The commission sent out by the Sen- ate was bribed by Jugurtha, who was not summoned to Home until he had taken the city of Cirta and had put his rival to death. War was declared against him, but he succeeded in bribing the generals, so that little was effected. Quintus Me- tellus defeated Jugurtha in 108, but the people insisted on giving the chief command to Caius Marius (107), the son of a peasant, wild and rough in his manners, but of extraordinary talents as a soldier. Jugurtha was overcome by Marius and was delivered into the hands of one of his generals, L. Corne- DEFEAT OF THE BARBAEIANS 149 lius Sulla, by a prince with whom he had taken refuge. Ma- rius, who had now become the leader of the popular party, entered Eome in triumph, Jugurtha and his two sons marching in chains before the triumphal car. The Cimbri and Teutones. — The power of Marius was aug- mented by his victories over the Cimbri and the Teutones. These were hordes of barbarians who appeared in the Alpine regions, the Cimbri being either Celts, or, like the Teutones, Germans. The Cimbri crossed the Alps in 113 and defeated a Eoman consul. They turned westward towards the Rhine, traversed Gaul in different directions, defeating through a series of years the Eoman armies that were sent against them. These defeats the democratic leaders ascribed, not without reason, to the corrupt management of the aristocratic party. In 103 the Cimbri and the Teutones arranged for a combined attack on Italy. Marius was made consul ; and in order to meet this threatened invasion, which justly excited the great- est anxiety, he was chosen to this office five times in succession (104-100). He repulsed the attack of the barbarians on his camp, and before they could unite defeated them separately in two great battles, the first at Aquae Sextiae (Aix in Pro- vence) in 103, and the second at Vercellae, in Upper Italy, in 101. These successes, which really saved Eome, made Marius for the time the idol of the popular party. The Army. — At about this time a great change took place in the constitution of the army. The occupation of a soldier had become a trade. Besides the levy of citizens, a recruiting sys- tem was established, which drew into the ranks the idle and lazy, and a system of reenforcements, by which cavalry and light-armed troops were taken from subject and vassal states. Thus there arose a military class, distinct, as it had not been of old, from the civil orders, and ready to act separately when its own interest or the ambition of favorite leaders might prompt. Saturninus. — Marius lacked the judgment and the firmness required by a statesman, especially in troublous times. When 150 KOME Satiirniniis and Glaiicia brought forward a series of measures of a radical character iu behalf of the democratic cause, and the consul Metellus, who opposed them, was obliged to go into voluntary exile, Marius, growing ashamed of the factious and violent proceedings of the popular party, was partially won over to the support of the Senate. When C. Memmius, candi- date for consul, was killed with bludgeons by the mob of Satur- ninus and Glaucia, and there was fighting in the Forum and the streets, he helped to put down these reckless innovators (99). But his want of hearty cooperation with either party made him hated by both. Metellus was recalled from ban- ishment. Marius went to Asia and visited the court of Mithridates. The Murder of Drusus. — Nearly ten years of comparative quiet ensued. The long-continued complaints of the Italians found at last a voice in the measures of M. Livius Drnsus, a tribune, who, in 91, proposed that they should have the right of citizenship. Two other propositions, one referring to the relations of the equites and the Senate, and the other for a new division of lands, had been accepted by the people, but Avere by the Senate declared null. Before Drusus could bring forward the law respecting Italian citizenship, he was assassi- nated. Neither Senate nor people was favorable to this right- eous measure. The Italian or Social War (90-88 B.C.). — The murder of Drusus was the signal for an insurrection 'of the Italian com- munities. They organized for themselves a federal rejmblic. The peril occasioned by this great revolt reconciled for the moment the contending parties at Rome. In the north, where Marius and Sulla fought, the Romans were partially success- ful ; in the south the allies were at first superior ; but in 89, by means of Sulla's bold forays, they were worsted. But the revolt had threatened to subvert the power of Rome, and it was by policy, more than by arms, that it was subdued. The Romans promised full citizenship to those who had not taken part in the war, and to those who would at once cease to take MAKIUS AND SULLA 151 part in it (90). Finally, when it was plain that Rome was too strong to be overcome, the conflict was ended by granting to the allies all that they had ever claimed (89). Eome had now made all Italy (south of Cisalpine Gaul) except the Samnites and Lucanians equal with herself. But Italy had been ravaged by desolating war; the number of small proprietors was more than ever diminished, and the army and the generals were becoming the predominant force in the affairs of the state. War with Mithridates. — Mithridates V., styled Mithridates the Great, King of Pontus, in the northeast of Asia Minor, was as ardent an enemy of the Eomans as Hannibal had been. With the help of his son-in-law, Tigranes, King of Armenia, he had subdued the neighboring kings in alliance with Eome. The Asiatic states, who were ruled by the Eomans, were impa- tient of the oppression under which they groaned. When checked by the Eomans, Mithridates had paused for a while, and then had resumed again his enterprise of conquest. The conflict with him was precipitated by the folly and arrogance of a Eoman envoy. In 88 the Grecian cities of Asia joined him; and, in obedience to his brutal order, all the Italians within their walls — not less than eighty thousand, but possi- bly almost double that number — were put to death in one day. The whole dominion of the Eomans in the East was in jeopardy. Marius and Sulla. — Sulla was elected consul in 88, and was on the point of departing for Asia. He was a soldier of marked talents, a representative of the aristocratic party, and was more cool and consistent in his public conduct than Marius. Marius desired the command against Mithridates for himself. P. Sulpicius, one of his adherents, brought for- ward a revolutionary law for incorporating the Italians and freed men among the thirty-five tribes. The populace, under the guidance of the leaders of the Marian faction, voted to take away the command from Sulla, and to give it to Marius. Sulla refused to submit, and marched his army to Eome. It was impossible to resist him; Sulpicius was killed in his 152 ROME flight; Mariiis escaped from Italy, and, intending to go to Africa, was landed at Minturnae. To escape pursuit, he had to stand up to the chin in a marsh. He was put in prison, and a Gaulish slave was sent to kill him. But when he saw the flashiug eyes of the old general, and heard him cry, •' Fellow, darest thou kill Caius Marius ? " he dropped his sword and ran. Marius crossed to Africa. Messengers, who were sent to warn him to go away, found him sitting among the ruins of Carthage. The Marians in Rome. — Sulla restored the authority of the Senate. In his absence Cinna, the consul of the popular party, sought to revive the laws of Sulpicius by violent means (87). Having been driven out of the city, Cinna re- turned with the aged Marius and took vengeance on the lead- ers of the optimates. After five days of slaughter Marius and Cinna were made consuls, and Sulla was declared to be de- posed. In the same year Marius died with the curse of all parties resting upon him. Sulla, in the meantime, was labor- ing to secure the cause of his coimtry abroad. In 86 he captured Athens, and by defeating the general of Mithridates at Chaeronea, and by a second victory soon after, he forced that king to conclude peace upon terms most advantageous to Eome. Sulla was now free to return home. In 83 he landed at Brundisium, and was joined by Cnaeus Pompeius, with a troop of volunteers. Sulla issued a proclamation assuring the Ital- ians that their rights would not be impaired. Although the army of the consuls was larger than his own, and was reen- forced by the Marians, Sulla gained a signal victory and became supreme in Rome. He wreaked vengeance on his enemies by massacres more direful than Eome had ever witnessed. His cruelty appeared to spring from no heat of passion, but was cold and shameless. The Laws of Sulla. — In his character as dictator, a station to which, by his command, the people elected him, Sulla re- made the constitution, striking out the popular elements to a SULLA 153 great extent, and concentrating authority in the Senate. The tribunes were stripped of most of their power. The Senate alone coukl propose laws. The places in the juries were given back to the senators (p. 148). Besides these and other like changes the right of suffrage was bestowed on ten thousand emancipated slaves ; while Italians and others, who had been on the Marian side, were deprived of it. Having held his office about three years, he laid it down, and withdrew to his country estate, where he gave himself up to amusements and sensual pleasure. A part of his time — for he was not with- out a taste for literature — he devoted to the writing of his memoirs, which, however, have not come down to us. He died in 78, a year after his retirement. Roman Standards CHAPTER XXVI POMPEIUS AND THE EAST; TO THE DEATH OF CRASSUS (78-53 B.C.) War with Sertorius. — Xot many years after Sulla's death, his reforms were amiulled. This was largely through the agency of Cnaeus Pompeius, who had supported Sulla, but was not a uniform or consistent adherent of the aristocratic party. He did not belong to an old family, but had so distinguished himself that Sulla gave him a triumph. Later he rose to still higher distinction by his conduct of the war in Spain against Sertorius, a brave and able man of the Marian party, wdio w^as supported there for a long time by a union of Spaniards and Romans. Xot until jealousy arose among his officers, and Sertorius was assassinated, was the formidable rebellion put down (72). The Gladiatorial War. — Pom- peius had the opportunity still further to distinguish himself on his w^ay back from Spain. The gladiators in Italy — the men who were trained in schools for the fights of the amphitheater — rose in large numbers under a gallant leader, Spartacus, a Thracian slave. They were reinforced by a host of brigands and slaves, defeated the Roman generals, and threatened Rome itself. For two years they rav- aged Italy at their will. They were vanquished by Marcus Crassus in 71, in two battles, in the last of which Spartacus fell. The remnant of them, a body of five thousand men, wdio had nearly reached the Alps, were annihilated by Pompeius. 154 Gladiators {Mosaic in the 3Tadrid Library) POMPEIUS AND THE EAST 155 Pompeius ; Crassus ; Cicero. — Crassus was a man of great wealth and of much shrewdness. Pompeius was bland and dignified in his ways, a valiant, though sometimes over-cau- tious, general. These two men, in 70 b.c, became consuls. They had resolved to throw themselves for support on the middle class at Eome. Pompeius, sustained by his colleague, secured the abrogation of some of the essential changes made by Sulla. The trib- unes received back their powers, and the independence of the Assembly of the Tribes was restored. The absolute power of the Senate over the law courts was taken away. These measures were car- ried in spite of the resistance of that body. Pompeius was aided by the great ad- vocate, Marcus Tul- lius Cicero. He was born at Arpinum in 106 B.C., of an eques- trian family. He had been a diligent stu- dent of law and politics, and also of the Greek philosophy, and aspired to distinction in civil life. He studied rhetoric under Molo, first at Rome and then at Rhodes, during a period of absence from Italy which continued about two years. On his return (in 77 b.c.) he resumed legal practice. Cicero was a man of extraordinary and various talents, and a patriot, sin- cerely attached to the republican constitution. His political CiCEKU {Capitoline Museum, Rome) 156 ROME sympathy was with the numerous middle class in Italy. He was equally averse to the extreme party in favor of the con- servative oligarchy and to the supporters of a purely demo- cratic ride. He was humane and sensitive, and much more a man of peace than his eminent contemporaries. His foibles, the chief of which was the love of praise, were on the surface ; and, if he lacked some of the robust qualities of the great Koman leaders of that day, he was likewise free from some of their sins. The captivating oratory of Cicero found a field for its exercise in the impeachment of Verres, whose rapacity, as Roman gov- ernor of Sicily, had fairly desolated that wealthy lU'ovince. Cicero sliowed such vigor in the prosecution that Verres was driven into exile. This event weakened the senatorial oli- garchy, and helped Tompeius in his contest with it. War with the Pirates. — In 65 b.c. Pompeius retired from office; but two years later he assumed command in the war against the pirates. These had taken possession of creeks and valleys in western Cilicia and Pamphylia, and had numerous fleets. Not con- fining their depredations to the sea, they plundered the coasts of Italy, and stopped the corn ships on which Eome depended for food. Pompeius under- took to exterminate this piratical community. P>y the Gabinian Law, he was clothed with more power than had ever been committed to an individual. He was to have absolute command over the Medi- terranean and its coasts for fifty miles inland. He used this unlimited authority for war purposes alone, and in three months completely accomplished the work assigned him. He captured three thousand vessels, and put to death ten thousand men. Twenty thousand captives he settled in the interior of Cilicia, Merchant Ship POMPEIUS AND THE EAST 157 Pompeius in the East. — The success of Pompeius was the prelude to a wider extension of his power and his popularity. After the return of Sulla from the East, another Mithridatic War (83-81), the second in the series, had ended in the same terms of peace that had been agreed upon before (p. 152). In 74 the contest began anew against Mithridates, and Tigranes of Armenia, his son-in-law. For a number of years Lucullus, the Eoman commander, was successful ; but finally Mithri- dates regained what he had lost, and kept up his aggressive course. In 66 B.C., on a motion that was supported by Cicero, in the speech for the Manilian Law, but opposed by the aris- tocratic party in the Senate, Pompeius was made commander in the East for an indefinite term. So extensive powers had. never before been committed to a Eoman. He drove Mithri- dates out of Pontus into Armenia. Tigranes laid his crown at the feet of the Eoman general, and was permitted to retain Armenia. Mithridates fled be- yond the Caucasus, and, in 63 B.C., committed suicide. Pom- peius overthrew the Syrian king- dom of the Seleucide. He en- BAxxEKma eam tered Judea, captured Jerusalem from Aristobulus, the reigning prince, and placed his brother Hyrcanus on the throne, who became tributary to Eome. Pom- peius, with his officers, entered the sanctuary of the temple, and was surprised to find there neither image nor statue. He established in the Eoman territories in Asia the two provinces PoDtus and Syria, and reorganized the province of Cilicia. Several kingdoms he allowed to remain under Eoman protec- tion. After this unexampled exercise of power and responsi- bility as the disposer of kingdoms, he slowly returned to Italy, dismissed his army at Brundisium, and entered the capital as a private citizen, where, in 61 b.c, he enjoyed a magnificent triumph that lasted for two days. Such a triumph was the most coveted reward of a victorious general. It was a splen- did public celebration, including a procession through the 158 ROME streets of Rome, in which the victor appeared in a chariot drawn by four horses, wearing a wreath of lanrel npon his brow. ,. Conspiracy of Catiline. — Tlie Roman state had in the mean- time been endangered by a combination of democrats and anarchists in tlie conspiracy of Catiline, an unprincipled poli- tician of patrician birth, and a bankrupt. His following was made up of the disaffected of every class. The plot was well contrived, but the vigilance of Cicero detected his plan. He delivered four celebrated speeches, two to the Senate and two to the people, by the first of which he compelled the conspirator to fly from Rome. The next year Catiline was killed in battle, and his followers were dispersed by the army of the Senate. Cicero was afterwards exiled, as the result of the return of party feeling, for departing from the letter of the law in the execution of some of the conspirators. Julius Caesar. — Another person strong enough to be the rival of Pompeius was now on the stage of action. This was Cains Julius Caesar, who proved himself to be, on the whole, the foremost man of the ancient Roman world. Caesar's talents were versatile, but in nothing was he weak or superficial. He was great as a general, a statesman, an orator, and an author. AVith as much power of personal command over men as Han- nibal had possessed, he was likewise an agreeable companion of men of letters and in general society. Everything he did he appeared to do with ease. He was of patrician birth, and by his family connections he was naturally designed as the leader of the popular Marian party. He was the nephew of Marius, and the son-in-law of Cinna. Sulla had spared his life, although he had courageously refused to obey the dicta- tor's command to put away his wife ; but he had been obliged to leave Rome. At the funeral of Julia, the widow of Marius, he had been bold enough to exhibit the bust of that hero, — an act that involved. risk, but pleased the multitude. He was suspected of being privy to Catiline's plot, but not on good grounds, although in the Senate he spoke against the execu- POMPEIUS AND THE EAST 169 tion of the conspirators. In 65 he was elected aedile, but his prof ase expenditures in providing games plunged him heavily in debt ; so that it was only by advances made to him by Crassus that he was able, after being praetor, to go to Spain (in 61), where, as propraetor, he first acquired military dis- tinction. Prior to his sojourn in Spain, by his bold political con- duct, in opposition to the Senate, and on the democratic side, he had made himself a favor- ite of the people. The First Triumvi- rate. — Pompeius was distrusted and feared by the Senate ; but, on seeing that he took no measures to seize on power at Kome, they proceeded to thwart his wishes, and denied the expected allotments of land to his troops. The circumstances led to the formation of the first Triumvirate, which was an informal alliance between Pompeius, Caesar, and Crassus, against the senatorial oligarchy, and for the protection and furtherance of their own interests. Caesar became consul in 59 B.C. He gave his daughter Julia in marriage to Pom- peius. Gaul, both Cisalpine and Transalpine (Gallia Narbo- nensis), was given to Caesar to govern for five years. Cato was sent off, ostensibly on public business, but really to get him out of the way. Cicero, who was midway between the two parties, was exiled on motion of the radical tribune Clodius. Caesar {Vatican Museum, Rome] 160 ROME But the independent a,nd violent proceedings of this demagogue led Pompeius to cooperate more with the Senate. Cicero was recalled (57b.c.). A jealousy, fomented by the Senate, sprang up between Pompeius and Crassus. By Caesar's efforts, a better understanding was brought about between the triumvirs, and it was agreed that his own proconsulship should be pro- longed for a second term of five years. Pompeius received the S pains, and Crassus, who was avaricious, was made proconsul of Syria, and commander of the armies in the oriental prov- inces. In an expedition against the Parthians, in 53, he perished. Caesar in Gaul. — Caesar's Coynmentaries give an admirable narrative of his campaigns in Gaul. The Gauls were for the most part Celts. In Gaul proper there were three general divisions of people, the Belgae, the Galli, and the Aquitani. In Switzerland there were the Helvetii and Vindelici. Caesar's first victory was in conflict with the Helvetii. Ariovistus, a German chief, crossed the Ehine, but was driven back by Caesar, to whom the Gallic tribes applied for help. Caesar's Gallic allies feared his power, however, and they stirred up the Belgae, whom Caesar thereupon subdued. Twice he crossed the Rhine {^^ and 53 b.c), and twice he landed in Britain {p5 and 54 b.c). In 52, he quelled a general insurrection of the Gauls, under the gallant Yercingetorix. The subjugation of Gaul, after eight years of warfare, placed a barrier in the way of the advance of the Germans. Caesar " laid the foundation for the Romanization of the West," and delayed for centuries the great inroads of the barbarian peoples. His fame to some extent eclipsed the glory which Pompeius had gained in the East. He had become the leader also of veteran legions who were devoted to his interests. CHAPTER XXVII POMPEIUS AND CAESAR: THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE The Civil War. — The rupture between Pompeius and Caesar brought on another civil war, and subverted the Roman repub- lic. They were virtually regents. The triumvirs had arranged with one another for the partition of power. The death of Crassus took away a link of connection which had united the two survivors. The death of Julia, the beautiful daughter of Caesar, in 54 b.c, had previously dissolved another tie. Pom- peius contrived to remain in Rome, and to govern Spain by legates. Each of the two rivals had his active and valiant partisans in the city. The spoils of Gaul were sent to be expended in the erection of costly buildings and in providing entertain- ments for the populace. To Pompeius, in turn, Rome owed the construction of the first stone theater, which was dedicated with unprecedented show and splendor. Bloody conflicts be- tween armed bands of adherents of the two leaders were of daily occurrence. Clodius, an adherent of Caesar and a reck- less partisan, was slain by Milo in a conflict on the Appian Way. The Senate and the republicans, of whom Cato was the chief, in order to curb the populace, and out of enmity to Caesar, allied themselves with Pompeius. It was determined to pre- vent him from standing as a candidate for the consulship un- less he should lay down his command and come to Rome. He offered to resign his military power if Pompeius would do the same. This was refused. Finally he was directed to give up his command in Gaul before the expiration of the time which had been set for the termination of it. This order, if carried 161 162 KOME into effect, Avould have reduced him to the rank of a private citizen, and have left him at the mercy of his enemies. The tribunes, including his devoted supporter, Marcus Antonius, in vain interposed the veto, and fled from the city. Caesar de- termined to disobey the order of the Senate. His legions — two had been withdrawn on the false pretext of needing them for the Parthian War — clung to him, with the exception of one able officer, T. Labienus. Caesar acted wdth great prompti- tude. He crossed the Eubicon, the boundary of the Gallic Cisalpine province, before Pompeius — Avho had declared that with a stamp of his foot he could call up armed men from the ground — had made adequate preparations to meet him. The strength of Pompeius was mainly in the East, the scene of his former glory ; and he was, perhaps, not unwilling to retire to that region, taking with him the throng of aristocratic leaders, who fled precipitately on learning of the approach of Caesar. Pompeius sailed from Brundisium to Epirus. Cicero, who had ardently desired a compromise between the rivals, was in an agony of doubt as to what course it was right and best for him to take, since he saw reason to dread the triumph of either side. Peluctantly he decided to cast in his lot with the Sen- ate and its newly gained champion. Pharsalus ; Thapsus ; Munda. — Caesar gained the advantage of securing the state treasury, v/hich Pompeius had unaccount- ably left behind him, and was able to establish his power in Italy. Before pursuing Pompeius he marched through Gaul into Spain (49 e.g.), conquered the Pompeian forces at Ilerda, and secured his hold upon that country. He then crossed the Adriatic to cope with his great enemy, who was slower in his movements and inferior in military skill. He encountered Pompeius, who could not manage his imprudent officers, on the plain of Pharsalus (48 b.c), where the senatorial army, although, both in infantry and cavalry, more than twice as large as his own, was completely overthrow^n. Pompeius sailed for Egypt; but, just as he was landing, he was treach- erously assassinated. His head was sent to Caesar, who wept POMPEIUS AKD CAESAR 16B at the spectacle, and punished the murderers. Caesar gained friends everywhere by the exercise of a judicious clemency, which accorded with his natural disposition. He next went to Egypt. There he was met by Cleopatra, whose dazzling beauty captivated him. She reigned in con- junction with her younger brother, who, according to the Egyptian usage, was nominally her husband. The Egyptians were roused against Caesar, and, on one occasion, he saved his life by swimming ; but he finally defeated and destroyed the Egyptian army. At Zela, in Pontus, he met and vanquished Pharnaces, the revolted son of Mithridates, and sent the laconic message, "Veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered). Early in 46 he landed in Africa, and at Thapsus annihilated Dekaeitjs of Caesak the republican forces in that region. The younger Cato, their commander, refusing to survive the death of the republic, took his own life. A most powerful combination was made against him in Spain, including some of his old officers and legionaries, and the two sons of Pompeius. But in a hard-fought battle at Munda (March, 45 b.c.) when Caesar was himself in great personal danger, he was, as usual, triumphant. Character of Caesar. — Marvelous as was the career of Caesar, the general, his merit as a civilian was even more remarkable. He saw that the world could no longer be governed by the Eoman rabble, and under the forms of the old constitution he made himself dictator for life and censor for three years. Under the title of imperator, from which emperor is derived, he revived in substance, but not in form, the old regal office. 164 ROME He made the Senate an advisory body. He reorganized the army and the civil administration in the provinces. The ten- dency of his measures was to make Kome the capital rather than the mistress of the world-wide community which had been subjected to her authority. The revolution which he accomplished was achieved by military organization, and was a measure of personal self-defense on his part. When once he had raised himself to supreme power, he sought to rule according to wise and liberal ideas. His schemes were large, but before he could carry them out he was cut down. Assassination of Caesar. — Caesar was tired of staying in Eome, and was proposing to undertake an expedition against the Parthians. [N'either his clemency nor the necessity and the merits of the government sustained by him availed to shield him against the plots of enemies. The aristocratic party detested his policy. He was suspected of aiming at the title, as well as the power, of a king. A conspiracy made up of numerous senators who secretly hated him, of other individuals influenced by personal spite, and of republican visionaries like Cassius and Junius Brutus, Avho gloried in what they considered tyrannicide, assaulted him on the Ides of March (March 15, 44 b.c.) in the hall of Pompeius, whither he had come to a session of the Senate. He received twenty- three wounds, and, according to one account, exclaimed as he fell, " Et tu, Brute ! " (Thou, too, Brutus !) ; for Brutus was one who had been counted a special friend. Cicero had acquiesced in the new government, and eulogized Caesar and his administration. But even he expressed his satisfaction at the event which left the republic without a master. An amnesty to those who slew Caesar was advocated by him, and decreed by the Senate. The Second Triumvirate. — The Senate gave provinces to the leading conspirators; to Decimus Brutus, Cisalpine Gaul. But at Borne there was quickly a reaction of popular wrath against the enemies of Caesar, which was skillfully fomented by Marcus Antonius in the address which he made to the peo- THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE 165 pie over the dead body, pierced with so many wounds. The people voted to give Cisalpine Gaul to Antonius, and he set out to take it from Decimus Brutus by force of arms. Cicero delivered a famous series of harangues against Antonius, called the Philippics, in imitation of the orations of Demos- thenes. Antonius, being defeated, fled to Lepidus, the governor of Transal- pine Gaul. Octavius, the grand- nephew and adopted son of Caesar, a youth of eighteen, now became prominent, and at first was supported by the Senate in the hope of balancing the power of Antonius. But in Octo- ber, 43, Octavianus (as he was henceforward called), Antonius, and Lepidus to- gether formed a second triumvirate, which be- came legal, by the ratifi- cation of the people, for the period of five years. A proscription for the destruction of the enemies of the three contracting parties was a part of this alliance. A great number were put to death, among them Cicero — a sacrifice to the ven- geance of Antonius. War against the republicans was the necessary consequence. At Philippi in Thrace, in the year 42, Antonius and Octavianus defeated Brutus and Cassius, both of whom committed suicide. Porcia, the wife of Brutus, and the daughter of Cato, on hearing of her husband's death, put an end to her own life. Many other adherents of the republic followed the example of their leaders. The victors divided The Young Augustus {Vatican Museum, Borne) 1G6 ROME the world between themselves, Antonius taking the East, and Octavianus the AVest. To the weak and avaricious Lepidus Africa was assigned, but he Avas soon deprived of his share by Octavianus. Civil War : Actium. — Antonius Avas enamored of Cleopatra, and, following her to Egypt, gave himself up to luxury and sensual gratification. Civil war between Octavianus and the followers of Antonius in Italy (40, 41 b.c.) was followed by the marriage of Octavia, the sister of Octavianus, to Antonius. But after a succession of disputes between the two regents, there was a final breach. Antonius (3o) went so far as to give Roman territories to the sons of Cleopatra, and to send to Octavia papers of divorce. The Senate, at the instigation of Octavianus, deprived his unworthy colleague of all his powers. War was declared against Cleopatra. East and West Avere arrayed in arms against one another. The conflict was determined by the naval victory of Octavianus at Actium (Sept. 2, 31 b.c). Before the battle Triumphal Crown ^^^^ decided, Cleopatra fled, and Avas followed by Antonius. When he approached Alexan- dria, Antonius, deceived by the false report that Cleopatra had destroyed herself, threw himself upon his SAvord and died. Cleopatra, finding herself unable to fascinate the conqueror, but believing that he meant that she should adorn his public triumph at Rome, poisoned herself (30). Egypt Avas made into a Roman province. The month Sextilis, on Avhich Octavi- anus returned to Rome, received in honor of him the name of August, from Augustus (the Venerated or Illustrious), the name given him in 27 b.c. by the Roman people and Senate. He celebrated three triumphs; and, for the third time since the city Avas founded, the temple of Janus Avas closed. PEEIOD v. — THE IMPERIAL MONAEOHY TO THE MIGRATIONS OF THE TEUTONIC TRIBES (375 A.D.) CHAPTER XXVIII THE REIGN OF AUGUSTUS Augustus as a Ruler. — Peace was welcomed after the long and bloody civil war. As Imperator, Augustus had unlimited command over the military forces. The Senate, composed to suit his views, was resolved into an advisory and judicial body. He concealed his power under a mild exterior. " The Senate was made u^) of his creatures ; the people were won by bread and games ; the army was fettered to him by means of booty and gifts." The Empire. — The Roman Empire now stretched from the Atlantic to the Euphrates, a distance of more than three thou- sand miles, and from the Danube and the shores of Britain to the cataracts of the Nile and the African desert. Its popula- tion was between eighty millions and one hundred and twenty millions. The language of the empire was diversified. Local dialects remained, but Latin was prevalent west of the Adri- atic, and G-reek was the language of commerce aud of polite intercourse in all places. Literature. — The Augustan Period was the golden age of Roman literature. Augustus himself was a patron of poets and men of letters. There were other patrons among the men of wealth, such as Maecenas, the friend of Horace. Of the 167 1G8 ROME poets of the early part of the first century b.c, Lucretius and Catullus were the most famous. Vergil (70-19 b.c.) in the Aeneid produced a genuine Roman epic, and in the Bucolics and Georgics made himself immortal as a pastoral poet. In the Aeneid he follows in the x^ath of Homer, and is less original. Horace (65-8 b.c.) was influenced by Greek models, Ye Horace Yarius and Maecenas {From the painting by JaUiheri) but in his satires and epistles expresses the character of his own genius. His Odes rank among the best of all pro- ductions of their kind. Ovid (43 b.c.-a.d. 18) dealt with the mythical tales of the Greeks, and was much influenced by the Alexandrian poets. In the domain of history, Livy (59 b.c.-a.d. 17), Sallust, and Caesar are the most celebrated names. In the depart- ment of jurisprudence, the Romans were always eminently REIGN OF AUGUSTUS 169 original. The writings of their great jurists were simple and severe, and free from the rhetorical traits which Etonian authors in other departments borrowed from the Greeks. THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY The Jews and their Dispersion. — There were three ancient peoples, each of which fulfilled an office of its own in history. The Greeks were the intellectual peox^le; the Eomans were founders in law and politics ; from the Hebrews the true religion was to spring. At the epoch of the birth of Jesus, the Hebrews, like the Greeks and Eomans, were scattered abroad, and mingled with all other nations. Wherever they went they carried their pure monotheism, and built their synagogues for instruction in the law and for common wor- ship. Probably the smallest place had at least one synagogue. In the region of Babylon, a multitude of Jews had remained after the captivity. Two out of the five sections of Alexandria were occupied by them. At Antioch, in Syria, the other great meeting place of peoples of diverse origin and religion, they were very numerous. In the cities of Asia Minor, of Greece and Macedonia, in Illyricum and in Eome, they were planted in large numbers. Jewish merchants went wherever there was room for profitable trade. Generally regarded with aversion on account of their religious exclusiveness, they nevertheless made so many proselytes that the Koman philosopher, Seneca, said of them, "The conquered have given laws to the con- querors." Prophecy had inspired the Jews with an abiding and fervent expectation of the ultimate conquest of heathenism, and preva- lence of their faith. If the hope of a temporal Messiah to free them from the Roman yoke, and to lead them to an external victory and dominion, burned in the hearts of most, there were some of a more spiritual mind and of deeper aspirations, who looked for one who should minister to the soul, and bring in a reign of holiness and peace. 170 ROME Preparation for Christianity among the Heathen. — In the heathen workl there was not wanting a preparation for such a Deliverer. The union of all the nations in the Eoman Empire had lessened the mutual antipathy of peoples, melted down barriers of feeling as well as of intercourse, and weakened the pride of race. An indistinct sense of a common humanity had entered the breasts of men. Writers, like Cicero, talked of a great community, a single society of gods and men. The Stoic philosophy had made this idea familiar. Mankind, it was said, formed one city. Along with this conception pre- cepts were uttered in favor of forbearance and fraternal kind- ness between man and man. In religion there was a drift towards monotheism. The old mythological religion was de- caying, and traditional beliefs as to divine things were dis- solving. Many minds were yearning for something to fill the void, — for a anore substantial ground of rest and of hope. They longed for a goal on which their aspirations might cen- ter, and to which their exertions might tend. The burden of sin and of suffering that rested on the common mass excited at least a vague yearning for deliverance. The Roman Empire, with all its treasures and its glory, failed to satisfy the hearts of men. The dreams of philosophy could not be realized on the basis of ancient society, where the state was everytliing, and where no higher, more comprehensive, and more enduring kingdom could spring into being. Christ and the Apostles. — Eour years before the date assigned for the beginning of the Christian era, Jesus was born. Herod, a tyrannical king, servile in his attitude toward the Romans, and subject to them, was then rliling over the Jews in Pales- tine. But, when Jesus began his public ministry, the kingship had been abolished, and Judea was governed by the procura- tor, Pontius Pilate (a.d. 26). Jesus announced himself as the Messiah, the founder of a kingdom "not of this world," the members of which were to be brethren, having God for their Father. He taught in a tone of authority, yet with " a sweet reasonableness ; " and his wonderful teaching was accompanied REIGN OF AUGUSTUS 171 witli marvelous works of power and mercy as "he went about doing good." He attached to himself twelve discix^les, among whom Peter and the two brothers James and John were the men of most mark. These had listened to the preaching of John, the prophet of the wilderness, by whom Jesus had been recognized as the Christ who was to come. The ministry of the Christ produced a widespread excite- ment, and a deep impression upon humble and truth-loving souls. But his rebuke of the ruling class, the Pharisees, for their formalism, pretended sanctity, self-seeking, and enslave- ment to tradition, excited in them rancorous enmity. His dis- appointment of the popular desire for a political Messiah chilled the enthusiasm of the multitude, many of whom had heard him gladly. After about three years he was betrayed by one of his followers, Judas Iscariot ; was accused of heter- odoxy and blasphemy before the Jewish Sanhedrim ; the con- sent of Pilate to his death was extorted by a charge of treason based on the title of '-king," which he had not refused; and he was crucified between two malefactors. Not many days elapsed before his disciples rallied from their despondency, and boldly and unitedly declared, before magistrates and peo- ple, that he had manifested himself to them in bodily form, in a series of interviews at definite places and times. They pro- claimed his continued though invisible reign, his perpetual presence with them, and his future advent in power. In his name, and on the ground of his death, they preached the for- giveness of sins to all who should believe in him, and enter on a life of Christian obedience. In the year 33 or 34, the death of Stephen, the first martyr, at the hands of a Jewish mob, for a time dispersed the church at Jerusalem, and was one step towards the admission of the Gentiles to the privileges of the new faith. But the chief agent in effecting this restUt, and in thus giving to Christian- ity its universal character and mission, was the Apostle Paul, a converted Pharisee. Antioch in Syria became the cradle of the Grentile branch of the church and of the mission to the 172 ROME lieathen, in wliicli Paul was the leader ; while Peter was effi- cient in spreading the gospel among the Jews in Palestine and beyond its borders. Nnmerous chnrches were founded by Paul in the course of three extended missionary journeys, which led him beyond Asia into Macedonia, Greece, and Illyricum. ]>y him the gospel was carried from Jerusalem to Rome, where he died as a martyr under Nero, in the year 67 or 68. Not far from the same time, according to the credible tradition, Peter, also, was put to death at Eome. The preachers of the Chris- tian faith pursued their work with a fearless and untiring spirit, and met the malignant persecution of the Jews and the fanatical assaults of the heathen with patient endurance and with prayer for the pardon and enlightenment of their persecutors. The Victory of the Germans. — The Parthians were prevailed on to return the standards and prisoners taken from Crassus. Drusus, the brave step-son of Augustus, made four campaigns in Germany east of the Phine. A fall from his horse, how- ever, terminated his life (9 B.C.); but his brother Tiberius managed to establish the Roman power over a number of the Germanic tribes on the right bank of the river. The freedom- loving Germans under a brave chief, Arminius (Hermann), rose in revolt and cut to pieces three Roman legions under the im- prudent general Varus. There in the forest of Teutoburg, where Varus in despair took his own life, the Germans practi- cally won their independence. On hearing the news, the aged Augustus for several days could only exclaim, "Varus! give me back my legions ! " After the death of Augustus, German- icus, the noble son of Drusus, conducted three expeditions against Arminius (a.d. 14-16), and obtained a victory over him. Roman Life. — The Romans, like the Greeks, built their towns round a height (or capitol), where was a stronghold or place of refuge. The courts sat in the Forum or market place, and there the people came to transact business. The streets were narrow, the exterior of the houses was plain. Within, REIGN OF AUGUSTUS 173 the chief room in the house was the atrium, which in earlier times was not only the common room, but also the bedroom of the family. Around the dinner table were couches, on which those who partook of the meal reclined. Eich men built magnificent palaces, decorating the walls of their dwellings with frescoed paintings, and embellishing the rooms with statues and beautiful furniture. Intekior of a Eoman House So great was the fondness for the arts of design, so numerous are the products of painting and sculpture which have been preserved, and so much light is derived from the buried city of Pompeii, that we can reproduce in imagination the daily life in the streets, and look into the restaurants and the shops of artisans and tradesmen. The main article of wearing apparel for a man was the toga thrown over the shoulders and brought in folds round the waist, leaving the right arm free. Under it was a tunic. Women wore a long tunic girded about the waist, with a tunic 174 ROME and a close-fitting garment beneath. Except on a journey or in an open theater, neither men nor women wore any covering on the head. The Komans engaged in physical exercise of various sorts. ^^ CHAPTER XXX THE FLAVIANS AND THE ANTONINES Vespasian ; the Jewish War. — Vespasian, the first in the list of good emperors, restored discipline in the army, instituted reforms in the finances, and erected the Colosseum, the ut these powerful monarchs could retain only one portion of their vast empire. Three caliphs shared the power which had been con- centrated in one. New centers of rule were established at Cairo and Cordova. The Eastern Caliphate. — The Abassides ruling over Asia and Africa copied the magnificence of the ancient Persians. The famous caliph of Bagdad, Haroun-al-Raschid (768-809), is familiar even to children as the hero of the Arabian Nights. About him was assembled a host of jurists, linguists, and poets. He was made the ideal ruler of oriental fancy. In point of fact he behaved like an eastern despot, and he exterminated the Persian family of Barmecides on account of his wrath at an obscure affair connected with the harem. Nine times he invaded the Greek Empire, and left its provinces w^asted as by a hurricane. Like him, his son was a liberal patron of learning. Sects arose among the Mohammedans. l)ut the caliph of Bagdad was recognized by the followers of jNIohammed wdio claimed to be orthodox. The Turkish guard brouglit in by the eighth of the Abassides (833-842) became lawless masters and disposed of the throne as the praetorians had done at Rome. Tribes of Turks forced their way into the empire of the Saracens, as the Teutons had made their way into the empire of Rome. The Turkish Emirs. — In the eleventh century, one of these tribes, the Seljukian Turks, des|)oiled the Arabs of their sovereignty in the East. The caliph at Bagdad gave up all CALIPHS OF CORDOVA 231 liis temporal power to Togrul Bey (1058), and retained simply the spiritual headship over orthodox Mussulmans. To the Turk, who bore the title Emir al Omra, was given the military command. He was what the Mayor of the Palace had been among the Franks. In 1072 his son made Ispahan his capital, and governed Asia from China to the vicinity of Constantinople. The Fatimite Caliphate. — Africa made a long resistance to the Mohammedans, whose first invasion was in 647. In the ninth and tenth centuries Arabs, whose capital Avas in Tunis, were dominant in the western Mediterranean. They estab- lished themselves, in their marauding expeditions, in Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily, and several times attacked Italy. In 909 they, together with the adherents of Ali, in Eez, and in con- nection with Egypt, formed under a Eatimite chief the African Caliphate, the seat of Avhich was at Cairo (968). The Eatimite caliphs, claiming to be the descendants of Ali and of Eatima, extended their power over Syria. The most famous of the caliphs of Cairo was Hakem (996-1020), a monster of cruelty, Avho claimed to be the incarnation of Deity. Their dynasty was extinguished by the famous Sultan Saladin in 1171. The Caliphs of Cordova. — In Spain the caliphs of Cordova allowed to the Christians freedom of worship and their own laws and judges. The mingling of the conquerors with the conquered gave rise to a mixed Mozarabic population. The Eranks conquered the country as far as the Ebro (812). The most brilliant period of the caliphate of Cordova was under Abderrahman III. (912-961). In the eleventh century there was anarchy, produced by the African guard of the caliphs, which played a part like that of the Turkish guard at Bagdad, and by reason of the rebellion of the governors. In 1031 the last descendant of the Ommiads was deposed, and in 1060 the very title of caliph vanished. The caliphate gave place to numerous petty Moslem kingdoms. The African Mussulmans came to their help, and tlms gave the name of Moors to the Spanish Mohammedans. Their language and culture, however, remained Arabic. 232 MOHAMMEDANISM AND ARABIC CONQUESTS The Arabian conquests liad moved like a deluge to tlie Indus, to the borders of Asia Minor, and to the Pyrenees. In Syria they were not generally resisted by the people. Egypt, for the same reason, was an easy conquest. It took the Mos- lems sixty years to conquer Africa. In three years nearly all Spain was theirs ; and it was not until seven hundred years after this time that they were utterly driven out of that country. Characteristics of the Arabians. — In no department Vv^ere the Arabs in a marked degree original. They were quick to learn, but they invented nothing. They were apt critics, but they produced no works marked by creative genius. Their civili- zation rested on the Koran. Grammar, theology, and law stood connected with the study and understanding of this Sacred Book. Poetry flourished, and the Persians Firdusi (about 940-1020) and Saadi (who died in 1291) are entitled to important places in the history of literature. The Mohamme- dans studied medicine with success, and delved into alchemy in the search for the means of turning baser metals into gold. CAROLINGIAN HOUSE 233 -?-i -f ic "-T) a h S '"^ S" » ■ T' fl s i« sS 3 Si .2 :3 «„' > 000 0£ 3 3 _|| c? OS So 000 O H l-H ^^ Oo > - Q CO H be PEEIOD II. — FEOM THE OAROLINGIAN LINE OF PKANK- ISH KINGS TO THE EOMANO-GEEMANIO EMPIEE (a.d. 751-962) CHAPTER XXXVII THE CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE TO THE DEATH OF CHARLE- MAGNE (A.D. 814) Pipin the Short. — A new epoch in European history begins when in the eighth century three Frankish princes, Charles Mar- tel, Pipin the Short, and Charlemagne accomplished the trai?.-^.- fer to the Franks of the Roman Empire of the West. Charles Martel rendered great services to the Church, but his seizures of Church property j^revented him from gaining the favor of the ecclesiastics, which Pipin succeeded in winning. In 751, with the concurrence of Pope Zacharias, Pipin deposed the Frankish king Childeric HI., and in 752 he was himself crowned at Sois- sons by Boniface, Archbishop of Mainz. In 754 Pope Ste- phen III. solemnly repeated the ceremony of coronation in the cathedral of St. Denis. The Carolingian usurpation was thus hallowed by the sanction of the Church, and the Pope gained a powerful ally in his contest with the Lombards. Twice Pipin crossed the Alps, and after humbling Aistulf, the Lom- bard king, compelled him to become tributary to the Frank kingdom and to cede certain lands and cities, between the Apennines and the Adriatic, to the Roman See. Thus there was founded the temporal kingdom of the Pope in Italy. Pipin was called Patricius of Rome. His sway was in effect the rule of the Teutonic Xorth over the more Latin South, which had no liking for the Frank sovereignty. 2U 236 CAEOLINGIAN EMPIRE %r Charlemagne; the Saxons and Saracens. — Pipin died in 768, and was succeeded by his son Charles, who stands in the fore- most rank of conquerors and rulers. While generally known as Charlemagne, he is more properly de- signated Karl the Great, as he was a German in blood and in speech and in all his ways. His prodigious en- ergy and activity are evinced by the fact that he set on foot no less than fifty-three military expeditions. He was not less emi- nent, however, for his wisdom than for his vigor. He accomplished most of his purposes without bloodshed, and his reign on the whole was righteous as well as glorious. Bitter wars were waged with the Saxons and Saracens. For thirty-two years the struggle with the heathen Saxons went on. It was marked by cruel devastations and merciless acts of vengeance on both sides. It ended in the submission of the Saxon leader Witikind, who consented to receive Christian baptism. In returning from a war of conquest in Spain, the rear guard of Charlemagne's army was surprised and destroyed by the Basques. There fell the hero Boland, whose gallant deeds were a favorite subject of mediaeval romances. Charle- magne conquered the Hunnic Avars (791), subjugated Brit- tany, and kept the Slavonic tribes in awe. He made Boulogne Charlemagne CHAELEMAGNE 237 and Ghent his harbors and arsenals for defense against the Danes, who in the closing years of his reign became more and more aggressive. Charlemagne in Italy. — Charles had married the daughter of the Lombard king Desiderins. By divorcing her he incurred the resentment of her father, who required the Pope, Hadrian I., to anoint the nephews of Charlemagne as kings of the Franks. Charlemagne crossed the Alps, captured Pavia, and shut up Desiderins in a monastery. The German king and the Pope were now dominant in the West. It was held in the West that a woman could not wear the imperial crown. On the throne at Constantinople sat Irene, who had put out the eyes of her son that she herself might reign. This crime served as another special reason for throw- ing off the Byzantine rule ; and after Charlemagne had once more rendered material assistance to Hadrian's successor, Leo III., when he had been expelled by an adverse party, the Pope, on Christmas Day, 800, crowned the Prankish king in the old Basilica of St. Peter, and saluted him as E-oman Emperor. He thus became the successor of Augustus and of Constantine. In popular imagination and feeling, the Empire had never ceased to be. The new emperor could, therefore, be regarded only as a usurper by the Byzantine rulers. In point of fact, however, there had come to be a new center of wide-spread dominion in western Europe. There was, moreover, at the same time, a growing diversity in beliefs and rites between Eoman Chris- tianity and that of the Greeks. Charlemagne's System of Government. — The emperor showed himself a statesman bent on organization and social improve- ment. Provision was made for local government. The em- pire was divided into districts in each of which a count (Graf) ruled. Bishops had large domains, with great privileges and immunities. Imperial deputies visited all parts of the kingdom to administer justice and to report upon the state of govern- ment. Twice in the "year great assemblies of chiefs and people gave advice in the framing of laws. As emperor, Charlemagne 238 CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE exercised high ecclesiastical prerogatives and endeavored to restore order in the Church. He gave encouragement to learn- ing. One of the many scholars in attendance at his court was Alcuin, from the school of York in England. The emperor was wont to have books read to him while he sat at meals. Augustine's City of God was one of his favorite books. Charlemagne's Personal Traits. — Charlemagne was seven feet in height, and of noble presence. He was exceedingly fond of riding, hunting, and swimming, and knew neither weariness nor fear. He died at the age of seventy (January 28, 814). Beneath the floor of the stately church which he built at Aix- la-Chapelle, his body was placed in a sitting posture in his royal robes, with the crown on his head, and his horn, his sword, and a book of the Gospels on his knee. In this posture his ma- jestic figure was found when at the end of the tenth century his tomb was opened by Otto III. The marble chair in which the dead monarch sat is still to be seen in the cathedral at Aix. Extent of the Empire. — Charlemagne's empire comprised all Gaul and Spain to the Ebro, all that was then Germany, and the greater part of Italy. Slavonic nations along the Elbe were his allies. Pannonia, Dacia, Istria, Liburnia, Dalmatia, — except the seacoast towns which were held by the Greeks, — were subject to him. He had numerous other allies and friends. Even Haroun-al-Easchid, the famous caliph of Bag- dad, held him in high honor. Among the wonderful presents which were said to have come from the caliph were an elephant, and a curious water-clock, which was so made that, at the end of the hours, twelve horsemen came out of twelve windows, and closed up twelve other windows. Condition of the People. — The number of free Franks grew less under Charlemagne, thinned out in the wars or sunk into vassalage. Nine-tenths of the population of Gaul were slaves. In times of scarcity they fled in crowds to the mon- asteries. It was only the strength of the emperor which retarded the development of the feudal independence of the greater lords. LABORS OF THE MISSIONARIES 239 Conversion of Germany: Boniface. — Colmnban, who died in 615, and liis pupil Gallus had come as missionaries from the British Isles, and they labored with success among the Ale- manni. Both were born in Ireland and trained in the mon- astery at Bangor, the ancient Celtic town in North Wales. Winfrid, a Saxon missionary from England, received from Eome the name of Bonifacius (680-755). He converted the Hessians, and, among other like establishments, founded the celebrated monastery of Fulda. He proved the impotence of the heathen gods by hewing down the sacred oak, an object of religious reverence, at Geismar. He organized the German church and was made archbishop of Mainz by the Pope in 747. His long career was crowned with martyrdom, while he was preaching the gospel to the Frisians. Through a long series of years his disciple Sturm directed the work of four thousand monks from the monastery of Fulda. Conversion of the Scandinavians.— Ansgar (801-865), the apos- tle of the Scandinavians, was made Archbishop of Hamburg, and afterwards Bishop of Bremen. The missionary work in Sweden and in Denmark was carried forward with zeal. Olaf Schooskonig became the first Christian king in Sweden, — St. Olaf, the patron saint of Norway. The triumph of Danish Christianity was secured when Canute became King of England. The Benedictines. — Benedict of Nursia founded the monas- tery of Monte Cassino, northwest of Naples, and became the principal organizer of monasteries in western Europe. His societies of monks were at first made up of laymen, but after- wards of priests. They united manual labor with study and devotion. The three vows of the monks were chastity, includ- ing abstinence from marriage ; jDoverty, or the renunciation of personal possessions ; and obedience to superiors. From the Benedictine monasteries the surrounding peoples learned agri- culture and the useful arts. The clergy repaired to them for education. In times of tumult and of want, they long contin- ued to be the asylums for the distressed. Their abbots rose to great dignity and influence. EMPIRE OF CHAKLF.3IAGNK A.D.843 / l^ChapeUen Z: Mi ^ . ) • rr-^^ ^^; ■ EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE A.D.887. CHAPTER XXXVIII DISSOLUTION OF CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE : RISE OF THE KINGDOMS OF FRANCE, GERMANY, AND ITALY Divisions in the Empire. — Differences in language and in laws tended to the dismemberment of the empire, which had been held together by the force of Charlemagne's own char- acter and the vigor of his administration. The Anstrasian, or East Eranks, to wdiom Charlemagne belonged, desired unity, but the Gallo-Eomans in the west and the Teutons farther east longed for independence. Louis the Pious (814-840), Charlemagne's youngest son, was his father's sole successor, but he was better adapted to a cloister than to a throne. He made a premature division of his dominions between his sons Lothar, Pipin, and Louis. These set on foot a revolt, when their father had attempted a new distribution of the states in order to provide for Charles the Bald, his son by a second wife. This revolt was in time put down, but wdien the sons rose once more against the father, they were reenforced by the Pope, Gregory TV. Deserted by his troops, the emperor was taken prisoner, but though he was afterwards released, there was nothing but continued discord. His surviving sons, Lothar, on the one hand, Louis the Ger- man and Charles the Bald on the other, waged war after their father's death. In the great battle of Eontenailles, in 841, Lothar was defeated, and by the treaty of Verdun, in 843, the three kingdoms were set apart from one another. Charles the Bald was given the Western and Latinized Franks, and Louis the German took the Eastern and German Franks. Lothar, who retained the title of emperor, with no substantial power, 241 242 DISSOLUTION or charlemagne's empire received the middle portion of Frankisli territory, including Italy and a long narrow strip extending to the North Sea, between the dominions of his brothers. It included, using the modern name, Provence on the south, and Holland on the north. This land later took the name of Lotharingia, or Lorraine. This division marks the birth of the German and French nations as such. It likewise marks the breaking up of the empire of Charlemagne. Eastern Carolingians. — Charles the Fat (882-887) succeeded Lothar. He was a sluggish prince, and instead of fighting the Normans preferred to hire their bands to retreat, only to be replaced by new invaders from the same source. Although for a while nearly the whole monarchy of Charlemagne was united under him, he was quickly deposed, and died in the following year. The Carolingian Empire really ceased to be. Arnulf, the grandson of Louis the German, was chosen king, was recognized as emperor, and was crowned at Rome. In 911, in the person of his son, Louis tlie Child (899-911), the line of Louis the German died out. The kingdom of Geriuany continued as a distinct kingdom. Kingdom of France. — In 8G1, Charles the Bald gave the county of Paris to Robert the Strong in order that he might resist the Normans who had captured Rouen in 841. Robert was the great-grandfather of Hugh Capet, who in later days became the founder of the kingdom of France. Odo or Eudes, Count of Paris, successfully defended the city against the attacks of the Northmen. When the inefficient Charles the Fat was deposed, the nobles of France chose Odo as their king, and his duchy — Western or Latin Francia — was the strongest state north of the Loire. Between the family of Odo and the Carolingian family there was a conflict, with suc- cess now on one side, and now on the other, for about a cen- tury. The German Karlings — that is, rulers of the family of Charlemagne — reigned at Laon. The dukes of Odo's fam- ily had Paris for their capital. Louis IV. " from beyond seas," who had taken refuge in England at the court of his uncle, KINGDOMS OF FRANCE, GERMANY, AND ITALY 243 Aethelstan, had a struggle with Hugh the Great, Odo's nephew, but was overcome. On the death of Louis V. (987) the direct line of Charlemagne became extinct. The only Carolingian heir was an uncle, Charles, Duke of Lorraine. The barons j)assed him by and declared in favor of Hugh Capet, and Avith the support of Duke Richard of Normandy, Hugh Capet, the founder of the Capetian line, the ancestor of all the French kings, the Bonapartes excepted, was crowned in July, 987. Thus the kingdom of France began; but within its boundaries there were many sovereign states whose lords re- garded themselves as the new king's equals. The German Kingdom. — In Germany there were two great parties which contended with one another. To one belonged the older Alemannic and Austrasian unions, which formed the duchies of Swabia, Bavaria, and Franconia, while to the other, consisting chiefly of the duchy of Saxony, were attached Thu- ringia and a part of Frisia. In France the royal power was weak, and it was 'therefore suffered to grow. The tendency was toward centralization. The long continuance of the family of Hugh Capet made the monarchy hereditary. In Germany the royal i^ower was strong, and constant efforts were made to limit it, while frequent changes of dynasty helped to make the monarchy elective. Thus, upon the death of Louis the Child, Conrad of Franconia was chosen king by the clerical and secu- lar nobles of the five duchies in which the counts elevated themselves to the rank of dukes. The dukes chafed under the rule of the king. For ^he glory of the nation, however, and for reasons of foreign policy, they were anxious to preserve the monarchy. The Hungarians renewed their incursions, and so great was his desire to drive them out, that Conrad upon his death-bed sent his crown and jewels to his enemy Henry, Duke of the Saxons, whom he thought most capable of defend- ing the country against the invaders. Conrad, in his contests with his dukes, may be said to have begun the struggle of the royal suzerains .against the great feudal lords, which went on through the Middle Ages. 244 DISSOLUTION OF CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE Italy. — After the breaking up of the empire of Charles the Fat, there was in Italy a strong feeling hostile to the Ger- mans. The people wanted the King of Italy and emperor of the Romans to be of their own nation ; but rival claimants of the Italian throne made disturbances which Arnulf came into Italy to quell, and it was on his second visit in 896 that he was crowned emperor. Berengar I. triumphed for a while over his competitor liudolph, but was finally defeated and assas- sinated. His grandson Berengar II. fled to Germany in 943, and there his relations with Otto I. (the Great) led to very important consequences, to be narrated hereafter. The Papacy. — After the Lombard conquest, the popes, Avhile subject to the tyranny of the Eastern emperors, received little protection from Constantinople, and were compelled to make such alliances as those which they formed with Pi[)in and Charlemagne. In this way they were recognized as having a spiritual headship wdiich w^as the counter})art of the secular supremacy of the emperor. The election of the pope was to be sanctioned by the emperor, and that of the emperor V)y the pope. As the bishops grew in power, the highest bisliop of all, the Roman Pontiff, was correspondingly exalted. In the ninth century there appeared the Pseudo-Isiclorian decretals, fabri- cated documents purporting to belong to early Christian cen- turies, wdiich recognized the highest claims of the chief rulers of the Church. They contained little which had not been asserted, at one time or another, and their falsity was not suspected. In the tenth century Italy, in the absence of imperial re- straint, was torn by violent factions. Anarchy prevailed, and the scandals which belonged to this period of the history of the papacy are to be ascribed to the social condition of the country and to the vileness of the leaders who had usurped power at Rome. For half a century the papal office was dis- posed of by the Tuscan party, and especially by Theodora and her daughter Maria (or Marozia), two depraved women belong- ing to it. CHAPTER XXXIX INVASIONS OF THE NORTHMEN AND OTHERS; THE FEUDAL SYSTEM Incursions of the Northmen. — The Scandinavians, or Xorth- men, gradually formed the kingdoms of Sweden, Xonvay, and Denmark. They were a Teutonic people and were called Vikings, or children of the bays, from the fact that their fleets lay in wait for their enemies in creeks and bays along the coasts of northern Europe. Gradually they extended their marauding excursions to the coasts and rivers of Erance, and their attacks hastened the fall of the Erankish empire. They burned Rouen in 840, and plundered other cities. They even ventured on the Spanish peninsula, took Lisbon and burned Seville. They made a descent upon Italy and plundered the city of Luna, which they at first mistook for Rome. In 857, after having captured Tours and besieged Orleans, they burned the churches of Paris, and in 866 slew Robert the Strong, who engaged in a conflict with them. In 911 Rolf, or Rollo, one of their chiefs, accepted the offer of Charles the Simple, King of the West Eranks, to abandon to them as much territory as they could settle and cultivate. Rollo received baptism and became the liege of King Charles, who reigned at Laon. Later these Xorthmen, or Normans, made an alliance with the dukes against the kings, and by their assistance Hugh Capet was enabled to found the kingdom of Erance. Under the Xor- mans, tillage flourished, and the feudal system was established more fully than elsewhere. The duke had more control over his vassals. Settlements of the Northmen. — As early as 852, there was a Scandinavian king in Dublin. The Northmen conquered the 245 246 INVASIONS OF THE NORTHMEN Orkneys, the Hebrides, and the Shetland Isles. On the north- ern coast of Scotland they founded the kingxlom of Caithness, which they held to the end of the twelfth century. Iceland was discovered by the Northmen, and was settled by them in 874. About the same time Greenland was discovered, and towards the end of the tenth century a colony was planted there. This led ^o the discovery of the mainland of America, and to the occupation, for a time, of Vinland, which is sup- posed to have been on the coast of Xew England. In Russia, where the Northmen were called Varangians, Rurik, one of their leaders, occupied Novgorod in 862, and founded a line of sovereigns which continued until 1598. The Danes in England. — The ravages of the Danes increased in England during the later years of the reign of Egbert, King of the West Saxons, to whom the other English kingdoms sub- mitted. With them Alfred (871-901) was in perpetual con- flict, and at times his fortunes reached a low ebb. It was then, according to the legend, that he was scolded by the peasant woman, in whose hut he had taken shelter, and who, not knowing him, had set him to watch her cakes, but found that he had allowed them to burn, so absorbed was he in other thoughts. He finally gained advantages over the Danes, but in the treaty which he made with them they received East Anglia and part of Essex and Mercia. They had already set- tled in Northumberland to some extent, so that a large part of England was in Danish hands. The names of towns end- ing in hy, such as Whitby, are of Danish origin. Alfred was a patron of learning and himself translated many books from the Latin. He founded monasteries and compiled a body of laws called Dooms. The last years of his reign were spent in quiet. His grandson Aethelstan (925-940) was victorious over the Scotch and the Welsh of the north as well as over the Danes. The power of Saxon England reached its height under Edgar (959-975). But under Aethelred II., the Unready, the Danish invasions were renewed. Swegen, who had been bap- tized, but had lapsed into heathenism, completely conquered THE NORTHMEN IN ENGLAND 247 England in 1013, Aethelred fleeing to Duke Eichard the Good, of Normandy, whose daughter, Emma, he had married. Canute. — After Swegen's death, Edmund Ironside, the son of Aetheh-ed, fought six pitched battles with Cnut, or Canute, Swegen's son, who finally consented to divide the kingdom with him. In the same year, however, the English king died, and Canute, who had become a Christian, found himself the king of all England (1017-1035). The ealdormen, or Earls, a word derived from the Danish, ruled under him. He had inherited the crown of Denmark, and won Norway and part of Sweden, so that he reigned over a large empire. He proved himself a good ruler, but his sons lacked their father's ability. There were conflicts for seven years, and then Edward, called the Confessor, who was the son of Aethelred, was chosen king by the English (1042). Incursions of Saracens and Hungarians. — The fleets of Charle- magne had kept the piratical vessels of the Saracens at a safe distance from the Italian shores. After this time, however, they took possession of Sicily, and they even pillaged Aries and Marseilles, establishing a military colony on the shores of Provence. A little later similar predatory incursions were made by the Hungarians, or Magyars, into Bavaria, Lombardy, and the valley of the Danube. They devastated Alsace, Lor- raine, and Burgundy, and their name long remained in Erance a symbol of detestable ferocity. The object of such incursions as these was plunder and not permanent conquest. The North- men and Saracens moved in small bands, and wandered from place to place. The Hungarians indeed established themselves in the valley of the Theiss and the Danube, and there they remained. The Northmen iisr England and Italy At this point it is proper to describe two great achievements of the Northmen, which in fact occurred as late as the eleventh century. They are the conquest of England and the founding of the kingdom of Naples and Sicily. 248 INVASIONS OF THE NORTHMEN I. The Kormax Coxquest of Exglaxd The Norman Invasion. — At the end of the eleventh century, the Saxons were a strong and hardy race. They were enthusias- tic in outdoor sports. They fought on foot, the common soldiers often having no better weapon than a fork or sharpened stick. London was fast becoming the chief town, and Winchester, the old Saxon capital, w^as losing its preeminence. The Danish invaders had done much to retard literary progress, but the records of Alfred and of such scholars as Bede and Alcuin showed that literature was valued. Across the Channel, in the meantime, Normandy had become one of the principal states in western Europe. Edward the Confessor had been brought up in ^STormandy, and there grew up in opposition to him and his Norm an friends a party led by Godwin, Earl of the West Saxons. Edward's wife Edith was the daughter of Godwin, and as they had no children, he recommended that Harold, the son of Godwin, should be his successor. The Normans claimed that he had promised that their duke, William, should reign after him. It was said that Harold himself, on a visit to William, had either willingly or unwillingly sworn to give him his support. Edward, who was devout in his ways, though a negligent ruler, was buried in the monastery called Westminster, which he had built, and which was the precursor of the magnificent church bearing the same name that was built afterwards by King Henry III. Harold was now crowned. Duke William, full of wrath, ap- pealed to the sword ; and, under the influence of the arch- deacon Hildebrand, Pope Alexander II. took his side, and sanctioned his enterprise of conquest. At the same time the north of England was invaded by the king of the Norwegians, a man of gigantic stature, named Hard- rada. The Norman invaders landed without resistance on the shore of Sussex, on the 28th of September, 1066, and occupied Hastings. Harold encamped on the heights of Senlac. On the 14th of October the great battle took place, in which the WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 249 Normans were completely victorious. The English stood on a hill in a compact mass. They repulsed the Norman charges. The Normans pretended to retreat ; this moved the Sax- ons to break their array in order to pursue. The Nor- mans then turned back, and rushed upon them in a fierce onset. An arrow pierced the eye of Harold, and he was cut to pieces by four French knights. The Norman duke, William the Conqueror, was crowned king on Christmas Day; but it was four years before he overcame all re- sistance and got full control over the country. The larg- est estates and principal of- fices in England he allotted to Normans and other foreigners. The crown of William was handed down td'-his descendants, and gradually the con- querors and the conquered became mingled together as one people. The Norman Spirit and Influence. — The Norman gentlemen who gained the day for William fought on horseback with lance and sword. We can learn the details of the costume of the combatants from the pictures of the conquest in the tapes- try at Bayeux. Victors in battle though they were, the real conquest of England by the Normans was very gradual, and the result of it was the amalgamation of one people with the other. The very title of Conqueror, attached to AVilliam, was a legal term (conquaestor), and meant purchaser or acquirer. There was an observance of legal forms in the establish- ment and administration of his government. The public land was appropriated by him, and became crown-land. So William the Conqxteror 250 INVASIONS or the Northmen all the land of the English was considered to be forfeited, and estates . were given out liberally to Xorman gentlemen. The nobility became mainly Norman, and the same was true of the ecclesiastics and other great officers. All the land was held as a grant from the king. In 1085 the making of Domesday was decreed, which Avas a complete statistical survey of all the estates and property in England. The object was to furnish a basis for taxation. The Domesday Book is one of the most curious and valuable monuments of English history. Among the changes in law made l)y William was the intro- duction of the Norman wager of battle, or the duel, by tlie side of the Saxon methods of ordeal. In most of the changes, there was not so much an uprooting as a great transformation of former rules and customs. It was a natural result of the conquest that England should be brought into more intimate relations with the continent. Foreign ecclesiastics came into England and established a closer connection between the Eng- lish Church and the Pajoacy. Thus England was before long led to take an important part in the crusades or holy wars for the rescue of the sepulcher at Jerusalem from the Saracens. Multitudes of Normans emigrated into England, and the Nor- mans became Englishmen. Chivalry, with its peculiar ideas and ways, came in with the French influence. Though the conquerors, as well as the conquered, Avere Teutons, yet the Normans had acquired the French language in their adopted home across the Channel. The English tongue, indeed, contin- ued to be essentially Teutonic in structure, but a large Latin element was introduced into it through the influence of the French. For a long time the Teutonic and the Norman French were both spoken. At the end of the twelfth century English had become the language of common conversation and of popular writing; but French was still the language of polite intercourse, and learned men wrote in Latin. The Norman Government. — As regards feudalism, one vital feature of it — the holding of land by a military tenure, NORMAN GOVERNMENT 251 or on condition of military service — was redncecl to a system by the conquest. But William took care not to be oversliadowed or endangered by his great vassals. He levied taxes on all, and maintained the place of lord of all his sub- jects. He was King of the English, and sovereign lord of the Xorman nobles. He summoned to the Witan, or Great Assem- bly, those whom he chose to call. This summons, and the right to receive it, became the foundation of the Peerage. Out of the old Saxon Witan there grew in this way the House of Lords. The low^er orders, when summoned at all, were sum- moned in a mass ; afterwards, we shall find that they were called by representatives ; and, in the end, when the privilege of appearing in this way was converted into a right, the House of Commons came into being. In like manner, the King's Court took the place of the old Witenagemot. From this body of the king's immediate counselors emerged in time the Privy Council and the Courts of Law. Out of the Privy Council grew, in modern times, the Cabinet, composed of v/hat are really "those privy councilors who are specially summoned." Committees of the National Assembly, in the course of Eng- lish history, acquired " separate being and separate powers, as the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of the govern- ment." Thus the English Constitution is the product of a steady growth. Norman Buildings. — The Kormans built the cathedrals and castles. Down to the eleventh century, the Bomanesque, or round-arched architecture, derived from Italy, had been the one prevalent style in western Europe. In the modification of it,_ called the aS"orman style, we find the round arch associ- ated with massive piers and narrow windows. Durham Cathe- dral is an example of the Norman Romanesque type of build- ing. To the main structure first erected many additions were afterwards made. This noble cathedral is five hundred and seven feet in length by two hundred in width, and the central tower is two hundred and fourteen feet high. The Norman conquerors covered England with castles. Sometimes they 252 INVASIONS OF THE NORTHMEN were square, and sometimes polygonal ; but, except in the palaces of the kings, they aifordecl little room for artistic beauty of form or decoration. They were erected as for- tresses, and were regarded by the people Avith execration as strongholds of oppression. The Tower of London, which has served both as a palace and a prison, was begun by Wil- liam, by whom the Keep or great White Tower was built. Additions were made by successive sovereigns. This edifice u ? « 1^ •? Tower of L(.>ndox is associated with some of the most tragic events and scenes in English history. An interesting part of it is the Traitor's Gate, where prisoners of state were formerly landed. The Chapel in the White Tower is the oldest example of Norman church architecture in England. It is a symbol of the union in the Conqueror of a sincere faith in religion with a resolute assertion of personal authority. While he took pains to select pious and upright men for the great ecclesiastical offices, he required obedience from them as from all others. NORMAN GOVERNMENT 253 A NoEMAN Vessel of the Eleventh Centuky. {From the Bayeux Tapestries) II. The Normans in Italy and Sicily The Norman Kingdom of Naples and Sicily. — Wandering knights from Normandy, reinforced by occasional troops of pil- grims and warriors, had gained a settlement in southern Italy in the early part of the eleventh cen- tury. They sup- ported the viceroy of the Eastern em- peror in an attack upon the Arabs or Saracens in Sicily. He failed to give them their due re- ward, and they be- gan, under Robert Guiscard, the conquest of Apulia, which ended in making them masters of all southern Italy. In 1072, after having defeated the army of Pope Leo IX. some years before, Bobert wrested Sicily from the Saracens and captured the seaports of Otranto and Bari. Death frustrated his grand scheme of conquering the Eastern Empire (1085). His nephew, Roger II. (1130-1154), united the possessions of the Greeks of southern Italy and Sicily to the countries conquered by his uncle and formed the kingdom of Sicily, re- ceiving the title of King from the Pope. Under Roger and his two successors, William the Bad (1154-1166) and William the Good (1166-1189), this flourishing kingdom became a center of culture and commerce. At Salerno a celebrated school of medicine was established, and at Amalfi and Naples there were famous schools of law. In 1189 the kingdom by inherit- ance fell to the Hohenstaufen German princes through Con- stantia, the wife of Henry VI. "The Normans in Sicily," says Mr. Freeman, " so far as they did not die out, were merged, not in a Sicilian nation, for that did not exist, but 254 INVASIONS OF THE NORTHMEN in the common mass of settlers of Latin speech and rite, as distinguished from the older inhabitants, Greek and Saracen." In Sicily and southern Italy, their kingdom left no permanent traces behind, while in England they modified the national character as they gradually became merged in the English. THE NORMANS Tancked of Hautkville. Sicily. Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia, Roger, the Great Count, d. 1101. d. 1085. I Uoger (of Apulia, 1127; king, 1130), 1101-1154. William I. the Bad, 1 154-1 KiC, Constance ((/. 1198), m. Emperor m. Murg-aret, daughter of Garcia IV. of Navarre. Henry VI. I William II. the Good, 116G-1189, ;//. Joanna, daughter of Henry II. of England. The Eeudal System. Origin of Feudalism. — It is a mistake to ascribe the origin of feudalism to a partition of lands by the king of the con- quering Franks among his chief officers and followers, and their grants of land, on like conditions, to those below them. The growth of feudal relations was rather from beneath up- wards. The love of independence, and the weak control of any central power, impelled poorer freemen to seek the pro- tection of the richer and stronger, binding themselves to render a certain submission and services in return. The tie between the lord and vassal was commonly a gift of land by the former, which at first was revocable, but tended to become a perma- FEUDAL SYSTEM 255 Act of Faith and Homage {Seal of a Knight of Aries) nent, hereditary holding. The vassal on his part went through the ceremony of " homage," promising to be the " man " of the superior, to aid him in battle, to pay taxes, and to own his jurisdiction. The term "feud" signi- fies the land which was thus held. Officials without land entered into the feudal relation, and transmitted it to heirs, the fees of office being the offi- cer's pay. More and more this system grew to be the characteristic method of living and of government in the disorder that prevailed after the fall of Charlemagne's empire. The prin- ciple of heredity, in virtue of which feuds descended from father to son or to the next heir of the blood, gradually gained a firm footing. In times of danger there Avas a constant tendency in small proprietors whose property was allodial — that is, owned by them absolutely and not held of a superior — to place themselves under the protection of the rich and the strong, and thus allodial prop- erty became feudal. During the turbulent days of the tenth and eleventh centuries, castles upon the hilltops took the place of farmhouses in the country. Around them clustered the villages in which lived the dependents of the lord. They tilled his land and fought for him in return for the protection which he afforded them. In this social organization there were the two grand classes of suzerains and vassals ; but the suzerain, with the partial exception of the highest, was also a vassal. Feudalism was thus a system in which lands were in the hands of the freemen who held of one another in a grada- tion. But in the Middle Ages, the privilege of hunting or fishing in particular places, and in fact almost every privilege that could be the subject of a grant, became a fief. Ecclesiastical Feudalism. — The clergy were included in the feudal system. The bishop was often made the count and, as such, was the suzerain of the nobles in his diocese. In France 256 VASIONS OF THE NORTHMEN and in England in tlie Middle Ages, the feudal clergy pos- sessed one fifth of all the land, and in Germany one third. The Church constantly increased its possessions through be- quests of the dying and the gifts of the living. The Spread of Feudalism. — In the eleventh century, Europe was thus covered with a multitude of petty sovereignties. Below the rulers or the holders of fiefs were the serfs and the villains, who were a grade above the serfs ; the serfs differed from slaves only in being attached to the soil. The villains paid rent for the land which they were allowed to till, and there was a constant tendency on their part to sink into the inferior condition. Nevertheless, feudalism had more vitality than the system of absorbing all the land by a few great proprietors, which existed in the period of the decline of the Koman Empire. Among the feudal landowners, there' was a strong feeling of loyalty and a certain proud sense of belonging to an aristocratic order. Feudalism bore most heavily on the lower strata of society. The serf was in all things subject to the will of the suzerain. Without the permission of his lord, he could not change his abode, he could not marry, and he could not bequeath his goods. Mediakval Besieging Tower GENEALOGY OF THE EMPERORS 257 ^P5 1 ^-^ g'i^ -s o 4i 4J .^3 s t- f. tD cu-a' cj S'S S^_ -"^ S'^ c! ^i. ,G tOrvT O CO C5 •- ^ H M2 ^" 0- <1 M s = ^ f^ o r- s ;i^ S ^ s ^ SI ^ . o •■5 "^.2, o s o o riSI PEEIOD III— FROM THE ESTABLISHMEITT OF THE EOMANO- GERMANIO EMPIRE TO THE END OF THE CRUSADES (a.d. 962-1270) CHAPTER XL THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE: PREDOMINANCE OF THE EMPIRE : TO THE CRUSADES, a.d. 1096 I. KixGs AND Emperors of the Saxox House (918-1024) Henry the Fowler (918-936). — When Duke Henry of Saxony was elected king of Germany, the envoys who carried the news to him found him in the Hartz INIountains with a falcon on his wrist. On account of this circumstance the title Henry the Eowler was given to him. He did much to make Germany a nation. He won back Lorraine, added the Netherlands to Germany, and united all the live great dukedoms. He was compelled to conclude a nine-years truce with the aggres- sive enemies of Germany, the Hungarians, paying tribute to them in the interval, but he was able to do much to strengthen the defenses of the kingdom, and to train and discipline his army. Later, having brought about a marriage between his son Otto and Editha, the daughter of Aethelstan, King of England, he felt himself strong enough to renew the struggle with them, and in 933 he completely vanquished them in battle. Henry was a wise and vigorous monarch, and may be said to have laid the foundations of the German Empire. Otto I. — Otto I. (936-973) had before him a difficult task to maintain the unit}' of the kingdom. He subdued the dukes of Bavaria and Eranconia, with Lorraine, who were helped by 258 THE SAXON HOUSE 259 Louis IV., Duke of France. In many ways he strengthened his royal authority. He gained a decisive victory over the Hungarians at Augsburg in 955. The Slavonians and the Poles were also defeated by him. He carried his arms to the sea and gained an advantage over the Danish king, Harold the Bluetoothed. Turning his eyes to Italy, Otto found an excuse for direct- ing his victorious arms thither, in the romantic aj^peal of Adelheid, the young widow of Lothar. Lothar was the son of Hugh of Provence, and for a time had worn the title of King of Italy. Ever since Arnulf, the last Carolingian emperor who had any authority, left Italy (896), the country had been demoralized and in a condition of anarchy. Beren- gar II., who succeeded Lothar, tried to force Adelheid into an unwelcome marriage with his son, and had cast her into prison, but she escaped. In response to her appeal to Otto, •' that model of knightly virtue which was beginning to show itself after the fierce brutality of the last age," he descended into Italy, and himself married the injured queen. Having put down Beren- gar, Otto was first proclaimed King of the Lombards, and then, in 962, was crowned emperor with his queen in St. Peter's. Twice Otto descended upon Kome, to install in the Papacy Leo VIII. , and, when the latter was driven out by the Romans, to restore him to his office. In 966 Otto crushed the factions which had long degraded Rome and the Church. He arranged a marriage between the Greek princess Theophano and his son Otto. The emperor had taken Charlemagne for his model. He had succeeded in establishing the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. In theory it was the union of the world- state and the world-church — an undivided community under emperor and pope. As a political fact, it was the union of Germany and the Empire. Germany and Italy were united into one sovereignty, which was in the hands of the German king. The German king, when chosen, was entitled to receive at Milan the crown of Italy, and at Rome the imperial crown. 260 THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE In Burgundy he had much influence, and finally control, and so had considerable power over the Karlings while they ruled at Laon. The French kingdom of Hugh Capet became distinct from the Empire. But Augustus Caesar and Charlemagne had new successors in the German line. Otto II. ; Otto III. ; Henry II. — Otto TI. (973-983) was highly gifted intellectually, but lacked his father's energy and decision. Henry the Quarrelsome, Duke of Bavaria, revolted, but was put down, and deprived of his duchy. Otto obliged Lothar, the West Frankish king, to give up his claim to Lotha- ringia, which he attempted to seize. Otto, in 980, went to Italy, and, in the effort to conquer southern Italy from the Greeks and Saracens, barely escaped with his life. This was in 982. He never returned to Germany. While Otto III. (983-1002) was a child, his mother, Theo- phano, was regent for a time in Germany, and his grand- mother, Adelheid, in Italy. The proficiency of young Otto in his studies caused him to be styled the Wonder of the World. He was crowned emperor in Rome in 996, when he was only sixteen years old. He dreamed of making Rome once more the center of the world, for his interest was chiefly in Italy. But his schemes were ended by his early death. At that time and afterwards, it may be here remarked, there was deep agitation in Europe, owing to a general expectation that before long the world would come to an end. For this reason pilgrims flocked to Rome. Henry II. (1002-1024), as nearest of kin to the Saxon house, was the next emperor. Besides waging war with his own in- surgent lieges, he had to carry on a contest for fourteen years w^ith Boleslav, King of Poland, who was forced to give up Bohe- mia and Meissen. From this time the German kings, before their coronation as emperors, took the title of King of the Romans. The highest nobles were styled Princes. The nobles lived in the castles, which were built for strongholds, as the power of the lords grew and private wars became more com- mon. FRANCONIAN EMPERORS 261 II. The Fraxconian or Saliax Emperors (1024-1125) Conrad II.; Burgundy; the Poles. — At Oppenheim on the Rhine, Conrad, a Franconian nobleman (Conrad IL), was elected emperor (1024-1039). He was descended from the daughter of Otto I. Eudolph, king of Burgundy, when dying, appointed Conrad his successor, so that now that kingdom was attached to Germany. At a later time, the Romance or non-German portions were absorbed by France. The duchy of Burgundy, however, was a fief of the French king, and was not included in the kingdom. The Poles were repelled by Conrad, and their leader, Miesko, was obliged to do homage for his crown. Henry III.: the Truce of God.— With Henry III. (1039-1056) the imperial power reached its height. He was for a time duke of Bavaria, Swabia, and Franconia, as well as emperor. In Hungary he conquered the enemies of Peter, the king, and re- stored him to the throne, receiving his homage as vassal of the Empire. He had great success in putting down private war. In 1043 he proclaimed a general peace in his kingdom. He favored the attempt to bring in the Truce of God. This origi- nated in Aquitaine, where the bishops, in 1041, ordered that no private feuds should be prosecuted between sunset of Wednes- day and sunrise of Monday, the period covered by the most sacred events in the life of Jesus. This truce, which was afterwards extended to embrace certain other holy seasons and festivals, spread from land to land. It shows the influ- ence of Christianity in those dark and troublous times. Although it was imperfectly carried out, it was most beneficent in its influence, and specially welcome to the classes not capa- ble of defending themselves against violence. Synod of Sutri. — In 1046 Henry III. was called into Italy by the well-disposed of all parties, to put an end to the reign of vice and disorder at Rome. He caused the three rival popes to be deposed by a synod at Sutri, and a German prelate, Suid- ger, Bishop of Bamberg, to be appointed under the name of Clement II., by whom he was crowned emperor. After Clem- 262 THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE ent died, Henry raised to the papacy three German popes in succession. While in the full exercise of his great authority, and when he was not quite forty years of age, he died. Henry IV. ; His Contests in Germany.— Henry IV. (1056-1106) had been crowned king at the age of four. Being but six years old at his father's death he was carried off by Hanno, Arch- bishop of Cologne, who assumed the guardianship over him. Henry was obliged to marry Bertha, the daughter of the mar- grave of Turin. He at first disliked her and sought a divorce, but her patience eventually softened him, and she became a cherished wife. The new emperor followed in the footsteps of his father in reducing the princes to submission. He was a wilful man of violent passions. The Saxons revolted, and he suppressed them Avith the utmost harshness. He thought to exercise that sovereignty over Church and State which his father had wielded, but he found himself confronted by a new and powerful antagonist, the celebrated Pope Hildebrand, or Gregory VII. (1073-1085). Hildebrand: Investitures The state of affairs in the Koman Church had called into existence a party of reform, the life and soul of which was Hildebrand. He was the son of a car- penter of Soano, a small town in Tuscany, and was born in 1018. He was educated in a monastery in Home, and spent some time in France, in the great monastery of Cluny. He became the influential adviser of the popes who immediately preceded him. The great aim of Hildebrand and of his sup- porters was to abolish simony and the marriage of priests. By simony was meant the purchase of beneiiees, which had come to prevail in the different countries. The old Church laws requiring celibacy had been disregarded, and great numbers of the inferior clergy were living with their wives. In Hilde- brand's view, there could be no purity and no just discipline in the Church without a strict enforcement of the neglected rule. The priests must put away their wives. Connected with these reforms was the broader design of wholly emancipating the Church from the control of the HILDE BRAND AND HENRY IV. 263 secular power, and of subordinating the State to the Church. For this end there must be an abolition of investiture by lay hands. This demand it was that kindled a prolonged and ter- rible controversy between the emperors and the popes. The great ecclesiastics had temporal estates and a temporal juris- diction, which placed them in a feudal relation, and made them powerful subjects. It Avas the custom of the kings to invest them with these temporalities by giving to them the ring and the staff. This enabled the kings to keep out of the benefices persons not acceptable to them, who might be elected by the clergy. On the other hand, it was complained that this custom put the bishops and other high ecclesiastics into a relation of dependence on the lay authority ; and, moreover, that, the ring and staff being badges of a spiritual function, it was sacrile- gious for a layman to bestow them. Contest between Hildebrand and Henry IV. — Hildebrand had at first welcomed the intervention of Henry III. and even of Henry IV. as a means of putting a stop to the lawlessness at Eome. Afterwards, however, he began to give practical effect to his leading ideas. He caused the formation of a popular party in favor of the enforced celibacy of the clergy. He for- bade princes to invest with any spiritual office. Henry IV. was one of the worst offenders in the matter of simony. The Pope summoned him to Home to answer to the charges made against him, and when Henry addressed to him a letter filled with denunciation, the Pope excommunicated him, deposed him, and declared his subjects free from their obligation to obey him. The discontented German princes sided with the Pope, and held an assembly in 1076. They invited him to come to Augsburg and to judge in the case of Henry. He was to live as a private man, and was to cease to be king altogether if he remained excommunicate for a year. In the midst of winter, with his wife and child and a few attendants, the emperor crossed the Alps, and humbly presented himself as a penitent to Gregory, who on his way to Augsburg had arrived at the castle of Canossa. It is said that the Pope kept him waiting 264 THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE a long while barefoot and bareheaded in the courtyard. Fin- ally he was admitted, and absolved, but only on the condition that the Pope was to adjust the matters in dispute between the emperor and his subjects. The fiery spirit of Henry soon rebounded from this depth of humiliation. He was joined by the Lombards, with whom Gregory was unpoj^ular, but a majority of the German princes adhered to the Pope, and they elected Rudolph of Swabia in 1077. Rudolph was killed in battle. Henry invaded Italy in 1084, and captured Rome. Gregory was besieged in the castle of St. Angelo, but he was liberated by Robert Guiscard, the Gorman Duke of lower Italy. The great pontiff died at Sal- erno on May 25, 1085, having uttered when near his end the words which are inscribed on his tomb : '• I have loved right- eousness, and hated iniquity ; therefore do I die in exile." Of the rectitude of his intentions there is no room for doubt, whatever view is taken of the expediency of his measures. Last Days of Henry IV. — In 1085 Henry IV. returned to Germany, having been crowned emperor by the Pope whom his party had created, Clement III. The Saxons were tired of strife ; and, on the assurance that their ancient privileges should be restored, they were pacified. Hermann of Luxem- burg, whom they had recognized as their king, had resigned the crown. The last days of Henry were clouded by the re- bellion of his sons, first of Conrad, and then of Henry, who was supported by the Pope, Paschal 11. In 1106, w^hile still at war with his son, Henr}^ died. His body was placed in a stone coffin, where it lay in an unconsecrated chapel, at Spires, until the removal of the excommunication. Concordat of Worms. — Henry V. (1106-1125) was not in the least disposed to yield up the right of investiture. Hence he was soon engaged in a controversy with Paschal II. Henry went to Rome with an army in 1110, and obliged the Pope to crown him emperor and to concede to him the right in ques- tion. But this only began a contest in which the pontiff was supported by the German princes. The emperor's authority, CULTURE IX THE ELEVENTH CENTURY 265 which was established in the south by means of his powerful supporters, was not secured in the north ; but during the last three years of his life he was at peace with the Church. By the Concordat of Worms, in 1122, it was agreed that inves- titure should take place in the presence of the emperor or of his deputies ; that the emperor should first invest with the scepter, and then consecration should take place by the Church, with the bestowal of the ring and staff. All holders of secu- lar benefices were to perform feudal obligations. Lothar of Saxony. — The princes, over whom Henry Y. had exercised a severe control, opposed the elevation of Frederick of Hohenstaufen, the son of his sister Agnes. At a brilliant assembly at Mainz, Lothar of Saxony was chosen emperor (1125-1137). He allowed all the Pope's claims, and was crowned at Kome by Innocent II., accepting the allodial — that is, freehold — possessions of Matilda of Tuscany as a fief from the pontiff. He carried on a war with the Hohenstaufen princes, Frederick of Swabia and his brother Conrad, who finally yielded. Lothar was helped in the conflict by Henry the Proud, the Duke of Bavaria, who also became Duke of Saxony. Germany under Lothar extended its influence in the north and east. Culture in the Eleventh Century. — The tenth century, owing to causes which have been explained, was a dark age. In the eleventh century circumstances were more favorable for culture. Under the Saxon emperors, intercourse was renewed with the Greek Empire. There was some intercourse v/ith the Arabs in Spain, among whom several of the sciences were cultivated, especially mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. The study of the Pom an law was revived in the Lombard cities. The restoration of order in the Church, after the Synod of Sutri (1046), had likewise a wholesome influence in respect to culture. There were several schools of high repute in Prance, especially those at Pheims, Chartres, Tours, and in the monas- tery of Bee, in Normandy, where Lanfranc, an Italian by birth, a man of wisdom and piety, was the abbot. CHAPTER XLI THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE ; PREDOMINANCE OF THE CHURCH: TO THE END OF THE CRUSADES, a.d. 1270 The Greek Empire. — The Greek Christian Empire lived on, a spiritless body. On the one hand it was bounded by the king- dom of the Arabs, and on the other by the Christian peoples of the west. Theological disputes between the Church of the West and the Church of the East led to the formal separation of the two in 1054, when the legate of the Pope laid on the altar of the Church of St. Sophia at Constantinople an ana- thema against the '•' seven mortal heresies " of the Greeks. The tenacity of life in the empire was surprising, in view of the languishing existence that it led. The Macedonian dynasty, to which that of the Comneni succeeded (1057), was forced to combat with the Turks, who had now made themselves masters of Asia. In the tenth century the attacks of the Eussians had been repelled, and in 1019, Basil II. had overthrown the king- dom of the Bulgarians ; but the Turks were the most dan- gerous enemies that had as yet threatened the empire, and Alexius I. (1081) appealed to the Germans for help. This had some influence in giving rise to the first of the Crusades. The Crusades were a new chapter in the long warfare of Chris- tianity with Mohammedanism. " In the Middle Ages, there were two worlds utterly distinct, — that of the Gospel and that of the Koran." The followers of Mohammed had been divided into various families or nations. In the eleventh cen- tury the Seljukian Turks founded an extensive empire. In 1071, the Turks gained a great victory, and took captive the Emperor Romanus. Asia Minor was wrested from the Greeks, 266 PILGKIMAGES TO JERUSALEM 267 and one of their leaders, Malek Shah, invaded Syria, Palestine, and Jerusalem, and carried his arms as far as Egypt. Upon his death three distinct sultanates were formed, — Persia, Syria, and Kerman. The Pilgrims to Jerusalem. — The immediate occasion of the Crusades was the hard treatment of the Christian pilgrims who visited the sepulcher of Christ in Jerusalem. There the Church of the Holy Sepulcher Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, had erected a Christian church. Of the present church, which was begun in 1103, the eastern dome, the apse, and the outer galler}^ are substantially the work of the crusaders. Pilgrimages — which had become more and more a custom since the fourth century — naturally tended to the sacred places in Palestine. A path was opened for pilgrims along the valley of the Danube by the coming of Hungary into connection with the Church of E-ome, 268 THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE and by the gift from the Pope of a royal crown to the Dnke, Stephen (1000). In 1064 a great pilgrimage, in which seven thousand persons, priests and laity, of all nations, were in- cluded, under Siegfried, Archbishop of Mainz, made its way through Hungary to Syria. Not more than a third of them lived to return. The reports of returning pilgrims were lis- tened to with absorbing interest, as they tokl of the spots to which the imagination of the people was constantly directed. What indignation then was kindled by tlie pathetic narrative of the insults which they had endured from the infidels who profaned the holy places with their hateful and cruel domina- tion ! In the ninth century, under caliphs of the temper of Haroun-al-Kaschid, Christians had been well treated. About the middle of the tenth century the Fatimite caliphs of Egypt were the rulers at Jerusalem. Hakem was fierce in his perse- cution, but his successors were more tolerant. But when the Seljukian Turks got control there, the harassed pilgrims had constant occasion to complain of insult and inhumanity. The Call of the Greeks The Greek emperor, Alexius Com- nenus, threatened l)y the Mussulmans on the opposite bank of the Bosporus, sent his call for succor to all Christian courts. Two popes, Sylvester II. and Gregory YIL, had in vain ex- horted the princes to rise in their might, to do away with the wrong and the shame which the disciples of Jesus Avere suffer- ing at the hands of his enemies. Motives to the Crusades. — After this, only a spark was needed to kindle in the Western nations a flame of enthusiasm. It was an advantage that the Mohammedans were divided and ruled by several sultans. The summons to a crusade appealed to the two most powerful sentiments then prevalent, — the sentiment of religion and that of chivalry. The response made by faith and reverence was reenforced by that thirst for a martial career and for knightly exploits which burned as a passion in the hearts of men. The peoples in the countries foruied by the Germanic conquests were full of vigor and life. Outside of the Church there was no employment to attract MOTIVES TO THE CRUSADES 269 aspiring youth but the employment of a soldier. Western Europe was covered with a network of petty sovereignties. Feudal conflicts, while they were a discipline of strength and valor, were a narrow field for all this pent-up energy. There was a latent yearning for a wider horizon, a broader theater of action. Thus the Crusades profoundly interested all classes. The Church and the clergy, the lower orders, the women and the children, shared to the full in the religious enthusiasm, which, in the case of princes and nobles, took the form of an CONFERKING KNIGHTHOOD ON THE FlELD OF BATTLE {From a manuscript of the Fifteenth Century) intense desire to engage personally in the holy war, in to crush the infidels, and at the same time to signalizf selves by gallant feats of arms. There was no surer'' salvation. There was, moreover, a hope, of which r tressed circumstances partook, of improving their te" The Council of Clermont. — Pope Urban II. authc the Hermit, an enthusiast of Amiens, to stir up ^^ea the great undertaking of delivering the Holy Sep an emaciated countenance and flashing eye, hip feet naked, and wearing a coarse garment bor habeli ruled by se ^ to the two ^ sentiment of 1^5, . by faith and %. ^ martial career . passion in the hi """^v formed by the Gei Outside of the Chi 272 THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE of cords, he told a burning tale of the Avrongs endured by the pilgrims. At the great Council of Clermont in 1095, the Pope himself addressed the assembly, and urged all to enlist in the sacred enterprise. Thousands knelt and received the red cross of cloth or silk, which was fastened on the shoulder, — which, being the badge of all who took up arms, gained for them the name of crusaders. The farmer left his plow, and the shepherd his flock. A disorderly host, poorly armed and ill provided, which included Avomen as well as men, started for Constantinople by way of Germany and Hungary, led by Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless, a French knight. Of two hundred thousand, it is said that only seven thousand reached Constantinople. Even these per- ished in Asia Minor, and the next crusad- ing expedition found their bones on the plains of Nicea. First Crusade (1096-1099). — One of the divisions of the first regular armies of soldiers of the cross advanced toward the Holy Land under brave and noble Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine, and his brothers P>aldwin and Eustace. Other divisions were likewise under the com- mand of renowned leaders, such as Ray- mond, Count of Toulouse, and Tancred, Robert Guiscard's nephew. Most of these first crusaders spoke French, and since their time, in the East, the inhabitants of western Europe have been called Franks. Alexius, the Eastern emperor, was more alarmed than gratified at seeing the swarm of warriors which had come into his land. Nicea surrendered after a siege of seven weeks, and at Dory- laeum the Turks were defeated in a desperate battle. Antioch was captured, and a great army of Turks under the Sultan, Kerboga, was vanquished near the city. A Knight of the First Crusade {From a manui^crlpl in the Btitish Museum) FIRST CRUSADE 273 When the crusaders first caught a glimpse of the Holy City, they fell on their knees, and with tears of joy broke out in hymns of praise to God. After a siege of thirty days, Jerusa- lem was taken by storm (July 15, 1099), and the infuriated conquerors slew ten thousand Saracens and burned the Jews in the synagogues to which they had fled. Under the in- fluence of a reaction of feeling, they cast their arms aside, and with bared heads and barefoot, entered into the church of the Holy Sepulcher, and on their bended knees thanked God for their success. Godfrey of Bouillon was chosen ruler of the city. Kef using to v/ear a royal crown where the Savior had worn a crown of thorns, he designated himself protector of the Holy Sepulcher. At Ascalon he won a great victory against the vast Egyptian forces of the Sultan. In the next year (1100) he died, and was succeeded by his brother Baldwin, who first took the title of King of Jerusalem. The new kingdom, organized according to the method of feu- dalism, was difficult to defend on account of the attacks of the Moslems and the almost incessant strifes among the crusaders themselves. It endured until the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187. The principal supporters of the kingdom at Jerusalem were the orders of knights, who added to the monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, a fourth vow which bound them to fight the infidels, and to protect the pilgrims. The two principal orders were the Knights of St. John, or the Hospitallers, and the Knights Templar. After the loss of the Holy Land, the Hospitallers held the Island of Rhodes until 1522, when they were driven out by the Turks, and re- ceived from Charles V. the island of Malta. The Templars took up their abode in Cyprus, and from there many of them went to France. In time, as they had become possessed of immense wealth by presents and legacies, a desire to get their property caused Philip V. to lend a ready ear to accusations of unbelief and blasphemy made against them, and in the begin- ning of the fourteenth century the order was suppressed. A 274 THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE III. The Hohexstaufex Emperors (1137-1250) Welfs and Waiblings ; the Hohenstaufen Line. — Conrad III. (1137-1152), of the house of Hohenstaufen, was chosen to suc- ceed Lothar, who died on a journey back from Italy in 1137. Henry the Proud, of the house of Welf, who inherited Saxony and all the domains of Lothar, hesitated to recognize Conrad as emperor, and war ensued. Henry died, leaving a young son known later as Henry the Lion. Count Welf, the brother of Henry the Proud, kept up the war in Bavaria, the dukedom of his family. He was besieged in Weinsberg. During the siege, it is said that his followers shouted " Welf " as a war-cry, while the besiegers shouted ''Waiblings," — Waiblingen being the birthplace of Frederick, Duke of Swabia, brother of Conrad. These names, corrupted into Guelj)!! and Ghibelline by the Italians, were afterwards attached to the two great parties, — the supporters, respectively, of the pojjes and the emperors. GENEALOGY OF THE WELFS Welf, Duke of Bavaria, lUTO-1101. I Henry the Black, Duke of Bavaria, 1120-1126. I I Judith, in. Frederick. Duke Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria, 1126; of Saxony, 1137; of Swabia (d. 1147), the deprived, 113S. son of Agnes, who was thf daughter of Henry ' 1 I V. Frederic I. ^ Bar- „ i ^ , . baro^sa) was the son of Henry the Lion, Judith and this Frederic '"■ Matilda, daughter of Henry II. of England. of Swabia. The Swabian ! dukes were called Ilohen- 6^////('«.v. from a castle on i I Mount Staufen in Wiir- Henry the Young, d. Vli~. Otto IV., d. 121S. tern berg. Second Crusade (1147-1149). — The saintly life and moving elo- quence of St. Bernard, the greatest preacher of the age, enabled him to set on foot the Second Crusade. Louis YII. in France FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 275 and Conrad III. were the leaders. The expedition was unfor- tunate, however. The siege of Damascus failed, and although not far from Ascalon the crusaders gained a victory over the Saracen leader Saladin, they were afterwards overthrown in "the fatal battle of Tiberias, and the victorious Mussulman en- tered Jerusalem in 1187. He was much more humane in the hour of success than the Christian w^arriors had been in like circumstances. Frederick Barbarossa. — Among the crusaders in the Holy Land was a man of great strength of understanding and of capacity for large undertakings, combined with a taste for letters and art. This was Frederick I., — Barbarossa, or Eedbeard, as he was called in Italy, — who at the age of thirty- one was elected emperor. He bent all his energies toward the restoration of the strength and dignity which had be- longed to the Empire under the Saxon and Franconian em- perors. He put dow^n private war, and restored public order. To his half-brother Conrad he gave the palatinate on the E^hine, and in 1155 Conrad founded Heidelberg. In 1158 Frederick crossed the Alps, bent on establishing the imperial jurisdiction as it had stood in the days of Charlemagne. Milan, which had at first submitted, afterwards revolted, but surrendered after a siege of tw^o years. In 1159 Alexan- der III. w^as elected Pope by the cardinals, but the imperial party set up Victor IV., and on his death Paschal HI., w^ho was conducted to Eome by Frederick on the occasion of his fourth visit to Italy (1166-1168). The Lombard League of northern cities built and strongly fortified Alessandria, taking posses- sion of the passes of the Alps, so that the emperor escaped to. Germany with no little difficulty and danger. His Italian enterprise w^as defeated in the battle of Legano (1176). He was convinced that his effort to break down the resistance of a free people was destined to be futile, and a reconciliation between emperor and pope took place at Venice in 1177. It was a day of triumph for the Papacy. At Constance in 1183 a treaty was made in which the right of the Lombard cities to ^ 276 THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE self-government was substantially conceded. The cities grew stronger from their newly gained freedom ; but the loss of imperial restraint was on some occasions an evil. Frederick in Germany. — After his return to Germany, Fred- erick deprived Henry the Lion, who had refused to support him in Italy, of his lands ; and when Henry craved his forgiveness at the Diet of Erfurt in 1181, he was allowed to retain Brunswick and LiUieburg. He was to live for three years, Avith his wife and child, at the court of his father- in-law, Henry II., King of England. His son William, born there, is the ancestor of the present royal family in England, In a last and peaceful visit to Italy, Frederick's son Henry was married to Constance, the daughter of Roger IL, and the heiress of the ISTorman kingdom of Lower Italy and Sicily. Third Crusade (1189-1192). — The old emperor now undertook another crusade, in which he was supported by Philip IL (Philip Augustus), King of France, and Richard the Lion-Hearted, (Coeur-de-Lion), King of England. After a winter at Adriano- ople, Frederick advanced through Asia Minor, showing a mili- tary skill and a valor which made the expedition memorable. At the river Calycadnus, in Cilicia, however, either while bathing or attempting to cross on horseback, the old warrior was swept away by the stream and drowned. Frederick, his son, died during the siege of Acre, which, however, surrendered to Richard and Philip in 1191. These two leaders quarreled, and Philip returned to France. Nothing was accomplished, except the establishment of a truce with Saladin, by which a strip of land on the coast from Joppa to Acre was given to the Christians, and pilgrimages to the holy places were allowed. Richard was distinguished both for his deeds of arms and for his cruelty. On his return, he was kept as a prisoner by Leopold, Duke of Austria, by the direction of the emperor, Henry VI., for thirteen months, and released on the payment of a rai^soni and rendering homage. He was charged with treading tlic (German banner in the filth at Acre. His alliance with the Wclfs in Germany is enough to explain the hostility FOURTH CRUSADE 277 felt towards him by the imperial party. He was the brother- in-law of Henry the Lion. Henry VI. ; Pope Innocent III. — Henry VI. (1190-1197) had the prudence and vigor of his father, but lacked his magna- nimity. He was hard and stern in his temper. Twice he visited Italy to conquer the kingdom of Sicily, the inherit- ance of his wife. The Korman kingdom disappeared, and Sicily was united to the Empire. It was a project of the emperor to convert Germany and Italy, with Sicily, into a hereditary monarchy ; but the princes would not consent. He aspired to incorporate the Eastern Empire in the same domin- ion. While engaged in strife with the aged Pope, Coelestin II., respecting the Tuscan lands of Matilda, which she had be- queathed to the Church, the emperor suddenly died. His son Erederick was a boy only three years old. On the death of Coelestin II., early in 1198, Innocent III., the ablest and most powerful of all the popes, acceded to the pontifical chair. In- nocent was a statesman of unsurpassed sagacity and energy. He was imbued with the highest idea of the papal dignity. He made his authority felt and feared in all parts of Chris- tendom. He exacted submission from all rulers, civil and eccle- siastical. The Empress Constance, in order to secure Italy for Frederick, accepted the papal investment on conditions dic- tated by the Pope. After her death Innocent ruled Italy in the character of guardian of her son. He dislodged the im- perial vassals from the Tuscan territory of Matilda, and thus became a second founder of the papal state. Fourth Crusade (1202-1204). — Under the ausjjices of Inno- cent III., a crusade was undertaken by French barons, and by Baldwin, Count of Flanders* and Boniface, Marquis of Montfer- rat. The crusaders were unable to furnish to the Venetians the sum which had been agreed to be paid for their transpor- tation. The Venetians, under their crafty old doge, Henry Dandolo, persuaded them to assist in the capture of Zara, which the Hungarians had wrested from Venice. Then, at the call of Alexius, son of the Eastern emperor, Isaac Angelus, they 278 THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE went with the Venetian fleet to Constantinople, and after hav- ing restored these princes to the throne, they fell into disputes with the Greeks and ended by pillaging Constantinople, and establishing the Latin empire under Baldwin. The Latin do- minion endured until 1261, w^hen Michael Palaeologus, who had become the head of a Greek empire which had been estab- lished at Nicea, put an end to its existence. Children's Crusade. — In 1212, between the fourth and the fifth crusades, moved by the belief that these great expedi- tions had been suffered by the Almighty to fail as a punish- ment for the vices which stained the lives of jnany of the crusaders, many thousands of French and German boys made their way in two distinct expeditions to Marseilles and the sea- ports of Italy in order to be conveyed thence to the Holy Land. Li France the leader was a lad, whose preaching stirred up an intense excitement. The companies gathered were joined by a swarm of older enthusiasts. This was the celebrated Children's Crusade, which shows both the zeal and the indiscretion of the times. It grew out of a strange construction of the injunction of the Lord, that little children should be suffered to come unto him, and of an equally wild interpretation of other texts. Few of them returned ; nearly all perished by the way, or were seized and carried off to slave-markets. Otto IV. ; Civil War in Germany. — Frederick had been elected king ; but, on the death of his father, his claims were disre- garded. There was a contest for the crown between his uncle, Philip of Swabia, and Otto of Saxony, chosen by the Welfs. Innocent claimed the right, not to appoint the emperor, but to decide between the rival claimants. He decided, in 1201, in favor of Otto IV. (1198-1214), but it was not until after the murder of Philip (1208) that Otto, having made large promises of submission to the Pope's demands, was crowned emperor and universally acknowledged. When he failed to fulfil his pledges, and began to assert the old imperial prerogatives in Italy, he was excommunicated and deposed by Innocent (1210). FIFTH CRUSADE 279 Frederick II. made King. — Innocent was now led to take up the cause of young Frederick (1212). The latter won Ger- many over to his side, and received the German crown at Aix- la-Chapelle in 1215. Character of Frederick II. (1214-1250). — Frederick II., on ac- count of his extraordinary natural gifts and his accomplish- ments, like Otto III. was likewise- called the AYonder of the World. He knew several languages, and, in intercourse with the Saracens in Sicily, had acquired a familiarity with the sciences. In many of his ideas of government he was in advance of his time. But his reign was largely spent in con- test with the Lombard cities and with the popes. He is styled by an eminent modern historian, '^ the gay, the brave, the wise, the ~ relentless, and the godless Frederick." He was often charged with skepticism in relation to the doctrines of the Church. The main ground of this imputation seems to have been a temper of mind at variance with the habit of the age, — ■ a very moderate degree of reverence for ecclesiastical authority, and the absence of the prevalent antipathy to heresy and reli- gious dissent. Fifth Crusade (1228-1229). — Having caused his son Henry to be elected King of Kome, Frederick, in 1220, left Germany for fifteen years. It was the policy of the popes to keep the Sicilian crown from being united with the Empire and the em- peror from gaining the supremacy in Lombardy. Frederick, at his coronation at Aix, and afterwards, had engaged to un- dertake a crusade. But he had postponed it from time to time. Pope Honorius III. had patiently borne with this delay. But when Frederick, in 1227, was about to start, and was prevented, as he professed, by a contagious disease in his army, from which he himself was suffering, Gregory IX., the next Pope, placed him under the ban of the Church. Nevertheless, the emperor, in the following year, embarked on his crusade. His vigor as a soldier and, still more, his tact in conciliating the Saracens enabled him to get possession of Jerusalem. ZSTo bishop would crown an excommunicate, and he had to put the 280 THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE crown on his own head. That he left a mosque unmolested was a fresh ground of reproach. He negotiated an armistice with the Sultan, Kameel (El Kamil), who ceded Nazareth and a strip of territory reaching to the coast, together with Sidon. Fifteen years later (in 1244) Jerusalem was finally lost by the Christians. The Later Career of Frederick. — After his return to Italy, Frederick displayed his talent for organization in all parts of his empire. His constitution for the Sicilian kingdom, based on the ruins of the old feudalism, is tinged with the modern political spirit. His court, wherever he sojourned, mingled an almost Oriental luxury and splendor with the attractions of poetry and song. But his efforts to enforce the imperial supremacy over the Lombard cities were met with the same stubborn resistance from the Guelfs which his grandfather had encountered. In 1237 he gained a brilliant victory over them. He carried forward continued contests with the popes and Innocent IV., and was several times excommunicated by them. Innocent IV. (1243-1254) declared him deposed, and summoned the Germans to elect another emperor in his place. The ecclesiastical princes in Germany chose two emperors in succession, but Frederick kept up his supremacy. During this period of civil war, many German cities gained their freedom from episcopal rule, attained to great privileges, and came into an immediate relation to the emperor. A fear- ful war raged in Italy between the Guelfs and Ghibellines, in the midst of which Frederick died, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. Had he been as conscientious and as capable of curb- ing his passions and appetites as he was highly endowed in other respects, he might have been a model ruler. As it was, although his career was splendid, his private life, as well as his public conduct, was stained with flagrant faults. The Sicilian Kingdom. — The hereditary kingdom of the Two Sicilies was bravely defended by Manfred, son of Frederick II., in behalf of young Conradin. The Pope gave the crown to Charles of Anjou, brother of Louis IX. of France, and he spAm 281 at length gained the kingdom. Conradin went to Italy, but was defeated and captured in 1268, and was executed at Naples. Such was the tragic end of the last of the Hohenstaufens. The unbearable tyranny of the French led to a conspiracy called the Sicilian Vespers (1282) ; and on Easter Monday, at vesper time, the rising took place. All the French in Sicily were massacred. Peter of Aragon, who had married the daughter of Manfred, became king of Sicily. The dominion of Charles of Anjou was restricted to Naples. This separation of Naples, under the house of Anjou, as a distinct kingdom from Sicily, gave rise to the expression "the two Sicilies " (1288). Spain. — For eight hundred years the Spaniards carried for- ward in their own land a crusade against the Moors, who had established a brilliant civilization within their borders. In the time of Abderrahman III. (912-961) there were six hundred mosques in Cordova, and there were said to be seventeen uni- versities and seventy large libraries in Spain. In the eleventh century, however, the caliphs gave themselves up to luxury, and the control of their forces was in the hands of viziers, of whom Almanzor"v/as the most famous. The caliphate of Cor- dova broke up into numerous kingdoms ; Christian Spain was united under Sancho the Great (970-1035). To one of his sons, Ferdinand I., he left Castile, to which Leon and the Asturias were united. To another he left Aragon ; and to a third Navarre and Biscay. It was under Ferdinand that the exploits of the Spanish hero, the Cid (Kodrigo Diaz of Bivar), in conflict with the infidels, began. The complete conquest of the Moors was prevented by the strife of the Christian king- doms, but the latter were all once more united under Alfonso VI. There were internal dissensions among the Mussulmans as well as among the Christians, and to this fact may in part be ascribed the decisive victory of the kings of Castile, Leon, and Navarre, aided by sixty thousand crusaders from Ger- many, France, and Italy, over Mohammed, the ckief of the Almohads, in the battle of Tolosa (1212). These had come over into Spain in the twelfth century. The Spanish Crusade 282 THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE built up the little kingdom of Portugal, aud the states of Castile and of Aragon. After the battle of Tolosa the Mo- hammedan jjower steadily declined until nothing was left of it but the kingdom of Granada. >r'.-oI K OF C'.KIXJVA The Mongolian Invasions. — At the beginning of the thir- teenth centur3% Genghis Khan, the leader of ^Mongolian or Tartar hordes which roamed over the Asiatic plateau between China and Siberia, conquered China, and overthrew the ruling END or THE CEUSADES 283 dynasty. He spread his power frora the Caspian Sea through Persia to India (1218). Populous cities were burned with all their treasures by these ruthless invaders. Libraries were converted into stalls for the horses of the brutal conquerors. The sons and successors of G-enghis Khan swept over the coun- tries north of the Black Sea, captured Moscow and Kiev, burned Cracow, and pursued their murderous and devastating path over Poland and Hungary. At the battle of Wahlstatt (1241) the Germans were defeated. The victories of the Tartars were frightful massacres. It was a custom of the Mongols to cut off an ear of the slaughtered enemy, and it was said that at Liegnitz these trophies filled nine sacks. The Mongol hosts retired from Europe. They attacked the caliphate of Bagdad, a city which they took by storm, and plundered for forty days. They destroyed the dynasty of the Abassides. They marched into Syria, stormed and sacked Aleppo, and captured Damas- cus. For a time the central point of the Tartar conquests was the city or camping-ground of Karalorum in central Asia. After a few generations their empire was broken in pieces. The Golden Horde, which they had planted in Eussia, on the east of the Volga, remained there for two centuries. Bag- dad was. held by the Mongols until 1400, when it was con- quered, and kept for a short time, by Tamerlane. The religion of the Tartars was either Lamaism — a cor- rupted form of the Buddhistic belief and worship — or Mo- hammedanism. In China and Mongolia they Avere Lamaists : elsewhere they generally adopted the faith of Islam. Their original religion was Shamaism, a worship of the spirits, akin to fetichism. The End of the Crusades. — The last two Crusades — the sixth and seventh — Avere undertaken under the leadership of the upright and devout king, Louis IX. of Prance. The first (1248-1254) resulted in the taking of Damietta in Egypt, but in the next year Louis, with his whole army, was capt- ured, and obtained his release only upon payment of a large ransom. In 1270 he sailed to Tunis, where he and most of 284 THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE his army perished from sickness. In 1291 Acre fell into the hands of the Egyptian Mamelukes, and with its fall the Cru- sades came to an end. The conquests in the East were thus all surrendered, and the holy places were given up; but on the other hand the Turks had suffered a check which was destined to be a pro- tection to Europe ; the feudal system received its death blow ; the social distance between suzerain and serf was diminished, and there was an expansion of knowledge resulting from the contact of the crusaders with the superior refinement and elegance of the Saracens. It was natural that trade and commerce should receive an impulse, and in consequence of the new commercial activity, the cities advanced in strength and wealth. Although, therefore, the crusading enthusiasm had burned itself out, the indirect results of the Crusades were most important. After the thirteenth century it was impos- sible to rekindle the former enthusiasm. The enterprise no longer had the charm of novelty, and knightly ardor was dampened by the succession of practical failures. Antipathy to the infidel was giving way to a mingling of secular aims and interests. The mood of men's minds was changed, for there were new and wider fields of activity at home. DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR 285 W o H H W o o u w a H o 286 DESCENDANTS OF HUGH CAPET a6 u o Ch PU 'o O -. o w ^ ^ 6 o ^ t3 "c 1) f^ 1 ^ b ^ o Tc 05 ^ ^ Eh ?? OD -3 g o 1 f CO 1- -1- 1 "fct 1 p t» W o >^ ,§ • 1 "St 5 42 C s "3 1 1 i 8 < 1 fe a; o <1 O ^ Oi H H ^ H s< -« £f' = s .'§ > 5? 2 a rH a 1 be »C c3 g §< Ph k' S H c» o O A « 5o ^^ CariisJe 'i^ GERMAN OCEAN _~-^-!p^, cXonA Allerton ISLE OF MAN T^yaJ^i^J yy\ ,, -S OS Schfes^ig »=*^^^~^/V TT jSx^-.-^'CY. OF ^zr^e^r -HOLSTEit; ditmarqa; ^ NORTH SEA -°c^.^C^V" '^^^.'sv.t^^ ^^\ Bardovvicir; Bremen -^ «1 ':Meppenr~Osnal)ruck J^ DY./OF T ■ . ■■■• .V jUrn-m i^Calais Lille C"''^^ LOW ER LORRAlR\E ie^^ BonifL DY. OF amur CoI)leiitzVg-'_ Frankfort »r/>'- *>\ii^''''">J=f^^^5 ^ »--^IiJ-~^''''^ rCalais LiHe r* LOWEF '^'"*''/^-S^ T \f"~^ ^^■^ " '" ^ CY. OF flande'rs -^' i-2. A^f^\i -ISLE OF WIGHT CrXv. T^ ' ^ <. V^ nrLoERNE' Abbeville . ^ -^^t J...,' <^ Alias Amienss St.Q,uentjji~<5o'-'*'^ ~^f,^ Ha-rfWr ^"^ ! .-.^ Z^^° ^ ^/^reVes F R A^^ C O M A '^VCl J^^^^^l '■■■■■■ ^c,r'th'"'''§ i^'-J""oy Ppire«^'^^ CHAPTER XLII ENGLAND AND FRANCE : THE FIRST PERIOD OF THEIR RIVALSHIF (1066-1217) Connection of England and France. — In the era of the Crusades the kingdoms of England and France began to be prominent. The emperors were still in theory the sovereigns of Christen- dom. But Trance was becoming a compact monarchy, and in England the foundations of free representative government were being laid. AVhen William, Duke of Normandy, became king of England, it looked as if England and Trance would be united under one sovereignty, so close did their relations become. The Norman dukes in Trance were strong. The Conqueror, angry with the king of the Trench, was burning Mantes, in the border-land between Normandy and Trance, when, through the stumbling of his horse in the ashes, he received a hurt which ended in his death, September, 1087. On his death-bed he was smitten with remorse for his unjust conquest of England. He dared not appoint a successor : it belonged, he said, to the Almighty to do that ; but he lioj^ed that his son William might succeed him. William Rufus (1087-1100). — In accordance with the father's wish, William Kufus succeeded to the throne. He was an able man, but after the death of the good Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, he proved himself vicious and an irreligious king. One of his good deeds, however, was the appointment of the holy and learned Anselm to succeed Lanfranc. He quarreled with his brother Kobert, Duke of Normandy, and the latter mortgaged the duchy to the English king in order that he might raise money for the first Crusade. William was killed while hunting in the New Torest, perhaps accidentally by 288 CONNECTION OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE 289 Walter Tyrrel, one of the hunting party, or else deliberately by one who had been robbed of his home when the New For- est was made. Henry I. of England (1100-1135) ; Louis VI. (the Fat) of France (1108-1137); Louis VII. (1137-1180) William was succeeded by his younger brother Henry, whose wife Matilda was tiie granddaughter of Edmund Ironsides. Through his mother the blood of Alfred the Great flowed in his veins. In the absence of his elder brother, Eobert, he ascended the throne and held it in spite of his brother's subsequent attempt to wrest it from him. At Tinchebrai (1106) he defeated Robert, took him prisoner, and got possession of Normandy. Eobert was kept in Cardiff Castle until his death (1135). Louis the Fat, King of France, who espoused the cause of Robert's son, was beaten at Bienneville in 1119. Subsequently a projected invasion of France by Henry and his son-in-law, Henry Y. of Germany, was prevented by the gathering of the vassals of the French king. Louis negotiated a marriage between his son (afterwards Louis YII.) and Eleanor, the daughter of Wil- liam, Duke of Aquitaine, thus paving the way towards gaining control of the south. Louis YII. (1137-1180) was not able to preserve the dominion which he inherited. He became em- broiled with Pope Innocent II. Louis suffered from remorse for the cruelties which marked his conduct of the war which resulted, and set on foot a fruitless crusade as an act of pen- ance. On his return from the expedition he divorced Eleanor on the ground that she was too near of kin to him (1152). Stephen (1135-1154) and Henry II. of England (1154-1189).— Matilda, widow of Henry Y., Emperor of Germany, had married in 1127 Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, who from his habit of wear- ing a sprig of broom (genet) in his bonnet was surnamed Plantagenet. His territory on the north was adjacent to Nor- mandy. Her father, Henry I. of England, after the death of his son by shipwreck, declared Matilda his heir and left the empress, as he called her, under the charge of his nephew, Stephen of Blois. The nobles had all sworn to accept her as 290 ENGLAND AND FRANCE their queen. Stephen, however, caused himself to be elected king and was crowned at Westminster. Matilda's uncle, Da^dd, King of the Scots, who had promised to maintain her succession, took up her cause. After various vicissitudes, Matilda, having at one time been in great bodily peril, con- trived to escape from Oxford Castle. Peace was made in 1153, by which Stephen was to retain the kingdom, but was to be succeeded by Matilda's eldest son. The contest had released the greater barons from the restraint which Henry I. had put upon them. They were in conse- quence guilty of cruelties and atrocities. The kingdom was in a state of disorder : there were thieves along the highways, and the barons in their castles were themselves no better than the thieves. The poor were oppressed. They cried to heaven, but it seemed that they received no answer. " Men said openly that Christ and his Saints were asleep." Better times came under Henry II. His father was the Count of Anjou, so that he was the first of the Angevin kings of England. He married Eleanor, the heiress of Aquitaine. Henry was a strong-willed man, and he reduced the barons to subjection. While in theory he was a vassal of the king of France, he held so many fiefs that he was stronger than the king himself and all the other crown vassals together. It seemed as if he would absorb the little monarchy of France. This result was prevented, however, by the discord in the royal family of England, by the strifes be- tween the king and the clergy, and later by the struggle between the king and the barons. In order the better to control these great landholders, Henry arranged that they should pay him money instead of military service. At the same time, he en- couraged the small landowners to exercise themselves in arms, which would prepare them for self-defense and to assist the king. ^ He sent judges through the land, and from their cus- tom of inquiring of a certain number of men in the county as to the merits of cases coming before them, there grew up the English jury system. The decision of the jury came in time to be known as their verdict (vere dictum). CONSTITUTIONS OE CLAKENDON 291 Becket; Constitutions of Clarendon. — Thomas a Becket had been Henry's chancelor, and the king raised him to the arch- bishopric of Canterbury, in the full expectation of having his sup]3ort (1162). At the time Henry was endeavoring to bring the clergy under the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts, his grandfather, the Conqueror, having granted to the ecclesiasti- cal courts the exclusive privilege of treating cases in which the clergy were concerned. The brilliant chancelor, who had been gay and extravagant in his ways, became a strict and austere prelate, and he held to the cause of the clergy against the king with a will as inflexible as that of Henry. In 1164, indeed, Becket with the other prelates swore to support the Constitutions of Clarendon, which were enactments adopted at a great council of prelates and barons in 1164, tending towards the subjection of ecclesiastics to the royal will. But Becket repented of his act, was absolved by the Pope from his oath, and fled to France. Later a reconciliation took place, and Becket returned to England. His temper proved to be unaltered, and a hasty expression of Henry, uttered in wrath and indicating a desire to be rid of him, was taken up by Eeginald Fitzurse and three other knights, who attacked the archbishop and slew him near the great altar in the Cathedral at Canterbury (Dec. 29, 1170). The nobles welcomed the occasion to revolt. Henry was regarded as the instigator of the bloody deed, and was moved to make important concessions to the Pope, Alexander III. The king was afilicted with remorse, and suffered himself to be scourged by the monks at the tomb of Becket, who had been canonized under the name of St. Thomas. Then the people rallied to him, and the uprising of the nobles was suppressed. Finally, however, the king's sons rebelled against him, and when, in 1183, John, the youngest, joined his older brothers, the father's heart was broken, and he died in 1189. Conquest of Ireland. — Henry had been authorized by Pope Hadrian lY. to invade Ireland, and in 1171 he crossed the Irish Sea and was acknowledged as sovereign by all the chief- 292 ENGLAND AND FRANCE tains of the south. The whole country, however, was not sub- dued until Elizabeth's time, four centuries later. Philip Augustus of France (i 180-1223) ; Richard the Lion-hearted of England (1189-1199). — At the death of Louis VII. of France a new epoch is seen to begin. The dominion of the great vassals declines, and the true monarchical period commences. Louis the Fat, Philip Augustus, and St. Louis (Louis IX.) are the early forerunners of Louis XIV., the absolute monarch, the sole judge, legislator, and executive of the country. Philip was only fifteen years old when he began to reign alone. For forty-three years he labored, with shrewdness and perseverance and with few scruples as to the means employed, to build up the kingly authority. While Henry II. of England lived, Philip was allied with his son, Eichard the Lion-hearted, who succeeded his father. Richard was passionate and quarrel- some, yet generous. After his coronation, the two kings made ready for a crusade. They set out together, but they quar- reled. Philip came home first, but Richard on his way was taken prisoner by Leopold, Duke of Austria, and was kept in custody by the direction of the emperor Henry VI. for thirteen months. As nothing was heard of the king, his faithless and ambitious brother John (surnamed Sansterre, or Lackland) was made regent and claimed the crown. When Philip heard of Richard's release, he wrote to John (1194), '' Take care of yourself, for the devil is let loose.'' A war between Richard and Philip ended in a truce brought about by Pope Innocent HI. Shortly afterwards Richard was mortally wounded while besieging a castle near Limoges, where it was said that a treas- ure had been found which he as suzerain claimed. Never but twice had he visited England, and the country had no real cause to regret his death, although he always had the fame of a hero. John was chosen king, and procured the imprisonment of Arthur, Duke of Brittany, the son of his elder brother, Geof- frey, whose claims to the throne John had reason to dread. It is said that John ordered the keeper, Hubert de Burgh, to MAGNA CHARTA 293 put out Arthur's eyes, and John also is accused of drowning the captive or of stabbing him with his own hand. John, hav- ing been summoned by Philip as a vassal of France to clear himself of the crime charged against him, failed to appear, and his fiefs were declared forfeited. There were left to the English in France only the duchy of Aquitaine, with Gascony and the Channel Islands. John's Quarrel with the Pope ; Magna Charta Under the name of taxation John robbed his subjects high and low. He was as rash as he was tyrannical. He attempted to force upon the monks of Canterbury an archbishop whom they did not like. Pope Innocent III. made them elect Stephen Langton, a religious and learned Englishman, but John, in a rage, drove the monks out of Canterbury and refused to recognize the election. The Pope excommunicated him, and laid England under an interdict; that is, he forbade services in the churches, and sacraments except for infants and the dying ; marriages were to take place in the church porch, and the dead were to be buried without prayer and in unconsecrated ground. As John paid no regard to this measure of coercion, Innocent absolved his subjects from their allegiance, and handed his kingdom over to the King of France (1212). Ee- sisted at home, and threatened from abroad, John now made an abject submission, laying his crown at the feet of the Pope's legate. He made himself the vassal of the Pope, receiving back from him the kingdoms of England and Ireland, which he had delivered to Innocent, and engaging that a yearly rent should be paid to Pome by the King of England and his heirs. Philip had to give up his plan of invading England. John's tyranny and licentiousness had become intolerable. Langton, a man of large views, and the English Church united with the barons in extorting from him, in the meadow of Eunnymede, — an island in the Thames, near Windsor, — the Magna Charta, the foundation of English constitutional liberty (1215). It secured two great principles: first, that the king could take the money of his subjects only when it was voted 294 ENGLAND AND FRANCE to him for public objects ; and secondly, that he could not pun- ish or imprison them at his will, but could punish them only after conviction, according to law, by their countrymen. War with France; Deposition of John — ^ John joined in a great plan with the emperor, Otto IV., to attack Philip, but the French were victorious at Bouvines (121-4), and John, after having suffered reverses in Poitou, returned to Eng- land, only to find that his exertions against the Charter were unavailing. In a spirit of vengeance he marched into Scotland, robbing the country as he went, and every morning burning the house in which he had lodged for the night. His death in 1216 prevented the carrying out of a plan formed by the barons of making Louis, the son of Philip Augustus, King of England. The Albigensian War The war against the Albigenses be- gan in the reign of Philip ; but he pleaded that his hands were full, and left it to be waged by the nobles. The sect of the Albigenses had its seat in the south of France, and de- rived its name from the city of Albi. It held certain heret- ical tenets which were deemed mischievous, and rejected the authority of the priesthood. In 1208, under Innocent III., a crusade was preached against Raymond VI., Count of Toulouse, in Avhose territory most of the members of the sect Avere found. This was first conducted by Simon de Montfort, and then by Philip's son, Louis VIII. , the county of Toulouse being a fief of France. The result was that, after the accession of Louis IX., the county of Toulouse was incorporated in the French kingdom (1229). The advantages resulting from the crushing of the sovereignties of the south were sure to come to the French monarchy. But Philip left it to the nobles and to his successors to win the enticing prize. The first period of rivalry between England and France ends with John and Philip Augustus. For one hundred and twenty years, each country pursues its course separately. Monarchy grows stronger in France ; constitutional govern- ment advances in England. LOUIS IX. 295 Louis IX. of France (1226-1270). — In Louis IX. (St. Louis) France had a king so noble and just that the monarchy was sanctified in the eyes of the people. At his accession he was but eleven years old, and with his mother, Blanche of Castile, had to encounter for sixteen years a combination of great barons determined to uphold feudalism. Most of them staid away from his coronation. When the young king and his mother approached Paris, they found the way barred ; but it was opened by the devoted burghers, who came forth with arms in their hands to bring them in. The magistrates of the communes swore to defend the king and his friends (1228). They were supported by the Papacy and were successful. England and France In 1243 Louis defeated Henry III. of England, who had come over to help the rebellious nobles. In 1259 he made a treaty with Henry, yielding to him the Limousin, Perigord, and parts of Saintonge, for which Henry relinquished all claims on the rest of France. In 1245 Charles of Anjou, the king's brother, married Beatrice, through whom Provence passed to the house of Anjou. The king's long absence (1248-1254), during the sixth crusade, had no other result but to show to all that he combined in himself the qualities of a hero and of a saint. Louis fostered learn- ing. The University of Paris flourished under his care. In his reign Kobert of Sorbon (1252) founded the Sorbonne, the famous college for ecclesiastics which bears his name. Civil Policy of Louis. — In his civil policy Louis availed him- self of the Poman law to undermine feudal privileges. The legists enlarged the number of cases reserved for the king himself to adjudicate. He established new courts of justice, higher than the feudal courts, and the right of final appeal to himself. He made the king's Parliament a great judicial body. He abolished in his domains the judicial combat, or duel, — the old German method of deciding between the ac- cused and the accuser. He liberated many serfs. He showed mercy to all except Jews and heretics. In his intercourse with other nations, he blended firmness and courage with a 296 ENGLAND AND FRANCE fair and unselfish spirit. With loyalty to the Holy See, and an exalted piety, Louis defended the rights of all, and did not allow the clergy to attain to an unjust control. Voltaire said of him, '^It is not given to man to carry virtue to a higher point." He stands in the scale of merit on a level with the traditional conception of Alfred of England. Henry III. (1216-1272). — On land as well as on the sea Louis VIII. (1223-1226), the son of Philip Augustus, met defeat at the hands of Henry, John's eldest son and successor. Henry was a weak prince. He became involved in the war with his barons, who were led by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, the son of the Simon who was a leader in the Albigensian cru- sade. Through him Parliament assumed the form which it has since retained. The greater barons, the lords or peers, with the bishops and principal abbots, came together in person and grew into the House of Lords. Knights had been sent to rep- resent the freeholders of each county, and Simon, by causing each city and borough to send two citizens as its representa- tives, laid the foundation of the House of Commons and the modern representative system. Simon defeated Henry at Lewes (1264), but when the barons flocked to the standard of Prince Edward, Simon was himself defeated and slain at Evesham in 1265. Henry was restored to power. He died in 1272, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, which he had begun to rebuild. Under Henry, the Great Charter, with some alterations, was three times confirmed. A charter of the Forest was added, providing that no man should lose life or limb for taking the king's game. Cruel laws for the protection of game in the forests or uncultivated lands had been a standing grievance from the days of the Norman Conquest. The confirming of the Great Charter in 1225 was made the condition of a grant of money from the National Council to the king. When the bishops, in 1236, desired to have the laws of inheritance con- formed to the rules of the Church, the barons made the laconic answer, "We will not change the laws of England." CHAPTER XLIII RISE OF THE BURGHER CLASS; SOCIETY IN THE ERA OF THE CRUSADES Origin of Municipal Freedom. — In the tenth century we see the beginning of a class midway between the nobility and the clergy, on the one hand, and the serfs on the other. Under feudalism only the first class and the last present themselves to view. The development of a third estate was most notice- able in the cities, where burghers began to increase in intelli- gence and to manifest a spirit of independence. It was at one time supposed that municipal government in the Middle Ages was a relic of Eoman times, but the better opinion is that municipal liberty as it existed in the Middle Ages was a prod- uct of the Germanic peoples. The need of defense drove men within the walls of towns. Industry and trade developed in- telligence and produced wealth. Compelled under the feudal system to pay heavy taxes, the burghers gradually gained enough power to extort exemptions and privileges from the suzerain, the effect of which was to give them self-government to a limited extent. Often a measure of freedom was will- ingly conceded by the lords. Charters were given to cities by the king; but communities thus formed differed from the other class of cities in not having the same privilege of admin- istering justice within their limits. The cities themselves often had vassals, and became suzerains. The courage and spirit of the burghers were mainly displayed in the mainte- nance of their own privileges, for even in the twelfth century they did not pretend to interfere in the government of the country. Commerce with the East had not as yet been devel- 297 298 RISE OF THE BURGHER CLASS oped. Marco Polo, after his return from China, where he lived, twenty-six years, published at Genoa the celebrated account of his travels. He died about 1324. Sir John Mandeville, an Englishman who was born about 1300, wrote a narrative of his Eastern travels and dedicated it to Edward III. But com- merce in the Middle Ages was chieiiy confined to the countries upon the Mediterranean and the borders of the North Sea and of the Baltic, to protect itself against the feudal lords and against pirates. The Hanseatic League. — To protect themselves effectually against all these aggressors, the cities of northern Germany formed (about 1241) the Hanseatic League, which, at the height of its power, included eighty-five cities, besides many other cities more or less closely affiliated with it. This league was dominant, as regards trade and commerce, in the north of Europe, and united under it the cities on the Baltic and the Ehine as well as the large cities of Flanders. Its merchants had control of the fisheries, the mines, the agriculture, and manufactures of Germany. Ltibeck was its chief center. In all the principal towns on the highways of commerce, the flag of the Hansa floated over its counting houses. Wherever the influence of the league reached, its regulations were in force. It almost succeeded in monopolizing the trade of Europe north of Italy. Flanders ; England ; France. — The numerous cities of Flan- ders — of which Ghent, Ypres, and Bruges were best known — became hives of industry and of thrift. Ghent, at the end of the thirteenth century, surpassed Paris in riches and power. In the latter part of the fourteenth century, the number of its fighting men was estimated at eighty thousand. The development of Holland was more slow. Amsterdam was con- stituted a town in the middle of the thirteenth century. Eng- land began to exchange products Avith Spain. It sent its sheep, and brought back the horses of the Arabians. The cities of France — Rouen, Orleans, Bheims, Lyons, Marseilles, etc. — were alive with manufactures and trade. In the twelfth GUILDS 299 century the yearly fairs at Troyes, St. Denis, and Beaucaire were famous all over Europe. Guilds. — A very important feature of mediaeval society was the guilds. Societies more or less resembling these existed Guild Hotjse at Hildeshbim among the Komans, some being for good fellowship or for re- ligious rites, and others being trade corporations. There were, also, similar fraternities among the Greeks in the second and third centuries b.c. In the Middle Ages, there were two 300 RISE OF THE BURGHER CLASS general classes of guilds. First, there were the peace guilds, for mutual protection against thieves, and for mutual aid in sickness, old age, or impoverishment from other causes. They were numerous in England, and spread over the conti- nent. Secondly, there were the trade guilds, which embraced the merchant guilds, and the craft guilds. The latter were associations of workmen, for maintaining the customs of their craft, each with a master, or alderman, and other officers. They had their provisions for mutual help for themselves and for their widows and orphans, and they had their religious observ- ances. Each had its patron saint, its festivals, its treasury. They kept in their hands the monopoly of the branch of in- dustry which belonged to them. They had their rules in respect to apprenticeship, etc. Almost all professions and occupations were fenced in by guilds. Monasticism and Theology. — The Middle Ages were times of picturesque contrasts. Along with the passion for war and violence, there was a parallel self-consecration to a life of peace and devotion. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries there arose, among other orders, the Carthusian, Cistercian, and Carmelite orders of monks ; while other orders, especially that of the Benedictines, became very wealthy and powerful. In the thirteenth century the Mendicant orders arose. The order of St. Francis was fully established in 1223, and the order of St. Dominic in 1216. They combined with monastic vows the utmost activity in preaching and in otlier clerical work. It is from the middle of the eleventh century that the scholastic theology dates. Aristotle was the author whose philosophical writings were most authoritative with the schoolmen, while in theology Augustine was their most revered master. Of these schoolmen who aimed to systemize, elucidate, and, on philo- sophical grounds, to prove the doctrines of the Church, the most illustrious were Anselm in the eleventh century, and Abelard, Albert the Great, St. Bonaventura, and Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century Aquinas was the great theologian of the Dominican order, and his adherents were LITEKATURE AND LEARNING 301 known as Tliomists ; while those who followed Duns Scotus, the great light of the Franciscans, were known as Scotists. Literature and Learning. — One of the most important results of the intellectual activity which marked the period begun by the Crusades was the rise of the universities. After the scho- lastic theology was introduced, teachers in this branch began to give instruction in Paris near the schools connected with the abbeys and cathedrals. Pupils gathered around the lec- turers, and in the thirteenth century an organization was developed which was called a University — a sort of guild — made up of four faculties, — Theology, Canon Law, Medicine, and the Arts. The arts included the three studies (trivium), of Grammar, Ehetoric, and Philosophy, with four additional branches (quadrivium), Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy. Next to Paris, Oxford was famous as a place of education ; while the University of Bologna in Italy was most renowned as a school for the study of the civil law. While intellectual activity was for a long time confined to the domain of theology, yet in the tenth and eleventh centuries a secular literature gradually made its appearance in the dia- lect of Provence. The study of this language and the poetry composed in it became the recreation of knights and ladies and thousands of poets, called Troubadours (from trobar, to in- vent), appeared almost simultaneously and became well known in Spain, Italy, and France. The period of chivalry began. Love became the theme of tender and passionate poems which indulged in a license which was not offensive in an age of lax manners and morals, but would be intolerable in a different state of society. Rhyme, which had theretofore been peculiar to Arabian poetry, was introduced and spread over Europe. In the twelfth century Trouveres, the troubadours of the north, appeared in Normandy and sang in the French language songs that were more warlike and virile than those of the south. A favorite theme of their romances was the prowess of Charlemagne and the mythical exploits of Arthur, the last Celtic king of Britain, and the Knights of his Eound Table. 302 RISE OF THE BURGHER CLASS In Germany, in the age of the Hohenstaufens, poets called Minnesingers abounded. In the thirteenth century, when the troubadours were disajjpearing and the Provenqal tongue was becoming a mere dialect, German poetry took the form of laj^s of love, satirical fables, and metrical romances. Old ballads were thrown into the epic form, - ' and among them the Niehelung- enliecl, the Iliad of Germany. In Spain, meanwhile, the contests with the jNIoors were being re- flected in the Poem of the Cid, while in England important chronicles were being written in the monasteries by William of ]\Ialmesbury, Geoffrey of Mon- mouth, Matthew Paris, and others. Italy's great poet, Dante, was born in Florence in 1265. ^^j^^^ His principal poem, the Divine Comedy, is universally regarded as one of the greatest products of poetical genius. No poet before Dante ever equaled him in depth of thought and feeling. Art. — After the Lombard conquest of Italy the Byzantine and the late Roman schools of art made their appearance — the former being characterized by the drawing of figures which are stiff and conventional, while the latter marked a directly opposite conception. Cimabue (1240-1302) broke loose from the Byzantine influence. He is generally considered the founder of modern Italian painting. He was far outdone by Giotto (1276-1337). He was a contemporary of Dante, and it has been said of him, " He stands at the head of the school of allegorical painting, as the latter of that of poetry." Under Niccolo of Pisa and his son Giovaniti, a new school of sculp- ture arose in the thirteenth century. Iln architecture the most notable development of the period was the introduction of the ART 303 Gothic style characterized by the pointed arch and carried to perfection in the chnrches of France, England, and Germany. Abont the middle of the twelfth centnry the Gothic cathedrals began to be built in France. The cathedral of St. Denis, the Cologne Cathedral sepulcher of the French kings, was founded in 1144. Notre Dame was begun not long after. The great cathedral of Char- tres was begun in 1194, that of Kheinis in 1211, that of Amiens in 1220, and that of Cologne in 1248. In England, Salisbury was begun in 1220. The invention of stained glass enabled the architects to add a peculiar attraction to the Gothic style. 304 THE HOUSE OF VALOIS < S w J?C a; o o s o ^ h-] i— ' HH PE4 ^ O O M o C« P S O S » 5 TS P>^ w c H Oi 1 ~- f^ ■^ u CO g • a s > X- s o J o O o fi s ^ r- o > ir o U 7 J^ ""-Is M r a « .: 3 11 DESCENDANTS OF EDWAED I. 305 Pm o l-H h- 1 P< S l-H 3 P-i Q vi » o < ^ ^ -a Q i W '^ ^J' fc s O s & M s «3 ^ s H -1 fe (M «^ . r M H k k - p^ — ^ — >> ^ h ;h a a a « 01 V 9. Ph M i 5, 1 a i o > ^ h M H -^ CD H "3) 1 1 3 ^3 qT O a a S^ PEEIOD IV. — FEOM THE END OF THE CRUSADES TO THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE (a.d. 1270-1453) CHAPTER XLIV ENGLAND AND FRANCE; SECOND PERIOD OF RIVALSHIP ; THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR (a.d. 1339-1453) Character of the New Era. — The Church was supreme in the era of the Crusades. These had been great movements of a society of which the Popes were the natural leaders. We come now to an era where the power of the Pope and of the Church loses ground. The nations grow to be more distinct from one another, and national spirit grows too strong for for- eign ecclesiastical control. Within each nation the laity are inclined to put limits to the power and privileges of the clergy. In several countries monarchy gets a firm foothold. The use of commerce, the influence gained by the legists and by the Roman law, had betokened the dawn of a new era. The development of the national languages and literature sig- nified its coming. Germany and the Holy Poman Empire no longer absorb attention. What is taking place in France and England is of equal importance. Philip IV. of France (1285-1314) ; War with Edward I. of Eng- land. — In France, royalty made a steady progress down to the long war of a Hundred Years. The sway of Philip III. (1270- 1285) extended to the Pyrenees. Philip IV. (the Fair) has been called the King of the Legists. Lawyers, from their storehouse of Poman legislation, furnished him with weapons to face baron and pope. In 1292 conflicts broke out between 306 PHILIP IV. AND BONIFACE VIIL 307 English, and French sailors. Philip tried to take peaceful possession of Guienne, but was prevented by the English gar- risons. Thereupon he summoned Edward I. of England, as the holder of the fiefs, before his court. The French king declared that the fiefs were forfeited in consequence of his not appearing in person. In the war that resulted (1294-1297), Philip had for his allies the Welsh and the Scots, who under William Wallace withstooci Edward. From this time, Scotland and France were constant allies. Philip seized but could not hold Aquitaine. He took possession of Flanders, with the ex- ception of Ghent. Flanders was then the richest country in Europe, and its numerous cities were populous and industrious. From England it received the wool used in its thriving manu- factures. To England its people were attached. Philip loaded the Flemish people with imposts. They rose in revolt, and the royal troops under Pobert d'Artois, Philip's brother, were de- feated by the Flemish burghers at Courtrai, in 1302. Flanders was restored to its Count, four towns being retained by France. Conflict of Philip IV. and Boniface VIII. — The expenses of Philip were enormous. In order to supply himself with money, he not only levied onerous taxes on his subjects, and practiced extor- tion upon the Jews, but he again and again debased the coin. His resolution to tax the property of the Church brought him into an important controversy with Boniface VIIL Boniface's idea of papal prerogative was as exalted as that formerly held by Hildebrand and Innocent III. But he had less prudence, and the times were altered. If Philip was sustained by the Roman law and its interpreters, Boniface, on the other hand, could lean upon the system of ecclesiastical or canon law, of which the Canonists were the expounders. The vast wealth of the clergy had led to laws for keeping it within bounds, like the statute of Mortmain (dead hand), which in England (1279) forbade the giving of land, without license from the king, to religious bodies, which could not alienate it. The jurisdiction of ecclesiastical courts had now come to be another matter of contention. In 1296 Boniface VIII. issued 308 ENGLAND AND FRANCE a bull forbidding extraordinary taxes upon the clergy without the consent of the Holy See. Philip responded by forbidding foreigners to sojourn in France, thus driving out Roman priests, and also forbade money to be carried out of France, which cut off contributions to Rome. The king asserted his right as king of France to take charge of his own realm. In his strife with Rome, Philip appealed to the French nation. On April 10, 1302, he assembled at Paris a body, which, for the first time, contained the deputies of the universities and of the towns, and for this reason is considered to have been the first meeting of the States General. The clergy, the barons, the burghers, sided with the king. Boniface at length excom- municated Philip. The deputies of the king, with soldiers, made their way to Anagni, where Toniface was then staying. The French were driven out of the town; but not until the Pope had suffered great indignities at the hands of Philip's messengers. Boniface shortly afterwards died. The Babylonian Captivity (1309-1379). — After the short pontificate of Benedict XL, who tried to reconcile France and the Papacy, a French prelate was made Pope under the name of Clement V., he having previously agreed to comply with the wishes of Philip. Clement V. was crowned at Lyons in 1305, and in 1309 established himself at Avignon, on the borders of France. After him there followed at Avignon seven popes subject to French influence (1309-1376), — a period called the ^'Babylonian Captivity." Philip remained implacable, wish- ing the condemnation of Boniface VIIL, even after his death. Clement V. held a council at Yienne in 1311, when Boniface was declared to have been orthodox, and at the same time Pliili}) was shielded from ecclesiastical reproach. Suppression of Knights Templars. — Philip coveted the vast wealth of the order of Knights Templars, and one of the de- mands the council had to grant was their condemnation. On October 13, 1307, the Templars were arrested all over France, an act which shows the power and the injustice of Philip. They were charged with secret immoralities, and with prac- THE SALIC LAW 309 tices involving impiety. Many of tliem were examined under torture, and burned at the stake. Individuals may have been guilty of some of the charges, but there was no warrant for such a verdict against the entire order. The order was abolished by Clement Y. Law Studies ; Mercenary Troops. — During the reign of Philip the Fair, it was ordained that Parliament should sit twice every j^ear at Paris (1303). The king needed soldiers as well as law- *1 Papal Palace at Avignon yers. Mercenary troops were beginning to take the place of feudal bands. Philip brought the G-enoese galleys against the ships of Flanders. At the accession of Philip Y. (1316-1322) it was decreed that no female should succeed to the throne of France. This was imagined to be a part of the old Salic Law. The rule was really the result of the " genealogical accident " that for three hundred and forty-one years, or since the election of Hugh Capet, every French king had been suc- ceeded by his son. In several cases the son had been crowned 310 ENGLAND AND FRANCE in the lifetime of the father. Thus the principle of heredity, and of heredity in the male line, had taken root. Edward I. of England (i 272-1 307) ; Conquest of "Wales ; Wil- liam Wallace. — Edward was in the Holy Land when his father died. He became " the most brilliant monarch of the fourteenth century." Llywelyn, Prince of Wales, was com- pelled to take the oath of allegiance, and a subsequent rebel- lion resulted in 1283 in the conquest of Wales. Thus Wales was joined to England. The king gave to his son the title of Prince of Wales, which the eldest son of the sovereign of England has since borne. Edward claimed to be suzerain of the Scots, and in a contest for the Scotch throne between two competitors of Xorman descent, John Baliol and Robert Bruce, Edward as umpire decided for Baliol. When he subsequently called upon Baliol to aid him against France, the latter re- nounced his allegiance and declared war. He was conquered at Dunbar, however, and made prisoner (1297). Scotland appeared to be subjugated, but AYilliam Wallace at the head of a band of patriots gained a victory at Stirling, in 1297; and kept up the contest until, after a defeat at Ealkirk in 1298, he was betrayed into Edward's hands, and was brutally executed in London (1305). Robert Bruce — Robert Bruce, the grandson of BalioPs rival, was crowned king at Scone, and summoned the Scots to his standard. The English king sent his son Edward to conquer him, but the king himself died before the war had fairly begun. Parliament; The Jews Under Edward the form of govern- ment by king, lords, and commons begins to take on its later form. Parliament, under Edward III., met in two distinct houses. jVIany important statutes had been passed, and during this reign much was done to secure the liberty of the subject. The Jews at first received the protection of the crown, but Edward finally yielded to popular sentiment and banished them from the kingdom. Edward II. (1307-1327). — The younger Edward was a weak and despicable sovereign. The king and the barons, who had HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 311 been in conflict with, one another, made peace from a common desire to check the successes of Bruce in Scotland. At Ban- nockburn, however, the English were totally defeated by a greatly inferior force of foot soldiers. The English cavalry were thrown into confusion by Bruce, who dug pits in front of his army and covered them with turf resting on sticks. Hos- tilities between Edward and his favorites the Despencers, on the one hand, and the barons with Edward's queen, Isabella, on the other, resulted in Edward's abdication and the execution of the Despencers. The dethroned king was carried from castle to castle, and was finally murdered in secret at Berkeley Castle. The Hundred Years' War: Period I. (to the Peace of Bretigxy, 1360) Origin of the War ; Edward III. of England (1327-1377) — Eng- land and France entered on one of the longest wars of which there is any record in history. It lasted, with, a few short periods of intermission, for a hundred years. There were two main causes of strife at the outset. First, the King of France coveted the English territory around Bordeaux; second, the English would not allow Flanders, with its important manufacturing towns, to pass under French control. Independently of these grounds of dispute, Edward III., whose mother was a sister of the last French king, laid claim to the French crown. Philip VI. (1328-1350), then reigning, was only the late king's cousin, but the French stood by the Salic Law, although a much stronger feeling was their determination not to be ruled by an English- man. Early Events of the War. — Hostilities began in 1337. Edward entered France, for the first time publicly setting up his claim to be King of France, and was accepted by the Flemish as their suzerain. The supremacy of the English was established on the water after the first battle near Fort Sluys (1340), where Edward won a victory and thirty thousand Frenchmen were slain or drowned. The French fleet was made up of hired Cas- 312 ENGLAND AND FRANCE tilian and Genoese vessels. In 1341, the war was renewed on account of a disputed succession in Brittany, in which the Salic Law was this time on the English side. This war was kept up for twenty-four years. Battle of Crecy ; Calais ; Brittany. — In 1346, the Earl of Derby made an attack in the south of Erance, while Edward, with his young son Edward, the Prince of Wales, devastated Nor- mandy. King Edward advanced towards Paris ; but lack of provisions forced him to change his course and march in the direction of Flanders. His situation now became perilous. He was followed by Philip at the head of a powerful army ; and had the French been more energetic and prompt, the Eng- lish forces might have been destroyed. Edward was barely able, by means of a ford at low tide, to cross the Somme, and to take up an advantageous position at Crecy. There he was attacked with imprudent haste by the army of the French. The chivalry of France went down before the English archers, and Edward gained an overwhelming victory. Philip's brother Charles fell with many other friends and nobles and, it was said, thirty thousand soldiers (1346). But this was an ex- aggeration. In the battle, the English king's son — Edward, the Black Prince as he was called from the color of his armor — was hard pressed ; but the father would send no aid, saying, " Let the boy win his spurs." It was the custom to give the spurs to the full- fledged knight. Calais, the port so important to the English, was captured by them after a siege. The deputies of the citi- zens, almost starved, came out Avith cords in their hands, to signify their willingness to be hanged. The French were driven out, and Calais was an English town for more than two centuries. France was defeated on all sides. The Scots, too, were vanquished, and David Bruce was made prisoner (1346). In Brittany the French party was prostrate. A truce between the kings was concluded for ten months. The Black Death. — In the midst of these calamities, a fearful pestilence, called the Black Death, swept over France. BATTLE OF POITIERS 313 It came from the East and passed over Italy to Provence and thence to Paris, spreading destruction in its path. It reached England^ and it is thought by some that one half of the popula- tion perished (1347-1349). English and French Armies. — At this time, when the power of France was so reduced, the king acquired the Dauphine of Vienne by purchase from the last Dauphin, Humbert II., and Dauphin became the title of the heir to the Erench crown. In the French armies, there was no effective force but the cavalry, and there was a fatal lack of subordination and discipline. There Avas no union of classes. The poor Genoese archers who had fought with the French at Crecy were despised by the gentlemen on horseback. In England, on the contrary, under kings with more control and from the combination of lords and common people in resistance to kings, the armies had acquired union and discipline. At Crecy, the entire English army fought on foot. Battle of Poitiers ; Insurrection in Paris. — Philip left his crown to his son, John II. of Normandy, called " the Good " (1350-1364) ; but the name does not mean morally worthy, but rather, prodigal, gay, and extravagant. He was a passion- ate and cruel king. His relations with Charles " the Bad,^' king of Navarre, — who, however, was the better man, — brought disasters upon France. Philip of Navarre, the brother of Charles, helped the Eng- lish against John in Normandy. Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales (the Black Prince) ravaged the provinces near Guienne. The national spirit in France was roused by the peril. The States General granted large supplies of men and money, but only on the condition that the treasure should be dispensed under their superintendence, and that they should be assembled every year. The army of the Black Prince was small, and he advanced so far that he was in imminent danger; but the attack on him at Poitiers (1356), by the vastly superior force of King John, was made with so much impetuosity and so little prudence that the French, as at Crecy, were completely de- 314 ENGLAND AND FRANCE featecl. The French charged on foot up a lane, not knowing that the English archers were behind the hedges on either side. Their dead to the number of eleven thousand lay on the field. The king, and with him a large part of the nobility, were taken prisoners. John was taken to England (1357). From the moment of his capture he was treated with the utmost courtesy. The French peasantry, however, suffered greatly ; and in France the name of Englishmen for centuries after- wards was held in abhorrence. Insurrection in Paris. — The incapacity of the nobles to save the kingdom called out from the plebeian class competent lead- ers, chief of whom were Robert le Coq, a bishop and x)resident of Parliament ; and Etienne Marcel, an able man at the head of the municipality of Paris. The States General at Paris, urged forward by such as these, required of the Dauphin the punishment of the principal officers of the king, the release of the King of Navarre, and the establishment of a council made up from the three orders for the direction of all the important affairs of government. The Dauphin Charles was obliged, at a meeting of the States General of Paris (1357), to yield to demands for political reform. The king, a prisoner in Eng- land, refused to ratify the compact. A civil war was the result. Bloody insurrections of the peasantry were put down. Marcel was assassinated, and his movement ended with his death. The hope of a free parliamentary government was dashed in pieces. Treaty of Bretigny (1360) . — The captive king, John, made a treaty with Edward by which he ceded at least one half of his dominions. The Dauphin having repudiated the compact, Ed- ward invaded France with a large army. He found it difficult to get food for his troops, however, and as Charles prudently avoided a battle, Edward was led to conclude the treaty of Bretigny, by which he acquired full sovereignty in the province of Aquitaine in consideration of a renunciation of his claim to Normandy and to the French crown. The king was to be set at liberty on the payment of the first instalment of his ransom. I HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 315 The Hundred Years' War: Period II. (to the Peace of Troyes, 1420) Duchy of Burgundy. — When, in 1361, tlie ducal liouse of Bur- gundy became extinct, tlie fief reverted to tlie crown. John gave it to his son Philip the Bold, who married the heiress of Flanders, and thus founded the power of the house of Bur- gundy in the Netherlands. Du Guesclin : Contest in Spain. — John returned to England because one of his sons, left as a hostage, had fled. He died soon after and was succeeded by Charles V., or Charles the Wise (1364-1380). He reformed the coin and did much to restore prosperity. The king placed much reliance upon Du Guesclin, a valiant gentleman of Brittany, who fought the free lances under Charles of Navarre and led an expedition into Spain to help the cause of Henry of Trastamare against an aspirant for the throne of Castile, Peter the Cruel, who was supported by the Black Prince. The French party was successful. Advantages gained by the French. — Edward III. was old, and the Black Prince, who was ill and gloomy, was unpopular with his Aquitanian subjects. Charles took the opportunity to de- clare war (1369), and when the English landed at Calais he pursued his settled policy of refusing to meet the enemy in a pitched battle. In 1370, and again in 1373, the English entered France, but were unable to gain any distinct advantage. A truce was made in 1375, but the war was renewed two years afterwards upon the death of Edward III. After sacking Limoges in 1370, the Black Prince had returned to England, broken in health. After his father's death, the French were successful on every side. State of England The Black Prince, after his return, did much to save the country from misrule, so that his death was deplored. The Parliament at this time was called the Good. It turned out of office unworthy men, friends of John of Gaunt, the third son of Edward. When the Black Prince died, 316 ENGLAND AND FRANCE his brother regained the chief power, and his influence was mischievous. John Wyclif. — In the reign of Edward III. the English sliowed a strong disposition to curtail the power of the popes in England. John Wyclif, who translated the Bible into English, became prominent. He took the side of the parish clergy in their conflict with the mendicant orders. He also advocated the cause of the king against the demands of the Pope. He translated the Bible into English. He adopted doctrines, at that time new, which were not behind the later Protestant, or even Puritan, opinions. He was protected by Edward III. and died in peace at Lutterworth in 1384 ; but after his death his bones were taken up and burned. His followers bore the nickname of Lollards, or Psalm-singers. Richard II. (1377-1399) ; the Peasant Insurrection ; Deposi- tion of Richard. — Richard, the young son of the Black Prince, had an unhappy reign. At first he was ruled by his uncles, especially by John of Gaunt. Four years after his accession, a great insurrection of the peasants broke out. The first leader in Essex was a priest who took the names of Jack Straw. In the previous reign, the poor had found reason to complain bitterly of their landlords ; but their lot now was even harder. At Blackheath, a priest named John Ball harangued the insur- gents, who numbered one hundred thousand men, on the equal- ity of rights, from the text, — "When Adam delved, and Eve span, "Who was then a gentleman? Young E-ichard managed them with so much tact that they dispersed. One of their most fierce leaders, Wat Tyler, was stabbed during a parley which he was holding with the king. In 1398 Richard banished two noblemen, who at a former day had offended him. One of them was Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk; the other was Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, son of John of Gaunt. When John of Gaunt died, Richard seized his lands. In 1399, when Richard was in HENRY IV„ 317 Ireland, Bolingbroke, assisted by the great family of Percy, obliged Eichard to resign tlie crown, and lie was deposed by Parliament for misgovernment. Not long after, lie was murdered. Bolingbroke was made king under the name of Henry IV. The English Language and Literature. — In the reign of Edward III., the French language ceased to be the fashion, and Eng- lish came into general use. In 1362 the use of English was established in the courts of law, but Latin still continued to be familiar to the clergy. The two principal poets are Chaucer and Gower. Chaucer's great poem, the Canterbury Tales, is the latest and most remarkable of his works. Henry IV. (1399-1431) ; Two Rebellions: the Lollards. — By right of birth the crown would have fallen to Boger Mortimer, Earl of March, the grandson of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, an older son of Edward III. There was no law compelling Par- liament to give the throne to the next of kin, so it fell to the house of Lancaster. Henry had to confront two rebellions. One was that of the Welsh, under Owen Glendower. The other was that of the powerful Northumberland family of the Percys, which took up the cause of Eichard. The Percys joined Glendower. They were beaten in a bloody battle near Shrewsbury, in 1403, where Northumberland's son " Hotspur " (Harry Percy) was slain. While praying at the shrine of St. Edward in Westminster, the king was seized with a fit, and died in the Jerusalem Chamber of the Abbey. In the next reign the Lollards, who were numerous, had a leader in Sir John Oldcastle, called Cobhani, who was finally put to death as a traitor and heretic. The Lollards were persecuted, not only as heretics, but also as desiring to free the serfs from their bondage to the landlords. The Burgundians and Armagnacs. — The aspect of public af- fairs in Prance was clouded when Charles YL (1380-1422), who was not twelve years old, succeeded to the throne. His uncles contended for the regency. Their quarrels distracted the kingdom. A contest arose with the Flemish cities under 318 ENGLAND AND FRANCE the leadership of Philip van Artevelde, but they were defeated by the French nobles, and Artevelde was slain. Two factions sprung up, — the Burgundians and the Armagnacs. Margaret, the wife of the Duke of Burgundy, received Flanders by in- heritance, on the death of her father, the Count (1382). King Charles became insane. Thenceforth there was a struggle in France for supremacy between the adherents of the dukes of Burgundy and the adherents of the house of Orleans. The latter came to be called Armagnacs (1410), after the Count d'Armagnac, the father-in-law of Charles, Duke of Orleans. The strength of the Burgundians was in the North and in the cities. They were friends of the house of Lancaster in England — of Henry IV. and Henry V. The strength of the Armagnacs was in the South. At the outset it was a party of the court and of the nobles ; later it became a national party. Louis, Duke of Orleans, was treacherously assassin- ated by a partisan of the Burgundians (1107). This act fomented the strife. Battle of Agincourt ; Treaty of Troyes (1420) It was in 1393 that Charles VI. partially lost his reason. For the rest of his life, except at rare intervals, he was either imbecile or frenzied. By the division of counsels and a series of fatalities, gigantic preparations for the invasion of England had come to naught. Henry V. of England (1413-1422), from motives of ambition, resolved to claim the throne of France and to make war across the Channel. Accordingly he demanded his " inherit- ance " according to the treaty of Bretigny, together with Nor- mandy. On the refusal of this demand, he renewed the claim of his great-grandfather to the crown of France, although he was not the eldest descendant of Edward III. Henry invaded France at the head of fifty thousand men. He took Harfleur, but not until after a terrible siege. On his way towards Calais with not more than nine thousand men, he found his way barred at Agincourt by the Armagnac forces, more than fifty thousand in number, comprising the chivalry of France (1415). In the great battle that ensued the horses of the French floundered AGINCOURT: JOAN OF ARC 319 in the mud, and horse and rider were destroyed by the English bowmen. The French suffered anotlier defeat like the defeats of Crecy and . Poitiers, losing thousands of men, among them some of the noblest men in France. France was falling to pieces. Rouen was besieged by Henry, and com- pelled by starvation to surrender (1419). The fury of factions continued to rage. There were dreadful massacres by the mob in Paris. The Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless (Jean sans Peur), was murdered in 1419 by the opposite faction. The young Duke Philip, and even the Queen of France, Isa- bella, were now found on the Anglo-Burgundian side. By the Treaty of Troyes, in 1420, Catherine, the daughter of Charles VI., was given in marriage to Henry V., and he was made the heir of the crown of France when the insane king, Charles YL, should die. Henry was made regent of France. The whole country north of the Loire was in his hands. The Dauphin Charles retired to the provinces beyond that river. The Hundred Years' War ; Period III. (to the End, 1453) France in 1422 Both Henry and Charles YL died in 1422. The Duke of Bedford reigned in France in the name of his in^ fant nephew, Henry YL Charles YII. (1422-1461) was pro- claimed king by the Armagnacs, and represented the national cause. Bedford laid siege to Orleans, the last bulwark of the royal party. Joan of Arc. — When the national cause was at this low point. Providence raised up a deliverer in the person of a pure, sim- ple-hearted, and pious maiden of Domremy in Lorraine, seven- teen years of age, Jeanne Dare by name (the name Joan of Arc being merely a mistake in orthography). The tales of suffering that she had heard deeply moved her. She felt her- self called of Heaven to liberate France, and believed that angels' voices bade her undertake this holy mission. Her own undoubting faith aroused faith in others. Commissioned by 320 ENGLAND AND FRANCE the king, she mounted a horse, and, with a banner in her hand, joined the French soldiers, whom she inspired with fresh cour- age. They forced the English to give up the siege of Orleans, and to march away. Other defeats of the English followed. The Maid of Orleans took Charles to Eheims, and stood by him at his coronation. The English and Burgundians rallied their strength. Joan of Arc was ill supported, and was made pris- oner before Paris by the Burgundians. They delivered her to the English. She was subjected to grievous indignities, was condemned as a witch, and finally burned as a relapsed heretic at Eouen (1431). The last word she uttered was "Jesus." Her character was without a taint. In her soul the spirit of religion and of patriotism burned with a pure flame. A hero- ine and a saint combined, she died " a victim to the ingratitude of her friends, and the brutality of her foes." The English Driven Out. — In 1135 the Duke of Burgundy was reconciled to Charles VII. and joined the cause of France. Dur- ing a truce of two years, Henry VI. of England (1422-1461) married Margaret of Anjou, the daughter of the Duke, Bene. Henry was of gentle temper, but lacked prudence and vigor. In 1439 the organization of a standing army was begun, which greatly increased the military strength of France. In 1449 the war with England was renewed. With the defeat of the English and the death of their commander, Talbot, in 1453, the contest of a century came to an end. England retained only Calais, across the Channel, with Havre and Guines Castle. Rebellion of Jack Cade. — The peasants in England were now free from serfdom. Under Henry VI. a formidable insur- rection of men marched to London led by John Cade, who called himself John Mortimer. They complained of bad gov- ernment and extortionate taxes. One main cause of the rising was the successes of the French. The condition of the labor- ing class had much improved. The insurgents were defeated by the citizens, and their leader was slain. In this reign began the long Wars of the Boses, or the contest of the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne. THE VISCONTI AND SEORZA 321 8 1 ft ^S -^ — a.^ o P fig 0-S * I o 322 THE THREE NORTHERN KINGDOMS O & o t— I t) m w H 1^ Pi O o g & t— I w w H W o & w « W H ;>2 t4 t~ OO CO OQ ao s CO ^' ■rH q !^' 1 J2 CO ^ ee ^ d I £-3 KS^ « fi o CHAPTER XLV GERMANY ; ITALY ; SPAIN ; THE SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES ; POLAND AND RUSSIA ; HUNGARY ; OTTOMAN TURKS ; THE GREEK EMPIRE I. Germany The Great Interregnum. — After the death of Frederick II. (1250), an interregnum of twenty-three years robbed tlie Em- pire of a vigor which it never afterwards regained. At this time the burghers in France and in England were gradually gaining strength; and although in Germany feudal control was less weakened, the German cities were developing rapidly in industry and trade. William of Holland wore the title of emperor until 1256, when some of the electors chose Alfonso X. of Castile, great-grandson of Frederick Barbarossa, and others chose Richard of Cornwall, younger son of King John of Eng- land. Their power was merely nominal. The great barons gradually dismembered the empire, and the period was a time of anarchy and trouble. The barons sallied out of their strong- holds to rob merchants and travelers. It was necessary to devise new means of protection, and new ways of preserving commerce and of enforcing public order. Sixty cities and three Ehenish archbishops accordingly formed the League of the Rhine, and the Hanseatic League (already described on p. 298) was also organized. House of Hapsburg. — Eudolph, Count of Hapsburg (1273- 1291), was at length elected emperor, and devoted himself to the task of putting down disorders in Germany. He defeated Ottocar IL, King of Bohemia, and in a fierce battle at the March- field, in 1278, Ottocar was slain. Rudolph's practical abandon- 323 324 GERMANY ment of Italy, his partial restoration of order in Germany, and his service as the founder of the house of Hapsburg or of Aus- tria, are the principal features of his reign. He was never crowned as emperor. Henry VII. (1308-1313) ; Italy. — Edward I. of England hired the successor of Eudolph, Adolphus of Nassau, to de- clare war against France. In 1298, however, he was dethroned by the electors, and Rudolph's son, Albert I., was chosen. In 1308 he was murdered by his nephew John, and Henry YII. (1308-1313) succeeded him. He was crowned King of Italy in Pavia and was declared emperor at Kome in 1312. E-ival parties quickly rose up against him, however. He died, as it was charged, by poison mixed in the sacramental cup (1313). He was a man of pure and noble character ; but the time had passed for Italy to be governed by a German sovereign. Civil War ; Electors at Rense. — One party of the electors chose Erederick of Austria (1314-1347), and the other Louis of Bavaria (1314-1330). A terrible civil war ended in the capture of Erederick in the battle of Mtihldorf. Pope John XXIL (at Avignon) wished to give the crown to Philip the Fair of France. He excommunicated Louis, who, however, was crowned emperor by a Pope of his own creation. France prevented a reconciliation between the German Emperor and Pope John or his successor. Pope Benedict XII. The German electors, irritated by foreign interference, made at Eense, in 1328, a declaration that the elected King of the Germans received his authority from the choice of the electoral princes, and became Boman Emperor without being crowned by a Pope. The imprudence of Louis, and his assumption of certain papal prerogatives turned the electors against him, and he was de- posed, and died soon afterwards. Charles IV. (1347-1378). — Charles IV. succeeded Louis. He was crowned emperor at Rome (1355), and King of Bur- gundy at Aries (1365). He devoted himself to building up his own hereditary dominion. He established the first Ger- man university at Prague in 1348, and granted to Germany SWITZERLAND 325 tlie charter called the Golden Bull in 1356. It provided for the election of the emperor by the seven electors, who had, in fact, long exercised the power, and it made the electoral states indivisible, inalienable, and hereditary in the male line. Wenceslaus and Sigismund Wenceslaus, the Wenzel, the son of Charles IV. (1378-1400), was a coarse and cruel king, under whom all the old disorders of the interregnum sprang up anew. In 1410 Sigismund, the brother of Wenceslaus, was chosen king, and in 1433 was crowned emperor. In the reign of Sigismund the doctrines of Wyclif had pene- trated from England into Bohemia, and a strong party, of which John Huss was the principal leader, advocated changes in the Church, both doctrinal and practical : this led to the trial of Huss for heresy at the Council of Constance. He was con- demned as a heretic and burned at the stake in 1415. Jerome of Prague, another reformer, was dealt with in the same way by the same council (1416). Ziska, a Bohemian, led the revolt induced by the doings of the council. The more fanatical por- tion of the Hussites — as the followers of Huss were called — were at length defeated and crushed ; but with the moderate party the Council of Basle (1431-1449) concluded a treaty after Ziska had defeated the imperial troops. Switzerland. — Switzerland, originally a part of the kingdom of Aries, had been ceded, with this kingdom, to the German Empire in 1033. Within it was established a lay and ecclesi- astical feudalism. In the twelfth century the cities — Zurich, Basle, Berne, and Ereiburg — began to be centers of trade, and gained municipal privileges. The three mountain cantons cherished the spirit of freedom. The counts of Hapsburg, after the beginning of the thirteenth century, exercised a cer- tain indefinite jurisdiction in the land. They endeavored to transform this into an actual sovereignty. Two of the cantons received charters placing them in an immediate relation to the empire. After the death of Eudolph I., the three cantons above named united in a league. Out of this the Swiss Confed- eracy gradually grew up. There were struggles to cast off 326 ITALY foreign control; but the story of William Tell, and other legends of the sort, are probably fabulous. Albert of Austria left to his successor in the duchy the task of subduing the rebellion. The Austrians were completely defeated at Mor- garten, "the Marathon of Switzerland" (1315). About the middle of the fourteenth century, the Swiss Confederacy was enlarged by the addition of Lucerne, Zurich, Glarus, Zug, and of the city of Berne. The battle of Sempach (1386) brought another great defeat upon the Austrians. There, if we may believe an ancient song, a Swiss hero, Arnold of Winkelried, grasped as many of the spear points as he could reach, as a sheaf in his arms, and devoted himself to death, opening thus a path in which his followers rushed to victory. Once more the Swiss triumphed at ]S"afels (1388). From that time they were left to the enjoyment of their freedom. II. Italy Guelf s and Ghibellines; Freedom in the Cities After the death of Frederick IL, the popes warred against his successors until Conradin, the last of the Hohenstaufens, died on the scaffold at Naples. Charles of Anjou lost Sicily through the rebellion known as the Sicilian Vespers (1282) ; and the Papal States, after the election of Rudolph of Hapsburg, became a distinct principality of the pontiffs. Throughout Italy the strife be- tween Guelfs and Ghibellines was carried forward with the utmost bitterness. In the midst of the contest Dante produced his immortal poem, he himself being a Ghibelline and an impe- rialist. Gradually the plebeian class grew stronger. Older families of the nobility died out, and new families rose to prom- inence and power. Burghers banded together in guilds. The Guelfs devoted themselves to the destruction of feudalism, and to the building of republican institutions until the final tri- umph of their policy in Florence in 1253. During the progress of the struggle, city was arrayed against city. "Pisa, which had ruined Amalfi, was now ruined by Genoa." Genoa and THE TYRANTS 327 Venice became rivals for the control of the Mediterranean. Charles of ValoiS; at the call of Pope Boniface VIII., came into Italy, and the connection thus formed between the popes and the French houses of Anjou and Valois led to the Babylonip.n Exile at Avignon, during which Italy was comparatively exempt both from imperial and papal control. The Tyrants. — During the struggle between Gruelfs and Ghi- bellines, the war was carried on by leaders or " captains of the people," who were skilled in arms and who became in many instances the founders of ruling houses or dynasties in the cities of northern Italy. During the earlier years of the fourteenth century, when the fury of the civil wars began to decline, the cities were left more and more under the rule of masters called Tyrants. In 1327 the Visconti established their power in Milan. They were Ghibellines. At this time the leader of the Guelfs was Eobert, King of I^aples (1309-1343). The Tyrants, or despots, have been divided into six classes. The first had a certain hereditary right ; the second had been vicars of the empire ; the third had acquired power as cap- tains or podestas elected by the burghers, but had used their power to enslave the cities. The fourth class is made up of the Condottiere. These Free Companies, or mercenary troops, were hired by the despots and the cities to fight their battles in order that the burghers themselves might devote their energies to manufactures and trade. The leaders of these mercenaries introduced cavalry and introduced skillful methods of fighting. The battles, however, became bloodless games of strategy ; military energy declined ; while intrigue and statecraft became the instruments of political aggrandizement. The fifth of the six classes to which reference has been made included the rela- tives of popes, like the Borgia of Eomagna. The sixth class is that of eminent citizens like the Medici at Florence and the Bentivogli of Bologna. States in Italy. — By the middle of the fifteenth century the kingdom of Naples, the duchy of Milan, the republics of Florence and Venice, and the principality of the Pope had be- 328 ITALY come the five most important communities in Italy. The con- test between the respective adherents of the houses of Aragon and Anjou divided southern Italy into two parts for many years. Alfonso V. of Aragon finally, in 1435, united both kingdoms of Naples and Sicily and reigned wdsely and pros- perously for twenty- three years. In the north, the power of Milan was growing. In 1385 Gian Galeazzo Visconti became sole master of Milan, and bought the ducal title from the Emperor Wenceslaus. Many cities were subject to him. At Doge's Palace at Venice Galeazzo's death the Condottieri rose in rebellion, and one of them, Francesco Sforza, in 1447 seized on the supreme power. Venice was as strong as any of the Italian states. Her consti- tution was of gradual growth, and she had gradually built up a lucrative commerce with the East. She engaged in a success- ful war with Genoa. Under Francesco Foscari, who was doge (or chief and executive) from 1423 to 1457, Venice took an active part in Italian affairs. In the meanwhile in Florence the Medici family was gaining complete control. Cosmo I., born in 1389, ruled under the republican forms and was dis- tinguished for his patronage of art and letters. THE PAPAL PRINCIPALITY 329 Eome fared badly while the popes were at Avignon. The city was distracted by the feuds of leading families. An at- tempt to restore the old Eoman liberty was made by an enthu- siast, Eienzi, who was chosen tribune, and at first found favor in Italy. His head was turned, however, and his pomp so dis- gusted the people that he was finally put to death while trying to escape from Eome in disguise (1354). After vain attempts to cement anew the fragments of the papal principality, Pope Baptistery, Gathedbal, and Leaning Tower of Pisa Mcholas V. and his successors (from 1477) succeeded in ac- complishing the task, and thereafter the temporal power of the popes acquired fresh vigor. Literature ; Art ; Commerce. — The seaports of Venice and Genoa were the centers of a flourishing commerce. Manufac- ture and trade flourished in Milan, Venice, and Florence. The bank of Venice was established in 1171. Advance in civiliza- tion, however, was attended with corruption of morals. Amid political agitation in Italy, there had been a brilliant develop- ment in literature and art. When Dante died, the poet Pe- 330 SPAIN AND PORTUGAL trarch (1304-1374) was growing to manhood, while Boccaccio (1313-1375), who became a master in Italian prose, was still a child. The church of St. Mark was built at Venice in the Byzantine style as early as 1071. In the twelfth century the Baptistery and the famous Leaning Tower were built at Pisa. At the end of the thirteenth century, the church of Santa Croce was built at Florence, and in the century following Brunelleschi, the reviver of classical art in Italy, placed the great cupola on the cathedral. The Gothic cathedral in Milan, with its wilderness of statues, was begun in 1346. III. Spain and Portugal Historical Geography.— Resistance to the Arabs in Spain began in the northern mountainous region of Cantabria and Asturia, which even the West Goths had not wholly subdued, although Asturia was called Gothia. Asturia, a Christian principality (732), expanded into the kingdom called Leon (916), of which Castile was an eastern county. East of Leon, there grew up the kingdom of Navarre, mostly on the south- ern, but partly on the northern, side of the Pyrenees. On the death of Sancho the Great, it was broken up (1035). At about the same time the Ommiad caliphate was broken up into small kingdoms (1028). After the death of Sancho, or early in the eleventh century, we find in northern Spain, beginning on the west and moving eastward, the kingdom of Leon, the begin- nings of the kingdom of Castile, the reduced kingdom of Navarre, the beginnings of the kingdom of Aragon, and, be- tween Aragon and the Mediterranean, Christian states which had been comprised in the Spanish March over which the Franks had ruled. The two states which were destined to attain to the chief importance were Castile and Aragon. Of these, Castile was eventually to be to Spain what France was to all Gaul. Ulti- mately the union of Castile and Aragon gave rise to the great Spanish monarchy of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. RISE OF THE SPANISH KINGDOMS 331 The foiir kingdoms of Leon, Castile, Aragon, and Navarre, after the death of Sancho, as time went on, were joined and disjoined among themselves in many different ways. Castile and Leon Avere finally nnited in 1230. Portugal, lying on the ocean, was partly recovered from the Arabs towards the close of the eleventh century, and was a county of Leon and Castile until, in 1139, it became a kingdom. Erom this time Castile, Aragon, and Portugal were the three antagonists of Moslem rule. Each of these kingdoms advanced. In the latter part of the thirteenth century, the Moslems were con- fined to the kingdom of Granada in the south, which was conquered by Castile and Aragon (1492), whose sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, were united in marriage. Their king- doms were united in 1506.. In the latter part of the Middle Ages, Aragon, from its situation on the eastern coast, played an important part in the politics of Europe. Castile and Portugal led the way in maritime exploration. The Moors. — It has been already related (p. 229), that, after the fall of the Ommiad caliphate, African Mohammedans came over to the help of their Spanish brethren. These Moors did not supplant the Arabic speech or culture. There were two principal invasions of the Moors. Aragon; Navarre. — The kingdoms of Aragon and Castile ex- isted for centuries side by side. Aragon sought to extend its conquests along the eastern coast; Castile, to enlarge itself toward the south. James I., or James the Conqueror (1213- 1276), joined the Moslem state of Valencia, by conquest, to his kingdom of Aragon, to which Catalonia had already been added. The union of these peoples developed a national char- acter of a definite type. In its -gxide of birth and of blood, its tenacious clinging to traditional rights, and in its esteem of military prowess before intellectual culture, it resembled the old Spartan temper. Peter III. (1276-1285), the son of James I., united with the three states Sicily, which, though it became a separate kingdom, gave to the house of Aragon its influence in southern Italy. After long wars with the 332 SPAIN AND PORTUGAL Genoese, in the fourteenth century, Sardinia was acquired by Aragon. Navarre and Aragon became united under John II., second son of Ferdinand I., King of Aragon. John, by his marriage with Blanche of Navarre, shared her father's throne with her after his death. He was the father of Ferdinand the Catholic, under whose scepter the kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, and Navarre were brought together. Castile. — Ferdinand III. (St. Ferdinand, 1217-1252) gained important victories in his warfare Avith the Moors. By him, in 1230, the kingdoms of Castile and Leon were united. After a time civil war arose in Castile between rival claim- ants of the throne. A contest sprang up between the king and the nobles, who had grown in power. Henry III. (1390-1406), with the help of the Cortes, or general as- sembly, succeeded in humbling the nobility ; but under his two successors, the lords regained much of their strength, and the kingdom was again reduced to a state of anarchy. The frame of a constitutional government had been developed both in Aragon and Castile. The power of the king, of the general assembly, and of the nobles was nicely balanced ; but in Aragon the system was marred in the reign of Peter IV. (1336-1387), while in Castile the nobles proved themselves in the end to be stronger than the king. Portugal ; Commerce and Navigation. — Alfonso I., Count of Portugal, after a victory over the Moors (in 1130), was hailed as king by his army. He was acknowledged as independent by the King of Castile. He gave an excellent constitution and body of laws to his people. Soon after, he conquered Lisbon, and made it his capital. His son, Sancho I. (1185- 1211), was distinguished both for his victories over the Moors and for his encouragement of tillage and of farm laborers. Until we reach the fifteenth century, Portuguese history is occupied with wars with the Moors and the Castilians, con- tests of the kings with the nobles, and struggles between rival aspirants for the throne, and between the sovereigns on the one hand and the clergy and the popes on the other. THE BALTIC LANDS 833 About the beginning of tlie fourteenth century, there began a new era, in which the Portuguese became eminent for in- dustry and learning, and in commerce and navigation. Dio- nysius 111= founded the University of Lisbon. Alfonso TV. (1325-1357) continued on the same path. John I. (1385- 1433) repelled a great invasion of the Castilians, in a battle near Lisbon, and became at first regent and then king. He was the founder of a new family. Madeira was discovered (1419), and by the burning of the forests was prepared for the cultivation of sugar cane and the vine. In 1432, the Portuguese occupied the Azores. A most active interest in voyages of discovery was taken by Prince Henry the Navi- gator (1394-1460). IV. The Scandinavian Countries The Baltic Lands, — Neither Spain nor Great Britain nor the Scandinavian peninsulas (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) were included either in the empire of Charlemagne or in the Eastern Empire. The Germans and Scandinavians spread their dominion over the Aryan and non-Aryan tribes on the south and east of the Baltic. ^' The history of Sweden," says Mr. Ereeman, "mainly consists in the growth and the loss of her dominion in the Baltic lands out of her own peninsula. It is only in quite modern times that the union of the crowns, though not of the kingdoms, of Sweden and Norway has created a power wholly peninsular and equally Baltic and oceanic." It will be noted that E,ussia in modern days, having no oceanic character like Great Britain and Spain, has extended her dominion westward to the Baltic, but mainly to the east, over central Asia. She has built up a continental, instead of a maritime and colonial empire. Conversion of Scandinavia. — The conversion of Denmark to Christianity was completed in the eleventh century, under Canute. Sweden was converted in the same century, and Norway in the century preceding. After Canute YI. (1182), 334 POLAND AND RUSSIA Waldemar II., the Victorious, Avho began the use of the Dan- ish standard, the Donnebrog, — a white cross on a blood-red fiekl, — made many conquests, which he had to give up, and which it was left for his successor, Waldemar III. (1340-1375), to regain. But this monarch, in conflict with the great mer- cantile confederacy, the Hanseatic League, was worsted (1372). The marriage of his daughter Margaret to the King of Norway, led to her becoming queen of both countries, and in 1388 she accepted the crown of Sweden. In 1397 the three kingdoms were united by the Union of Calmar. Sweden. — After centuries of war between Swedes and Goths in the northern part of the peninsula, political union began under Waldemar (1250-1275), in whose reign Stockholm was founded. After the reign of Magnus I. (1279-1290) a war ensued between his sons. In the struggles that followed, the nobles became supreme, and the crown, as just related, was given to Margaret of Norway and Denmark. Y. POLAXI) AND EUSSIA Poland: its Constitution The Poles derive their name from a word meaning j>/((i»s. Dwelling between the Oder and the Vistula, they had in the tenth century already acquired consid- erable power. The dynasty which bears the name of the legen- dary Duke Piast, continued in Poland until 1370, and in Silesia until 1675. The reigning duke was converted to Christianity and did homage to Otto I. (978). Boleslav I. (992) had him- self crowned king by his bishop, but he was excommunicated by Pope Gregory VII., who laid Poland under an interdict. Boleslav III., the Victorious (1102-1138), forced Christianity upon the Pomeranians. The Brethren of the Soldiers of Christ and the Teutonic Knights (two orders which were united about 122G) carried on a long crusade against the Prussians, a heathen people who had attacked the Poles on the east as the Lithuan- ians had assailed them on the north. Casimir III., the Great (1333-1370), defeated the Russians, gave a code of laws to his RUSSIAN HISTORY 335 people, and rescued Poland from anarchy. The accession of his nephew Louis, King of Hungary (1307-1382), terminated the long rivalry between Poland and Hungary. Under Vla- dislav II., Lithuania was joined to Poland, an event which doubled its territory. The misfortune of Poland was its politi- cal constitution. There was no burgher class, or "third es- tate." The sanction of the powerful nobles was necessary to the election of a king, while the burden of taxation fell upon the peasants. Russian History. — As Eussia, both in Europe and in Asia, is a territory of boundless plains, the great rivers which flow through it have been of immense importance in its history. " The whole history of this country," it has been said, " is the history of its three great rivers, and is divided into three periods — that of the Dneiper, with Kiev ; that of the Volga, with Moscow; and that of the Neva, with Novgorod in the eighth century, and St. Petersburg in the eighteenth." In the ninth century, there was probably little difference between the Eussian Slavonians and the Poles. The one people, how- ever, were molded by the Greek Church and civilization, and the other by the influence of the Latin Church of western Europe. The Northmen under Kurik had founded their dominion in Eussia. Novgorod was their center. Thence they pushed their conquests to the south. Their descendants made Kiev, on the Dneiper, their capital. In Eussia, as elsewhere, the Scandinavians quickly blended with their native subjects. Under Vladimir I. (980-1015), who was converted to Greek Christianity, with his people, they attained to considerable power; but the custom of the sovereigns to divide their do- minions among their sons, broke up their territory into a mul- titude of petty principalities. The result was a monotonous series of fierce contests, without any substantial result. In the midst of the bloody and profitless civil wars occurred the great invasion of the Mongols. For two centuries the Eussians con- tinued under the yoke of the Golden Horde, which the Mon- gols established on the Volga. They were obliged to pay trib- 336 HUNGARY ute, and tlie Eussian princes at their accession had to swear fealty to the khan on the banks of the river Amoor. At the time of the Mongol conquest, Novgorod was the center of Eus- sian dominion. Towards the end of the thirteenth century, Moscow became a new center of Eussian power. From Moscow comes the name Muscovy. "Muscovy was to Eussia what France in the older sense was to the whole land which came to bear that name." In the fourteenth century, while Lithua- nia and Poland were absorbing by conquest the territories of western Eussia, the duchy of Moscow was building up a new Eussia in the east, out of which grew the Eussia of to-day. Ivan I., regarded as the founder of the Eussian monarchy, made Moscow his capital in 1328. Most of the other princes were subject to him. Demetrius (or Dimtri) I. gained two great victories over the Mongol horde (1378 and 1380) ; but in 1382, they burned Moscow, and slew twenty-four thousand of its inhabitants. It was not until the reign of Ivan III., the Great '(1462-1505), that Novgorod submitted to Moscow, and Eussia was wholly delivered from the control and influence of the Mongols. VI. Hungary The Arpad Dynasty. — The Turanian Magyars, under Arpad, overran Hungary and Transylvania, but were defeated by the emperors Henry I. and Otto the Great. Their first king, St. Stephen, crowned by the consent of Pope Sylvester II. in the year 1000, established a political system and conferred high offices on the bishops. Important conquests were made by later kings. In the reign of Andrew II. (1205-1235) the nobles extorted the "Golden Bull," which conferred upon them extraordinary rights and privileges. When the last of the Arpad dynasty died, in 1301, a x^rince of the house of Anjou was chosen as his successor. His son and heir, Louis, who also succeeded to the crown of Poland in 1370, made Hungary a very powerful state. His daughter Maria reigned jointly with Sigismund, who afterwards became emperor. In. THE OTTOMAN TUKKS 337 his time the invasions of the Turks began. The Hungarians were defeated by them at Yarna (1444). John Hunyady, who had several times defeated these enemies, was made general in chief in 1452. The Emperor Frederick III. began to inter- fere in Polish affairs. From time to time, great advantages were gained over the Turks, but they were lost again in the sixteenth century. YII. The Ottoman Turks Osman ; Murad I Towards the end of the thirteenth cen- tury, the Osman (or Ottoman) Turks, warlike nomad hordes, in order to escape from the Mongols, moved from the region east of the Caspian Sea, and conquered in Asia Minor the remnant of the kingdom of the Seljukians. Impelled by fanaticism and the desire of booty, Ottoman (or Osman), their leader, advanced into Bithynia, and took Pruse, or Broussa, one of the most important cities of Asia Minor. The Greeks, with their auxiliaries, were not able to dislodge him from his new possession. The Byzantine court was disabled from making an energetic effort for this end by the partisan rancor, and mingled lethargy and cruelty, which characterized the old age of the Greek Empire. Mcomedia, ISTicea, and Ilium were conquered by the Sultan (or Padishah). Murad I. (1361-1389) founded the corps of Janizaries, composed of select Christian youth chosen from the captives for their beauty and vigor. These became the most effective soldiers, — sometimes danger- ous, however, to the sultans themselves. Adrianople was taken by Murad, and made the seat of his authority. The Christian principalities of Thrace, and the ancient but depop- ulated cities founded by the Greeks and Eomans, were overrun. The Servians and Bulgarians made a stand against the fierce Ottoman warriors, but were beaten in a battle where Murad was slain. Bajazet. — Bajazet, .the son and successor of Murad, outdid his predecessor in his martial prowess. He conquered Mace- 338 THE OTTOMAN TURKS clonia and Thessaly, and Greece to the southern end of Pelo- ponnesus. The Emperor Sigismund and John of Burgundy, with one hundred thousand men, were utterly defeated in the sanguinary battle of Nicopolis (1396). Sigismund escaped by sea ; the French counts and knights had to be redeemed from captivity with a large ransom ; and ten thousand prisoners of lower rank were slaughtered by Bajazet. Bosnia was now in the hands of the victor. Constantinople had to pay tribute, and seemed likely to become his prey, when a temporary respite was obtained for it by the coming of a host even more powerful than that of Bajazet. Mongolian Invasion. — Timur, or Tamerlane, a descendant of Genghis Khan, made himself master of the countries from the wall of China to the Mediterranean and from the boundaries of Egypt to Moscow. His path was marked with blood and ruin. At Delhi one hundred thousand captives were slain, so that his relative, the Great Mogul, might reign in security. At Bagdad in 1401 he amused himself by erecting a pyramid of ninety thousand heads. In Russia he conquered the Golden Horde, subdued Persia, and after penetrating Russia as far as Moscow (1390) undertook the conquest of Hindustan. With eight hundred thousand men — as the numbers are given — he met Bajazet at the head of an army of four hundred thousand Turks at Ancyra. The Ottomans were defeated. When Baja- zet as a prisoner was led into the presence of Tamerlane, he found the Mongol quietly playing chess with his son. The conqueror, after subduing all Asia Minor, was looking towards China as another field for invasion, but he died in 1405. Turkish Conquests ; the Greeks and Latins. — The empire of Tamerlane quickly fell to pieces, but the Ottoman power en- dured. Murad II. (1421-1451), the grandson of Bajazet, took up his projects of conquest. The Pope, notwithstanding relig- ious differences with the Greek Church, stirred up Christian princes to engage in war against the Turks. The defeat of Vladislar, King of Bohemia, and of John Hunyady at Varna, was followed by another Turkish victory at Kosovo in 1449. I FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE 339 Fall of Constantinople — Murad II. was succeeded by his ambitious and unmerciful son, Mohammed II. (1451-1481), who determined tb^||^ Constantinople should be his capital. The city had seven thousand defenders, comprising two thou- sand Genoese and Venetians, who were commanded by an able Genoese general. The Emperor Constantine XII. worshiped according to the Eoman rites, while his court observed the Greek forms, and spurned a union with the hated Latin Chris- tians, whose help the emperor was to the end anxious to ob- tain. The city was stoutly defended for lifty-three days ; and when it could be held no longer against the furious assault of the Turks, the gallant Constantine, casting aside his golden armor, fell, bravely fighting, with the defenders on the ram- parts (May 29, 1453). Constantinople became the capital of the Turks. The crescent supplanted the cross, and the Church of St. Sophia was turned into a mosque. Turkish Government The Sultan, or padisliah, among the Turks is absolute master, and proprietor of the soil. There is no order of nobles, and there are no higher classes except the priests (imams) and the religious orders (dervishes). In the seraglio of the Sultan, with its palaces and gardens, the harem is separated from the other apartments. The grand vizier pre- sides over the council of ministers (divan). The provinces are governed by pashas with large powers. Beneath them is a gradation of inferior rulers in the subdivisions of the prov- inces. The mufti with his subordinate associates is a high authority on questions of religion and law. Changes in the Middle Ages. — Gradually in the Middle Ages the subjection of local rulers, or lords, to the will of the king brought to pass a centralizing of political authority. The mid- dle class of the people at the same time grew in power and self-respect. The serfs were enfranchised. The invention of gunpowder made the peasant on the battle-field a match for the mail-clad and mounted warrior. The clergy were now no longer the sole possessors of knowledge. There was an awakening of intellectual activity and a spirit of self-assertion. 340 THE PAPACY Popes in the Thirteenth Century. — If the most important eccle- siastical changes are passed in review, it will be observed that from Gregory VII. to Boniface VIII. — from near the end of the eleventh centnry to the beginning of the fourteenth cen- tury — the highest authority Avas claimed and exercised by the popes. Frederick Barbarossa, the greatest of the German emperors, held the stirrup of Hadrian IV., and humbled him- self before Alexander III. Inno- cent III. compared the popes to the sun, and kings to the moon. He took the part of umpire and judge in national conflicts. He excommunicated Philip Augus- tus of France, John of England, and other monarchs. Boniface VIII. asserted the complete sub- jection of secular to spiritual rule. The body of canon law was framed in accordance with these principles. The Babylonian Exile ; the Great Schism During the resi- dence of the popes at Avignon, there was great complaint on account of their dependence on France, as well as on other grounds. Gregory XL, to the joy of all good men, returned to Rome (1376). But at his death, two years later, a majority of the cardinals elected an Italian, Urban VI., in his place. The adherents of the French party made a protest, and chose a Genevan cardinal, under the name of Clement VII. Some countries adhered to Clement. This great schism of the West created sorrow and alarm among well-disposed Christian peo- ple. It tended to diminish the reverence felt for the papal office and to weaken its influence. The Reforming Councils. — The first important effort to termi- nate the division was made by the University of Paris. Three \ Innocent III. REFORMING COUNCILS 341 great councils were held ; the first at Pisa (1409), the second at Constance (1414), and the third at Basle (1431). At the Council of Constance there were gathered not only a throng of prelates and inferior clergy, but also the Emperor Sigismund, and a multitude of princes, nobles, and spectators of every rank. "The whole world," it was said, "was there." The council aftirmed its own sovereign authority. The results of the two councils of Pisa and Constance, as regards the refor- mation of the Church, disappointed the hopes of those who were disaffected with the existing state of things. The Coun- cil of Basle exhibited the same spirit as that of Constance, and passed various measures in the interest of national churches, and for practical reforms. This council, however, broke into two parts ; and the hopes connected with it were likewise, to a great extent, frustrated. Had it been practicable for good men in the fifteenth cen- tury to unite in wholesome measures for promoting the purity and unity of the Church, the religious revolutions of the six- teenth century might hsrve been postponed, if not avoided. CHAPTER XLVI THE COUNTRIES OF EASTERN ASIA I. China The T'ang Dynasty (618-907) — The confusion in China, after the establishment of tlie three kingdoms, was brought to an end by the Sui dynasty, which, however, was of short duration. Between the Hans and the new epoch, beginning with the Twangs, diplomatic intercourse was begun with Japan ; Chris- tianity was introduced by the Nestorians ; a new impulse was given to the spread of Buddhism ; the first traces of the art of j)rinting are found; and the Yang-tse and the Yellow rivers were connected by a canal. Events in this Period. — Under the T'angs, the empire was united, peaceful, and prosperous. One of the most remarkable occurrences was the usurpation (649) and successful reign of a woman, the Empress Wu. Her policy was wise, and her gen- erals were victorious. The Emperor Hiuen Tsung had a long reign (713-756), and was an ardent patron of literature, but in his later years fell into immoral ways. Under this dynasty, there were productions in poetry of an excellence never sur- passed in China. Buddhism, although resisted by the Com- fucianists and Taouists, gained ground. A bone of Buddha was brought into China with great pomp and ceremony. Early in the reign of the T'angs, Mohammedanism first appeared in China. In the transition period before the accession of the next dynasty (900-960), the art of printing came more into use. The practice of cramping women's feet is said by some to have originated at this time. 342 JAPAN 343 The Sung Dynasty (960-1280) In the early part of this era, China was prosperous. But the Tartars began their invasions ; and it was finally agreed that one of their tribes, which had helped to drive out another, should retain its conquests in the north. These Tartar conquerors, the Kins, were invaded by the Mongol Tartars under Genghis Khan (1213). After a long struggle, both the Kins and the Sungs were conquered by the Mongols, and the empire of Kublai Khan (1259-1294), the ruler of nearly all Asia, except Hindustan and Arabia, was estab- lished. Under the Sungs, a system of military drill for all the citizens was ordained. Literature flourished; Buddhism and Taouism concluded to live in peace with one another ; and the system of competitive examinations and literary degrees was more fully developed. After the complete conquest of China, the dominion of Kublai Khan lasted for about a century. The celebrated Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, visited his court. In this period, mathematics was more studied, and romances were first written. Three out of the Four Wonderful Books, Avhich are leading novels, were then composed. The Grand Canal was finished by Kublai Khan, and thus Peking was connected with Southern China. His great naval expedition against Japan failed. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1650). — Hung-wu, the son of a Chi- nese laborer, shook off the Mongol yoke, and founded a new dynasty with its capital at Nanking; whence it was after- wards transferred by the third emperor, Yung-lo (1403-1425), to Peking. He conquered and annexed Cochin China and Ton- quin, and even portions of Tartary. The Tartars continued their attack ; and in 1450 Ching-tung, the emperor, was taken prisoner, and held until he was released in consequence of a Chinese victory. II. Japan Changes in Government, — In the seventh century a.d., there began changes in Japan which resulted in a dual government, and eventually in a feudal system which continued until recent 344 COUNTRIES OF EASTERN ASIA times. The Mikados retired from personal contact with their subjects ; and the power by degrees fell into the hands of the families related to the Mikado, and combined into clans. Mili- tary control was exercised by the generals (Shogu7is), and towards the end of the eighth century devolved on the two rival clans of Gen and Hei, or Taira and Minamoto. About the same time (770-780) the agricultural class became distinct from the military, and were compelled to labor hard for their support. One family by degrees absorbed the civil offices. It gradually sank into luxury. From the middle to the end of the twelfth century, there was terrible civil war between the Taira clan and the Minamoto clan, in which the former were destroyed. The military power passed from one family to another ; but a main fact is that the Shoguns acquired such a control as the Mayors of the Palace had possessed among the Franks. The Mikados lost all real j^ower, and the Shoguns or Tycoons had the actual government in their hands. In recent times (1868) a revolution occurred which restored to the Mikado the power which had belonged to him in the ancient times, be- fore the changes just related took place. Civil War; Feudalism. — The final struggle of the two clans, the Hei or Taira, and the Gen or Minamoto, was in the naval battle of Dannoura, in 1185, which was followed by the exter- mination of the Taira. Yoritomo, the victor, was known as the Shogun after 1192. The supremacy of his clan gave way in 1219 to that of their adherents, the Hojo family, who ruled the Shogun and the emperor both. The invasion of the Mon- gol Tartars failed, their great fleet being destroyed by a ty- phoon (1281). The Hojo rule terminated, after a period of anarchy and civil war, in 1333. After the War of the Chrys- anthemums — so called from the imperial emblem, the chrys- anthemum — between two rival Mikados (1336-1392), there ensued a period of confusion and internal strife, lasting for nearly two centuries. In the course of these long contests there was gradually developed a system of feudalism, in which the daimios, or lords of larger or smaller principalities, owned INDIA 345 a dependence, either close or more loose, on the Shogun. But feudalism was not fully established until early in the seven- teenth century. III. India Mohammedan States. — During the Middle Ages, India was invaded by a succession of Mohammedan conquerors. The first invasions were in the seventh century and the early part of the eighth. A temporary lodgment was effected in the province of Sind, on the northwest, in 711 ; but the Moslems were driven out by the Hindus in 750. The next invader was the Afghan Sultan, Mahmud of Ghazim, a Turk, who is said to have led his armies seventeen times into India. From his time the Punjab, except for a brief interval, has been a Mo- hammedan province. The last of his line of rulers was con- quered, and the Ghoride dynasty of the conqueror soon absorbed his dominion. One of the Ghoride rulers, Mo- hammed Ghori, the Shahab-ud-din of the Mohammedan writers, spread his dominion so that it reached from the Indus to the Brahmaputra. Then came the Slave dynasty, whose founder had been a Turkish slave. Its capital was Delhi. Of the Togluk dynasty, which gained the throne in 1321, Mohammed Togluk (1325-1351) is said to have had the " reputation of one of the most accomplished princes and most furious tyrants that ever adorned or disgraced human nature.'^ Desiring to remove the seat of empire to the Deccan, he com- pelled the inhabitants of Delhi to leave their old home, and to make the journey of seven hundred miles. Ee volts in India made the triumph of Tamerlane easy (1398). The Mongol leader sacked Delhi, and made a full display of his unrivaled ferocity. A half century of anarchy followed this invasion. MODERN HISTORY 3>® H P c3 It 0) rt r- ^ ^ rt go "..2 « g 2 CD „ O CJ C3- cS ^ S ^ "S «s T-rccreo~Tjrjo~«o~ :| O o o ^-s "o p !>■ ^'"c 2 tc - fcc •- i s c3 "ill 11= ^ ^5 Ol ^ a o SPAIN 355 them. The court of the Star Chamber was set up to prevent these abuses. It was turned into an instrument of tyranny in the hands of the kings. Henry VII. extorted from the rich benevolences, or gifts solicited by the king, which the law authorized him to collect as a tax. He contrived to get money in such ways, and thus to carry forward the govern- ment without Parliament, which met only once during the last thirteen years of his reign. Eoyal power, in relation to the nobles, was further exalted by the introduction of cannon, which only the king possessed, into warfare. Henry kept watch over his enemies at home and abroad, and punished all resistance to his authority. Circumstances enabled the founder of the Tudor line to exalt the power of the king over the heads of both the nobles and the commons. English liberty suffered a long eclipse, lasting until the downfall of the Stuarts. III. Spain Ferdinand of Aragon (1479-1516). — The marriage of Ferdi- nand and Isabella resulted in a personal union between Aragon and Castile, the rights of sovereignty still remaining distinct. They accomplished the feat of bringing both nobles and clergy into subjection. The sovereigns directed their attention to the Moorish kingdom of Granada, the capital of which, with its famous castle of the Alhambra, . was captured in 1492, after a ten years' bloody war. In spite of promises that the Moors should enjoy religious freedom, they were for years subjected to frightful persecution, 'and their sufferings form a long and dismal chapter of Spanish history. The dethroned Moorish king, Boabdil, fled to Africa, where he fell in battle. Choice was given to the Moslems to become Christians or to emigrate. The professed converts were goaded by cruel treatment into repeated insurrections. It was a fierce war of races and religions. Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, had become Queen of Castile in right of her mother. Her mind became disordered, however, and her father, Fer- 356 SPAIN dinand, was made regent of the kingdom ; and for many years^ he administered the government with wisdom and modera- CouRT OF THE Lions {AUutiith/un tion. He availed himself of the distnrbances of France to annex to Castile the portion of Xavarre lying on the south of the Pvrenees. GERMANY AND ITALY 357 TV. Germany and the Empire Frederick III. (1440-1493). — While Englandj France, and Spain were organizing monarchy, Italy and Germany became the prey of other nations as a resnlt of keeping up the anar- chical condition of the Middle Ages. Frederick III. was the last emperor crowned at Eome. He lacked energy, neglected the empire, and busied himself in enlarging his Austrian do- mains. Without any help from him, the Hungarians, under John Hunyady, drove the Turks from Belgrade in 1456. The Turks were now the great danger to Europe. The efforts of the emperor to obtain the Bohemian and Hungarian crowns were unsuccessful. By the Peace of Thorn (1454) the west- ern part of Prussia was taken from the Teutonic Knights, and annexed to Poland. Maximilian I. (1493-1519). — Maximilian I. was a restless prince, eager for adventure. Although not crowned, he was au- thorized by Pope Julius II. to style himself Emperor Elect. He married Mary of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold. In his reign efforts were made to secure peace and order in Germany. His grandson Ferdinand, who succeeded him, mar- ried the sister of Louis II., who united in himself the crowns of Bohemia and of Hungary. Ferdinand was elected to suc- ceed Maximilian (1526), and these countries were thus added to the vast possessions of the Austrian family. V. Italy Condition of Italy. — In Italy, national unity was wanting. The country was menaced by the Ottoman Turks, and by the kings of France and Spain. At the same time, voyages of discovery were threatening to open ncAv highways of commerce to supersede the old routes of traffic which had made the Italian cities the most opulent and splendid in Europe. The fall of Constantinople, indeed, had led the principal Italian states in 1454 to take an oath of perpetual concord. Conflicts 358 THE MEDICI tip o 1^ ■ ce t ^ c 2 -0 u 2 1 5g Li N +J o CO P^S? ITALY 359 soon arose, however, among the parties to this agreement, and the Turks took advantage of their quarrels to capture Otranto (1480), killing or enslaving twelve thousand Christians. Ven- ice, which had been the strongest of the Italian states, became involved in war with the Turks, and was compelled to make a shameful treaty with them and to pay them a large sum of money (1479). In Florence the members of his family who followed Cosmo de Medici behaved more as princes, while he to the end had been a man of the people. One of them, Lo- renzo, earned for himself the name of The Magnificent by his lavish patronage of literature and art. Against his rule the voice of the eloquent Dominican monk Jerome Savonarola was raised in earnest protest. He sought not only to move individuals to repentance, but to bring about a thorough amendment of public morals. At this time Florence presented striking points of resemblance to Athens in its most flourish- ing days. Trade and the mechanic arts were in high repute. Industry was widely diffused. Florence, however, was not a conquering power, and had no extensive dominion. The Florentines of the fifteenth century compare well with the Athenians in the age of Pericles in equality and pride of citi- zenship, in versatility of talent and intellectual activity, in artistic genius and in joyous social life. In Naples Ferdi- nand I. was reigning during this period. He treated his barons with treachery, and he ruled his people with injustice and cruelty. The Popes. — The Popes Nicholas V. (1447-1455), a pro- tector of scholars and a cultivated man, and Pius II. (1458- 1464), vainly attempted to organize crusades against the Turks. In the last half of the fifteenth century, the prev- alent spirit of worldliness among princes within and without Italy infected the Church and its rulers. Worldly schemes and nepotism, as the projects for the temporal advancement of their relatives were termed, engrossed attention. Weakness of Italy. — Italy, at the close of the fifteenth cen- tury, with all its proficiency in art and letters, and its supe- 360 RUSSIA riority in the comforts and elegance of life, was a prey to anarchyo This was especially true after the death of Lorenzo de Medici. Diplomacy had become a school of fraud. IJattles had come to be, in general, bloodless ; but either perfidy, or prison and the dagger, were the familiar instruments of war- fare. The country, from its beauty, its wealth, and its factious state, was an alluring prize to foreign invaders. YI. The Ottoman Turks. Their Conquests. — Mohammed II. (1451-1481) conquered the Greek Empire. The Hungarians defended the line of the Danube against the Turkish assaults. xVn intrepid prince of Albania for twenty-three years held the Moslems in check. In 1517, the conquest of Alexandria by the Sultan Selim in- flicted a mortal blow on the commerce of Venice by intersect- ing its communication with the Orient. Selim and Mohammed II. built up the enormous Ottoman Empire, which stretched from the Danube to the Euphrates, and from the Adriatic to the cataracts of the Xile. They take rank among the most eminent tyrants in Asiatic history. Each of them combined a genius for rule with a taste for science and poetry. YII. EuSSTA Russia; Ivan III. — Ivan III., the Great (1462-1505), lib- erated Russia from the Tartar conquerors, the Golden Horde. He was a cold, calculating man who preferred to negotiate rather than to fight ; but he inflicted savage punishments, and even " his glance caused Avomen to faint." Moscow became a prosperous city. In it Ivan laid out the fortified enclosure styled the Kremlin. He brought into the country German and Italian mechanics. He it Avas Avho founded the greatness of Russia. Ivan IV. ( 1 533-1 584). — In 1553 Ivan IV., the Terrible, suc- ceeded to the throne. He first took the title of Czar. He con- quered the Tartars and made a commercial treaty with Queen RUSSIA 361 Elizabeth of England. One of his Cossack chiefs conquered Si- beria. The Czar put down aristocracy, and crushed all resist- ance to his personal rule. He laid the foundation of a standing army, and though he was tyrannical and cruel, he prevented The Kkemlin (Momoio)-—, Eussia from becoming an anarchic kingdom like Poland. The Cossacks, of whom Irmak was a noted chieftain, were fierce robber warriors, partly Tartar and partly Russian. They were brought into subjection by Ivan. The Czar himself mingled brutal and sensual practices with exercises of i^iety. In a fit 362 RUSSIA 5^; s E P ^. '3 o -T-* g ^ CO 5) 2 O 3 S ^ H^ ? - 1^ -2-3 £--^ ij~3 O 2 ^ ^ « S3 s ITALY 363 of wrath lie struck his son Ivan a fatal blow, and was over- whelmed with sorrow in consequence. During the reigns of his immediate successors, there were internal dissensions in A^^hich the Poles interfered. In 1611, however, they were driven out of the country, and Michael Romanoff (1613-1645), the founder of the present dynasty of czars, was raised to the throne. VIII. French Invasions of Italy Motives of the Invasion The establishment of absolute monarchy in western Europe placed the resources of each nation at the service of its king. A desire for national ag- grandizement made itself felt, and a series of European wars began, of which the invasion of Italy by the French king, Charles VIIL, was the first. Through the house of Anjou, Charles laid claim to the throne of Naples. Crossing the Alps with a large army in 1494, he made rapid progress and caused himself to be crowned King of Naples, Emperor of the East, and King of Jerusalem, for it was a part of his plan to attack and conquer the Turks. The Italian princes, however, united with Ferdinand, Maximilian, and Henry VIIL of England to check the power of France. They soon compelled the French to withdraw from Italy, and the conquests of Charles were lost as speedily as they were gained. Louis XII. (1498-1515). — The Italian states were, however, still involved in civil strife. Savonarola had been excommuni- cated by Alexander YI., and the combination of parties against him caused his death in 1498. The condition of the country tempted Louis of Orleans, King of France, to renew the at- tempt at an Italian invasion. He had succeeded Charles VIIL, who left no male children. Like Charles, Louis gained tem- porary advantages. Having secured the cooperation of Ferdi- nand of Spain in an attack upon Naples, he expected to divide the kingdom with him. Ferdinand^s treachery, however, caused the kingdom to fall into the hands of a Spanish general, Gronsalvo de Cordova. Louis led an army against him. 364 FRENCH INVASIONS OF ITALY Anxious for revenge, notwithstanding the gallantry of Bay- ard, the pattern of chivalry, the French knight "without fear and without reproach," the French were defeated. In a third Italian war, Louis was almost as unsuccessful. This last struggle, however, which lasted eight years (1507-1515), was the most important of the three. During its j^rogress. Pope Julius 11. organized the League of Cambray, between himself, the Emperor Maximilian, the kings of France and of Aragon, for the purpose of humbling Venice. The League at first defeated the Venetians, but the Pope then made peace with them, and organized a new league for the expulsion from Italy of his former allies, the French. The old Pontiff himself took the field in the dead of winter. Though defeated, he formed the Holy League with Venice, Ferdinand of Aragon, and Henry VIII. of England, against France. James IV. of Scot- land made a diversion in favor of France, but was beaten and slain at Flodden Field (1513). The Swiss joined the league, and the French met with defeat. Finally a peace was con- cluded, which ultimately resulted in the triumph of the policy of Pope Julius II. and the expulsion of the French from Italy. CHAPTER XLIX INVENTION AND DISCOVERY; THE RENAISSANCE The term Eenaissance is frequently applied not only to the new birth of art and letters, but to all the character- istics taken together of the period of transition from the Middle Ages to modern life. We have glanced at some of the political manifestations of the new life upon which the world seemed to be entering: it remains to note the opera- tion of "the intellectual energy, the spontaneous outburst of intelligence," which enabled mankind to make use of arts and inventions, knowledge and books. Inventions. — The most important inventions of the four- teenth and fifteenth centuries were gunpowder, the mariner's compass, and printing by movable types. An explosive ma- terial like gunpowder seems to have been in use among the Indians in the East as early as Alexander the Great, and also to have been known to the Chinese and the Arabs. It was first brought into use in firearms in the middle of the four- teenth century. The theory which gives credit for the in- vention to Schwartz, a monk of Freiburg, seems to be without foundation. The effect of the introduction of gunpowder was to make infantry an effective force and to put the peasant on a par with the knight. The properties of the magnetic needle were known as early as the fourteenth century, when the compass came into gen- eral use. It now became possible for the sailor to leave the Mediterranean and to spread his sails upon the ocean itself without danger of losing himself upon the boundless waste. Printing with movable types was probably first done by John Gutenberg of Mainz, who spent much of his life 365 366 INVENTIOX AND DISCOVERY at Strassburg. To some extent, printing had been done on wooden blocks before liis time, but he brought the art to such perfection that, in 1456, a complete Latin Bible was printed. He was furnished with capital by an associ- ate, Faust, and he worked in company with a skill- ful copyist of manuscripts. Printing presses were soon set uj) in all the princi- pal cities of Germany and Italy ; linen and cotton paper took the place of costly parchment ; books (iuTEMiEK.. were no longer confined to the rich ; and thought trav- eled from city to city and from land to land. Maximilian founded a postal system in German}^, and Louis XL did the same service for France. New Route to India. — The discovery by the Portuguese of the islands of Porto Santo and Madeii-a (1419-1420), of the Canary Islands and the Azores, was followed by their discovery of the coast of Upper Guinea, with its gold dust, ivory, and gums (1445). The Pope, to whom was accorded the right to dispose of the heathen and of newly discovered lands, granted to the Portuguese the possession of these re- gions, and of whatever discoveries they should make as far as India. From Lower Guinea (Congo), Bartholomew Diaz reached the southern point of Africa (1486), which King John II. named the Cape of Good Hope. Then, ujider Eman- uel the Great (1495-1521), Yasco da Gama found the way to East India, around the Cape, by sailing over the Indian Ocean, to the coast of Malabar, and into the harbor of Calcutta (1498). The Portuguese encountered the resistance of the ^lohamme- dans to their settlement; but by their valor and persistency, DISCOVEEY OF AMERICA 367 especially by the agency of tlieir brave leaders, their trading posts were established on the coast. Discovery of America. — Before the success of the Portu- guese enterprises, the conviction that India could be reached by sailing in a westerly direction took possession of the mind of Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa. John II. of Portugal and Henry VII. of Eng- ^^WSf^^^^^^^^W^^ land were applied to for funds with which to provide an equip- ment for a voyage of discovery. His efforts in these quarters hav- ing proved unsuccess- ful. Queen Isabella of Castile, to whom Gra- nada had just submit- ted (1492), furnished him with three ships, — the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Columbus was to have the station of grand admiral and viceroy over the lands to be discovered, with a tenth part of the incomes to be drawn from them, and the rank of a nobleman for himself and his posterity. The story of an open mutiny on his vessels does not rest on sufiicient proof. That there was alarm and dis- content among the sailors may well be believed. On the 11th of October, Columbus thought that he discovered a light in the distance. At two o'clock in the morning of October 12, a sailor on the Pinta espied the dim outline of the beach, and shouted, '^ Land, land ! " It was an island called Guanahani. Columbus gave it the name of San Salvador in honor of the CoLu: 368 INVENTION AND DISCOVERY Savior. Its beauty and productiveness excited admiration ; but neither here nor on the large islands of Cuba (or Juana) and Hayti (Hispaniola), which were discovered soon after, were there found the gold and precious stones which the navigators and their patrons at home so eagerly desired. The Pinta Columbus built a fort on the island of Hispaniola, and founded a colony. The name of West Indies was applied to the new lands. Columbus lived and died in the belief that the region which he discovered belonged to India. Of an intermediate continent, and of an ocean beyond it, he did not dream. THE NEW WORLD 369 The Pope granted to Ferdinand and Isabella all the newly discovered regions of America, from a line stretching one hun- dred leagues west of the Azores. Afterwards Ferdinand con- ceded to the king of Portugal that the line should run three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Yerde Islands. In two subsequent voyages (1493-1496, 1498-1500), Columbus dis- covered Jamaica and the Little Antilles, the Caribbean Islands, and finally the mainland at the mouths of the Orinoco (1498). In 1497 John Cabot, a Venetian captain living in England, while in quest of a northwest passage to India, touched at Cape Breton, and followed the coast of North America south- ward for a distance of nine hundred miles. Shortly after, Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine, employed first by Spain, and then by Portugal, explored in several voyages the coast of South America. The name America, at first attached to his discoveries, was at length extended to the whole western hemisphere. Later Voyages of Columbus. — On his return from his first voyage, Columbus was received with distinguished honors by the Spanish sovereigns. But he suffered from plots caused by envy, both on the islands and at court. Once he was sent home in fetters. The promises which had been made to him were not fulfilled„ A fourth voyage was not attended by the success in discovery which he had hoped for, and the last two years of his life were weary and sad. Isabella had died ; and in 1506 the great explorer, who with other virtues combined a sincere piety, followed her to the tomb. I The Pacific. — The spirit of adventure, hunger for wealth and especially for the precious metals, and zeal for the conversion of the heathen, were the motives which combined in different proportions to set on foot exploring and conquering expeditions to the unknown regions of the west. The exploration of the North American coast, begun by John Cabot, Sebastian Cabot (1498), and the Portuguese Cortereal (1501), continued from Labrador to Florida. In 1513, Balboa, a Spaniard at Darien, fought his way to a height on the Isthmus of Panama, whence 870 INVENTION AND DISCOVERY he descried the Pacific Ocean. Descending to the shore, and riding into the water np to his thighs, in the name of the king he took possession of the sea. In 1520 Magellan, a Portuguese captain, sailed around the southern cape of America, and over the ocean to wliich he gave the name of Pacific. A little later the Spaniards added first Mexico, and then Peru, to their dominions. Conquest of Mexico. — The Spanish conqueror of Mexico, the land of the Aztecs, Avas Hernando Cortez (1485-1547). The principal king in that country was Montezimia, whose empire was extensive, with numerous cities, and with no inconsider- able advancement in arts and industry. From Cuba, in 1519, Cortez conducted an expedition composed of seven hun- dred Spaniards, founded Vera Cruz, where he left a small gar- rison, subdued the tribe of Tlascalans, who joined him, and was received by Montezuma into the city of Mexico. Cortez made him a prisoner in his own palace, and seized his capital. The firearms and the horses of the Spaniards struck the na- tives with dismay. Nevertheless, they made a stout resistance. To add to the difficulties of the shrewd and valiant leader, a Spanish force was sent from the West Indies to supplant him. This force he defeated, and captured Narvaez, their chief. The city of Mexico was recaptured by Cortez (1521) ; for Mon- tezuma had been slain by his own j^eople, and the Spaniards driven out. The new king was taken prisoner and put to death, and the country Avas subdued. Cortez put an end to the horrid religious rites of the Mexicans, which included human sacrifices. Becoming an object of jealousy and dread at home, he was recalled (1528). Afterwards he visited the peninsula of California, and ruled for a time in Mexico, but with diminished authority. Conquest of Peru. — The conquest of Peru was effected by Francisco Pizarro and Almagro, both illiterate adventurers, equally daring with Cortez, but more cruel and unscrupulous. The Peruvians were of a mild character, prosperous, and not uncivilized, and Avithout the savage religious system of the THE REVIVAL OF LEARNING 371 Mexicans. They had their walled cities and their spacious temples. The empire of the Incas, as the rulers were called, was distracted by a civil war between two brothers, who shared the kingdom. Pizarro captured one of them, and basely put him to death. Pizarro founded Lima, near the seacoast (1535). Almagro and Pizarro fell out with each other, and the former was defeated and beheaded. The land and its inhabitants were allotted among the conquerors as the spoils of victory. The horrible oppression of the people excited insurrections. At length Charles V. sent out Gasca as viceroy (1541), at a time when Gonzalo Pizarro, the last of the family, held sway. Gon- zalo perished on the gallows. Gasca reduced the government to an orderly system. The Amazon. — Orellena, an officer of Pizarro, in 1541, first descended the river Amazon to the Atlantic. His fabulous descriptions of an imaginary El Dorado, whose capital with its dazzling treasures he pretended to have seen, inflamed other explorers and prompted new enterprises. The Revival of Learning. — A characteristic of the new in- tellectual life which was in the meantime animating Europe was the thirst for a wider range of study and of culture than was afforded by the theological writings and training of the Mid- dle Ages. Petrarch, the Italian poet (1304-1374) did much to foster this new spirit. In the fifteenth century, and especially before the fall of Constantinople, learned Greeks came into Italy, bringing precious manuscripts of the ancient authors with them. Wealthy men became patrons of learning. Cosmo de' Medici founded a library and a Platonic academy at Florence. Dictionaries, grammars, and commentaries for instruction in classical learning, as well as the writings of the ancient poets, philosophers, and orators themselves, were given to the world from the new printing presses of which that of Aldus Minutius — the Aldine — at Venice was the most famous. But the new culture and the Humanists, as its devotees were called, had to struggle with the " obscurantists," as the votaries of the mediaeval type of culture were nicknamed. In England, the 372 THE RENAISSANCE new learning was welcomed by such able men as Colet, Dean of St. Paul's, and Thomas More, afterwards lord chancellor under Henry YIII. In Germany, the leader of humanism was John Reuchlin (1455-1522), who was intimate with famous scholars at Florence. He carried to a successful conclusion a contest with a conservative class who were hostile to the new studies. Erasmus. — The prince of the Humanists was Desiderius Erasmus (1457-1536). ISTo literary man has ever enjoyed a wider fame during his own lifetime. Witty and learned, his books were eagerly read in all civilized countries. He had studied theology in Paris, and in England he had spent much time with More and Colet. In his Praise of Folly, and in his Colloquies, he lashes the foibles and sins of all classes, not sparing the clergy and the kings. He adhered to the Eoman communion. Through his edition of the Church Fathers, and his edition of the Greek Testament, as well as by his corre- spondence, he exerted a powerful influence in behalf of cul- ture. He wrote in Latin, the language of the educated. The study of the ancient authors tended to check, for the while, original production in literature. In Italy, however, there were at least three great authors who wrote in the national language — the poet Ariosto (1474-1533), Machiavelli, the diplomatist and statesman, and Guicciardini^ the historian (1482-1540). Renaissance of Art. — The new era was marked by an awaken- ing in art similar to that which has been observed in explo- ration and in literature. In architecture and sculpture, the influence of classical styles was powerful. Brunelleschi (1377- 1446) built the Pitti Palace, and the famous Cathedral at Flor- ence. The great Michelangelo Buonarroti (1465-1564) was a master of painting, sculpture, and architecture, and was a poet as well. As a sculptor, his Avork is seen to best advantage in the statue of Moses at Rome, and the sepulchers of Julian and Lorenzo de' Medici at Florence. The Florentine artist Ghiberti (1378-1455) exhibited the perfection of bas-relief in the bronze gates of the Baptistery. In painting, Giotto had INVENTION AND DISCOVERY 373 Michelangelo been the greatest name in the earlier days of the fourteenth century. Eaphael (1483-1520) is, except Michelangelo, the greatest name in the history of Italian art. Perhaps his most celebrated work is the Madonna di San Sisto, which is now in the Dresden Gallery. Era Angelico (1387-1455), a devont monk, had transferred to canvas the ten- derness and fervor of his own gentle spirit. To the A^enetian school be- longed, in the sixteenth century, Titian, who died in 1576, Paul Veronese, and Tintoretto. Leo- nardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and ^ Correggio (1494-1534) belong to the Lombard school. Guido Eeni and Salvator Eosa were disciples of the school of Bologna. In the Netherlands, a school of painting was formed under the influence of the brothers Van Dyck (1366-1426, 1386- 1440). One of them, John, was the first artist to paint in oil. Of the later masters in the Netherlands, Eubens (1577- 1640) and Eembrandt (1607-1669) are the most eminent. In Germany, in the former half of the sixteenth century, Hans Holbein and Albert Durer made their names famous; while in Spain, Murillo and Velasquez (1599-1660), and in France, Claude Lorraine, won for themselves an exalted place on the roll of artists. In England, the strong work of the humorist Hogarth belongs to a later day. He died in 1764. Music, in the meantime, shared in the prosperity of the sister arts. In the sixteenth century, the genius and labors of the Italian, Palestrina, constitute an epoch. The lives of the great German composers Bach (1685-1750) and Handel (1685-1759) belong mainly to the eighteenth century, but they are in some degree the fruit of seed sown earlier. PEKIOD IL — THE ERA OF THE EEFOEMATION (1517-1648) CHAPTER L THE KEFORMATION IN GERMANY, TO THE TREATY OF NUREMBERG (1517-1532) Beginning of the Reformation. — Martin Luther, the son of a poor miner, was born in Eisleben in 1483. An Augustinian monk, he had been made a professor of tlieology and a preacher at Wittenberg, by the Elector of Saxony, Erederick the Wise (1508). Luther was a man of remarkable intellectual powers and a hard student. He had been long afflicted with profound religious anxieties. In the study of St. Paul and St. Augus- tine, after much inward wrestling, he emerged into a state of mental peace. In the early days of the sixteenth century, there was in Germany much discontent with the spirit of world- liness which at that time infected the rulers of the Church. Gross abuses in connection Avith penances and the disposal of indulgences were painful to sincere friends of religion. " In- dulgence" was a theological term, derived from the Roman law, where it meant remission of a penalty or of a tax. As used in the Church, it meant the remission of the penances, or temporal punishments, which were imposed upon penitent of- fenders in the system of ecclesiastical discipline. The giving of money for religious uses might, at the discretion of the authorities of the Church, be substituted for them ; but it was the orthodox doctrine that repentance on the part of the trans- gressor is always necessary as a prior condition. It was also 374 i LUTHEK 375 lielcl that the pains of Purgatory, a part of the temporal punish- ments of forgiven sin, might be abridged, not, to be sure, by the direct power of the Pope, but through the application of the Church, on the ground of the merits of Christ and the saints. Partly for the purpose of raising money for the build- ing of St. Peter's Church, an authorization was given by Pope Leo X. for the granting of indulgences in Germany to those who contributed alms for that purpose. One of the agents^ St. Peter's acting under the direction of the Archbishop of Magdeburg, was the monk Tetzel. In the popular apprehension, the system as it was practiced in Germiany by some of these agents, amounted to a sale of absolution from guilt, or to the ransom of deceased friends from Purgatory. Abuses of this nature were afterwards condemned by the Church, through the Council of Trent, in severe terms. Luther's attack was first directed against Tetzel. Li those days scholars were wont to challenge ail comers to debating 3T6 THE REFORMATION IN GERMANY contests by propounding theses in theology and philosophy, which they were willing to defend against all who chose to dispute them. In 1517 Luther, moved by these abuses, posted his celebrated ninety- hve theses on the door of the church at Wit- tenberg. Thus began a contest which extended itself to a good many other doctrines. The main points in the creed of Luther and of Protestants after him were the doctrine of forgiveness, or justifi- cation, b}^ faith alone, on the ground of the Atonement of Christ, and of the doctrine of the exclusive authority of the Bible in matters of belief and conduct. The conflict spread, and Luther became famous as a bold and daring cham- pion of reform. Leo X., the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was Pope at the time, and at first, treating the Saxon dis- turbances as a mere " squabble of monks," he vainly attempted, through his legates, to bring Luther to submission. Luther had a youthful associate, Philip Melanchthon, the young professor of Greek at Wittenberg, who Avas a great scholar, and a man of mild and amiable spirit. In 1520 Luther was excommunicated by the Pope, but went so far as publicly to burn the papal bull at the gates of the town, in the presence of an assembly of students and others gathered to witness the scene. Both parties had now taken the extreme step : there Avas now open war between them. The empire was compelled to decide be- tween Luther and the Pope. The Emperor Maximilian, for political reasons, was at first glad to hear of Luther's rebellion. Ltttheb CHAKLES V 377 Election of Charles V. — On the death of Maximilian (1519), as the Elector Frederick would not take the imperial crown, there were two rival candidates : Francis I., the king of France, and Charles I., of Spain, the grandson of Maximilian. Francis was a gallant and showy personage,' but it was feared that he would be despotic ; and the electors made choice of Charles. The extent of Charles's hereditary domin- ions in Germany, and the greatness of his power, would make him, it was thought, the best defender of the empire against the Turks. Charles was the inheritor of Austria and the Low Countries, the crowns of Castile and Aragon, of Navarre, of Kaples and Sicily, together with the ter- ritories of Spain in the New World; and now he was at the head of the Holy Eoman Empire. The concentration of so much power in a single hand could not but provoke alarm in all other potentates. The great rival of Charles was Francis I., and the main prize in the contest was dominion in Italy. Charles was a sagacious prince, from his education strongly attached to the Koman Catholic system, and, in virtue of the imperial office, the pro- tector of the Church. Yet with him political considerations, during most of his life, were uppermost. He overestimated the power of political combinations. Charles Y. first came into Germany in 1521. At the Diet of AYorms, Luther ap- peared before the Emperor, but refused to retract his opin- ions, and declined to submit to the verdicts of pope or council. After leaving Worms, a sentence of outlawry was passed against him. Charles at that moment was bent on the reconquest of Charles V. 378 THE REFORMATION IN GERMANY Milan, which the French had taken, and he counted on the aid' of the Pope. Francis I. — Francis I. (1515-1547) aimed to complete the work begun by his predecessors, and to make the French mon- archy absolute. By a concordat with the Pope (1516), the choice of bishops and abbots was given into the king's hand, while the Pope was to receive the annates, or the first year's revenue, of all such benefices. Francis established the practice of selling judicial places and offices of every sort. He was bent on maintaining the unity of France, and, as a condition, the Catholic system. But he was always ready to help the Protestants in Germany when he could thereby weaken Charles. For the same end, he was even ready to join hands with the Turk. It was inevitable that Charles and Francis should quarrel, for Charles claimed a portion of southern France, the duchy of Burgundy, which he did not allow that Louis XL had the right to confiscate, while Francis claimed ISlaples in virtue of the rights of the house of Anjou, as well as Spanish Navarre, and the suzerainty of Flanders and Artois. Francis had gained a brilliant victory over the Swiss at the battle of Marignano, in 1515, and reconquered Milan. He concluded a treaty of peace with the Swiss, which gave to the king, in return for a yearly pension, the liberty to levy troops in Swit- zerland. This treaty continued until the French Revolution. First War of Charles and Francis (1521-1526). — Hostilities between Francis and Charles commenced in Italy in 1521. The Emperor was soon master of all northern Italy. England and the Pope sided with Charles ; and on the death of Leo X., a former tutor of the Emperor was made his successor, under the name of Adrian VI. (1522). The most eminent and the richest man in France, next to the king, Charles of Bourbon, constable of the kingdom, joined the enemies of Francis. He was a brave general. In the winter of 1524-25 Francis crossed the Alps at the head of a brilliant army, and recap- tured Milan ; but he was defeated and taken prisoner at Pavia, CONTESTS OF CHARLES AND FRANCIS 379 and the French, army was almost destroyed. It was stipulated in the Peace of Madrid (1526) that Francis should renounce all claim to Milan, G-enoa, and Naples, and to the suzerainty of Flanders and Artois, cede the duchy of Burgundy, and deliver his sons as hostages. Luther at the Wartburg. — Luther, although under the ban of the Empire, was under the protection of the Elector of Saxony, who placed him in the castle of the Wartburg, where he could have a safe and quiet asylum. There he began his translation of the Bible. Apart from its religious influence, it marked an epoch in the literary history of Germany. Luther left his retreat in order to quiet a disturbance among his supporters at Wittenberg. The influential classes were much in sympathy with Luther's cause, and no attempt was made to do anything against him under the Worms decree. Pope Adrian YI. was earnestly desirous of practical reform ; but his successor, Clement YIL, like Leo X., was of the house of Medici. Catholic princes and bishops of South Germany made an alliance at Ratisbon in 1524 to do away with certain abuses, but to prevent the spread of the new doctrine. In the same year a revolt of the peasants broke out, and in the follow- ing year the war became general. They had many grievances, and Luther sympathized with them until they resorted to force. Then he, and with him the great middle class, took sides strongly against them. The revolt was put down, and its leaders were inhumanly punished. For a time the peas- ants had wonderful success. Napoleon wondered that Charles V. did not seize the occasion to make Germany a united em- pire. Then seemed to be a time when the princes could have been stripped of their power. Second War between Charles and Francis (1527-1529). — In the Peace of Madrid, Charles and Francis had agreed to pro- ceed against the Turks and against the heretics. But, after the release of Francis, he repudiated his concessions, which were made, he alleged, under coercion ; and with Clement YIL he formed a coalition against the Emperor. In 1527 a Ger- 380 THE REFOEMATION IN GERMANY man army, largely composed of Lutherans, stormed and cap- tured Eome. The Pope made an alliance with Henry VIII. In 1529 he concluded peace with Charles, and the emperor promised to exterminate heresy. In the Peace of Cambray, Prancis renounced his claims on Italy, Planders, and Artois, Charles engaged for the present not to press his claims upon Burgundy, and set free the French princes. To the Peace of Nuremberg (1532). — The Diet of Spires in 1529 reversed the policy of tacit toleration. It passed an edict forbidding the progress of the Reformation in the states which had not accepted it, and allowing in the reformed states full liberty of worship to the adherents of the old confession. The protest by the Lutheran princes and cities, against the decree of the Diet, gave the name of Protestants to their party. The successful defense of Vienna against an immense army of the Turks under Solima'n delivered Charles for the moment from anxiety in that quarter. A theological controversy raged between the Lutheran and the Swiss reformers, on the subject of the Lord's Supper. Everything was propitious for an effort at coercion ; and this was resolved upon at the Diet of Augs- burg in 1530, where the Emperor was present in person, and where Melanchthon presented the celebrated Lutheran Con- fession of Paith. The threats against the Protestant princes induced them to form the League of Smalcald for mutual de- fense. But it was found impracticable to carry out the meas- ures of repression against the Lutherans. The Turks under Soliman were threatening. ' Prance and Denmark were ready to help the Protestants. Accordingly the Peace of Nuremberg was concluded in 1532, in which religious affairs were to be left as they were, and both parties were to combine against the common enemy of Christendom. CHAPTER LI THE REFORMATION IN TEUTONIC COUNTRIES: SWITZER- LAND, DENMARK, SWEDEN, ENGLAND Protestantism spread chiefly in countries of Teutonic race and speech. Elsewhere, in the countries allied to the Latins in blood and language, the old Church retained its ascendency. The Swiss Reform. — Zwingli, the founder of Protestantism in Switzerland, was born in 1484. He became a pastor at Zurich. He was a scholarly man, bluff and kindly in his ways, and an impressive orator. Zurich, mainly through his influ- ence, separated from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Con- stance and became Protestant in 1524. Berne and Basle soon followed. Zwingli aimed to establish a republican constitution in the several cantons, and also in the confederation as a body, where the five Forest Cantons which adhered to the old Church had an undue share of power. The Forest Cantons entered into a league with Ferdinand of Austria, and the cities leaned for support on the German states in sympathy wdth their opinions. War broke out. The forces of Zurich were vanquished at Cappel, where Zwingli himself, who was on the field in the capacity of a chaplain, was slain (1531). By the peace of Cappel in 1531, Protestantism was not coerced, but a check was put upon its progress. Neither party was strong enough to subdue the other. Protestantism in Scandinavia. — In the Scandinavian countries, monarchical power Avas built up by means of the Eeformation. The union of Calmar (1307) under Queen Margaret, between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, had been a dynastic union. The several peoples were not united in feeling. The sovereign, 381 382 THE REFORMATION IN TEUTONIC COUNTRIES moreover, had his power limited by a strong feudal nobility, and by a rich Church impatient of control. First the Church was overcome by means of Protestantism, and then the nobles. The Reformation in Denmark. — Christian II. at first favored Protestantism from political motives. After he had obtained possession of Stockholm (1520), as a part of his plan to subdue the Swedes, he took the Catholic side. His character was such that a violent hatred was excited against Denmark. A revolu- tion occurred, and he was dethroned. Duke Frederic of Schles- wig, an ardent Lutheran, was made king. After the accession of Christian III., in a Diet at Copenhagen, in 1536, the Refor- mation was legalized and the Lutheran system was established. The Reformation in Sweden. — Gustavus Vasa, a young Swede of a noble family, was the real founder of Swedish monarchy. One of the acts of Christian II. which made him detestable to the Swedes was a massacre of Stockholm, from which Vasa had escaped. He gathered a force about him, and gradually gaining the most important places in the country, he was at last proclaimed king in 1523. He favored Lutheranism, but at first met with opposition, especially from the peasants. The clergy submitted, and the temporal power of the Church came to an end. The Lutheran doctrine made very rapid prog- ress, and became dominant. England ; Henry VIII. and Luther. — Three great principles had been established in the ])rogress of English constitutional history, — that the king can make no law without tlie consent of Parliament; that he can lay no tax without their consent; that he must govern according to the laws, and that, if he fails to do so, his ministers are to be held responsible. But all the Tudor princes had a strong love of personal power. Of these, none had a more obstinate and t3a'annical will than Henry VIII. The advantages derived from the effect of the civil wars, which had reduced the strength and numbers of the nobility, and the natural English jealousy, always shown, of foreign and ecclesiastical supremacy, enabled Henry to break off the connection of England with Rome ; while, at the same HENRY VIII. 383 time, he resisted Protestantism and persecuted its adherents. He had been trained in the humanistic studies, and was proud of his theological acquirements. He took the field, in 1522, as an author against Luther, in a book in defense of the Seven Sacraments, for which he received from the Pope the title of Defender of the Faith. Henry VIII. The Divorce Question. — The cause of the breach between Henry YIII. and the papacy was the question of the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon, aunt of Charles Y. and widow of Henry's deceased brother. A dispensation permit- ting the marriage of Henry had been granted by Pope Julius II. How far Henry's passion for Anne Boleyn, whom he de- sired to wed, was at the root of his scruples respecting the validity of his marriage, it may not be easy to decide. The imperious king, impatient at the long delays at Rome, took the matter into his own hands. Cardinal Wolsey, having been one of the legates, was deprived of all his dignities ; he was 384 THE REFOEMATIOX IX TEUTONIC COUNTRIES charged with treason, his strength melted away on his fall from the heights of power, and he died a broken-spirited man. Separation of England from Rome. — Henry took for his prin- cipal minister, who became vicegerent in ecclesiastical affairs, Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell, unlike Wolsey, was hostile to the temporal power of Rome. He made Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury, who was at heart a Protestant in doctrine, but, though sincere in his beliefs, was a man of pliant temper, indisposed to resist the king's will, preferring to bow to a storm, and to wait for it to pass by. By Cranmer the divorce was decreed, but this was after the marriage with Anne Boleyn had taken place. Henry was excommunicated by the Pope. Acts of Parliament abolished the Pope's supremacy, and established that of the king, in the Church of England. In 1536 the cloisters were abolished. Their property was con- fiscated, and fell to a large extent into the hands of the nobles and the gentry. This measure bound them to the policy of the sovereign. The mitered abbots were expelled from the House of Lords, Avhich left the preponderance of power with the lay nobles. The hierarchy bowed to the will of the king. The Two Parties. — There were two parties in England among the upholders of the king's supremacy. There Avere the Protestants by conviction, who were for spreading the new doctrine. This had already taken root and spread in the universities, and in some other places in the country. The new literary cidture had paved the way for it. Cromwell, Cranmer, and one of the bishops, Latimer, were prominent leaders of this party. Against them were the adherents of the Catholic theology, such as Gardiner, Tunstal of Durham, and other bishops. At first the King inclined towards the first of these two parties. One of his most important acts was the ordering of a translation of the Bible into English, a copy of which was to be placed in every church. But a popular rebel- lion in 1536 was followed by a change of ecclesiastical policy. The Six Articles were passed, asserting the Roman Catholic SEPARATION OF ENGLAND FROM ROME 385 doctrines, and punishing those who denied transubstantiation with death. The Queen, Anne Boleyn, who was an adherent of the Protestant side, was executed on the charge of infidelity to her marriage vows (1536). A few years later Cromwell was sent to the scaffold for the part which he took in the negotia- tion of a marriage of the King with a German Protestant prin- cess (1540). Lutheran bishops were thrown into the Tower : Cranmer alone was shielded by the King's personal favor, and by his own prudence. This system of a national Church, of which the King, and not the Pope, was the head, where the doctrine was Koman Catholic, and the great ecclesiastical ofS.- cers were appointed, like civil officers, by the monarch, was the creation of Henry YIII. His strong will was able to keep down the conflicting parties. Despite his sensuality and cruelty, he was a popular sovereign. One of his prin- cipal crimes was the execution of Sir Thomas More for refus- ing to assert the invalidity of his marriage with Catherine, and for declining to affirm by oath the King's supremacy. More was one of the noblest men in England, a man who combined vigor with gentleness. He was willing to swear that the children of Anne were lawful heirs to the throne, because Parliament, he believed, could regulate the succes- sion; but this did not satisfy the tyrannical monarch. In the latter portion of his reign he grew more suspicious, will- ful, and cruel. CHAPTER LII THE REFORMATION IN GERMANY, FROM THE PEACE OF NUREMBERG TO THE PEACE OF AUGSBURG (1532-1555) The Parties in Germany (1532-1542). — Eor ten years after the Peace of Nuremberg, the Protestants in Germany were left unmolested. Tlie menacing attitude of the Turks, and the occupations of the Emperor in Italy and in other lands, ren- dered it impossible to interfere with them. The Smalcald League was extended, and a league of the Catholic states was formed at Nuremberg in 1538. I'rotestantism was spreading in Austria, ]>avaria, and in other states. The need of Protes- tant help against the Turks compelled Charles to sanction the Peace of Nuremberg, and to make to the Lutluirans very im- portant concessions. Charles was, however, secretly resolved to coerce the Protestants in Germany, and he silently made his preparations for war. Before hostilities commenced, Luther died (154G). Francis I. had become a party to an agreement with Charles for joint action against the heretics. Maurice, duke of Saxony, an able and adroit man and one of the mainstays of the Smalcaldic League, was won over to the side of the Emperor. Charles then defeated John Ercdci-ic, Elector of Saxony, one of the chief leaders of the League, and Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, the other leader, soon surrendered. The Protestant cause was prostrate. The clever Maurice ob- tained his reward, for he received the electoral office with a goodly portion of the Elector's territory. Charles was vict(n'i- oiis, and seemed to be on the eve of complete trium])h. He undertook to regulate the affairs of religion for himself, how- ever, and he was deserted by his allies, Pome, Prance, and 386 PARTIES IN GERMANY 387 Maurice of Saxony. There had for some time been a demand for a general council to adjust religious controversies, and in 1545 the famous Council of Trent assembled, but did not help on the Emperor's scheme for uniting the conflicting religious parties. Charles's mode of dealing with the German states widened the breach between himself and his former allies. Maurice of Saxony concluded an alliance with Henry II. of France, and suddenly took the field, advancing upon the emperor, who was compelled to fly hastily from Innsbruck (1552). The dream of imperial domination vanished. At the Diet of Augsburg in 1554, the religious peace was concluded. Every prince was to be allowed to choose between the Catholic religion and the Augsburg Confession, and the religion of the prince was to be that of the land over which he reigned. This last rule was not to hold in the case of ecclesiastical princes who should become Protestants. CHAPTER LIII CALVINISM IN GENEVA; BEGINNING OF THE CATHOLIC COUNTER-REFORMATION Calvin. — Second in reputation to Liitlier only, among the founders of Protestantism, is Jolin Calvin. He was a French- .man, born in 1509, and was consequently a cMld when the Saxon Eeformation began. He was keen and logical in his mental habit, with a great organizing capacity, naturally of a retiring temper, yet fearless, and endued with extraordinary intensity and firmness of will. Espousing the Protestant doctrines, he was obliged to fly from Paris, and, when only twenty-seven years old, published his celebrated Institutes of Theology, in which he expounded the Protestant creed in a systematic way. The Genevan Government. — Calvin established himself at Geneva, where, as the result of a revolution, the power passed from the bishop into the hands of the people. Calvin and his associates imposed regulations as to doctrine, worship, and discipline, which the inhabitants of the gay and dissolute city found distasteful. The preachers were accordingly expelled, but after three years, in consequence of the increase of vice and disorder, Calvin was recalled and remained in Geneva until his death. He became the virtual lawgiver of the city, and developed it into an ecclesiastical state in which orthodoxy of belief and purity of conduct were enforced by stringent enactments. His influence spread far and wide, and was pre- dominant in the affairs of the French Protestants. In Geneva as elsewhere, the idea prevailed that it was the duty of the civil authority to inflict penalties upon heresy. 389 390 THE CATHOLIC COUNTER-REFORMATION" The Catholic Reaction. — The first effectual resistance to the spread of Protestant opinions was made in Italy. The pre- vailing feeling there was that of pride in the papacy, which, in other countries, was attacked as an Italian institution. The humanist learning had done much to undermine belief in the old religious system. In the train of the new studies, came much ^indifference and infidelity. There were not a few con- verts to the Protestant doctrine in the cities. It took no root among the common people. A new spirit of faith and devo- tion awoke in circles earnestly devoted to the papacy and to the Church. There was at Rome an Oratory of Divine Love, — a group of persons wlio met together for mutual edification. Out of this class there came some who led in the great Catholic Reaction, which, while it aimed at a rigid reform in morals, was inflexibly hostile to all innovations in doctrine, and was bent on regaining for the Church the ground that had been lost. The Council of Trent; the Jesuits.— The Council of Trent, which met in 1545, and finally adjourned in 15G3, adopted many practical reforms. It cemented unity and was the first great bulwark raised against Protestantism. Another means of defense and attack was provided in new orders, especially the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish soldier of noble birth, who mingled a strong devo- tional sentiment with the spirit of chivahy. The Jesuits took monastic vows, went through a preliminary religious training, and were bound to unquestioning obedience to the Pope. All other ties were renounced ; to serve the Church and the Society was the one supreme obligation. Active in preaching and in hearing confessions, the Jesuits made the education of youth a great part of the business. They found their way into high stations and they showed an ardent and heroic zeal in mis- sionary labors in heathen lands, and in the reconquest of lands won by Protestantism. CHAPTER LIV PHILIP II., AND THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS State of the Low Countrieso — The people of the Netherlands were industrious, intelligent, prosperous, spirited. Each of the seventeen provinces had its own constitution. The population numbered three millions. Antwerp had more trade than any other European city. This was the country which Philip II., to whom his father Charles Y. resigned his crowns, undertook to bring under a despotic system. The monarch who thus suc- ceeded to his father's dominions in Spain, Italy, America, and the IS'etherlands, was more thoroughly a Spaniard in his tone and temper than was Charles. He was cold and forbidding in his manners. Political and religious absolutism was the main article in his creed. A man of untiring industry, he was a plodder without insight. He lived to see the vast strength which fell to him as a legacy slip out of his hands, and before he died he beheld Spain in a position of comparative weakness. Tyranny of Philip. — Eor the regency of the Netherlands Philip might have selected one of the aristocracy of the country — the brilliant Count Egmont, for example, or the sagacious Wil- liam, Prince of Orange. Philip appointed them members of a council together with Count Horn, but gave the regency to Margaret of Parma, the illegitimate daughter of Charles Y., at whose side, as a principal adviser, he placed the astute Gran- velle, the bishop of Arras. Philip persisted in keeping Spanish soldiers in the country ; he increased the number of bishops ; he introduced the Inquisition. The nobles shared in the indig- nation of the country and withdrew from the council. Orange 391 392 KEVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS retired to Nassau. Egmont, more credulous and confiding, re- mained in the Ketherlands, over which the Duke of Alva was now made ruler. He was an officer of considerable military capacity, but he was arrogant and merciless. Egmont and Horn were executed at Brussels, and great numbers of men and women were put to death on charges of insubordination or some manifestation of heresy. William of Orange came to the rescue of the fatherland. A long and arduous struggle began, which resulted in the Dutch Republic of the United Provinces, and the ultimate prostration of the power of Spain. The inhabi- tants of Leyden, besieged by the Spanish forces, cut the dikes and brought in the sea to their rescue, which compelled the Spaniards to flee in dismay. Eequesens, the successor of Alva, was for a while successful, but after his death, in lpT6, all the Netherlands united in the Pacification of Ghent in the Spanish dominion. In 1579 the seven provinces of the North Nether- lands formed the Utrecht Union. At the time of the forma- tion of the Utrecht Union, Alexander of Parma was regent. Philip proclaimed William an outlaw, and set a j)rice on his head. After six vain attempts to assassinate him, the heroic leader was finally shot in his own house (1584). His work as a deliverer of his people had, however, been mainly accom- plished. Galley of the Sixteenth Century CHAPTER LV THE CIVIL WARS IN FRANCE, TO THE DEATH OF HENRY IV, (1610) Francis I. ; Henry II. — Francis I. was a friend of tlie new learning, but in religious matters it was impossible to predict what position he would assume. He was governed by political considerations. He would put down Protestantism at home, and sustain it by force, if expedient, abroad. His son, Henry IL, who succeeded him in 1547, had no sympathy whatever with the new doctrine. Yet, in spite of persecution, the Huguenots (as the Calvinists were called) had, in 1558, two thousand places of worship in Prance. In 1559 Henry died from a wound in the eye, accidentally inflicted in a tilt. Catharine de' Medici; the Two Parties The widow of Henry IL, Catharine de' Medici, was a woman of talents Avho had been trained from infancy in an atmosphere of deceit and im- morality. She expected to manage the government of her son, Prancis IL, a boy of sixteen, but the family of Guise thwarted her by the control they exercised over him. The sister of Prancis, Duke of Guise, had married James V. of Scotland. Their daughter, Mary Stuart, a charming young girl, was mar- ried to Prancis IL, who, being infirm in mind and body, was easily managed by his v/ife and her uncles. The great nobles of Prance, especially the Bourbons, sprung in a collateral line from Louis IX., and the Montmorencies, who numbered among them a man of extraordinary ability and worth, the Admiral Coligni, looked on the Guises as upstarts. The Bourbons and the nobles allied to them were, some from sincere conviction and some from policy, adherents of Calvinism. Thus the 393 394 CIVIL WARS IN FRANCE Protestants in France became a political party, as well as a religious body, and a party \Yith anti-monarchical tendencies. Anthon}^ of Bourbon, a weak and vacillating person, had married Jeanne d'Albret, the heiress of Beam and Navarre, a heroic Avoman and a sincere Protestant, the mother of Henry lA". His brother Louis, Prince of Conde, a brave impetuous soldier, whose wife was a strict Protestant, joined that side. Conspiracy of Amboise. — A Protestant nobleman who was de- termined to avenge the execution of a brother, contrived the Conspiracy of Amboise (1560) in order to dispossess the Guises of their power by force. The plan was discovered, and a sav- age revenge was taken upon the conspirators. A great num- ber of innocent persons, who had no share in the plot, were put to death. The Estates were summoned to Orleans, and the occasion was to. be seized for extirpating heresy through- out the kingdom. Conde was under arrest, and charged with high treason. Just then, on December 5, 1560, the young king died. Charles IX. ; Civil War. — As Charles IX., who succeeded to the throne (1560-1571), was only ten years old, his mother, Catharine de' Medici, virtually became regent. In 1562 the Edict of St. Germain was issued which gave a restricted tolera- tion to the Protestants. It was found impossible, however, to prevent disturbances and acts of violence, and a series of terrible civil wars began Avhich lasted until the accession of Henry IV. to the throne. Xow the Catholics gained successes, and now the Protestants. The latter were strong under the wise leadership of Coligni. La Rochelle became their strong- hold, and thence the Huguenot cavalry sallied forth under the young princes Conde and Henry of Navarre, son of the Queen of Navarre. In the meantime, not only France, but England as well, looked with alarm upon the ambitious project of Philip II. of Spain, who had defeated the Turks at Lepanto, and was now in union with Venice and with the Pope. Catharine de' jMedici devised various plans to thwart Philip's policy, and sought to MASSACEE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW 395 bring about a marriage between Queen Elizabeth of England and the Duke of Anjou, brother of Charles IX. This plan, however, failed, but it was agreed that Catherine's youngest daughter, Margaret of Valois, would become the wife of Henry of Navarre. The Huguenot policy was thus in the ascendant, and the Huguenot leaders were invited to Paris to be present at the nuptials. They came attended by a large number of their followers. The hatred of the Parisian populace toward them was exceptionally violent. The Duke of Guise and his mother were eager to avenge the assassination of the Duke's father, for Avhich they wrongly held Coligni responsible. The Massacre of St. Bartholomew. — Catherine was alarmed at the ascendency that Coligni was gaining over the mind of the King, by which her own influence was threatened. An attempt was njade by the Guises to assassinate him. When this failed of complete success, she, with a few confederates, planned the massacre of St. Bartholomew, one of the most celebrated crimes of history. In the night of the 24th of August, at a concerted signal, the fanatical enemies of the Iluguenots were let loose, and murdered several thousands, including Coligni. Navarre and Conde, to save their lives, professed conformity to the Catholic religion. Orders were sent through the coun- try to destroy the heretics, and not far from twenty thousand were slain. Not only Protestants, but also numerous Catholics, in other lands, regarded these scenes of slaughter with horror. By some the report was credited that they were prompted by the purpose to crush a conspiracy of the Huguenots. The Politiques ; the League; Henry III. — The Politiques now arose. It was a new party of Liberal Catholics in favor of toleration. Between the demands of this party and the Hugue- nots for religious freedom and the threats of the Catholic League, which was arrayed against them, the irresolute and helpless Henry III. (1574-1589) proved incompetent to govern a country which was torn by factions, with an exhausted treas- ury and a people groaning under the burdens of taxation. Henry of Navarre was the heir a^Dparent, and he secured the 396 CIVIL WAKS IN FRANCE cooperation of England, Germany, and Switzerland in the war which he carried on with Henry III. That miserable mon- arch, himself excommunicated, and detested by the adherents of the League, took refuge in the camp of Henry of a^avarre, where he was killed by a fanatical priest (1589). Henry IV. — In the next year Henry gained a brilliant vic- tor}^ at Ivry, and nothing stood between him and the throne but his adhesion to Protestantism. A Calvinist by birth and education, but without profound religious convictions, a gallant and sagacious man, but loose in his morals, he yielded, for the sake of giving peace to France, to the persuasions addressed to him, and, from motives of expediency, conformed to the Catholic Church. The nation was now easily won to his cause. Reign of Henry IV When Henry IV. gained his throne, the country was in a most wretched condition. In the desolat- ing wars, pox)ulation had fallen* off. Everywhere there were poverty and lawlessness. Yet war with Spain was inevitable. In this war Henry was the victor ; and the Peace of Vervins (1598) restored to France the Spanish conquests, aud the con- quests made by Savoy. The idea of Henry's foreign policy, which was that of weakening the power of Spain and of the house of Hapsburg, was afterwards taken up by a powerful statesman, Richelieu, and fully realized. In the Edict of Nantes (1598), the King secured to the Huguenots the meas- ure of religious liberty for which they had contended. Forti- fied cities were still left in their hands. Security was obtained by the Calvinists, but they became a defensive party with no prospect of further progress. Order and prosperity were re- stored to the kingdom. In all his measures, the King was largely guided by a most competent minister, Sully. But the useful reign of Henry IV. was cut short by the dagger of an assassin (1610). For fifteen years confusion prevailed in France, and a contest of factions, until Richelieu took up the threads of policy which had fallen from Henry's hand. CHAPTER LVI THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR, TO THE PEACE OF WEST- PHALIA (1618-1648) Origin of the War. — In Germany, more than in any other country, the Reformation had its roots in the hearts of the people. There were, however, divisions among the Protestants themselves. The Peace of Augsburg prevented open strife as long as Perdinand I. (1555-1564) and Maximilian II. (1564- 1576) held the imperial office. With the accession of Rudolph II., a change took place. There were outbreakings of violence between the two religious parties. Most of the Protestant states united in forming the Evangelical Union, while the Catholic League, under the leadership of Maximilian of Bava- ria, was firmly knit together and full of energy. First Stage in the War (to 1629) The Bohemian Struggle. — Against Ferdinand 11. the Bohe- mians revolted in 1618. AVith the support of the Catholic League he invaded the country and reenacted the terrible scenes of the Hussite struggle. In the wars that followed it was estimated that the Bohemian population was reduced from about four millions to between seven and eight hundred thou- sand. Ferdinand's general, W^allenstein, was a military com- mander of extraordinary ability. He raised an army and made it support itself by pillage. Victory attended his arms and those of Tilly, a brutal commander, the general of the League. In 1629 the League moved Ferdinand to adopt the Edict of K-estitution, which enforced those parts of the Peace 397 398 THIRTY YEARS' WAR of Augsburg which were odious to the Protestants. The League, moreover, induced the Emperor to remove Wallen- stein, of whom they were jealous. Second Stage in the War (1629-1632) Events in Sweden; Career of Gustavus Adolphus. — In 1611 Gustavus Adolplius, then less than eighteen years of age, be- came King of Sweden. He was a well-educated prince, early familiar with war, a devoted patriot, and, although tolerant in his temper, was a sincere Protestant, after the type of the old Saxon electors. For eighteen years after his accession, it had been his aim to control the Baltic. This had brought him into conflict with Denmark, Poland, and Russia. His inter- position in the German war, a step which was full of peril to himself, was regarded by Brandenburg and Saxony with jealousy and repugnance. But when the savage troops of Tilly (1631) sacked and burned Madgeburg, the neutral party was driven to side with Sweden. Gustavus defeated Tilly, and the advance of his army in the south of Germany pros- trated the power of the League. The princes regarded the Swedish king with suspicion; the cities regarded him with cordiality. Whether along with his sagacious and just inten- tions he connected his own elevation to the rank of King of Rome, and emperor, must be left uncertain. Ferdinand was obliged to call back Wallenstein. The battle of Llitzen, in 1632, was a great defeat of Wallenstein, and a grand victory for the Swedes ; but it cost them the life of their king. Third Stage in the War (1632-1648) France after Henry IV. — After the death of Gustavus, the influence of Richelieu, the great minister of France, becomes more and more dominant. When Henry IV. died, Mary of Medici, his widow, became regent during the minority of Louis XIII. (1610-1643). She leagued herself in various THE BOUKBON KINGS 399 -§ fl 03 tS O o3 s M .s' s s o f^ PQ C^ o 5 -2 o ^ M be CS M -a » -b H ^ 1 S 1 S- W o S- ^ „ 1— 1 . fond of him, but he felt the need of him, and after 1624 this great statesman guided the policy of France. He brought the aristocracy into subjection to the King. He accom- plished the over- throw of the Hugue- nots as a political organization. The common people were kept under, while the key of his foreign policy was hostility to Austria and Spain, to both branches of the house of Hapsburg. He took part in the German war and helped Gustavus with money. In 1634 Wallenstein was murdered in his camp at the instance of the German Emperor, who was alarmed at Wallenstein's plan of making himself an independent prince. The Emperor gained a victory at Nordlingen (1634), but it was not until five years afterwards that Eichelieu found himself in control of the armies opposed to the emperor. The old theological issues were largely for- gotten, for the Protestant states were now fighting on the imperial side. The barbarities of the long war are indescrib- able. Cities, villages, and castles had been burned to the ground. The unarmed people were treated with brutal fe- rocity. In the thirty years of the conflict the population of Germany is said to have diminished from twenty to fifty per KlCHKLIEU THIRTY YEARS' AVAR 401 cent. At last the militcaiy reverses of Ferdinand III. (1637- 1657) wrung from him a consent to the conditions which made the Peace of Westphalia possible (1648). By the peace it was agreed that in Germany, whatever might be the faith of the prince, the religion of each state was to be Cathie or Protes- tant according to its position in 1624, which was fixed npon as the '^ normal year." In the imperial administration, the two religions were to be substantially equal. Peligious free- dom and civil equality were extended to the Calvinists. The emxjire was reduced to a shadow by giving to the Diet the power to decide in all important matters, and by the permis- sion given to its members to make alliances with one another and with foreign powers, with the futile proviso that no preju- dice should come thereby to the empire or the Emperor. The independence of Holland and Switzerland was acknowledged. Sweden obtained the territory about the Baltic, in addition to other important places, and became a member of the German Diet. Among the acquisitions of Prance were the three bish- oprics, Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and the landgraviate of Upper and Lower Alsace. Thus Prance gained access to the Rhine. Sweden and Prance, by becoming guarantors of the peace, obtained the right to interfere in the internal affairs of Germany. Consequences of the Treaty. — By this treaty, what was left of central authority in Germany was destroyed: the empire existed only in name ; the mediaeval union of empire and papacy was at an end. Valuable German territories were given up to ambitious neighbors. Prance had extended her bounds, and disciplined her troops. Sweden had gained what Gustavus had coveted, and, for the time, was a power of the first class. Spain and Austria were both disabled and reduced in rank. CHAPTER LVII SECOND STAGE OF THE EEFOKMATION IN ENGLAND, TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH (1647-1603) Reign of Edward VI. (i 547-1 553). — Henry YIII., with Parliament, had determined the order of succession, giving precedence to Edward, his son by Jane Seymour, over the two princesses, Mary, the daughter of Catherine, and Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn. Edward YL, who was but ten years old at his accession, was weak in body, but was a most remark- able instance of intellectual x^recocity. The government now espoused the Protestant side. Somerset, the King's uncle, was at the head of the regency. The Six Articles, established by Henry YIIL, were repealed. Protestant theologians from the Continent were taken into the counsels of the English prelates, Cranmer and Ridley. Under the leadership of Cranmer, the Book of Common Prayer was framed, and the Articles, or creed, composed. The clergy were allowed to marry. The Anglican Protestant Church was fully organized, but the progress in the Protestant direction was rather too rapid for the sense of the nation. Somerset, who was fertile in schemes and a good sol- dier, invaded Scotland in order to enforce the fulfilling of the treaty, which had promised the young Princess Mary of Scot- land to Edward in marriage. He defeated the Scots at Pinkie, near Edinburgh; but the project as to the marriage failed. Mary was sent by the Scots to Erance, there to become the wife of Erancis 11. Land belonging to the Church was seized by Somerset to make room for Somerset House. The opposi- tion to him on various grounds, which was led by the Duke of Northumberland, finally brought the protector to the scaffold. 403 404 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND But Northumberland proved to be less worthy to hold the pro- tectorate than he, and labored to aggrandize his relatives. He was one of the nobles who made use of Protestantism as a means of enriching themselves. He persuaded t^ young King, when he was near his end, to settle the crown, contrary to what Parliament had determined, on Lady Jane Grey, Northumber- land's daughter-in-law, a descendant of Henry's sister. The Reign of Mary. — Notwithstanding the protector's selfish scheme, Mary succeeded to the throne without serious difficulty. Northumberland was beheaded as a traitor. An insurrection under Wyat was put down, and led to the execution of the un- fortunate and innocent Lady Jane Grey. From her birth and all the circumstances of her life, Mary was in cordial sympathy with the Church of Eome and with Spain. She proceeded as rapidly as her more prudent advisers, including her kinsman Philip II., would allow, to restore the Catholic system. The married clergy were excluded from their places, and the Prayer Book was abolished. The point where Parliament showed most hesitation was in reference to the royal supremacy. The nobles were afraid of losing their fields and houses, which had be- longed to the Church. It was stipulated that the abbey lands, which were now held by the nobles and gentry as well as by the crown, should not be given up. Contrary to the general wish of her subjects, Mary married Philip II. Eigorous measures of repression were adopted against the Protestants. A large number of persons, eminent for talents and learning, Avere put to death on the charge of heresy. Among them were the three bishops, Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, who were burned at the stake at Oxford (1556). These severe measures were not popular; and, although the Queen was not in her natural temper cruel, they have given her the name of the Bloody Mary. Each party used coercion when it had the upper hand. A great number of the Protestant clergy fled to the Continent. Mary sided with Spain against France, and, greatly to the disgust of the English, lost Calais (1558). There was great fear respecting the Church property con- ELIZABETH 405 fiscated under Henry VIII. : her own share in it, the Queen persuaded Parliament to allow her to surrender. Cardinal Pole, a moderate man, no longer guided her policy. He was deprived of the office of papal legate. General discontent prevailed in the kingdom. The Queen herself was dispirited, and her life ended in anxiety and sorrow. Elizabeth Character of Elizabeth (1558-1603). — The nation welcomed Elizabeth to the throne. Her will was as imperious as that of her father. Her character was not without marked faults and foibles. She was vain, unwisely parsimonious, petulant, and overbearing, and evinced that want of truthfulness which was too common among rulers and statesmen at that period. But she had regal virtues, — high courage, devotion to the public good, for which she had the strength to sacrifice per- 406 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND sonal inclinations, together with the wisdom to choose astute counselors and to adhere to them. Her title to the throne was disputed. She had to contend against powerful and shrewd adversaries. Her defense lay in the mutual jealousy of France and Spain, and in the determination of English- men not to be ruled by foreigners. Her reign was long and glorious. Her Religious Position. — In her doctrine, Elizabeth was a moderate Lutheran, not bitterly averse to the Church of Kome, but, in accordance Avith the prevalent English feeling wdiich Henry VIII. represented, clinging to the royal supremacy. The Protestant system, with the Prayer Book, and the hier- archy dependent on the sovereign, was now restored. Protestantism in Scotland In case Elizabeth's claim to the crown were overthrown, the next heir would be Mary, Queen of Scots. Her grandmother was the eldest sister of Henry VIII. Her claim to the English crown was a standing men- ace to Elizabeth. When Mary's father, James V., died (1542), she was only a few days old. Her mother, Mary of Guise, became regent. The Peformation had then begun to gain ad- herents in Scotland. On the accession of Elizabeth, at a time when the religious wars in France were about to begin, the Scottish regent undertook repressive measures of increased rigor. The principal agent in turning Scotland to the Prot- estant side was John Knox, a bold preacher, honest and rough in his ways, deeply imbued with the sj)irit of Calvinism, and free from every vestige of superstitious deference for human potentates. He returned from the Continent in 1555, and many of the turbulent nobles, partly from conviction, aiid partly from covetousness, adopted the new opinions. More and more, however, Knox gained a hold upon /the common people. His jjreaching was effective. One of its natural conse- quences was an outburst of iconoclasm, and pictures, images, and windows of stained glass were destroyed by mobs. Even Philip II. was willing to have the nobles helped in the con- test with the regent, Scotland being the ally of France. The MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS 407 queen regent died in 1560. Tlie Presbyterians now had full control, and Calvinistic Protestantism was legally established as the religion of the country. The Queen of Scots — Such was the situation when Mary, the young widow of Francis II., came back to Scotland to assume her crown. A zealous Catholic, she undertook to rule a turbulent people among whom the most austere type of Protestantism was the legal and cherished faith. She had personal charms which Elizabeth lacked, but as a sover- eign she was wanting in the public virtue which belonged to her rival. Mary was quick-witted and full of energy; but she had been brought up in the court of Catharine de' Medici, in an atmosphere of duplicity and lax morals. She had the vices of the Stuarts, — an extravagant idea of the sacred pre- rogatives of kings, a disregard of popular rights, a willingness to break engagements. Her levity, even if it had been kept within bounds, would have been offensive to her Calvinistic subjects. She had at heart the restoration of the Catholic sys- tem. In Knox she found a vigilant and fearless antagonist, with so much support among the nobles and the common people that her attempts at coercion, like her blandishments, proved powerless. Contrary to the wishes and plans of Eliza- beth, she married Darnley, a Scottish nobleman (1565), whom, not without reason, she soon learned to despise. Her half- brother Murray, a very able man, and the other Protestant nobles had been opposed to the match. She allowed herself an innocent, but unseemly, intimacy with an Italian musician, Rizzio. With the connivance of her husband, he was dragged out of her supper room at Holyrood, and brutally murdered by Euthven and other conspirators. In 1567 the house in which Darnley was sleeping, close by Edinburgh, was blown up with gunpowder, and he was killed. Whether Mary was privy to the murder, or not, is a point still in dispute. Certain it is that she gave her hand in marriag'e to Bothwell, the prime author of the crime. A revolt of her subjects followed. She was compelled to abdicate ; Murray was made regent, and her 408 THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND infant son, James VI., was crowned at Stirling (1567). Escap- ing from confinement at Lochleven, she was defeated at Lang- side, and obliged to fly to England for protection. It soon became evident that there was a determination on the part of the enemies of Elizabeth to dethrone her and to hand the crown over to Mary. When Mary's complicity in a conspiracy which involved a Spanish invasion was proved, she was con- demned to death and executed at Eotheringay Castle, after a captivity of nineteen years. The Spanish Armada The Queen had her personal favor- ites. Among them was Eobert Dudley, whom she made Earl of Leicester. Another of her favorites was the young Earl of Essex. Under the former she sent troops to the Netherlands in 1585, while on the sea the contest with Spain was kept up by bold English mariners. It was a period of maritime ad- venture, when men like Erobisher, Hawkins, and Ealeigh made themselves famous, and Sir Francis Drake sailed round the world. When it became known that Philip II. of Spain was preparing to invade England, Drake sailed into the harbor of Cadiz and destroyed the ships and stores there, and boasted on his return that he had '• singed the king of Spain's beard." Philip made ready a mighty naval expedition, the Invincible Armada, with which he expected to conquer England. A Spanish force in the Netherlands under Parma was to cooper- ate with him. Elizabeth assembled her troops at Tilbury, and made a spirited speech. The English fleet attacked the Span- ish vessels, and the valor of the English seamen and the skill of their commanders won a great victory. A tempest added to the discomfiture of the defeated fleet, and the great enterprise proved a complete failure. Only fifty-four out of the one hun- dred and fifty vessels succeeded in making their way back to Spain. Subsequent Events. —Essex failed in an expedition against Ireland on which he had been sent by the Queen, and upon his return he made a foolish attempt at insurrection, was tried for treason, convicted, and executed, — Elizabeth reluctantly THE PURITANS 409 signing his death warrant (1601). By the end of Elizabeth's reign, however, all Ireland became subject to England. At home, not the least among the difficulties with which the Queen had to contend was the conflict Avhich the English Church carried on with the Eoman Catholics, on the one hand, and, on the other, with the large and growing class of Protes- tants who were called Puritans. The Puritans disliked sur- plices and other vestments worn by the clergy and the sign of the cross used in baptism, and similar customs retained in the Church as established by law. Many of them would not conform to the existing system of Church government and worship, and were called Nonconformists. One class of Puritans was composed of Independents, separated from the Established Church, disbelieving in national churches alto- gether. Upon both Eoman Catholics and Puritans severe penalties were inflicted. Tkaituk'6 Gate, Towek of London CHAPTER LVIII. THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION AND THE COMMONWEALTH (1603-1658) James I. — James YI. of Scotland and I. of England was the son of Mary Stuart and Darnley. England and Scotland were now united under one king. In Scotland, he had been treated with familiarity by many of the nobles and by the ministers of the Kirk. In England, however, the clergy treated him with deference ; and as he was a conceited man, pluming himself upon his knowledge of theology, his attach- ment to the English Church was deepened. He had high notions of the divine right of kings. "No bishop, no king'' was his favorite maxim. He showed his antipathy to the Puritans. The King also showed severity to the Eoman Cath- olics. The Gunpowder Plot was formed for blowing up the Parliament House, one Guy Fawkes having been selected to apply the match (1605). The plot was unsuccessful. The King became more and more unpopular. He sold patents of nobility and continued the old abuse of granting monopolies to companies or to individuals. Lord Bacon, the Lord Chancellor, was tried and convicted for receiving pres- ents intended to influence his decisions as a judge. This is one of many evidences that might be adduced of the corrup- tion of the times. James was in conflict with Parliament, the majority of the House of Commons being made up of libert3^-loving Puritans who were inflexibly opposed to his arbitrary Avays. James's Foreign Policy. — In Ireland, the best of the lands of two Irish noblemen in Ulster, who had incurred the displeasure 410 CHARLES I. 411 of the English authorities, were given to English and Scotch colonists. By this injustice seeds of lasting enmity were sown among the native population. Instead of aiding his son-in-law, Frederick V., the Elector Palatine, whose dominions had been seized by a Spanish army, James busied himself with schemes for marrying his son Charles to the infanta, or princess, Maria of Spain. He fawned upon the Spanish government, and, as a part of his truckling, he caused Sir Walter Kaleigh to be executed. Raleigh's men had engaged in a conflict with Spaniards in South America, whither the King had sent him in search for gold. At length the marriage treaty with Spain was broken off, and Charles was affianced to Henrietta Maria, the sister of Louis XIII. of Erance. In the latter part of his life, James came to a better understanding with Parliament. He died in 1625. Charles I. (1625-1649). — Charles I. in dignity of person far excelled his father. He had more skill and more courage ; but he had the same theory of arbitrary government, and acted as if insincerity and the breaking of promises were excusable in defense of it. His strife with Parliament began at once. They would not grant supplies of money withou-t a redress of griev- ances and the removal of Buckingham, the King's favorite. War had begun with Spain before the close of the last reign. An expedition was now sent to Cadiz, but it accomplished nothing. Buckingham w^as impeached; but before the trial ended, the King dissolved Parliament. A year later he went to war with Erance. He was then obliged (1628) to grant to his third Parliament their Petition of Bight, which condemned his recent illegal doings, — arbitrary taxes and imprisonment, the billeting of soldiers on householders, proceedings of martial law. A few months later Buckingham was assassinated by one John Eelton at Portsmouth, Certain taxes called tonnage and poundage Charles continued to levy by his own authority. A patriotic leader and a prominent speaker in the House of Commons was Sir John Eliot. The King dissolved Parliament (1629), and sent Eliot and two other members of the House to 412 THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION prison. ]N"o other Parliament was summoned for eleven years. The King aimed to establish an absolute system of rule such as Richelieu had built up in France. Two ministers were em- ployed by him in furthering this policy. One was a layman, AYentworth, Earl of Strafford, who exercised almost unlimited power in the northern counties. The other was William Laud, Bishop of London and then Archbishop of Canterbury (1633), who undertook to force the Puritans to conform strictly to all the observances of the Church. Two courts — the High Com- mission, before which the clergy were brought ; and the Star Chamber, which was made up from the king's council — were the instruments for carrying out this tyranny. Grievous and shameful punishments were inflicted on the victims of it. Laud was sincere in his conviction that the course that he was pursuing was for the good of the nation, and his conduct was due as much to his conception of the political situation as to his zeal in behalf of the opinions which he advocated. Opposition to the King, hoAvever, was constantly increasing. In order to build a fleet, the crown levied a tax called " ship-money," which John Hampden, a country gentleman, refused to pay. The judges decided against him, but he won much applause from Englishmen who sympathized with his position. Beginning of the Long Parliament. — In 1637 Charles, prompted by his zeal to promote the cause of the English Church, under- took to force the English liturgy upon Scotland against the protest of the Solemn League and Covenant of the Scots, es- tablished for the defense of Presbyterianism. For eleven years the King had governed without a Parlia- ment, but he needed money. The Short Parliament was assembled ; but as it refused to obey the King, it was quickly dissolved. The invasion of the Scots in 1640 made it necessary for Charles to assemble the body known as the Long Parlia- ment, one of the most memorable of all legislative assemblies. When it came together it adopted measures hostile to the King. Strafford and Laud were impeached for treason, and were condemned and executed, the former in 1641, and the latter in CIVIL WAR 413 1645. The Parliament enacted that it should not be dissolved or prorogued without its own consent. The Star Chamber and High Commission Courts were abolished. An insurrection having broken out in Ulster as the result of the confiscation by the crown of the lands of the people, Charles sought to raise an army to suppress the revolt, but the Parliament refused to sanction the plan, fearing that the troops would be used to defend his arbitrary government at home. The King came to the House of Commons with a body of armed men, and made an unsuccessful attempt to seize five members (among them John Hampden and John Pym) who had undertaken to resist his authority. The Parliament passed a bill excluding bishops from the House of Lords. To this Charles consented, but he refused to allow Parliament to control the militia. The Civil War; Cromwell. — In July, 1642, Parliament ap- pointed a Committee of Public Safety, and called out the militia. Charles raised the royal standard at Nottingham. In the civil war that followed, the Eoyalists or Cavaliers (that is, horsemen or gentlemen) were opposed to the supporters of the Parliament, who, because they did not follow the fashion of allowing their hair to fall in tresses on their shoulders, were nicknamed Roundheads. An indecisive battle was fought at Edgehill. The cavalry of Charles, under the gallant but rash Prince Eupert, was specially effective. Early in the war two noble men, Hampden and Lord Falkland, were killed — the former on the popular side and the other on the side of the king. Charles made peace with the Irish insurgents and obtained their aid against Parliament. Parliament, on the other hand, made an alliance with the Scots in the Solemn League and Covenant by which there was to be uniformity in religion in England, Ireland, and Scotland. Thus Presbyteri- anism came to be considered the legal system, and about two thousand beneficed English clergymen were deprived of their livings. The Westminster Assembly, called by Parliament, met in 1643, and organized a church without bishops and without the liturgy. But Parliament did not give up its own 414 THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION siipreniacy in ecclesiastical affairs. There was no General Assembly to rule the Church, as in Scotland. Another party, the Independents, were gaining strength, and by degrees getting control in the army. Of their number was Oliver Cromwell, a gentleman of Huntingdonshire, who had been a member of the House of Commons, where he spoke for the first time in 1629. Cromwell; Naseby. — By many of his adversaries, and by numerous writers since that day, Cromwell has been consid- ered a hypocrite in reli- gion, actuated by personal ambition. The Puritan poet, John Milton, who became his secretary after he acquired supreme power, gives to him the warm- est praise for integrity and piety, as well as for genius and valor. Of his religious earnestness after the Puri- tan type, and of his sincere patriotism, there is no rea- sonable doubt. As to the transcendent ability and sagacity that lay beneath a rugged exterior, there has never been any question. He raised and trained a regiment of Puritan troops, called the Ironsides, who were well-nigh invincible in battle, but whose camp was a conventicle for prayer and praise. With their help, the Koyal- ists were defeated at Marston Moor (1644). The army was now modeled anew by the Independents. The Self-denying Ordinance excluded members of Parliament from military command. Cromwell was made an exception. He came to the front, Avitli no other general except Fairfax, who had re- placed Essex, above him. Laud was condemned for high trea- son by an ordinance of Parliament, and beheaded (1645). The Cromwell THE COMMONWEALTH 415 Royalist army experienced a crusliing defeat at Naseby in Jane of the same year. Trial and Execution of Charles Charles surrendered to the army of the Scots before Newark (1646) ; and by them he was delivered for a ransom, in the form of an indemnity for w^ar expenses, to their English allies. The King hoped much from the growing discord between the Presbyterians, who favored an accommodation wdth him if they could preserve their eccle- siastical system, and the Independents, who controlled the army, and were in favor of toleration, and of obtaining more guaranties of liberty against regal usurpation. In June, 1647, the army took the King out of the hands of Parliament, into their own custody. He negotiated with all parties, and was trusted by none. In 1648 he agreed, in a secret treaty with the Scots, to restore Presbyterianism. There were Royalist risings in different parts of England, which Cromwell sup- pressed. He defeated at Preston Pans a Scottish army, led into England by the Duke of Hamilton to help Charles. Cromwell's army were now determined to baf&e the plans of the Parliamentary majority. Colonel Pride, with a regiment of foot, excluded from the House of Commons above a hun- dred members. This measure, dictated by a council of officers, was called Pride's Purge. The Commons closed the House of Lords, and constituted a High Court of Justice for the trial of the King. He refused to acknowledge the tribunal, and be- haved with calmness and dignity to the end. He was con- demned and beheaded on a scaffold before his own palace at Whitehall, January 30, 1649. By one party he was execrated as a tyrant, wdiose life was a constant danger to freedom. By the other party he was revered as a martyr. His two eldest sons were Charles, born in 1630, and James, born in 1633. The Commonwealth. — The monarchy was now abolished. England was a republic governed by the House of Commons. Cromwell subdued a rebellion in Ireland which had been stirred up in the interest of the young Charles, son of the late king, and treated the insurgents with unsparing severity. 416 THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION There was a savage massacre of the garrisons at Drogheda and Wexford. The massacre at Drogheda was by his orders. At Dunbar in Scotland, Cromwell defeated the Scots, who had received Charles with enthusiasm. Cromwell, in 1651, overtook Charles and his army at Worcester, and totally defeated him. Charles escaped in disguise to Normandy. Meantime, England was contending with Holland for su- premacy on the sea. The English Navigation Act struck a heavy blow at Dutch commerce, and a Avar followed in which the Dutch admirals, Van Tromp, De Euyter, and De Witt, found more than their match in the English commander Blake. Cromwell dictated terms of peace, and Holland attached itself to his policy (1654). Cromwell as Lord Protector There was a growing discord between the Parliament and the army. In 1653 Cromwell dissolved the Assembly by force and was made Lord Pro- tector by the Little Parliament which he called together. Though he declined the title of king, he reigned in state and exercised regal functions. His power was ever3^where respected. England took the proud and commanding place in Europe which she had not held since the death of Eliza- beth. Cromwell's power was not diminished in his closing years. Macaulay is one of those who pronounce him the greatest man that ever ruled England. I CHAPTER LIX COLONIZATION IN AMERICA ; ASIATIC NATIONS ; CULTURE AND LITERATURE (1517-1648) Colonization in America. — The European nations kept up their religious and political rivalry in exploring and coloniz- ing the new world. The French and English sent their fisher- men to the coasts of oSTewfoundland and Nova Scotia. The Spaniards brought negroes from the coast of Africa to the West Indies, to take the place of the Indians ; and thus the slave trade and negro slavery were established. They gave the name of Florida to the vast region stretching from the Atlantic to Mexico, and from the Gulf of Mexico to an undefined limit in the north. A Spanish expedition under De Soto discovered the Mississippi in 1539. Another expedi- tion under Menendez founded St. Augustine, the oldest town of the United States, in 1565. Before this date three unsuc- cessful attempts were made by French Huguenots to found settlements in America. The last company sent out by the French was mercilessly slaughtered by Menendez. In revenge, the French under De Gourgues massacred the Spanish set- tlers at Fort Caroline. English sailors explored the northern waters, while Sir Walter Ealeigh named the whole country between the French and Spanish possessions Virginia, in honor of the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth. Champlain, a gentle- man of France, sailed to Canada, and in 1608 founded Quebec. In 1609 the Dutch, under Hudson, sailed up the river now called by his name. Amsterdam traders established them- selves on the island of Manhattan, which led to the forma^ tion of the N"ew Netherlands Company. By this company 417 418 COLONIZATION IN AMERICA Fort Orange was built at the place afterwards called Albany (1615). The West India Company followed (1G21), with authority over New Netherlands, as the country was called. The powerful landowners were styled j^atroons. Their terri- tory reached to Delaware Bay ; and they had a trading post on the Connecticut, on the site of the present city of Hart- ford. In 1637 the Swedes made a settlement at the mouth of the Delaware Eiver, but in 1655 they were subdued by the Dutch. Settlement of Virginia. — The Virginia Company, divided into two branches, — the London Company, having control in the south, and the Plymouth Company, having control in the north, — received its patent of privileges from James I. (1603). A settlement by the Plymouth Company on the Kennebec Eiver (1607) — the Pophani Colony — was given up. In 1607, Jamestown in Virginia, as the name Virginia is now applied, was settled. A majority of the lirst colonists were gentlemen not wonted to labor. The military leader was Captain John Smith, whose life, according to his own account, was spared by Powhatan, an Indian chief. Powhatan's daughter Pocahontas married Eolfe, an Englishman. The Jamestown colony seemed likely to become extinct, when, in 1610, Lord Delaware arrived with fresh supplies and colonists. He was the first of a series of governors who ruled with almost unlimited authority. But the colony grew to be more independent, and in sympathy with the popular party in England. In 1619 the House of Burgesses first met, which brought in government by the peo- ple. At this time negroes began to be imported from Africa, and sold as slaves. The Pilgrim Settlement. — The first permanent settlement in New England was made at Plymouth, in 1620, by a company of English Christians, who came over in the 3f(:i>i/fower. They had previously fled from persecution to Holland and lived for a time in Leyden. They were Puritans of the class called Independents. Their civil polity was republican, and their Church polity was Congregational. They endured with heroic NEW ENGLAND 419 and pious fortitude the severities of the northern winter, when half of their number died. Settlement of Massachusetts. — The colonists who founded Massachusetts were not separatists from the Church of Eng- land, but more conservative Puritans who desired many eccle- siastical changes which they could not obtain at home. In 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Company was formed by charter from Charles I. The company sent out John Endicott to be governor of a settlement formed at Salem. It was finally resolved to transfer the company and its government to the shores of America. John Winthrop was chosen governor, and he and a large body of settlers founded Boston. Ships began to be built, and in 1636 Harvard College was founded at Cam- bridge. As the towns increased in number, a General Court or Legislative Assembly was established by the colony, in which each town was represented. The General Court superin- tended the affairs of both towns and churches. There were no bishops, and the liturgy was dispensed with in worship. Settlement of Connecticut After the Dutch had built a trad- ing post on the site of Hartford, people from Plymouth formed a settlement at Windsor, on the Connecticut, six miles above, Erom Boston and its neighborhood, there was a migration which settled Hartford. In 1637 the three towns of Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford became the distinct colony of Con- necticut. A colony led by the younger John Winthrop, under a patent given to Lord Say and Sele and Lord Brook, drove away the Dutch from the mouth of the Connecticut, and settled Saybrook (1635). This colony was afterwards united with the Connecticut colony. A third colony was established at New Haven (1638), which had an independent existence until 1665, when it was incorporated in Connecticut. Rhode Island ; New Hampshire and Maine. — Eoger Williams, a minister who was not allowed to live in Massachusetts on account of his differences with the magistrates, was the founder of Ehode Island (1636). He was opposed to restrictions in respect to worship, and for an entire separation of Church and 420 COLONIZATION IN AMERICA State. Settlements were made in New Hampshire and in Maine on lands granted by the Plymouth Company to Sir Ferdinando Gorges (1623). Virginia. — After 1624 the King appointed the governor in Virginia, which, however, had its own assembly. The colony grew rapidly. The people lived on their estates or plantations. They employed indented servants and negro slaves, and raised tobacco in large quantities. Maryland. — Charles I. granted a charter to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore (1632), wdiose sons made the hrst settlement in jNIaryland. They w^ere lioman Catholics. By granting toleration to Protestants they at the same time secured the safety of the adherents of their ow^n faith. There Avere boundary disputes with Virginia; and Clayborne, a Puritan and a Virginian, at one time got control of the government. The Calverts regained it, however, under Charles II. New England; New York. — The colonists were Avatchfiil to prevent the King and the Commonw^ealth from taking away their self-government. The English Navigation Act, wdiich obliged them to use English ships for their exports and im- ports and to send all their products to ports belonging to England, was a grievance to them. Charles II. ceded New Netherlands to the Duke of York, his brother. New Amster- dam became New York, and Fort Orange became Albany. In 1G74 the country was formally ceded to England by Holland. The Indians. — AVhen America was discovered, peoples were found in Mexico, Central America, and Peru, who were to a considerable degree civilized. The greater part of both con- tinents, however, was inhabited by tribes of Indians, who were savages with the ordinary virtues and vices of savage life. In North America, the Iroquois, or the Six Nations, occupied central New York. The Algonquins spread over nearly all the rest of the country east of the JMississippi and north of North Carolina. The Creeks, Choctaws, and ChickasaAvs were in the south. Noble men like John Eliot, the "Apostle to the Indians " (1604-1690), made efforts to teach and civilize SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY 421 them. This spirit was not always shown by the whites, how- ever, and there were many fierce conflicts between the Indians and the settlers. A league between the New England colonies for mutual counsel and aid was formed in 1643. Science, Philosophy, Literature Science. — In the period which ends with the Peace of Westphalia, wonder- ful progress was made in astronomy. Copernicus (1473- 1543) detected the error of the Ptole- maic system, which had made the earth instead of the sun the center of the solar system. Gali- leo, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler are great names which belong to this period. Philosophy. — In philosophy, Aristotle continued to be the master in the most conservative schools, but the English philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626) led the opposition to the old ways of thinking. Erom his time the natural and physical sciences acquire a new importance. In the science of metaphysics, the modern epoch dates from the French metaphysician Des- cartes (1596-1650). Spinoza (1632-1677), of Jewish extrac- tion, born in Holland, also attained eminence as a philosopher. Bacon 422 ASIATIC NATIONS General Literature In England, Bacon, apart from his philo- sophical writings, towers above almost all his contemporaries in the field of letters. The merit of Shakespeare (1564-1616) is, however, so exalted and unique, that he al- most eclipses even the greatest names. Imagi- native poetry other than dramatic begins (as far as this period is con- cerned) with Spenser (1553-1599), and it ends with Milton (1608- 1674), the Puritan poet. In Germany, the great literary product of this period was Luther's translation of the Bible. In Italy, the poet Tasso flourished from 1544 to 1595, and in Portugal, Camoens from 1524 to 1579. The Span- iard Cervantes published Don Quixote early in the seventeenth century. In France, Eabelais (1483-1553) was perhaps the most original author of his day. He was a physician, phi- losopher, and humorist. Shakespeare Asiatic Nations China. — After 1583 Jesuit missionaries labored successfully for the conversion of the Chinese. But for certain dissensions which grew out of concessions made by the Jesuit fathers to the Chinese in matters of ritual, the Roman Catholic faith would have spread even more widely than it did. The great political event of the time was the seizure of the throne by the Manchu Tartars in 1644. The shaved head and the long cue are customs introduced by the Tartar conquerors. JAPAN AND INDIA 423 Japan. — Christianity was preached in Japan by Xavier, a successful Jesuit missionary, about the middle of the sixteenth century. The immoralities of Europeans, however, as well as the dread of foreign political domination, led the government to proscribe Christianity in 1614. Some of the converts re- volted, and a terrible massacre of all the Christians was the result. India In the latter half of the fourteenth and in the fif- teenth centuries, the greater part of India was ruled by dis- tinct Mohammedan dynasties. In 1525 began the conquests which ended in the establishment of the Mughal (Mogul) Em- pire in India. After 1600 the Portuguese no longer had the mono]3oly of the foreign trade; the Dutch and the English became their strong rivals. Japanese Temple at Nikko PERIOD III.— PROM THE PEACE OP WESTPHALIA TO THE PRENOH REVOLUTION (1648-1789) CHAPTER LX INTRODUCTION Character of the Period. — One feature of this period is the efforts made by the nations to improve their condition, espe- cially to increase the thrift and to raise the standing of the middle class. An illustration is what is called the " mercantile system " in France. Along with this change, there is progress in the direction of greater breadth in education and culture. In both of these movements rulers and peoples cooperate. Monarchical power, upheld by standing armies, reaches it.. climax. The result is internal order, secured by absolute authority. Great wars were carried on, mostly contests for succession to thrones. The outcome was an equilibrium in the European state system. First Section of the Period In the first half of the period, the East and the West of Europe are slightly connected. In the West, France gains the preponderance over Austria, until, by the Spanish war of succession, England restores the bal- ance. In the East, Sweden is in the van, until, in the great Northern war (1700-1721), Russia becomes predominant. Second Section of the Period. — Later, the East and the West of Europe are brought together in one state system, in par- ticular by the rise of the power of Prussia. Chief Events. — The fall of Sweden and the rise of Russia and Prussia are political events of capital importance. The mari- time supremacy of England, with her loss of the American col- onies, is another leading fact. In the closing part of the period appear the various signs of the great Revolution which was to break out in France near the end of the eighteenth century. 424 CHAPTER LXI THE PREPONDERANCE OF FRANCE; FIRST PART OF THE REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. (TO THE PEACE OF RYSWICK, 1697); THE RESTORATION OF THE STUARTS; THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION OF 1688 ;)^) ,> Louis XIV.; Mazarin. — The great minister Eiclie- lieu died in 1642, and a few months later he was followed by Louis XIIL Louis XIV. (1643-1715) was then only five years old, and Mazarin, the heir of Eichelieu's power, stood at the helm, until his death in 1661. The rebellion of the Fronde was an attempt of the nobles to throw off the yoke laid on them by Richelieu, but it was sup- pressed, and after that re- sistance to the absolute monarch ceased. Louis's theory of government was expressed in the assertion " I am the State." For such a des- potism the work of Richelieu had paved the way. The King united with his appetite for power a relish for pomp and splen- dor. Versailles, the seat of his court, was made as splendid as architectural skill and lavish expenditure could make it. 425 Louis XIV. 426 PREPONDERANCE OF FRANCE Colbert, his minister of finances, provided money for the costly wars, the luxurious palaces, the gorgeous festivities of his master, and for such internal improvements as manufac- turing establishments and canals. In the army such able gen- erals as Turenne, Conde, and Luxemburg were in command; while Yauban in the erection of impregnable fortifications showed himself the most skillful engineer of the age. Attack on the Netherlands. — Charles 11. of England sold Dunkirk to the French, and Louis laid claim to parts of the Netherlands as an inheritance of his queen. To check the conquests Avhich he made in pursuance of this claim, Holland formed a Triple Alliance with England and Sweden. Louis proceeded to attack Holland, and the alliance was ter- minated by the action of England, — for Charles 11. now joined Louis and offered help in the Netherlands in return for subsidies to assist him in establishing Catholicism in England. The advance of the French army upon Holland led to the murder of the grand pensionary John de Witt and his brother Cornelius in the streets of The Hague, on the ground that they were guilty of treachery in failing to defend the land against the enemy. William TIL, the Prince of Orange (1672-1702), assumed power. Frederick William, the Elector of Brandenburg, lent help to the patriots, and the German em- peror sided with them. The English Parliament forced Charles II. to conclude peace. In the battle of Sasbach, Turenne fell (1675), and at Fehrbellin the Elector's victory over the Swedish army, which had taken the side of France, laid the foundation of Prussian greatness. Throughout the contest Louis displayed a shrewd diplomacy, and was enabled by tlie Peace of Nim- Avegen (1678-1679) to keep most of his new conquests in the Netherlands, Avith the county of Ihirgundy and several impor- tant cities. Condition of France. — In France, manufactures flourished to an astonishing degree. In his court, the King established elaborate forms of etiquette, and almost made himself an object of worship. Plays, ballets, and banquets were the costly diver- THE GALLICAN CHURCH 427 sions of the gay throngs of courtiers, male and female, in a community where sensuality was thinly veiled by ceremonious politeness and punctilious religious observances. With sen- sual propensities the King mingled a religious or supersti- tious vein. He was a liberal patron of poets, artists, and scholars. He erected great public works, and founded insti- tutions of learning. At Versailles, however, everything wore an artificial stamp, — from the trimming of the trees to the etiquette of the ballroom. There was, nevertheless, about it all a splendor and a fascination which caused the French fashions and the French language, with the levity and im- morality which traveled in their company, to spread in the higher circles of other European countries. The Galilean Church. — Under Louis a tendency was de- veloped to assert the rights of the national French Church and to limit the papal prerogative. In this reign a contro- versy arose between the Jansenists (who took their name from Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres) and the Jesuits. The former were strenuous advocates of the x^eculiar teachings of Augustine. Finally the Jansenists were proscribed by the King, and their cloister at Port Eoyal was leveled to the ground. After Maz- arin's death, Louis became more hostile to the Huguenots. In 1685 the Edict of Nantes — the charter of Protestant rights — was revoked. Emigration was forbidden, but nearly a quarter of a million Huguenot refugees escaped to Protes- tant countries, which they enriched by their skill and labor. The loss to France by the exile of the Huguenots was incal- culable. " iSTot only in industry, but in thought and mental activity there was a terrible loss. From this time, literature in France loses all spring and power." In short, it may be said that in exchange for national unity and a centralized government, France not only lost the Huguenot emigrants, but was compelled to bear the loss of character in the nobles of France, which went with the destruction of the spirit of independence, and she was subjected to the full sway of a monarchical despotism. 428 RESTOEATION OF THE STUARTS Aggressions of Louis. — After the Nimwegen Treaty, Louis- began a series of aggressions in the direction of Germany, and lie went so far as to seize the city of Strassburg in time of peace and establish his domination there. The Emperor Leo- pold was directing his attention to the Turks, whose advance upon Hungary was checked by a victory gained over them by the imperial general at St. Gothard in 1664. In 1683 the Turks laid siege to Vienna, but the united German and Polish army under John Sobieski, King of Poland, gained a great victory over them under the walls of the city. . The Turkish power received another blow at the hands of Prince Eugene at Zenta, — a defeat which was followed by the Peace of Carlowitz, which resulted in the acquisition of Hungary and Transylvania by Austria. The Restoration in England (i66o). — Richard Cromwell suc- ceeded to the Protectorate, which he gave up at the end of eight months. Monk, the commander of the English troops in Scotland, refused to recognize the government set up by the officers of the army in London. The restoration of Charles II. was secured by the combined influence of the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians, and through the agency of Monk. The pledges of Charles to secure liberty of conscience were falsi- fied. He was void of moral principle and a profligate. The army was disbanded. Vengeance was taken on such "regi- cides," or judges of Charles I., as could be caught. The Cavalier party had their own w^ay. A stringent Act of Uni- formity was passed. Two thousand Presbyterians were turned out of their parishes. John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim''s Progress, was kept in prison for twelve years. The sale of Dunkirk to France (1662) awakened general indignation. The Year of Wonders ; the Conduct of Charles. — In 1665 the Great Plague made frightful havoc with the population of London. It is estimated that not less than one hundred thousand people perished. In September, 1666, the Great Fire laid London in ashes, from the Tower to the Temple, and from the Thames to Smithfield. St. Paul's, the largest CHARLES II. 429 cathedral in England, was burned and was afterwards replaced by the present church of the same name, of which Sir Chris- topher Wren was the architect. The King showed an unex- pected energy in trying to stay the progress of the flames, but neither public calamities nor the sorrow and indignation of many of his most loyal supporters could check the shame- less immorality and profligacy of his x^i'ivate life. His for- eign policy, too, was unpopular. In the war with Holland, the Dutch fleet blockaded the Thames. The people approved of the Triple Alliance against the French king, Louis XIV., but in the treaty of Dover (1670), Charles engaged to declare himself a Eoinan Catholic as soon as he could do so with prudence, and promised to aid his cousin Louis XIV. in his designs upon Holland. At this time the Cabal Ministry — so called from the first letters of the names of the ministers, which together made the word — was in power. War with Holland was declared in 1672, and the King susi^ended the laws against Roman Catholics and Dissenters. Parliament became so enraged at this attempt to weaken the Church of England that he was obliged to recall the declaration. Par- liament then passed the Test Act, which shut out all Dis- senters from ofiice. The Cabal Ministry was broken up, and the Earl of Danby became the chief minister. The mind of the nation was in an excited condition and was ready to give credence to the testimony of a joerjurer, Titus Gates, who gave information concerning an alleged Popish plot to overthrow the government and to murder the King and all Protestants. Many innocent Eoman Catholics were put to death and strin- gent methods were adopted shutting them out from ofiice. In the following year, however (1679), a measure was passed which became a great bulwark of the liberty of the subject. This was the Habeas Corpus Act, which made it possible for persons under arrest to obtain a prompt hearing in court and the production of the evidence upon which they had been confined. At this time, too, the party names of W^hig and Tory came into vogue. Insurgent Presbyterians in Scotland 430 RESTORATION OF THE STUARTS had been called Wliigs, a Scotch word meanmg whey or sour milk. The nickname was now applied to those who wished to exclude the Duke of York from the line of succession to the throne on account of his being a Roman Catholic. The supporters of the court were called Tories, a term which meant originally Bomanist outlaws or robbers in the bogs of Ireland. The Whigs devised all sorts of plans to deprive Charles of his throne. Some of them were disposed to put forward Monmouth, the eldest of Charles's illegitimate sons. The E-ye-House Plot for the assassination of the King and his brother was the occasion of the trial and execution of two eminent patriots — William, Lord Eussell, and Algernon Sid- ney, both, it is believed, unjustly condemned. Charles had in secret attached himself to the Church of Eome, and in 1685 he received the sacrament from a priest. James II. (1685-1688) ; Monmouth's Rebellion — A few months after James's accession, the Duke of Monmouth landed in Eng- land ; but his effort to get the crown failed. His forces, mostly made up of peasants, were defeated at Sedgemoor ; and he per- ished on the scaffold. Vengeance was taken upon all concerned in the revolt ; and Chief Justice Jeffreys, for his brutal con- duct in the Bloody Assizes, in which, savage as he was, he nevertheless became rich by the sale of pardons, was rewarded with the office of Lord Chancellor. James's Arbitrary Government James paid no heed to his promise to defend the Church of England. Of a slow and ob- stinate mind, he could not yield to the advice of moderate Eoman Catholics, and of the Pope, Innocent XL, but set out, by such means as dispensing with the laws, to restore the old religion, and at the same time to extinguish civil liberty. He turned out the judges who did not please him. He created a new Ecclesiastical Commission, for the coercion of the clergy, with the notorious Jeffreys at its head. After having treated with great cruelty the Protestant dissenters, he unlawfully issued a Declaration of Indulgence (1687) in their favor, in order to get their support for his schemes in behalf of his own WILLIAM AND MARY 431 religion. In 1688 he sent to the Tower seven bishops who had signed a petition against the order requiring a second Declara- tion of Indulgence to be read in the churches. Popular sym- pathy was strongly with the accused, and the news of their acquittal was received in the streets of London with shouts of joy- Revolution of 1688 ; William and Mary (1689-1694) The birth of a Prince of Wales by his second wife, Mary of Modena, increased the disaffection of the English people towards the King. His daughter, by his first wife, Mary, was married to William, Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of Holland. By a combination of parties hostile to the King, William was invited to take the English throne. James, when it was too late, attempted in vain to disarm the conspiracy by concessions. William landed in safety at Torbay. He was joined by per- sons of rank. Lord Churchill, afterwards the celebrated Duke of Marlborough, left the royal force, of which he had the com- mand, and went over to him. The King's daughter, Anne, fled to the insurgents in the north. William was quite willing that James should leave the kingdom, and purposely caused him to be guarded negligently by Dutch soldiers. He fled to Erance never to return. Parliament declared the throne to be, on divers grounds, vacant, and promulgated a Declaration of Eight affirming the ancient rights and liberties of England. It offered the crown to William and Mary, who accepted it (1689). A few months later, the estates of Scotland bestowed upon them the crown of that country, Presbyterianism Avas made the established form of religion there. The union of the kingdoms was consummated under their successor, Anne, when Scotland began to be represented in the English Parliament. In Ireland, James II., with the help of the Erench, made a stout resistance and besieged Londonderry, the inhabitants of which held out with steadfast courage until help came from England. In 1690, in the battle of Boyne, William gained a decisive victory, leading his troops in person through the river Boyne with his sword in his left hand, his right arm having 432 THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION been disabled by a wound. James was a spectator of the. fight at a safe distance. In England, in the meantime, many measures were adopted which tended to secure the liberty of the people. Safeguards against the usurpation by the crown were provided by the Bill of Eights. The Toleration Act afforded protection and freedom to Dissenters. The press was made free from censorship in 1695, and newspapers began to be published. Provision was also made to secure a fair trial to persons indicted for treason. By the Act of Settlement, in 1701, the crown was settled, if there should be no heirs of Anne or of William, upon the Princess Sophia, Electress of Hanover, the daughter of Elizabeth of Bohemia, and grand- daughter of James I., and on her heirs, being Protestants, — Roman Catholics having been excluded from the line of suc- cession to the throne. The table which follows will show the nature of their claim : — Frederic "V., 1010-1082, Elector cand Kinff of Bohemia, m. Elizabeth, daughter of James I. of England. I I Charles Lewis, 1049-16S0. Sophia, m. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover. I 1 I Charles, 1GS0-1GS5. Elizabeth, George I. of England. m. Philip, Duke of Orleans, >>. >*^'^'J- 1, r^TVl -ITHDf tn ^f^S^ n mr^ T' l'^"^1 Km Cathedkal or ISIotre Dame CHAPTER LXIX POLITICS IN ENGLAND ; THE JACOBIN REVOLUTION ; REIGN OF TERROR IN FRANCE (JAN. 21, 1793 -JULY 27, 1794) The First Coalition. — The execution of the King was the signal for the union of tlie European powers against Erance. Tlie intention of the revolutionary party to propagate their system in other countries afforded one excuse for this inter- ference. The Convention (Nov. 19, 1792) had offered their assistance to peoples wishing to throw off the existing govern- ments. The main ground and cement of the coalition was the dread which the governments felt of revolutionary movements among their own subjects, from their sympathy with the new institutions in France. Politics in England. — The Eevolution of 1688 had given power to a group of Whig families. To shake off this con- trol was a constant aim of George III. In 1783 William Pitt, the younger, was made prime minister when he was only twenty-five years old. In 1788 the King had been attacked with insanity ; and while he was thus afflicted, George, Prince of Wales, who was unpopular on account of his loose morals, ruled as regent. Charles James Eox, a man of noble talents, but notoriously irregular in his habits, was the leader of the liberal party. The theories advocated by the defenders of the Erench Eevolution were set forth in an offensive form in Eng- land by Thomas Paine. The great philosophical statesman, Edmund Burke, who had defended the cause of freedom in the American Eevolution, published in 1790 his Reflections on the French Revolution. In this work he denounced the politi- cal notions of the Erench school, and separated himself from 473 474 THE JACOBIN REVOLUTION his party, publicly breaking friendship with Fox. Pitt was driven into war by the prevailing sentiment, which was roused by the news of the death of Louis. For the next twenty years Great Britain, by her strength on land and sea, and in particu- lar by her wealth, proved herself a powerful and a most per- severing antagonist of France. Pitt, though a Tory minister, was supported in the long struggle in Europe by a majority of AYhigs. Fall of the Girondists. — The advance of the allied armies increased the violence and strengthened the hands of the Jacobins. This and other circumstances, such as a royalist revolt in the west, brought new force to this aggressive party, and ruin to the Girondists. Danton, who understood that auda- city was the secret of success, procured the appointment by the Convention of a Committee of Public Safety (April 6, 1793), which was to exercise the most frightful dictatorship known in history. A Committee of General Security was put in charge of the police of the whole country. The commune of Paris co- operated in the energetic efforts of the Jacobin leaders to col- lect recruits and to strengthen the military force. The three chiefs were Danton, Marat, and Robespierre. There was a mor- tal struggle between the advocates of order and the apostles of anarchy. The fate of the moderates and Girondists was sealed by a great insurrection in Paris, and an invasion of the Conven- tion by an armed force. The violent party had at their back eighty thousand National Guards, who hemmed in the Conven- tion. Twenty-two Girondist leaders were placed under arrest. Their party fell. The boldest and most reckless faction, which had the Paris commune behind it, triumphed. The Jacobin Revolution — Danton and the other revolutionary leaders showed a tremendous energy in their attack on both domestic and foreign enemies. Outside of Paris there were formidable risings against the Jacobin rule. Thus began the war of La Vendee, in which the people of that region were subdued after protracted conflict and immense shiughter. The Jacobins stirred up the people throughout France and formed THE EEIGN OF TERROR 475 revolutionary committees. The dominion of the Jacobins was really a second Revolution. In Paris, the revolutionary tribu- nal was filling the prisons with the suspected, and was sending daily its wagon-loads of victims to the guillotine. A new con- stitution of an extreme democratic type, was offered to the acceptance of the people. Military Successes of France. — The French army was all the while growing stronger, and was becoming gradually fired with patriotic ardor. At Paris, Carnot's efficient management of military affairs gave France an advantage over her foes. The French troops were successful against the English at Dunkirk (1793), against the Austrians, and the Yendean insurgents. Toulon was in revolt, but was captured after a siege during which Napoleon Bonaparte, a young artillery officer, had dis- tinguished himself by pointing out the proper spot for plant- ing the batteries to drive away the English and Spanish fleets. Bonaparte. — Napoleon was born on the island of Corsica, Aug. 15, 1769, two months after Corsica became subject to the French. His family, on both sides, were Italians. Napoleon himself never became so fully master of the French tongue that he did not betray in his speech his foreign extraction. He was educated at the military school of Brienne (1779- 1784), and then went to the military school at Paris. His principal studies were mathematics and history. He quickly made manifest his military talents, and seems first to have aspired to gain distinction and power, in this line, in Corsica. His connection was at first with the Jacobins, although he afterwards denied it. He had imbibed the ideas of the Eevo- lution, and saw that in the service of the leaders in the war there was opened to him a military career. He turned against his patriotic countryman, Paoli, when the latter sought to sepa- rate Corsica from France, at that time under the Jacobin rule. The Reign of Terror. — The Eeign of Terror had now estab- blished itself in France. The Committee of Public Safety wielded absolute power. Every man, woman, and child was called upon to take part in the defense of the country. The 476 THE JACOBIN REVOLUTION property of all tlie " emigrants " and prisoners of state was seized. Whoever was suspected of being hostile to the estab- lished tyranny was thrown into prison. Even to be lukewarm in adhesion to it was a capital offense. Summary trials were followed by swift executions. The tenderness of youth and the venerableness of age were no protection. Day after day the stream of human blood continued to flow. A new calendar was ordained; Sept. 22, 1792, was the beginning of the year one. There was a new division of months ; in place of the week, each tenth day was made a holiday. The commune of Paris, followed by other cities, formally proclaimed atheism to be the truth. Fashions of dress, modes of speech, and man- ners were revolutionized. Every vestige of " aristocracy " was to be swept off the earth. A wild license was given to divorce and to profligacy. Paris was like a camp where young soldiers were drilled, weapons were forged, and lint and bandages made ready for the Avounded. There were seen, even in the hall of the Convention, throngs of coarse and fierce men, and of coarser and fiercer women, with their songs and wild outcries and gestures. The commune of Paris instituted an atheistic festival in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, where an actress was enthroned as Goddess of E-eason. There were priests and bishops who abjured the Christian faith, and there were others who adhered to it at the peril of their lives. The prisons, which were packed with all classes, were theaters of strange and thrilling scenes. In many cases, death, made familiar, ceased to terrify. Crowds escorted the batch of vic- tims carried on carts each day to the place of execution, and insulted them with their brutal shouts. The arrested Giron- dist deputies were executed. Some of the leaders of that party, including Poland, perished b}' suicide. Among the persons sent to the guillotine was Madame Roland ; also the infamous Duke of Orleans, who had intrigued to get himself raised to the throne. Marie Antoinette, her hair turned white in the tragic scenes through which she had passed, miserably clad, was dragged before the merciless tribunal. There she was in- EXECUTION OE THE QUEEN 477 suited with foul accusations which, nobody believed. After the mockery of a trial, she was carried like a common criminal, in a cart, with her arms bound, to the place of execution (Oct. 16). Her dignity and serenity, her pallid countenance, and the sim- ple, pathetic words uttered by her at her arraignment, touched for the moment the hardened hearts of the brutalized spec- tators. Her sad fate has blinded many to the calamitous errors committed by her in the days of her power. The Jacobin Chiefs. — Of the three chiefs of the revolutionary tribunal, Marat was the most ferocious. He was assassinated by a young maiden, Charlotte Corday, who devoted herself to the task of ridding the world of such a monster. Danton was somewhat less bloodthirsty, and was himself brought to the guillotine by Eobespierre, who gained the ascendency among the Jacobins. When he became supreme, the atrocities became even more savage than before. The prisons were crowded with ^^ suspects." Suicide and madness were of common occurrence. In the provinces there were scenes of horror like those enacted in Paris. Yet, at this time, abroad the armies of the republic were successful. The allies were driven out of Belgium (1794). 478 THE BONAPARTES rome, /■estphalia, 860, f Wiirtemberg. c c