A History of the World From Ancient to Modern Times B. C. 4004 to ...

FROM PA INTING BY RUBEN SV 0 1 . 1 1 , 520

-

528

THE FOU ND ING OF CONSTANTINOPLE

I N F I V E V O L U M E S

A H ISTORY OF TH E WORLD FROM

ANC IENT TO MODERN TIMES

B .C . 4004 TO A .D . 1 903

B y E S T H E R S IN G L E T O N

ILLU STRAT ED W lTH N UMEROU S FU LL-PAGE DRAW lNGS

EX ECUT ED l N DUOGRAPH

N E W Y O R K

P. F. C O L L I E R’

& S O N

M C M I V

COPY R IGHT 1 903

BY P. F . COL L IER SON

C O N T E N T S

V O L U M E T W O

A .D . 7 9— 1 4 7 7

ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUVIU S ( A D . El inyFALL OF ZENOB IA AN D PALMYRA ( AD . Edwa rd G i bbonTHE FOUNDING OF CON STANTINOPLE ( A D . W i l l iam F ranc is

Co l l ierTHE GROW TH OF THE PAPACY . W i l l iam F ranc i s Co l l ie rINVA S ION OF ITALY B Y ATTILA

,FOUNDAT ION OF THE REPUBLIC OF

VEN ICE AND DESTRUCT ION OP ATT ILA ’S EMP IRE (A .D. 452-

453)

E dwa rd G ibbonTHE SA X ON CONQUEST OF BRITA IN ( A D . John R icha rd GreenTHE AGE AND LAW S OF JU ST IN IAN (A D W i l l iam F ranc is

Col l ie rTHE H EGIRA (A D E dwa rd Henry Pa lme rTHE CONQUEST OF PERS IA ( A .D. 632 Edwa rd GibbonTHE ARAB CONQUEST OF SPA IN (A .D. 709 E dwa rd G ibbonTHE BATTLE OF TOURS (A D . E . S . C reasyTHE CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE (AD James B ryceTHE NORMAN S IN FRANCE A N D ITALY (A .D. 800 W i l l iamF ranc is Co l l ie r

THE BEG INN ING S OF RU S S IA (A D. A l f red RambaudCONSOLIDAT ION OF GERMANY BY HENRY I. (A .D. 9 1 9 Sutherland Menz ies

REVIV AL OF THE IMPERIAL D IGN ITY (A D . James S ime

DAN ISH CONQUEST OF E NGI A N D (A D. Cha r les KnightNORMAN CONQUEST OF L , L AND (AD John Richa rdGreen

EMP IRE VERSUS PAPACY—HENRY IV . AT CANOS SA (AD

T . F. Tout

5 79 5 5 3

4 CONTENTS

R I SE OF FEUDALI SM . Cha r les H . Pea rsonT H E FIRST CRU SADE (A .D. Jules M iche letTHE THIRD CRU SADE (A .D. Wil l iam StubbsTH E FOURTH CRU SADE (A .D. Ju les M icheletCONQUESTS OF ZIN GIS KHAN (A .D. 1 200 E dwa rd G ibbonCRU SADE AGA IN ST THE ALB IGENSES (A .D. 1 208 Wi l l iamF ranc is Col l ier

TH E MAGNA CHARTA (A .D. J . F. B r ightORDER OF THE TEUTON IC KN IGHTS (A .D. Henry Hart M i l

man

THE BARON S ’ W AR AND FIRST E NGLI SH PARL IAMENT (A .D. 1 257

W i l l iam S tubbsTHE S ICILIAN VESPERS (A .D. Ju les M icheletMARCO POLO’ S TRAVE LS (A .D. H en ry Y uleTHE SW IS S CONFEDERA CY : THE SW I S S W AR OF INDEPENDENCE

(A .D. Suthe r land Menz iesSUPPRE S S ION OF THE TEMPLARS (A D. 1 307 Dav i d ‘HumeBANNOCKBURN (A .D. And rew LangTHE H AN SEAT IC LEAGUE (A .D. 1 343 1 669) Richa rd LodgeB ATTLE OF CRECY (A .D. Dav i d H ume

REVOLUT ION S IN ROME (A .D. Henry Hal lamTHE BLACK DEATH (A .D. J . F . C. Hecke rE X ECUTION OF MARINO FAL

_IERO (A .D. Oscar Browning

THE JACQUERIE (A .D. Hen r i Mart inCOSMO DE’ MEDICI (A .D. 1 389 Will iam RoscoeTHE INVAS ION OF TAMERLANE (A .D. Mahummud Casim

Feri shta

COUNCIL OF CON STAN CE AN D THE HU S S ITE WAR (A .D. 1 4 1 4- 1 437)

Suthe r land Menz iesBAT TLE OF AGINCOURT (A .D. Dav i d H ume

JOAN OF ARC AT ORLEAN S (A .D. E . S . C reasyTHE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE (A .D. E dwa rd GibbonINVENTION OF PRINTING (A .D. J . H . Hesse lsNANCY—DEATH OF CHARLES THE BOLD (A .D. 1 476 JulesM ichelet

LIS T O F ILLU S T RA T IO N S

V O L U I‘l E TWO

THE FOUNDING OF CON STANT INOPLE ( A .D. F rom Pa int ing byRubens.

THE BATTLE OF TOURS (A .D. F rom Pa inting by Steben .

THE,BATTLE OF TOLE IA C (DAN ISH CONQUEST OF ENGLAND—A D

THE B LACK DEATH ( A .D. F rom Pa i nt ing by M igna rd .

JOAN OF ARC (A .D.

GUTENBERG AN D H IS PRES S (THE I NVENT ION OF PRINT ING —A .D.

From Pa int ing by H i llema c her .

E R U PT ION OF MO U N T V E S U V IU S

PLINY

YOU R requesfi

ie th at I would send you anaccoun t o f my uncle ’s death

,in o rde r

to t ransmi t a mo re exac t re l ation o f i tto pos te r i ty

,meri ts my acknowledgments ; fo r,

i f the glo rious c i rcums tances wh ich occas ionedth i s acc i den t shal l be ce leb ra ted by you rpen , th e manne r o f h i s exi t w i ll be ren de redfo reve r i l lu s t rious . Notwi th s tand ing he pe ri shed by a mis fo rtune

,which

,as i t i nvo lved

at th i s time a mos t beauti fu l count ry in ru ins,

and destroyed so many populous ci ti es,seems

to p romise h im an eve rl as tin g rememb rance ;no twiths tand in g he h as h imsel f composedmany wo rks W h ich w i ll descend to the latest fv

liiié forposterity .

t imes ; yet, I am pe rsu aded , the ment i on i ng ofh im in you r immo rtal wr i tings wil l gre atlycontr ibute to e te rn ize h i s n ame . Happy Ideem those to be Whom the gods have d is tin

gu i shed with the ab i l i ti e s e i the r o f pe rfo rming such action s as a re wo rthy o f being re

l ated,o r Of rel ating them in a manne r wo rthy

o f b eing read ; but doubly h appy a re they who

Letter to Ta c itus .

498 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 79

a re blessed wi th both these uncommon endowments ; and in th at numbe r my uncle, as h isown wri tings and you r h i s to ry wil l p rove

,may

justly be ranked . I t i s wi th extreme wi l l ingness

,the re fo re

,I execute you r commands ; and

I should,indeed

,have cl a imed the task i f

you had no t enjo ined i t . He was,at th at t ime

,

with the flee t unde r h i s command,a t M ise

num .

*On the z4th o f Augus t, abou t one inthe afte rnoon

,my mothe r des i red h im to Ob

s e rve a Cloud wh ich appeared of a ve ry un

usual s i ze and sh ape . He had j us t retu rnedf rom enj oying the benefi t o f the sun

,and

,

afte r b ath ing in co ld wate r,and taking a s l igh t

rep as t,was re ti red to h is s tudy ; he immed i

ately a rose,and went out upon

“

an eminence,

f rom whence he migh t mo re d i s tin ctly Viewth i s ve ry s ingul a r phenomenon . I t was not atthat d i s tance d i s ce rn ib l e f rom what mountainthi s cloud i s sued

,but i t was found afte rward

to p roceed f rom Vesuvius . I can not give youa mo re exact des c ri p tion o f i ts figu re th an byresembl ing i t to th at o f a p ine - t ree ; fo r i t shotup a great he ight in the fo rm Of a tal l t runk,which sp re ad at the top into a so rt o f b ranches ;occas ioned

,I suppose

,e i the r th at the fo rce o f

the inte rn al vapo rs which impel led the cloudupward

,dec reased in s t rength as i t advanced ,

o r th at the cloud,be ing p res sed b ack by i ts

own weight,exp anded i tse l f in the manne r

In the Gu l f Of Nap les .

. .D . 79 ERUPTION OF MOUNT VE SUVIUS 499

I h ave mentioned ; i t appe a red sometimesb righ t

,and sometimes d a rk and spotted

,as i t

was e i the r mo re o r less impregnatede arth and C inde rs . This uncommon appearance exc i ted my uncle ’s ph i losoph ical c ud - 35283

7

osi ty to take a ne a re r view of i t . He acco rdi ngly o rde red a l igh t ves sel to be p rep ared ,and Offe red me the l ibe rty

,i f I thought p rope r

,

to attend h im . I rathe r Chose to continue theemployment in wh ich I was engaged ; fo r i th appened th at he had given me a ce rta in wri ting to copy . As he was go ing out o f the housewith h i s tab lets in h i s h and

,he was met with

the marine rs belonging to the gal l eys s tationed He isat Retin a

,f rom whi ch they had fl ed in the 33555362?

utmos t te r ro r ; fo r th at po rt be ing s i tu ated at‘h i‘he“

the foo t Of Vesuviu s,they h ad no othe r way to

esc ape th an by sea . They conj u red h im,the re

fo re,not to p roceed and expose h i s l i fe to im

minen t and inevi table d ange r . I n compl i ancewi th the i r advice

,he Ch anged h i s o rigin al

inten tion,and

,in stead o f grati fying h is ph i l

osoph i c al sp i r i t, he res igned i t to the moremagnan imous p rincip l e o f a i d ing the di stres sed . W i th th i s View

,he o rde red the fleet

immed i ate ly to put to sea,and went h imsel f

on boa rd with an intention o f ass i s ting notonly Retin a

,but the seve ral othe r towns wh ich

stood th ick up on th at beauti fu l coas t . Hasten ing to the p l ace

,the re fo re

,f rom whence P l iny re

so lves toothe rs fled with the utmos t te r ro r

,he stee red a i d me

distressed.hi s d i rect cou rse to the po int o f d anger

,and

500 TH E WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS m y.

with so much calmnes s and p resence o f mindas to be ab le to make and d ictate h i s Obse rvation s upon the appea rance and p rogress o fth at d read fu l s cene . He was now so ne a r themountain th at the Cinde rs

,which grew thicke r

and hotte r the mo re he advanced,fe l l in to the

sh ips,togethe r with pumice - s tones

,and b l ack

p ieces o f bu rn ing rock ; they were l ikewise ind ange r

,not only o f being aground by the sud

den ret re at Of the sea,but al so f rom the vas t

f ragments wh ich rol led down f rom the mounta ins

,and Obstructed al l the sho re . Here he

s topped to cons ide r whethe r he shoul d retu rnb ack ; to which the p i lot advi s ing h im,

“Fo rtune

,

” s a i d he,

“bef riends the b rave ; s tee r toPompon i anus.

”Pompon i anus was then at

Stab i aef‘é sep a rated by a gul f wh ich the sea

,

a fte r seve ral insen s ib le wind ings,fo rms upon

th at sho re . Pompon i anus had al re ady sen thi s b aggage on boa rd ; fo r though he was notat th at time in actual dange r

,yet

,be ing with in

the View of i t,and

,indeed

,extremely nea r

,he

was dete rmined,i f i t shoul d in the le as t in

c rease,to put to sea as soon as the wind shoul d

ch ange . I t was favo rab le,howeve r

,fo r ca rry

ing my uncl e to Pompon i anus,whom he foundin the greates t conste rn ation ; and emb rac ingh im with tende rnes s

,he encou raged and ex

horted h im to keep up h i s sp i ri ts . The moreto d i ss ip ate h i s fea rs

,he o rde red h i s se rvants

,

with an a i r Of unconcern,to ca rry h im to the

Now ca l led Caste l é Mar d i S tab ia , i n the Gu l f o f Nap les .

ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUVIUS 501

baths ; and , a fte r h aving b athed , he s at down P l iny goesca lm ly toto suppe r with gre a t

,o r at le as t (what i sggggz

t

gpe,equal ly he ro i c ) with al l the appearance o fchee rfu lnes s . In the meanwh i l e

,the fi re f rom

Vesuvius fl amed fo rth f rom seve ral p arts Ofthe mounta in wi th gre at v io lence : which thed a rkness o f the n ight cont ributed to rende rs ti l l mo re vi s ib le and d read ful . But my uncle

,

in o rde r to calm the app rehens ions Of h isf r iend

,assu red him i t was only the c onflagra

tion Of the vi l l ages,which the country people

h ad abandoned . Afte r th i s he reti red to res t,

and i t i s most ce rtain he was so l i ttle d i sc omposed as to fal l in to a deep s leep ; fo r be ingco rpulent and b reath ing ha rd

,the attend ants

in the antech ambe r actual ly he a rd h im sno re .

The cou rt which led to h i s ap a rtment beingnow almost fi l l ed wi th s tones and ashes

,i t

would h ave been imposs ibl e fo r h im,i f he h ad

continued the re any longe r,to h ave made h i s

way out ; i t was though t p rope r, the re fo re , toawaken h im . He got up

,and jo ined Pom

pon i anus and the res t o f the company, whohad no t been suffi c iently unconce rned to th inko f go ing to bed . They consu l ted together T he em p_whethe r i t would be mos t p rudent to t rus t to g

ifgggf

m es

the houses,which now shook from s ide to

s ide wi th f requent and vio len t concus s ions ,o r flee to the Open fiel ds

,where th e calc ined

stones and C inde rs,though levigated indeed ,

yet fel l in l a rge showers,and th reatened them

with ins tant de s t ruction . In th i s d i s t res s,they


resolved fo r the fields,as the less dange rous

s i tuation o f the two ; a reso lution wh ich , whil ethe res t Of the company were hu rri ed in to bythei r fea rs

,my uncle emb raced upon coo l and

del ibe rate cons i de ration . They went out,

then,h aving p i l lows tied about the i r heads

wi th n apkin s ; and th i s was the i r whole defence agains t the s to rm Of s tones th at fel la round them . I t was now day eve rywhe reel se

,but there a deepe r d a rknes s p revai led

th an in the b l ackest n igh t ; which , howeve r,was in some degree d i s s ip ated by to rches andothe r l ights o f va rious kinds . They thoughti t exped ien t to go down fu rthe r upon thesho re

,in o rde r to Obse rve i f they might s afely

put out to sea ; but they found the waves s ti l lrunn ing h igh and bo is te rous . There my uncl e

,

having d runk a d raught o r two Of co ld wate r,

l a id h imsel f down upon a s a i l - cloth wh ichwas sp read fo r h im ; when immedi ately thefl ames

,p receded by a strong smel l o f sulphu r

,

d i spe rsed the res t Of the company,and obl iged

h im to ri se . He rai sed h imsel f up with theas s i s tance Of two Of h i s se rvants

,and ins tantly

m y “fel l down dead ; suffocated , I conj ectu re, by

33331

33, some gross and noxious vapo r, as h aving al

ways h ad weak lungs,and being f requently

subj ect to a d iffi cul ty Of breath ing . As soonas i t was l igh t again

,which was not ti l l the

th i rd d ay afte r th i s mel ancholy acc i den t,h i s

body was found enti re,and wi thout any marks

Of violence,exactly in the s ame pos tu re in

A .D . 79ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUV IUS 503

which he fel l,and looking more l ike a man

0 H0

b d

asl eep th an de ad . Dur i ng al l th i s t ime,my fg

ijizgjog‘s

0r

mothe r and I,who we re at M i senum But day .

as th is h as no connection wi th your h i sto ry,so

you r inqu i ry went no fu rthe r than conce rn ingmy uncle ’s de ath ; with th at, the refo re , I wi l lput a end to my lette r . Su ffe r me on ly to addthat I h ave fai th ful ly rel ated to you wh at Iwas e i the r an eye -witnes s o f mysel f

,o r re

c e ived immed i ate ly afte r the acc ident h appened

,and be fo re the re was time to vary the

t ruth . You wi l l choose ou t Of th i s n a rrativesuch c i rcumstances as sh al l be mos t su i tab le toyou r pu rpose ; fo r the re i s a gre at di ffe rencebetween wri ting a le tte r and compos ing a h i sto ry ; be tween add res s ing a f ri end and ad

d res s ing the publ i c . Fa rewel l .

The lette r which,i n compl i ance with you r

reques t,I wro te to you

,conce rn ing the death

gingerOf my uncle

,has ra i sed

,i t seems

,you r c u rI- t i iffigs ifi

’

s

"

osi ty to know what te r ro rs and d ange rs at-na rm ve '

tended me whi le I continued at M i senum ; forthe re

,I th ink

,the account in my former

b roke Off

Though my shoc k’

d sou l recoi ls , my tongue sha l l te l l . ”

My uncle hav ingleft us , I continued the employment which p revented my going wi th h im

V i rg i l .

504 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 79

t i l l i t was time to bathe,afte r which I went

to suppe r,and then fel l in to a sho rt and un

quiet s leep . The re had been,du ring many

d ays be fo re,some shocks Of an ea rthquake

,

which the less al a rmed us,as they a re f re

quent in Campan i a ; but they were so parti c ularly violen t th at n ight th at they not onlyshook eve ryth ing about us

,but seemed

,in

deed,to th re aten total des t ruc tion . My

mothe r flew to my chambe r,whe re she found

me ri s ing in o rde r to awaken he r . We wentout in to a smal l cou rt belonging to the house

,

which sep a rated the se a f rom the bu i ld ings .As I was at th at time but e ighteen ye ars o fage

,I knew not whethe r I should cal l my be

havio r in th i s pe ri lous conjunctu re,cou rage

o r rashness ; but I took up L ivy, and amusedmysel f wi th tu rn ing ove r th at autho r

,and

even making ext racts f rom h im,as i f I h ad

been pe rfectly at my ease . Wh i le we werein th i s s i tu ation

,a f riend Of my uncle ’s

,who

was j us t come f rom Spain to make him a vi s i t,

j o ined us,and Obse rving me s i tting by my

mothe r wi th a book in my hand,rep roved he r

p ati ence and my secu ri ty ; neve rtheless , I sti l lwen t on with my autho r . I t was now morning

,but the l igh t was exceed ingly fain t and

l anguid ; the bu i l d ings al l a round us totte red ,and

,though we stood upon open ground

,yet

,

as the pl ace was n a rrow and c onfi nedfl here

was no remain ing without imminen t d ange r ;we the refo re reso lved to le ave the town . The

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506 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A D . 79

utmos t p recip i tation . Soon afte rwa rd thecloud seemed to descend and cove r the wholeocean

,as

,indeed

,i t enti re ly h id the i s l and o f

Cap rea""é and the p romonto ry Of M i senum .

My mothe r conju red me to make my escape atany rate

,which

,as I was young

,I might

e as i ly effect ; as fo r he rsel f , she s a i d he r ageand co rpulency rende red al l attempts Of th atso rt imposs ib le ; howeve r, sh e would wil l inglymeet death

,i f she coul d h ave the s ati s f action

o f see ing th at she was not the occas ion o fmine . But I ab so lute ly re fused to le ave he r

,

and,taking he r by the h and

,I led he r on .

She compl ied wi th great reluctance,and not

withou t many rep roaches to he rsel f fo r be ingthe occ as ion o f re ta rd ing my fl i ght . Theashes now began to f al l upon us

,though in no

great qu anti ty . I tu rned my head,and ob

se rved beh ind u s a thi ck smoke, which camerol l ing afte r us l ike a to rrent . I p roposed

,

while we h ad ye t any l igh t,to tu rn ou t o f the

h igh ro ad,l es t she shoul d be p res sed to death

in the d ark by the c rowd that fo l lowed us .We h ad sca rcely s tepped ou t o f the p ath

,when

d a rkness ove rsp re ad us,not l ike th at o f a

cloudy n igh t,o r when the re i s no moon

,but

Of a room when i t i s shut up,and al l the l ights

extinct . Noth ing,then

,was to be hea rd bu t

the Sh ri eks o f women,the s c reams Of ch i l d ren ,

and the c ri es o f men ; some cal l i ng fo r the i rChi ld ren

,othe rs fo r thei r pa rents

,othe rs fo r

Now Capr i .

ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUVIUS 507

the i r husbands,and only d i s tingu ish ing each

The fri b e

othe r by the i r vo i ces ; one l ament i ng h i s own ful darlg-t

ness andf ate

,anothe r th at o f h is f ami ly ; some wish ing

to d ie,f rom the ve ry fe a r Of dying ; some l i ft

:ing thei r h ands to the gods ; but the greate rp a rt imagin ing th at the l as t and ete rn al n ightwas come

,which was to des t roy both the gods

and the wo rld togethe r . Among these the rewe re some who augmented the re al te r ro rs byimagin ary ones

,and made the f righted mul

ti tude f al se ly bel ieve th at M i senum was actual ly i n fl ames . At length

,a gl imme ring l ight

appeared,which we imagined to be rathe r

the fo re runne r Of an app ro ach ing bu rs t o ffl ames (as in fac t i t was ) th an the retu rn Of

d ay ; howeve r, the fi re fe l l a t a d i s tance f romus . Then again we we re immersed in th ickd a rkness

,and a he avy showe r o f ashes rained

upon us,which we we re ob l iged eve ry now

and then to sh ake off,othe rwis e we shoul d

h ave been ove rwhelmed and bu ried in theheap . I might boas t th at

,du ring al l th i s

s cene o f ho rro r,not a s igh o r exp ress ion Of

fea r escaped f rom me,h ad no t my suppo rt

been founded on th at mi se rab le,though

s trong,conso l ation

,th at al l mankind were i h

volved in the s ame cal ami ty,and th at I im

agined I was pe ri sh ing Wi th the world i ts el f .At l as t th i s te r rib le d a rkness was d is s ip atedby degrees

,l ike a cloud o f smoke ; the real Th (1

day retu rned,and even the sun appea red

,aaéns

a’

a t last.though ve ry f ain tly

,and as when an ecl ip se

508 THE WORLD ’


i s coming on . Eve ry Obj ec t th at p resented i tsel f to ou r eyes (which we re extremely weakened ) s eemed changed , being cove red withashes as with a deep snow. We retu rned toM i senum

,whe re we re f reshed ou rselves as

wel l as we coul d,and pas sed an anxious n igh t

be tween hope and fea r ; though , indeed ,with amuch l a rge r sh a re Of the l atte r ; fo r the ea rths ti l l continued to sh ake

,while seve ral enthusi

asti c pe rsons ran wi ldly among the people,

th rowing out te rr i fying p red i ctions,and mak

i ng a kind o f f ranti c spo rt Of the i r own andthei r f r iends ’ wretched s i tu ation . Howeve r

,

my mothe r and I,no twi ths tand ing the dange r

we h ad passed,and that which s ti l l th re atened

us,had no in ten tion o f le aving M i senum t i l l

we shoul d rece ive some account o f my uncle .

!I n 8 1,Domiti an succeeds h i s b rothe r

,

-Titus, and , in 96, i s as s as s in ated . Traj an wageswa r agains t the D aci ans ( 1 0 1 and Daci a

(Wal l ach i a , Moldavi a , E as te rn Hungary andTransylvan i a ) i s made a Roman p rovince . I n1 1 3, Traj an

’s Column i s completed at Rome .

Traj an conque rs the Pa rth i ans in I 1 6,and dies

in Ci l i c i a . A bitte r wa r,between Rome and

a great con fede racy o f the Ge rman nations,

l as ts f rom 1 67 to 1 76, when Marcus Anton inusfinal ly de feats them . Civ i l wa rs d is t ract theempi re f rom 1 92 to 1 97. S eve rus becomesempe ro r in 1 93 and rel axes mi l i ta ry d isc ip l ine . On h i s death

,in 2 1 1

,mil i ta ry i nsu r

A .o . 79ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUV IUS

rections,c ivi l wa rs and as s ass in ations o f the

empe ro rs recommence . I n 226,Artaxe rxes

ove rth rows the Parth i an kingdom,res to res

Pe rs i an royal ty and attacks the Roman possess ions in the Eas t . The Goths invade theemp i re in 250 , and the Empero r Decius i sdefe ated and s l a in . Fo r the next ten ye a rs

,th e

Franks and Alemann i invade Gaul,Spain and

Afri ca ; the Goths attack As i a M ino r andGreece ; the Pers i ans conque r Armen i a anddefea t and captu re the Empe ro r Vale r i an .

The succeed ing empe ro rs,Gall ienus

,Cl aud ius

and Au rel i an,meet with some succes s agains t

the ba rb a ri ans . Aurel i an (270 - 275 ) makespe ace with the Goth s by s ac rific ing D aci a .

His many successes agains t the b a rb a ri ansgain fo r h im the t i tl e

,Resto re r o f the Un i

ve rs al Empi re .

” One Of h i s mos t b ri l l i an tcampaigns was th at aga ins t Palmyra ]

509

Aurelia n ’ssuccesses .

FA LL O F Z ENO B IA A ND PA LMY RA

EDWARD GIBBON

U RELIAN had no soone r secu red thepe rson and p rovinces o f T etri c us

,th an

he tu rned h i s a rms agains t Zenob i a,the

Cha rac t er celeb rated queen o f Palmyra and the Eas t .o f Zenobiam m Modern Eu rope h as p roduced seve ral i l lus

tri ous women who h ave sus ta ined with glo rythe weight o f empi re ; no r i s ou r own age destitute

'

of such d is tingu i shed ch a racte rs . But i fwe excep t the doub tful ach ievements o f S em i ram i s

,Zenob i a i s pe rh aps the only female

whose supe rio r gen ius b roke th rough the se rv i l e indo lence imposed on he r sex by the cl imate and manne rs o f As i a . She cl aimed he rdes cen t f rom the Macedon i an kings o f Egypt

,

equ al l ed in beauty he r ances to r,Cleop atra

,

and fa r su rp as sed th at p rinces s in ch as ti ty andvalo r . Zenob i a was es teemed the mos t lovely

,

as wel l as the mos t he ro i c,o f he r sex . She

was o f a da rk complexion (fo r, in speakingo f

,

a l ady,these tri fles become impo rtant) .

beau ty and

l earni ng. Her teeth we re o f a pea rly wh i tenes s,and he r

l a rge b l ack eyes sp a rkled with uncommon fi re,

(510)

A .D . 273FALL OF ZENOBIA AND PALMYRA

tempered by the mos t attractive sweetnes s .

H er vo i ce was s t rong and ha rmon ious . Herm anly unde rs tanding was s t rengthened andado rned by s tudy . She was no t igno ran t o fthe Latin tongue

,but posses sed in equal pe r

fec ti on the G reek, the Syri ac, and the Egypti an l anguages . She had d rawn up fo r he rown use an ep i tome o f o ri ental h i s to ry

,and

fami l i a rly compa red the be autie s o f Home rand Pl ato unde r the tu i t ion o f the subl imeLonginus .This accompl i shed woman gave he r h and

to Odenathus,who

,f rom a p rivate s tation

,

rai s ed h imsel f to the domin ion o f the Eas t .She soon became the f r iend and compan iono f a he ro . In the inte rval s o f war

,

‘

Odenathu s

p ass ion ately del ighted in the exe rc i se o f hunting ; he pu rsued with a rdo r the wil d beas tso f the dese rt

,l ions

, panthe rs, and bea rs ; andthe a rdor o f Zenob i a in th at d ange rous amusement was not in fe rio r to h i s own . She h adinu red he r consti tu tion to fatigue

,disd a ined

the use o f a cove red ca rri age,

- gene ral ly ap

peared on horseb ack in a mil i ta ry h ab i t, andsometimes ma rched seve ral mi les on foot atthe head o f the t roops . The succe ss Of Oden athus was

,in a great measu re

,as c ribed to he r

incomparabl e p rudence and fo rti tude . Thei rSplend id victo rie s ove r the gre at .king, whomthey twi ce pu rsued as fa r as the gates o f Ctesiphon

,l a i d the found ation s o f the i r un i ted fame

and power . The armies which they com

5 1 1

Her va lor.

5 1 2 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

manded,and the p rovinces which they h ad

s aved,acknowledged not any othe r sove re igns

th an thei r invincible ch ie fs . The Senate andpeople o f Rome reve red a s trange r who hadavenged thei r c aptive empe ro r

,and even the

in sens ib le son Of Val e ri an accep ted Odenathusfo r h i s l egi timate col l eague .

Afte r a su ccess ful exped i tion agains t theGoth i c p lunde re rs o f As i a

,the Palmyren i an

p rince retu rned to the c i ty o f Emesa in Syri a .

Invincib le in wa r,he was the re cut off by

treason .

W i th the as s i s tance o f h is mos t f ai th fulf ri ends

,Zenob i a immedi ately fi l l ed the vacan t

th rone,and gove rned wi th manly counsel s

Palmyra,Syri a

,and the Eas t

,above five yea rs .

By the death o f Odenathu s,th at autho ri ty was

a t an end wh ich the Sen ate h ad granted h imonly as a pe rson al d i s t inction ; but h i s marti alw i dow

,di sda in ing both the S en ate and Gal

l i enus,obl iged one o f the Roman gene ral s

,

who was sen t agains t he r,to ret reat in to Eu

rope,with the los s o f h i s a rmy and h i s repu

tati on . In ste ad o f the l i ttl e p ass ions wh ich sof requently pe rp lex a female re ign

,the s teady

admini s t ration o f Zenob i a was gu ided by themos t j ud i cious maxims o f pol i cy . I f i t wasexped ien t to p a rdon

,she coul d calm he r re

sentment ; i f i t was neces s a ry to pun ish , shecoul d impose s i l ence on the vo ice o f p i ty.

Her s tri c t economy was accused o f ava ri ce ;ye t on eve ry p rope r occas ion she appea red

5 1 4 THE WORLD ’


n ate s i ege,by the help o f a perfi d ious ci tizen .

Antio ch was dese rted on h i s app ro ach,ti l l the

empero r,by h i s s alu ta ry ed i cts

,recal l ed the

fugi tives,and granted a gene ral p a rdon to al l

who,f rom neces s i ty rathe r th an choi ce

,had

been engaged in the se rvi ce o f the Palmyreni anqueen . The unexpected mi ldnes s o f such aconduct reconci l ed the minds o f the Syri ans

,

and,a s fa r as the gates Of Emesa

,the wi shes

Of the people seconded the te rro r o f h is a rms .Zenob i a would h ave i l l dese rved he r repu

H e d efea ts tation,h ad she indolently pe rmi tted the Em

the Pa lmy{gg

iggftfgs peror o f the Wes t to app ro ach wi th in a hun

gfi ci Et

rifés’Ldred miles Of he r c ap i tal . The fate Of theE as t was dec ided in two great battl es . Inboth

,the Queen Of Palmyra an imated the

a rmies by he r p resence,and devolved the

execution o f he r o rde rs on Zabdas,who had

a l re ady s ignal ized h i s mi l i ta ry talents by theconques t o f Egyp t . Afte r the defeat o fEmesa,Zenob i a found i t impos s ib le to coll ect a th i rd a rmy . As fa r as the f ron tie r o fEgypt

,the n ations subj ect to he r empi re h ad

j o ined the s tand a rd o f the conque ro r,who de

tac hed Probus,the b raves t Of hi s gene ral s

,to

posses s h imsel f o f the Egypti an p rovinces .Palmyra was the l as t resou rce o f the widowof Odenathus.

‘She reti red wi th in the wal l so f he r c ap i tal

,made eve ry p rep a ration fo r a

v i go rous res i s tance,and decl a red

,with the

in trep id i ty o f a he ro ine,th at the l as t moment

of he r reign and o f he r l i fe shoul d be the s ame .

aFALL OF ZENOBIA A N D PALMYRA 5 1 5

In h i s march ove r the s andy dese rt betweenEmesa and Palmyra

,the Empero r Au rel i an

was pe rpetual ly ha rassed by the Arabs ; no rcoul d he always de fend hi s a rmy

,and espe - Pa lmm

c i al ly hi s baggage , f rom those flying troop sARISE? "

o f active and da ring robbe rs,who watched the

momen t o f su rp ri se,and eluded the s low pu r

sui t of the legions . The s iege o f Palmyrawas an Obj ect f a r mo re d i fli c u lt and impo rtan t

,

and the empero r,who with inces s an t vigo r

p res sed the attack in pe rson,was h imsel f

wounded wi th a da rt . “The Roman people,

s ays Aurel i an,in an o rigin al le tte r

,

“speakwith contempt o f the wa r wh ich I am wagingagains t a woman . They are igno ran t both o fthe ch a racte r and of the power o f Zenob i a .

I t i s imposs ible to enume rate he r warl ikep repa rations

,o f s tones

,o f a rrows

,and Of eve ry

spec ies Of miss i l e weapons . Eve ry p a rt Of thewal l s i s p rovided with two o r th ree ba l i stae,and artific i al fi res a re th rown f rom he r mil ita ry engin es . The fe a r Of punishment h asa rmed he r with a despe rate cou rage . Yet s ti l lI t rus t in the p rotecting dei t ies o f Rome

,who

have hi the rto been f avo rab le to al l my unde rtakings .”

Doub tful,howeve r

,Of the p rotection o f

the gods,and o f the even t o f the s iege

,

Aurel i an judged i t mo re p rudent to o ffe rte rms o f an advantageous c ap i tu l ation ; to thequeen

,a sp lend id ret re at ; to the c i ti z ens , the i r

ancient p rivi leges . His p ropos al s we re obsti

5 1 6

H i s lenity .

THE WORLD ’


nately rej ected , and the refus al was aecom

pan i ed with insul t .The fi rmness o f Zenob i a was suppo rted by

the hope th at,in a ve ry sho rt time

,f amine

would compel the Roman a rmy to repass thedese rt ; and by the re ason ab le expectation th atthe kings Of the East

,and pa rti cul a rly the

Pe rs i an mona rch,would a rm in the defence

o f thei r mos t n atu ral al ly . But fo rtune andthe pe rseve rance o f Aurel i an ove rc ame everyobs tacle . The death of S apo r

,which hap

pened about thi s time,di st racted the counci l s .

o f Pe rs i a,and the incons i de rab l e succo rs that

attempted to rel i eve Palmyra,we re e as i ly in

terc ep ted e i the r by the a rms o r the l ibe ral ityOf the empe ro r . From eve ry p a rt o f Syri a

,

a regul a r success ion Of convoys s afely a r rivedin the camp

,which was inc re ased by the re

tu rn of Probus with h i s victo rious troops f romthe conques t o f Egypt . I t was then th at Zenob i a resolved to fly . She mounted the fleetesto f he r d romeda ries

,and h ad al re ady reached

the b anks o f the Euph rates,about s ixty miles

f rom Palmyra,when she was ove rtaken by the

pu rsu i t o f Au rel i an ’s l igh t ho rse,se iz ed

,and

b rough t b ack a cap tive to the fee t o f the em

peror. Her cap i tal soon a fte rward su rrende red

,and was t re ated with unexpected len i ty .

The arms,ho rses

,and camels

,with an im

mense t re asu re o f gold,s i lve r

,s i lk

,and p re

c ion s s tones,were al l del ive red to the con

queror, who , l e aving only a ga rri son Of s ix

FALL OF ZENOBIA AN D PALMYRA 5 1 7

hund red a rche rs,retu rned to Emesa

,and em

ployed some time in the d i s t ribution of rewardsand puni shments a t the end of so memo rab lea wa r

,which res to red to the Obed ience o f

Rome those p rovinces th at h ad renouncedthe i r al l egi ance s ince the captivi ty o f Vale ri an .

Retu rn ing f rom the conquest o f the Eas t, fiifiifi

’

Aurel i an had al ready c ros sed the s tra i ts wh ichof p almm '

d ivi de Eu rope f rom Asi a,when he was p ro.

voked by the intel l igence th at the Palmyren i ans had mass ac red the gove rno r and garrison which he h ad le ft among them

,and again

erected the s tanda rd Of revol t . W i thout amoment’s del ibe ration

,he once mo re tu rned

hi s f ace toward Syri a . Antioch was al a rmedby hi s rap id app ro ach

,and the helples s c i ty

o f Palmyra fe l t the i r res i s tib le weight o f h i sresentment . We have a l ette r o f Au rel i anh imsel f

,in which he acknowledges th at Old

men,women

,ch i l d ren

,and peas ants h ad been

involved in th at d re ad ful execution,which

shoul d h ave been confined to a rmed rebel l ion ;and al though h i s p rin cip al conce rn seems d ire c ted to the re - es tab l i shment o f a temple o fthe sun

,he d i scove rs some p i ty fo r the rem

nant o f the Palmyren i ans,to whom he grants

the pe rmis s ion Of rebui l d ing and inhab i tingthei r c i ty . Bu t i t i s e as i e r to des troy th an tores to re . The seat Of commerce

,o f a rts

,and

oPa lmyra

Of Zenob i a,gradu al ly sunk i nto an Obsc u re sinks intoobscurity.

town,a trifl ing fo rt ress

,and at length a mise r

abl e vi l l age .

5 1 8 THE WORLD ’


S ince the foundation o f Rome,no gene ral

h ad more nobly dese rved a triumph than A u

rel i an ; no r was a tr iumph eve r cel eb rated with

T riumph of superio r p ri de and magn ificence . The pompAurelian .

V ariouscapt ives.

was opened by twen ty el ephants,fou r royal

tige rs,and above two hund red of the mos t

cu rious an imals f rom eve ry cl imate o f theno rth

,the e as t

,and the south . They were

fol lowed by s ixteen hund red gl ad i ato rs,de

voted to the c ruel amusement o f the amphitheatre . The weal th Of Asi a

,the a rms and

ens igns Of so many conque red n ations,and the

magn ificen t pl ate and wardrobe of the Syri anqueen

,were d i sposed in exact symmetry o r a rt

ful d iso rde r . The amb ass ado rs o f the mos tremote p arts o f the e a rth

,o f E th iop i a

,Arabi a

,

Pe rs i a,Bac tri ana

,I nd i a

,and Chin a

,al l re

markable by thei r ri ch o r s ingul a r d resses,

d i spl ayed the fame and powe r of the Romanempero r

,who exposed l ikewi se to the publ ic

View the p resents th at he h ad rece ived,and

pa rti cul a rly a gre at number o f c rowns o f gold,

the Offe rings o f grate ful ci ti e s . The victo ri esOf Aurel i an we re attested by the long traino f captives who reluctan tly attended hi s t riumph

,Goths

,Vandal s

,S a rmati ans

,Alemanni

,

Franks,Gaul s

,Syri ans

,and Egypti ans . Each

people was d i s tinguished by i ts pecul i a r ins c rip tion

,and the ti tl e o f Amazons was be

s towed on ten ma rti al he ro ines o f the Goth icnation who had been taken in a rms . Buteve ry eye

,di s rega rd ing the c rowd Of captives,

“ 1 273FALL OF ZENOBIA A N D PALMYRA 5 1 9

was fixed on the Empe ro r T etri c us,and the

Queen o f the Eas t . The fo rme r,as well as hi s

son,whom he h ad c reated Augustus

,was

d res sed in Gal l i c t rouse rs,a s aff ron tun i c

,and

Zenob ia ,c d

robe o f pu rpl e . The beauteous figu re o f Zeno 33153235“

bi a was confined by fette rs o f gold ; a s l avet r iumph

suppo rted the gold ch ain which enci rcled he rneck

,and she almos t fa inted unde r the i ntoler

able weigh t o f j ewel s . She p receded on foo tthe magn ificen t Chario t in which she oncehoped to ente r the gates o f Rome . I t was followed by two othe r ch ariots

,s ti l l mo re sump

tuon s,o f Odenathus and o f the Pe rs i an mon

a rch . The triumphal ca r o f Aurel i an (i t h adfo rme rly been used by a Goth ic king ) wasd rawn

,on th i s memorab le occas ion

,e i the r by

fou r s tags o r by fou r elephants . The mos ti l lus t rious o f the Senate

,the people

,and the

a rmy,c losed the so lemn p roces s ion .

!Diocl eti an d ivides and reo rgan i zes theemp i re i n 285 . Afte r h is abd ic ation

,in 305,

there i s a pe riod o f renewed con fus ion andcivi l wa r . The emp i re i s reun i ted by Constantine

,th e fi rs t Ch ri s t i an empe ro r

,in 324 .

S ix ye a rs l ate r he removes the seat o f government to Byzantium

,where he founds a new

c i ty ]

THE FOUNDING OF CONSTA NT I NOPLE

W ILLIAM FRANCIS COLLIER

HE re ign o f Constantine i s remarkablein Roman h i s to ry fo r th ree re asons : hewas the fi rs t empe ro r p ro fes s ing Chri s

ti an i ty ; he adopted a new pol i cy, in whichwe can detect some fo resh adows o f the speedydecay o f the Wes te rn Emp i re ; he founded anew cap i tal

,thus giving a powerful impulse

to th at sep a ration o f the Emp i re i nto Eas t andWes t

,which began unde r D iocl eti an in 286

,

and was comple ted in 364, when the b rothersValens and Val entin i an wo re the pu rple .

Cons tan tine the G re at was bo rn at N ai ssus

i n D aci a ; some s ay at D repanum i n B i thyn i a .

' 274

His f athe r was Constant iu s Chlorus (the S all ow ) , who ruled Gaul , B ritain , and Sp ain ;h is mothe r Helen a was the daughte r o f aninnkeepe r .The mothe r being d ivo rced

,the son

,who

sha red he r fal l,was l e ft at e ighteen wi th l i ttl e

fo rtune but h i s swo rd . Taking se rvi ce unde rD iocl eti an

,he fought h i s way up in Egypti an

and Pers i an wars to be a tribune Of the fi rs trank ; and so popul a r d id the b rave youth be(520)

522

Battleof theRed Rocks

,

A D . 31 2.

T H E WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS m y .

c re t . The death of Galeri us,f rom disease

caused by intempe rance,reduced the l i s t s ti l l

fu rthe r . And then Cons tantine,with a swo rd

sh a rpened by s ix yea rs ’ success fu l wa r inGaul

,c rossed the Alps to do b attl e with the

e ffemin ate M axenti us. Susa,a t the foot o f

Mount Cen i s,was sto rmed in a s ingle d ay .

Forty miles fu rthe r on,at Tu rin

,he scat

tered an a rmy strong in mai l -cl ad caval ry .

Mil an and Ve rona then fel l ; and the way toRome was Open .

At the Red Rocks (S axa Rub ra ) , n ine mi lesf rom Rome

,he found the a rmy Of M axentius

in l ine o f b attl e,the Tibe r gua rd ing thei r rea r .

Constantine led on h is Gal l i c ho rse, and madesho rt wo rk Of the unwieldy masses o f c aval rythat cove red h i s r ival ’s fl anks . The I tal i anfootmen Of the centre then fled almos t without s t riking a blow . Thous ands we re d riveninto the“ Tibe r . The b rave P reto ri ans

,de

spai ring o f me rcy, d ied in h eaps whe re theys tood . A bridge nea r the mode rn Ponte M ilvio was so choked with the flying sol d ie rsthat M axenti us

,in t rying to s t ruggle th rough

the c rowd,was pushed into the wate r

,and

d rowned by h is weighty a rmo r .Wri te rs Of the time tel l us th at

,befo re th is

b attl e,Constantine s aw the Vi s ion o f a c ross

hung in the sky,with the Greek wo rds

,

’

Ev 7 067 0)

(“In th i s wri tten in le tte rs Of

l ight . Hencefo rth h is t roops ma rched unde ra s tandard cal led Lab arum

,the top o f which

A .D . 33o THE FOUNDING OF CONSTANTINOPLE 523

was ado rned wi th a mysti c X,rep resenting

at once the c ros s and the in i t i a l le tte r of theGreek wo rd Ch ri st .Ente ring Rome in t riumph

,he began at

once to secu re h is victo ry . The P reto ri angua rds we re di sb anded

,and scatte red fo reve r .

The tax,which M axenti us had occas ion al ly

levied on the sen ate unde r the name Of a f reegi ft

,was made l as t i ng . Three o f the SIX em

perors now remained . But,war soon b reak

ing out between Maximin and L i c in ius,the

fo rme r was de fe ated nea r Heracle a,and died

in a few month s at Tarsus,most l ikely by

poison . Two empe ro rs then sh a red the powerbetween them ; Constantine hold ing the Westand L i c in ius the Eas t .A qua rrel soon arose

,as might be expected

f rom the natu re o f the men—Constantine,

push ing,cleve r

,and by no means t roub led

wi th a tende r consci ence ; L i c in iu s , unde rh and

,a rt ful

,dange rous . I t made no matter

that the s i s te r Of Constantine was the wi fe o fL i c in ius . Wa r was begun . At C i b al i s inPannon i a

,and on the pl a in o f Mardi a in

Th race,Cons tantine was Vi cto rious ; and the

beaten empe ro r was compel led to yiel d as thep ri ce o f peace al l h i s Eu ropean domin ionsexcept Th race .

The re was then peace between the rival s fo rnea rly eigh t yea rs

,du ring which the mostg

l

cmiggd

of

notable even t was a wa r with the Goths and Sa rma t ians‘

S armati ans They h ad long been mus

A .D . 31 3.

524 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 33o

te ring on the no rth b ank Of the D anube,and

now pou red thei r swarms upon I l lyricum .

But they h ad to de al with a reso lute so ld ie r,

who d rove them with h a rd and heavy blowsb ack ove r the b ro ad s tream

,and fol lowed

them in to the i r s t ronges t hol ds .Then

,in the flush o f vi cto ry

,he tu rned h i s

swo rd again upon L i c in ius . At once al ltThrac e gl i tte red with a rms

,and

,

the Hellespont was whi te wi th s ai l s . A Victo ry

,

gained by Constantine at Ad ri anople,d rove

the Empero r o f the E ast in to Byzantium .

Bes ieged the re,he held out a whi le ; but, the

pass age o f the Hel lespont be ing fo rced byC ri spus

,Cons tan tine ’s el des t son

,who led a

few smal l sh ip s to attack a great fleet o f th reedecke rs

,he was fo rced into As i a

,where he

was fin al ly vanqui shed on the h i l l s o f Ch rysOpol i s

,now Scuta ri . In sp i te o f h i s wi fe ’s

p raye rs and te a rs,he was executed a few

month s l ate r at Thess alon ica,when h i s death

le ft Constan tine so le maste r Of the Romanworl d .

Thi s empe ro r,influenced pe rhaps by h is

mothe r’s e a rly te ach ing,f avo red Ch ri sti an i ty .

He did no t Openly fo rb id Pagan ism,but chose

rathe r to work by rid icule and neglect . Someri tes he abol i shed

,and some temples he closed,

but on ly those noto rious fo r f raud o r indec enc y. W i thout dep res s ing Pagan i sm

,he

rai sed the new c reed to the level o f the Old .

W i th pub l i c money he rep ai red the Old

m m T H E FOUND ING OF CONSTANTINOPLE 525

churches and bui l t new ones,so th at in eve ry

great ci ty the Pagan temples we re faced byCh ri s t i an chu rches o f a rch i tectu re ri che r andmo re be auti fu l th an eve r . The Ch ri s ti ancle rgy we re f reed f rom taxes . Sunday wasp rocl a imed a d ay o f res t . And

,to c rown al l

,

he removed the seat o f gove rnmen t to a newcapi tal

,which was es senti al ly a Ch ri s t i an

c i ty,fo r nowhe re d id a Pagan temple b lo t the

s t reets,sh in ing with the wh i te marb le o f P ro

c onnesus.

In the con trove rs ie s o f the Chu rch the em

peror took an active but Ch angeab le p a rt, andgii i’

fzfiiin

c

’

u

attended in pe rson the fi rs t gene ral counc i l of“1 A 'D ' 3ZS'

b i shops,hel d at N i ce a

,in B i thyn i a

,to dec ide

on the case Of Arius,who den ied the d ivin i ty

o f Ch ri s t . Arius was b an ished ; but, th reeyea rs a fte rward

,Cons tantine

,who regarded

the whole question as one o f s l ight impo rtance

,res to red h im to hi s chu rch at Alex »

and ri a .

The spot whe re Byzantium h ad al re adys tood fo r mo re than 900 yea rs was Chosen as S i te of the

the s i te Of the new cap i ta l . Wh i le bes ieging2f3m .

L i c in iu s the re,Constantine s aw how from that

central pos i tion a s trong h and,wielding the

Scept re o f the wo rld,cou ld s trike e as t o r wes t

with equal suddennes s and fo rce . At thesouthe rn end of the Bospho rus a p romonto ryo f the Th rac i an shorew washed on the southby the Se a Of Marmo ra (then cal led Propont i s ) , and on the no rth by the fine ha rbo r Of the

526 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 33o

Golden Ho rn— runs to with in 600 yard s OfAsi a . Seven h il l s r i s e the re ; and on these thec i ty l ay

,commanding at once two great con

tinents and two great inl and seas .The empe ro r

,sp ea r in h and

,heading a long

l ine o f nobles,marked out the bound a ry o f the

wal l . As mile a fte r mi l e went by,al l won

de red at the growing sp ace ; yet he s ti l l wenton .

“I shal l advance,

” s a i d he,

“ti l l the i nv i s ib le gu ide who ma rches befo re me th inksr igh t to s top .

”

Gold wi thou t s tin t was l avi shed on the newbui ld ings . B ronzes and marb les

,wrought by

the Ch i se l s Of Phid i as and Lys ippus,were

s tolen f rom Greece and As i a to ado rn thepubl i c walks . When those senato rs

,whom the

gi fts and invi tations o f the empe ro r h ad i ndu c ed to remove f rom Rome

,reac hed

,the

sho res o f th e Bospho rus,they found wai ting

to rece ive them pal aces bu i l t exactly afte r themodel o f those they had le ft beh ind . On theday o f ded i cation the c i ty rece ived the nameo f N ew Rome ; but th is ti tle was soon exch anged fo r th a t bo rne eve r s ince— Constantinople . One resul t o f th i s great ch ange ,whichreduced Rome to a second - rate c i ty

,was to

concentrate fo r a time,in the Old c ap i tal , more

intensely th an eve r,al l the b i tte rnes s o f Pagan

i sm . The new capi tal soon became the cen treo f a sep a rate empi re

,which su rvived the Old

fo r nearly a thous and yea rs .The new pol i cy of Cons tantine was marked

A .D . 33oTHE FOUNDING OF CONSTANTINOPLE 527

by th ree ch ie f fe atu res . 1 . He scatte red ti tleso f nob i l i ty with an u nsp a ring hand

,so mats

( t npone)“

the re was no end o f I l lus t r i ous , Respectable

,

” “Mos t Hono rab le,

” “Most Pe rfect,

”

“Egregious,

” men about the cou rt . The As iatic fash ion of p i l ing up adj ectives and nounsto make swel l ing n ames Of hono r became al lthe rage ; and on eve ry s ide was hea rd ,

“YourGravi ty

,

” o r “You r S ince ri ty,

” o r “You r Subl ime andWonde rful Magni tude .

”2 . He l aid

d i rect and heavie r taxes upon the people .

Forty mi l l ions were pou red into h i s t re asu ryeve ry yea r . These taxes

,pai d ch iefly in gold

,

but also in kind,were col lected by the Cu ri al s

,

men high in the magis t racy o f the towns ; andi f the re was any defic iency

,they were com

pelled to make i t up out o f the i r own p rope rty .

3. In the a rmy great and fatal ch anges weremade . The mi l i ta ry se rvice was sep a ratedf rom the c ivi l gove rnment

,and pl aced unde r

the di rection Of e igh t Maste rs -Gene ral . The The legimbroken up .famous legions we re b roken up in to smal lb ands . Numbe rs o f Goths and othe r b a rbari ans were enl i s ted in the Roman se rvice

,

and taught to use a rms,which they afte rward

turned upon the i r maste rs . And a di s tinctionwas made between the t roops o f the cou rt andthe troop s o f the f rontie r . The la tte r

,bea r

ing al l the ha rd blows,rece ived but s canty

rewards ; while the fo rme r, rej o i c ing in h ighpay

,and l iving in ci tie s - among baths and

theatres,speed i ly los t al l cou rage and ski l l .

528

D ea th andcha ra ctero f Constant ine .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A.D . 330

The l as t yea rs o f Cons tantine we re occup iedwith a succes s fu l wa r agains t the Goths

,un

dertaken in a i d o f the S a rmati ans . Threehund red thous and Of the l atte r n ation weresettl ed unde r Roman p ro tection in Th raceand Macedon i a

,no doub t to se rve as a ram

part agains t the enc ro achments of o th e r t ribes .Constan tine d ied at N i comed i a

,aged s ixty

fou r . ‘ He is s a id to h ave been b aptized on h i sdeath -bed by an Ari an b ishop . Acco rding toh is own l as t reques t

,h is body was ca rried ove r

to Cons tantinop le ; and , while i t l ay the re ona g olden bed , a poo r mocke ry of kingsh ip ,c rowned and robed in pu rple

,eve ry day

,at

the usu al hou r'

of l evee,the great offi ce rs of

s tate came to bow befo re the l i fe les s cl ay .

When we str ip away the tin sel with wh ichEuseb iu s and s imi l a r wri te rs h ave decked the .

ch aracte r Of th i s man,we a re fo rced to bel ieve

th at the re was l i ttle grand o r he roi c about h imexcept h i s mi l i ta ry ski l l . He slew hi s f athe rin- l aw ; and , i n l ate r d ays , meanly j e alous o fj us tly-won l au rel s

,he hu rried h is el des t son

,

the gal l an t young C ri spus,f rom a gay feas t

in Rome to d i e by a sec ret and sudden death .

Many of h i s s t rokes o f pol i cy we re te r rib leb lunde rs

,ful l o f futu re ru in ; and h is boas ted

p ro fes s ion o f Ch ri s ti an i ty seems to have beensca rcely bette r th an a mere p retence

,made to

se rve the aims o f an un res ti ng and unse rn

pu lous ambit ion .

530

Tertull ian .

Counc il o fSard i c a .

Three greatfounders o fPapa cy .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

Bu t unhapp i ly the re c ame a time when st re amso f poi son began to flow from the once purefoun ta in.

Befo re the close o f the Fi rs t Centu ry Ch risti an chu rches we re s catte red ove r al l theknown wo rld . These we re at fi rs t e ssenti al lyGreek in thei r l anguage

,the i r S c rip tu res

,and

the i r fo rms o f wo rsh ip . I t was in Af ri cawhe re

,about 200

,flou ri shed Tertul l i an

,fi rs t

o f the grea t Fathe rs who wrote in Latinthat

—

Latin Ch ri s ti an i ty may be s a i d to h aveh ad i ts b i rth . But Rome being the cent re ofthe civi l i zed wo rld

,the Ch ri s ti an communi

ti es eve rywhe re began n atu ral ly to look to theRoman b i shop as a l eade r in the Chu rch .

A great s tep in th is d i rection was taken,

when at the Counci l Of Sard iCa in 343 therigh t Of appeal to the B ishop of Rome was

,

though at fi rs t p rob ab ly only a tempo ra ry ex

ped i ent, fo rmal ly conceded . In the time ofD amasus the b i shop ri c h ad become a p ri zeworth con tes ting

,and blood flowed f reely du r

ing the election . Year afte r ye a r consol i d atedand extended the power o f th i s central see

,al

though a powe rful rival h ad sp rung up on theBosphorus .Innocen t I.

,Leo I.

,and Grego ry the Great,

were the th ree great founde rs o f the Papacy .

Wh il e Hono riu s was d i sgrac ing the name

Innoc en q empe ro r,Innocen t began h i s ponti fi c ate .

I t was soon clea r f rom hi s l e tte rs to the b ishopsin the Wes t that he was ben t on cl aiming fo r

THE GROWTH OF THE PAPACY

the see o f Rome a complete sup remacy in al lmatte rs o f d i sc ipl ine and us age . In the mids to f h i s effo rts to secu re th i s end

,a te rrib le even t

occu r red,which had the e ffec t o f inves ting

him with a grandeu r unknown to h i s p redec essors. Alaric and h i s Goths bes ieged Rome .

Hono rius was t rembl ing amid the swamps OfRavenna ; but Innocen t was with in the wal l so f the cap i tal ; and , dese rted by he r empe ro r,Rome centred al l hope in he r bi shop . A ransom bought Off the enemy fo r a wh i l e ; and ,when

,soon afte r

,the gre at d i s as te r o f wreck

and pi l l age fel l upon the c i ty,Innocen t was

absen t in Ravenna,s triving to s ti r the coward

empe ro r to some show of manl ines s . He re

tu rned to evoke f rom the b l ack ashes Of PaganRome the temples Of a Ch ris ti an c i ty . Thencefo rward the pope was the greates t man inRome .

I n the l atte r d ays o f Innocen t the gre at

531

The heresyheresy o f Pel agiu s began to agitate the Wes t . “ Pelagius,

This man was a B ri ton,who p assed th rough

Rome,Afric a

,and Pales tine

,p reach ing th at

the re was no o rigin al s in ; th at men , havingpe rfec t f ree -wil l

,coul d keep al l d ivine com

mands,by the powe r Of natu re

,unaided by

grace . These doctr ines we re combated byAugustine

,B i shop o f H ippo in Afri ca

,one o f

the great Fathe rs Of the Chu rch,whose op in

ions soon became the s tanda rd Of o rthodoxyth rou ghout the Wes t . Innocent

,l e an ing to

ward Augus tine,decl a red Pel agius a he reti c,

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

but death p reven ted h im from doing mo re .

By Zoz imu s,the next pope

,Pel agius was ban

i shed,and Of h i s end noth ing i s known .

Leo I.

,a Roman by bi rth

,was unan imously

ra i sed to the popedom in 440 . Distingu ished'

fo r h i s s te rn deal ings wi th he reti cs,and h i s

ene rgeti c e ffo rts to extend the sp i ri tu al domin ion of Rome

,he yet

,l ike Innocent I.

,owes

h i s great pl ace in h i s to ry to the bol d f ron th e twice showed to the b a rba ri ans menacingRome . The s avage Atti l a was tu rned awayby h i s majes ti c remonstrance ; and , al thoughh i s inte rces s ion with Gense ri c the V andal

,

th ree years l ate r,had les s avai l

,i t yet b roke

the fo rce o f the blow that fel l on the h aplessC i ty .

Wh il e the Papacy was thus l aying the deepfoundations o f i ts au tho ri ty

,a hos t o f active

in tel lects we re busy mold ing i ts doctrines anddis c ip l ine in to sh ape . Chief among these

_were Je rome , Amb rose , and Augus tine . Jerome

,the sec re ta ry o f Pope D amasus

,and

afte rwa rd a monk o f Beth lehem,gave the fi rs t

great impulse to th at monasti c sys tem whichh as been so powerfu l an agent in sp read ing thedoctrines o f Pope ry . Ambrose

,Archb ishop of

M il an,v ind i cated the autho ri ty o f the p riest

hood even Ove r empe ro rs and kings,by con

demming Theodos ius I . to a long and wearypenance fo r h i s mass ac re o f the T hessalon i ams . Augustine

,al ready noti ced

,i s j us tly

cal led the Fathe r Of the Latin Theology.

T H E GROWTH OF TH E PAPACY 583

I t must not be fo rgotten th at the b a rb a ri ans, Conversion

who ove rth rew the Roman Empi re,had aI'

ggfiil

zelgar

ready,with few excep tions

,been conve rted to

Ch ri s ti ani ty . T he Goths we re the fi rs t to re

c e ive the gospel ; othe r tr ibes fo l lowed in quicksucces s ion

,fo r the Teuton ic ch a racte r had

,

even in i ts b a rba ri c ph ase,a groundwork of

deep thoughtfulness,wh ich secu red a ready

acceptance fo r Ch ris ti an i ty . And when theb a rb a ri c flood had swep t away eve ry vestigeo f Roman tempo ral powe r

,the Papacy

,che r

i shed by th at ve ry des troying power,con

tinued to grow,gathe ring eve ry yea r new

s trength and l i fe,

- a new Rome ris ing f romthe ashes of the Old

,f a r mightie r th an the van

i shed empi re,fo r i t c l a imed dominion ove r

the Spi ri ts o f men . In Grego ry the Great,G I

who became pope in 590 ,we behol d the th i rd A -g

i gsgzfioé?

gre at founde r Of the P apacy,and the fou rth

Of the great Fathe rs o f Latin Ch ris ti an i ty .

He it was,who

,while yet a humble monk of

S t . Andrew,be ing struck with the beauty o f

some Engl i sh boys in the Roman s l ave market

,fo rmed the des ign Of send ing a miss ion

to B ri tain ; and some yea rs a fterward despatc hed Augustine to these sho res . All theWes t fel t h i s ene rgy . Spain

,Africa

,and B ri t

a in,were b rought Wi th in the pale o f the

Chu rch,while J ews and he reti cs we re treated

with mil d tol e ration . A notable fact o f th i s

ponti fi c ate was Grego ry’s l e tte r to J ohn

,Pa

t ri a rch o f Cons tantinople,who openly Cl a imed

534 THE WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS

the ti tl e o f Un ive rs al B i shop . Grego ryb randed i t as a bl asphemous name

,once ap

pl ied,in hono r o f S t . Pe te r

,by the Counci l

Of Chal cedon to the Roman B ishop,but by

al l succeeding pontiffs rej ected as inj u riousto the res t o f the p ries thood . Wa r with theLombards fi l l ed G rego ry’s h ands wi th t roubles ; but in no long time these fie rce warrio rsfel t a powe r

,agains t wh ich thei r swo rds were

wo rth les s,casting its s pel l s ove r them . In

the days Of Grego ry they were conve rted f rombeing heathens

,o r at bes t reckless Ari ans

,to

o rthodox Ch ris ti an i ty . He died in 604, l e aving a n ame

,as p ries t

,rule r

,and wri te r

,second

to none in the long rol l o f popes .One hund red and fi fty yea rs l ate r

,when

Pepin the Shortmade Pope S tephen I I . a p resen t Of the Exa rchate and Pentapol i s in No rthI taly

,the tempo ral powe r Of the popes b egan .

!The Empero r J ul i an i s ki l led in b attl ewith the Pe rs i ans in 363. In the fol lowingyea r

,the Empi re i s aga in d iv i ded ; Valentin ian

taking the Wes t and Valens the E as t . V al entin i an d rives the Alemann i and othe r Ge rmaninvade rs f rom Gaul . In 367, Val ens p ro fessesAri ani sm and pe rsecute s the Cathol ics . In

370 , Valen tin i an res t rains the ava ri ce o f thecle rgy . In 375, the Huns attack the Goths ,who beg fo r Roman p rotection . They areal lowed to c ros s the Danube and settle in theRoman p rovinces

,but a wa r soon b reaks ou t

THE GROWTH OF THE PAPACY

be tween them and the Romans,and they de

s t roy the Empero r Val ens and h i s a rmy,and

ravage the Roman te r ri to ries . The Empero r

535

Theodos ius reduces them to submiss ion in 382 .5 13 -382

-

452 .

In 386, the O s t rogoth s al so invade the Empi re ,but a re de fe ated . They settl e in Th race .andin As i a f rom 383 to 395 . In 380 , Ari an i sm i sdes troyed in Constantinopl e

,Theodos ius i s su

ing ed icts agains t the he reti cs . In 395, theEmpi re i s final ly d ivided between the twosons Of Theodos ius . The Goths revol t, and ,unde r Al a ri c

,attack both the Roman Empi res .

In 4 1 0 , Ala ri c penetrates in to I taly and s acksRome . The Roman gar ri son i s withd rawnf rom B ri ta in to repel the attacks o f the b arbari ans. The Goths march into Gaul in 4 1 2 ,and in 4 1 4 in to Spain , which had al re ady beeninvaded by hosts Of Vandal s

,Suevi

,Alan i

,and

othe r Ge rman i c n ations . Gense ri c,the Van

dal king,conque rs the Roman p rovince o f

no rth Afri ca . The Huns attack the Eas te rnEmpi re in 44 1 , and ravage Eu rope as fa r asConstan tinople . The Romans consp i re agains tthe l i fe Of Atti l a

,king of the Huns

,but he

rep rimands and fo rgives the empe ro r . Heth reatens both Empi res

,and demands the

Princess Hono ri a in marri age . He invadesGaul and bes ieges O rle ans in 45 1 . In thegreat b attle o f Chélons

,Theodo ri c

,the king

o f the V i s igoths,i s ki l led

,but the Huns su ffe r

so seve rely th at they retre at . In 452 , Atil l ainvades I taly . ]

INVASION OF ITALY BY ATTILA—FOUNDA

TION OF THE REPUBLIC OF V ENICE

DESTRUCTION OF ATTILA’

S EMPIRE

(A .D. 452-453)

EDWARD GIBBON

E ITHER the Sp i ri t no r the fo rces no rthe reputation Of Atti l a we re im

pai red by the fai lu re Of the Gal l i cexped i tion . In the en su ing Sp ring

,he re

peated h i s demand o f the P rinces s Hono ri aand he r pat rimon i al t re asu res . The demandwas again rej ected

,o r eluded ; and the i nd i g

n ant love r immed i ate ly took the fiel d,passed

the Alp s,i nvaded I taly

,and bes ieged Aqui

le i a wi th an innumerable hos t o f B a rb ari ans .Those B arb a ri ans we re unski l l ed in methodso f conducting a regul a r s iege

,which

,even

among the ancien ts,requ i red some knowledge

,

o r a t le as t some p racti ce o f the mech ani c a rts .Bu t the l abo r Of many thous and p rov in ci al sand cap tives

,whose l ives we re s ac rificed wi th

out p i ty,might execute the most p ain ful and

dange rous wo rk . The Ski l l o f the Roman a rti sts might be co rrup ted to the des truction o fthei r country. The wal l s o f Aqui le i a we re as( 536)

5 38

Att ila det erminesto renewthe siege .

Att ila ’s

triumphantmarch .

THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 452-453

man soc iety,would neve r h ave abandoned he r

ancien t seats,unles s those towers h ad been

devoted to impending ruin and so l i tude . Thefavo rable omen insp i red an assu rance o f V i cto ry ; the s i ege was renewed , and p rosecutedwi th f resh Vigo r ; a l a rge b reach was made inthe pa rt o f the wal l f rom whence the Sto rkh ad taken he r fl ight ; the Huns mounted tothe ass aul t wi th i r res i s tib le fu ry ; and the succ eed ing gene ration coul d sc a rcely d iscove r theruins Of Aqui le i a . Afte r th i s d re adful ch asti sement

,Atti l a pu rsued h i s ma rch ; and , as he

p assed,the c i ties Of A l tinum

,Conco rd i a

,and

Padua we re reduced into heaps o f s tones andashes . The inl and towns V i cenz a

,Ve rona

,

and B ergamo were exposed to the rapaciousc ruel ty Of the Huns . Mil an and Pav i a subm i tted

,without res i s tan ce

,to the loss o f

weal th ; and appl auded the unusual clemencywh ich p rese rved f rom the fl ames the publ i c

,

as wel l as p rivate,buil d ings ; and sp ared the

l ives Of the c aptive mul ti tude . The popul a rt radi t ions o f Comum

,Turin o r Modena may

jus tly be suspected ; yet they concu r with moreauthenti c evidence to p rove that Atti l a sp readh i s ravages ove r the ri ch pl ains o f mode rnLomba rdy : which a re d ivided by the PO

,and

bounded by the Alps and Apennines . Whenhe took posses s ion o f the royal p al ace o f Mi l an

,

he was su rp ri sed,and o ff ended

,a t the s igh t

o f a p ictu re,which rep resented the Cmsars

s eated on thei r th rone and the p rinces Of

” 452-

453 T H E REPUBLIC OF VEN ICE 539

S cyth i a p ros trate at the i r fee t . The revenge0

which Atti l a infl i cted on th i s monument OfRoman van i ty was ha rmles s and ingenious .He commanded a p ainte r to reve rse the fi gu res and the atti tudes ; and the empero rs we redel ineated on the s ame canvas

,app roach ing

in a suppl i ant pos tu re to empty thei r b ags o ft ributa ry gol d befo re the th rone o f the S cythi an mona rch . The spectato rs must h ave confessed the t ruth and p rop riety o f th is al te ration ; and were pe rh aps tempted to apply, onth i s s ingul a r occas ion

,the wel l - known fab le

o f the d i spute between the l ion and the man .

I t i s a s aying worthy Of the fe rocious p ri deo f Atti l a

,th at the gras s neve r grew on the

spot where h i s ho rse h ad trod . Yet the s avagedestroye r undes ignedly l ai d the foundationso f a republ i c which revived

,in the feudal

Founda_

s tate o f Eu rope,the a rt and Sp i ri t o f commer- ii

‘

zn

fiéfi’ée

c i al industry . The cel eb rated n ame of Ven ice,

Of emc e '

o r Venez i a,was fo rme rly d iffused ove r a l a rge

and fe rti l e p rovince o f I taly,f rom the confines

o f Pannoni a to the rive r Addua,and f rom the

P0 to the Rheti an and Jul i an Alps . Befo rethe i r ruption o f the B arb a ri ans

,fi fty Veneti an

c i ti es flou ri shed in pe ace and p rospe ri ty ;Aqui le i a was pl aced in the mos t Consp icuouss tation ; but the ancient d ign i ty o f Padu a wassuppo rted by agri cul tu re and manufactu res ;and the p rope rty Of five hund red c i tizens

,who

were enti tled to the equest ri an rank,must

h ave amounted,a t the s t ri ctes t computation

,to

540

W ea lth o fthe Cit izens .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT E VENTS “ 1 452-

453

one mil l ion seven hund red thous and pounds .Many famil i es o f Aqu i le i a

,Padua

,and the ad

j acen t towns,who fled f rom the swo rd o f the

Huns,found a s afe

,though Obscu re

,re fuge in

the neighbo ring i s l ands . At the extremi ty ofthe Gul f

,where the H ad ri ati c feebly imitates

the tides o f the ocean,nea r a hund red smal l

i s l ands a re sep a rated by sh al low wate r f romthe con tinen t

,and p rotected f rom the waves

by seve ral long s l ips Of l and,which admit the

en trance o f ves sel s th rough some sec re t andn ar row channel s . Til l the middle o f the Fi fthCentu ry

,these remote and seques te red Spots

remained withou t cu l tivation,with few i h

h ab i tants,and almost wi thou t a n ame . But

the manne rs Of the Veneti an fugi tives,the i r

a rts and thei r gove rnment,were gradual ly

fo rmed by the i r new s i tuation ; and one of theep i stl es o f Cassiodori us

,which desc ribes the i r

condi tion abou t seventy yea rs a fte r ward,may

be cons i de red as the p rimi tive monument Ofthe republ i c .

The I tal i ans,who had long s ince renounced

the exe rci se o f a rms,were su rp ri sed

,afte r

fo r ty yea rs ’ peace,by the app ro ach Of a

fo rmi dabl e B a rb a ri an,whom they abho rred

,

as the enemy o f thei r rel igion as wel l as Ofthe i r republ i c . Amid the gene ral cons te rnation

,Actin s alone was incapab le o f fe a r ; but

i t was imposs ib l e th at he sbou i a ach ieve,

alone and unass i s ted,any mil i ta ry explo i ts

worthy o f h i s fo rme r renown . The B arb a

TH E REPUBLIC OF VEN ICE 541

ri ans who had defended Gaul refused toma rch to the rel ie f Of I taly ; and the succo rsp romised by the Eas te rn empe ro r were d i stant and doub tful . S ince A etius

,at the head of 5333

“ m ”

h i s domesti c t roops,s ti l l maintained the field

,

Ac t ins'

and h a ras sed o r reta rded the march o f Atti l a,

he neve r Showed h imsel f mo re truly gre atthan at the time when h i s conduct was bl amedby an igno ran t and ungrate ful peop le . I f themind o f Valentin i an h ad been suscep tib le o fany gene rous sentiments

,he would h ave chosen

such a gene ral fo r h i s example and h i s guide .

Bu t the timid grandson o f Theodos ius,ins te ad

o f sh aring the dange rs,escaped f rom the sound

o f war ; and h i s h as ty ret re at f rom Ravenn a toRome

,f rom an imp regnable fo rt ress to an

open cap i tal,betrayed h i s sec ret intention o f

abandon ing I taly as soon as the dange r shoul dapp ro ach h i s impe ri al pe rson . This sh amefulabd i cation was suspended

,however

,by the

sp i ri t o f doub t and del ay,which commonly

adhe res to pus i l l an imous counsel s,and some

times co rrects the i r pe rn ic ious tendency . TheWes te rn empero r

,with the Senate and people

Of Rome,emb raced the more s aluta ry resolu - T he Em'

p eror sendsan embassytion o f dep recating

,by a So lemn and suppl i ant to Atti la .

embassy,the wrath o f Atti l a . This impo rtant

commi ss ion was accepted by Av i enus,who

,

f rom hi s b i rth and riches,h i s consul a r dign i ty

the nume rous t rain o f h is cl i en ts,and h i s pe r

sonal ab i l i tie s,held the fi rs t rank in the RO

man Sen ate . The spec ious and a rtful ch a r

542

Att ila ’s

ha rdy warriors b ecome enervated .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 452—453

acte r Of Av i enus was admi rably qual ified toconduct a negoti ation ei the r o f publ i c o r p rivate in te res t ; hi s co l l eague, T rigetius, had exe rc i sed the P reto ri an p refec tu re o f I taly ; andLeo

,B ishop o f Rome

,consented to expose h i s

l i fe fo r the s a fety o f h i s flock . The gen ius o fLeo was exe rc i sed and di sp l ayed in the publ i cmis fo rtunes ; and he has dese rved the appel l ation o f Grea t by the succes s ful zeal wi th whichhe l abo red to estab l i sh h i s Op in ions and h i sautho ri ty

,unde r the vene rable n ames o f o rtho f

dox f ai th and eccles i as ti c al d i s c ipl ine . The

_ Roman ambass ado rs we re in troduced to thetent o f Atti l a

,as he l ay encamped at the pl ace

whe re the s low-winding M inc ius i s los t in thefo aming waves Of the l ake Benac hus

,and

tramp led,with h i s S cyth i an caval ry

,the fa rms

o f Catul lus and V i rgi l . The B arb a ri an mona rch l i s tened with favo rab le

,and even respect

ful,atten tion ; and the del ive rance o f I taly was

pu rch ased by the immense ransom,o r dowry

,

Of the P rinces s Hono ri a . The s tate o f hi sa rmy might f aci l i tate the t re a ty

,and hasten

h i s retrea t . Thei r marti a l Sp i ri t was rel axedby the weal th and indolence o f a warm cl imate . The Shephe rds o f the No rth

,whose

o rdin a ry food cons i s ted o f milk and raw flesh,

indulged themselves too f reely in the use o fb read

,Of wine

,and o f meat p repa red and sea

soned by the a rts o f cookery ; and the p rogressOf di se ase revenged

,in some measu re

,the in

j u ries o f the I tal i ans . When Atti l a decl ared

A M A-453 TH E REPUBLIC OF VEN ICE

h i s reso lution of ca rrying hi s Victo rious a rmsto the gates o f Rome

,he was admonished by

h i s f riends,as wel l as by h is enemies

,th at

Ala ri c had not long su rvived the conquest Ofthe e te rn al c i ty . His mind

,supe rio r to real

dange r,was as s aul ted by imagin a ry te rro rs ;

no r could he es cape the influence Of supe rstition

,which h ad so Often been subse rvient to

h i s des igns . The p ress ing eloquence Of Leo,

h i s maj es ti c aspect and s ace rdotal robes,ex

ci ted the vene ration o f Atti l a fo r the sp i ri tualf athe r o f the Ch ri s ti ans . The app ari tion o fthe two apostles

,S t . Pete r and S t . Paul

,who

menaced the B a rb a ri an wi th ins tant de ath i fhe rej ected the p raye r o f thei r successo r

,i s

one o f the nobles t l egends o f eccles i asti cal t rad i tion . The s afety o f Rome migh t dese rvethe in te rpos i tion o f celes ti al be ings ; and someindulgence i s due to a fable wh ich h as beenrep resented by the penci l Of Raphael and thech ise l o f A lgard i .Befo re the king Of the Huns evacuated

I taly,he th reatened to retu rn more d read ful

and more impl acabl e,i f h i s b ride

,the Prin

cess Hono ri a,were no t del ive red to h i s am

bassadors with in the te rm stipul ated by thetre aty . Yet

,in the meanwhi le Atti l a rel ieved

543

The appari ot ion of St .

Peter a ndSt . Paul .

his tende r anxiety by adding a beauti ful maid, Au“,

whose name was Ild i c o,to the l i s t Of h i s in

numerab le wives . Thei r ma rri age was celeb rated with b arb a ri c pomp and fes tivi ty ath i s wooden pal ace beyond the Danube ; and

ries Ild i c o .

544 T H E WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS

the monarch,Opp res sed wi th wine and sleep

,

reti red at a l ate hou r f rom the banquet to thenupti al bed . His attendants con tinued tore spect h is p le asu res

,o r h i s repose

,the great

es t p a rt o f the ensu ing mo rning,ti l l the um

usual s i l ence al a rmed the i r fea rs and su3picions ; and , afte r attempting to awaken Atti l aby loud and repeated crie s

,they at l ength

b roke into the royal ap a rtment . They foundthe t rembl ing b ride s i tting by the beds ide

,

hid ing he r face with he r ve i l,and l amenting

he r own dange r as wel l as the de ath o f theking

,who had expi red du ring the n igh t . An

arte ry h ad sudden ly bu rs t ; and , as Atti l a l ayin a sup ine pos tu re

,he was su ffocated by a to r

rent of b lood,which

,in s te ad o f finding a p as

s age th rough the nos tri l s,regu rgitated in to

the lungs and s tomach . His body was so lemnly exposed in the midst o f the pl ain unde ra s i lken p avi l ion ; and the Chosen squadrons o fthe Huns

,wheel ing round in measu red revo

lutions,ch anted a fune ral song to the memory

o f a he ro,glo rious in h i s l i fe

,i nvincib le in h i s

death,the f athe r o f h i s peopl e

,the s cou rge of

h i s enemies,and the te r ro r Of the wo rl d . A c

co rd ing to the i r n ation al cus tom,the B arb a

ri ans cu t Off a part o f thei r h ai r,gashed thei r

f aces wi th unseemly wounds,and bewai led

the i r val i ant le ade r as he dese rved,not wi th

the tea rs o f women,but with the b lood of war

rio rs . The remains Of Atti l a we re inclosedwi th in th ree coffi ns

,Of gold

,o f s i lve r

,and o f

THE SAX ON CONQUE ST OF BR ITA I N

(A .D. 449)

JOHN RICHARD GREEN

T was to de fend I taly agains t the Gothsthat Rome in 4 1 0 recal led he r legion sf rom B ri tain . The p rovince

,thus l e f t

unai ded,seems to h ave fought b ravely agains t

i ts as s a i l ants,and once at l eas t to h ave d riven

back the P icts to thei r mounta in s in a ri s ingo f despai r . But the th reat o f f resh in roadsfound B ri ta in to rn with c ivi l qua rrel s whichmade a uni ted res i s tance imposs ible

,whi le i ts

P i c ti sh enemies s t rengthened themselves bya le ague wi th ma raude rs f rom I rel and (S cots ,as they we re then cal led ) , whose p i rate -boatswe re h a rrying the weste rn coas t Of the i s l and

,

and with a yet mo re fo rmidab l e race o f p i rateswho h ad long been p i l l aging along the B ri ti shChannel . These we re the Engl i sh . We donot know whethe r i t was the p res su re o f othe rt ribes o r the example o f thei r Ge rman b reth renwho we re now moving in a gene ral attack On

the empi re f rom thei r fo res t homes,o r Simply

the b a rrennes s o f the i r coas t,which d rove the

hunte rs,f a rme rs

,fi she rmen Of the Engl ish

t ribes to se a . But the da ring sp i ri t o f t he ir(546)

TH E SAX ON CONQUEST OF BRITAIN

race al re ady b roke out in the sec recy and suddenness o f the i r swoop , in the fi e rc eness of 54

331122353.

thei r onse t,in the ca reles s gleewi th which they

g i g n 6 8 °

s e i zed e ithe r swo rd o r oa r . “Foes a re they,

s ang a Roman poet o f the time,

“fie rce beyond othe r foes

,and cunn ing as they a re fie rce ;

the se a i s the i r schoo l o f wa r,and the sto rm

the i r f riend ; they a re se a-wolves th at l ive onthe p i l l age o f the wo rl d .

” To meet the le agueOf Pict

,S co t

,and S axon by the fo rces o f the

p rovince i tsel f became imposs ible ; and theone cou rse le ft was to imitate the fatal pol i cyby wh ich the empi re h ad invi ted i ts own doomwhile s tr iving to ave rt i t

,the pol i cy of match

ing b arb ari an agains t b a rb a ri an . The rule rso f B ri ta in reso lved to b reak the le ague by detach ing f rom i t the f reeboote rs who we re ha rtying he r eas te rn coas t

,and to use thei r new

al l ies agains t the P i c t . By the usual p romiseso f l and and pay

,a b and o f war rio rs f rom Jut

l and we re d rawn fo r th i s pu rpose in 449 tothe sho res o f Bri tain

,, wi th the i r ch ie fs , Henges t and Ho rs a

,at the i r head .

I t i s with the l anding Of Hengest and h i swar-band at Ebbsfleet on the sho res Of the TIR E. »I s l e

’

of Th anet th a t E ngl ish h is to ry begins fihfi é’

i

N O Spot in B ri ta in can be so s ac red to E h

gl ishmen as th at which fi rs t fe l t the t re ad ofEngl i sh fee t . There i s l i ttl e indeed to catchthe eye in Ebbsfleet i tsel f

,a me re l i f t o f h ighe r

ground,with a few gray cottages dotted ove r

i t,cut off nowadays f rom the se a by a re

548 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

cl a imed meadow and a se a -wall . But takenas a whole

,the s cene has a wi ld beauty Of i ts

own . To the righ t the white cu rve o f Ramsgate cl i ffs looks down on the c rescent of Pegwel l B ay ; f a r away to the le f t, ac ros s graymarsh - l evel s

,where smoke-wreaths mark the

s i tes o f Ri chbo rough and S andwich,the coas t

l ine bends d imly to the f resh ri se o f cl i ffs beyond Deal . Everyth ing in the ch a racte r o fthe ground confi rms the n ation al t rad i tion

115321 15 11 which fixed he re the fi rs t l and ingpl ace o f53333337. ou r Engl i sh f athe rs

,fo r great as the phys i cal

ch anges o f the country h ave been s ince theFi fth Centu ry

,they h ave to ld l i ttl e on i ts main

fe atu res . I t i s e asy to d i scove r in the mis tylevel o f the p resent M inste r marsh what wasonce a b road in l et Of se a p a rting Thanet f romthe main l and o f B ri ta in

,th rough wh ich the

p i rate-boats Of the fi rs t Engl i shmen came s ai ling with a fa i r wind to the l i ttl e gravel - sp i t

Them ,Of Ebbsfleet ; and Richbo rough , a fo rtres s

ing' Pla°e whose b roken ramparts s ti l l r i se above thegray fl ats wh i ch h ave taken the pl ace Of th i sOlde r sea - ch annel

,was the common l anding

pl ace o f t ravel l e rs f rom Gaul . I f the warsh ips o f the p i r ates the re fo re we re c ru i s ing Offthe co as t at the moment when the b a rgainwi th the B r i tons was concluded

,thei r d i sem

barkati on a t E bbsfleet, almos t beneath thewal l s Of Richbo rough

,woul d be n atu ral

enough . But the afte r- cu rrent o f events se rvesto show that the cho ice o f th i s l and ing- place

A .D . 449 THE SAX ON CONQUEST OF BRITAIN

was the re sul t Of a settled des ign . Bet weenthe B ri ton and h i s h i rel ing sold ie rs the re couldbe l i ttle t rus t . Qua rte rs in Th anet would s ati sfy the fol lowe rs o f Henges t, who sti l l l ay ins igh t o f the i r fel low - p i rates in the Channel

,

and who fel t themselves secu red agains t th et re ache ry which h ad so Often p roved fatal tothe ba rb ari an by the b ro ad in le t which pa rtedthei r c amp f rom the main l and . No r was thecho ice less s ati s f acto ry to the p rovinc i al

,

t rembl ing— and,as the even t p roved

,j ustly

tremb l ing— l es t in h i s zeal agains t the Picthe h ad int roduced an even fi erc er foe in toB ri ta in . His dange rous al l i es we re cooped upin a co rne r o f the l and

,and p arted f rom i t

by a se a - ch annel whi ch was gua rded by thes tronges t fo rtresse s o f the co as t .The need o f such p recautions was seen in

the d ispu tes wh ich arose as soon as the workfo r wh ich the mercen ari es h ad been h i red wasdone . The Picts we re ha rd ly sc atte red to the

549

The E uwinds in a gre at b attl e when dange r came gli shm a c k

f rom the Ju tes themselves . Thei r numbe rsp rob ab ly grew fast as the news o f the s ettlement sp read among the p i rates in the Ch annel

,and wi th the inc re ase Of the i r numbe r

must h ave grown th e diffi cul ty o f supplyingrations and pay . The d ispute wh ich a roseove r the se ques tions was at l as t closed by Hengest’s men wi th a th reat o f wa r . The th re at

,

howeve r,as we h ave seen

,was no easy one to

c a rry out . Right ac ross the i r p ath in any at

550

The lin eo f invasion .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A . D . 449

t ack upon B ri ta in Stretched the inle t o f seath a t p a rted Thanet f rom the mainl and

,a s tra i t

wh ich was then t rave rs ab l e only at l ow wate rby a long and dange rous fo rd

,and gua rded

at e i the r mouth by the fo rtres ses Of Ri c hborough and Reculve r . The ch annel o f the Medway

,with the fo res t o f the Weal d bending

round i t f rom the south,fu rn ished anothe r

l ine o f de fence in the rea r,whi le s tronghol ds

on the s i tes o f ou r Cante rbu ry and Roches te rgua rded the road to London ; and al l a roundl ay the sold ie rs

,pl aced at the command o f the

Coun t o f th e S axon Shore,to hol d the coas t

agains t th e b a rb a ri an . Great,howeve r

,as

these d ifli c u lti es were,they f ai l ed to Check

the sudden onse t o f the J utes . The inl et s eemsto h ave been c rossed

,the co as t- ro ad to Lon

don se ized,befo re any fo rce could be col lected

to oppose the Engl i sh advance ; and i t wason ly when they p assed the Swale and lookedto the i r righ t ove r the potte ri es whos e re fuses ti l l s t rews the mu dbanks of Up chu rch

,th a t

thei r ma rch seems to h ave swe rved ab ruptlyto the south . The gua rded wal l s o f Rocheste rp rob ably fo rced them to tu rn southward alongthe ri dge Of low h il l s wh i ch fo rms the eas te rnbound a ry o f the Medway val l ey . Thei r wayled them th rough a d i s t r i ct fu l l o f memorieso f a p as t wh ich h ad even then faded f rom theminds Of men ; fo r the h i l l - s lopes which theyt rave rsed we re the grave -ground o f a vani shed race

,and s catte red among the bowlde rs

T H E SAX ON CONQUEST OF BRITAIN

that s trewed the ground rose the c romlechs

55 1

Cromi cebsand huge ba r rows Of the de ad . One mIgIIIY and huge

re l i c su rvives in the monument now cal ledKi t’s Co ty House

,which had been l inked in

Old days by an avenue o f huge stones to a

bu ri al~ground nea r Addington . I t was f roma steep knol l on which the gray weathe rbeaten s tones o f th is monumen t a re re a redth at the Vi ew o f thei r fi rs t b attl efiel d wouldb re ak on the Engl i sh warrio rs ; and a l anewhi ch sti l l l e ads down from i t th rough peaceful homesteads would guide them ac ros s thefo rd wh ich h as le ft i ts n ame in the l i ttl e V i ll age o f Ayles fo rd . The Ch roni cle Of the conque ring people tel l s no th ing of the rush th atmay have carr ied the fo rd

,o r o f the fight that

went s truggl ing up th rough the vi lage . I t onlytel l s th at Ho rs a fe l l in the moment o f vi cto ry ;and the fl int-heap Of Hors ted

,which has long

p rese rved h is n ame,and was hel d

‘

in af te rtime to ma rk h i s grave

,i s thus the ea rl ies t Of

those monuments o f Engl i sh valo r Of whichWes tminste r i s the l as t and nobles t sh rine .

The victo ry Of Ayles fo rd d id more th an give

ba rrows .

Eas t Kent to the Engl i sh ; i t s truck the key-

E xterm-

m .

ti on of thenote o f the whole Engl i sh conques t o f B ri t B ritons .

ain . The mass ac re which fol lowed the b attl eindi cated at once the merc i l es s n atu re o fthe s truggle wh ich h ad begun . Wh il e theweal th ie r Kenti sh l andowners fled in p ani cove r se a

,the poo re r B ri tons took re fuge in h i l l

and fo res t t i l l hunge r d rove them f rom the i r

552 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

lu rking - pl aces to be cut down o r ens l aved bythei r conque ro rs . I t was in vain th at somesought shel te r with in the wal l s o f the i rchu rches ; fo r the rage of the Engl i sh seems toh ave bu rned fie rces t agains t the cle rgy . Thep ries ts we re s l ain at the al ta r

,the chu rches

fi red,the peas ants d riven by the flames to fl ing

themselves on a ring o f p i ti l ess s teel . I t i s ap i ctu re such as th i s which dis tingui shes theconquest o f B ri ta in f rom that Of the othep rovinces o f Rome . The conques t Of Gaulby the Frank

,o r o f I taly by the Lombard

,

p roved l i ttle mo re th an a forc ibl e settlemento f the one o r the othe r among tributa ry sub

je c ts who we re des ti ned in a long cou rse o fages to abso rb thei r conque ro rs . French i sthe tongue

,not o f the Frank

,but o f the Gaul

whom he ove rc ame ; and the f ai r h ai r o f theLomb ard i s now al l but unknown in Lombardy . But the Engl i sh conques t fo r a hund red and fi f ty yea rs was a shee r d i spossess ionand d r iving back Of the people whom the E ugl i sh conque red . In the wo rl d -wide s trugglebetween Rome and the German invade rs nol and was so s tubbo rnly fough t fo r o r so h a rd ly '

won . The conques t o f B ri tain was indeedonly p artly wrought out a fte r two centu rieso f b i tte r warfa re . But i t was j us t th rough thelong and merci les s n atu re o f the s truggle th ato f al l the Ge rman conquests th i s p roved themost tho rough and complete . SO f a r as theEngl i sh swo rd in these ea rl ie r d ays re ached

,

554

Gre ed o fplunder.

The fa ll o fPevensey .

T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

been ab andoned,and i t was only on i ts south

e rn sho re th at the B ri tons hel d the i r ground .

E i gh t yea rs l ate r the long contes t was ove r,

and wi th the f al l o f Lymne,whose b roken

wal l s look f rom the s lope to which they cl ingove r the gre at fl at o f Romney Marsh

,the work

o f the fi rs t conque ro r was done . But thegreed o f p lunde r d rew f resh war-bands f romthe Ge rman coas t . N ew invade rs

,d rawn

f rom among the S axon tr ibes th at l ay be tweenthe E lb e and the Rhine

,were seen in 477, only

fou r yea rs l ate r,push ing s lowly along the

s tri p o f l and which l ay wes twa rd Of Kent between the Weald and the sea . Nowhe re hasthe phys i cal aspect o f the country b een mo reu tte rly Changed . The vast sheet o f s c rub

,

woodl and,and waste wh ich then bo re the

n ame o f the A nd redsweald s t re tched fo r moreth an a hund red miles f rom the bo rde rs o fKent to the H ampshi re Downs

,extend ing

no rthward almos t to the Thames,and le aving

only a th in s t rip Of co as t along its southe rnedge . Thi s coas t was gua rded by a great fo rtres s which occup ied the spot now cal l ed Pevensey

,the futu re l and ingpl ace o f the No r

man Conque ro r . The fal l o f th is fo rtres s o fA nderi da in 49 1 es tab l i shed the kingdom Of

the South - S axons ;“E l l e and C iss a

,

” ran thep i ti l e s s reco rd o f the conque ro rs

,

“beset A n

de ri da,and s lew al l th at we re the re in

,no r

was the re a fte rward one B ri ton le ft .” Anothe r tr ib e o f S axons was at the s ame time


conque ring on the othe r s ide of Kent,to the

no rth o f the es tu a ry o f the Thames,and had

founded the settl emen t Of the Eas t- S axons,as

these wa rrio rs came to be cal led,in the val l eys

o f the Colne and the S tou r . To the no rthward Of the S tou r

,the wo rk of conques t was

taken up by the th i rd o f the t ribes whom wehave seen dwel l ing in thei r Ge rman homel and

,whose name was des tined to abso rb th at

o f S axon o r Jute,and to s tamp i tsel f on the

555

l and they won . These we re the Engle,or E ngls or

Engl i shmen . Thei r fi rs t descents seem to h avefal len on the great d is t ri c t which was cut Offf rom the res t o f B ri ta in by the Wash and theFens and long reaches o f fo res t

,the l ate r Eas t

Angl i a,where the conque ro rs settled as the

No rth - folk an d th e South - fo lk,n ames s ti l l

p rese rved to us in the mode rn counties . W i thth i s se ttlement the fi rs t s tage in the c a uest

was complete . By the close o f the Fi fth Centu ry the whole coas t o f B ri ta in

,f rom theWash

to South ampton Wate r,was in the h ands o f

the invade rs . As yet,howeve r

,the enemy

had touched l i ttl e mo re than the coas t ; greatmasses o f woodl and o r o f fen s t i l l p ri soned theEngle

,the S axon

,and the Jute al ike with in

n a rrow l im its . But th e S ixth Centu ry canh ardly h ave been long begun when each o f thetwo peoples who h ad done the main work o fconques t opened a f resh attack on the fl anks o fthe t rac t they had won . On i ts no rthe rn fl ankthe Engle appea red in the es tu a rie s o f the

Engl ishmen .

5 5 6 THE WORLD ’


Fo rth and o f the Humbe r . On i ts weste rnfl ank

,th e S axons appe a red in the Sou thamp

ton Wate r .The true conques t o f Southe rn B ri ta in was

. rese rved fo r a f resh b and of S axons,a trib e

whose olde r n ame was that o f the Gew i ssas,

but who were to be more widely known as theWes t- Saxons . Landing westwa rd of the s tri po f coas t wh ich h ad been won by the wa r-bandso f E l l e

,they struggl ed unde r Ce rdi c and Gyn

ri c up f rom South ampton Wate r in 495 to the

great downs whe re W inches te r o ffe red so ri cha p ri ze . Five thous and B ri tons fel l in afight which opened the count ry to theseinvade rs

,and a f resh vi cto ry

,at C har

fo rd,in 5 1 9, se t the c rown of the West

S axons on the head of Ce rd ic . We knowl i ttl e o f the in c i den ts o f these conquests ; no rdo we know why at th i s j unctu re they seem toh ave been suddenly in te rrupted . But i t i sce rta in th at a vi cto ry o f the B ritons at MountB adon in the yea r 520 checked the p rogress o fthe Wes t- S axons

,and was fol lowed by a long

p ause in the i r advance ; fo r th i rty yea rs thegreat bel t o f woodl and wh ich then cu rvedround f rom Do rset to the val l ey o f the Thamesseems to h ave b a r red the way o f the as s ai l ants .What final ly b roke the i r in action we can nottel l . W e

'

only know that Cyn ri c , whom Cerd i c

’

s death le f t king o f the Wes t - S axons,again

took up the wo rk o f invas ion by a new advancein 552 . The cap tu re o f the h i l l - fo rt o f O l d

THE SAX ON CONQUE ’

ST OF BRITAIN

S arum th rew open the reaches o f the “W i l tsh i re Downs ; and push ing no rthward to a newbattl e at Barbu ry Hill , they completed theconques t o f the Marlbo rough Downs . Fromthe b a re upl ands the invade rs tu rned eas twardto the r iche r val leys o f ou r Be rksh i re

,and

afte r a b attl e with the Kenti sh men at W imb ledon

,the l and south of the Thames

,which

now fo rms ou r Su rrey,was added to thei r do

min ions . The road along the Th ames was,

howeve r,ba rred to them

,fo r the d i s t r i c t round

London seems to have been al re ady won andco lon ized by the Eas t - S axons . But a marcho f thei r king

,Cu thwu lf

,made them maste rs

,

in 57 1 , o f the d i s t r i cts wh ich now fo rm Ox

fordsh i re and Buckinghamsh i re ; and a few

557

e a rs l ate r the swoo ed f rom the W i l tsh ire Conquesty Y P of the Seveuplands on the ri ch p rey th at l ay along the em vauey.

Seve rn . Glouces te r,Ci rences te r

,and B ath

,

C i ti es wh ich had leagued unde r the i r B ri ti shkings to res i s t th i s onset

,became the spo i l o f a

S axon Victo ry at Deo rh am in 577, and the l ineo f the gre at wes te rn rive r l ay open to the a rmso f the conque ro rs . Unde r a new king

,Ceaw

l in,the Wes t - S axons penetrated to the bo rde rs

o f Ches te r,and U ri c on i um

,a town bes i de the

W rekin,recen tly aga i n b rought to l ight

,went

up in fl ames . A B ri ti sh poet s ings p i teous lythe death - song Of U ri c on ium

,

“the wh ite townin the val l ey

,the town of white s tone gl eam

ing among the green woodl and,the hal l o f i ts

Chieftain le ft “without fi re,withou t l ight,wi th

558 TH E WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS

out songs,

” the s i lence b roken only by theeagle ’s s c re am

,

“the e agle who h as swal lowedf resh d rink

,hea rt’s b lood o f Kyndylan the

f ai r The ra id,howeve r

,was repul sed

,and

the b low p roved fatal to the power of Wessex.

Though the We s t- S axons we re des tined in theend to win the ove rlo rdsh ip ove r eve ry En

gl i sh people, the i r time had not come yet, andthe le ade rsh ip o f the Engl i sh race was to fal l

,

fo r nea rly a centu ry to come,to the t ribe o f

i nvade rs whose fo rtunes we have now tofo l low .

Rive rs we re the n atu ral in lets by Wh ich theno rthe rn p i rates eve rywhe re made thei r wayinto the hea rt o f Eu rope . In B ri ta in the fo rtress of London ba rred thei r way along theThames f rom its mouth

,and d rove them

,as

we h ave seen,to an advance along the south

e rn co as t and ove r the downs o f W i l tsh i re,be

fo re re ach ing i ts uppe r wate rs . But the rive rswhich un i ted in the estu a ry o f the Humbe r ledl ike open h ighways in to the hea rt o f B ri ta in

,

and i t was by th i s in l et th at the gre at mass o f theinvade rs penetrated into the inte rio r o f the i s land . L ike the invade rs of Eas t Angl i a

,they

were o f the Engl i sh tribe f rom Sleswick . Asthe s to rm fel l in the open ing of the S ixth Centu ry on the 'W olds of L inco lnsh i re th at s t retchsouthward f rom the Humbe r

,the conque ro rs

who settl ed in the dese rted count ry were knownas the “

L ind i swara,

” o r dwel le rs about L indum .

” A part o f filhe warrio rs who h ad en


te red the Humbe r,tu rn ing southward by the

fo res t o f E lmet,which cove red the d is t ri ct

a round Leeds,fo l lowed the cou rse o f the

Tren t . Those who occup ied the woodedcountry between the Tren t and the Humbe rtook f rom thei r pos i tion the name of Southumb ri ans . A second divi s ion

,advancing

along the cu rve o f the fo rme r rive r and c reeping down the l ine o f i ts t ributa ry

,the Soa r

,

ti l l they re ached Le i ces te r,became known as

the M i dd le 4E ngl i sh . The marshes o f the Fencountry we re settl ed by tribes known as theGyrwas. The head wate rs o f the Tren t we rethe se at o f those invade rs who penetratedfu rthes t to the wes t

,and camped round L i ch

fi eld and Repton . This coun try became thebo rde rl and between Engl i shmen and B ri tonsand the se ttle rs bo re the name of “Merci ans

,

”

men,th at i s

,o f the M arch o r bo rde r . We

know ha rdly anyth ing o f th i s conques t o f M idB ri ta in

,and l i ttl e mo re o f the conques t of the

No rth . Unde r the Romans,pol i tic al powe r

h ad cen tred in the vas t d i s t ri ct between the

Humber and the Fo rth . York h ad been thecap i tal o f B ri ta in and the se at o f the Romanp re fect ; and the bulk o f the ga r ri son maintained in the i s l and l ay cantoned along theRoman wal l . S igns o f weal th and p rospe ri tyappea red eve rywhe re ; ci ties rose benea th theshel te r o f the Roman camps ; vi l l as o f B ri ti shl andowne rs s tudded the val e o f the Ouse andthe fa r-off upl ands o f the Tweed

,where the

TheMerc ians.

560 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS “ mm

shepherd trusted fo r secu ri ty agains t Picti shmaraude rs to the te rro r o f the Roman name .This d i s t ri c t was ass ai l ed at once f rom theno rth and f rom the south . A part o f the invading fo rce which ente red the Humbe rmarched ove r the Yorksh i re wolds to founda kingdom

,which was known as th at o f the

De i ri,i n the fens o f Holde rnes s and on the

chalk downs eas tward o f Yo rk . But they weresoon d rawn onward

,and

,afte r a s t ruggle o f

which we know noth ing,York

,l ike i ts ne igh

bo r c i t ies,l ay a desol ate ru in

,whi le the con

querors sp read no rthward , s l aying and bu rning along the val ley of the Ouse . Meanwhi lethe p i rates h ad appeared in the Fo rth

,and

won the i r way along the Tweed ; I da, and themen o f fi fty keel s wh ich fol lowed h im

,rea red

the cap i tal o f the no rthe rnmos t kingdom ofthe Engl i sh

,th at o f Be rn ic i a

,on the rock o f

Bamborough, and won the i r way slowly alongthe coas t again s t a s tubbo rn res i s tance whichfo rmed the theme o f B ri ti sh songs . The s tri febetween the kingdoms o f Dei ra and B ern ic i afo r sup remacy in the No rth was closed by thei rbeing uni ted unde r King E thel ri c o f B e rn i ci a ;and f rom th i s un ion was fo rmed a new kingdom

,the kingdom o f No rthumb ri a .

!The V i s igoths conque r Sp ain and Gaul

(462 In 472, Gense ri c , king o f the Vandal s

,s acks Rome . Four yea rs l a te r

,Odoace r

final ly extingu i shes the Roman Empi re o f

TH E A GE A ND LAW S OF JU ST I N IAN

(A .D. 530)

W ILLIAM FRANCIS COLLIER

DOACER hel d the th rone o f I taly unti l 493, when he pe ri shed at Ravennaby the swo rd o f Theodo ric the O s t ro

goth . Unde r the wise rule o f the victo r,whose

ch ie f adv i se r was the le a rned Cass iodo rus,

I ta ly revived . A waste and ru ined l and wassoon lo aded with pu rp le grapes and yel lowco rn . Fai r bu i l d ings rose . Once more gol dand i ron were dug f rom the ea rth . Romansand Os t rogoths l ived in peace and p lenty

,al

though a b road l ine,j e alously p rese rved by

the pol i cy o f Theodo ri c,kept them apa rt . The

fai r- hai red Goths,s ti l l wea ring the i r fu rs and

b rogues,c a r ried the swo rd ; whil e the Romans ,

wrapped in the flowing toga,held the pen and

fi l l ed the s chool s . So p assed th ree and th i rtyyea rs

,unti l Theodo ri c d ied in 526, and then

f righ tful scenes o f blood were enacted overh i s fal l en th rone .

Some time be fo re Theodo ri c ’s des cen t uponI taly

,a Frank

,cal l ed Chlodwig o r Clovi s

(the name was afte rwa rd so ftened into Lou is ) ,(562)

“ 1 530 T H E AGE AN D LAW S OF JUSTIN IAN 563

c ros sed the Somme,and d rove pel l -mel l be

fo re h im Romans,Bu rgundi ans

,and V i s i $32

1

1?t

goths,neve r res ting . unti l h i s domin ion

stretched f rom the del ta o f the Rhine to thePyrenees . During hi s ca ree r o f vic to ry hewas b aptiz ed a Ch ri s ti an at Rheims in 496.

Soon afte rward he fixed h i s cap i tal at P ari s,

where he d ied in 5 1 1 . The old chu rch i ss ti l l po in ted out

,in which th i s founde r of the

French monarchy was bu ried . I t i s wo rthremembering that Theodo ri c married the s i ste r o f Clovis .During these even ts young J us tin i an was Acces

growing up in Constantinopl e . An uncle,fi st-film ,

J ustin,a s talwa rt peas an t o f D ac i a

,en l i s ting

in ea rly l i fe among the guards o f Leo,had

ri sen to be Empero r o f the Eas t . By himJustin i an was educated

,adopted

,and

,in 527,

c rowned .

Bel i s a rius soon became the fo remos t n ameo f the age . The fi rs t l au rel s o f th i s great gene ral we re won in Pe rs i a ; he was then chosento l e ad an expedi t ion agains t the Vandal s o fAfri ca . Land ing the re

,with in the s ame

month,he led hi s t roops in to Carth age

,which

bl azed with to rches o f welcome . Gel imer,

the Vandal king,a fte r a vain attempt to re

tri ev e h i s fo rtunes,

fled to the Numidi anmounta in s

,but was soon s ta rved into a su r

rende r,and ca rried to Cons tantinop le to grace

the Vi cto r’s t riumph . Among the spo i l s we rethe vessel s o f the J ewish Temple

,which

,ca r

5 64

Bel isariusand h i sconquests,A .D . 533-536 .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS AD . 530

ri ed to Rome by Titus,had been b rought to

Carth age by the p i rate Gense ri c,and were

now pl aced in the Chri st i an Chu rch at J e rus alem .

But the greates t ach ievement o f B el i s a riuswas the conques t o f I taly

,by wh ich fo r a sho rt

time the Eas t and theWes t we re reun ited un

de r one sove re ign . The Subdual o f S i ci ly,the captu re o f N apl es and of Rome

,mark the

s teps o f victo ry by which he d rove the Gothsno rthwa rd befo re h im . Muste ring the wholes t rength o f thei r n ation at Ravenn a

,unde r

the i r king,V i tiges, they marched to bes iege

Bel i s a riu s in Rome . And then the gen iu s o fth i s gre at commande r shone wi th i ts b rightes tlus t re . In the fi rs t ass aul t the Goths werenea rly succes s fu l ; but B el i s a riu s ,fighting dustyand blood - s ta ined in the f ront o f the b attle

,

tu rned back the ti de o f war . Afte r manydays o f busy p rep a ration anothe r grand ass aul twas made . Hasti ly the wal l s we re manned ;and

,as the gi an t l ines c ame on

,Bel i s a r ius h im

sel f,shooting the fi rs t a r row

,p ie rced the fo re

most l e ade r . A second sh aft,f rom the s ame

true h and,l a i d anothe r low . And then a

whole cloud,a imed only at the oxen which

d rew the towe rs and s iege - t rain toward thewal l

,b rought the attacking a rmy to a complete

s tandsti l l . I t was a deci ded check ; and ,though the s iege d ragged on fo r more thana yea r

,eve ry e ffo rt o f the Goths was met and

fo i l ed with equal ski l l . So hot was the de

T H E AGE A N D LAW S OF JUSTIN IAN 5 65

fence at times,th at matchles s s tatues we re

o ften b roken up,and hu rled f rom the wal l

upon the Goths below . About the middle o fthe s iege

,the Pope Sylverius, convi cted o f p ope .

having sen t a lette r to the Goths,p romis ing 5333221

5

.

to open one o f the gates to them,was b ani shed

f rom the ci ty . And at l as t the bes iege rs,worn

out wi th usel es s to i l,bu rned the i r tents and fel l

b ack to Ravenna,where befo re long they

yielded to the tr iumphant I l lyri an,at whose

fee t al l I taly then l ay . Mil an,a ci ty s econd

only to Rome,had been dest royed the yea r be

fo re by a hos t o f Franks,who rushed down

f rom the Alps to a i d the Goth s,and en rich

themselves with the p lunde r o f the pl a in .

Th rough al l these b ri l l i an t ach ievementsBel i s a rius h ad been greatly vexed and h ampered by intriguing rival s

,espec i al ly the am

b i tious N a rses . And now his s ta r b egan to Name,pale . In two campaigns 54 1 he d rove fii i

‘

ié’

a

e

fii s.

back ove r the Euph rates the Pers i an kingNush i rvan

,who had ru ined Antio ch

,and was

pl anning a ra i d upon J e rus alem . A repo rth aving reached the camp that J us tin i an wasdying

,the gene ral l e t fal l some rash wo rds

,

which impl ied th at the Empress Theodo raonce an act res s o f most wicked l i fe—was unworthy to succeed to the th rone . Fo r th is hewas recal l ed

,disgraced

,and heavi ly fined

,h is

l i fe being sp a red only fo r the s ake o f h i s p ro fl igate wi fe Antonina

,who was then in h igh

favo r wi th the Empress .

5 66 THE WORLD ’


S en t to I taly again in 544 to oppose Toti las,a b rave and cl eve r Goth

,who was making

man ful effo rts to res to re the emp i re o f Theodo ri c

,Bel i s a rius was fo rc ed to s tand idly by

with insuffi c ien t fo rces,whil e the Goths took

3128382. Rome, h aving reduced the c i ti zens to feedon mice and nettles He recove red theci ty in a month o r two

,and then hel d out

agains t eve ry attack ; but du ring the remai nder o f h is s tay in I taly h i s s t rength wasf ri tte red away in the south o f the pen insul a

,

where T oti las p ressed h im hard . At length,

in 548, he go t le ave to retu rn home .

Then,having na r rowly escaped mu rde r

,he

l ived In p rivate unti l 559, when he was cal l edin to the field to mee t an in ro ad of Bulgari ans

,

who,coming o rigin al ly f rom Mount U ral

,

h ad c rossed the f rozen Danube,and we re now

5am“ only twenty miles f rom Cons tantinopl e . Thes tou t ol d sold ier

,having beaten b ack the s av

ages,came home to be treated col dly

,and d is

mis sed wi thou t th anks . Soon afte r,accused

o f p lo tt ing to mu rde r the Empero r,he was

s t ri pped o f al l h i s weal th,and imp ri soned in

h i s own house . His f reedom w as res to red,

but the death -blow had been given ; he l ivedonly eigh t month s longe r .We a re al l famil i a r wi th the ben t figu re

o f a bl ind old man,begging fo r alms in the

s treets,though he was once the great Gen

e ral B el i s a rius,conque ro r o f

‘

Afri ca andI taly . Pain te rs and poets h ave sei z ed ea

m m T H E AGE AN D LAW S OF JUSTIN IAN 567

ge rly on the romanti c s to ry ; but i t i s doubtedby most h is to ri ans .I t was l ef t fo r N a rses

,pu rse - bea re r to us Narses d e

st roys thetin i an

,the rival and successo r o f B el i s a rius

,to ggéggggf

fi c

des troy the O s t rogoth i c kingdom in I taly .

Lombards,Herul i

,and Huns fol lowing h i s

banne r,he defeated and s lew T oti las at Tadi

naa in 522 , and then occup ied Rome , whichwas taken and retaken five times du ring thereign o f Justin i an . But h i s task was not fi ni shed unti l Tei as

,l as t o f the O s trogoth ic kings

,

fel l a t the foot o f Vesuvius . Most o f the su rT he O t

v rv rng Os t rogoths were then al lowed to le ave foams 1153;

I taly wi th p a rt o f the i r weal th . And thus,

my.

having held the peninsul a fo r s ixty yea rs,they

p ass f rom ou r s ight . N a rses,having then re

pelled a swa rm o f Franks and Alemann i , whoravaged I taly f rom no rth to south

,was made

the fi rs t Exa rch o f Ravenna,and continued fo r

many yea rs to rule wi th p rudence and vigo r .I t i s now time we shoul d tu rn to the great

es t glo ry of Justin i an ’s re ign— h i s reduction ofRoman l aw to a s imple and condensed system .

Fo r centu ri es the l aws had been mul tiplying .

Eve ry decree o f eve ry empe ro r— even heedlesswo rds spoken by the ve ries t foo l o r b l ackes tvi l l a in in th at mos t checke red l ine f romAdri an to Justin i an— became a bind ing l aw .

Nobody coul d know the l aw,fo r on any poin t

the re migh t be a dozen con trad i cto ry dec is ions . J ustin i an se t h imsel f

,with the aid o f

T riboni an,and othe r le a rned men

,to wo rk

5 68 THE WORLD '


th i s ch aos in to o rde r . His system cons i s ts o ffou r great pa rts : I . The “Code

,

” a condens ation o f al l e a rl i e r sys tems

,was fi rs t publ i shed

in 529. 2 . Not less valu ab l e we re the Institu tes

,

” a volume tre ating o f the elements o fRoman l aw

,intended fo r s tudents

,and pub

l i shed in 533. 3. In the s ame yea r appearedthe “Diges t

,o r Pandects” (the l atte r wo rd

means “comp ri s ing which,in fi fty vol

umes,gave the essence o f the Roman ju ri sp ru

dence . This great wo rk was fin i shed in th reeyea rs ; and some idea o f the cutting- downfound need ful may be gathe red f rom the fact

,

th at th ree mil l ions o f sentences we re reducedto one hund red and fi fty thous and . 4 . The“Novel s” emb raced the new l aws i s sued byJus tin i an h imsel f .During al l th i s re ign the ol d rival ry be

tween the B lue and Green factions o f the Ci rcus convul sed the cap i tal . I t re ached a cri s i sin 532 , when a dest ructive rio t, cal led N i l-

lea

(V i cto ry ) , f rom the watchword o f the combatants

,raged for five days . B lues and Greens

uni ted agains t the empe ro r,who was on the

point o f flee ing,when the fi rmness o f h i s wi fe

res t ra ined h im . The B lues retu rned to thei ral legi ance ; and the blood o f o f thei rwretched foes so aked the s and of the Hippod rome . The sec ret o f s i lk -making

,which h ad

been j ealous ly guarded by the Ch inese,was

now made known to Eu rope by two monks,

who b rought the eggs o f the s i lkwo rm from

T H E H E G l R A

(A .D. 622)

EDWARD HENRY PALMER

H E chie f seat o f the cul t of the de i tieso f Arab i a was Mecca

,also cal l ed Bek

ka,both names s ign i fying a pl ace o f

concou rse ; anothe r n ame o f the c i ty i s Umm elA

Qu ra,

“th e mothe r o f ci ties,

” o r me t ropol is .I t was bui l t about the middle o f the Fi fthCentu ry o f ou r e ra by the Ou rai s on thei r obta in ing posses s ion o f the Kaabah

,the mos t

anc i en t sh rine in the country. I t i s s i tuatedin a na r row

,s andy val l ey

,shu t in by bare

mountains . The soi l a round the city i s s tonyand unp roductive

,and the inhab i tants a re

ob l iged to import thei r own p rov i s ions .“To

fu rn i sh th i s supp ly with mo re regul a ri ty,H é

sh im,Mohammed ’s grand fathe r

,appointed

two ca ravans,one in winte r and the othe r in

summe r,to s et ou t yea rly.

The Kaab ah i s mentioned by D i odorus as afamous templ e

,whose s ancti ty was even then

reve red by al l the Arab i an s ; i ts o rigin mustth ere fo re be asc ribed to a ve ry remote pe riod .

The name,which s imply means “a cube

,

” was(570)

T H E HEGIRA 571

given i t on account o f i ts sh ape,i t b e ing bui l t

Th Ksqua re o f unhewn stones . I t was supposed to a bfh aib

have been bui l t by Adam f rom a modelasm om

b rough t f rom heaven,and to h ave been subse

quently res to red by Seth,and l ate r on by Ab ra

h am and I shmael .The wel l Zem -Zem

,among the mos t vene r The well

ated obj ects in the s ac red p recincts o f Mecca,

20 0 -2010 .

i s bel ieved to be the sp ring wh ich Haga r d i scove red when she fled ou t in to the wi lde rnesswith he r son I shmael . I t was a smal l s tre amflowing f rom one of the su rrounding h i l l s andth i s h aving

,in cou rse o f time

,d ried up

,Abd

al M u ttal i b,Mohammed ’s grand fathe r

,c aused

the wel l -to be dug on the spo t whence thesp ring origin al ly i s sued .

The Kaab ah,so fa r as the d im legends o f

antiqu i ty th row any l igh t on the subj ect,re

mained fo r a long pe riod in the h ands o f thedescendants o f I shmael

,and on the i r m i grat

ing to othe r p a rts o f the pen insul a i ts guard i ansh ip became ves ted in thei r ki nsr

‘

nen,the

Jorham i tes. The Jorham i tes were defeatedand deposed by a co al i tion o f the Benu B akrand Benu ‘

H uza’

hah,and the cha rge o f the

Kaabah'

remained wi th the l as t-mentionedt ribe .

Quzai,an ances to r o f the p rophet

,making

common cause wi th the Benu Kenanah,de

fe ated the Benu B akr and B enu ‘H uza

’hah

and res to red the custody of the Kaab ah to h i sown tribe

,the Ou rai s .

572 THE WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS A J ) . 622

From Quzar i t descended to h is el des t son,‘Abd ed Da r

,f rom whom the p rincipal ofli c es

we re,howeve r

,t rans fe r red to h i s b rothe r

,

‘Abd M enaf .‘Abd M enaf l e f t fou r sons

,

‘Abd Shems,H fishim

,al M u ttal i b and Nau fel .

To Hash im was int rus ted the gua rd i ansh ip o fthe Kaabah and the righ t o f supplying foodto the p i lgrims

,togethe r wi th the p rin cedom

of Mecca . Hash im and h i s son,

‘Abd al

M u ttal ib,fi l l ed the ofli c e with so much l ibe r

a l i ty th at the weal th o f the f ami ly,though

cons ide rab le,was nea rly al l d i s s ip ated

,and

the rival f amily o f Ommaiyeh, son o f‘Abd

Shems,took ove r the mo re expens ive offi ces

,

w i th the p res tige wh ich they n atu ral ly ca rr ied .

‘Abd al Mu ttal ib’

s younges t son,

‘Abd al ah ,married a kinswoman settl ed at Yath rib

(Medin ah ) , by whom he h ad one pos thumousch i l d

,Mohammed

,the futu re p rophet .

The exact date gene ral ly given of Mohammed ’s b i rth i s Ap ri l 20

, 57 1 , but al l that i sab solu tely ce rta in i s th at he was bo rn in theYea r o f the E l eph an t . All th at the ch i l d inheri ted f rom hi s f athe r was five camel s anda s l ave gi rl .Mohammed had reached hi s fo rti eth year

when the fi rs t revel ations c ame to h im . Theywe re the almos t n atu ral ou tcome o f h i s modeo f l i fe and hab i t o f though t

,and especi al ly o f

h is phys i cal cons ti tution . From youth up

ward he had su ffe red f rom a ne rvous d i so rde rwhich trad i tion cal l s ep i l ep sy

,but the symp

A .D . 622 THE HEGIRA 573

toms o f which more close ly resemble ce rtainhys te r i cal phenomen a wel l known and di agnosed in the p resent t ime

,and which a re al

mos t always accompan ied wi th hal lucinations,

abno rmal exe rci se o f the mental functions,and

not un f requently with a ce rtain amount o fdecep t i on

,both volun ta ry and o the rwi se .

The thought th at he might be,af te r al l

,mad

o r posses sed (magnum ) , was te r rib le to M O

hammed . He struggled fo r a long timeagains t the i dea

,and endeavo red to suppo rt

h imsel f by bel i e f i n the real ity o f the d ivinemis s ion wh ich he had rece ived upon Mount‘Hi ra; but no mo re reve l ations came , noth ingoccu r red to give h im fu rthe r confidence andhope

,and Mohammed began to fee l th at such

a l i fe coul d be endu red no longe r . The“P at rah

,

” o r “in te rmi ss ion,

” as th i s pe riod,

TheFat fm

without revel ation,was cal l ed

,l as ted fo r two

and a hal f o r th ree yea rs .Dark: thoughts o f su ic ide p resented them

selves to h is mind,and on mo re than one occa

s ion he cl imbed the s teep s ides o f Mount‘Hi ra

,o r Mount Thab i r

,with the despe rate

in tention o f putting an end to h i s unquiet l i feby hu rl ing h imsel f f rom one o f the p recip i touscl i ffs . But a myste rious power appea red to

hold h im back,and at length the long- looked

fo r vi s ion came,which was to confi rm him in

h i s p ropheti c mis s ion .

And now the revel ations came in rap i d suc The reve la

cess ion . He no longe r doubted the re al i ty ofm ns'

574 THE WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS

the in sp i ration,and h i s conv i ction o f the un ity

o f God and o f h i s d ivine commiss ion to p reachi t was indel ib ly imp res sed upon h is mind .

To the great mass o f the ci ti zens o f Meccathe new doctrine was s imply ‘

H ani fi sm,to

whi ch they had become accustomed,and they

di d not at fi rs t t roubl e themselves a t al l about

20221323

000 the matte r . Mohammed ’s cl a im,howeve r

,to

$33; be the Apostl e o f God cal l ed fo rth more opposi tion

,caus ing some to h ate h im fo r h i s p re

sumption,and othe rs to ri d i cul e h im fo r h i s

p retens ions ; some rega rded h im in the l igh to f one posses sed

,while anothe r cl as s looked

upon h im as a me re vulga r sooths aye r.But in p reach ing the un ity o f Al lah

,MO

hammed was attacking the ve ry exi stence o fthe i dol s

,in the gu a rd i ansh ip o f which con

s i s ted no t only the sup remacy o f Mecca,but

the wel fa re and impo rtance o f the s tate . Thechi efs o f the Ou rai s the re fo re began to lookwith no favo rable eye upon the p rophet

,whom

they rega rded as a dangerous pol i ti cal innovator. But Mohammed came o f the mos tnob le family in Mecca

,and coul d not be ar

tacked or supp res sed wi thout c al l ing downupon the aggresso rs the ce rtain vengeance o fh i s p rotecto r

,Abu Tal ib

,and h is cl an . A

deputation of the ch ie fs,the re fo re

,wai ted

upon Abu Tal ib and begged h im to en fo rces i l ence upon h is nephew

,o r to wi thd raw

p rotec tion,which l atte r al te rn ative was equ iv

alent to h anding h im ove r to the summary

000 TH E HEGIRA 575

vengeance o f h i s foes . This Abu Tal ib fi rmlybut pol i te ly re fused to do

,and i t was not unti l

they added th reats to the i r entre aties th at heconsented even to remonstratew i th his nephew .

So hosti l e was now the atti tude o f the Ou

réi s th at the bel ieve rs o f Mecca p rep ared fo rfl ight

,and at l as t the re we re only le ft in

Mecca th ree membe rs o f the community,Mo

hammed himsel f,Abu Bekr

,and Al i .

The Ou rai s now hel d a solemn counci l o fwar

,at wh ich

,on the sugges tion o f Abu Gahl ,

i t was dete rmined th at e leven men,each 21 533

5

335np rominen t membe r o f one o f the nob le fami l i es o f the town

,shoul d s imultaneous ly attack

and mu rde r Mohammed,and by thus d ivid

ing the respons ib i l i ty shoul d avo id the consequences o f the b lood feud ; fo r, as theyrightly judged

,the H asim i s

,not being sufli

c i ently powe rful to take the blood revenge onso many famil ies

,would be ob l iged to accep t

the blood money ins te ad .

Mohammed had timely warn ing of th i s de Mohammedi s wa rned

s ign,and giving Al i h i s mantle b ade h im p re - gggeg

s

tend to Sl eep on the couch usual ly occup ied byh imsel f

,and so d ive rt the attention o f the

would -be murde re rs who we re watch inga round his house . In the meantime Mohammed and Abu Bekr escaped by a back windowin the house o f the l atte r

,and the two h i d

themselves in a cave rn on Mount Thau r,an

hou r and a h al f d is tant f rom Mecca,be fo re

the Ou rai s h ad di s cove red the ruse and heard

576 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

o f the i r fl ight . A hot pursu it was immedia tely o rgan ized .

Fo r th ree d ays they l ay concealed,th e ir

enemies once coming so near th at Abu Bekr,

t rembling,s a id

,

“We a re but two .

” “N ay,

”

s ai d Mohammed,

“we a re th ree ; fo r God i swith us .” The legend tel l s us th at a sp ide rh ad woven its web ac ros s the mouth o f thecave

,so th at the Ou rai s , th inking that no one

h ad ente red in,passed i t ove r in thei r se arch .

At length they ventu red once more to setou t

,and

,mounted on fleet camel s

,reached

Yath rib in s a fe ty . Three days a fte r theywere j o ined by Al i

,who had been al lowed to

l eave afte r a few hou rs ’ imp ri sonment.This was the celeb rated H igrah, o r fl ight,

330200f rom which the Mohammedan e ra d ates . I ttook p l ace on June 1 6

,in the yea r o f ou r Lo rd

622 . The ci ty o f Yath rib was hencefo rthknown as Madin at en Nebi

,

“the c i ty o f thep rophet

,

” o r s imply E l Medin ah .

Once es tab l i shed at E l Medinah,Moham

Mohammedmed p roceeded to regul ate the ri tes and ce re

$3533? monies o f h is rel igion , bui l t a mosque to se rveas a p l ace o f p raye r and hal l o f gene ral assemb ly, and appointed Bi lél, the Abyss in i ans l ave who had been so f ai th ful th roughout thefo rme r pe rsecutions

,as c r ie r to c al l the be

l i evers to the five dai ly p raye rs . His nextca re was to reconci l e

,as fa r as poss ib le

,the

va rious oppos ing p arti es o f the c i ty,and th i s

was by no means an e asy task . Soon afte r

578 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

consen t o f thei r p atrons . Mohammed and h isfol lowe rs we re no t to ente r Mecca th at yea r

,

but the next year they were to be pe rmi ttedto do so and to remain fo r th ree days .This was

,in re al i ty

,a great t r iumph fo r

Mohammed,as i t recogn ized h is pos i tion as

an independen t p rin ce,whil e the ten years’

t ruce not only enab l ed h im withou t h ind ranceto p rop agate . h i s doct rines at Mecca

,but

,by

remov ing the constan t d ange r in wh ich hes tood f rom that ci ty

,gave h im the Opportu

n i ty o f tu rn ing h i s attention el sewhe re .

He now not only endeavo red to reduce theB edawin tribes to submiss ion

,but wrote l ette rs

to the gre at kings and empe ro rs o f the wo rl d,

to th e Pers i an Khosrou,to the Byz antine Em

peror, and to the Abyss in i an N aggas i , pe remp tori ly bi dd ing them emb race the f ai th and

submit to h i s rule . The rep l ie s th at he re

c e ived were not fl atte ring . to h is p ride,but

he or hi s immedi ate succes so rs were,e re long

,

to repeat the summons in a fo rm th at ad

m i tted ne ithe r o f den i al no r del ay.One po ten tate only

,the governor o f Egypt,

M aqauqas, retu rned a favorab le a nswer, andhe sen t

,among othe r p resents

,two s l ave gi rl s

,

one o f whom,a Cop ti c gi rl n amed Mary

,Mo

hammed took to h imsel f,and by so do ing

estranged h is numerou s wives,and was only,

reconci l ed by a revel ation .

I n 629, i n the month o f DH u’l Qa

’hdah

(Feb rua ry ) , the long-expected p i lgrimage

000 TH E HEGIRA 579

took p l ace . W i th two thous and fol lowers thep rophet ente red the Holy Ci ty

,and the Mec - gfci

’

i fi’

érs

cans h aving reti red to the ne ighbo ring h i l l s ,al l p as sed off qu ietly .

In March,632, he made h i s l as t p i lgrimage

to Mecca,the Farewel l Pi l grimage

,as the

Musl ims cal l i t,and s tand ing upon Mount

Arafat he add res sed the as sembled mul ti tude—more th an fo rty thous and o f p i lgrims—b adethem stand fi rm by the fa i th th at he h a 3525

1

21 00

taugh t them,and cal l ed God to witnes s that

p

he h ad del ive red hi s mess age and fulfil l ed h i smi ss ion .

I n June he fel l s ick,and himsel f pe rce ived

th at h i s end was d rawing n igh . On Monday,

June 8,fee l ing bette r

,he went to the Mosque

o f Medin ah,where Abu lBekr was conduct

ing the p raye rs be fo re a c rowded congregation who had flocked the re to hea r news o f thep rophet . Mohammed ’s entry was qu i te un

expected,but in sp i te o f the weaknes s evident

f rom h is f al te r ing gai t,h is counten ance was

med '

b righ t,and h i s vo ice as cle ar and command

ing as eve r . Mounting the lowe r s teps o f thepulp i t

,he s a i d a few

'

last wo rds to the people,

and,having given some p a rting injunctions

to Osama,whom he h ad int rus ted wi th the

command o f an a rmy to Syri a,Mohammed

retu rned to h i s house and l ay down to res tin ‘Ayesha

’s ch ambe r . Here

,resti ng

‘

hi s headupon he r bosom

,the p rophet o f Arab i a fel l

asleep .

580 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

In fo rming ou r estimate o f Mohammed ’sch a racte r and o f the rel igion which we a reaccustomed to cal l by h is n ame

,we must pu t

as ide the theo ries o f impostu re and enthu

si asm,as wel l as th at o f d ivine insp i ration .

Even the theo ry o f h i s be ing a great pol i t icalre fo rmer does not contain the whole truth ;and al though i t i s ce rtain th at hi s pe rsonalcha racte r exe rci sed a mos t impo rtan t i nfluence on h i s doct rine

,yet i t i s no t by any means

eviden t th at i t even molded i t in to i ts p resen tsh ape .

The enthus i asm which he h imsel f in sp i red,

and the read ines s with which such men asAbu Bekr and Omar

,Arabs o f the nobles t

b i rth,ranged themselves among h i s fol lowers

,

who cons i s ted fo r the mos t p art o f men of thelowes t rank

,s l aves

,f reedmen

,and the l ike

,

p rove th at he coul d have been no mere imposto r .The ea rly po rtion s o f the Qu r an a re the

genuine rh apsod ies o f an enthus i as t Who bel i eved h imsel f insp i red

,and Mohammed h im

sel f po ints to them in the l ate r Surah s as i rre fragab le p roo fs o f the d ivi ne o rigin o f h i smis s ion . In h i s l ate r h is to ry

,however

,the re

a re evidences o f th at tendency to p ious f raudwhi ch the p ro fes s ion o f a p rophet necess a ri lyinvolves . Although commenced in pe rfectgood fa i th

,such a p ro fess ion mus t pl ace the

enthus i as t a t l as t in an emb arras s ing pos i tion,

and the ve ry des i re to p rove the truth of what

A .D . 622 THE HEGIRA

he himsel f bel ieves may reduce h im to the alternative o f reso rting to a p ious f raud o r o frel inqu i sh ing al l the resul ts wh ich he has p revrously atta ined .

At the outset o f h is ca ree r he tu rned to theJ ews

,imagin ing th at

,as he cl aimed to res to re

the o rigin al re l igion o f Ab rah am,and ap

pealed to the J ewish sc rip tu res fo r c onfi rma

tion o f h i s teach ing,they would suppo rt h im .

Dis appo inted in thi s qua rte r,he tre ated them

with more b itte r hos ti l i ty th an any othe r o f h i sOpponents .In the l atte r p a rt o f hi s c a ree r he took but

l i ttl e notice e i the r o f the J ews o r Ch ri s ti ans,

and when he does mention the l atte r,i t i s

without any of the conci l i ato ry sp i r i t wh ichhe at fi rs t d i sp l ayed to them

,and they a re

not only sharply rep roved fo r thei r e r ro rs , buta re included in the gene ral mass o f infi delsagains t whom the t rue bel ieve rs a re to fight.

58 1

Mohammedturns to theJews forsupport .

T H E C O N QU E S T O F P E R S l A

(A .D. 632—641)

EDWARD GIBBON

N the v ic to rious d ays o f the Roman t e

publ i c,i t had been the aim of the Sen

ate to confine the i r co'

nsul s and legionsto a s ingle wa r

,and completely to supp ress a

fi rs t enemy befo re they p rovoked the hosti l iti es o f a second . These timid maxims o f polfey were d i sda ined by the magnan imi ty o renthus i asm o f the Arab i an cal iphs . W i ththe s ame v igo r and succes s they invaded thesucces so rs, o f Augus tus and tho se o f Artaxe rxes ; and the rival mona rch ies at the s ameins tant became the p rey o f an enemy whomthey had been so long accustomed to desp ise .In the ten ye a rs o f th e admin is t ration o f Omar

,

the S a racens reduced to h is obed ience th i rtys ix thous and ci tie s o r cas tles

,destroyed fou r

thous and chu rches o r temples o f the unbel i eve rs

,and ed i fi ed fou rteen hund red mosques fo r

the exe rc i se o f the rel igion of Mahomet . Onehund red years a fte r h i s fl ight f rom Mecca

,

th e a rms and the re ign o f h i s succes so rs extended f rom Indi a to the Atl antic ocean

,over

(582)

00 0000 40 T H E CONQUEST OF PERS IA 583

the various and d is tan t p rovinces,which may

be comp ri sed unde r the n ames o f,I . Pers i a ;

I I . Syri a ; I I I . Egypt ; IV . Africa ; and , V .

Sp ain .

In the fi rs t yea r o f the fi rs t c al iph,h is

l ieu ten an t,Galed

,the swo rd o f God

,and the

scou rge o f the infi de ls,advanced to the banks A D 632 °

of the Euph rates,and reduced the c i ties o f

Anba r and Hi ra . Westward of the ruins o fBabylon

,a t ribe o f seden ta ry Arabs h ad fixed

themselves on ‘ the ve rge o f the dese rt ; andHi ra was the se at o f a race o f kings who h ademb raced the Ch ri s ti an rel igion

,and re igned

above s ix hund red yea rs unde r the sh adow ofthe th rone o f Pe rs i a . The l as t o f the M ondars

was defeated and sl ain by Caled ; h is son wassen t a cap tive to Medin a ; h i s nob les bowedbefo re the successo r o f the p rophe t ; the p eoplewere tempted by the exampl e and succes s o fthei r countrymen ; and the cal iph accep ted , asthe fi rst-f ru i ts o f fo re ign conques t, an annualtribute o f seventy thous and p ieces o f gol d .

The conque ro rs,and even the i r h i s to ri ans

,

were as ton i shed by the dawn of thei r futu regreatnes s : “In the s ame yea r

,

” s ays E lmac in,

Galed fought many s ignal b attle s ; an immense multi tude o f the infi dels was s l aughtered ; and spo i l s , infin i te and innumerab le , 5 00110

; of thewere ac qurred by the v i c to rious Moslems .” Moslems

.But the invinc ib le Caled was soon trans fe r redto the Syri an wa r : th e invas ion o f the Pe rs i anf rontie r was conducted by les s active o r less

584 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

p ruden t commande rs : the S a racens we re t e

pulsed with loss in the pass age o f the Eu

phrates ; and , though they chas tis ed the insol en t pu rsu i t o f the Magi ans

,the i r remain ing

fo rces s ti l l hove red in the dese rt o f B abylon .

The ind ignation and fea rs o f the Pe rs i anssuspended fo r a moment the i r intes tine d iv i s ions . By the unan imous sentence of thep ri es ts and nob les

,the i r queen

,A rz ema

,was

deposed ; the s ixth o f the t rans ient u su rpe rs,who had a ri sen and van i shed in th ree o r fou ryea rs

,s ince the death o f Chosroes and the re

t reat of Heracl ius . Her ti a ra was p l aced onthe head o f Y ezdegerd, the grandson o f Chosroes ; and the s ame e ra , which co incides wi than as tronomical pe riod

,has reco rded the fal l

o f the S ass an i an dynasty and the rel igion o fZo ro as te r . The youth and inexpe rience o fthe p rince

,he was only fi fteen ye a rs o f age

,

decl ined a pe ri lous encounte r : the royal s tanda rd was del ive red into the h ands o f h i s gene ral

,Rustam ; and a remnant o f th i rty thou

s and regul a r troops was swel l ed in truth,o r

in Op in ion,to one hund red and twenty thou

s and subj ects,or al l i e s

,o f the great king . The

Moslems,whose numbe rs were re in fo rced

f rom twelve to th i rty thous and,had p i tched

thei r camp in the pl ain s o f Cadesi a : and thei rl ine

,though i t cons i s ted o f fewe r men

,coul d

p roduce more sold i ers th an the unwieldy hos to f the infi dels. I sh al l h e re obse rve what Imust o ften repeat

,th at the charge o f the Arab s

586 TH E WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS 01 . 10 . 0300 4x

tu rn ing to the fiel d o f battle,ca r r i ed s l augh

te r and d i smay among the th ickes t ranks o fthe Pe rs i ans . The S aracens con fess a los s o fseven thousand five hund red men ; and the b attle o f Cadesi a i s j us tly desc ribed by the ep i the tso f ob s tin ate and at roc ious . The standard o fthe mona rchy was ove rth rown and cap tu redin the fi eld— a l e athe rn ap ron of a bl acksmith

,

who,in ancien t times

,had a ri sen the del iv

e re r o f Pe rs i a ; but th i s b adge o f he ro ic poverty was d isgu i sed , and almos t concealed, bya p ro fus ion o f p rec ious gems . Afte r th is

-

victo ry

,the weal thy p rovince o f I rak

,o r Assyri a

,

Foundat ionsubmi tted to the cal iph

,and h i s conquests we re

of Bassora . fi rmly es tab l i shed by the speedy foundationo f B as so ra

,a pl ace wh ich eve r commands the

trade and navigation o f the Pe rs i ans . At thed i s tance o f fou rsco re mi les f rom the gul f

,the

Euph rates and Tigri s un i te in a b road anddi rect cu rren t

,which i s ap tly s tyled the rive r

o f the Arabs . In the midway,between the

junction and the mouth o f these famouss tre ams

,th e new settl ement was pl anted on

the weste rn b ank : the fi rs t colony was composed o f eigh t hund red Moslems ; but the influenc e o f the s i tu ation soon rea red a flou rishing and populous cap i tal . The ai r

,though

exces s ively hot,i s pu re and heal thy : the mead

ows a re fi l l ed wi th palm - trees and cattl e ; andone o f the adj acen t val leys h as been celeb ratedamong the fou r pa rad ises or ga rdens o f Asi a .

Unde r the fi rs t c al i phs,'

the j u ri sd iction o f thi s

A .D. 632—64x THE CONQUEST OF PERSIA

Arab i an colony extended ove r the southe rnp rovinces o f Pe rsi a : the ci ty has been s ancti

fi ed by the tombs o f the companions and martyrs ; and the vessel s o f Eu rope sti l l f requen tthe po rt o f B as so ra

,as a convenient s tat ion and

pass age o f the Indi an trade .

Afte r the de feat o f Cadesi a, a country inte rsec ted by rive rs and can al s might h ave opposedan insupe rab le ba r ri e r to the vi cto rious cavalry ; and the wal l s o f Ctes iphon o r M adayn,

which had res i s ted the b atte ring- rams o f theRomans

,would not h ave yiel ded to the da rts

o f the S a racens . But the flying Pe rs i ans wereove rcome by the bel ie f th at the l as t d ay o fthei r rel i gion and emp i re was at hand . thes tronges t pos ts we re ab andoned by treache ryo r coward i ce ; and the king, with a p a rt o f h i sfamily and treasu res

,esc aped to H olwan at the

foot o f the Medi an h i l l s . In the th i rd montha fte r the battl e

,S aid

,the l ieu ten ant o f Omar

,

passed the Tigri s without oppos i tion ; the cap ital was taken by ass au l t ; and the d iso rde rlyres i s tan c e o f the people gave a keene r edgeto the s ab res o f the Moslems

,who shouted

wi th rel igious t ranspo rt,

“This i s the whitep al ace of Chosroes ; th i s i s the p romise o f theapostl e o f God !” The n aked robbe rs o f thedese rt were sudden ly en ri ched beyond themeasu re o f thei r hope o r knowledge . E achchambe r revealed a new treasu re sec reted wi tha rt, o r os ten tatious ly d i sp l ayed ; the gol d ands i lve r, the various wa rd robes and p recious fu r

587

Sa ck ofMadayn ,

A .D . 637.

W ealth ofthe Spoi l .

588 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 63z- 64x

n i tu re,su rp assed (s ays Abul feda ) the e s timate

o f fancy o r numbe rs ; and another h is to ri an defines the un tol d and almos t infini te mass

,by

the f abulous computation of. th ree thous andso f thous ands o f thous ands o f p ieces o f gol d .

Some minute though curious facts rep resentthe contras t o f ri ches and igno rance . Fromthe remote i s l ands o f the Indi an oce an

,a l a rge

p rovi s ion o f c amphi re h ad been impo rted,

which i s employed wi th a mixtu re o f wax toi l luminate the p al aces o f the e as t . S t rangersto the n ame and p rope rt ies o f that odori ferous gum

,the S a racens

,mis taking i t fo r s al t

,

mingled the camph i re in the i r b read,and were

a s ton i shed at the b i tte rnes s o f the tas te . Oneo f the ap a rtments o f the p al ace was deco ratedwi th a ca rpet o f s i lk, s ixty cub i ts in length , andas many in b readth : a p a rad ise o r ga rden wasdep i ctu red on the ground ; the flowers , f ru i ts ,and sh rubs

,were imitated by the figu res o f the

gol d emb ro ide ry,and the colo rs o f the p re

c i ous s tones ; and- the ample squa re was enc i r

cl ed by a va riegated and ve rd ant bo rde r . TheArab i an gene ral pe rsuaded h i s so ld ie rs to re

l inqu i sh the i r cl a im,in the reasonab le hope

th at the eyes o f the cal iph would be del ightedwi th the spl end id wo rkmansh ip o f n atu re andindustry . Regardl ess o f the me ri t o f a rt

,and

the pomp of royal ty,the rigi d Omar divi ded

the p ri ze among h i s b reth ren of Medina : thep i ctu re was des troyed ; but such was the i ntri nsi c value o f the mate ri al s

,th a t the sh a re o f

590

The kingtakes fl ight .

Battle o fNehavend .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 632-64x

migh ty conques t was ach ieved by the battl es o fJ alul a and N eh avend . Afte r the los s o f thefo rme r

,Y ezdegerd fled f rom H olwan

,and

conceal ed h i s shame and desp ai r in the mountain s o f Farsi stan

,f rom whence Cyrus h ad de

scended wi th h i s equal and val i ant compauions . The cou rage of the nation su rvived thato f the mona rch : among the h i l l s to the southo f Ecb atan a o r H amadan

,one hund red and

fi fty thous and Pe rs i ans made a th i rd and finals tand fo r the i r rel igion and country ; and thedeci s ive b attl e o f N ehavend was s tyl ed by theArabs the Victo ry o f v i c to ries . I f i t be trueth at the flying gene ral o f the Pe rs i ans wass topped arid ove rtaken in a c rowd of mulesand camel s l aden with honey

,the inc ident

,

howeve r s l i gh t o r s ingul a r,wil l denote the

luxu rious impediments o f an o ri ental a rmy .

!In 632, the Arabs at tack the E as te rnRoman Empi re . During the next seven ty- fi ve

yea rs , they conque r Syri a, Egypt, and No rthern Africa . In 709, they c ross the S tra i ts of

Gib ral ta r and attack Spain ]

A R A B C O N QU E S T O F S PA I N

(A .D. 709—713)

EDWARD GIBBON

N the p rogres s o f conques t f rom the no rthF irst temp

and south,the Goths and the S a racens tatxons

s

a

o

n

fd

encounte red e ach o the r on the confines “1 ° 0000

of Eu rope and Africa . I n the Op in ion of thel atte r

,the d i ffe rence o f rel igion i s a re ason

ab le ground of enmity and warfa re . As ea rlyas the time o f O thman thei r p i ratic al squadrons h ad ravaged the co as ts o f Andalus i a ; no rh ad they fo rgotten the rel i e f o f Carth age bythe Goth i c succo rs . In th at age

,as wel l as in

the p resent,the kings of Sp ain we re possessed

o f the fo rt ress o f Ceuta ; one o f the columns o fHercules

,which i s d ivi ded by a na rrow s trai t

f rom the oppos i te p i l l a r o r po in t o f Europe .

A smal l po rtion o f Mauri tan i a was s ti l l wanting to the Afri can conques t ; but Musa , in thep ri de o f victo ry

,was repul sed f rom the wal l s

o f Ceuta,by the vigi l ance and cou rage of

Count Jul i an,the gene ral o f the Goths . From

his di s appo intment and pe rplexity,Musa was

rel i eved by an unexpected mess age o f theChri s ti an ch ie f

,who o ffe red h i s pl ace

,h i s pe r(591 )

592 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 709—7 1 3

son,and h i s swo rd

,to the succes so rs o f M a

homet,and sol i c i ted the d i sgrace fu l hono r

o f in troducing the i r a rms into the hea rt o fS p ain . I f we inqu i re into the cause o f h i st reachery

,the Sp an i a rds wil l repeat the pOpu

lar‘

story o f h i s daughte r C ava ; of a vi rginwho was seduced

,o r ravi shed

,by he r sov

ere ign ; o f a fathe r who s ac rificed h is rel igionand country to the th i rs t o f revenge . Afte rthe decease o r depos i tion o f W i ti z a

,h is two

sons we re suppl an ted by the ambition o f Rode ri c

,a nob l e Goth

,whose f athe r

,the duke o r

gove rno r o f a p rovince,h ad fal len a victim to

the p reced ing tyranny . The mona rchy wass ti l l el ec tive ; but the sons o f W i ti z a, educatedon the s teps o f the th rone

,were imp ati ent o f

a p rivate s tation . Thei r resentment was themo re dange rous

,as i t was va rn i shed with the

d is s imul ation o f cou rts : thei r fol lowe rs wereexci ted by the rememb rance o f f avo rs and thep romise o f a revolution ; and thei r uncl e Oppas

,a rchb ishop of Toledo and S evi l l e

,was the

fi rs t p e rson in the church,and the second in

the s tate . I t i s p rob able th at Ju l i an was i nvolved in the d i sgrace o f the unsucces s ful f action ; th at he h ad l i ttl e to hope and much tofea r f rom the new reign ; and th at the imp rudent king coul d not fo rget o r fo rgive the inj u ri es wh ich Rode ri c and h is family had sustained . The meri t and influence o f the countrende red h im a useful o r fo rmidab le subj ect '

h is es tates were ample,h i s fol lowe rs bol d and

594 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

h i s p rep a rations . But the remo rse o f the conSp i rators was soothed by

r

the f al l ac ious as surance th at he shoul d content h imsel f with theglo ry and Spo i l

,withou t asp i r ing to es tab l i sh

the Mosl ems beyond the se a th at sep a ratesAf ri c a f rom Eu rope .

Befo re Musa would t rus t an a rmy o f the2303350

3

0 f a i th ful to the trai to rs and i nfi dels o f a fo rthe A rabs.

e ign l and , he made a les s d ange rous t ri al o fthe i r s trength and ve raci ty . One hund redArabs and fou r hund red Af ricans p ass ed ove rin fou r vessel s f rom Tangie r

,o r Ceuta ; the

p l ace o f the i r descen t on the oppos i te sho re o fthe s t rai t i s ma rked by the n ame o f Ta rik thei rch ie f . From thei r fi rs t s tation they marchede ighteen miles th rough a h i l ly country to thecastl e and town o f Jul i an : on which (i t i s s ti l lc al l ed A lgez i re ) they bes towed the n ame o fthe G reen I s l and

,f rom a ve rdan t c ape that

advances into the sea . Thei r hosp i table en

tertainment,the Ch ri s ti ans who jo ined thei r

s tand a rd,the i r in ro ad into a fe rti l e and un

gua rded p rov ince,the ri chnes s of the i r spo i l

,

and the s a fe ty o f thei r retu rn,announced to

the i r b re th ren the mos t favo rabl e omens o fvicto ry . In the ensu ing sp ring

,five thousand

vete ran s and vo lun tee rs we re emba rked unde rthe command o f Ta rik

,a dauntles s and ski l

ful so ld ie r,who su rpas sed the expectation o f

h i s ch ie f ; and the neces s a ry transpo rts werep rovided by the industry o f the i r too fa i th fulal ly . The S a racens l anded at the p i l l a r o r

596 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS 0 0 7000 1 3

and recl in ing on a l i tte r o r ca r o f ivo ry d rawnby two wh i te mules . No twiths tand ing thevalo r o f the S a racens

,they fa in ted unde r the

weigh t o f mul ti tudes,and the p l a in o f Xe res

was ove rsp re ad wi th s ixteen thous and o f thei rdead bodi es . My b reth ren

,

” s a i d Ta rik toh i s su rviving compan ions

,

“the enemy i s befo re you

,the se a i s behi nd z

i

wh i ther would yefly ? Follow you r gene ral : I am resolvedei the r to lose my l i fe

,o r to tramp le on the

p ros trate king of the Romans .” Bes ides the

resou rce o f desp ai r,he confided in the s ec ret

co rrespondence and noctu rn al inte rviews o fCount J ul i an wi th the sons and the b rothe r o fW i ti z a .

The two p rinces and the a rchb i shop o fToledo occupied the mos t impo rtan t pos tthe i r wel l - timed de fection b roke the ranks o fthe Ch ri s tians ; each warrio r was p romptedby fea r o f susp i c ion to consul t h i s pe rson als a fety ; and the remains o f the Goth i c a rmywere s catte red o r des t royed in the fl igh t and

pu rsu i t o f the th ree fo l lowing days . Amidthe gene ral d i so rde r

,Rode ric s ta rted f rom his

ca r,and mounted O rel i a

,th e fleetest o f h i s

ho rses ; but he escaped f rom a sold ie r’s death

to pe ri sh more ignobly in the wate rs o f theBeti s o r Guadalqu ivi r . His d i adem

,h i s

robes,and h i s cou rse r

,were found on the

b ank ; but as the body o f the Goth i c p rincewas los t in the waves

,the p ride and igno rance

o f the cal iph must h ave been gratified wi th

ARAB CONQUEST OF SPAIN 597

some meane r he ad,which was exposed in tr i

umph befo re the p al ace o f D amascus .Count Jul i an h ad plunged so deep into

guil t and in famy that h i s only hope was in the Ru in o fru in o f h i s country . Afte r the b attl e o f Xe res 3

1

333513

?

he recommended the mos t effec tu al measu resto the vic to rious S a racen .

“The king o f theGoths i s sl a in ; thei r p rin ces a re fled befo reyou

,the a rmy is routed

,the nat ion is as ton

i shed . Secu re wi th suffic i en t detachmentsthe c i ties o f Beti c a ; but in pe rson , and without del ay

,march to the royal c i ty o f Toledo

,

and al low not the d is tracted Ch ri s ti ans e i the rtime o r tranquil l i ty fo r the e lection o f a newmona rch .

” Tarik l i s tened to h is advice . ARoman cap tive and p rose lyte

,who had been

en f ranch i sed by the cal i ph h imsel f,as s aulted

Co rdova with seven hund red ho rse : he swamthe rive r

,su rp ri sed the town

,and d rove the

Chris ti ans in to the gre at chu rch,where they

defended themselves above th ree months .Anothe r detachment reduced the seaco as t o fBeti ca

,which in the l as t pe riod o f the Moo r

i sh powe r has comp ri sed in a na rrow spacethe populous kingdom of G renada . Themarch o f Tarik f rom the Beti s to the Taguswas d i rected th rough the S ie rra Mo rena

,th at

separates Andalus i a and Cas tile, ti l l he ap

peared in a rms unde r the wal l s o f Toledo .

The most zealous o f the Cathol ic s h ad es

c aped wi th the rel ic s o f thei r s a in ts : and i fthe gates we re shu t

,i t was only ti l l the victo r

598 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS -703

had subsc ribed a f ai r and re asonab l e c ap i tu

l ation . The volunta ry exi l es were al lowedto depa rt wi th the i r effects ; s even chu rcheswe re app rop ri ated to the Ch ri st i an wo rsh ip ;the a rchb i shop and h is cl e rgy we re at l ibe rtyto exe rci se the i r functions

,the monks to prac

ti ce o r neglec t the i r penance ; and the Gothsand Romans were le ft in al l c ivi l and c riminal c ases to the subo rd in ate j u ri s d i c tion o fthe i r own l aws and magis t rates . Bu t i f thej us ti ce o f Tarik p rotected the Ch ri s ti an s

,his

grati tude and pol i cy rewa rded the J ews,to

whose sec re t o r open ai d he was indeb ted fo rh i s mos t impo rtan t acqui s i tions . Pe rsecutedby the kings and synods o f Spain

,who had

often p res sed the al te rn ative o f ban i shment o rb ap ti sm

,th at outcas t n ation emb raced the mo

ment o f revenge : the compa ri son o f the i r p as tand p resen t s ta te was the pledge o f the i r fi deli ty ; and the al l i ance be tween the d i s c i ples o fMoses and o f M ahomet was main ta ined ti l lthe fin al e ra o f the i r common expul s ion . Fromthe royal seat o f Toledo

,the Arab i an le ade r

Sp read h i s conques ts to the no rth,ove r the

mode rn realms o f C as ti l e and Leon ; but i ti s needl es s to enume rate the c i ties th at yiel dedon h i s app roach

,o r again to desc r ibe the table

o f eme ral d,t ranspo rted f rom the eas t by the

Romans,acqu i red by the Goths among the

spo i l s o f Rome,and p resented by the Arabs

to the th rone o f Damascus . Beyond the As

tu ri an mountain s,the mari time town of Gijon

600 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS -

7 1 3

swo rd o f Pel agius has been t rans fo rmed intothe s cep tre o f the Cathol i c kings .On the in tel l igence o f th is r ap id succes s

,

10000 001000. th e app l ause o f Mus a degene rated in to envy ;( ”m and

and he began,not to compl a in

,but to fea r

,

th at Tarik would le ave h im noth ing to subdue . At the he ad of ten thous and Arabs ande igh t thous and Af ri cans

,he passed ove r in

pe rson f rom Mau ri tan i a to Sp ain : the fi rs to f h i s comp an ion s we re the nob les t o f theKo rei sh : h i s e l des t son was le ft in the command of Afri c a ; the th ree younge r b reth renwe re o f an age an d Sp i ri t to second the boldes ten te rp ri se s o f the i r f athe r . At his l and ing inA lgez i re, he was respectful ly ente rtained byCount J ul i an

,who stifled h i s inwa rd remorse

,

and tes tified,bo th in wo rds and actions

,th at

the vi cto ry o f the Arab s h ad not imp ai red h i sa ttachment to the i r cause . Some enemies yetremained fo r the swo rd o f Musa . The ta rdyrepen tance o f the Goths h ad compa red thei rown numbe rs and those o f the invade rs ; thec i ties f rom which the march o f Tarik h ad dec l ined cons ide red themselves as imp regnable ;and the b raves t p at rio ts defended

'

the forti fi c a

tions o f Sevi l l e and M e ri da . They were suc15107355350

6

3 cessively bes ieged and reduced by the l abo r

Merida ' o f Musa,who t ranspo rted h i s c amp f rom the

B eti s to the Anas,f rom the Guadalqu ivi r to

the Guadi an a . When he b ehel d the works o fRoman magnificence

,th e b ri dge

,the aque

ducts,the triumphal a rches

,and the theatre

,

A .D . 709-

71 3 ARAB CONQUEST OF SPAIN 601

o f the ancien t metropol i s o f Lus i tan i a,IW onders of

Should imagine,

” s a i d he to h is fou r compan ions

,

“th at the human race mus t h aveun ited thei r a rt and powe r in the found ationo f th i s c i ty : happy i s the man who shal l become i ts mas te r !” He asp i red to th at h app iness

,but the Emeri tans sus ta ined on th is oc

cas ion the hono r o f the i r descen t f rom thevete ran legion aries o f Augustus . Disdain ingthe confinement o f the i r wal l s

,they gave bat

tl e to the Arabs on the p l ain ; but an ambuscade ri s ing f rom the shel te r o f a qua rry

,o r

a ru in,ch as ti sed the i r ind is c retion

,and inte r

c epted the i r retu rn . The wooden tu rrets o fass aul t we re rol l ed fo rwa rd to the foot o f therampart ; but the de fence o f Meri da was obstinate and long ; and the Castle o f the Martyrs gig;was a pe rpetual tes timony o f the losses o f the Ma rtyr"

Moslems . The cons tancy o f the bes i eged wasat l ength sub dued by famine and desp ai r ; andthe p rudent vic to r d i sgu i sed h is impati enceunde r the names o f clemency and es teem . Theal te rn ative o f exi l e o r t ribute was al lowed ;the chu rches we re d ivided between the tworel igions ; and the weal th o f those who hadfal len in the s iege

,o r reti red to Gal l i c i a

,was

confi s cated as the rewa rd o f the f ai th ful . Inthe midway between Merid a and Toledo

,th e

l i euten an t o f Musa s aluted the vi cege ren t o fthe cal i ph

,and conducted h im to the pal ace

M e in o fof the Goth 1 c kIngs. The i r fi rs t i nte rv i ew Mfis

t

a ai dTa rik.

was co l d and fo rmal : a rigid account was ex

602 TH E WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS 0 0 7000 1 3

acted o f the t re asu re s o f Sp ain : the ch a racte ro f Tarik was exposed to susp ic ion and obloquy ; and the he ro was imp risoned , revi led,and ignomin iously scou rged by the h and

,o r

the command,o f Musa . Yet so s t ri c t was the

d is ci pl ine,so pu re the zeal

,o r so tame the

Sp i ri t,o f the p rimi tive Mosl ems

,th at

,afte r

thi s publ i c ind ign i ty,Tarik cou l d se rve and

be trus ted in the reduction o f the Tarragonesep rovince . A mosque was e rected at S a ragoss a

,

by the l ibe ral i ty o f the Ko rei sh : the po rt o fBa rcelon a was Opened to the vessel s o f Syri a ;and the Goths we re pu rsued beyond the Pyren c an Mounta in s in to thei r Gal l i c p rovinceo f Septiman i a o r Languedoc . In the chu rcho f S t . Mary at Carc assone

,Musa found

,but

i t i s imp robab l e th at he l e f t,seven eques tri an

s tatues o f massy Si lve r ; and f rom h is term o rcolumn of N a rbonne

,he retu rned on hi s foot

s teps to the Gal l i c i an and Lusi tan i an sho res o fthe oce an . During the ab sence o f the f athe r

,

h i s son Abdel az i z ch as ti sed the insu rgents ofS evi l l e

,and reduced

,f rom Mal aga to V a

l en ti a,the se acoas t o f the Medite r ranean . In

th i s revolution,many p arti al cal amiti es were

infl i cted by the ca rn al o r rel igious p ass ions o fthe enthus i as ts ; some chu rches we re p ro fanedby the new worsh ip ; some rel i cs o r imageswe re con founded with idol s : the rebel s we reput to the swo rd ; and one town (an ob scu repl ace between Cordova and Sev i lle )was razed

to i ts foundations . Ye t i f we compa re the in

T H E BA T T L E O F T O U R S

E . S . CREASY

HE conquests wh ich the S aracens ef

fe c ted ove r the southe rn and eas te rnp rovinces o f Rome were fa r more

rap i d th an those ach ieved by the Germans inthe no rth

,and the new o rgan iz ations o f so

Sa ra cens' Ci ety t c h the Mosl ems introduced weresummari ly and un i fo rmly en fo rced . Exactlya centu ry passed between the death of Mohammed and the date o f the b attle o f Tou rs .During th at cen tu ry the fol lowers o f theP rophet h ad to rn away hal f the Roman emp i re ; and bes i des thei r conquests ove r Pe rs i a ,the S a racens h ad ove r run Syri a

,Egypt,A fri c a,

and Spain,i n an unchecke red and app a rently

i r res i s tib le c a ree r o f vi cto ry . No r,at the com

men c ement o f the E ighth Centu ry o f ou r e ra,was the Mohammedan wo rl d d ivided agains t

Em m i

i tsel f,as

.

i t sub sequently became . All these

5135330

5 11 5 vast reg i ons obeyed the cal i ph ; th roughoutthem al l

,f rom the Pyrenees to the Oxus

,the

n ame of Mohammed was invoked in p raye r,

and the Ko ran reve red as the book of the l aw .

I t was unde r one o f thei r ables t and most(604)

TH E BATTLE OF TOURS 605

renowned commanders,with a vete ran army

,

and with eve ry app a rent advantage o f time,

pl ace,and c i rcums tance

,th at the Arabs made

thei r great e ffo rt at the conques t o f Eu ropeno rth of the Pyrenees .In addi tion to h i s c a rdin al mi l i ta ry vi rtue s

,

Abde rrahman i s des c ribed by the Arab wri te rs as a model o f in tegri ty and j usti ce . The

Adminsfi rs t two years o f h i s second admin i s t ration in£23300Spain we re occup ied in seve re re fo rms of theabuses which unde r h i s p redeces so rs h ad creptin to the sys tem o f gove rnment

,and in exten

s ive p rep a rations fo r h i s in tended conquest inGaul . Bes i des the troop s which he col lectedf rom his p rovince

,he obta ined f rom Africa

a l a rge body o f chosen Berbe r caval ry,of

fi c ered by Arabs o f p roved ski l l and valo r ;and in the summe r o f 732, he c rossed the Pyrenees at the he ad o f an a rmy which someArab wri te rs rate at eighty thous and s trong

,

while some o f the Ch ri st i an ch ron icle rs swel li ts numbe rs to many hund reds o f thousandsmo re .

The Merovingi an kings h ad sunk into ab

so lute i nsi gn i fi c anc e , and had become me repuppets o f royal ty be fo re the E igh th Centu ry .

Charles Martel,l ike h i s f athe r

,Pep in Heris - (54

1

341

535;s

tal,was Duke o f the Aust ras i an Franks

,the

b raves t and most tho rough ly Ge rman ic parto f the n ation

,and exe rci sed

,in the name o f the

ti tul a r king,what l i ttle p a ramount autho ri ty

the tu rbulent mino r rule rs o f d i s t ri cts and

606 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 73z

towns coul d be pe rsuaded o r compel led to acknowledge . Engaged wi th h i s n ation al com

peti tors in pe rpetu al confl i c ts fo r power, andin more se rious s truggles fo r s a fety agains tthe fie rce t ribes o f the unconve rted Fri s i ans

,

Bavari ans,S axons

,and Thu ringi ans

,who at

that epoch ass ai l ed wi th pecul i a r fe roc i ty theCh ri s ti an ized Germans on the le f t b ank o fthe Rhine

,Charles M arte l added expe ri enced

ski l l to h i s n atu ral cou rage,and he h ad l ike

wi se fo rmed a mil i ti a o f vete rans among theFranks .The Monki sh ch ron ic l e rs

,f rom whom we

are obl iged to gl ean a n a r rative o f th i s memorab l e c amp a i gn,bear fu l l evidence to the te rro rwh ich the S a racen invas ion insp i red

,and to

the agony o f th at great s t ruggle . The S a racens

,s ay they

,and the i r king

,who was cal led

A bd i rames,came out o f Sp ain

,with al l the i r

wives,and thei r ch i l d ren

,and the i r subs tance

,

i n such great mul ti tudes th at no man couldreckon o r est imate them . They b rought wi ththem al l the i r a rmo r

,and whateve r they h ad

,

as i f they were hence fo rth always to dwel l inFrance .

“Then Abde r rahman,s ee ing the l and fil l ed

with the mul ti tude o f h is a rmy,p ie rces th rough

the mounta in s,t ramples ove r rough and level

ground,plunde rs fa r in to the count ry o f the

Franks,and smi tes al l wi th the swo rd, in so

much th at when Eudo came to b attle wi thhim at the rive r Garonne, and fled befo re h im,

608 THE WORLD ’


ronne,and l aid waste the country

,and took

cap tives wi thou t numbe r . And that a rmywent th rough al l p l aces l ike a desol ating s to rm .

Prospe ri ty made these warrio rs in s ati ab le . Atthe p ass age o f the rive r

,Abde rrahman ove r

th rew the count,and the count reti red in to h is

St ronghold,but the Mosl ems fought agains t i t

and ente red i t by fo rce and Sl ew the count ;fo r eve ryth ing gave way to the i r c rmeters

,

which were the robbe rs o f l ives . All the nations o f the Franks t rembled at th at te r rib lea rmy

,and they betook them to thei r king

,

Caldus,and tol d h im o f the h avoc made by

the Mosl em ho rsemen,and how they rode at

thei r wi l l th rough al l the l and o f N a rbonne,

Toulouse,and Bo rdeaux

,and they told the

king o f the death o f the i r count . Then theking bade them be of good chee r

,and o ffe red

to ai d them . And in the r 1 4th yea r hemounted h i s ho rse

,and he took with h im a

hos t th at cou l d no t be numbe red,and went

agains t the Mosl ems . And he came uponthem at the gre at c i ty o f Tou rs . And A bderrahman and othe r p ruden t caval i e rs s awthe di sorde r o f the Mosl em troops , who werelo aded with spo i l ; but they d i d not ventu reto d i sp le ase the sol d ie rs by o rde ring them toab andon eve ryth ing except thei r a rms andwar-ho rses . And Abde r rahman trus ted inthe valo r o f h i s sol d ie rs

,and in the good fo r

tune which h ad eve r attended h im . But (theArab wri te r remarks ) such de fec t o f disc i

T HE BATTLE OF TOURS

pl ine always i s f atal to armies . So A bderrahman and h is hos t attacked Tou rs to gain Sti l lmo re spo i l

,and they fought agains t i t so

I fie rcely that they sto rmed the ci ty almos t befo re the eyes of the a rmy that came to savei t ; and the fu ry and c ruel ty o f the Moslemstoward the inhab i tants o f the c i ty was l ike thefu ry and c ruel ty o f raging tige rs .

“Nea r the rive r Owar,the two great hosts

o f the two l anguages and the two c reeds we reset in a rray agains t each othe r . The hea rts o fAbde r rahman

,h i s c ap ta ins

,and h i s men

,were

fi l l ed wi th wrath and p ri de,and they were the

fi rs t to begin the figh t . The Moslem ho rsemen dashed fie rce and f requent fo rwardagains t the battal ions o f the Franks

,who re

s i s ted manful ly,and many fel l de ad on e ithe r

s i de unti l the go ing down of the sun . N ightp a rted the two a rmies ; but in the gray o f themo rn ing the Moslems retu rned to the b attl e .

Thei r caval ie rs h ad soon hewn thei r way intothe centre o f the Ch ri s ti an hos t . But manyof the Mosl ems we re fe a rful fo r the safetyo f the spoi l wh ich they h ad sto red in thei rtents

,and a fal se c ry a rose in the i r ranks th at

some o f the enemy we re plunde ring the camp ;whereupon seve ral squ ad rons o f the Moslemho rsemen rode off to p rotec t the i r tents . Buti t seemed as i f they fled ; and al l the hos t wast roubl ed . And whi le Abde rrahman strove tocheck the i r tumul t

,and to l e ad them back to

b attl e,the warrio rs o f the Franks came a roun d

609

61 0 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 732

h im,and he was p ie rced th rough wi th many

spea rs,so tha t h e d ied . Then al l the host fled

00 mam

befo re the enemy,and many d ied in the fl ight .

This deadly defe at o f the Moslems,and the

loss o f the gre at l eade r and good caval ie r Ahderrahman

,took p l ace in the hund red and fi f e

teenth yea r .”

It woul d be d iffi cul t to expect f rom an ad

versary a more expl i c i t con fes s ion o f h avingbeen tho roughly vanqui shed th an the Arabshe re acco rd to the Eu ropeans . The po in ts onwhich the i r n a r rative d i ffe rs f rom those of theCh ri s ti ans— as to how many days the confl i c tl as ted

,whethe r the as s a i l ed c i ty was actual ly

rescued o r not,and the l ike— a re o f l i ttl e mo

ment compared with the admitted great fac tthat the re was a deci s ive t ri al o f s t rength between Frank and S a racen

,in wh ich the fo r

mer conque red . The endu ring impo rtanceo f the battl e o f Tou rs in the eyes o f the Mos

l ems i s attes ted not only by the exp res s ions o f“the de adly b attl e” and “the d i sgraceful ove r

gii‘

élf’h th row” which the i r wri te rs cons tantly employ

the m omwhen re fe r ring to i t

,but al so by the fact th at

no mo re se rious attempts a t conquest beyondthe Pyrenees we re made by the S a racens .Charles M artel

,and h i s son and grandson

,

were l e f t a t l ei su re to conso l id ate and extendthei r powe r . The new Ch ri s ti an Roman empi re o f th e Wes t

,which the genius o f Cha rl e

magne founded,and th roughou t wh ich h i s

i ron wi l l imposed pe ace on the ol d ana rchy

THE CORONAT ION OF CHARLEMAGNE

JAMES BRY CE

T was towa rd Rome as thei r eccles i as ti calcap i tal th at the thoughts and hopes o f themen o f the S ixth and Seventh Centu ries

were cons tantly d i rected . Yet not f rom Rome,

feeb l e and co rrup t,no r on the exh austed soi l

o f I taly,was the del ive re r to a ri se . Jus t when

,

as we may suppose,the vi s ion o f the renewal

o f impe ri al au tho ri ty in theWes te rn p rovinceswas beginn ing to van i sh away

,the re appeared

in the fu rthes t co rne r o f Eu rope,Sp rung o f

a race but l a te ly b rought wi th in the p al e o fC i vi l i z ation

,a l ine o f Ch ie fta in s devoted to the

se rvice o f the Holy See,and among them one

whose power and he roi c ch a racte r pointedh im out as wo rthy of a d ign ity to whi ch doct rine and t rad i t ion had attached a s ancti ty al

most d ivine .

S ince the invas ion of Alboin,I taly h ad

groaned unde r a compl i c ation o f evi l s . TheLomba rd s

,who had ente red along with th at

ch ie f in 568, had settl ed in cons i de rable numbe rs in the val l ey of the P0

,and founded the

(61 2)

THE CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE

duchies o f S poleto and Benevento,l e aving the

res t o f the count ry to be gove rned by the exa rch o f Ravenna as V i ce roy o f the E as te rnc rown . This subj ection was

,howeve r

,l i ttle

bette r th an nomin al . Although too few to occ upy the whole pen insul a, the invade rs wereyet s trong enough to h a ras s eve ry p a rt o f i t byin roads which met wi th no res i s tance f rom thepopul ation

,unused to a rms and wi thout the

Sp i ri t to use them in se l f -defence . Morec ruel and repul s ive

,i f we may bel i eve the

evidence o f thei r enemies,th an any othe r o f

the No rthe rn t ribes,the Lomba rds we re ce r

tai nly s ingul a r in the i r ave rs ion to the cl e rgy,neve r admitting them to the n ation al counci l s .Tormented by the i r repeated attacks

,Rome

sought help in vain f rom Byzantium,whose

fo rces,s c a rce ab le to repe l f rom thei r wall s

the Avars and S a racens,could give no sup

po rt to the d is tant exa rch o f Ravenna . ThePopes we re the Empe ro r’s subj ects ; theyawai ted h is confi rmation

,l ike o the r b i shops ;

they h ad mo re th an once been the vi ctims o fh i s ange r . But as the c i ty became mo re ac

cus tomed in independence,and the Pope rose

to a p redominance,re al i f no t yet l egal

,h i s

tone grew bolde r th an th at o f the Eas te rn pat ri a rchs . In th e controve rs ies th at h ad ragedin the Chu rch

,he h ad h ad the wi sdom o r

good fo rtune to espouse (though not alwaysf rom the fi rs t) the o rthodox Side : i t was now

by anothe r qua rrel o f rel igion that h i s del iv

61 3

Harass inginvaders .

61 4 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 800

eranc e f rom an unwelcome yoke was aecom

pl i shed .

The Empero r Leo,bo rn among the I s au ri an

Them , Mounta ins , where a pu re r f ai th may yet h aveperor Leo

00000 0 1000 l inge red,an d s tung by the Mohammedan

to abolish01

2135522? taun t o f i do l atry

,dete rmined to abo l i sh the

wo rsh ip o f images,which seemed fas t obscu r

ing the more sp i r i tu al p art o f Ch ri s ti an i ty .

An attemp t sufli c i ent to c ause tumul ts amongthe submiss ive G reeks

,excited in I taly a

fi erc er commotion . The popul ace rose withone he a rt in de fence o f what h ad become tothem more th an a symbol ; the exa rch wasSl a in ; th e Pope, though unwil l ing to seve rh imsel f f rom the l awful head and p rotecto ro f the Chu rch

,must yet excommun icate the

p rin ce whom he coul d not re cl aim f rom soh ate ful a heresy .

’ L i udprand, king o f theLombards

,imp roved h i s oppo rtun i ty : f al l ing

on the exarch as‘

the ch amp ion o f images,on

Rome as the min i ste r o f the Greek Empe ro r,

he ove r ran the one,and al l bu t succeeded in

c ap tu ring the othe r . The Pope es caped fo rthe moment

,but s aw h i s pe ri l ; pl aced between

a he reti c and a robbe r,he tu rned h i s gaze be

yond the Alps,to a Cathol i c who h ad just

ach ieved a s ignal del ive rance fo r Ch ris tendom on th e fiel d o f Poi ti e rs . Grego ry I I . hadal re ady opened communications wi th CharlesMa rte l

,mayo r o f the p al ace

,and vi rtu al rul e r

of the Franki sh realm . As the c ri s i s becomesmore p res s ing

,Gregory III. finds in the s ame

61 6

The t itlePatrician .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 8oo

scend to the rescue : the second time at theb idd ing o f a l ette r wri tten in the name of S t .Pete r h imsel f . A i stu lf coul d make no res i s tance ; and the Frank bes towed of the Papalch ai r al l th at belonged to the exa rchate inNo rth I taly

,rece iving as the meed of h is se r

v i ces the ti tle of Patri c i an . Hence the ph rasei s always “

Patri c i us Romanorum”

; not, as info rmer times

,

“Patri c ius

” alone : hence i t i su sual ly as soci ated wi th the te rms defenso r”

and “p rotecto r .” And s ince “defence” im

p l i es a co rrespond ing measu re o f obedience onthe pa rt o f those who p rofi t by i t

,the re mus t

h ave been conceded to the new pat ri c i an moreo r l es s o f pos i tive autho ri ty in Rome

,al though

not such as to extingu i sh the sup remacy of theEmpero r .So long indeed as the Franks we re sep a rated

by a hos ti l e kingdom from thei r new al l ies,

th i s control remained l i ttl e bette r th an nomin al . But when on Pep in ’s death the res tles sLomb ards aga in took up a rms and menacedthe posses s ion s o f the Chu rch

,Pep in ’s son

Charles,o r Charlemagne

,swept down l ike a

whi rlwind f rom the Alp s at the cal l o f PopeHadri an

,se ized King Des i de rius in h i s cap i

tal,h imsel f assumed the Lombard c rown

,and

made no rthe rn I taly thence fo rward an integral p a rt o f the Franki sh Empi re . Proceeding to Rome at the head o f h i s vi cto rious a rmy

,

the fi rs t o f a long l ine o f Teuton i c kings whowere to find he r love more deadly th an her

THE CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE

hate,he was rece ived by Had ri an wi th d is

61 7

Cha rles andtingu i shed hono rs , and welcomed by the peo Hadrian .

ple as the i r l e ade r and del ive re r . Yet eventhen

,whethe r out o f pol i cy o r f rom that senti

ment o f reve rence to wh ich hi s amb itious mindd id not re fuse to bow

,he was mode rate in

cl a ims o f j u ri sd i c tion,he yie lded to the ponti ff

the pl ace o f hono r in p roces s ions,and renewed

,

al though in the gui se o f a lo rd and conque ro r,

the gi ftof the Exarch ate and Pentapol i s,wh i c hPep in h ad made to the Roman Chu rch twentyyea rs be fo re .

I t i s with a s trange sense,hal f o f s adnes s

,

hal f o f amusement,th at in watch ing the p rog

res s o f th is grand h i s to ri cal d rama,we recog

n ize the meane r motives by which i ts ch ie facto rs were influenced . The Franki sh Kingand Roman Pontiff were fo r the time the twomost powe rful fo rce s th at u rged the movemen t o f the world

,l e ad ing It on by swi ft s teps

to a mighty c ri s i s o f i ts f ate,themse lves

gu ided,as i t might wel l seem

,by the pu res t

zeal fo r i ts sp i ri tu al wel fa re . Thei r wo rdsand acts

,the i r whole ch a racte r and be a ring

in the Sigh t o f expectan t Ch ri s tendom,were

worthy o f men destined to le ave an indel ibl eimp res s on the i r own and many succeed ingages . Neve rtheles s

,in them

,too

,appea rs th e

unde rcu r rent o f vulga r human des i res andp ass ions . The lo fty and fe rven t mind o fCharles was no t f ree f rom the s ti r r ings o f pe rson al ambi tion : yet these may be excused , i f

8 Vol . 2

Cha rlesambit ious.

61 8 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 8oo

no t de fended,as almos t in sep a rab l e f rom an

intense and res tl es s gen ius,which

,be i t neve r

so unselfish in i ts ends,must

,in pu rsu ing them

,

fix upon eve ryth ing i ts grasp and ra i se out o feve ryth ing i ts monument . The pol i cy of thePopes was p rompted by motives l es s nob le .Eve r s ince the extinction o f the Wes te rn Empi re h ad emanc ip ated the eccles i as t ic al potentate f rom secul a r cont rol

,the fi rs t and mos t

ab iding obj ect o f h is s chemes and p raye rs hadbeen the acqu i s i tion o f te rr i to ri al weal th in theneighbo rhood of hi s cap i tal . He had

,indeed

,

a so rt o f justi fi c ation— fo r Rome , a c i ty withnei the r trade no r indus t ry

,was c rowded with

poo r,fo r whom i t devolved on the B ishop to

p rovide . Yet the pu rsu i t was One which coul dnot fa i l to pe rve rt the pu rposes o f the Popesand give a s in i s te r ch a racte r to al l they d id .

I t was th i s fe a r fo r the l ands o f the Chu rch fa rmo re th an fo r re l igion o r the s a fety o f thec i ty— nei the r o f which was re al ly endan

ge red by the Lomba rd attacks— th at hadp rompted thei r p as s ion ate appeal s to CharlesMartel and Pep in ; i t was now the wel lgrounded hOpe o f h aving these possess ionsconfi rmed and extended by Pepin ’s greate r sonth at made the Roman eccl es i as ti cs so fo rwardin h i s cause . And i t was the s ame lus t afte rwo rl dly Weal th and pomp

,mingled wi th the

d awning p rospect o f an independen t p rinc i

pal i ty, th at now began to seduce them into along cou rse o f gui l e and intr igue . Fo r th i s i s

620 THE WORLD ’


cul ty succeeded in escap ing to Spol eto,whence

he fled no rthwa rd into the Frankish l ands .Charles h ad l ed hi s a rmy agains t the revol tedS axons : th i the r Leo fol lowing ove rtook h imat Pade rbo rn in Wes tph al i a . The King re

c e ived wi th respect h i s Sp i ri tu al f athe r,ente r

tained and con fe r red wi th him fo r some time,

and at l ength sen t h im back to Rome unde rthe esco rt o f A ngi lbert, one of h i s t rus ties tmin i s te rs ; p romi s ing to fo l low e re long in pe rson . Afte r some months

,peace was res to red in

S axony,and in the autumn of 799 Cha rles de

scended f rom the Alps once mo re,while Leo

revolved deeply the great s cheme fo r whoseaccompl i shment the time was now ripe .

Th ree hund red and twenty- fou r yea rs h adpas sed s in ce the l as t Caes a r o f the Wes t re

s igned h i s powe r in to the hands o f the Senate

,and le f t to h i s E as te rn b rothe r the sole

l eade rsh ip o f the Roman wo rld . To the l atte r I taly had f rom that time been nominal lysubj ect ; bu t i t was only du ring one b rie f interv al between the death of Tei a

,the l as t Os

trogoth i c king, and the descen t o f Albo in , thefi rs t Lomb ard

,th at h i s powe r h ad been re al ly

e ffective . In the fu rthe r p rovinces,Gaul

,

Sp ain,B ri tain

,i t was only a memo ry . But

the ide a o f a Roman Empi re as a necess a ryp art o f the worl d ’s o rde r h ad no t vani shed :i t h ad been admi tted by those who seemed tobe des t roying i t ; i t h ad been che ri shed by theChu rch ; was Sti l l rec al led by l aws and cus

TH E CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE 621

toms ; was dea r to the subj ec t popul ations ,who fondly looked back to the days whens l ave ry was at l eas t mi tigated by peace ando rde r . W e have seen the Teuton endeavo r- afi

e

flfigfi,ing eve rywhere to i denti fy h imsel f with thesys tem he ove rth rew . As the Goths

,Bu rgun

d ians,and Franks sough t the ti tl e o f consu l

o r p atri c i an,as the Lomb ard kings when they

renounced thei r Ari an ism styled themse lvesFlav i i

,so even in d i s tan t Engl and the fie rce

S axon and Angl i an conque ro rs used the n amesof Roman digni ties

,and befo re long began to

cal l themselves imp era tores and bas i le i s o fB ri ta in . W i th in the l as t centu ry and a hal fthe ri s e o f Mohammedan i sm had b rought outthe common Ch ris ti an i ty o f Eu rope in to aful le r re l ie f . The fal se p rophet h ad lef t onerel igion

,one empi re

,one Commander o f the

Fai th fu l : the Ch ri s ti an commonweal th neededmore th an eve r an efli c i ent head and cen tre .

Such le ade rsh ip i t coul d nowise find in theCou rt o f the B ospho rus

,growing eve r feeb le r

and mo re al i en to the Wes t . The name of“respub l i c a,

” pe rmanent a t the el de r Rome,

had neve r been appl ie d to the Eas te rn EmGovernp i re . I ts gove rnmen t was f rom the fi rs t hal f 00ent 0rthe Eastern

Greek,hal f As i ati c ; and had now d ri fted Empire .

away f rom i ts anc ien t t rad i t ions into the fo rmsof an O ri ental despoti sm . Cl audi an h ad al

ready snee red at “Greek Qu i ri te s” : the gene ral use

,s ince He racl ius ’ re ign

,o f the G reek

tongue,and the d i ffe rence o f manne rs and

622 THE WORLD ’


us ages,made the taunt now mo re dese rved .

The Pope h ad no reason to wish wel l to theByzantine p rinces

,who whi le insul ting h is

weaknes s h ad given h im no help aga ins t thes avage Lombards

,and who fo r ne arly seventy

yea rs h ad been con taminated by a he resy themo re odious th at i t touched no t Specul ativepo in ts o f doctrine

,but the mos t famil i a r

us ages o f wo rsh ip . In No rth I taly thei rpowe r was extinct : no ponti ff Since Zacha ri ash ad asked the i r confi rmation o f h is el ection °

n ay,the appo in tmen t o f the intrud ing Frank

to the patri c i ate,an ofli c e which i t belonged

to the Empe ro r to con fe r,was o f i tsel f an ac t

o f rebel l ion . N eve rtheles s the i r righ ts subs i s ted : they were s ti l l

,and wh i le they reta ined

the impe ri al n ame,must so long continue

ti tu l a r sove re igns o f the Rom an ci ty . No rcoul d the Sp i r i tu al head o f Ch ri s tendom dispense with the tempo ral ; without the RomanEmpi re the re cou l d not be a Roman

,no r by

necess a ry consequence (as men thought ) aC athol i c and Apos tol i c Chu rch . Fo r

,as wi l l

be shown mo re ful ly he reafte r,men could not

sep arate in fact what was ind is so lub le inthought : Ch ri s ti an i ty must s tand o r f al l alongwith the great Ch ri sti an s tate : they were buttwo n ames fo r the s ame th ing . Thus u rged

,

the Pope took a s tep which some among h i sp redeces so rs a re s a id to h ave al re ady contemplated , and towa rd which the events o fthe l as t fi f ty yea rs h ad po inted . The momen t


At length the Frankish host ente red Rome .

The Pope ’s c ause was he a rd ; h i s innocence,al re ady v ind i cated by a mi racle

,was p ro

nounc ed by the Patric i an in ful l synod ; h i saccuse rs condemned in h is s tead . Charlesremained in the ci ty fo r some weeks ; andon Ch ri s tmas d ay

,800

,he hea rd mass in the

b as i l i ca o f S t . Pete r . On the Spot where nowthe giganti c dome of B ramante and M ichelangelo towe rs ove r the bu i ld ings o f the modern ci ty

,th e Spo t wh ich t radi tion h ad hal

l owed as that o f the Apostl e ’s martyrdom,

Cons tantine the G re at h ad e rected the ol des tand statel ies t temple o f Ch ri sti an Rome .N oth ing coul d be les s l ike . th an was th i sb as i l i ca to those no rthe rn cathed ral s

,Sh adowy

,

f antas ti c,i r regul a r

,c rowded with pi l l a rs

,

f ringed al l a round by clu ste ring sh rines andchapel s

,which a re to mos t o f us the types

o f medieval a rch i tectu re . In i ts p l an anddeco rations

,in the sp acious sunny h al l

,the

roof p l ain as th at o f a G reek temple,the long

row of Co rin th i an columns,the vivi d mosaics

on i ts wall s,in i ts b rightnes s

,i ts s te rnness

,i ts

s impl ic i ty,i t h ad p rese rved eve ry featu re o f

Roman a rt,and h ad remained a pe rfect ex

p ress ion o f Roman ch a ra cte r . Out o f thet ransep t

,a fl igh t o f Steps l ed up to the h igh

al ta r unde rneath an d jus t beyond the greata rch , the a rch o f tr iumph , as i t was cal l edbeh ind in the semici rcu l a r apse s at the cle rgy,r i s ing tie r above tie r a round i ts wal l s ; in the

THE CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE 625

mids t,h igh above the res t

,and looking down

pas t the al ta r ove r the mul ti tude,was pl aced

the b ishop ’s th rone,i tsel f the cu rul e cha i r o f

some fo rgotten magi s t rate . From that ch ai r T he c orothe Pope now rose

,as the re ad ing o f the GOS

000 00 .

pel ended,advanced to whe re Charles— who

had exch anged his s imple Frankish d res s fo rthe s andal s and the chl amys o f a Roman patri c i an— knel t in p raye r by the h igh al ta r

,and

as in the s igh t o f al l he pl aced upon the b rowof the b a rb ari an Chie f ta in the d i adem o f theCaes a rs

,then ben t in obe i s ance befo re h im

,

the chu rch rang to the Shout o f the mul ti tude,

again f ree,again the lo rds and centre o f

the worl d,Karolo Augus to a Deo co ronato

magno et pac i fi c o impe rato ri vi ta et Victo ri a .

”

In that Shout,echoed by the Franks without

,

was p ronounced the un ion,so long in p rep a

ration,so mighty 1 n Its consequences

,o f the

Roman and the Teuton,o f the memories and

the c ivi l i z ation o f the South with the f reshTeuton.

ene rgy o f the No rth,and f rom that moment

mode rn h i s to ry begins .

!The Arabs subdue the i s l e o f C rete in 823,and S ic i ly in 827. I n 846, the S a racens invadeRome . In 827, Egbert, King o f Wes sex, acqui res sup remacy ove r the othe r Anglo - S axonkingdoms . In 832 , the fi rs t D an i sh flee t attacks the Engl i sh coas t . It i s f rom th i s d atethe V ikings ravage the co as ts fo r two centuri es

,and in some case s make pe rmanent

626 TH E WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS

conquests both in G reat B ri ta in and al l Wes te rn Eu rope . In 983, Greenl and was d i sc ove red and settl ed by E r ik the Red . V in l and

(Ameri ca ) was seen and v i s i ted by seve ralNorsemen (986 I n 87 1 , Alf red theG reat comes to the th rone

,and

,af te r a s t rug

gle ful l o f v i c i s s i tu des,del ive rs h is kingdom

fo r a time from the Dan i sh invade rs ]

628 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS 0 0 000 0000

warl ike fi re h ad spen t i tsel f wi th in the c i rcleo f thei r own l ands . We re ad

,in p arti cul a r

,

o f a despe rate battl e fought in 740 , on the

000 heath o f -B raav al la,be tween Harol d Gold

S'gm d '

tooth the Dane,and S igu rd Ring the Swedish

King . Harold,ol d and bl ind

,d ied l ike a hero

on the field ; and S igu rd ruled in S candin avi a .

But then,sweep ing both sho res of the No rth

S ea,began thei r wide r rangings

,which h ave

l e f t deep and l as ting marks upon Eu ropeanh i s to ry . One o f the ea rl ies t o f these rove rs

,

Regnar Lodb rok,S igu rd

’s s

'

on,

. se i z ed byS axon E l l a

,as he was ravaging L ind i s f a rne

,

shouted h i s war - song to the l as t,whil e sn akes

we re s tinging h im to death in a No rthumb ri andungeon .

Wo rds can not p ain t the fe roci ty o f these

gfe

t

r

ggity no rthe rn wa rrio rs . Blood was thei r p as s ion ;

V ikings and they plunged into battl e l ike tige rs on thesp ring . Eve rything th at could feed thei r c raving fo r wa r they found in thei r rel igion andthei r songs . Thei r ch ie f god

,Od in

,was the

b ea u i dea l o f a No rs e warrio r ; and the h ighes t del igh t they hoped fo r in Valh al l a

,the i r

heaven,was to d rink endles s d raughts o f mead

f rom the Skul l s o f thei r enemies . There was,

they thought,no su re r p as spo rt to heaven than

a bloody death amid heap s o f Sl a in . Andthe i r songs

,sung by S lea lds, when the fe as t

was ove r,and Sti l l hea rd among the Simple

fu r- cl ad fi sh ermen,who alone remain to rep

resen t the wi l d V iki nger, ring wi th cl ash ing

0 0 000- 0000 NORMANS IN FRANCE A N D ITALY 629

swo rds,and al l the fie rce mus ic o f battle to

the death .

But into the ve ry centre o f th i s d a rk ragingb arbari sm sp arks o f truth fel l

,which b right

ened and bl azed unti l the fie rce i dol atry l ayin ashes . Ansga r

,th e Apostle o f the No rth

,

and fi rs t Archb i shop o f Hamburg, p ressing

Ansga“

with a few monks th rough fen and fo res t,ea rly

in the N in th Centu ry,p reac hed the C ross at thecou rt o f B iOrn

,on the b anks o f the M aelarn .

Engl and and France,as was n atu ral f rom

thei r pos i t ion,su ffe red mos t in the descents

o f the No rsemen . During a pa rt o f the timeth at H arol d H aarfager (Fai r-hai red ) re ignedin No rway (863 to Al fred

,king o f

Wes sex,the mighties t o f al l the N orsemen

’s

foes,was l aying the foundation of B ri ti sh

greatness . L i ttl e mo re th an a centu ry l ate r,Alf red ’s c rown passed to the No rseman Canute

,and No rsemen wore i t fo r twenty- fou r

yea rs . Then a l i ttl e gap,and W i l l i am

,no

longe r a No rseman,but a No rman— markfigfig

‘

figod

,

wel l the change o f n ame,fo r i t denotes 21

000000300.

deeper ch ange o f rough sea -kings in to s teelcl ad knights— s at as Conque ro r on the Emgl i sh th rone

,and se t the wi ld No rse blood

flowing down th rough the Whole l ine o f B ri ti sh sove reigns .Acco rding to the No rse cus tom o f p ie rcing

a l and to the heart th rough its r ive rs,a swarm

of boats,gi l t and painted l ike d ragons , pushed

up the Seine in 90 1 . The captain o f these

630 T H E WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS 0 0 000 0000

p i rates was Rol f Gange r,o r Rol lo . S e i z ing

and fo rti fying Rouen,they made i t the centre

o f a maraud ing warf a re th at l as ted fo r yea rs .Whe reve r a b ranch - s t re am met the main cu rren t

,up they went to i ts ve ry sp rings . N ew

a rrival s swel l ed the. fleet ; the di sconten tedF ranki sh peas ants flocked to Rouen ; Pa ri s wastwi ce b es ieged . Charles the S imple

,te r ror

s t ri cken and hel pless,yie lded up

,by a tre aty

concluded at S t . Clai r on the Ep te,the ri ch

Rollo fields o f No rmandy and B retagne to Rol lo,

801501530033, who, as duke of No rmandy and pee r o f

Fran ce,took an oath o f fe al ty to h im . A I

ready anothe r No rse ch ie f,Hastings

,noted

fo r h i s d ash upon Engl and in Al f red ’s l ate ryea rs

,had settled on French so i l as Count o f

Cha rt res .The in fus ion o f No rse b l ood among the

kings and peopl e o f Engl and h as j us t beennoti ced . Here then i s the s ame f resh

,vigo r

ous s t re am flowing into France ; and , ce rtainly,o f the many el ements which have combinedto make the French a great n ation , th i s i s no tthe l eas t impo rtant . The old love o f the s al t

323121635:waves s ti l l h aunts la be lle N ormand i e, f rom

d °W fl ° whose smil ing fields h ave come the greates tadmi ral s and bes t s a i lo rs o f France . Rollo ’smen

,marrying French wives

,soon l ai d as ide

the rude No rse Speech,excep t a few nauti cal

wo rds,which a re s ti l l sung out by French cap

tains to French c rews . They began to speakthe common French d i alec t . Thei r love o f

632

GreekChurch inRussia .

THE WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 800-1 000

o f Ru ri c ’s son,added much to the power o f

the Russo -No rsemen by the conques t o f Kiev.

The Ch ri s ti an worsh ip,acco rd ing to the fo rms

o f the G reek Chu rch,was fi rs t made known in

Russ i a unde r O lga,the d aughte r- i n- l aw o f

Ruri c ; and i t was fo rmal ly adopted as thes ta te rel igion by he r grandson V l ad imi r I.

,

who was b aptized in 980 . Fo r 736 yea rs (862I 598) Ru ri c

’

s descendants,o f whom the l as t

was Feodo r,fi l l ed the Russ i an th rone .

Through Russ i a the Norsemen reachedCons tan tinopl e ; but th i the r they came not toconque r

,but to defend . V l ad imi r h aving

di smi ssed h i s D an ish gua rd,they took se rv i ce

unde r the Byz antine empero rs ; and nowherecould be seen fine r t roops than these Va rangian l i fe- gua rds

,with thei r d a rk bea r- skin s and

gl i tte ring s teel,the heavy b ro adswo rd swing

ing bythe i r s i des , and the two - edged axe po i sedon thei r Shoulde rs . None but S candin avi answere at fi rs t al lowed to enl i s t in thei r ranks ;but

,when W i l l i am of No rmandy scatte red the

S axons at Has tings,some o f the fugi tives we re

admitted as rec ru i ts .A few No rman p i lgrims

,retu rn ing in 1 0 1 6

f rom the Holy Land,helped the P rince o f

S ale rno in Southern I taly to repel an attacko f S a racen p i rates . Here then was a new fiel do f wa rl ike ente rp ri se

,where sh a rp swords

we re su re to b ring a good p ri ce ; and h ithe rflocked ove r the Alps thous ands o f No rmanadventu re rs . They at fi rs t took se rvice unde r

A .O. 800- 1 000 NORMANS IN FRANCE AND ITALY 633

the Byzantine empe ro rs,whose c a tapa ns, o r

gove rno rs,were s truggl ing to recove r S ici ly

f rom the S aracens ; but i r ri tated at the meanrewards they rece ived fo r h ard fighting

,they

and

se ized Apul i a and Cal ab ri a fo r the b al ance 531

2139 21

due . Fo remos t in the wa rl ike b and were twob rothe rs f rom Hautevi l l e in lowe r No rmandy—Robe rt Gui sca rd

,Duke o f Apul i a

,and

Roge r,Count o f S i c i ly . Guis ca rd

,a s talwart

,

handsome No rman,whose ruddy cheek and

d roop ing mustache o f gol den fl ax almos t wonthe heart o f h i s fai r foe

,Anna Comnena

,made

two in roads upon Greece . In the fi rs t o f thesewas f ought the great battl e o f Durazzo

,where

,

by a s trange de s tiny,the Va rangian l i fe

gua rd s of the Byzantine camp .met the i r countrymen in b attl e

,and were be aten . The con

ques t o f S i c i ly f rom the S a racens was ach ievedby Roge r

,whose son o f the s ame n ame was

c rowned fi rs t King o f the fe rti le i sl and . Inless th an a centu ry

,howeve r

,th i s No rman Norman

power in the south o f I taly mel ted away,and 33065200030.

the rough No rse warrio rs,hav ingpl ayed out

thei r p art in h i s to ry right wel l by giving newl i fe to worn -out Eu rope

,soon dis appear f rom

ou r V iew as a d i s tin c t n ation .

T H E B EG I N N I N G S O F R U S S I A

ALFRED RAMBAUD

H E great b arb ari c invas ions in theFou rth Cen tu ry o f ou r e ra fo rmed a

pe rio d o f change and te rrible catastrophe i n E as te rn Eu rope . The Goths

,unde r

H ermanari c,founded a vas t empi re in Eas t

e rn S cyth i a . The Huns,unde r Atti l a

,over

th rew th i s Goth i c domin ion,and a cloud o f

Finni sh peoples,Avars and Bulga ri ans

,fo l

130000000 lowed l ate r by Magyars and Khagars, hu rvasions o fthe Fourth ri ed swi ftly on the t race s o f the Huns . In thec entury

mids t o f th i s s t ri fe and medley o f peoples,

the S l avs c ame to the f ron t with thei r ownmarked ch aracte r

,and appea red in h i sto ry

unde r the i r p rope r n ame . They were desc r ibed by the G reek ch ron icle rs and by theEmpe ro rs Mau rice and Cons tantine Porphyrogen i tus. They clashed agains t the RomanEmpi re o f the E as t ; they began the secul a rduel between the Greek and S l avon i c races

,

a duel wh ich i s s ti l l be ing waged fo r the p rizeo f maste ry in the pen insul a o f the ‘B alkans .Ce rtain tribes fo rmed a sepa rate group among(634)

636 THE WORLD ’


to be met wi th in the ancien t documents , andRouss the re s ign ifies the country o f Kief .Arab i c wri te rs give the name of Russ i an s toa n ation they cons ide r ve ry nume rous

,and

they mean in th i s c ase,not S cand in av i ans

,but

ind igenous S l avs .The V arangi ans were not a n ation , but a

b and o f wa rrio rs fo rmed of exi led adven

turers,some S l avs

,o the rs S candin avi ans . The

p arti s an s o f th i s Op in ion Show us the S l av andS cand in avi an races f rom very e arly times inf requen t commerci al and pol it ical rel ations .The leade rs o f the b and were gene ral ly S cand inav i an

,but p a rt o f the so l d ie rs we re S l av

.T h i s hypothes i s,which d imin i shes the No r

man el ement in the V arangi ans, se rves to expl ain how the es tab l i shment o f these adven

tu rers in the country but l i ttl e affected theS l avs o f the I lmen and the Dn iepe r . I t expl a ins

,too

,th e rap i d abso rption o f the new

come rs in the conque red race,an ab so rption

so complete th a t the grandson of Ru rik,

Sv i atoslaf,al re ady bea rs a S l av name

,whi l e

h is great-grandson,V l ad imi r

,remains in the

memory o f the peop le as the type o f a S l avp rince . Whethe r the V arangi ans were pu reS candin av i an s

,o r whether they were mingled

with S l av adventu re rs,i t seems ce rtain tha t

the fo rme r element p redomin ated,and we

may identi fy thes e men f rom the No rth withthe se a-kings so celeb rated in the Wes t du ring the decay o f the Ca rol ings . M . S amok

TH E BEGINN INGS OF RUSSIA 637

v assof h as l ately opened , nea r T c hern igof, thebla c k tomb con tain ing the bones and a rms o fan unknown p rince who l ived in the TenthCentu ry

,and was p rob ab ly a Va rangi an . His

coat-of -mai l and po inted helmet completelyresemble the a rms o f the No rman warrio rs .The Russ i an p rinces th at we find in the earlymin i atu res a re clo thed and a rmed l ike th eN o rman ch ie fs in the B ayeux Tapestry o fQueen Mati l d a . I t i s the re fo re no t su rp ri sing th at

,i n ou r own age

,a rt h as made al

most identi c al rep resentations o f Ru rik on themonument l a tely e rected a t Novgo rod ando f W i l l i am the Conque ro r on the monumen to f Fal a i se .

The spontaneous appe al o f the S l avs to theV a rangi an p rinces may seem to us s t range . 50

3

3131332”

We might bel ieve th at the annal i s t,l ike the

old French h is to ri ans,has tried to d isgui se

the fact o f a conques t,by rep resen ting th at

the S l avs submitted volunta ri ly to the V a

rangi ans o f Ru rik, as the Gaul s a re supposedto have done to the Franks o f Clovi s . In reali ty the re was no conques t

,a s tatement which i s

p roved by the fact th at the municip al o rgan iz ation remained intact

,th at the v e l c he con

tinued to del ibe rate by the s ide o f the p rince,

the local a rmy to fight in conjunction wi ththe b and o f adven tu re rs .As ea rly as 859, the V arangi ans exactedtribute f rom the S l avs o f I lmen and theKriv i tc hes

,as wel l as the T c houds; Vesses,

638 THE WORLD ’


and Meri ans . The n atives h ad once expel l edthe V arangi ans, but as d iv i s ions once morebecame ri fe among them

,they dec i ded th at

they needed a s t rong gove rnment,and re

c al led the V arangi ans in 862 . Whethe r then ame of R uss ia o r o f R ouss was o rigin al ly der ived f rom a p rovince o f Sweden

,o r f rom the

b anks o f the Dniepe r,the fac t remains th at

with the a rr ival o f the V arangi ans in S l avoni a

,the t rue h i sto ry of Russ i a commences .

I t was the one - thous andth ann ive rs a ry o f th iseven t th at was commemo rated at Novgorodin 1 862 . W i th the V arangi ans the Russ i ann ame became famous in Eas te rn Eu rope . I twas the epoch o f b ri l l i an t and adventu rousexped i tions ; i t was the he ro ic age o f Russ i a .

At the c al l o f the S l avs,Rurik

,Sineous and

T rouvor,th ree Va rangi an b ro the rs

,whose

Scandin av i an n ames s ign i fy the P ea c efu l, the

V i c tori ous, and the Fa i thfu l, gathe red togethe r “the i r b rothe rs and the i r famil ie s

,

”

that i s,thei r wa rrio rs o r drouj i nes ( resem

b l ing the truste o f the Frank kings ) , c ros sedthe B al ti c and took up thei r pos i tion on thebo rde rs o f the te r ri to ry they we re summonedto defend . Rurik

,the eldes t

,es tab l i shed him

sel f on the Lake Ladoga,nea r to which

,on

the southe rn s i de,he founded the c i ty o f La

doga ; S i neous on the Wh ite L ake (Bi éloeOzero ) , i n the Ves s country ; T rouvor at 1 2

bo rsk,to hold the L ivon i ans in check . When

the two l atte r d ied,Rurik es tab l i shed h im

640 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A.1> . 86a

s e rving : You a re nei the r p rinces you rse lves,

no r o f the b lood o f p rinces ; th i s i s the son o fRu rik

,

” po inting to Igo r . The tomb of Askold i s s t i l l Shown nea r Kie f . O l eg wasch armed wi th h i s new conques t

,and took up

h i s abode the re,s aying

,Le t Kief be the

mothe r o f Russ i an c i ti es . The Va rangi anch ie f held communication both with the B alti c and the B l ack Se a by means o f Novgo rod

,

Smolensk,and Kie f . He subdued the Nov

gorod i ans, the Kriv i tc hes,the Me ri ans

,the

D rev l i ans,the S eve ri ans

,the Pol i ans

,the

Rod im i tc hes,and thus un i ted ne arly al l the

Russ i an tribes unde r h is s ceptre . I t wasabout th i s time th at the Hungari ans c rossedthe Dniepe r nea r Kie f

,. and invaded Pan

non i a . The Magyar ch ron icl es speak o fthe i r h aving de feated O l eg ; N es to r i s s i len ton the subj ect .In 907, O l eg col le cted a l a rge army f rom

among the t ributa ry races,equ ipped

bo ats,and p rep a red to invade T z argrad by

l and and se a . Russ i an l egends h ave embell i shed th i s exped i tion with many wonderfulde tai l s . O l eg bu i l t wheel s to h i s vessel s

,and

Sp read thei r s a i l s ; b lown by the wind theyreached the gates o f the c i ty . Leo VI .

,the

Ph i losopher,ho rro r - St ri cken

,agreed to p ay

tribute,but the Greeks tried to get ri d o f the

Russ i ans by off e ring them poi soned food .

O l eg d ivined thei r perfi dy. He imposed aheavy con tr ibution

,a commerc i al t re aty ad

A .D . 862 THE BEGINN INGS OF RUSS IA 641

vantageous to the Russ i ans , and suspended h i ssh iel d on the Golden Doo r .

.To his subj ects O l eg was mo re th an a he ro .

Terro r- s t ri cken by hi s wi sdom,th i s “ fool i sh

and i dol at rous peop le” looked on h im as aso rce re r . In the Scandin avi an s agas we findmany ins tances o f ch ie fs

,such as Odin

,Gyl f

and Rande,being at the s ame time great war

rio rs and great magi ci ans . I t i s s t range thatnei the r Greek

,Frank

,no r Veneti an h i s to ri ans

al lude to th is c ampaign . Nes to r c i tes thenames o f the Russ i an envoys who negoti atedthe peace

,and gives the text o f the t reaty .

A magici an h ad p red i cted to O l eg that h is0 103

’s

favo ri te ho rse would cause h i s death . I t waskep t ap art f rom him

,and when

,five years 000000000.

afte r,the an imal d ied

,he ins i s ted on being

taken to see i ts body,as a tr iumph ove r the

igno rance and impostu re o f the so rce re rs . Butf rom the skul l o f the ho rse i s sued a se rpen twhi ch infl i cted a mortal Sting on the foot o fthe he ro .

Igo r led a th i rd expedi tion agains t Tz argrad . The Dniepe r conducted

,as i t we re o f

he r own wi l l,the Russ i an floti l l a to the seas

E xpedLo f Greece . Igo r h ad vesse l s acco rd ing5000 0

11;gor, t e

to the Greek h is to ri ans,

acco rd ing to the 3

15330.more p rob ab le cal cul ation o f Lu i tp rand . Thiswould al low men in the fi rs t case

,and

only in the second . Inste ad o f attackingthe town

,he c ruel ly ravaged the G reek p rov

inc es. The Byzantine admi ral s and gene ral s1 Vol . 2

642 T H E WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS

un i ted,and des troyed the Russ i an a rmy in a

se ri es o f engagements by the aid o f Greekfi re . Nes to r h as not cop ied the numerous detai l s the Byzantine h i s to ri ans give of th i s b attl e

,but we h ave the evi dence o f Lu i tp rand,

B ishop o f C remona,de rived f rom hi s f athe r

i n - l aw,the ambass ado r o f the King o f I taly

at Cons tan tinopl e,who saw wi th hi s own eyes

the de feat o f Igo r,and was p resent at the sac

ri fi c e o f p ri sone rs,beheaded by o rde r o f the

Empero r Romanus Lec apenus. In 944, Igo rsecu red the help o f the fo rmidable Patz inaks

,

and o rgan ized an exped i tion to avenge h i s

The Greekdefeat . The G reek Empero r

,now se rious ly

£55533al a rmed

,offe red to pay trIbu te

,and S i gned a

003 000000. new commerci al t re aty,o f wh ich the text i s

given by Nes to r . Byz antine and Wes te rnwri te rs do not mention th is second expedi tiono f Igo r . On h is retu rn f rom Russ i a

,he was

ass as s in ated by the D rev l i ans,f rom whom he

h ad tri ed to exact tribute . Leo the Deacon,a

G reek wri te r,s ays he was to rn in p ieces by

means o f two young trees,bent fo rcib ly to the

ea rth,and then al lowed to take thei r n atu ral

d i rectionO l ga

,widow o f Igo r

,assumed the regency

in the n ame o f he r son,Sv i atoslaf

,then a

0 1300 00mino r . Her fi rs t ca re was to revenge he rsel f

25252232, on the D rev l i ans. In Nes to r’s account i t i s001 300 impos s ib l e to d i s tingu ish between the h i s to ry

and the epi c . The Russ i an ch ron i cle r rel atesin deta i l how the D revl i ans sent two deputa

644 T H E WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS

h i s conve rs ion and the l i fe he l ed afte r i t . Wesee in the popul a r songs o f what a marvel louscycl e o f l egends Vl ad imi r h as become the centre ; but in these byl i nas he i s ne i the r V l ad imi r,

00100 0000 .

the B apti s t,no r the S ain t V l ad imi r o f the or

thodox Chu rch,but a sol a r he ro

,succes so r o f

the d ivin i tie s whom he des t royed . To thepeop le

,s ti l l p agans at hea rt

,Vl ad imi r i s al

ways the “Beauti fu l Sun” o f Kie f .

CONSOLIDATION OF GERMANY BY HENRY I .

(A .D. 9I9—936)

SUTHERLAND MENZIES

HE accounts le f t us o f the e lection o fHen ry are widely varied . I f we follow those o f the ancien t wri te rs

,i t

would appea r th at the p rinces and nobles o fFranconi a

,fo l lowing the advi ce o f Con rad

,

the i r l ate king,as sembled at Fri tz l a r

,at the

commencement o f the yea r 9 1 9, and chose fo rthei r king Duke Hen ry

,in p resence o f the

un i ted S axons and Francon i ans . I t i s t rueth at a great many wri te rs re l ate how the en

voyswho went to o ffe r Hen ry the c rown foundhim in h i s te r ri to r ies o f the H arz

,occup ied

at the momen t o f thei r a r rival with sn a ringb i rds ; f rom a fondness fo r which pastime he 1 1 00037 1 ,obtained the su rn ame o f the Fowler (H enr i c us2322553;A u c eps) . Whateve r may have been the ci rc umstanc es o f h i s election

,the Archb ishop o f

Mainz o ffe red to consec rate h im king,but

Hen ry decl a red i t was sufficient that he wascal l ed to ru le ove r Germany by God ’s graceand the choi ce o f the people ; and , the re fo re,

(645 )

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 91 9—936

he entre ated the p rel ate to rese rve the holy o i lfo r some more p ious monarch .

Some in te rn al d i ssens ions t roub l ed the beg i nn i ng of h i s re ign

,but p roved o f l i ttl e c onse

quenc e ; fo r the hopes o f O tto the I l lus t riousand King Con rad were fulfi l led

,and S axony

and Francon i a remained in amicab le rel ationwi th one anothe r . The Dukes o f Swab i a andB ava ri a

,on the i r retu rn f rom Hunga ry

,re

fused h im obed ience ; but he recal l ed themp romptly to the i r duty by fo rce o f a rms

,and

retained them in i t by the gentle r power o fwords o f peace

,so th at

,in 92 1 , al l Germany

obeyed King Hen ry ; and afte r th at d ate h i semp i re was no fu rthe r t roub led by any intestine war ; but i t was only afte r fighting seve ralb attles th at he conque red Lo rraine

,which al

ways kep t b al ancing between France and Ge rmany . Late r

,he s trengthened h is un ion with

Lorra ine0000 000 00 i t by giving h i s d aughte r, Gerberge, in ma rGermany,

r1 age to Its Duke,G1 selbert ; and , du r i ng seven

centu ri es,th at fine country remained reun ited

to Ge rmany .

Hen ry was then ab le to occupy h imsel f wi th

5052308 h i s enemies wi thout the realm

,the S cl avoni an s

0000. and Hungari ans . They thought themselvesab l e to continue thei r mancBuv res with theGe rman s tates as fo rme rly ; but found , on thei rrencon tre wi th Hen ry

,an adve rs a ry who a r

res ted them . On the fi rs t occas ion,i t i s t rue

,

Henry was compel led to give way to the i rfu ry

,and they ca rri ed thei r r avages into the

TH E WORLD ’


o f thei r agri cu l tu ral p roduce,to be s to red as

p rov i s ion fo r the ga rri son in time of dange r .Henry

,a fte r h av ing passed some yea rs in

these p repa rations,reso lved

,in o rde r to exer

ci se h i s warrio rs,to reduce to reason the peo

ples bo rde ring on Ge rmany to the no rth andeas t ; who , i f they were not as fo rmidab l e asthe Hungari ans

,were not l es s hos ti l e . He

defe ated the S cl avoni ans in the marches o fB randebou rg

,the H evel les upon the H avel

,

and conque red Brennabou rg (B randebou rg) ,which he bes ieged du ring a winte r so seve rethat h i s a rmy encamped upon the f rozenHavel . He afte rward subdued the D alem in

z i enswho dwel t on the b anks of the E lb e,f rom

Mei ssen as fa r as Bohemi a . Henry unde rtook al so an exped it ion agains t the Bohemi ans

,

bes i eged thei r Duke W enzeslas i n Prague ,h is c ap i tal

,and forced h im to submiss ion .

S ince then the kings o f Ge rmany have alwaysdemanded homage f rom the dukes o f Bohemia .

Meanwhi le,the n ine ye a rs ’ t ruce wi th the

Hungari ans h ad exp i red,and they sent a dep

u tati on in to Ge rmany to demand the ancien tt ribute wh ich th at count ry h ad sh amefullyp aid them . But Hen ry

,to show them in what

contempt they were hel d by the Ge rmans,sen t

to the deputies,by way o f tribute

,a mangy

dog,with c ars and tai l c ropped . I t was an

anci ent cus tom,exceed ingly insul t ing to those

who rece ived the gi ft . The bel l i cose Hun

gari ans grew fu rious at i t, and made thei r

000 030CONSOLIDATION OF GERMANY 649

p rep aration s to wreak a te r rible vengeance .

San u inaryOnward they marched next ye a r (933) in to 5801

065

0 0

Germany wi th two a rmies,th i rs ting for b attl e . 3053

0

533,One fo rce

,attacked by the S axons and Thu

ringi ans, not fa r f rom Sonde rsh ausen , had itsl eade rs s l a in

,and was i tse l f cu t to p ieces . The

othe r,and the s tronges t fo rce

,on reach ing the

S aal e,l e a rned in the n igh t the a rr ival o f the

king,and the des truction o f thei r compatrio ts .

The Hunga ri ans,te r ro r- Stri cken at the news

,

ab andoned the i r camp,and l ighted huge fi res

on the heights as s ignal s to reas semble thosewho were d i spe rsed in se a rch o f p i l l age .Henry

,who overtook them next mo rning, hav

ing exho rted h i s so ld ie rs in a few fie ry wo rdsto avenge th at d ay the i r devastated country

,

kinsmen mass ac red o r c a rr ied into s l ave ry,un

fu rled befo re them the b anne r o f the Archangel M ich ael

,and cha rged the Hungari ans

wi th the c ry o f Kyr i e e le i son (Lo rd havewhich was echoed back by the te r

ribl e H u i! H u i! o f the b a rb a ri ans . Afte r ab loody confl i c t the whole a rmy of the invade rswas e i the r s l a in o r put to fl ight ; and Hen ry,£

13

6

33f al l ing on h i s knees

,with al l h i s sol d ie rs

,of

0000 100.

fered up a solemn thanksgiving to heaven fo rthe vi cto ry . The annive rs a ry of th is del ive rance f rom the Hungari ans i s s ti l l cel eb ratedin the pa ri sh chu rch o f Keuschbe rg

,and the

name o f King Hen ry accl a imed the re in by al lthose assembled .

In 934, Henry cove red h imsel f .with glo ry

650 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A . D . 9 1 9-936

in an expedi tion agains t the D anes,who were

ravaging the coas ts o f the Fri sons and S axons .He ente red thei r country at the head of h isa rmy

,fo rced the i r King

,Gorm

,to make peace

,

es tab l i shed at Sleswig a s trong bar rie r, andeven founded a margrav i at

,which he peop led

wi th a colony o f S axons . One o f the membe rso f the royal f ami ly was even conve rted toCh ri st i an i ty ; e i the r Knut the eldes t, o r pe rh ap s H arol d

,the second son of Go rm . Thus

Hen ry I.

,befo re the end o f h i s glo rious ca ree r

,

h ad the s ati s f action o f see ing those men o f theN o rth

,who du ring a centu ry h ad te rrified Eu

rope,retre at be fo re h im wi th in thei r confines

,

and recognize h i s powe r.

652 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS a n . 962

as Chambe rl a in ; the Duke o f Franconi a asca rve r ; the Duke of Swabi a as cup -bea re r ;and the Du ke o f B ava ri a as mas te r o f theho rse . In a sho rt time

,however

,the Dukes

o f F rancon i a and Lotharingi a j o ined Thankmar

,O tto ’s h al f -b rothe r

,in a rebel l ion agains t

the young King . Thankmar was soon s l ain ;but h i s p l ace was taken by the King’s full

00013 00b rothe r Hen ry

,who h ad always h anke red

afte r the c rown . Otto fought b ravely in defence of h i s r ights

,and he was at l as t vic

tori ous. The Dukes o f Franconi a and Lotharingi a both fel l , and Hen ry, a fte r be ing seve ral times fo rgiven

,submitted . He received

the duchy of B ava ri a,which fel l vacan t in

945 ; and he greatly d i s tingui shed h imsel f by.

h i s attacks on the Hunga ri ans . O tto kep t theDuchy o f F rancon i a in h i s own h ands

,and

gave th at o f Lotharingi a to Count Con rad ,who afte rward marri ed Lui tga rd

,O tto ’s only

‘d aughte r . When,in 949, Duke Hermann of

Swab i a d ied,O tto ’s son Ludol f

,who had mar

ried Hermann ’s d aughte r,was appo inted h i s

succes so r . All the great Duchi es were thusb rough t in to the hands e i the r o f O tto h imsel fo r o f members o f h is f ami ly

,so th at he became

00 0 00

ve ry powerful . He was by no means content

535111

35 5 to be a mere nominal King . The Dukes

,al

though nearly rel ated to h im,knew

,when do

ing homage fo r thei r Duch ies,th at he would

ins i s t on h i s rights to the utte rmos t,and th at

he h ad suffi c ien t powe r to en fo rce them .

s .0 000 REVIVAL OF TH E IMPERIAL DIGN ITY 653

O tto was not only s trong at home ; he e arlymade h imsel f fe a red in othe r countrie s . He 6

730

5

6f

s eve ral times took part in the quar re l s o f theWes t Frankish kingdom

,and helped hi s

b ro the r- in- l aw,King Lewis

,agains t the Dukes

o f France and No rmandy . The Danes wonback fo r a time the te rri to ry which Hen ry theFowle r h ad conque red ; but O tto made wa ron them

,compel led H arol d B lue Tooth to

become h i s man,and set up the M ark o f

Schleswig fo r the de fence o f the Ge rmanbo rde r . The Duke o f Pol and had al so to dohomage fo r h i s D uchy . From thi s time ti l lthe Th i rteenth Centu ry

,D enmark and Pol and

we re always looked on as fi e fs of the Ge rmanc rown . O tto ’s Margraves

,Hermann B i l lung

and Ge ro,long fought b ravely agains t the

S l avs,and won S l avoni c l and— the fo rmer

along the sho res o f the B al ti c,the l atte r be

tween the M iddle E lbe and the Ode r . In al ll ands conque red by h im

,Otto was c areful

to p l ant Ge rman colon ies . He al so foundedb i shop rics

,and used eve ry means to make the

people Ch ris ti an . In 968, he founded thea rchb ishop ric o f M agdebu rg .

In 95 1 , an appeal was made to O tto onbehal f o f the beauti ful Queen Adelheid

,to

whom Be t enga r,the Lombard King

,wished to

ma rry hi s son Adalbe rt . O tto went to I taly, Otto in

and as h i s wi fe Ed i th had died s ix yea rs be -

h a ly '

fo re,he marri ed Queen Adelhe id . He took

the ti tle o f King o f the Lombards,but afte r

654 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

wa rd confi rmed Berengar in the possess iono f Lomba rdy as h i s vass al . Soon afte r th i sO tto ’s son Ludol f

,Duke o f Swab i a

,rebel led ;

and he was j o ined by Con rad o f Lotharingi a,the Archb i shop o f M ainz

,and othe r nob le s .

Afte r much fighting the rebel l ion was at l astput down . O tto gave the Duchy of Lotharingi a to h i s b rothe r

,B runo

,Archb i shop o f

Kb ln,and Swabi a to Bu rch a rd

,the son - in- l aw

of Hen ry o f B ava ri a . W i l l i am,O tto ’s e ldes t

son,having en te red the Chu rch

,was made

Archb i shop o f Mainz .

Taking advantage o f the t roub l ed s tate o fGermany

,the Hunga ri ans h ad aga in begun

to invade the country . In 955, they ente redB ava ri a in vas t numbe rs . O tto h ad now putdown Ludol f ’s rebe l l ion

,and was ab le to tu rn

h i s whole s t rength agains t the enemy . Agreat battl e was fought on the b anks o f theLech

,nea r Augsbu rg . O tto encou raged h i s

t roops by taking d i rec t p a rt in the b attl e,and

he was b ravely seconded by Con rad,who

wished to wipe ou t the memory o f h i s rebell ion agains t h i s f athe r- in- l aw. At l as t theHungari an s h ad to fly

,and many thous ands

o f them we re s l a in . The victo ry was dea rlybough t

,fo r Con rad and many othe r nob les

fel l . But the end was wo rth the s ac rifice .

By th i s v i c to ry O tto completed the workwh ich h is fa the r h ad begun . The Hungari ans now ceased to invade Germany

,and til l

the Thi rteenth Centu ry thei r kings we re usu

656 THE WORLD ’


in the common German name . A fee l ing o fnation al i ty was thus a roused

,which neve r

afte rwa rd qui te le f t the Ge rmans even in the i rd a rkes t pe riods . On the whole

,howeve r

,

Germany was no t the bette r fo r i ts connectionwith the Empi re . By being Empero rs theGe rmans Kings b ecame involved in s truggleswi th which thei r n ative kingdom had noth ingto do . They thus was ted much German bloodand tre asu re ; and they los t almos t al l re alpowe r . Wh i l e they were absent

,sometimes

fo r yea rs a t a time,ca r rying on d i s tan t wars ,

the i r great vas s al s a t home ruled as sove re ignp rinces wi th in the i r domin ions . When the

Empero rs re tu rned,and t ried to as se rt the i r

righ t as feud al Kings,they too o ften found

th at they h ad Spent ne a rly al l thei r s trength,

and coul d do ve ry l i ttl e agains t a un i ted andpowe rful a ri s toc racy . Germany was thus keptf rom growing up

,l ike France and Engl and

,

in to a fi rm mona rchy,and was in the end

d ivided in to many p racti c al ly independentsmal l s tates .The l as t yea rs o f O tto ’s l i fe we re spen t al

mos t whol ly in I ta ly,where he exe rci sed to

the ful l h i s impe ri al righ t . In 967, KingO tto was c rowned Empe ro r

,and f rom that

time re igned as “Co- impe rato r” with h is fa

the r . He was ma rried in 972 to T heophanO,the d aughte r o f the Eas te rn Empe ro r N ic ephorus. I n the s ame yea r the elde r O ttoretu rned to Ge rmany

,whe re he d ied in 973.

REVIVAL OF T HE IMPERIAL DIGN ITY 657

l i fetime h ad been cal led O ttoand he dese rved the ti tl e

,fo r he H is title

impo rtan t epoch in h i s to ry andcountry to a great he ight o f

DA N I S H C O N QU E S T O F E N G L A N D

(A .D. 1002)

CHARLES KN IGHT

HERE h ad been no attack o f the Daness ince the re ign o f Athels tan . In 980,Sweyn

,th e b an i shed son o f the King

o f Denmark,was devasta ting the B ri ti sh

sho res . Whe re we re now the th ree thous ands ix hund red sh ips wi th whi ch Edgar

,acco rd

ing to h i s absu rd p anegyri sts,made annual

p rogres s round the co as ts ?'

In 980, Sou thampton was “ravaged by a Sh ip fo rce

,and the mos t

p a rt o f the townsmen sl ain and led cap tive .

And th at s ame yea r was Tanet- l and ravaged .

”

In 98 1 ,“was much havoc done eve rywhe re by

the seaco as t,as wel l among the men o f Devon

as among theWel sh .

” In 982 ,“l anded among

the men o f Do rset,th ree sh ips o f p i rates ; and

they ravaged in Po rtl and . That s ame yea rLondon was bu rned .

” These a re the s implenoti ces o f the S axon Ch roni cle . There wasno p rinc ip le o f res i s tance in the country

,even

to d rive off the th ree sh ips th at l anded amongthe men o f Do rset ; fo r the men o f Do rse t, aso the r men

,were qua r rel l ing about the occupa

(658)

660 T H E WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS

whose p rej ud i ces we re those o f h i s o rde r,h is

sense and le a rn ing h i s own .

The hi s to ry o f Engl and fo r the next quarte r o f a centu ry i s

,in many respects

,the mos t

mel ancholy o f i ts annal s . I t h as been rel atedin deta i l by mode rn h i s to ri ans ; but i t wil l bes ca rcely neces s a ry fo r us to go th rough thed rea ry ch apte r o f bloodshed

,t re ache ry

,cow

ard i c e,and imbeci l i ty . I t i s imposs ib le that a

ma rti al race Should have become suddenly soweak ; a f ree gove rnment so incapab le ; a loyalnob i l i ty so trai to rous ; a Ch ri s ti an peop le soc ruel — only because a timid and f r ivolousking had been se t up to rule ove r them . No rwas i t b ecause pe ace

,as i t was cal led

,had been

in the l and fo r an unusual pe riod . There wasno real peace

,because the re was no n ational

conco rd . Wes sex h ad not been in a rms agains tEas t Angl i a ; no r Merci a agains t No rthumb ri a . But the re was enmi ty i n the hea rts o fWes t S axons

,Eas t Angl i ans

,Merci ans

,and

No rthumb ri ans,agains t thei r own kind red .

Fo reign mercen aries,too

,had been gradual ly

settl ing unde r the encou ragement o f the peaceable king ; and fo re ign eccles i asti cs h ad beenfi l l ing the rel igious houses o f h i s ambitiousmin i ste r. Unde r Ethel red

,the p rivate Vices

o f the great Ch ie f tains took a new di rection inpubl i c co rruption . Treache ry and rival ry werein the cou rt and the camp . The army wasund i sc ip l ined . Thei r “commanders

,i f eve r

they met to con fe r,immedi ately chose d iffe r

DAN ISH CONQUEST OF ENGLAND

en t Si des,and ra rely o r neve r un i ted in one

good pl an ; fo r they gave more attention top rivate qua rre l s th an to publ ic exigencies .”

This looks l ike a pass age o f modern h i sto ry ;but i t i s f rom a ch ron icl e o f seven hund redyea rs ago . I t i s wel l th at we can not asc ribeto recent times what i s added by the ol d wri te r .“I f in the mids t o f p resen t dange r they had

66 1

reso lved on any good pl an,i t was immed i ately Trea chery

communicated to the enemy by t ra i to rs .” Theimpove ri shment o f the l and was the inevi tab l eresul t o f the weaknes s and wickednes s o f i tsrule rs . Again and again came the Danes ; fo rthey had found a mo re ce rta in t re asu re in theDane-geld— the tribute wh ich the coward iceo f the gove rnmen t l evied upon the peopleth an in any casual p lunde r o f towns and vi ll ages . In 99 1 , they we re b ribed and boughtoff with ten thous and pounds o f s i lve r ; in 994,with s ixteen thous and ; i n 1 00 1

,with twenty

four thous and ; in 1 007, with th i rty- s ix thous and ; and in 1 0 1 2

,with fo rty- e igh t thous and .

A pound o f s i lve r was wo rth about th reepounds o f mode rn money and woul d h ave pu rchased eigh t oxen

,o r fi fty Sheep . We may

estimate the su ffefings o f the people in thepayment o f the Dane -gel d

,du ring twenty

yea rs,when we cons ide r th a t one hund red and

th i rty- fou r thous and pounds we re equal to

andt rea son .

s ix mil l ion seven hund red thousand sheep,o r 1 010000 0001

one mi l l ion and seventy- two thous and o xen .

The o rdin ary p rice o f a h ide o f l and was abou t

va lues .

662 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

five pounds o f s i lve r,and thus one hund red

and th i rty- fou r thous and pounds o f s i lve rwould h ave pu rch ased twenty- s ix thousandeigh t hund red hi des

,each o f which main

tained a f ree man ’s f ami ly. Taking the h ideo f a rab l e l and

,with i ts appu rten ances o f

woods and common l ands,at a hundred ac res

,

th i s D ani sh tr ibute was equal to the fee - s impleo f al l the l and o f No r folk and Su ffolk

,o r

nea rly one- tenth o f the whole ac re age of Engl and . Bu t

,whereve r they pl anted the i r feet

,

5 00 100 000the re the invade rs would be fed . Famine followed in the i r Steps . The re i s one unva ryingreco rd in the Anglo - S axon Chroni cl e : “Theking and h i s wi tan des i red th at they Shouldbe sen t to

,and p romi sed tr i bu te and food .

This reco rd,which continues yea r a fte r yea r

,

i s occas ion al ly va ri ed by some no ti ce o f agle am o f pub l i c sp i ri t

,such as th i s : And

fo rces we re o ften gathe red agains t them ; butso soon as they shoul d h ave j o ined b attl e

,then

was the re eve r,th rough some cause, fl igh t be

gun ; and in the end they eve r h ad the vi cto ry .

”

What a p i ctu re does the fol lowing b rie f andsimpl e n a r rative o f th i s n ational ru in p resentof an imbeci l e gove rnment and o f a d ivided

peopl e :“Then went they again to thei r sh ips

wi th thei r booty. And when they went tothe i r sh ip s

,then ough t the fo rces again to have

gone out agains t them unti l they Should l and ;T he Dam but then the fo rces went home ; and when theymeet DO

were eas tward,then we re the fo rces kep t west

664 TH E WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS

in th i s country as the h i s to ry o f rel igious pe rsec u tion o r n ational h atred can fu rn ish in anycoun try . The old wri te r we h ave j us t quoteds ays

,th at

,

“as common fame tel leth,th i s mur

de r began at a l i ttle town in Hertfo rdsh i re,

with in twenty- fou r mi les o f London,c al led

W e lwynne .

” This p l ace i s not f a r f rom theanci en t bounda ry o f the S axon and D anishte r ri to ry ; and i t i s not unl ikely th at the peop le we re much inte rmixed . The poet o f theN i gh t Thoughts

,

” who dwel t in th i s ch arming vi l l age

,coul d h ave found no more solemn

theme o f death and woe than th i s s ad h i s to ry .

Men,women

,ch i l d ren

,were ind i sc rimin ately

bu tche red . The s i s te r o f Sweyn,the N o rth

man,who was ma rri ed in Engl and

,and had

adopted the Ch ri s ti an fai th,was among the

v i c tims . In the agony of he r l as t hou rs thehe ro i c Gunh i lda warned he r mu rde re rs th at ate r rib l e retribution would come upon Engl and fo r th i s n ation al c rime . In les s than ayea r Sweyn was in the l and with fi re and desol ation .

From the yea r 1 003 to 1 007, the retributionwhi ch Gunh i lda h ad fo reseen was go ing on .

Devas tation came afte r devastation,and trib

u te was exacted afte r tribute . The people ina b rie f time would pay no longe r ; and abol de r and wise r pol i cy was adop ted . A manin ha rnes s was to be p rovi ded upon eve ry eighth i des o f l and

,and a ves sel f rom eve ry th ree

hund red and ten h ides . Out o f the l atte r con

DAN ISH CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 665

tri bu tion came the p receden t fo r th at cl a im fo r“sh ip -money

,

” to the res i s tance o f wh ich cl a im 33

502335,

we p rob ab ly owe the power yet to bu i ld sh ips ,and to man them

,and to feel mo re s ecu re

th rough these bulwarks th an i f eve ry l and ingpl ace we re cove red wi th wal l s o f gran i te . Butvessel s o f wa r

,and men in ha rnes s

,a re worth

l ess wi thout b rave and fai th ful l eade rs . Avas t n aval fo rce

,in 1 009, was as sembled at

S andwich . There we re so many Sh ips as we reneve r be fo re

,acco rd ing to the Ch ron i cle . But

the re was a qua rre l among the commande rs,612

65020

and a great wind cas t the Sh ips upon the l and .

“Then was i t as i f i t h ad been al l hopeless ;and the king wen t h i s way home

,and the

ealdo rmen and the h igh wi tan,and thus

l igh tly l e ft the sh ips ; and then afte rward , thepeople who were in the sh i ps b rought themto London ; and they le t the whole n ation

’sto i l thu s l ightly pass away . At th i s pe riodthe re was t re ache ry on eve ry s i de . There weremino r tra i to rs who we re puni shed ; but the

gre at tra i to r, Al f ric, who aga in and again betrayed h i s country, retained al l h i s ancientpower . There was anothe r t ra i to r

,the King’s

f avo ri te,Ed ric ; who , afte r a se ri es o f in trigues

agains t h i s weak mas te r,fin al ly j o ined the

D an ish fo rces with a l a rge body o f men,and

ass i s ted in the ravage o f Cante rbu ry . TheOne trueone true and bold hea rt was to be found in

A 1Phege, the Archb ishop o f Cante rbu ry . He000 .

exho rted the people to de fend the i r ci ty ; and5 Vol . 2

666 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS 1 002

fo r twenty days the re was a vigo rous defence .

But anothe r t rai to r,by n ame E l imar

,sec retly

admi tted the enemy . The Danes bu rned thec i ty

,and ca rri ed off the inhab i tants as s l aves .

They demanded ran som i f they sp a red the l i feo f th e p rimate ; but he nob ly s ai d th at he hadno goods o f h i s own to offe r fo r ransom

,and

th at the goods o f the Chu rch Should not begiven up fo r h i s own l i fe . They d ragged himf rom h is squ al i d p ri son

,and setting h im in the

mids t o f a company o f d runken revel l e rs,they

th rew the i r weapons at h im,and the bones o f

the i r co a rse b anquet ; and amid the c ries o f“Gold

,B ishop

,gold

,he was s truck to the

ea rth,and the blow o f an axe ended h i s su ffe r

ings .There came

,at l as t

,a flee t f rom Denmark

—not fo r p lunde r o r tribute,but fo r conquest .

The ch i ef devas tato r had been T hu rki l l,who

,

fo r th ree yea rs,had been ca rrying on a p reda

to ry wa r on h i s own account . But,in 1 0 1 2

,

h aving rece ived a vas t sum f rom E thel red,he

became a mercen a ry unde r the Engl i sh . TheKing o f Denmark came wi th h i s great flee t

,

deco rated wi th al l the tawd ry devi ces o f b a rb a ri c pomp

,to ca rry on a war o f exte rmina

tion . His commands we re to ravage the fields,

to bu rn the houses,to pu t eve ry male to the

edge o f the swo rd . L igh ting h i s war- beaconswhereve r he went on h i s ma rch f rom theHumbe r

,he wrs at l ength unde r the wal ls o f

London . E thel red and h i s Dan ish ofli c er,

DAN ISH CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 667

Thu rki ll,success ful ly de fended the ci ty .

Sweyn ret reated to B ath,and the re p rocl aimed {330

1

0300

h imsel f King o f Engl and,and rece ived hom

age f rom al l the weste rn nobles,and f rom

those o f the no rth . E thel red now fled to theIs l e o f W igh t

,and London su rrende red . All

the mis fo rtunes o f the country a re imputed tothe unhappy King . But he appea rs to h avecome n igher to the tru th

,in the add ress which

he made to h i s few fai th ful adhe ren ts . He im

pu ted h is mis fo rtunes to the treache ry of h isgene ral s . The country was subdued ; the coas twas watched . They had mo re to app rehendf rom thei r own countrymen th an f rom thei renemies . H e shou ld s end hi swi fe and chi l d rento Richa rd of No rmandy . I f he coul d notwi th h im find an hono rable asylum

,he Should

not want Sp i ri t to d ie whe re he was,und i shon

o red . To Rich ard o f No rmandy the Kingwent . He had been a fa i thles s husb and

,but

he was rece ived wi th kindness . In 1 0 1 4,

Sweyn d ied . His a rmy p rocl aimed hi s sonCanute as King ; but E thel red was recal led by“al l the wi tan who were in Engl and

,cle rgy

and la ity.

” They recal l ed h im upon te rms“th at no lo rd we re dea re r to them than the i rn atu ral lo rd

,i f he would rul e them rightl i er

th an he h ad done be fo re . This cond ition (i n 1 00 30 0

which i t i s held “we may di sce rn the ge rm ofMagna Charta

,and o f al l the subsequen t com

pacts between the king and the people o f Engl and” ) was accep ted by E thel red, in these

668 THE WORLD ’


words : He woul d be to them a lov ing lo rd,

and amend al l those th ings which they al l abho rred ; and e ach of those th ings should befo rgiven wh ich had been done o r s ai d to h im

,

on condi tion th at they al l,with one consent

,

would be obed ient to h im withou t dece i t .”

E thel red came home ; and i t was decl a red that“eve ry Dan ish king Should be an outl aw f romEngl and fo reve r .” But the re was a D an ishKing in Engl and who made l i ttl e o f emp tywo rds . The recal l o f E thel red was

,most

p robab ly,the act only o f a p art o f the n ation .

Canute hel d possess ion o f a l a rge po rtion ofthe l and . Ed ri c

,the ancient t ra i to r

,kept h is

ol d power with h is o l d gui l e . Edmund,the

son o f E thel red,was wel l qu al ified by h i s bod

i ly s trength,which gave h im the n ame o f

“I rons i de,

” and by h i s ene rgetic valo r,to be

tha t l e ade r wh ich the S axon race h ad so longneeded . Ed ri c was c i rcumventing Edmundat eve ry step . In the meantime Canute wases tabl i sh ing hi s ful l cl a im to sove re ignty . I nthe Ap ri l o f 1 0 1 6

,E thel red d i ed . The ci ti

z en s o f London p rocl a imed Edmund King .

A counci l s i tting at S outh ampton,which had

p revious ly dec reed th at eve ry D an ish Kingshoul d be an outl aw

,took the oaths to Canute .

.There was ins tant p rep a ration fo r war on bothSi des . Canute h ad a great fl ee t in the Thames .E dmund marched bol dly intoWes sex

,and was

the re accep ted as King . He then rai sed thes iege o f London . B attl e af te r battl e ensued ;

670 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A D . 1 002

gare t,the Queen o f Malco lm o f S cotl and .

Edwy,the b rothe r o f the he ro ic King E d

mund,was Sl a in by command o f C anute .

There we re two othe r cl a imants to the E ngl i sh th rone

,Edward and Al f red

,the sons o f

, E th el red by h i s wi fe Emma of No rmandy .

Thei r ri ghts we re asse rted by thei r uncleRich a rd ; but Canute settl ed the d i spute bymarrying thei r mothe r . His p rosc r ip tions o fEngl i sh nobles h ad no l imit but h i s own wi l l ;and thei r fo rfe i ted p ropertywasbestowed uponh i s D an i sh in s t ruments . Then was th at tyranny at i ts heigh t which so long rankled inthe S axon hea rt ; and anothe r d ay o f S t . B ri cewas d readed by the lo rdly No rthmen . A l awimposed a fine upon any townsh ip whe re aD ane was ki l l ed . A S axon might be murde red wi thou t such pen al ty . The Danishth anes we re su r rounded by the i r countrymenin the great c i ti es . London

,which had so

s toutly res i s ted the in trude rs,received the i r

yoke . We find many indel ib l e traces o f thei rp resence in the l and . A place o f publ i c assemb ly became the D an i sh

“hus ting .

” TheN orthmen

’

s s a in t,S t . O l ave

,has given h is

n ame to London chu rches . “Knuts ’- del fe i sthe d ike nea r the Pete rbo rough marshes .The imp res s ion o f h i s ch a racte r which Can

Cha racter ute h as l e f t upon the Engl i sh mind i s not thatof Canute .of the ba rb a rous conque ro r . We can not s ayo f h im

,as one o f ou r great mas te rs o f Engl i sh

s a i d o f Al f red,

“He left l ea rn ing where he

0 0 0000DAN ISH CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 671

found igno rance ; j us ti ce , where he found opp ress ion ; peace, where he found di s traction .

”

But he came,with a powe rfu l wi ll , to make a

fo re ign domin ation endu rabl e by a sshow ofimpa rti al i ty and to substi tute the St rength o fdespoti sm fo r the feeb lenessof ana rchy . Whenhe ceased to be an enemy of Engl and he became a real f ri end . His power was too s t rongto be d isputed ; and he the re fo re wiel ded i twi th mode ration

,a fte r the con tes t fo r su

p remac y was fa i rly ove r . He,the Empero r

o f the Anglo - S axons,as he chose to be cal l ed

,

was also King o f Swedes,and Danes

,and No r

wegi ans. He was an’

unmitigated despot inh i s own hal f -Ch ris ti an l ands ; but he adaptedh is Engl i sh rul e to the h ighe r c ivi l iz ation o fh is mos t impo rtan t kingdom . In 1 030 , he 3

1353333

12?

made a p i lgrimage to Rome,with h i s s taff and t° Rm“ :

wal let ; and amid the p asses o f the Alp s, o rbes i de the ruins o f the Ca s a rs

,he thought

humbly o f h i s p as t l i fe,and made new resolves

fo r h i s futu re ca ree r . His lette r to “al l thenation s o f the Engl i sh

,

” which he sent f romDenmark afte r h i s retu rn f rom Rome

,has

one p ass age which may make us bel i eve thatpowe r and p rospe ri ty a re not always co rrupting : “And now

,be i t known to you al l

,th at I

h ave ded icated my l i fe to God,to gove rn my

kingdoms wi th jus ti ce,and to obse rve the

right in al l th ings . I f,in the time t hat i s p as t

,

and in the viol ence and ca reles sness o f youth,

I h ave vio l ated jus ti ce,i t i s my intention

,by

672 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS 1 6 6 2

the hel p o f God,to make ful l compens ation .

The refo re I beg and command those untowhom I h ave intrusted the gove rnment, asthey wish to p rese rve my good wil l

,and s ave

thei r own soul s,to do no injus ti ce e i the r to

poo r o r ri ch . Le t those who a re nobl e,and

those who a re not,equal ly obtain the i r ri ghts

,

acco rding to the l aws,f rom which no devi a

tion sh al l be al lowed,e i the r f rom fea r o f me

,

o r th rough favo r to the powerful,o r fo r the

pu rpose o f supplying my tre asu ry . I want nomoney ra ised by inj us ti ce .

” Canute d ied in1 035 .

!In 1 042, on the de ath o f the l as t o f the sonso f C anute

,the S axon l ine was res to red in

Engl and in the person o f Edward the Con

fessor. On h i s death,Harold

,the great Earl

o f Wes sex,was elected king

674

W i l liam’s

resentment .

THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS 1 666

a p romi se,unconfi rmed by the n ation al as

semb ly o f the W i se Men , was u tte rly valueles s

,and fo r the moment Godwine ’s recal l put

an end to W i l l i am ’s hopes . They are s a id toh ave been rev ived by a s to rm which th rewHarol d

,whi le c ru is ing in the Channel

,on the

French coas t,and W i l l i am fo rced h im to

swea r on the rel ic s o f s ain ts to suppo rt theD uke ’s c l a im as the p ri ce o f h is own retu rnto Engl and : but the news o f the King’s deathwas at once fo l lowed by th at o f Harol d ’s access ion

,and afte r a bu rs t o f fu rious p as s ion

the Duke p rep a red to en fo rce h i s cl a im byarms . W i l l i am d id not cl a im the crown . Hec l a imed s imply the righ t wh ich he a f te rwardused when h i s swo rd had won i t

,o f p resent

ing himsel f fo r el ection by the n ation,and

he bel ieved h imsel f enti tled so to p resent h imsel f by the d i rec t commendation of the Confessor. The actu al election o f H a rold wh ichs tood in h i s way

,hu rri ed as i t was

,he di d not

recogniz e as val i d . But with th i s c onsti tu

tional cl a im was inext ri cab ly mingled h i s resentment at the p rivate wrong which Harol dhad done h im

,and a resolve to exact ven

gean c e on the man whom he rega rded asuntrue to h i s o ath .

The diffi cul ti es in the way o f h i s ente rp ri sewe re indeed eno rmous . He could reckon onno suppo rt with in Engl and i tsel f . At homehe had to exto rt th e consen t o f h is own re

lu c tant b a ron age ; to gathe r a motl ey hos t

NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 675

f rom every quarte r o f France,and to keep i t

togethe r for months ; to c re ate a fleet,to cut

down the ve ry trees,to bui l d

,to l aunch

,to

man the vesse l s ; and to find time amid al l th i sfo r the common bus ines s o f government

,fo r

negoti ations wi th Denmark and the Empi re,

with France,Bri tanny, and Anjou , with 13115

00 1600

Fl ande rs and with Rome . His rival ’s d ifli - ifigrr

i igigg

c u lti es were ha rd ly les s th an his own . Harold was th reatened wi th invas ion not only byW i l l i am but by hi s b rothe r T ostig, who hadtaken re fuge in No rway and secu red the aido f i ts king

,Haral d H ardrada. The fleet and

army he had gathe red l ay watch ing fo rmon ths along the coas t .

“

His one s tandingfo rce was h i s body of hus - ca rl s

,but thei r

numbe rs only enab led them to ac t as thenucleus o f an a rmy . On the o the r h and

,the

Land - fyrd,o r gene ral l evy of fi ghti ng

-men,

was a body easy to rai se fo r any s ingl e en

counte r,but h a rd to keep togethe r; To as

semble such a fo rce was to b ring l abor to as tands ti l l . The men gathe red unde r theKing’s s tanda rd we re the fa rme rs and plowmen of the i r field s . The sh ips we re the fi shing-vessel s o f the co as t . In Sep tembe r thetask o f hold ing them togethe r became imposs ible

,but thei r di spe rs ion h ad h ardly taken

pl ace when the two clouds which h ad so longbeen gathe ring bu rs t a t once upon the realm .

A change o f wind rele ased the l andlockedarmament o f W i l l i am ; but befo re changing,

676 THE WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS A d ) . 1 6 66

the wind which p ri soned the Duke had flungthe hos t o f H arald H ard rada on the coas to f Yorksh i re . The King has tened wi th h ishousehol d troops to the no rth

,and repul sed

the invade rs in a dec i s ive ove rth row at S tamfo rd B ridge

,in the ne ighborhood o f York ;

but e re he coul d hu r ry back to London theNo rman hos t h ad c rossed the se a

,and W i l

l i am,who had ancho red on the 28th off Pev

ensey,was ravaging the coas t to b ring h i s

rival to an engagemen t . His merci les s ravages succeeded

,as they were intended

,in d raw

ing Harol d f rom London to the south ; butthe King wise ly re fused to attack wi th thefo rces he h ad h asti ly summoned to h is banne r. I f he we re fo rced to give battl e, he re

so lved to give i t on ground he h ad h imsel fchosen

,and advancing ne a r enou gh to the

co as t to check W i l l i am ’s r avages,he in

t renched h imsel f on a h i l l known a fte rwa rdas th a t o f Sen l ac

,a low spu r o f the Sussex

Downs nea r Hastings . His pos i tion cove redLondon, and d rove W i l l i am to concen trateh i s fo rces . W i th a hos t subs i s ting by p i l l age

,

to concent rate i s to s ta rve ; and.

no al te rn ativewas le f t to W i l l i am but a dec i s ive Vic to ry o rru in .

Along the h ighe r ground th at l eads f romHastings the Duke led h is men in the d imdawn of an Octobe r morn ing to the moundof Telh am . I t was f rom th i s poin t th at theNo rmans s aw the hos t o f the Engl i sh gath

678

Hi s ruse .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS 1 6 66

seve rance,th e inexh aus tib le f acul ty o f re

sou rce wh ich h ad shone at Morteme r andVa ravi l l e . His B reton troops

,entangled in

the marshy ground on h i s l e f t,b roke in d is

o rde r,and as p an ic Sp read th rough the a rmy

a c ry a rose th at the Duke was s l a in .

“I l ive,

shouted W i l l i am,as he to re off h i s helmet

,

“and by God’s help wi l l conque r yet .” Maddened by repul se

,the Duke spu r red right at

the s tand a rd ; unhorsed , h is te rr ib le maces truck down Gyrth, the King

’

s b rothe r ; againd i smou nted

,a b low f rom his h and hu rl ed to

the ground an unmanne rly ri de r who would’

not lend him his steed . Amid ' th e ro ar andtumul t o f the b attl e he tu rned the. fl igh the had a r res ted in to the means o f victo ry .

‘

B roken as the Stockade was by h i s despe rateonse t

,the sh iel d -wal l o f the wa rrio rs beh ind i t

s ti l l hel d th e No rmans at b ay ti l l W i l l i amby a fe in t o f fl igh t d rew a p a rt o f the Engl i shfo rce f rom thei r pos t o f vantage . Turningon h i s d i so rde rly pu rsue rs

,th e Duke cut them

to p i eces,b roke th rough the abandoned l ine

,

and made h imsel f mas te r o f the cent ralground . Meanwhi le the French and B retonsmade good thei r ascen t on ei the r fl ank . Atth ree the h i l l s eemed won

,at s ix the fight s ti l l

raged a round the s tanda rd,whe re Harold ’s

hus - ca rl s s tood s tubbo rnly at b ay on a spotmarked afte rwa rd by the h igh al ta r o f B attl eAbbey . An orde r f rom the Duke at l as tb rought h i s a rche rs to the f ront

,and thei r

NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 679

a rrow -fl ight to l d heavi ly on th e dense massesc rowded around the King . As the sun went

Dea th 00down a sha ft p ie rced Harold ’s right eye ; he Harold

fel l between the royal ens igns,and the battle

c losed wi th a despe rate mel ly ove r h i s co rpse .

Wh i le n igh t cove red the fl i gh t o f the Engl i sh,

the conque ro r p i tched h is ten t on the ve rySpot whe re h i s rival h ad fal len

,an d “s ate

down to eat and d rink among the de ad .

Secu ring Romney and Dove r,the Duke

marched by Cante rbury upon London . Fact ion and int ri gue we re do ing hi s wo rk fo r h imas he advanced . Harold ’s b rothe rs h ad fal l enwi th the King on the fie ld o f S enl ac

,and the re

was none o f the house o f Godwine to contes tthe c rown ; while o f the ol d royal l ine the reremained but a s ingle boy

,Edgar the A the

El ing,

”

son o f the eldes t o f Edmund I rons ide ’sch i ld ren

,who had fled befo re Cnu t’s persec u

tion as fa r as Hunga ry fo r shel te r . Boy as he Edga rwas

,he was chosen king ; but th e cho i ce gave {33502253

l i ttl e s t rength to the nation al c ause . The king'

widow of the Con fes so r su rrende red W inches te r to the Duke . The bishops gathe red atLondon inc l ined to submiss ion . The c i tizensthemselves fal te red a s W i l l i am

,pass ing by

the i r wal l s,gave Southwa rk to the fl ames .

The th rone o f the boy-king real ly res ted fo rsuppo rt on the Ea rl s o f Me rci a and No rthumb ri a

,Edwine and M orkere ; and W i l

l i am,c ros s ing the Thames atWal l ingfo rd and

march ing into Hertfo rdsh i re,th re atened to

680 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS 1 666

cut them off f rom the i r e a rl doms . Themaste rly movement b rought about an instan tsubmiss ion . Edwine and Morkere ret reatedh as ti ly home f rom London

,and the c i ty gave

way at once . Edga r h imsel f was at the headof the deputation who came to o ffe r the c rownto the No rman Duke .

“They bowed to h im,

”

s ays the Engl i sh ann al i s t p atheti cal ly,

“fo rneed .

” They bowed to the No rman as theyh ad bowed to the Dane

,and W i l l i am ac

c epted the c rown in the Sp i ri t o f Cnut . London indeed was secu red by the e rection o fa fo rtre ss wh ich afte rward grew into theTowe r

,but W i l l i am des i red to re ign not as

a conque ro r bu t as a l awful king . He re

c e ived the c rown at We s tminste r f rom the‘

hands o f Archb ishop E l d red,amid shouts

o f “Yea,Yea

,

” f rom hi s new Engl i sh subj ects .Fines f rom the gre ate r l andowne rs atoned fo ra res i s tance which was now counted as rebell ion ; but wi th thi s excep tion eve ry measu reo f the new sove re ign ind i cated h is des i re o frul ing as a successo r o f Edward o r Al f red .

A S yet indeed the greate r p a rt o f Engl and re

mained quietly aloo f f rom h im,and he can

ha rd ly b e s ai d to h ave been recogn ized asking by No rthumbe rl and o r the greate r p a rto f Merci a . But to the e as t o f a l ine whichs tretched f rom No rwich to Do rsetsh i re h isrule was unques tioned

,and ove r th i s po rtion

he rul ed as an E ngl i sh king . His sold ie rswere kep t in s t ri ct o rde r . No change was

EMP I R E VS . PA PA CY : HENRY IV

AT CA NOS SA

(A .D. 1076)

T. F . TOUT

ENRY IV .

’s re ign now real ly began . A

tho rough Swab i an,h is f avo ri te min

i sters were Swab i ans o f no h igh degree

,and he h ad no fa i th in the goodwi l l o r

loyal ty o f the men o f the no rth . He had keptvacan t the S axon dukedom . On eve ry h il ltop of S axony and Thu ringi a he bu i l t s t rongcas tl es

,whose l awless ga r ri sons plunde red and

outraged the peas an try . There was eve r fie rcei l l -wil l be tween no rthe rn and southe rn Germany du ring the M i ddle Ages . The pol i cyo f the southe rn Empero r soon fi l l ed the no rthwith ange r, and the S axon nob les p rep aredfo r a rmed res i s tance . In 1 073, Hen ry fi ttedout an exped i tion whose p ro fes sed des tin ation was agains t the Poles . I t was bel ievedin S axony th at h i s real obj ect was to subduethe S axons and hand them ove r to the Swab i an s . Acco rd ingly in the summer o f 1 073

a gene ral S axon revol t b roke ou t,headed by

the n atu ral l e ade rs o f S axony,both in Chu rch

(682)

EMPIRE VERSUS PAPACY

and S tate,includ ing the Archb i shop of Mag

debu rg, th e deposed Duke O tto o f B avari a,and the fie rce M argrave Ded i

,al ready an un

succes s fu l rebel . The insu rgents demandedthe ins tant demol i t ion of the cas tles

,the d i s

miss al o f Hen ry’s evi l counsel lo rs,and the

res ti tution o f thei r l ands that he h ad viol en tly

683

se ized . On rece iving no answe r,they shut up Henry 1 10 .

r i son ed at

Hen ry in the s trong cas tle o f H a rzbu rg,

arzb u rg.

whence he escaped with the utmost d iffi cul tyto th e f riendly Clo i s te r o f Hers fe ld . In thecou rse o f the summe r the rebel s des troyedmany o f the new cas tles . The levies summoned fo r the Pol i sh campaign re fused totu rn thei r a rms aga i ns t the S axons

,and Hen ry

s aw h imsel f powerles s amid the gene ral f al ling away .

A meeting at Ge rs tungen,where Hen ry’s

f ri ends s trove to medi ate with the rebel s,

l ed to a sugges tion th at the king shoul d bedeposed . Only at Wo rms and in the Swabi an c i te s d i d Hen ry rece ive any real suppo rt .He gathe red togethe r a smal l a rmy and s troveto fight a winte r campaign agains t the S axons

,

but f ai l ed so completely th at he was fo rced toaccep t thei r te rms . Howeve r

,hos ti l i ti es we re

renewed in 1 075, when Hen ry won a c onsi dc rable vi cto ry at Hohenbu rg on the Uns trut

,

and fo rced the S axons to make an unc ond i

tional submiss ion . O tto of No rdheim,the

Archb ishop o f M agdebu rg,and the othe r

leade rs we re imp ri soned . On the ru i ns o f


S axon l ibe rty Hen ry now asp i red to bu i l d upa despoti sm .

p 000Hildeb rand was now pope . During the

H ild ebrand fune ral se rvi ce o f Alexande r I I . at S t . John ’sin the Late ran

,a gre at shout a rose f rom the

mul ti tude in the chu rch th at H ildeb randshoul d be the i r b i shop . The Ca rd inal

,Hugh

the Wh i te,add res sed the as sembly .

“Y ou

know,b reth ren

,he s a id

,

“how,s ince the time

o f Leo IX .

,Hildeb rand has exal ted the R0

man Chu rch,and f reed ou r ci ty . We c an not

find a bette r pope th an he . Indeed,we c an

no t find hi s equal . Let us then el ect h im,who

,

having been ordaind in ou r chu rch,i s known

to us al l,and tho roughly app roved by us .”

There was the great Shout in answe r : “S aintPete r h as chosen H i ldeb rand to be Pope l”

In sp i te o f h i s res i s tance,Hildeb rand was

d ragged to the chu rch of S t. Pete r ad V incul a

,and immedi ately e nth roned . The card i

31251 100 nals had no mind to upset th i s i r regul a r elec1 00030 100.

t ion,s t rangely contra ry though i t was to the

p rovi s ions o f N i chol as I I . The Ge rmanb ishops

,al a rmed at H i l deb rand ’s reputation

fo r seve ri ty,u rged the King to quash the ap

poin tment,but Hen ry contented h imsel f with

send ing to Rome to inqu i re into the c i rcumstances of the election . Hildeb rand showedgreat mode ration

,and actual ly postponed h i s

consec ration unti l Hen ry’s consen t h ad beenobta ined . This

,Hen ry h ad no wish to with

hol d . On June 29, 1 073, Hil deb rand was hal

686 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

11 10 001 103

v i n c ed o f the truth of the Cluni ac doct rines,

he Showed a fie rce and almos t unsc rupulou sStatec raf t i n re al i z ing them that fi l l ed evenCluny wi th al a rm . His ideal was to re fo rmthe wo rl d by es tab l i sh ing a so rt o f un ive rs almona rchy fo r the Pap acy . He saw al l roundh im th at kings and p rinces we re powerles s fo rgood

,but mighty fo r evi l . He s aw chu rch

men l iving greedy and co rrup t l ives fo r wanto f h ighe r d i rection and con trol . Looking ata wo rl d d i s t raugh t by feudal an archy

,h is am

b i ti on was to re s to re the “peace o f God,c ivi l

i z ation,and o rde r

,by submitting the Chu rch

to the Pap acy,and the wo rl d to the Chu rch .

“Human p ride,

” he wrote,has c re ated the

power o f kings ; God’s mercy has c reated the

powe r o f b ishops . The Pope i s the mas te ro f empe ro rs . He is rende red holy by th eme ri ts o f h i s p redecesso r

,S t . Pete r . The R0

man Chu rch h as neve r e rred,and Holy Sc rip

tu re p roves th at i t neve r c an e rr . To res i s t i ti s to res i s t God .

” Fo r the next twelve yearshe s t rove wi th al l h i s migh t to make h is powe rfel t th roughout Ch ri s tendom . Sometimes h i sen thus i asm caused h im to advance cl aims thateven h i s bes t f r iends would not admit

,as when

W i l l i am the Conque ro r was cons tra ined to re

pud i ate the Holy See’s c l a ims o f feudal sov

ere ignty ove r Engl and , which , afte r s imi l a rp retens ions h ad been recognized by the No rm ans in S i ci ly

,Grego ry and h i s successo rs

were p rone to as se rt wheneve r oppo rtun i ty of

1 6 76EMPIRE VERSUS PAPACY

fe'

red .The remotes t p a rts o f Eu rope fel t the

weight o f h i s influence . But the intense con

v i c ti on o f the righ teousness o f h i s a ims , th atmade comp romise seem to h im treason to thet ruth

,d id someth ing to detract f rom the suc

ces s o f h is s tatec raft . He was too ab so lute,too

rigid,too obs tin ate

,too extreme to pl ay h i s

p a rt wi th en ti re advantage to h imsel f andh i s c ause . Yet wi th al l h i s de fects the re i s nogrande r figu re in h i s to ry .

Grego ry real i zed the magni tude o f h i s task,

but he neve r sh rank f rom i t . “I woul d th atyou knew

,

” wrote he to the Abbot o f Cluny,“the angui sh th at ass a i l s my soul . The Chu rch

fai th . I f I look to the wes t,the no rth

,o r the

south,I find but

"

few bi shops whose appoin tments and whose l ives a re in acco rd ance withthe l aws o f the Chu rch

,o r who gove rn God ’s

peop le th rough love and no t th rough worl dlyambition . Among p rinces I know not onewho sets the honor \of God befo re h i s own , o rj usti ce be fo re gain . I f I d id not hope th at Icould be o f use to the Chu rch

,I woul d not re

main at R ome a d ay . From the ve ry fi rs the was bese t on eve ry Si de wi th d iffi cul ties .Even the al l i ance with the No rmans was unce rtain . Robe rt Guis ca rd

,with h is b rothe r

Roge r,waged war agains t G rego ry’s f a i th ful

vass al,Rich a rd o f Capua ; and Robe rt, who

th reatened the pap al posses s ion o f Beneven to,

went so fa r th at he incu rred excommunic ation .

687

H is d i ffi

of the Eas t h as gone as tray f rom the Cathol i c c u lt ies

688

The pra et ice of layinvest ituresforbidden .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 1 0 7 6

Phil i p of France,the wors t o f the tyrants

who ensl aved the Chu rch,

” h ad to be th reatened wi th in te rd ic t . A p roj ect to un i te theEas te rn wi th theWeste rn Chu rch b roke downIamentably . A contes t wi th Hen ry IV . soonbecame inevi tab le . But G rego ry ab ated nothing o f h i s h igh cl a ims . In Feb ru ary

,1 075, he

held a synod at Rome,at wh ich seve re dec rees

agains t s imony and the marri age o f c le rkswe re i s sued . The p racti ce o f l ay inves ti tu re

,

by wh ich secul a r p rinces were wont to gran tb i shop rics and abbeys by the con fe rring o fsp i ri tual symbol s such as the ring and Staff,h ad long been rega rded by the Clun i acs as themos t gl a ring o f tempo ral aggress ions agains tthe sp i ri tu al powe r Th is p racti ce was nowSte rn ly fo rb idden . I f any one

,

” decl a redthe synod

,

“hence fo rth rece ive f rom the hando f any l ay pe rson a b i shop ri c o r abbey

,l e t h im

not be cons ide red as abbo t o r b i shop,and le t

the favo r o f S t . Pete r and the gate o f theChu rch be fo rb idden to h im . I f an empero r

,

a king,a duke

,a count

,o r any othe r l ay pe r

son p resume to give investi tu re o f any ecclesi asti c al dign i ty, l e t h im be excommunicated .

”

This dec ree gave the s ignal fo r the great Investi tu re Contes t

,and fo r the greate r s truggle

o f Papacy and Empi re th at convul sed Europe

,s ave du ring occas ion al b reaks

,fo r the

next two centu ries .Up to the i ssue o f the dec ree as to inves t i

tu res,the rel ation between Grego ry

“

and Hen ry

690 THE WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS 1 6 76

Pe te r . I,Hen ry

,king by the grace o f God

,

with al l o f my b ishops,s ay unto thee— ‘Come

down,come down .

’

In Feb ru a ry,1 076, Gregory hel d a great

synod in the Vati c an,at wh ich the Emp res s

Agnes was p resen t,with a grea t mul ti tude o f

Ital i an and French b i shops . A cle rk f romP a rma named Rol and del ive red the King’sl e tte r to the Pope befo re the counci l . Therewas a grea t tumul t

,and Rol and would have

atoned fo r h i s bol dnes s wi th h is l i fe but fo rthe Pope ’s pe rson al in tervention . Hen ry wasnow fo rmal ly excommuni cated and deposed .

“Blessed Pete r,

” decl a red Grego ry,

“thou andthe Mothe r o f God and al l the s ain ts a re wi tnes s th at th e Roman Chu rch h as c al l ed uponme to gove rn i t in my own desp i te . As thyrep resentative I h ave rece ived f rom God thepower to b ind and to loose in he aven and onea rth . Fo r the hono r and secu ri ty o f thyChu rch

,in the n ame o f God Almighty

,I p ro

h ib i t Hen ry the King,son o f Hen ry the Em

peror, who has ri s en wi th unhea rd -of p rideagains t thy Chu rch

,f rom rul ing Ge rmany and

I taly . I re le ase a l l Ch ri s ti ans f rom the oathso f fe al ty they may h ave taken to h im

,and I

o rde r th at no one sh al l obey him .

”

Wa r was thus decl a red between Pope andKing . Though the pos i tion o f both partieswas su ffi c iently p reca rious

,Henry was at the

moment in the wo rs t pos i tion fo r ca rrying onan inte rnecine combat . He could count ve ry

A. 13. 1 6 76EMPIRE VERSUS PAPACY 691

l i ttl e on the suppo rt o f h is Ge rman subj ects .Those who most fea red the Pope were the sel f 5

4

2252138

“

seeke rs and the s imon i acs,whose ene rgy was

smal l and whose loyal ty less . The s a ints andthe Zealots we re al l aga ins t h im . The S axonsp rofi ted by h is embar ras sments to renew thei rrevol t

,and soon ch ased h i s ga rri sons out o f

the i r l and . The secul a r nobles,who s aw in

h i s pol i cy the beginn ings o f an attempt a tdespoti sm ,

held aloo f f rom the cou rt . I t wasto no pu rpose th at Hen ry answe red the anathemas of G rego ry wi th denunci ations equal lyunmeasu red

,and compl ained th at G rego ry

h ad striven to un ite i n h i s h ands both theSp i r i tu al and the tempo ral swo rds that Godh ad kept asunde r . Hermann

,*B ishop o f Metz

,

the Pope ’s legate in Ge rmany,ab ly un i ted the

fo rces agains t h im . At l as t,the nobles and

b i shops o f Ge rmany gathe red togethe r o n

Octobe r 1 6,1 076, at Tribu r, where the papal

l egat'

es were treated with marked de fe rence,

though Hen ry took up h i s qua rte rs at Oppenheim

,on the o the r b ank o f the Rh ine

,a f rai d

to trus t h imsel f amid h i s d i s affected subj ects .Hen ry soon s aw th at he h ad no al te rn ative butsubmi ss ion . The magnates were so susp ic iouso f h im that i t needed the pe rson al interc esf .

s ion o f Hugh,Abbot o f C luny

,to p revai l

‘

upon1

100520300

them to make te rms with h im at al l . Final ly submit

a p rovi s ion al agreement was p atched up,

upon cond i tions exces s ively humil i at ing toHen ry . The b arons re fused to obey h im un

692 T H E WORLD ’S GREAT EV ENTS w . 1 076

ti l he h ad obtained absolution f rom the Pope,

who,moreove r

,had p romised to go to Ger

many in person and hold a counci l in the succ eed i ng Feb rua ry . Pending thi s

,Henry was

to remain a t Speye r wi thout kingly revenue,

powe r,o r dign i ty

,and sti l l shut off by h i s ex

communi cation f rom the offi ce s o f the Chu rch .

I f Hen ry could not s ati s fy the Pope in Peb rua ry

,he was to be regarded as deposed .

Abandoned by Ge rmany,Henry abode some

- two months at Speye r, gloomily anti c ip atingthe ce rtain ru in to h is cause th at would fol lowthe Pope ’s appea rance in a Ge rman counci l .He real ized th at he could do noth ing unless herecon c i l ed h imsel f to G rego ry ; and , hea ringgood news o f h i s p rospects in no rthe rn I taly

,

thought that h i s b es t cou rse was to betake h imsel f ove r the Alps

,where the Pope might wel l

p rove l es s rigo rous,i f he found h im at the

head o f a fo rmidab le b and of I tal i an p a rti s ans .I t was a winte r o f ext rao rd in a ry seve ri ty

,but

any ri sks we re bette r th an inglo rious inactionat Speye r . Acco rd ingly

,Hen ry b roke hi s

compact wi th h i s nobl es,and towa rd the end

o f Decembe r sec re tly set ou t on h i s j ou rneysouthwa rd . He was accompan ied by B erth aand h i s l i ttl e son

,but only one Ge rman noble

was included among hi s scanty fol lowing . Hetrave rsed Bu rgundy

,and kep t h i s mise rabl e

Ch ri s tmas feas t a t Bes ancon . Thence c ross ingthe Mont Cen i s a t the ri sk o f h i s l i fe

,he ap

peared ea rly in the new yea r amid h i s Lom

694 T H E WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS m . 1 076

Bu t the p res su re o f the countess and abbo t‘

atl as t p revai l ed upon h im to be con ten t wi th abj c et cont ri ti on wi thout actual ab andonment o fh is royal s tate . Fo r th ree days Hen ry wai ted

fffi ififuon i the snow outs ide the inne r gate o f the cas tl eya rd

,b a re foot

,fas ting

,and in the ga rb o f a

pen i ten t . On the fou rth d ay the Pope consen ted to admi t h im into h i s p resence . W i ththe c ry,

“Holy fathe r,sp a re me !” the King

th rew h imsel f at the Pope ’s fee t . Grego ryrai sed h im up

,abso lved h im

,ente rta ined h im

at h i s tab le,and sent h im away with much

good advi ce and h i s b l es s ing . But the te rms

agggope

’

s o f Hen ry’s reconci l i ation we re suffi c ientlyh a rd . He was to p romi se to submit h imsel fto the j udgment o f the Ge rman magnates

,p re

s ided ove r by the Pope,with respect to the

long catalogue o f ch a rges b rought agains th im . Unti l th at was done he was to abstainf rom the royal in s ign i a and the royal funetions . He was to be p rep a red to accep t o rrej ec t h i s c rown acco rd ing to the judgment o fthe Pope as to h i s gui l t o r innocence . Hewas

,i f p roved innocent

,to obey the Pope in

al l thi ngs pe rtain ing to the Chu rch . I f heb roke any o f these cond i tions

,anothe r king

was to be fo rthwi th el ected .

R I S E O F F E U D A L I S M

CHARLES H . PEARSON

HE o rigin o f feudal i sm i s as d i fficul t totrace as the sou rce o f the N ige r

“

. Therel ation o f ch ie f and cl ansman among

barb ari ans,the o ath o f Roman soldie rs to the

empe ro r,the c ivic respon s ib i l i ty o f a f athe r

fo r h is ch i ld ren,t rans fe r red to a lo rd fo r h i s

dependants,a re al l el ements in the sys tem

which ove rsp read Eu rope in the M iddleAges . Men in those times commonly re

ga rded i t f rom the p racti cal po in t o f view,as

se rvice fo r reward . But i t came to h ave ah ighe r mean ing to the s tate . The feudalb aron was the rep resentative o f kingsh ip on The feuda lh is domain ; rende ring jus tice , maintain ing

bam '

pol i ce,and see ing th at mi l i ta ry se rvice was

pe rfo rmed . As a Vice roy,he was account

abl e fo r the j us t pe rfo rmance o f these dutie sto the c rown : above al l

,he was a l ink in the

great ch ain th at bound the lowes t peas an t andthe

'

su c c essors o f Cha rlemagne togethe r . Ro

man imperi al i sm had d ivided the world in tomaste r and sl ave . The juste r theo ry o f theM iddle Ages

,no doub t influenced by Ch ri s

(695 )

696 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

t i ani ty, rega rded mankind as a gre at f amily,and sought to s t rengthen the bonds o f unionby engagements taken solemnly befo re manand God . The o ath of homage was the mostbind ing th at could be t aken ; the love o f af athe r to h i s son

,the du ty of a wi fe to he r

husband,were rega rded as o f l es s fo rce .

“Homage,

” in the beauti fu l l anguage o f

0

L i ttl e ton,i s the mos t hono rable se rvi ce

,and

most humb le se rvi ce o f reve rence th at a f rankten ant may do to h is lo rd . Fo r

,when the

ten an t shal l make homage to h i s lo rd,he sh al l

be ungi rt,and h i s he ad uncove red

,and h i s

lo rd sh al l s i t,and the ten an t sh al l kneel be

fo re h im on both h i s knees,and hol d' hi s

h ands j o in tly togethe r between the h ands o fh is lo rd

,and sh al l s ay thus : ‘I become you r

man f rom th i s d ay fo rward,o f l i fe and l imb

,

and o f e a rth ly worsh ip,and unto you shal l

be t rue and fa i th ful,and bea r to you fai th fo r

the tenements (M HN ) th at I'

cl aim to holdo f you ; s aving the f a i th th at I owe unto ou r

sove re ign lo rd the king ;’ and then the lo rd

so s i tting sh al l ki s s h im .

” In o rde r to avo idmi s take

,th e tenements fo r which homage was

p aid were enume rated . The whole ce remonywas pe rfo rmed befo re wi tnes ses

,and was a

reco rd of the lo rd ’s ti tl e - deeds . Whe re afi e f was held by a marri ed woman

,he r hus

b and took he r pl ace toward the lo rd . Bu t theexception in f avo r o f s ingle women was i nc on

ven i ent ; and in l ate r times a modified fo rm of

698 THE WORLD ‘

S GREAT EVENTS

o r les s hono rab le ; o r a rb i tra ry, and so a marko f se rvi tude . The Chu rch taking p recedenceo f the S tate

,tenu re in f rank almoigne

— th ati s,by the se rv i ces o f rel igion— came fi rs t .

This was the tenu re o f l ands th at we re givenwithout the ob l igation o f any secul a r s e rvice .

The Chu rchmen endowed we re,howeve r

,

bound to o ffe r up p raye rs and mas ses fo r thesoul o f the i r bene facto r

,and he o r h i s he i rs

migh t d i s t rain on them i f th is du ty wereneglected . Tenu re by homage ances t ral wasme rely ten ancy- in; c hi ef by immemo-r i al p resc r ip tion in the fami ly . I t ca rried wi th i t theo rd in ary feudal bu rdens to the ten ant ; but, inretu rn

,h i s lo rd was bound to warran t h im the

posses s ion o f h i s es t ate . Tenu re by grand se r

geantry impl ied the pe rfo rmance o f some pe rson al se rvi ce to the king

,to be h i s ch amber

l a in o r ch amp ion . Tenu re by petty se rgean trywas the yea rly payment o f some implement o fwar to the king . These were the tenu res o ftenants - i n- ch ie f ; below them ,

s cutage and so

‘ c age tenu res . The te rm scutage i s now commonly used o f the tax fo r wh ich se rv i ceo f the sh iel d was commuted . O ri gin al ly

,i t

mean t the ob l i gation to se rve in a rms fo rtyd ays in the yea r

,and was attached to eve ry

kn igh t’s fee . Feal ty,with o r wi thout homage,

and scutage,togethe r made up kn ight’s se r

v i ce . Feal ty,with o r wi thout homage

,and

any othe r speci al se rvi ce,below petty se r

geantry, consti tuted the impo rtan t cl as s o f

RISE OF FEUDALISM

socage tenu res . The obl igation to pe rfo rm al lse rvices ind isc r imin ately was vi l len age . I nothe r wo rds

,the d is tinction be tween gentry

and mere f reedom l ay in the se rvice o f a rms ;be tween f reedom and se rvi tude

,in fixed in

s tead of vari abl e dues . The dis tinctions o fsocage tenu re a re numerous

,as the word came

to cove r the se rvi ce o f the plow,rent fo r

houses p aid immed i ately to the c rown (bu rgage tenu re ) , o r ren t by va rious tenu res , evenone so deb as ing as doing the h angman ’s duty .

Sometimes two o r th ree condi tions wereun i ted ; i t d i d not matte r, so long as they werenot va ri ab le . Beneath these middle cl assescame the l a rge cl as s o f vi l l e ins . A vil l e inmight be rega rd

’a nt, attached to the so i l ; o r i n

gross, attached to the pe rson o f h i s lo rd . Afreeman might hold l and in vi l len age

,and be

bound to do vil l e in ’s s e rvice upon i t . One o fthe th ings th at mos t compl icates the c onsi d

c ration o f feudal Engl and i s the way in wh icha person al i ty attached to co rporations andl ands . Eve ry ac re o f so i l

,eve ry ins ti tution

,

was an imate,so to speak

,wi th duties and

p rivi leges,which h ad attached to i t f rom

time immemori al,and could no t be los t .

The obl igations o f a feudal vas s al were se rvice i n counci l

,in the cou rt o f l aw

,and in the

field . He was bound to sus tain h i s lo rdin sel f - de fence and to gua rd h i s cas tle du ringa ce rtain numbe r o f d ays . He was fo rcedto contribute to redeem hi s lo rd f rom c aptiv

699

The v illeins

Obl iga tionsof a feuda lvassa l .

700

Appeal .

THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS

i ty,o r when h i s lo rd ’s e ldes t d aughte r was

married,o r when the el des t son became

knight . These re l i e fs,as they we re cal led

,

were at fi rs t a rb i t ra ry and opp res s ive . Gradu ally they were fixed

,by cus tom

,at the rate

o f five pounds fo r the kn igh t’s fee o f l and,o r

fou r h ides : th i s was “the re ason ab le re l ie f”

th at i s mentioned in Magna Ch arta . Inthe case o f ten an ts - inch ie f

,the i r he i resse s

we re royal wa rds,whom the king might

mar ry at p le asu re . The abuse o f th is p rerogative by mona rch s

,who gave the daughte rs

o f noblemen to unwo rthy favo ri tes,was a

grave grievance,o f wh ich the b arons con

stantly compla ined , but wh ich was neve r effe c tu al ly red res sed . The vass al coul d nottransmi t h i s inhe ri tance to a lepe r . He lostl i fe and l and i f he fled f rom hi s lo rd in battl eth rough cowa rd i ce

,and even hi s f reehold es

chea ted to the c rown. Gene ral ly he fo rfe i tedh i s fi ef i f he d id not perfo rm i ts duties

,o r i f

he made any attempt on the pe rson o r hono ro f h i s l o rd and h i s f amily .

-But these obl igations we re rec ip rocal . The lo rd was not evenal lowed to ra i se a s ti ck upon h i s vass al . In

sul t,ou trage

,o r the den i al o f ai d o r j ust i ce

,

enti tl ed the vass al to wi thd raw h is fi e f anddecl a re wa r upon h i s supe rio r

,though i t was

a t h is pe ri l in Engl and i f he viol ated theking’s pe ace . In cases th at d i d no t come toth i s extremi ty

,the vass al migh t appeal to a

cou rt o f h i s pee rs,p res i ded ove r

,i t i s t rue,

702 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS

mate ri al i ze and pet ri fy what would o the rwi seh ave been fleeting and vague

,contr ibuted to

inves t legal fictions with an intense re al i ty .

Hence i t was th at the Engl i sh towns,as soon

as they became f ree and co rpo rate,were

tre ated as b a rons . Each o f them was an or

gan ie l i fe,so to spe ak

,with many members

but only one wi l l,and with the responsi b i l i

ti es of an ind ividual . The gove rn ing powerso f a co rpo ration

,i ts mayo r

,alde rmen

,and

common counci l,were the lo rd o f the c i t izens .

N atu ral ly,the re fo re

,they were hel d reSpon

s ible fo r the actions o f any one of the i r body.

The cos t o f a c rimin al ’s o ffences was as sessedon h i s fel low - c i tizen s

,and the debt owed by

a s ingl e man to the excheque r might be recove red f rom h is townsh ip : the act o f a deputation was b ind ing on those f rom whom itcame . In these few facts l i es the whole representative theo ry . Once gran t th at a c i ty canbe conceived as a pe rson

,and the gre at demo

c rati c p rob lem of exp res s ing eve ry ind ividualwi l l i s so lved .

!In 1 038, the Sel j uk Turks conque red Pe rs i aand founded the dynas ty o f the Shephe rdKings . In 1 055, Togrul , the new King, del ive red the Cal iph o f B agdad f rom a revol t o fh is Tu rki sh and Arab i an emi rs and was appointed tempo ral l i euten an t of the v i c a r o fthe p rophet . I n 1 055, the Tu rks h ad al readyinvaded the Roman Empi re . In 1 063, Alp

RISE OF FEUDALISM 703

Arsl an,T ogru l

’

s successo r,passed the Eu

phrates and ente red the cap i tal o f Capp adoci a .

T urki shHe next conque red Armen i a and Georgi a

c onqu estS

( 1 065 In 1 07 1 , he utte rly de fe ated theGreeks and the i r al l i es unde r the Empero rRomanus D iogenes . Asi a M ino r was nextconque red by the Turks ( 1 074 Theconques t o f Syri a and J e rus alem fol lowed

The tales o f the t reatment o f thep i lgrims by the infi dels

,which we re b rought

b ack by the p i lgrims,exci te d the mil l ions o f

the Wes t to unde rtake the rel i e f o f the HolyLand ]

T H E F I R S T C R U S A D E

JULES M ICHELET

PICARD who was vulgarly cal l edCou c ou P z

'

e‘

tre, o r Pete r the He rmi t,i s s a id to h ave powerful ly contributed

by h is eloquence to th i s gre at movement . Onhi s retu rn f rom a p i lgrimage to J e rus alem

,he

pe rsu aded the French Pope,U rb an I I .

,to

p reach the c rus ade,fi rs t a t Plac enz a

,then at

Cle rmont In I taly the cal l was unheeded ; i n France eve ry one rushed to a rms .At the counci l o f Cle rmon t

,fou r hund red

bi shops o r mi t red abbots we re p resen t : i t wasthe t riumph o f the Chu rch and the people

,and

the condemnation o f the greates t n ames on theea rth

,those o f the Empero r and of the King of

France,no less than o f the Tu rks

,and o f the

d ispute,as wel l

,conce rn ing the righ t o f i nves

ti tu re,which h ad got mixed up with the ques

tion o f advance on J e rusalem . Al l mountedthe red c ross on thei r shoulde rs . Red stu ffsand ves tments o f eve ry kind were to rn inp ieces

,yet were insuffic ien t fo r the pu rpose .

An extrao rd in ary spectacl e was then p re a

(704)


O the rs fo l lowed a b rave and poo r knight,

whom they cal l ed Wal te r the Penn i les s .Among so many thous ands o f men the re wereno t e igh t ho rses . Some Germans fol lowedthe example o f the French

,and se t out unde r

the gu idance o f a countryman o f thei r own,

named Gottesc halk. The whole descendedthe val l ey o f the Danube— the route fol lowedby Atti l a

,the h ighway o f mankind .

On thei r ro ad they took,plunde red

,and in

demn i fi ed themselves befo reh and fo r thei rholy wa r . Eve ry J ew they coul d l ay handsupon they put to death with to rtu res ; bel i eving th at they were bound to pun ish the murde rers o f Ch ri s t be fo re del ive ring h i s tomb .

In th i s gu ise,fie rce

,and d ripp ing wi th blood

,

they reached Hungary and the G reek emp i re ;where they insp i red such ho r ro r

,th at the i n

habi tants se t upon thei r t races,and hunted

them down l ike wild beas ts . The Empe ro rfu rn i shed ves sel s to the su rvivo rs

,and trans

po rted them into As i a,t rus ting to the a rrows

o f the Tu rks to do the res t ; and the excel lentAnna Comnena i s h appy in the bel ie f th at theyl e ft in the pl a in o f N i ce a mountain s o f boneswh ich se rved fo r the bu i ld ing o f the wal l s o fa town .

Meanwh i le,the unwiel dy a rmies o f p rinces

,

b arons,and kn ights

,put themselves s lowly into

motion . No king took p a rt in the c rus ade,

but many lo rd s mo re powe rful than kings .Hugh of Ve rmandoi s

,b rothe r o f the King o f

w . 1 096TH E FIRST CRUSADE 707

France,and son - i n- l aw o f the King o f Eng

l and,the weal thy S tephen o f B lo i s

,

Curt-Hose,W i l l i am the Conquero r’s son

,and

the Count o f Fl ande rs,se t ou t at the s ame time

— al l equ al,none ch ie f .

Raymond de S aint-Gil le,Count o f Tou

louse,was

,beyond compari son

,the weal th ies t

o f al l who took the c ros s . He had sworn notto re tu rn

,bo re with h im immense ri ches

,and

was fol lowed by the whole o f the South— bythe lo rds o f Orlange , Fo rez , Rouss i l lon ,Mont

pell i er, Turenne , and A lb ret, bes ides the ecclesi asti c al head of the c rus ade

,the B ishop o f

Puy,the Pope ’s l egate

,who was Raymond ’s

subj ect .The No rmans o f I taly were not the l as t to

se t fo rward to J e rusalem ; and les s weal thythan the Languedoci ans

,they reckoned on

tu rn ing the expedi tion to thei r advantage .

Howeve r,the successo rs o f Gui sca rd and

Roge r would no t h ave qui tted thei r conques tfo r th i s h az a rdous ente rp ri se

,had no t one

Bohemond,a natu ral son o f Robe rt l ’Av i sé’s

,

and not less W i se (c rafty?) th an h i s f athe r, Boherece ived no othe r inhe ri tance th an Ta rentum $3333

?

and h i s swo rd . One Tanc red,too

,a No rman

by the mothe r ’s s i de,but supposed to be a

Piedmontese by the fathe r’s,l ikewise took up

arms . Bohemond was l aying s iege to Amalfi,

when the news of the ma rch o f the c rusade rsreached him . He in fo rmed h imsel f minutelyo f thei r names

,numbe r

,a rms

,and resou rces ;

708 T H E WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 1 096

and then,without s aying a wo rd

,took the c ross

and le ft Amalfi .

Howeve r great the deeds o f Bohemond,the

voi ce o f the peop le,which i s th at o f God

,has

asc ribed al l the glo ry of the c rus ade to Godf rey

,son o f the Count o f Boulogne

,Margrave

333533“ o f An twerp,Duke of Boui l lon and o f Lothi er

,

and King o f J e rus al em . Wh i le yet a ch i l d,he

h ad o ften s ai d th at he would go with an armyto J e rus alem ; and , as soon as the c rus ade wasp rocl a imed

,he sol d h i s l ands to the B ishop o f

L iege,and set out fo r the Holy Land

,at the

head o f an a rmy of ten thous and ho rsemen andseventy thous and foot

,French

,Lo rra in s

,and

Ge rmans . Godf rey belonged to both nations,

and spoke both tongues . He was not tal l ; h i sb ro the r

,B aldwin

,was tal le r by the head ; but

h is s t rength was p rod igious . I t i s s a i d th atwi th one b low of h i s swo rd he “unseamed aho rseman f rom he ad to s addle ; and wi th oneb ack st roke woul d cut off an ox’s o r a camel ’shead . When in As i a

,having one day los t h is

way,he found one o f h i s companions in a cav

e rn,engaged wi th a bea r . He d rew the beast’s

rage upon h imsel f,and s lew i t ; but the se rious

b i tes he rece ived kep t h im long to h is bed .

H i s pu r itv This he ro i c man was o f s ingul a r pu ri ty o fand hero’sm

mind : he neve r married,and died

,without

h aving known woman,at the age o f th i rty

eigh t .The counci l of Clermont was hel d in No

v emb er,1 095 . On the 1 5th of Augus t, 1 096,

71 0 T H E WORLD ’


revi ew of the human race defi l e be fo re them,

coul d not bel ieve th at the to r ren t would passwi thout ca rrying them along with i t ; and the rewas enough to be al a rmed at in the innumer

abl e l anguages and s trange costumes o f theseb arba ri ans

,whose ve ry f ami l i a ri ty and coarse

p le as antri e s d i sconce rted the Byz an tines .Wh i l e waiting unti l the whole a rmy shouldbe col lected

,th ey es tab l i shed themselves ami

eably in the Empi re,d id jus t as they did at

home,and l ai d h ands in the i r s impl i c i ty on

gjn

t

n

gigg; whateve r they fancied ; fo r ins tance, on the

sade’s' l e ad o f the roo fs o f the chu rches,which they

sol d b ack to the G reeks . The s ac red pal acewas not a wh it mo re respected ; they fel t noawe o f i ts swa rm of sc ribes and o f eunuchs

,

and h ad nei the r tas te no r imagination su ffi

c ien t to be influenced by the ove rpoweringpomp and the at ri ca l d i sp l ay o f Byz antine majesty. Alexi s h ad a fine l ion

,which was both

the o rn ament and the te rro r o f the p al ace :they kil l ed i t by way o f spo rt .

SplendorConstantinop l e

,wi th al l i ts marvel s

,was a

great temptat i on fo r such as h ad only seen themud -bui l t c i ti es o f ou r Wes t . I ts gi ldeddomes

,marble pal aces

,and the mas te rp ieces

o f antique a rt,which h ad been accumul ated in

the cap i tal in p ropo rtion as the l imi ts o f theEmpi re h ad been con tracted

,p resented an as

ton i shi ng and myste rious whole which ove rwhelmed them

,and which they we re utte rly

at a loss to unde rs tand . The ve ry variety o f

M n s THE FIRST CRUSADE

the manufactu re s,and o f the merchand ise ex

h i b i ted fo r s ale, was to them an inexpl ic ab lep roblem . All they coul d comp rehend was ,that they longed fo r al l they s aw

,and doubted

whether‘

the holy ci ty was to be p re fe r red to i t .

Ou r No rmans and ou r Gascons would havebeen wel l content to fin ish the c rus ade he re '

they would wi l l ingly h ave s a id,l ike the l i ttl e

ch i ld ren o f whom Guibe rt s peaks—“Is not

th is J e rus alem ?”

Then came into the i r mind al l the s t ratagems with whi ch the G reeks h ad beset the i r Greek

treachery.march . They p retended th at they had fu rn i shed them with unwholesome food

,and had

poisoned the founta in s ; and l ai d to thei rch arge the epidemic d i se ases wh ich had beenp roduced in the a rmy by al te rn ate famine andintempe rance . Bohemond and the Count o fToulouse a rgued th at they should s tand on nosc rup l e with rega rd to these po isone rs

,and

that by way o f cas tigation they should takeCons tan tinop le— they might then conque r theHoly Land at the i r l e i su re . I t wou ld havebeen an easy matte r

,had they been al l agreed

,

but the No rman was consc ious th at i f he deth roned Alexis

,th is might only be to give the

Empi re to the T ou lou san ; bes ides , Godf reydecl a re d th at he h ad no t come to makewa r on Ch ri sti ans . Bohemond supported

' h i s

views,and found h i s vi rtue ve ry p rofitable

,

s ince he got f rom the Empero r eve ryth ing hewished .

71 1

71 2 THE WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS

Such was the tact o f Alexis,th at he man

aged to pe rsuade these conque ro rs,who could

h ave c rushed h im,to do him homage

,and to

make the i r conques t a fi e f o f the Empi re befo reh and . Hugh took the o ath fi rs t

,then

Bohemond,then Godf rey . Godf rey bent the

knee to the G reek,in whose h ands he p l aced

h i s own,and decl a red h imsel f h is vas s al : an

act wh ich cos t l i ttle to one o f h is meek dispos i tion .

x

In po in t o f f act,the c rus ade rs coul d not

do wi thou t Cons tantinople . S ince i t was notthei rs

,they behooved to h ave i t at l e as t as

the i r al ly and f riend . About to plunge intothe dese rts o f Asi a

,i t was the Greeks alone

who coul d p rese rve them from"

ru in in case o freve rse ; and to get ri d o f them

,the Greeks

p romised wh ateve r was asked o f them— p roVi s ions

,auxil i a ry troops

,and

,espec i al ly

,ves

sel s to tran spo rt them as soon as poss ib le ac ros sthe Bospho rus .Behold them in As i a

,the Turki sh caval ry

befo re them . Theu

heavy mass advances , haras sed upon the fl anks . The c rus ade rs fi rs t s i tdown befo re N i ce a

,fo r the G reeks

,wish ing

to recove r th at ci ty,l ed them there . Unski l led

in the a rt o f bes i eging fo rtified pl aces,they

migh t,with al l the i r valo r

,have l ingered there

fo reve r ; but at any rate, they se rved to al a rmthe bes i eged

,who ente red into negoti ations

wi th Alexi s,so th at one mo rning the Franks

s aw the Empero r’s b anne r flo ating ove r the

71 4 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS m m

but thei r l eade rs in s i s ted on s topp ing,fo r

they were impatien t to re al ize the i r ambi tiousd reams . Al ready they h ad di sputed

,swo rd in

h and,whose Ta rsus was to be

,both Baldwin

and Tanc red cl aiming to have been the fi rs tto en te r i t ; but the a rmy, ca ring l i ttl e fo r thep rivate in te res ts o f the ch ie fs and not wi sh ingto be del ayed

,demol i shed anothe r c ity about

which a s imi l a r di spute was on the po in t o fb reaking out .The great ci ty o f Antioch con ta ined th ree

fi fiof rf.“ hund red and s ixty chu rches

,and fou r hun

d red and fi f ty towers ; and had been the metropol i s o f a hund red and fi fty- th ree b ishoprics

,— a fine p ri ze fo r the count o f S t . Gil le

and Bohemond,and i ts poss ess ion alone could

consol e them fo r h aving missed Cons tantin0p le . Bohemond was the mo re ab le o f thetwo

,and opened a co rrespondence wi th the

c i ti zens . The c rus ade rs,dece ived he re as they

h ad been at N i ce a,s aw the red b anne r o f the

N o rmans s tre aming f rom the wal l s ; but th isd i d no t h inde r them from ente ring the ci ty,o r Count Raymond f rom th rowing h is fo l

539153

9

53 ,

lowe rs in to some o f the towe rs,and fo rti fy

ing himsel f the re . The abundance o f th isgreat ci ty p roved fatal to them a fte r such longdep rivations

,and an epidemic c a rri ed off the

c rus ade rs in c rowds . Thei r waste soon exhausted the plen ty befo re them

,and they were

again reduced to famine,when a vas t a rmy

o f Tu rks a rr ived to bel eague r them in thei r

xog6T H E FIRST CRUSADE 71 5

new conques t . Hugh of France , S tephen o fB loi s

,and numbers bes i des

,conceived the de

s truction of the a rmy at h and,and

,escap ing

,

Sp read the news o f the d i s as trous fa ilu re of thec rus ade .

And,indeed

,to such exces s o f p ros tration

we re those who remained reduced th at Bohemond was obl iged to have the houses fi red tofo rce them to le ave the shel te r where they l aycowering . R el igion suppl ied a s ti l l mo re e ffi c ac i ou s means . One o f the common men,warned in a“ d ream

,announced to the ch ie fs

th at by d igg i ng In a ce rtain spot they woul dfind the Holy Lance wh ich had p ie rced the

D i sc overySi de o f ou r Lo rd . He deponed to the truth o f {

fagg

e

e ’

H olv

h i s r evel ation by submitting to the o rdeal o ffi re

,and was burned ; bu t, neve rtheless, they

shouted a mi racle . Giving the ho rses al l thefo rage th at remained

,and choos ing the mo

ment when the Tu rks we re d ispo rting andd rinking

,th inking themselves secu re o f the i r

famished p rey,they sal l i ed fo rth at every

gate,and with the Holy Lance at thei r head .

Thei r numbe rs seemed to them to be doubledby squad rons o f ange l s ; they b roke th rough

T he’

l‘

urks

and sc atte red the Innumerab le a rmy of the rou ted

Turks,and became mas te rs o f the country

round Antioch,and o f the ro ad to J e rus alem .

Antioch became Bohemond’

s,desp i te Ray

mond ’s e ffo rts to keep possess ion o f i ts towe rs .The No rman thus re aped the p rofi t o f thec rusade ; yet he could no t escape accompany

71 6 THE WORLD ’


ing the a rmy and ass i s ting at the s iege o f Jerusalem . That vas t a rmy had by th is t imebeen th inned down to five and twenty thous and men ; but these were al l kn ights and .the i r

immed i ate re ta ine rs . The common he rd hadfound a tomb in As i a M ino r and in Antioch .

The Fatimites o f Egyp t,who

,l ike the

The Greeks,h ad summoned the Franks agains t

5523368 the Tu rks

,in l ike manne r repented . Hav

“m a le“ ing taken J e rus alem f rom the Tu rks,they es

s ayed to keep i t in thei r own hands,and a re

s a id to h ave assembled fo rty thous and men fo ri ts de fence . The c rus ade rs

,who

,in the fi rs t

t ranspo rts o f enthus i asm into owh i c h they hadbeen th rown at the s igh t o f the Holy C i ty

,had

fel t assu red o f c ar rying i t by ass aul t,were t e

pulsed by the bes ieged . They found themselves compel led to reso rt to the s low p roces so f a s iege

,and to s i t down be fo re the c i ty in

th i s deso l ate region,al ike des ti tute o f trees

and o f wate r . I t seemed as i f the demon hadbl as ted eve ryth ing with h i s b reath

,at the ap

p ro ach o f the a rmy o f Ch ri s t . So rce resses appeared on the wall s, who hu rled fatal wo rds atthe bes iege rs

,but i t was not by wo rds th at they

were answered : and one o f them,in the mids t

o f he r conju rations,was s truck by a s tone

l aunched f rom the machines of the Ch ri s ti ans ,which had been made unde r the - d i rection o fthe V i scount of B ea rn

,f rom the trees o f the

only wood wh ich the neighbo rhood fu rni shed

,and wh ich by h is o rde rs h ad b een cut

71 8 THE WORLD ’


the i r fe a r o f being kep t by h im at J e rus al em,

made no sc ruple o f b l acken ing thei r maste r’sch a racte r

,and so sp a ring h im the pains o f

sove re ign ty . When the Duke o f Lo rraine’ss e rvants we re examined in the i r tu rn

,they

could find no thing to s ay agains t h im,excep t

th at he remained too long in the chu rches,even beyond the hou rs o f se rvi ce

,and s tayed

Inqu i r i ng o f the p riests the s to ries rep resentedin the s ac red Images and paintings

,to the

great d i scon tent o f h i s f riends,who were thus

kep t wai ting fo r thei r d inne r . God f rey res igned h imsel f to the bu rden ; but would notassume the kingly c rown in a spo t in wh ichthe S aviou r h ad worn one o f tho rns . Theon ly ti tl e he woul d accep t was th at o f defende r and b a ron o f the Holy Sepulch re . Tothe p atri a rch ’s c l a im to J e rusalem and thewhole kingdom

,he made no obj ec tion

,but

f ree ly su r rende red al l in p resence o f the people

,and only rese rved fo r h imsel f the pos

ses s ion,th at i s to s ay

,the de fence

,o f the c i ty .

In the ve ry fi rs t yea r o f h is reign,he had to

figh t an innumerab le a rmy of Egypti ans, whohad attacked the c rus ade rs at A

'

s calon . Hehad

,in sho rt

,a neve r-ending wa r on h is

h ands,and found h i s conques t to be nothing

but i r remedi ab l e mise ry,—one long martyr

dom . The Arabs in fested h is kingdom fromthe beginn ing

,penetrating to the ve ry gates o f

h i s cap i tal,so th at i t was h a rdly poss ib l e to ti l l

the l and . Tanc red was the only ch ie f th at re

A .D . 1 096 THE FIRST CRUSADE 71 9

mained wi th God f rey,who coul d with d ifli

cul ty detain th ree hund red knights to defendthe Holy Land .

Yet was i t a great th ing fo r Ch ri s tendomthus to occupy

,in the ve ry mids t o f the in

fi dels,the c rad le o f thei r re l igion . A petty

Asi ati c Eu rope was fo rmed he re,i n the l ike

nes s o f the great ; and feudal i ty was organi zed even unde r a seve re r fo rm than i t h adassumed in any wes te rn country . The h ie ra rch ic al o rde r

,and al l the deta i l s o f feudal

j us ti ce we re regul ated in the famous A ssi zegigs

,“ f

o f J e rus alem,by Godf rey and his b a rons ; and

Je’m ‘em'

the re we re p resen t a Prince o f Gal i lee,a

Marqui s o f J affa,and a B a ron o f S idon . The

add i tion o f these ti tles o f the M iddle Age tothe mos t vene rab le n ames o f b ib l i c al antiqu i tysounds l ike a bu rlesque ; and , as su redly, Danie l h ad seen in no Vi s ion th at a Duke of Lo rraine would c rown the fo rt res s o f David withb attl ements

,o r th at a b a rbari c gi an t f rom

the We s t,a Gaul— a f a i r he ad masked with

i ron—would cal l h imsel f Marqu is o f Tyre .

!Doomsd ay‘Book i s comp i led and the FCu -

ggggi sday

dal Sys tem estab l i shed in Engl andIn 1 097, W i l l i am Rufus qua rrel s with Archb ishop Anselm ove r inves ti tu res

,but the

c rown i s fin al ly wo rs ted . Mati l da,Countess

o f Tuscany,ratifies he r donation to the Holy

See o f he r possess ions,in righ t o f which the

Chu rch owned the greate r p a rt o f i ts tem

720 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS 1 .1.. s

po ral domin ions . The Crus ade rs c aptureAc re Tripol i Berytus andS idon By the aid o f the Doge o fVen i ce

,Tyre i s taken ( I The O rde r o f

S t . J ohn o f J e rus alem. (H OSp i tal le rs) i sfounded ( 1 099) and the Templ a rs ( 1 1 1 8)The Empero r Hen ry IV . abdic ates and d ies ;and M il an revol ts and e rects i tsel f into a re

publ i c The Doge of Ven ice f al l s atZa ra in defence o f D almati a agains t the Hun

gari ans. The Guel f and Ghibel l ine facti onso rigin ate in 1 1 38. Edess a i s cap tu red by theTurks i n 1 1 46, which even t al a rms Eu ropeand gives ri s e to the S econd C rus ade

,in

which Con rad o f Germany is de fe ated by theSul tan o f I con ium ( 1 1 46) and Lou i s V I I . atLaod i ce a N ou redd in defeats theCh ri s ti ans ne ar the O rontes ( 1 Be rthol dfounds the Ca rmel i te s ; and Gran ad a i s conque red by the Almohades TheKnights o f the Cal atrava a re founded ( I 1 58)Mil an in revol t i s c ap tu red and des t royed ;and al l I taly submits to Frede ric I . PopeAlexande r I I I . flees to France . Notre Damein Pa r is i s founded and the Tu rks fi rs t ente rEgypt In 1 1 70, Pete r Wal do foundsthe Waldenses ; Thomas a Becke t i s ass assinated ; and W al demar I . o f Denmark des troys T omsb erg, the greates t c i ty in Eu ropeand the l as t s tronghol d o f S l avoni c p agan ism .

Strongbow . I rel and i s conque red by S trongbow and S al ad in becomes Sul tan o f E gyp t in 1 1 7 1 . In

T H E T H I R D C R U S A D E

W ILLIAM STUBBS

HE th i rd C rus ade,in wh ich Richa rd

was the fo remos t ac to r,i s one o f the

mos t in te res ting p a rts o f the c rusad

ing h is to ry ; the greatnes s o f the occas ion , thegreatnes s o f the he roes

,and the gre atness o f

the f ai lu re,mark i t ou t espec i al ly. And yet

i t was not al togethe r a fai lu re,fo r i t s tayed

the Wes te rn p rogres s o f S al ad in,and I sl am

neve r again h ad so great a cap tain . J e rus alem had been taken in the autumn of 1 1 87.

The King h ad been taken p ri sone r in the summe r . Befo re o r afte r the cap tu re almos t eve rys tronghol d h ad been su rrende red wi th in thete rri to ry o f J e rus alem . S aving the l o rdsh ipo f Tyre and the p rincip al i ti es o f Antioch andTripol i

,al l the Frank posses s ions h ad been

los t,and only a fewmountain fo rtres ses kept up

a hopel es s res i s tance . The counsel s o f the c rusaders we re divi ded ; the mi l i ta ry o rde rs hated

'

and were hated by the Frank nob i l i ty ; andth ese

,with an admixtu re o f Wes te rn adven

tu rers l ike Con rad of Montfe r rat,pl ayed fas t

(722)

A .D .T H E THIRD CRUSADE 723

and l oose with S al ad in , betraying the inte res ts o f Ch ris tendom and working up in thei rnoble enemy a sum of mis t rus t and con temptwh ich he intended shoul d accumul ate ti l l hecould take ful l vengeance .

When King Guy,rele ased f rom captivi ty

,

Opened,in August

,1 1 89, the s iege o f Acre ,gf

hfi ili f

“

he was p rob ably consc ious th at no mo re futi ledes ign was eve r attempted . Yet i t showed anamount o f sp i ri t unsuspec ted by the Weste rnp rinces

,and d rew at once to h i s s ide al l the

adventu rous so ld ie rs o f the C ross . I f he couldmain ta in the Siege long enough

,the re were

hopes of ul timate succes s agains t S al adin,o f

the recovery o f the C ross and the Sepulch re,

fo r the Empe ro r and the kings o f the Wes twe re al l on the road to Pales ti ne . Monthafte r month p assed on . The D-anes and theFlemings a rrived early

,but the great hosts

l agged s trangely beh ind . The great he roFrede ri ck o f Hohenstau fen sta rted fi rs t ; hewas to go by l and . L ike a great king

,such as Frederi ck

he was,he fi rs t se t h i s realms in o rde r ; e a rly in

Barbm ssa ’

1 1 88,a t what was cal l ed the Cou rt o f God

,at

Mentz,he cal led h i s hos ts togethe r ; then f rom

Ratisbon,on S t . Geo rge ’s d ay

,1 1 89, he set

off,l ike S t . George h imsel f

,on a p i lgrimage

agains t the d ragons and enchante rs th at l ay inwai t fo r h im in the b a rb a rous l ands o f theDanube and in As i a M ino r . The d ragonswere pl ague and famine

,the enchante rs we re

Byzantine treache ry and Sel j uki an a rtifice .

724 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .n . xxgo

Through both the true and pe rfect knigh tp as sed wi th nei the r fea r no r rep ro ach . In al i ttl e rive r among the mounta ins o f C i l i c i a hemet the s tronges t enemy

,and only h i s bones

reached the l and o f h i s p i lgrimage . Hispeop le looked fo r h im as the B ri tons fo r A 1

thu r . They would not bel ieve h im dead . S ti l ll egend pl aces h im

,asl eep but ye t al ive

,in

a c ave among the Thu ringi an Mountains,to

awake and come again in the great hou r ofGerman need . His d imin i shed and pe ri shing a rmy b rought famine and pes ti lence tothe bes i eging hos t at Ac re . His son Frederi ck of Swab i a

,who commanded them

,died

with them ; and the German c rus ade rs whowere l e f t— few indeed a fte r the s truggleretu rned to Ge rmany be fo re the close o f theC rus ade unde r Duke Leopol d of Austri a .

N ext perh aps,a fte r the Empero r

,the Cru

s ade depended on the King o f S ici ly— he diedfou r months afte r h i s f athe r- ln - l aw

,Henry I I .

Fo r two years the s iege o f Ac re d ragged oni ts mi se rable l ength . I t was a s iege within as iege : the Ch ri s ti an host held the S a racena rmy with in the wal l s ; they themselves fo rti fi ed an in trenched camp ; outs ide the t renchwas a countles s S a racen hos t bes i eging thebes iege rs . The command o f the sea was d i s

pu ted , but both p a rti es found thei r suppl iesin th at way

,and both su ffe red togethe r .

Thi s had been going on fo r nearly a year.

befo re Richard and Ph i l ip le ft V ezelai .

726 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

found h i s ch ie f employmen t in min is te ring tothe s ta rving sold ie rs . Queen S ibyl l a and he rchil d ren we re dead al so ; and Con rad o fM on tfe r rat, sep a rating he r s i s te r, now thehei res s o f the Frank kingdom

,f rom her youth

ful husb and,p revai led on the p atri a rch to

marry he r to h imsel f,and so to oust KingGuy,

and s ti l l mo re d iv i de the d iv i ded camp . Thetwo f ac tions we re a rrayed agains t one anothe ras bi tte rly as the gene ral exh austion pe rmitted

,

when at l as t Ph i l ip and Richa rd came .

The winte r months o f 1 1 90 and the sp ring0

o f I 1 9 1 h ad been spen t by them i n ve ry uneasy35453 1753 . l odgings at Mess in a . Richa rd and Ph i l ip

were,f rom the ve ry fi rs t

,j e alous o f one an

o the r . Richard was betrothed to Ph i l ip ’s s i ste r

,and Phi l ip suspected h im o f wish ing to

b re ak off the engagement . Rich ard ’s s is te rJ oh anna

,the widow of W i l l i am the Good

,

was s ti l l in S ic i ly . Richa rd wanted to gethe r and he r fo rtune into h is h ands and out o f

{2&n the h ands o f Tanc red,who

,with a doub tful

fi fih

i’

i‘

iup . c l a im,h ad set h imsel f up as King o f S ici ly

agains t Hen ry o f Hohens tau fen,who had

marri ed the l ate king’s aun t . Now,the H o

henstau fen and the French h ad always beenal l ies ; Richa rd , th rough hi s s i s te r

’s marri agewi th Hen ry the L ion

,was clo se ly connected

with the We l fs,who had suff e red fo rfe i tu re

and b an i shmen t f rom the pol i cy o f Frede ri ckBarb aro s s a . He was al so n atu ral ly the al ly o fT anc red, who looked upon h im as the head

A.D . x1 90THE T HIRD CRUSADE 727

o f No rman ch ival ry . Yet to secure h i s s i s te rd

he found i t neces s a ry to fo rce Tanc red to afifia’

te rms . Wh i le .Tanc red negoti ated the peo - Ta

ncred '

ple o f Mess in a rose agains t the s trange rs :

the s t range rs qua rre l led among themselves ;Phi l ip p l anned tre ache ry agains t Rich a rd

,

and tried to d raw Tancred into a con sp i racy ;Tancred in fo rmed Rich ard of the tre ache ry .

Matte rs we re with in a h ai r’s -b read th o f abattl e b e tween the c ru s ad ing kings . Phi l ip ’ss trength

,howeve r

,was not e qual to h i s Sp i te,

and the ai r gradual ly cle a red . Tancred gaveup the queen and he r fo rtune

,and a rranged

a marr i age fo r one o f h i s d aughte rs with .Arthu r o f B r i ttany

,who was recogn ized as Ri ch

a rd ’s he i r . Soon afte r Queen E l e ano r a rrivedat N aples wi th the l ady Be renga ri a o f N ava rre in he r company ; whereupon , by the advice o f Count Ph i l i p o f Fl ande rs

,Phi l ip re

l eased Richa rd f rom the p romise to marry h i ss i s te r ; and at l as t, at the end o f Ma rch , 1 1 9 1 ,

the French Crus ade rs s a i led away to Acre .

Rich a rd fol lowed in a few d ays ; but a s to rmcar rying pa rt o f h i s flee t to Cyp rus

,he found

Messma '

h imsel f obl iged to fight wi th I s aac Comnenus,

the Empero r,and then to conque r and re fo rm

the i s l and,whe re al so he was ma rried . Afte r

he re ached Acre,where he a r rived on J une

8,he as wel l as Ph i l i p fel l i l l

,and only afte r

a del ay o f some weeks was able to take pa rtin the s iege . The town held out a l i ttl e longe r Acre

’taken ,

1 1 9n

but ea rly in July i t su r rende red,and gave the

728 THE WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS

Ch ri s ti ans once mo re a footing in the HolyL and . Immedi ately afte r the captu re Ph i l i ps ta rted homeward

,l e av ing h is vow o f p i l

grimage un fulfi l l ed . Richa rd remained to

complete the conques t .The suff e rings and the c ruel ties o f th i s p a rt

o f the h i story'

are no t p le as an t to dwel l upon.

It i s a s ad tale to tel l how S al ad in s l ew hi s

R ichard ,s p risone rs , how the Duke o f Bu rgundy and

st

aggers. Rich a rd s lew the i rs ; how Con rad and Guyqua rrel l ed

,the French suppo rting Con rad

and Rich a rd suppo rting Guy ; how the peoplepe ri shed

,and b rave and noble knights took

men i al serv i ce to ea rn b re ad . A more b ri ll i an t yet s ca rcely les s s ad s to ry i s the greatmarch o f Rich a rd by the way of the se a f romAcre to Joppa

,and hi s p rogress

,afte r a s tay

o f seven weeks a t Joppa,on the way to Je

rusalem as fa r as Ramleh . Every s tep wasdogged by S al ad in

,eve ry s traggle r cut o ff

,

eve ry pl ace o f encampment won by fighting.

Ch ri s tmas found the King with in a few mileso f J e rus alem ; but he neve r came with in reacho f i t . Had he known the inte rnal cond i tiono f the c i ty he migh t h ave taken i t . J e rus alemwas in a p an ic

,S al ad in fo r once p a ralyzed

by al a rm ; but Richa rd had no good i ntell igence . The Franks in s i s ted th at Ascalonshoul d be secu red befo re the Holy Ci ty wasoccup ied . The f avo rab le momen t passedaway .

Richa rd wi th a heavy hea rt tu rned h is b ack

730 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

Rgoti ate fo r a truce, and in S eptembe r, a fte r ad ash ing explo i t a t J opp a

,in which he rescued

the town f rom almos t ce rtain c aptu re,he a r

ranged a peace for th ree yea rs th ree month sand th ree d ays .Ea rly in Oc tobe r he le f t Pales tine

,the

B i shop o f S al i sbu ry remain ing to lead homethe remnant o f the hos t

,as soon as they h ad

pe rfo rmed the p i lgrimage wh ich they we reto make unde r the p rotection of S al ad in .

Richa rd,impatien t o f del ay

,and not deeming

h imsel f wo rthy to loo-k on the c ity which heh ad not s trength and grace to win back fo rCh ri s tendom

,l e f t h i s fleet and committed

h imsel f to the o rd in a ry means o f t ranspo rt .Afte r b a rgain ing with p i rates and smuggle rsfo r a p ass age

,and losmg t ime by unnecess a ry

hu rry,he was sh ipwrecked on the co as t o f th e

Ad ri ati c ne a r Aqu i le i a ; t ravel led in d i sgu i seth rough Friul i and pa rt o f S al zbu rg

,and was

c aught by Duke Leopol d of Austri a,h is b i tte r

pe rsonal enemy,a t V i enn a

,in Decembe r.

In March,1 1 93, he was h anded ove r to the

Empe ro r Hen ry V I .

,who was in c orrespon

d ence wi th Ph i l i p o f France .

!The Ch ri s ti an kings o f Spain settl e thei rd iffe rences and un i te agains t the Moo rs

Flo rence becomes an independen trepubl i c The Pope fo rces Ph i l i pAugus tus to take b ack hi s d ivo rced queen

,

Ingebo rg

T H E F O U R T H C R U S A D E

JULES M ICHELET

H E Wes te rns h ad s l ight hope of succ eed ing in an ente rp ri se in wh ich the i rhe ro

,Richa rd CtE i

’

i r-de -L ion,had

fai l ed . However,the momentum which had

been impa rted a centu ry befo re,went on o f

i tsel f . Pol i ti c i ans endeavo red to tu rn i t toaccount . The Empe ro r

,Hen ry V I .

,h imsel f

p reached the c ru sade to the d iet o f Wo rms,

decl a r ing that he des i red to make atonementfo r the imp ri sonment o f Rich a rd . Enthu

si asm was at i ts he ight : all the Ge rman p rinces E nthusitook the c ros s . Many found thei r way to Con E

g

gir

i ny.

stantinop le : othe rs fol lowed the Empe ro r,whopersu aded them th at the righ t ro ad to the HolyLand was S ic i ly . He thus managed to secu reimpo rtant as s i s tance toward

'

c onquering th i si s l and

,which was h i s wi fe ’s by inhe ri tance

,

but whose inhab i tan ts,whethe r No rman

,I tal

i an,o r Arab

,were unan imous in rej ecting the

German yoke . He only became maste r o f i tby shedd ing to rrents o f blood ; and i t i s evens aid that h i s wi fe po i soned h im in revenge

(731 )

732 THE WORLD ’


fo r he r country’s wrongs . B rough t up by thej u ri s ts o f Bologn a with the ide a o f the i l l im i table right o f the Caes a rs

,Hen ry rel ied on mak

ing S i ci ly h i s van tage -ground fo r the invas iono f the G reek Empi re

,as Robe rt Gu is ca rd had

done,and then re tu rn ing into I taly to humble

the Pope to the level o f the Patri a rch of ConstantinOp le .

The conques t o f the Greek Empi re,which

he was unable to accompl i sh,was

,indeed

,the

consequence and unfo reseen resu l t o f thefou rth c rus ade . S al ad in ’s de ath

,and the ac

cess ion o f a young pope ful l o f a rdo r and o fgen ius (Innocen t III ) , s eemed to re an imateCh ri stendom . The death o f Hen ry V I .

,too

,

reassu red Eu rope,al a rmed at h i s powe r . The

c ru sade,p reached by Fulk o f Neui l ly

,was

,

above al l,popul a r in No rthe rn France .

‘

Acoun t o f Champagne h ad j us t been electedking o f J e rus al em . His b rothe r

,who suc

c eeded to h i s c ountshi p ,took the c ross , and wi thh im mos t o f h i s vas s al s . This powerful b a ronwas lo rd o f no fewe r th an e ighteen hund redfi efs. No r mus t we fo rget h i s marsh al o fChampagne

,who marched at the head of h i s

vass al s,Geoffro i de V i l l eh a rdou in

,the h i sto

r i an o f th i s great exped i tion,the fi rs t p rose

wri te r,the fi rs t h i s to ri an o f France who used

the vulga r tongue . I t i s a n ative o f Champagne

,too

,the S i re de J oinvi l l e

,who i s to

rel ate the h i s to ry of S t . Loui s and the closeo f the c rus ades . The ba ron s of the no rth o f

734 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT ‘ EVENTS M ) , 1 202

woul d trus t no one wi th the command o f anexpedi tion wh ich might tu rn out so p rofi tab leto the republ i c

,and decl a red h is inten tion to

s ai l wi th i t . The Marqui s o f Montse rrat,

Boni face,a b rave and poo r p rince

,who had

been to the holy wars,and whose b rothe r Con

rad h ad di s tingu i shed h imsel f by hi s defenceo f Tyre

,was appo inted commander- i n- ch ie f

,

and he p romised to l e ad wi th h im the Piedmontese and S avoya rds .When the c rus ade rs h ad assembled at Ven

i ce,the Veneti ans p ro tes ted to them

,in the

mids t o f thei r f a rewel l fétes,th at they woul d

not, get unde r weigh unti l they rece ived thei r

f re igh tage . All d ra i ned themselves,and gave

wh ateve r they h ad b rought wi th them ; s ti l lth i rty- fou r thous and marks we re wanting tomake the tale complete . The worthy dogethen inte rceded

,and pointed out to the people

th a t i t would not be to the i r hono r to act rigorously with rega rd to so holy an en te rp ri se ;and he p roposed th at the c rus ade rs shoul d

,i n

the fi rs t ins tance,l ay s i ege

,on beh al f o f the

Veneti ans,to the c i ty o f Zara in D almati a

,

which had wi thd rawn itsel f f rom the yoke o fthe Veneti ans to recogn iz e the King o f Hunga ry . The l atte r h ad jus t t aken the c ross

,and

to attack one o f h i s towns was a bad beginn ing .

Va inly d id the Pope ’s l egate p rotes t agains tthe s tep . The doge tol d h im that the a rmycould d i spense with h i s d i rections

,mounted

the c ross on h is ducal cap,and d ragged the

T H E FOURTH CRUSADE 735A .O. 1 202

c rus ade rs fi rs t to the s iege o f Zara,then to that

o f Trieste ; conque ring fo r the i r good f riendso f Ven i ce almos t al l the towns o f I s t ri a .

Wh i le these b rave and honest kn ights e a rnthei r p ass age by these explo i ts

,

“Behold,the re50703373

happens,

” s ays V i l l eh a rdou in,

“a gre at won - figgfgs,

de r,an unhoped - fo r

,and the s tranges t adven

tu re in the worl d .

” A young G reek p rince ,son o f the Empe ro r I s a ac— at the time di sposses sed o f h i s domin ions by h is b ro the r— comesto emb race the c rus ade rs ’ knees

,and to p rom

ise them immense advantages,i f they wil l only

re-es tab l i sh h i s f athe r on h i s th rone . Theywere al l to be en ri ched fo reve r

,the G reek

Chu rch was to submi t to the Pope,and the

Empe ro r,once res to red

,would aid them with

h i s whole powe r to recove r J e rusal em . Dandolo i s the fi rs t to commise rate the p rince ’smi s fo rtunes . He dete rmines the c rus ade rsto b egi n the c rusade byConstanti nop le . Vainlydoes the Pope l aunch h i s in te rd i ct agains t theinten t ; vain ly do S imon Montfo rt and manyothers sep a rate f rom the main body

,and set

s ai l to J e rus alem . The majo ri ty fol low B aldwin and Bon i face

,who fal l in with the op in ion

of the Veneti ans .Wh ateve r the Pope ’s oppos i tion to the en

terp ri se , the c rus ade rs conce ived th at they fg‘

goffi’

oi?

were do ing a good wo rk in subj ecting theGreek Chu rch to h im

,in h i s own desp i te . I t

would put an end to the mutual h at red andOppos i tion o f the G reeks and Latin s .

736

Host il itybetweenGreeks andLat ins.

Dandolo’s

Sta tecra ftand vengeanc e .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

At eve ry c rus ade,the Franks

,in p as s ing

th rough Cons tantinople,had del ibe rated on

the pol i cy o f sei z ing i t ; and but fo r the goodfa i th Of ' GOdfrey o f Boui l lon and Lou i s theYounge r

,they would have put the i r del ibe ra

ti ons in to ac t . When the nation al i ty o f theG reeks was so fe a rful ly a roused by the tyrantAnd ron icus

,the Latins se ttl ed in Cons tanti

nople were involved in one common mass ac re

(Apri l , Notwi ths tanding the cons tan t d ange r th at hung ove r thei r heads, commerc i al i n te res ts tempted gre at numbers toretu rn unde r h i s succes so rs ; and they fo rmedin the he a rt o f Constantinop le a hosti le colony

,

invi ting the Wes te rns,and app a rently holding

out hopes o f seconding them should they everattempt to take the cap i tal o f the G reek Empi re by su rp ri se . O f al l the Latins

,the Vene

ti ans alone des i red and coul d effect th i s greatente rp ri se ; and , rival s o f the Genoese in thet rade o f the Levant

,they fea red being anti c i

p ated by them . Not to dwel l upon the greatn ame o f Cons tantinop le

,and o f the immense

ri ches inclosed wi th in i ts wal l s,in wh ich the

Roman Empi re h ad taken re fuge,i ts com

manding pos i tion between Eu rope and Asi ao ff e red

,to whoeve r should sei ze i t

,a monopoly

o f commerce,and the sove reignty of the seas .

The Old doge,Dandolo

,whom the Greeks had

fo rmerly dep rived o f s ight,pu rsued th is p roj

ect with the unti r ing. a rdo r o f patrioti sm ando f vengeance . I t i s even s tated th at the Sul

738 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

boats,and only twenty sh ips

,not one Of which

,

howeve r,i t s en t agains t the Latin fleet

,and

none attempted to f al l down the s t ream to cas tthe G reek fi re in to i t . S ixty thous and men

,

indeed,appea red on the b ank magnificently

a rmed ; but no soone r d i d the c rus ade rs showthemselves

,th an they van i shed . In f act

,th i s

l ight c aval ry o f thei rs cou ld not h ave sus ta inedthe shock o f the heavy men - at- a rms o f theLatins ; and the c i ty h ad no othe r de fenceth an was affo rded by i ts s t rong wal l s and afew co rps o f excel len t sol d ie rs

,fo rming the

Va rangi an guard,which cons i s ted o f Dani sh

and S axon re fugees f rom Engl and,togethe r

with some Pis an auxi l i a ri es : in al l p a rts,the

comme rci al and pol i t i ca l rival ry between thetwo people

,a rmed the Pi s ans agains t the Vene

ti ans .The l atte r

,p rob ab ly

,had f ri ends in Con

stantinop le ; fo r as soon as they had fo rced theh a rbo r and p resented themselves at the foot Ofthe wal l s

,the s tanda rd o f S t . Mark appeared

on them,pl anted by an inv i s ibl e h and

,and the

doge was qu i ckly mas te r o f twen ty- fi ve towers .

Bu t he h ad to fo rego th i s advantage in o rde rto c a rry as s i s tance to the Franks , who weresu rrounded by the G reek caval ry they h ad sodespi sed . That ve ry n igh t the Empe ro r fledin desp ai r . His p redecesso r

,the aged I s aac

Comnenus,was rele ased f rom p ri son ; and i t

on ly remained fo r the c rus ade rs to ente r thec i ty in tr iumph .

1 000 TH E FOURTH CRUSADE 739

I t was imposs ib le th at the c rus ade shouldend thus . The new Empero r could only s at

i sfy the requ i s i tions o f hi s l ibe rato rs by ru ining h is subj ects . The Greeks mu rmured

,the

Latin s p res sed and th reatened . In the mean -

Thu mb

time they insul ted th e people in a thous andways

,as wel l as the Empero r o f the i r own mak Greeks'

ing . One day,when pl aying at d ice with

P rince Alexius,they cl apped a co a rse wool len

o r h ai r cap on h i s head . They took p leasu rein offend ing aga ins t al l the customs o f theG reeks

,and were s candal iz ed at whateve r was

new to themselves . Discove ring a mosque o ra synagogue

,they fel l upon the i nfi dels

,who

de fended themselves . They then set fi re tosome houses

,and the fl ames Sp read ing

,the

c onflagration raged ove r the th ickes t and mostpopulous qua rte r o f the ci ty fo r above a l eaguein f ront

,and l as ted e igh t d ays and n ights .

This event put the fin i sh ing s troke to theexaspe ration of the peop le

,who rose up

agains t the Empero r whose res to ration h adb rought so many evi l s in i ts t r ain . For th ree

Thedays the pu rple was o ffe red to eve ry Senatorgggg

l

geg_in tu rn : gre at cou rage was requi red to accept ging'

i t . The Veneti an s who,apparently

,could

have inte rfe red,remained outs i de o f the wal l s

,

and wai ted . Perh aps they fea red trus tingthemselves in th is immense c i ty

,in which they

might h ave been c rushed ; pe rhaps i t su i tedthem to al low the Empe ro r whom they h admade to be ove rpowered

,th at they might en

740

Al exi usMourzou fi e

THE WORLD ’


te r Cons tan tinop l e as enemies . In f act,the

aged I s aac was put to death,and was rep l aced

by a p rince o f the imper i al f amily,AlexiusM ou rzoufle

,who showed h imsel f equal to the

emergency in wh ich he accep ted the Empi re .

He began by rej ecting the c ap ti ons p ropos it ions o f the Veneti ans

,who Sti l l Offe red to be

s ati sfied wi th a sum of money . They woul dby th is means h ave ru ined h im

,and h ave ren

dered h im hateful to the peopl e,l ike h i s p red

e c essor. M ou rzoufle l evied money,indeed ;

but i t was to employ i t in h is own defence .

He armed vessel s,and twice ende avo red to

bu rn the enemy’s fleet . The s i tu ation o f theL atin s became p reca rious . Howeve r

,Mour

z onfle coul d not c re ate so l d ie rs at once . Thec rus ade rs were warrio rs o f a fa r d i ffe rents tamp ; the Greeks coul d not wi ths tand thei ras s aul t ; and N i ce tas confes ses , with infini tes impl i ci ty

,th at at the te rr ib l e moment the

gates were bu rs t open,a Latin knight

,who

ove rth rew al l in h i s way,appea red fi f ty fee t

h i gh to them .

The l eade rs endeavo red to res tra in the l icense o f Vi cto ry . They fo rb ade

,unde r p ain

o f death,the rape o f marri ed women

,o r V i r

gins,or nuns . But ful l s cope was al lowed to

the avari ce o f the sold ie ry ; and so eno rmouswas the amoun t o f the booty

,th at a fte r adding

fi fty thous and marks to the sh are o f the Veneti ans in d i sch a rge o f thei r deb t

,there remained

five hund red thous and marks to the Franks as

742 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

Fl ande rs,a descendan t o f Charl emagne

,and

a cous in o f the King Of France . The Marqui s o f Montse rrat was con ten ted wi th thekingdom of Macedon . The greates t p a rt o fthe emp i re

,and even th at wh ich devolved on

the Veneti ans,was po rtioned ou t into fi efs.

The resul ts o f th i s memo rab le event we reno t as great as might h ave been

-

imagined .

The Latin Empi re o f Constantinople l astedeven a sho rte r time th an the Latin kingdom ofJ e rus alem (only f rom 1 204 to Ven icealone de rived mate ri al advantage f rom i t

,

which she d i d l a rgely . France gained in influenc e only . Her manne rs and l anguage

,al

re ady bo rne so f a r by the fi rs t c rus ade,were

d i ffused th roughout the Eas t . And long afte rthe fal l o f the Latin Empi re o f Cons tantinopl e—abou t the yea r 1 3oo

—the Catal an,Mon

taner,as su res u s tha t in the p rincip al i ty o f the

Morea and the duchy of Athens,

“they spokeFrench as wel l as they did at Pa ri s .”

!The Un ive rs i ty o f Pa ri s i s founded in1 206 ; and the Franci scan O rde r o f Mend ican tFri a rs i s

’

founded in 1 207. The Ch ri s ti ankings in Spain again uni te in the l e ague o fMallen they s l ay M ussul

mans in the b attl e o f N avas de Tolos a ; theA lmoh ades fal l

C O N Q U E S T S O F Z IN G IS K H A N

(A .D. 1200—1227)

EDWARD GIBBON

ROM the Spacious h ighl ands betweenChin a

,S ibe ri a

,and the C asp i an S ea

,

the ti de o f emigration and wa r has re

p eatedly been pou red . These ancien t se ats o f Ancestry o fthe Huns and Turks we re occup ied in the

zmgls

Twel fth Cen tu ry by many pas to ral t ribes o fthe s ame descen t and s imil a r manne rs

,which

were un i ted and led to conques t by the fo rmidab le Z ingi s. In h i s as cent to greatnes s

,th at

b arb a ri an (whose p rivate appel l ation was Temugim) had trampled on the necks o f h isequal s . His b i rth was nobl e ; but i t was inthe p ri de Of v i cto ry th at the p rince o r peoplededuced h i s seventh ances to r f rom the immacul ate concep tion o f a Vi rgin . His fathe rh ad re igned ove r th i rteen ho rdes

,which com Z ingi s

Khan, fi rstposed about th i rty o r fo rty thous and famil i es

, if? fi'

g’

gu‘

ifiabove two th i rds re fused to pay ti thes o r Obe 330122

“

d i en c e to h i s in fan t son ; and , at the age o fth i rteen

,T emugi n fought a b attl e agains t h i s

rebel l ious subj ects . The futu re conque ro r o fAsi a was reduced to fly and to obey

,but he

(743)

744 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS - 1 227

rose supe rio r to h i s fo rtune ; and, in h is fo rtie th yea r

,he h ad establ i shed h i s f ame and do

min ion ove r the c i rcumj acent t ribes . In as tate o f soc i ety in whi ch pol i cy i s rude andvalo r i s un ive rs al

,the as cendan t o f one man

mus t be founded on h i s power and resolutionto puni sh h i s enemies and recompense h i sf ri ends . His fi rs t mi l i ta ry le ague was ratifiedby the s imple ri tes Of s ac r ificing a ho rse andtas ting o f a runn ing s tre am : T emugin pledgedh imsel f to divide with h i s fo l lowe rs the sweetsand the b i tte rs o f l i fe ; and , when he h adsh ared among them his ho rses and appa rel

,

he was ri ch in thei r grati tude and h i s ownhopes . Afte r h i s fi rs t Vi cto ry

,he pl aced sev

enty c ald rons on the fi re,and seventy o f the

mos t gu i l ty rebel s were cas t headlong into theboi l ing wate r . The sphe re o f h i s attractionwas con tinu al ly enl a rged by the ru in of thep roud and the submis s ion o f the p ruden t ; andthe bol des t Chie ftains might t remble whenthey beheld

,incased in s i lve r

,the Skul l o f

the Khan o f the Kera i tes,who

,unde r the name

Of Pres te r J ohn,had co rresponded with the

Roman Ponti ff and the p rinces Of Eu rope .

The amb ition o f T emugin condescended toemploy the a rts o f supe rs ti tion ; and i t wasf rom a naked p rophet

,who could ascend to

heaven on a wh ite ho rse,th at he accepted the

t i tl e o f Z i ngi s, the Most G reat ; and a d ivineright to the conquest and domin ion o f thee a rth . In a gene ral c ou rou lta i , o r d iet, he was

746 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS AA) . 1 200- 1 227

peace should neve r be granted unless to a van

qu i shed and suppl i ant enemy . But i t i s therel i gion of Z i ngi s th at bes t dese rves ou rw on

de r and appl ause . The Cathol i c i nst i tu t i onso f Eu rope

,who de fended nonsense by c ruelty

,

migh t h ave been con founded by the exampleo f a b a rb a ri an

,who anti c ip ated the l es sons o f

ph i losophy and establ i shed by h i s l aws a system of pu re thei sm and pe rfec t tole ration .

His fi rs t and only a rti c l e o f f ai th was the exi stenc e o f one God

,the autho r Of al l good

,

who fi l l s,by hi s p resence

,the heavens and

ea rth,which he h as c re ated by h is powe r .

The Tarta rs and Mogul s we re add icted to thei dol s o f th ei r p ecu l i a r tr ibes ; and many o fthem had been conve rted by the fo re ign missi onari es to the re l i gions Of Moses

,o f Ma

bomet,and o f Ch ri s t . These va rious sys tems

in f reedom and conco rd were taught and practi ced wi th in the p recincts o f the s ame camp ;and the Bonze

,the Imam

,the Rabbi

,the Nes

to ri an,and the Latin p ries t enj oyed the same

hono rab l e exemption f rom se rvi ce and tribute .

In the mosque o f Boch a ra,the insolen t Vi cto r

might t rampl e the Ko ran unde r h i s ho rse ’sfeet

,but the c alm legi s l ato r respected the

p rophets and ponti ffs o f the most hos ti l e sects .The reason o f Z ingi s was not in fo rmed bybooks ; the) Khan coul d ne i the r read no r wri te

'

and,except the tribe o f the Igou rs, the great

e r p a rt o f the Moguls and Tarta rs were asi l l i te rate as the i r sove reign . The memo ry o f

1 000- 1 007CONQUESTS OF ZINGIS KHAN 747

thei r explo i ts was p rese rved by trad i tion ;s ixty- e igh t yea rs afte r the death of Z i ngi s thesetrad i tions were col l ected and transc ribed ; theb revi ty o f the i r domes ti c annals may be suppl ied by the Chinese

,Pers i ans

,Armeni ans

,

Syri ans,Arabi ans

,Greeks

,Russ i ans

,Poles

,

Hunga ri ans,and Latins ; and each nation wi l l

dese rve c red i t in the rel ation o f thei r own disas te rs and defeats .The a rms o f Z ingi s and h i s l ieutenants suc

c essively reduced the ho rdes o f the dese rt, whopitched the i r tents b etween the wal l o f Chinaand the Volga ; and the Mogul Empero r became the mon a rch o f the p asto ral wo rl d

,the

lo rd o f many mil l ions o f shephe rds and sold ie rs

,who fel t the i r un i ted s t rength

,and were

impati en t to rush on the mil d and weal thycl imates Of the south . His ances to rs h ad been Invas ionthe tributa ri es o f the Chinese empero rs ; andT emugin h imsel f h ad been di sgraced by ati tl e o f hono r and se rvi tude . The cou rt o fPekin was as ton i shed by an embassy f rom i tsfo rme r vass al

,who in the tone Of the king o f

nations exacted the tribute and Obed iencewhich he h ad p aid

,and who affected to t re at

the Son o f Heaven as the mos t contemptibleo f mankind . A haughty answe r d i sgui sedthei r sec re t app rehens ions ; and the i r fea rswere soon jus tified by the ma rch o f innume r

able squ ad rons,who p ie rced on al l s i des the

feeble rampart o f the great wal l . N ine tyci ties were s to rmed

,o r s ta rved

,by

' the"

Mo

748

Fa l l o f

THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS - 1 227

guls ; ten only escaped ; and Z ingi s, f rom aknowledge o f the fi l i a l p iety o f the Ch inese

,

cove red h i s vanguard wi th thei r captive p a ren ts ; an unwo rthy and by degrees a f ru i tles sabuse o f the Vi rtues o f hi s enemies . His inv asi on was suppo rted by the revol t o f a hund red thous and Khi tans

,who guarded the f ron

tie r ; yet he l i s tened to a t re aty ; and a p rinces so f Ch in a

,th ree thous and horses

,five hund red

youth s,and as many Vi rgins

,and a t ribute o f

gold and s i lk,were the p ri ce o f h i s retreat .

I n h i s second expedi tion,he compel led the

Chinese Empero r to reti re beyond the Yel lowRive r to a mo re southe rn res i dence . The s iegeo f Pekin was long and l abo rious : the i nhab itants were reduced by famine to dec imate anddevou r thei r fe l low- ci ti zens ; when thei r ammuni tion was spen t

,they di s ch arged ingots o f

gol d and s i lve r f rom thei r engines ; but theMogul s in troduced a mine to the cent re o f thecap i tal ; and the c onflagration o f the p al acebu rned above th i rty days . China was desol ated by Tarta r wa r and domes ti c f action ; andthe five no rthe rn p rovinces were added to theempi re Of Z ingi s.

In the Wes t,he touched the domin ions o f

Moh ammed,Sul tan of Cari zme

,who reigned

f rom the Pers i an Gul f to the bo rde rs o f Ind i aand Turkestan ; and who , in the p roud imi tation o f Alexande r the G reat

,fo rgot the s e rvi

tude and ingrati tude o f h i s f athe rs to the houseo f Sel juk . I t was the wish o f Z ingi s to es tab

750

Great c it iesreduced.

Fa ll ofMohammed

THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 1 200- 1 227

gineers, ski l led in the mechan ic a rts, info rmed ,perhaps

,o f the s ec re t o f gunpowde r, and c a

p ahl e,unde r h i s d i sc ip l ine

,Of attacking a fo r

e i gn country wi th mo re Vigo r and succes s thanthey h ad defended thei r own . The (Pe rs i anh i s to ri an s wi l l re l ate the s ieges of and reduetion o f O t ra r

,Cogende, Boch a ra, S amarcand ,

Cari zme,Herat

,Merou

,

‘

N i sabou r,B alch

,

and Candaha r ; and the conques t o f the ri chand populous countri es o f T ransoxi ana

,Ca

ri zme,and Chorasan . The destructive hos

ti l i ti es o f Atti l a and the Huns h ave long s incebeen eluci d ated by the example o f Zingi s andthe Mogul s ; and in th i s mo re p rope r pl ace IShal l b e content to Obse rve th at

,f rom the Cas

p i an to the Indus,they ru ined a t ract o f many

hund red mi les,which was ado rned with the

h ab i tation s and l abo rs o f mankind,and that

fi v e cen tu ri es h ave not been suffi c i en t to rep ai rthe ravages o f fou r ye a rs . The Mogul Empe t o r encou raged o r indulged the fu ry o f h ist roops ; the hope o f future possess ions was los ti n the a rdo r o f rap ine and s l aughte r ; andthe cause o f the wa r exaspe rated thei r n ativefi erc eness by the p retence o f j us ti ce and re

venge . The downfal l and death o f the Sultan Mohammed

,who exp i red unp i tied and

alone in a dese rt i s l and of the C asp i an S ea, i sa poo r atonemen t fo r the cal ami ties o f whichhe was the autho r . Could the Cari zm i an Empi re h ave been s aved by a s ingle he ro

,i t woul d

h ave been s aved by h is son Gelaledd in,whose

A d ) , 1 200- 1 227CONQ

'

UESTS OF ZINGIS KHAN

ac tive valo r repeated ly checked the Mogul sin the ca ree r o f vi cto ry . Retreating

,as he

fought,to the b anks o f the Indus

,he was Op

p ressed by thei r innumerab le hos t,t i l l

,in the

l as t moment o f desp ai r,Ge laledd i n spu rred

hi s ho rse in to the waves,swam one Of the

b ro ades t and most rap id rive rs o f As i a,and

exto rted the admi ration and app l ause o f Zin

gi s h imsel f . I t was in th i s c amp that the Mogul Empe ro r yie l ded with reluctance to the

murmu rs o f h i s weary and weal thy troops,

who sighed fo r the enjoyment o f thei r n ativel and . Incumbered wi th the spoi l s o f As i a

,he

slowly measu red back h i s footstep s,betrayed

some p i ty fo r the mise ry o f the vanqu i shed,

and decl a red h i s in tention o f rebu i l d ing the

75 1

ci ties whi ch had been swep t away by the tem Conquestspes t o f h i s a rms . Afte r he had rep as sed theOxus and J axa rtes

,he was jo ined by two gen

erals,whom he had detached wi th th i rty thou

s and ho rse,to subdue the wes te rn p rovinces

o f Pe rs i a . They had t rampled on the nation s which Opposed thei r p ass age

,penetrated

th rough the gates Of Derbent,t rave rsed the

Volga and the dese rt,and accompl i shed the

c i rcui t o f the Casp i an Sea,by an exped i tion

which h ad neve r been attempted and h as neve rbeen repeated . The retu rn o f Z i ngi s was s ignal i z ed by the ove rth row of the rebel l ious . o rindependent kingdoms of Ta rta ry ; and hedied in the fulnes s o f yea rs and glo ry

,with

hi s l as t b re ath exho rting and ins tructing h is

o f the genera ls ofZ ingis.

752 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS 1 200- 1 227

sons to ach ieve the conques t o f the Ch ineseEmpi re .

The ha rem o f Zingi s was composed o f fivehund red wives and concub ines ; and Of h i snumerous p rogeny

,fou r sons

,i l lust rious by

thei r b i rth and me ri t,exe rci sed unde r thei r

f athe r the p rinc ip al Offi ces o f peace and warT oushi was h i s great huntsman

,Zagata i h i s

judge,Oc tai h i s min i s te r

,and Tul i h i s gen

e ral ; and the i r n ames and actions a re o ftenconsp i cuous in the h is to ry o f h is conquests .Fi rmly un i ted fo r thei r own and the publ icinte res t

,the th ree b rothe rs and thei r f amil ies

we re con tented wi th dependent s cept res ; andOc tai

,by gene ral consen t

,was p rocl a imed

Great Khan,o r Empero r

,o f the Moguls and

Tarta rs . He was succeeded by h is son Gayuk,a fte r whose death the Empi re devolved to h iscous in s

,Mangou and Cublai

,the sons o f Tul i

,

and'

the grandsons o f Z ingi s. In the s ixtyeigh t yea rs o f h i s fi rs t fou r succes so rs

,the MO

gul s subdued almos t al l As i a and a l a rgepo rtion o f Eu rope .

754 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

the d ivine ideal o f the Chu rch,as a holy

n ation,a pecul i a r peopl e

,a b rothe rhood o f

s aints .

T 000 0 W i th some pecul i a r tenets o f thei r own,

A lb igenses . closely resembl ing those o f the ancient M anichees

,and wh ich subj ected them not al togethe r

withou t g round to the ch a rge o f a he reti c altendency

,they were yet in some poin ts f ai th ful

wi tnes ses fo r the t ru th,and p ionee rs o f th at

great Re fo rmation s t ruggle that was yet tocome . In an age o f rampant supe rs t i tion andl i fel es s fo rmal i sm they tes tified both by wo rdand deed fo r the sp i ri tu al i ty o f rel igion

,and

o f the wo rsh ip o f God ; and even thei r e r ro rswere p rob ab ly in l a rge measu re only an exec ss ive re action agains t th e p revai l ing evi l s o fthe times . They den ied the doctrine o f thereal co rpo real p resence . They denounced al limages as i dol s . Thei r wo rsh ip was s impleand un ado rned ; and sumptuous ce remoni aland go rgeous p ri es tly ves tments were al ikees chewed . The holy volume l ay open on thetab le

,which

,in the i r p l ace s o f wo rsh ip

,sup

p l anted the pompous al ta r ; and the s implep reach ing o f the wo rd fo rmed the mos t p rominen t featu re o f the se rvi ce . They aboundedin morti fi c ati ons and fas tings

,and were d is

tingu i shed , even by the con fes s ion o f enemies,by a s tri ctness o f l i fe which was then ra re, andwh ich wen t the l ength even o f an asceti c seve ri ty . They rece ived the n ame Alb igeo is

,o r

Alb igenses,f rom the town of Alb i . They have

1 203- 1 229CRUSADE AGAINST THE ALBIGENSES

been o ften cl assed,and

,s ave fo r the se rious

he re ti cal l eaven above refe rred to,not un

worth i ly,with the Waldenses

,who che ri shed

the t ruths o f Ch ri s ti ani ty in s ingul a r simpl i ci ty and pu ri ty du ring long ages o f d a rknessamong the val l eys o f Piedmont .Innocen t

,looking j ealous ly upon these men

,

sent monks to watch them . One of these

755

l egates was s tabbed to death by a reta ine r o f T he war

Raymond,Count o f Toulouse . And then the

wa r bl azed ou t .Domin i c Guzman

,a S pan ish monk

,took

the le ad in s ti rring up th i s c rus ade . In h isdeal ings with the poo r Vi l l age rs o f Languedoc

,

we trace the fi rs t s ign o f th at te rrib le engineo f the Romish Chu rch

,the Inqui s i tion

,which

began i ts deadly wo rking fo rmal ly in 1 233unde r G rego ry IX .

,and continued to sco rch

I taly and Spain wi th i ts b ale ful fi res unti l theclose o f the E ighteen th Centu ry .

Wea ring a c ros s on the b reas t ins te ad of theshoulde r

,the c rus ade rs

,encou raged by the

mos t unbounded p romises o f absolution f roms in

,moved with joy f rom al l p a rts Of France

to a fiel d o f plunde r and bloodshed so nea rand so p romis ing . The main body of thea rmy descended the val l ey of the Rhone

,en

te ring Languedoc by the Medi te r ranean sho re .

breaks out.

The campTumultuous mobs

,a rmed with clubs and fol lowerS

scythes,fo l lowed in the i r t rack .

When he s aw the te r ro rs o f wa r app ro aching, the Count o f Toulouse, c ringing to

’

the

756

Capture o fBez iers.

The Castl eof M inerva .

THE WORLD ’


l egate,unde rwent so re humil i at ion to p rove

h i s pen i tence . But h i s nephew,young Ray

mond Roger,showed a bol de r f ront . Divid

ing h i s fo rces b etween h i s s trongest c i ti es,Be

z i ers and Ca rcassonne , th i s young noble withd rew to the l atte r to awai t the attack . Theci tizens o f B ez ie rs made a hot d ash upon thebes i ege rs as they we re marking out a camp .

Bu t an ove rwhelming fo rce d riving back thesor ti e

,p ressed in th rough the open gates

,and

remained mas te rs o f the c i ty. And then began a te rr ific s cene o f b lood . Arnold Amalri c

,the legate

,was asked by some offi ce rs how

they were to know the he reti cs f rom the truesons o f Rome .

“Kil l them all,s a id he

,

“theLo rd wil l know wel l those who a re h i s .” S ixtythous and we re s l a in

,and the town was bu rned

to ashes .Carcas sonne hel d out un ti l the wate r began

to fa i l . The ga rri son es caped by an unde rground pass age n ine miles long . RaymondRoger

,su r rende ring

,died in p ri son wi th in

th ree months ; and hi s te r r i to ri es we re bes towed ou S imon de Montfo rt

,Ea rl o f Le i c es

te r,who hencefo rward was the great cap tain

Of the war .

In the summe r Of 1 2 1 0,Montfo rt l a i d s iege

to the Castle o f M ine rva near N a rbonne,which

,perched on a steep crag

,was looked

upon as the s tronges t p l ace in the l and . Fo rseven weeks the Alb igenses hel d out ; but thenthei r c i s te rns ran dry . Led to hope th at the i r

758 . THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A , D , 1 208- 1 229

b reach . As the knights c l ambe red up theru ined wal l

,the p ries ts

,cl ad in ful l robes

,

ch an ted a hymn of j oy . When the swo rd andthe gal lows had done the i r de adly wo rk

,a

vas t c rowd of the cap tives were bu rned al ive .

Raymond,Count o f Toulouse

,at l as t

p lucked up hea rt to face the invade rs . Anal l i ance was fo rmed between the Albigensesand Ped ro

,King o f Aragon . At Muret

,n ine

mi l es f rom Toulouse,a b attle was fought

,in

whi ch Don Ped ro was Sl a in,and the Victo ry

res ted with Montfo rt . The i ron - cl ad knightso f no rthe rn France we re as yet mo re th an amatch fo r the l ight ho rse o f Sp ain and the defencel ess in fant ry o f the Pyrenees .This c rush ing blow struck te rro r in to the

hea rts o f the Albigenses . The war seemed tobe ove r

,and the c rusade rs went home .

In 1 2 1 5, we find Prince Loui s , son o f Ph i l ipAugus tu s

,taking the c ros s agains t the he reti cs .

The time al lotted fo r the p i lgrimage was s ixweeks

,du ring which the ch i e f p le asu res were

to be l iving at d i s c retion in Languedoc, p i llag

i ng houses and cas tl es,and s inging the hymn

“Ven i C reato r round the bu rn ing he retics .'

Bu t fo r th at time,at l e as t

,the ple as an t p ro

gramme was not fulfi l l ed,fo r Montfo rt took

good ca re to get Lou i s as qui ckly and quietlyas poss ib l e ou t o f the l and wh ich he had conque red fo r h imsel f . Toulouse and N a rbonnewe re the two cap i tal s o f Montfo rt’s ru le .

The ci ti zens o f the fo rme r revol ted,i n

M ) . 1 208- 1 229CRUSADE AGAINST TH E ALBIGENSES 759

sp i red wi th new cou rage on the retu rn o fCount Raymond . In the attempt to retakethe ci ty

,S imon de Montfo rt was ki l led by the

113133354.

blow of a great s tone on the he ad .

S ti l l the war con tinued with the“

s ame te rrible b loodshed unde r the s ame p retence o f rel i gi ous zeal . But the Albigenses grew weake r .Raymond VI . d ied in 1 222

,worn out by care

and age . S even yea rs l ate r,h is son

,Raymond

VI I .

,yielded up al l h i s te r ri to ry to the King

o f France,rece iving b ack a pa rt to be hel d as

a fi ef . Thi s a rrangement was cal led the Peace Pea ce “o f Pa ri s . Some vain s truggles fo l lowed

,fo rm s .

the sp i ri t o f the Alb igenses was yet al ive,

though so rely c rushed . Howeve r,the final

ratification o f the peace in 1 242 completed theconques t o f Languedoc .

This was not only a rel igious pe rsecution,

but h ad a di s tinct pol i t i cal a im . Guizot wel ldesc ribes i t as the re - es tabl i shment o f thefeudal sys tem in the south o f France

,when an

attemp t h ad been made to o rgan ize soc ietythe re on democrati c p rincipl es . So com

p letely was the nation al i ty o f the Alb igensest rampled out

,th at thei r beauti fu l tongue

the L angu e d’

Oc,the sweet P rov enca l of the

t roubadou r bal l ads— peri shed fo reve r,as a

d i s tinct speech,f rom among the tongues o f

Eu rope .

T H E M A G N A C H A R T A

(A .D. 1215)

J . F . BRIGHT

HILE he h ad been,even in the pu r

su i t of n ation al obj ects,es t ranging

by h i s tyranni cal conduct h is ownsubj ects

,J ohn had been ca rrying on hi s oppo

si ti on to the Pope outs i de the l imi ts o f thekingdom ; and events in Eu rope were rap idlyapp ro ach ing a c ris i s . O tho

,the Guelphic

Empero r,upon the death o f h i s r ival

,h ad so

complete ly succeeded,th at in 1 209 he had

been solemnly c rowned Empero r in I taly. Butno soone r h ad he gained h is obj ect th an theinevi tabl e r ival ry between Pope and Empero ragain a rose

,and in a few yea rs he had fo r

fe i ted the Ponti ff ’s f avo r so complete ly as tobecome the obj ect o f h i s greates t h atred ; hehad even been excommun icated

,whil e the

Pope found a new p rotegé in the young Frede ri ck o f S ic i ly

,whose anti - pap al tendencies

were not at th at time suspected . S imi l a r i ty o fci rcumstances rende red s ti l l c lose r the bond ofunion be twe en J ohn and h i s nephew

,and in

1 2 1 1 a l eague of excommunicated l e ade rs was(760)

762 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 1 2 1 5

He found means to b ring home to h i s mindthe pe rfect in secu ri ty o f h i s pos i tion a t home

,

whi le J ohn,f rom h is own expe ri ence

,knew

both the powe r and the ski l l o f Ph i l ip . Theconsciousnes s o f h i s d ange r des troyed h i s boas tful obstin acy

,and he made an uncondi tional

submiss ion . The p ape r wh ich he s igned wasd rawn up almos t in the ve ry wo rds o f the demands of

_Pandu l f . He o ff e red to p le ad befo re

the Papal Cou rt ; he p romised pe ace and a

good recep tion to Langton , the othe r b i shops,and b an i shed l a i ty ; h e was to res to re al lChu rch p rope rty

,and to make res t i tution fo r

a l l los s s ince the inte rd i ct . Having acceptedthese cond i tion s

,the King went fu rthe r . On

the 1 5th o f M ay, at Dove r, b e fo rmal ly re

s igned the c rowns of Engl and and I rel andinto the h ands o f Pandu lf

,and rece ived them

again as the Pope ’s feudato ry .

I t was no t wi thout u l te rio r obj ects th at J ohntook th i s d i sgracefu l s tep . He bel ieved thathe s aw in i t a way out o f al l h i s d i ffi cu l ties

,

and the means o f revenging h imsel f upon h i senemies . He had no inten tion o f al lowingh i s new pos i tion to in te rfe re wi th h i s c ontinental al l i ances

,and i t was to the i r succes s th at

he looked to re - es tabl i sh h i s powe r . WhenPhi l i p o f France was no

,longer the agent o f

Pap al autho ri ty,he bel i eved th at i t would be

poss ib l e fo r h im to res i s t the s to rm that wasgathe ring round h im . He expected th at onegreat v i c to ry would go fa r “ to give h im back

A .D . 1 21 5THE MAGNA CHARTA

h i s los t French domin ions,when the p res tige

o f succes s,the f riendsh ip o f the Chu rch

,and

the inc re ase o f power de rived f rom h is re

gained domin ion s,would make him maste r o f

the s i tuation in Engl and . At fi rs t al l seemedto wo rk as he wi shed . Pandu lf immedi atelyhu rri ed to France

,and fo rbade Ph i l ip to at

tack the Pope ’s new vass al . The oppo rtuneattacks o f Ferrand o f Fl ande rs d ive rted theFrench a rmy toward the dominions o f th atp rince ; the Engl i sh fleet wh ich was sent to ass i s t the Flemings des troyed the whole French

’

sh ipping in the po rt o f Damme ; the Archb i shop Langton was rece ived with hono r

,John

th rew himsel f at h i s feet,reconci led h imsel f

with the Chu rch,i s sued wri ts to al l the

chu rches to inqu i re into the amount o f damages to be res to red

,and o rde red a gre at coun

ci l to meet at S t . Albans to se ttl e fin al ly theres ti tution o f the Chu rch p rope rty. He thensummoned h is b a rons to meet h im

,an d j o in

h im in an attack upon Poi tou . But he wasmis taken

,both in the ch a racte r o f the Church

man,in whom he hoped to find an ob ed ien t

se rvan t o f the Papal S ee,and in the amount

o f d is s ati s faction among h i s nob les . Thebarons o f the No rth re fused to fol low him

,

and the mee ting at S t . Albans resul ted,no t in

a settlement of Chu rch diffi cul ti es,but in the

Open decl a ration o f the compl ain ts o f al lc l as ses . A few weeks a fte r

,Langton

,who had a

seen th rough the cha racte r o f J ohn,and was

763

D estru ct ion of theFrench fleet

LangtonbandonsJ ohn

764 THE WORLD ’


ful l o f h atred o f h i s tyranny,met an assembly

o f mal con tents a t S t . Paul ’s in London,and

the re decl a ring that he had found doc umen

ta ry p roof o f thei r rights,p roduced the co ro

n ation ch a rte r o f Hen ry I.

,which was at once

accep ted by the ba rons as the decl a ration o fthe vi ews and demands o f the i r p arty .

In the meantime,two even ts h ad happened

di s as t rous to the royal c ause . N i cho l as o fTusculum had a rrived as Papal legate

,and

the j us ti c i a ry God f rey Fi tz Pete r h ad died .

The legate, i gno ran t o f the feel ings o f theEngl i sh

,and eage r to suppo rt and make real

the Papal autho ri ty,had tho roughly adopted

the King’s c ause . He th reatened the cle rgyunles s they at once accep ted the a rrangementswh ich the King offe red ; and al though i t wasthe ve ry th ing whi ch h ad be fo re exci ted theange r o f the Pope

,he p roceeded to fi l l vacan t

benefi c es with the devoted adhe rents o f theroyal p a rty . In the p l ace o f the expe ri encedFi tz -Pe te r

,who

,howeve r f a r he might h ave

s trained the admin i s t ra tive powe r o f thec rown

,had yet exe rci sed a wholesome re

s t rain t on the King,Pete r des Roches was

ra i sed to the offi ce o f j u s ti c i a ry,and appointed

to be the rep resen tative o f the c rown duringJ ohn ’s absence in France . The people s awthemselves

,as they thought

,both in sp i ri tu al

and tempo ral matte rs in the h ands o f the tyrant . A great su ccess ab ro ad might yet h avechecked the growing di s affection . The King

766 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS H a m s

found ou t the e r ro rs h i s l egate h ad committed,

and recal l ed h im ; and J ohn had los t anothe ro f h i s mos t t rus ty counsel lo rs by the death ofthe B i shop o f No rwi ch . Thus le f t to h i s ownresou rces

,with hi s usu al fo l ly he took the

oppo rtun i ty o f demanding a heavy scutagef rom those b arons who h ad not fol lowed himab road . The nob les o f the No rth rose . Ameeting was he ld in Novembe r at Bu ry S t .Edmunds

,and i t was the re dete rmined th at

they would make the i r fo rmal demands uponthe King in a rms at Ch ris tmas time . J ohnwas keep ing h i s Ch ri stmas at Wo rces te r ; buth aving no doub t hea rd o f the action o f theb a rons

,hu rri ed to London

,where they ap

peared befo re h im in a rms . He demandedti l l Eas te r fo r cons i de ration . The time wasgiven him . He used i t in an attemp t to sowdis sens ion among h i s enemies . He granted tothe Chu rch the f ree righ t o f elec tion

,hOp ing

the reby to d raw Langton f rom the con fede ration . He took the o aths o f the c rus ade r to puth imsel f mo re immed i ate ly unde r the gua rd i ansh ip of the Chu rch

,and has ti ly summoned

troops o f me rcen a ri es f rom Poi tou .

The ba ron s at once reas sembled at B rackley.

At thei r head was Fi tz -Wal te r,an ol d enemy

o f the King,andW i l l i am Marsh al l

,son o f the

Ea rl o f Pemb roke . Thei r s t rength cons i s tedo f the nob les o f the No rth— and they werespoken o f as the No rthe rne rs— but manyb a rons f rom other pa rts o f Engl and jo ined

T H E MAGNA CHARTA 767A .D . 1 2 1 5

them,and in sp i te o f va rious compromises of

fered by the King, they l a i d s iege to the cas tl eo f No rth ampton . They the re rece ived mess ages of adhe rence f rom the Mayo r and ci ti - Capmre of

z ens o f London,in to which c i ty they were

Lond ’m '

received in May ; and thus maste rs o f thegreate r pa rt o f Engl and

,and o f the cap i tal

,

they compel led J ohn to rece ive them and hea rthei r demands a t Runnymede

,a meadow by

the Thames ’s s i de not fa r f rom S taines . Therewas s igned

,on the 1 sth of J une, the pape r o f

fo rty-n ine a rti c l es,which they p resented

,and

which were afte rwa rd d rawn up into the sh apeo f the s ixty- th ree a rticl e s o f the G reat Cha rte r .That G reat Charte r was the jo in t wo rk o f

the in su rgen t lo rds,and o f those who s ti l l in

n ame remained fa i th ful to the c rown . Inmany poin ts th i s r i s ing o f the b a rons be a rs theappea rance o f an o rd in a ry feudal insurre ction . Close r examin ation p roves th at i t waso f a d i ffe ren t ch a racte r . The ve ry success o fHen ry I I . in h i s great p l an of n ation al re

gene ration had tended to change theo f Engl i sh pol i ti cs . Til l h is time

,the bulk o f

the people h ad rega rded the c rown on thewhol e as a defence agains t the i r feudal tyrants . In the pu rsu i t of good gove rnmenthe h ad c rushed the feud al nobl es

,and had

welded No rman and Engl i sh in to one n ation .

In so doing,he h ad greatly inc re ased the

royal powe r ; fo r in those e a rly times good

gove rnment inva ri ab ly impl ied a s t rong m on

768 T H E WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS m s

a rchy . In patrioti c h ands h i s wo rk migh th ave continued . But when the inc reased royalpowe r p assed to reckles s rule rs

,such as Rich

a rd and,John, i t enab led them to p l ay the pa rt

o f ve ri tab l e tyrants . They had used th i spowe r in ruth less ly p i l l aging the people . Thegre at j us ti c i a ries

,Hubert and Fi tz -Pete r

,con

ten t wi th keep ing o rde r and re tain ing constitu ti onal fo rms

,h ad almost o f nece ss ity lent

themselves to th i s cou rse,while l es se r offi c i al s

h ad undoubted ly acted wi th a rb i tr a ry viol ence . The inte res ts o f the King and h i s mini sters had thu s become sep a rated f rom thoseo f the nation . To oppose th i s tyranny

,nobles

and people coul d now act in conce rt. The

s truggle was no longe r between King andpeopl e on one s i de agains t the nob les on theothe r

,but nob les and peop le h ad j o ined

agains t the King . Bes i des th is po l i ticalch ange

,a great revolu tion h ad taken pl ace in

the cha racte r o f the nob i l i ty i ts el f . The feudalnobles

,the f ri ends o f the Conque ro r, had fo r

the most p a rt given p l ace to a new nob i l i ty,

the son s o f the counsel l o rs and mini s te rs o fHen ry I I . In the centre of Engl and aloned id remnants of the ol d feudal f amil ies re

main . The insu r rection then,coming f rom

the No rth,was the wo rk not of feudal b arons

bu t o f the new m 1 n 1 ster1 al b aronage . Again ,the cl a ims ra i s ed

,al though

,in asmuch as the

mona rchy was s ti l l in fo rm a feudal mona rchy

,they bea r a resemb l ance to feudal


he i rsh ip,widowhood

,and marri age (2

S cutage and aids,which John h ad f rom the

beginn ing of h i s re ign taken as a matte r o fcou rse

,were hence fo rward to be gran ted by:

the great counci l o f the kingdom,except in

th ree cases,the de l ive rance o f the king f rom

p ri son,the kn igh ting o f h i s e l des t son

,and the

marri age o f h i s e l des t d aughte r The

s ame right was secu red by th e immed iate tenants to the i r sub - ten ants . The great counci lwas to cons i s t o f a rchb i shops

,b i shops

,and

"

abbots,coun ts and grea te r b a rons

,summoned

seve ral ly by wri t,and o f th e res t of the ten

ants - inch ie f,summoned by gene ral wri t to

the she r iff The l ands o f sub - tenants,

s e ized by the king fo r t re ason o r felony,were

to be hel d by h im fo r a ye a r only,and then to

be handed ove r to the ten ant’s immed i ate lo rd

S imi l a rly the c rown was no longe r toc l aim wa rdsh ip in the case o f sub - ten ants

,no r

to change the custom of escheated b a ron ies,

no r to fi l l up vacancies in p rivate abbeys (43,These a re al l d i s tinct regul ations o f feu

"

dal re l ations . The mo re gene ral acts o f tyranny o f the c rown we re guarded agains t

,by

fi xing the Cou rt o f Common Pleas at Wes tminste r ( 1 7) by the settl ement o f l and p roce sses by i tine ran t jus ti ces in the counties whe rethe d i sputes a rose ( 1 8) by the l imi tations o fpuni shments with in reason ab le 1 im i ts (2o- 22 )by the res tri ction o f the powerso f constab les,she ri ffs

,and othe r royal offi ce rs

,both in the

THE MAGNA CHARTA

matte r o f royal l awsu i ts and o f pu rveyance

(28-

31 ) by an a rti c l e which i s held tofo resh adow the Habeas Co rpus Act

,sti pu

l ating the immed i ate t ri al o f p ri sone rs ; andby othe r a rti cl es (38 which a re hel d to

771

fo resh adow tri al by ju ry,and which forb i d TPr ial by

the pass ing o f sen tence excep t on the ve rd ic to f a man ’s equ al s

,and wi tnes s upon oath .

O the r poin ts se cu red thei r l ibe rti es to thef ree towns and to merch an ts . This Charte rwas to be gua ranteed by the appo intment o fa commi ttee o f twenty- fi ve nobles

,any fou r

o f whom might cl a im red res s fo r in f ractionso f i t

,and upon refus al p roceed to make wa r

upon the king .

This Charte r,which with i ts fin al cl ause

Juf Y~

John ’s

impl ied absolute submiss ion,John neve r Ifl - bad i a ith.

tended to keep . No soone r we re h is fi rs tebul l i tions o f ange r ove r th an he p roceededto take s teps fo r des t roying i t . Messenge rswe re a t once sen t to Rome to get i t annul led

,

and to Poi tou to col lect me rcen a ri es . Troopscame ove r in c rowds

,and the b a rons in al a rm

o rde red W i l l i am D’

A lb ini to attack the castl eo f Rocheste r . He sei zed i t

,but was the re be

s i eged,and compel led to su rrende r to J ohn ’s

me rcena ries . All the common men o f thega rri son we re hanged . John ’s o the r mess agewas equal ly success ful . A lette r f rom Innocen t announced th at he total ly d i s al lowed theCharte r

,and o rde red Langton to exc ommu

n icate the King’s enemies . This h e refused


to do,and othe r excommunications and in

terd i c ts were also futi le . J ohn ’s temporalweapons were mo re succes s ful . He overranEngl and wi th hi s me rcena ries

,and the b a rons

‘

found themselves obl iged to summon Loui so f Fran ce to thei r ass i s tance . Loui s ’ wife wasJohn ’s n iece

,and th ey p robably in tended to

use th i s connec tion to change the dynas tyH i s succes s was not ve ry rap i d

,though at

fi rs t he seemed to h ave the game in h i sh ands . H e wasted h i s time and los t h i s op

portun i ty befo re the cas tles o f Dove r andW indso r . His conduct al so in bes towing fi efsupon h i s French fo l lowe rs b egan to exci te thej e alousy o f the Engl i sh ; and John

’s c ause wasagain wea ring a more hope ful appe a rance

,

when,march ing f rom L incoln

,which. he had

l ately conque red,he c ros sed the Wash

,with

al l h i s suppl ies wh ich he h ad l ately d rawnf rom Lynn . The ri se of the tide des t royedthe whole o f h i s t ra in

,and

,b roken by hi s loss

,

o r pe rh aps po isoned,o r pe rhap s a vi ctim to

h i s greed ines s,he d ied on the. 1 9th of Octo

be r at N ewa rk . In July of the s ame yea r heh ad los t h i s great p rotecto r

,Innocent I I I .

!Andrew,King o f Hungary

,begins the

Fi fth C rusade in 1 2 1 8 ; Damietta i s taken andCai ro th reatened in 1 2 1 9 ; but the a rmy is u tterly ruined in 1 22 1 . The fi rs t No rwegianp a rl i ament (S to rth ing ) i s b eld

’

at Bergen byHaco I . in 1 223 ]

774 THE WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS 1 226

hoods,which h a rd ly deigned to rece ive

,at

l eas t in thei r h ighe r p l aces,any but those o f

gentl e b i rth . The founde rs o f the Teuton icO rde r were hones t

,decen t

,and cha ri table

bu rghe rs o f Li i be c k and B remen . Afte r thed is as te rs whi ch fol lowed the death o f Frede ri ck Ba rb a ros s a

,when the a rmy was was ting

away wi th d ise ase and famine befo re Acre,

these merch ants f rom the remote sho res o f theBal tic ran up the s a i l s o f the i r sh ip s in to ten tsto rece ive the s i ck and s ta rving. They werej o ined by the b re th ren o f a Ge rman hosp i tal

,

which had been be fo re founded in J e rus alem,

and h ad been pe rmitted by the con temptuouscompas s ion o f S al ad in to remain fo r sometime in the ci ty . Duke Frede ri ck o f Swab i as aw the advantage of a Ge rman O rde r

,both

to mainta in the Ge rman inte res ts and to rel ievethe necess i ti es o f German p i lgrims . Thei rfi rs t house was in Acre .

But i t was not ti l l the Mas te rsh ip o f Herman o f S al z a th at the Teuton i c O rde r emergedin to d i s tinc tion . That remarkable man ad

he red in unsh aken fidel i ty to the fo rtunes o fthe Empero r Frede ri ck I I . ; and Frede ri ck nodoub t mo re h ighly hono red the Teuton i c Or

de r because i t was commanded by He rman o fS alz a

,and mo re h ighly es teemed Herman o f

S alz a as mas te r o f an O rde r wh ich alone inPales tine di d not thwa rt

,oppose

,insul t the

German Empero r . I t i s the nobles t te s timonyto the wi sdom

,unimpeached v i rtue

,hono r

,

1 226 ORDER OF THE TEUTON IC KN IGHTS 775

and rel igion o f Herman of S alz a,th at the suc

c essive popes,Hono rius I I I .

,Grego ry IX .

,

Innocent IV .

,who agreed wi th Frede ri ck in

noth ing els e,with whom attachment to Fred

e ri ck was enmi ty and t reason to the Chu rch,

o r absolu te impiety,neve rtheles s vied with the

Empero r in the hono r and resp ect p aid to themas te r He rman

,and in grants and p rivi l eges

to h i s Teuton i c Knights .The O rde r

,now enti rely wi thd rawn

,as be

come useles s,f rom the Holy Land

,had found

a new sphe re fo r the i r c rus ad ing valo r : the 312336?subjugation and conve rs ion o f the heathen nations to the southeas t and the eas t o f the Balt1 c .

Thei rs was a complete Mohammedan invas ion

,the gospel o r the swo rd . The avowed

obj ect was the subjugation,the exte rmination

,

i f they would not be subj ugated,o f the P rus

s i an,L i thuan i an

,E s thon i an

,and othe r kin

d red o r con te rminous tribes,because they were

i nfi de ls. They h ad r e fused to l i s ten to thep acific p reache rs o f the gospel

,and p acific

p reache rs h ad not been wanting . Martyrs tothe fai th had fal l en on the d rea ry s ands o fPruss i a

,in the fo res ts and mo ras ses o f L ivon i a

and E s thon i a .

- The Pope and the Empe ro r concu rred inth i s alone— in the i r righ t to grant away al ll ands

,i t might be kingdoms

,won from unbe

l i evers. The Cha rte r o f Frede ri ck I I . runs 1242135135“

in a tone o f as h aughty sup remacy as those o fHonoriu s

,Grego ry

,o r Innocent IV .

‘

776 THE WORLD ’


These tribes h ad each thei r rel igion,the

dea re r to them as the cha rte r o f the i r l ibe rty .

It was wild,no doub t supe rs ti tious and s an

gu inary. They bu rned s l aves,l ike o the r

valuab les,on the graves o f the i r depa rted

gre at men .

Fo r ve ry many yea rs the remo rse le s s wa rwent on . The Pruss i ans rose and rose againin revol t ; but the inexh austibl e O rde r pu rsued i ts s te rn cou rse . I t became the pe rpetu al Ge rman c rus ade . Whe reve r the re was amarti al and res tl es s noble

,who found no ad

ven tu re,or no enemy

,in h is immed i ate neigh

borhood ; whe reve r the indulgences and re

wards of th i s rel igious ac t,the fighting fo r the

C ross,were wanted

,without the to i l

,pe ri l

,

and cos t o f a j ou rney to the Holy Land,the

ol d but now dec ri ed,now unpopul a r c ru

s ade ; whoeve r des i red mo re p romptly ande as i ly to wash off h i s s in s in the b lood o f theunbel i eve r

,rushed into the O rde r

,and e i the r

en rol l ed h imse l f as a Kn igh t,o r se rved fo r

a time unde r the b anne r . There i s h a rd ly ap rincely o r a nobl e house in Germany whichdid not fu rn ish some o f i ts i l lus t rious n amesto the rol l o f Teuton i c Knights .So at l ength

,by the i r own good swo rds

,and

what they no doub t deemed a more i rrefragable ti tl e

,the grants of Popes and Empero rs

,

the O rde r became Sove re igns ; a s ingul a r sove re ignty, which descended , not by he red i ta rysucces s ion

,but by the inco rpo ration of new

778 THE WORLD ’


Thus was Ch ri s tendom push ing fo rwa rd i tsbo rde rs . These new p rovinces were s ti l ladded to the domin ion o f Latin Ch ri sti an i ty.

The Pope gran ts,the Teuton i c O rde r hol d

the i r re alm on the conj o in t autho ri ty o f thesuccesso r o f Caes a r and o f S t . Pete r . As arel i gious o rde r

,th ey a re the un reluctant vas

s al s o f the Pope ; as Teutons, they owe someundefined subo rd ination to the Empe ro r.

!I n 1 224, Russ i a su ffe rs the fi rs t Mongolinvas ion . Casti l e and Leon a re un i ted unde rone c rown in 1 230 . Frede ri ck I I . heads theFi f th C rus ade in 1 228

,and obta ins the res ti

tution of J e rus alem and seve ral o the r ci ties,

which the Ch ri s ti an s hol d ti l l 1 244. Mohammed I . founds the kingdom of G ranadain 1 238. O rigin o f the H anseati c League

,

1 245 . In 1 235, the Kari sm i an Turks , d rivenforward by the Mongol s

,invade Pales tine .

They s ack and bu rn J e rus alem . S t . Loui so f France se ts ou t on the S ixth C rus ade in1 248. He s ai l s to Egypt

,takes Damietta

i s taken p ri sone r on h i s march toCa i ro ; re l eased in 1 250 ; s ai l s to Ac re andthe re wastes fou r yea rs

,unabl e to vi s i t J e ru

s al em . The M amelukes as s as s in ate the Sultan and make themselves mas te rs o f Egypt

Al fonso XI I . o f Cas ti le has theAs t ronomical Tables compi led H u

luku,b ro the r o f the great Khan

,ente rs Pe rs i a

,

becomes Sul tan and exti rp ates the Ass as s ins

ORDER OF TH E TEUTON IC KN IGHTS

The Augustin Fri a rs a re es tab l i shedIn 1 26 1 Michael Paleologus

,with

Genoese help,reconque rs Cons tan tinopl e

f rom the Latins . Baldwin and the p rinc ip al nob les es cape to I taly ]

779

THE BARONS’

WAR AND FIRST ENGLISH

PARLIAMENT

(A .D. 12557—1265)

W ILLIAM STUBBS

HE s truggle opens at the p arl i amentheld a t M id -Len t at Wes tmins te r

,in

1 257, when the King p resented h i s sonEdmund to the ba rons as King o f S ic i ly

,and

announced th at he had pledged the kingdomto the Pope fo r marks . He demandedan aid

,a tenth o f al l chu rch revenue

,and the

income of al l vacan t benefi c es fo r five years .The cl e rgy remons tra ted . The ea rs o f al ltingl ed

,s ays the h i s to ri an

,and thei r hea rts

d ied wi th in them,but he succeeded in obtain

ing marks , and was encou raged to t ryagain . This he d id the next yea r

,1 258, at a

p arl i ament held soon afte r Eas te r a t London .

Eve ry one b rough t up hi s grievances ; theKing ins i s te d on having money . The Popeh ad pledged himsel f to the me rchants

,Henry

h ad p ledged h imsel f to the Pope ; was al lCh ri s tendom to be b ankrup t? The b a ronsl i s tened wi th impatience ; at l as t the time wascome fo r re fo rm

,and the King was ob l iged

(780)

782 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 1 257- 1 265

gre at numbe r o f othe r ev i l cus toms a re nowrecounted .

These grievances we re to be red res sed befo re the end of the yea r ; and the al iens we reto be removed at once f rom al l p l aces o f trus t.But th i s was not the mos t c ri ti cal p art o f thebus ines s . The P rovi s ions o-f Oxfo rd

,as they

we re cal led,we re in tended to be much more

th an an'

enforc ement o f Magna Ch arta ; abody o f twenty- fou r was chosen

,twelve by

th e King,twelve by the earl s and ba rons

,to

re fo rm the grievances . I t i s th i s f rameworko f gove rnmen t

,the pe rmanen t counci l o f fi f

teen,the th ree annual p a rl i aments

, the repre

s c u tation o f the communi ty o f the realmth rough twelve rep resentative b a rons

,th at

i s h i s to ri c al ly known as the Cons ti tutiono f the P rovi s ion s o f Oxfo rd . Hen ry wasagain and again fo rced to swea r to i t

,and

to p rocl a im i t th roughout the count ry . The

gri evances o f the b arons we re met by a setof o rd in ances c al led the P rovi s ions o f Wes tmins te r

,which were p roduced af te r some

trouble in Octobe r,1 259. Befo re the s cheme

had begun to wo rk the fo re ign favo ri tesand kinsmen fled f rom the cou rt and wereal lowed to qu i t the coun try wi th some scantyremnan t o f thei r i l l - gotten gains . Thei r dep a rtu re l e ft the royal i s t members o f the newadm i n i s tration in a hopel es s mino rity.

Engl and h ad now,i t would appear

,adopted

a new fo rm o f gove rnment,but i t mus t h ave

m ,FIRST ENGLISH PARLIAMENT 783

been al re ady suffi c iently .clea r th at so manyrival inte res ts and ambi tious l e ade rs would D isunionno t wo rk togethe r

,th at Hen ry would

h imsel f o f the fi rs t p re text fo r repudi atingh i s p romises

,and that a c ivi l wa r would al

mos t ce rta in ly fol low . The fi rs t yea r o f th i sp rovi s ion al gove rnment p assed away quietly .

The King o f the Romans,who retu rned f rom

Germany in J anuary,1 259, was ob l iged to

swea r to the p rov i s ions . In N ovembe r,Hen ry

wen t to France,retu rn ing in Ap ri l

,1 260 .

Immedi ately on h is re tu rn he began to i nt rigue fo r the ove rth row of the gove rnmen t,s en t fo r absolution to Rome

,and p rep ared fo r

wa r . Edward,h i s el des t son

,t ri ed to p reven t

h im f rom b reaking h i s wo rd,but be fore the

King h ad begun the contes t the two great e a rl sh ad qua r re l led ; Glouces te r coul d no t bearggg

u

fgfgg;Le i ces te r

,Le i ces te r coul d not bea r a rival . A ter qm ‘el '

gene ra l reconc i l i ation was the p relude asu su al to a gene ral s truggle . In Feb ru a ry,1 26 1

,Hen ry repudi ated h i s o ath

,and seized

the Towe r . In June,he p roduced a pap al

Bul l which absolved him from h i s o ath to obs e rve the P rovi s ions . The ch ie fs of the gove rnment

,Leices te r and Glouces te r

,took up

a rms,but they avo i ded a b attl e . The summer

was occup ied wi th prep a rations fo r a s truggle,and peace was made in the winte r . In 1 262

,

Hen ry wen t again to France fo r s ix months ,and on hi s retu rn again swo re to the Provis ions ; th at ye a r the Ea rl o f Glouces te r d ied,

784 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS 5 .x) . 1 257—1 265

and Edward began to d raw neare r to h isf athe r . S imon was wi thou t a rival

,and no

doubt c re ated in Edwa rd th at sp i ri t o f j e alousmis trus t which neve r again le f t h im . Thenext yea r was one o f open wa r . The youngE arl o f Glouces te r re fused to swea r al l e

gi anc e to Edward ; S imon ins i s ted th at thepe rtin ac ious al iens shoul d be again expel led .

Twice i f not th ree times in th i s yea r Hen rywas fo rced to confi rm the P rov i s ions ; but E dward s aw that they h ad now become a merefo rm under which the sovereignty of S imon'

de Montfo rt was sc arcely h idden ; and theinc reas ing conv i c tion o f th i s induced theb a ron s to re fe r the whole question to the a rb i tration of Lou i s IX . o f France . This wasdone on Decembe r 1 6

,1 263. The conduct o f

the b a ron s a fte r the award o f Lou i s IX . s eemsto pl ace them in the wrong

,and to show e ithe r

th at S imon de Montfo rt’s v i ews had developed

,unde r the l ate changes

,in the d i re c

t ion o f pe rson al ambition and selfi sh ends,

o r th at o the r causes we re at wo rk of whichwe have no in fo rmation . Both pa rties equal lybound themselves to ab ide by the a rbi t ration .

Henry took the wise cou rse o f being pe rsonally p resen t on the occas ion and taking h isson Edwa rd wi th h im . Some o f the b a ronsal so appea red in pe rson

,but not the Ea rl o f

Le i ces te r,who was suppo rting the Wel sh

p rinces in the i r war wi th Mortime r,a method

o f continuing the s truggle which was ne i the r

‘

786 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

and ough t to h ave submitted to the sentence .

Hen ry h ad h ad a seve re lesson,and might not

offend again ; th e b a ronage had h ad thei r

E fi e c ts of ch ance, and h ad been found wanting both inme award '

un i ty o f a im and in admin is trative powe r.N e i the r p a rty

,howeve r

,acquies ced in the ad

moni tion,and e ach o f cou rse l a i d on the othe r

the b l ame o f d i s rega rding a judgmen t bywhich bo th h ad swo rn to s tand . At fi rs t thewar was con tinued on theWe l sh marches p rinc ipally ; Edwa rd

’s fo rces as s i s ting Mortime r,

and Montfo rt continu ing to suppo rt L l ewelyn,

the P rince o fWales,h i s opponen t . But when

the King retu rned f rom France,as he d id in

Feb rua ry,the s t ruggl e became gene ral .

Responsi, The respons ib i l i ty o f th i s res ts unquestion

Et’i’tiég

‘

iifhe ab ly with S imon de Montfo rt ; how fa r he wasj us tified by the greatness o f the necess i ty

,i s

anothe r ques tion . He had the sympathy o fthe Londone rs

,which was p rob ably sh a red by

Mil i tarythe bu rghe rs o f the great towns

,th at o f the

313355 6 cl e rgy

,excep t those who were led by the Pope

(

Iffi rS igma

d’

n

d en ti rely,o f the un ive rs i ti es

,and o f the great

“ Montfort

body o f the people . The ba rons by themselves would h ave t re ated wi th the King ; theywould p rob ab ly h ave th rown ove r E a rl S imon

,

i f on ly they coul d have got ri d o f the fo reigne rs

,and had Engl and fo r the Engl i sh . On

March 3 1 , howeve r, whil e negoti ations werep roceeding

,the Londone rs b roke in to riot

agains t the King,and he in h is ange r put an

end to the consul tation . The war began favo r

A d ) . 1 2571 265 F IRST ENGLISH PARLIAMENT

ably fo r the King ; No rth ampton was taken ,N ottingham opened he r gates , and Tutbu ry,the cas tl e o f the Fe r re rs

,su r rende red to E d

ward . E a rl S imon h ad h is succes ses,too

,and

cap tu red Wa rwick . Both p a rties then tu rnedsouthward . Ea rl S imon bes ieged Rocheste r

,

the King marched to rel ieve i t . Henry alsotook Tunb ridge

,the Ea rl o f Glouces te r ’s c as

tl e,fo r the young Ea rl o f Glouces te r was now

on the ba rons ’ s i de ; then he col l ected h i sfo rces a t Lewes

,where he ar rived in the fi rs t

week o f MayLewes cas tle belonged to the Earl o f “Wa r

enne,who had th roughout s tood on the King’s

s i de . The ba rons a l so col l ected thei r host inthe immedi ate neighbo rhood ; but be fo re fi ghting they made one b id fo r pe ace . The twob i shops who we re the chie f pol i ti cal advise rso f t he b a rons— the B i shops o f Wo rces te r andLondon— b rought the p ropos i tion to the King ;they would give marks in payment fo rd amages done in the l ate s t ruggle

,i f he woul d

confi rm the P rovi s ions o f Oxfo rd . The o ffe rwas sealed by the Ea rl s o f Lei ces te r andGlouces te r

,and dated on May 1 3. The King

retu rned an answe r of defiance,which was ao

companied by a fo rmal chal l enge on the parto f the King o f the Romans

,Edward

,and the

res t o f the royal i s t b a rons . No time was los t '

on the ve ry next d ay the b attl e was fough t,and

fo rtune decl a red aga ins t the King . He hadthe l a rge r fo rce

,bu t al l the ski l l

,c a re

,and

787

788 TH E WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS 1 257- 1 265

e a rnes tness was on the s ide o f the b arons .S imon

,who had b roken h i s l eg a few months

befo re— an acci dent which p reven ted himf rom going to mee t the King o f France atAmiens—had been obl iged to use a c a rr i agedu ring the l a te marches ; he now posted h i scarr i age in a consp icuous p l ace

,and h imsel f

wen t el sewhere . Edward,th inking th at i f he

could captu re the Ea rl,the s t ruggle would be

ove r,attacked the pos t where the ca rr i age was

seen,routed and pu rsued the defende rs

,and

going too fa r in pu rsu i t,l e ft h i s f athe r exposed

to the attack o f’

the Ea rl . King Hen ry was ab rave man

,but o f cou rse no gene ral

,fo r he

h ad neve r seen anyth ing l ike real war befo re .

He defended h imsel f s toutly ; two ho rses wereki l l ed unde r h im

,and he was wounded and

b ru i sed by the swo rds and maces o f h i s adv ersari es

,who were in close h and - to - hand

combat . When he had los t mos t of h i s immedi ate retaine rs

,he re treated into the p rio ry o f

Lewes . The King of the Romans,who had

commanded the cent re o f the royal a rmy,was

al ready compel led to retre at,and

,whil e Hen ry

was s ti l l s truggl ing,had been taken cap tive in

a windmil l,which made the adve rs a ri es very

merry. A gene ral rout fol lowed . The b aron i al p arty was v i c to rious long be fo re Edwardretu rned f rom hi s un fo rtunate pu rsu i t

,and

many o f the King’s mos t powe rful f ri ends secu red themselves by fl i ght. The next d ay anarb i tration was dete rmined on

,cal led the Mise

790 T H E WORLD ’


tl e o f Evesh am . But thei r re ign was not aneasy o r peace ful one . The Pope was s ti l l zealous fo r Hen ry

,and left no means untri ed by

which the bi shops might be detached f rom theb a ron s . The Queen col l ected a great a rmy inFrance and p rep a red to invade Engl and

,as

s i s t-

c d by the Archb i shop o f Cante rbu ry,he r

uncl e,and al l the Engl i sh re fugees who h ad

come unde r the rod o f Ea rl S imon . Mortime r al so made an attempt to p rolong the s tateo f wa r on the bo rde r . Noth ing, howeve r,came o f these p repa rations du ring th i s yea rthe new gove rnment p ro fessed i tsel f to be p rov i s ion al

,and negoti ations we re resumed

,by

wh ich the King o f France,now bette r in

fo rmed,was to settl e al l con trove rs i es . In

December a summons went fo rth fo r a new

pa rl i ament .

The m m This i s the f amous Parl i ament,as i t i s cal l ed

,ment of172

33 015.o f S imon de Montfo rt

,the fi rs t assembly of the

so rt to which rep resentatives o f the bo roughtowns we re cal l ed ; and thus to some extentfo rms a l andmark in Engl i sh h i s to ry. I t wasno t made a p receden t

,and in fact i t i s not t i l l

th i r ty ye ars a fte r th at the rep resen tatives o fthe towns begin regul a rly to s i t i n p a rl i ament ;but i t i s neve rtheles s a ve ry notab l e date . No rwas the assembly i tsel f wh at would be cal l eda ful l and f ree p a rl i ament

,only those pe rsons

being summoned who were favo rabl e to thenew re

'

gim e ; but five ea rl s and eighteenb a rons

,and an ove rwhelming numbe r o f the

a s . u sm asFIRST ENGLISH PARLIAMENT

lower cle rgy,knights

,and bu rghe rs

,who were

o f cou rse suppo rte rs o f Ea rl S imon . I t meton J anuary 20

,1 265, and d id not e ffect much .

Edward,howeve r

,was al lowed to make te rms

fo r h i s l ibe ration,and S imon secu red fo r h im

sel f and h is f ami ly the earldom o f Cheste r,

giving up to Edward,howeve r

,othe r es tates

by way o f exc hange .

Al ready,howeve r d is sens ions were sp ring

ing up . Ea rl S imon 3 sons,who did ve ry l i ttl e

c red i t to h i s ins t ructions,and on whom pe r

haps some o f the bl ame may res t o f whichothe rwise i t i s imposs ib l e to acqu i t the i r f athe r

,

managed to o ffend the Ea rl o f Glouces te r .They chal l enged the Cl a res to a tou rn amentat Dunstable . When they were ready and already angry and p rep a red to tu rn the fes tivemeeting into a b attl e

,i t was suddenly s topped

by the King o r by E a rl S imon,acting in h i s

n ame . Glouces te r and h is kinsmen deemedthemselves insul ted

,and immedi ately began

to negoti ate wi th the Mortime rs ; and , whenhosti l i t ie s we re j us t beginn ing

,Edward es

caped f rom h is hono rab l e keep ing at He re fo rdand jo ined the p a rty .

F rom thi s po in t action i s rap i d . S imon,

with the King in h i s t ra in,marched into the

Wes t,and advanced into South Wales . E d

ward and Glouces te r,j o ined by Mortimer

,

muste red thei r adhe rents in the Chesh i re”

andSh ropsh i re country

,and then rushed down by

way o f Wo rces te r on the town o f Glouceste r,

791

Im oli c yof arl

S imon ’ssons .

Esca pe o fEdward .

792

Battle ofEvesham,

and deathof Ea rlS imon .

THE WORLD ’


which su r rende red on June 29, thus cuttingoff th e Ea rl ’s retu rn . The younge r S imonde Montfo rt

,the E a rl ’s second son

,being

summoned to h i s f athe r’s a i d,c ame up f rom

Pevensey,which he was bes ieging

,plunde red

W inches te r,and took up h i s pos i tion at Ken i l

worth . His fathe r meantime h ad got b ack toHerefo rd and fo rmed a pl an fo r su rroundingEdward . Edward

,howeve r

,had now lea rned

v i gi l ance and caution . He took the in i ti at ive,

succeeded in routing the young S imon andnea rly cap tu ring Keni lwo rth

,and thus tu rned

the tab l es on the Earl . S imon marched on toEvesh am

,expecting to meet h i s son ; ins te ad

o f h i s son he met h i s nephew ; and , on Augus t

4, the b attl e fought the re reve rsed the judgment o f Lewes . There the great Ea rl fel land wi th h im Hugh le Despense r

,the b a rons

j us ti c i a r,fighting b ravely

,but wi thou t much

hope .

The in te res t o f the re ign,and indeed its im

po rtance,ends he re . S imon i s the he ro o f the

l atte r p a rt o f i t,and the death of S imon closes

i t,al though the King reigns fo r seven years

longe r . The war does not end he re . the remnant o f the b a ron i al p arty hel d out at Ken i lworth unti l Octobe r

,1 266. There the l ast

suppo rte rs o f E a rl S imon,the men whose at

ti tude towa rd Hen ry was unp a rdon able,had

made thei r s tand . The final agreement wh ichD ictum d c was d rawn up at the s iege, and which 1 s c al ledKenilworth

the D ictum de Ken ilwo rth,was in tended to

794 T H E WORLD ’


!Kubl a i Khan ( 1 259- 1 294) bui l ds and'

makes Pekin h i s cap i tal ; subdues Southe rnCh ina in 1 279 ; becomes G reat Khan o f Ch ina,and adop ts Ch inese manne rs and customs .The Mamelukes make head agains t the Mongol s ; occupy D amascus and Aleppoattack the Ch ri s ti ans and take Antioch ( 1 268)S t . Lou i s heads the E ighth (and l as t ) Crus ade ( 1 270 ) he dies o f p l ague befo re Tuni s .Edward I . p roceeds to P ales tine ; ra is es thes iege o f Acre

,advances to N az a reth and ex

acts a ten ye ars ’ t ruce . The Mamelukes captu re Acre in 1 29 1 , and end the Latin kingdom o f J e rusal em .J

T H E S I C I L I A N V E S P E R S

JULES M ICHELET

LL powerful as he was the son of S t .Power of

Lou is was not the t rue head o f thehouse o f France ; i ts h ead was the

s ain ted King’s b rothe r,Charl es o f Anjou .

Cha rles h ad used and abused h i s unexampledgood fo rtune . Younges t son o f the house o fFrance

,he h ad become Count o f P rovence

,

King o f N aples,o f S i c i ly

,an d of J e rus alem

,

and mo re th an king— maste r and rule r o fpopes . To h im might h ave been appl iedwh at was s ai d to the famous Ugol in : “Whati s the re wanting to me ?” asked the tyran t o fP i s a .

“No th ing but the ange r o f God !”

Fo r th ree yea rs nea rly,he reigned almos t

Pope in I taly,as he woul d not al low of the

nomin ation of a Pope on the demise o f Clement IV . This ponti ff h ad found th at fo rtwen ty thous and p ieces o f gold which theFrenchman p romised to pay h im yea rly

,he

h ad del ive red into h is h ands no t only the TwoS i c i l i es

,but al l I taly . Charles got h imsel f

named by h im Sen ato r o f Rome and Impe ri a l(795 )

796 THE WORLD ’


V i c a r in Tuscany . He was accepted as suzerain by Plac enz a

,Cremona

,Pa rma

,Modena

,

Fe rra ra,Reggio

,and

,sub sequently

,even by

M il an,as wel l as by many ci ties o f Piedmont

an d o f Romagna . All Tuscany h ad chosenh im peace -make r . “Kil l eve ry man o f them

,

”

was the rep ly of th i s peace -make r to theGuelphs o f Flo rence

,when they asked h im

what they shoul d do wi th thei r Gh ibel l inep ri sone rs .Consp i racy ab ro ad

,consp i racy at home

the I ta l i ans reckon themselves mas te rs o f thea rt . They have always consp i red

,but ra rely

succeeded ; yet e nte rp ri se s o f the kind haveh ad to thi s a rti s ti c people the captivation ofa wo rk o f a rt

,o f a d rama unal loyed by fiction

,

o f a re al t ragedy in which they des ide ratedal l the effects o f the d rama

,requ i ring nu

merous spectato rs and some solemn occas ion,

as th at o f a great fes tival,fo r ins tance ; the i r

theatre would o ften be a temple ; the hou r,th a t o f the elevation o f the host .*The consp i racy o f wh ich we a re abou t to

speak was o f a fa r d i ffe ren t ch a racte r f romthose o f the Pazz i o r o f the Olgi ati . Thework in h and was not a d agge r’s b low— theki l l ing a man at the s ac rifice o f you r ownl i fe

,and which a fte r al l l e ads to noth ing—but

the rous ing of S i ci ly and o f the worl d ; con

T he moment chosen by the Pazz i for the assass i nat ion o fthe Med ic is and by th e Olgi at i to pu t to death John Ga leasS forza .

798 THE WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS

lo rdsh ips,but l i s tened co ld ly to h i s sugges

tion s o f wa r wi th the house o f F rance ; thefo rces we re too d i sp ropo rtion ate . The hatredof Ch ri s tendom agains t th i s house h ad fi rs t tobe aggravated ; and he p refe rred re fus ing, andwai ting . So he al lowed the adventu re r to pu rsue h i s p l ans

,without comp romis ing h imsel f .

To take al l susp ic ion f rom h im,P roc id a sold

h i s Span ish es tates and d is appea red . Noneknew what h ad become of h im .

He le f t s ec re tly,atti red as a Franc i s c an : so

humble a d i sgu i se was al so the s a fes t . TheM end ican ts s trayed everywhe re ; begged ,l ived on l i ttl e

,and were eve rywhe re wel l

rece ived . S ubtle,eloquen t and ab le men

,

they d isch a rged a mul tip l i c i ty o f wo rldlycommiss ions wi th d i sc retion . Eu rope wasfi l l ed wi th thei r activi ty . Messenge rs

,p reach

e rs,and at times d ip lomati s ts

,they were then

what the post and p ress now a re . Procida

,then

,as sumed the d i rty gown of the

Mendic ants,and went humbly and b a re foot

to seek th roughout the wo rl d enemies toCha rles o f Anjou .

Enemies we re no t wanting . The difficul tywas to b ring them to an unde rs tand ing

,to

b ring them to act s imul taneously and contempo raneous ly . At fi rs t he rep ai rs to S ic i ly

,

to the ve ry vol cano o f the revolution ; sees ,l i s tens

,and obse rves . The s igns o f app roach

ing e ruption we re vi s ib le— concen t rated rage,

a s tifled sound o f effe rves cence,murmu rs and

A » . 1 232 T H E S ICILIAN VESPERS 99

s i len ce . Charles was exh aus ting hi s unh appypeople in o rde r to subjec t anothe r ; and thei s le was ful l o f p rep a rations and menacesagains t the Greeks . Procid a p asses on toConstantinople

,warns Pal eologus

,and gives

h im exact in fo rmation of h is enemy’s movements . Charl es h ad al re ady desp atched th reethous and men to Durazzo

,and was abou t to

fol low with a hund red gal l eys and five hundred transpo rts . His success was as su red ;fo r Ven ice d id not hes i tate to embark in theente rp ri se

,and con tributed fo rty gal l eys and

he r Doge,who was s ti l l a Dandolo . The

Fou rth C rus ade was abou t to b e repe ated ;and Paleologus

,in despa i r

,knew not what to

do .

“Wh at to do ? Give me money . I wil l findyou a defende r

,who has no money

,but who

has a rms .”

Procid a re tu rned to S i ci ly with one ofPaleologus

’

s sec reta ri es,in troduced h im ” 522321216

5

th e S ic i l i an ba rons,and then to the Pope

,wit ma

y.whom he had a sec re t in te rview in the cas tle

P°pe ‘

o f So ri ano . The Greek Empero r des i red,

above al l,the s ignatu re o f the Pope

,to whom

he had been but recently reconci led ; butN i chol as hes i tated to embark in so vas t anundertaking . Proci d a gave h im money . A c

co rding to othe r accounts,he h ad only to re

mind the pon ti ff,who was a Roman and an

O rs in i,of a s aying of Charles o f Anjou ’s .

When a Pope p roposed a marri age betweenh is n iece O rs in i and Charles o f Anjou ’s son

,

800 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS 1 1 .0 . s 3

Cha rles h ad s ai d : Does he fancy because hewea rs red s tockings th at the blood o f h is Or

s in i can mingle wi th the b lood of France ?N i chol as s igned the t reaty

,but d ied sho rtly

a fte r . The whole wo rk seemed b roken upand des t royed . Charles became mo re powerful th an eve r . He succeeded in h av ing a Popeo f h i s own . He d rove f rom the conc l ave theGhibel l ine ca rd in al s

,and compel led the nomi

nation of a Frenchman,an old monk o f Tours

,

a se rv i l e and trembl ing c reatu re o f h i s house .

This was to make h imsel f Pope . He becameonce mo re Sen ato r o f Rome

,and pl aced ga rri

sons in a l l the holds o f the Chu rch . Thistime the Pope could not escape h im . He kepth im with h im at V i te rbo

,and woul d no t le t

h im out o f h i s s ight . When the unhappy S ic i l i ans came to implo re the Pope’s med i ationwith thei r King

,they s aw the i r enemy by

the i r j udge,the King s i tting by the s i de o f the

Pope . The only answe r the deputies rece ivedwas to be th rown into a dungeon—yet werethey a b i shop and a monk .

S i c i ly h ad no p i ty to expect f rom Charles o fAnjou . Hal f Arab

,i t hel d ou t obs tin ately fo r

the f riends o f the Arab s,fo r M an f red and h i s

house . All the in sul ts wi th whi ch the con

querors coul d lo ad the S i c i l i an peopl e seemedto them but so many rep ri s al s . The petul ance o f the P rovenc al s , and thei r b rutal jov i al i ty, a re wel l known ; but h ad nation al anti pathi es and the insol ence o f conques t been

802 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

beauty i s in fulnes s o f bloom . I t i s a tri umphant outbu rs t o f l i fe

,s ensu al i ty’s revenge

,

an insu r rection o f n atu re .

This d ay,then

,th i s Eas te r Monday

,al l

,

both men and women,went up the beauti fu l

h i l l,acco rd ing to custom

,f rom Pal e rmo to

Mon reale,to hea r vespe rs . The fo re igne rs

were the re to t roubl e the fes tival : so great anas sembl age o f peopl e was not wi thou t givingthem uneas ines s . The Vice roy had fo rb iddenthe wea ring o f a rms

,o r exe rci s ing wi th them

,

as was the cus tom on th at d ay . Pe rh aps hehad noticed the concou rse o f nob l es

,fo r P ro

c i d a h ad h ad the add res s to assemble themat Pal e rmo . The oppo rtuni ty

,howeve r

,was

wanting ; and i t was p resen ted by a Frenchman beyond Proc i da

’

s hopes . This man,

n amed D rouet,s topped a beauti ful gi rl

,o f

nobl e b i rth,whom her b ri degroom and the

whole f amily we re conducting to the chu rch .

Having sea rched the b ri degroom and foundno a rms

,h e p retended to think the maiden had

them about he r,and p assed h i s h and unde r

he r gown . She fa in ts . The Frenchman i s atonce d i s a rmed

,and s l ain with h i s own swo rd .

A cry i s ra i sed,

“Death,death to the French !”

In al l d i rect ions they a re cut down . Thei rhouses

,i t i s s a i d

,had been marked wi th a d is

tingu i sh ingmark befo reh and . Whoeve r coul dnot p ronounce the I tal i an 0 o r c h (c aez

'

, c i c er i )was immedi ate ly put to death .

A .o . 1 282 T H E S ICILIAN VESPERS 803

!In 1 284, Genoa extingui shes the se a- powero f Pi s a at M alori a . I n 1 292 , the Mongol sd rive the l as t Sul tan o f I con ium f rom h i sth rone . He dies at Constantinople in 1 308.

In 1 283, Edward subdues Wales ; and f rom1 297 to 1 303 Wal l ace unsucces s ful ly s truggles fo r the f reedom o f S co tl and . I n 1 299,

O thman p resses th rough the p asses o f O lympus, invades N i c omed i a, and founds the O ttoman Empi re ]

M A R C O P O L O’

S T R A V E L S

HENRY YULE

ILL qu i te recently i t h ad neve r been p rec i sely asce rtained whethe r the immedi

ate family of ou r Travel le r belongedto the N ob les o f Ven i ce, p rope rly so- cal led

,

who had seats i n the G rand Counci l,and were

en rol l ed in the L ib ro d ’Oro . Ramusi o

,

’16 in

deed,s tyl es ou r Marco N ob i le and M agn ifi c o,

and Ru sti c i ano,the actual sc ribe o f the Trav

el l e r’s recol l ection s cal l s h im “saj es et nob le

c i ta i ens a’e V ene c e, bu t Ramusio

’

s accu racyand Rusti c i ano

’

s p rec i s ion a re s ca rcely tobe depended on . Ve ry recently

,howeve r

,

s ince the subj ect h as been di scussed with ac

compl i shed students o f the Ven i ce a rch ives,

p roofs h ave been found es tab l i sh ing Marco ’sp e rsonal cl a im to nob i l i ty

,in asmuch as both

in judi c i al dec i s ions and in offi ci al reso lutionso f the G reat Counci l

,he i s des ignated N obi lz

’

s

V i r,a fo rmul a wh ich would never h ave been

used in such documents (I am assu red ) h ad henot been techni cal ly nob le .

O f the th ree sons o f Andre a Polo o f S .

Marco Po lo ’

s ear l iest b i ographer .

806 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

reached i ts f ronti e rs,but h ad met with i ts peo

pl e a t the Cou rt o f the G reat K han in Mon

gol i a ; whi le the l atte r o f the two, with cha rac teri sti c acumen

,had seen that they were

i denti cal wi th the S e res o f cl as s i c f ame .

Kubl a i h ad neve r befo re fal len in wi th EurOpean gentlemen . He was del igh ted withthese Veneti ans

,l i s tened wi th s trong in te res t

to al l th at they h ad to tel l h im o f the LatinWo rl d

,and dete rmined to send them b ack as

Their h is ambass ado rs to the Pope,accomp ani ed by

gifgffiéii i an office r o f h i s own cou rt . His l ette rs to thePope

,as the Polo s rep resent them

,were

main ly to des i re the desp atch o f a l a rge bodyo f educated miss ion a ries to convert h i s peop leto Ch ri s ti ani ty. I t i s no t l ikely th at rel igi ous motives influenced Kubl a i in th i s

,but he

p rob ably des i red rel igious .a id in soften ing andc iv i l i z ing h i s rude kinsmen o f the S teppes

,

and judged,f rom what h e s aw in the Vene

t i ans and hea rd f rom them,th at Eu rope coul d

affo rd such ai d o f a h ighe r qual i ty th an thedegene rate O ri en tal Ch ri s ti ans wi th whom hewas fami l i a r

,o r the Tibetan Lamas on whom

hi s p atron age even tual ly devolved when Romeso deplo rab ly f a i led to meet h i s advances .The b rothe rs a rrived at Acre in Ap ri l

,1 269,

and found th at no Pope exis ted,fo r Clement

IV . was dead the yea r be fo re,and no new elec

tion h ad taken pl ace . So they went home toVen ice to see how th ings s tood the re a fte r thei rabsence o f so many years . The wi fe o f N i

1 291MARCO POLO ’

S TRAVELS

colo was no longe r among the l iving,but he

found h i s son Marco a fine l ad of fi fteen .

The Pap al in te r regnum was‘

the longestknown

,a t l eas t s ince the Dark Ages . Those

two yea rs p assed,and yet the ca rd in al s at

V i te rbo h ad come to no agreement . Theb rothe rs were unwil l ing to l et the G reat Khanthink them fai thless

,and pe rh aps they han

ke red a fte r the vi rgin field o f Specul ation th atthey h ad d is cove red ; so they s ta rted again fo r

807

the Eas t,taking young Mark wi th them . If Sec ond

j ourney ofthere be no mis take in the time (th ree yea rs the P0 108 .

and a hal f ) , as c ribed to th i s j ou rney in al l theexi s ting texts

,the t ravel l e rs d i d no t re ach the

cou rt ti l l abou t M ay of 1 275 .

Kub la i rece ived the Veneti ans wi th greatco rd i al i ty

,and took kindly to young Mark

,

who must h ave been by th i s t ime one andtwen ty . The J oenne Ba c ke ler, as the s to rycal l s h im

,a ppl ied h imsel f to the acqu i s i t ion

o f the l anguages and wri tten ch a racte rs inch ie f use among the mul ti f a rious n ation al i tie sincluded in the Khan’s cou rt and admin is t ration ; and Kubl ai a fte r a time, s ee ing h is d i sc retion and ab i l i ty

,began to employ h im in

the publ i c se rvi ce . M . Pau thi er has found areco rd in the Chinese Annal s o f the MongolDynas ty

,which states that

,in the yea r 1 277, Ma rco

's

emp loya ce rtain Polo was nominated a second - cl ass mem bv

commiss ione r o r agent attached to the P rivyCounci l

,a pass age wh ich we a re h appy to

bel ieve re fe rs to ou r young travel l e r .

K ubla iK han .

808 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

His fi rs t mi s s ion app arently was th at wh ichca rried h im th rough the p rovinces o f Shans i

,

Shens i,and Szechwan

,and the wil d country

on the eas t o f Tibet,to the remote p rovince o f

Yunnan,cal l ed by the Mongol s Karajang, and

whi ch had been p a rti al ly conque red by ana rmy unde r Kubl a i h imsel f i n 1 253 be fo re h i sacces s ion to the th rone . Mark

,du ring h i s

s tay at cou rt,had obse rved the Kh an ’s del igh t

in hea ring o f s trange countr ies,the i r ma rvel s

,

manne rs,and odd it ie s

,and h ad hea rd h i s

M aj es ty’s f rank exp res s ions o f d i sgus t at thes tup i di ty o f h is commis s ione rs when they coul dspeak of noth ing but the offi ci a l bus iness onwhich they h ad been sen t . P rofiting by theseobse rvations

,he took care to s to re h i s mem

B e takes o ry o r h i s note- books wi th al l cu rious facts

ggt

ggegf a“ th at were l ikely to inte res t Kubl ai

,and rel ated

them wi th vivaci ty on h i s re tu rn to cou rt.This fi rs t j ou rney

,—which led him th rough a

region wh ich i s s ti l l ve ry nearly a term i n

c ogn i ta, and in wh ich there exis ted , and s ti l lexi s ts

,among the deep val l eys o f the Great

Rivers flowing down f rom Eas te rn Tibet,and

in the rugged mounta in ranges bo rde ringYunnan and Kwe i c hau

,a vas t E thnological

Garden,as i t were

,of tribe s o f va rious race

and in eve ry s tage o f unc iv i l i z ation,— a ffo rded

h im an acquaintance with many s trange p rod

H e r isesu c ts and eccentri c t ra i ts o f manne rs wherewith

131233, to del ight the Empero r . Mark rose rap idlyin favo r and o ften se rved Kubl a i again on di s

81 0 TH E WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS

the Eas te rn extremi ties o f the ea rth,helped

to guide the a ims,though sca rcely to kindle

the fi re,o f the greate r son o f the rival Re

publ i c . His wo rk was at l e as t a l ink in theP roviden ti al ch ain wh ich at l as t d raggedthe N ew Wo rld to l igh t .*Su rely M arco ’s real

,in di sputab l e

,and, in

The A siati c the i r kind , unique cl a ims to glo ry may su f

321

0

1

3353.

fi c e . He was the fi rs t t ravel l e r to t race aroute ac ros s th e whole longi tude o f As i a

,

naming and desc r ib ing kingdom af te r kingd om which he h ad seen wi th h is own eyes ;the Dese rts o f Pe rs i a

,the flowe ring p l ate aus

and wi l d go rges o f Badakhstan,the j ade

bea ring r ive rs o f Khotan , the Mongol i anSteppes

,c radle o f the powe r th at h ad so

l ately th re atened to swal low up Ch ri s tendom,

the new and b ri l l i an t cou rt that h ad been es

tab l i shed at Cambalu c ; the fi rs t t ravel le r toreveal Ch in a in al l i ts weal th and vas tnes s

,i ts

migh ty rive rs,i ts huge ci ties

,i ts r i ch manu

f ac tu res,i ts swa rming popul ation

,the inc on

c e iv ab ly v as t flee ts th at qu ickened i ts se as andi ts in l and wate rs ; to tel l us o f the nations oni ts bo rde rs with al l the i r eccent ri c i ti es o fmanne r and wo rsh i p ; o f Tibe t wi th i ts so r

M. L i b r i , however, speaks too strongly when he saysThe fi nest o f all the results due to the i nfluence o f Ma rcoP0 10 i s that o f hav ing sti r red Col umbus to the discove ry of

the N ew World. Co lumb us, j eal ous of Polo’s laurels, spenthi s l i fe i n p repa r ing means to get to that Zipangu of wh ich theV enetian trave l ler had told such great th ings ; h is des i re wasto reach Ch i na by sa i l ing westward, and i n h i s way he fel l inwith America.

”

(H . des S c i enc es Mathem., II.

1 1 91 MARCO POLO ’

S TRAVELS 81 1

d id devotees ; o f Bu rma with i ts goldenpagodas and thei r tinkl ing crowns ; of Laos,o f S i am

,of Coch in China

,of J apan

,the E as t

e rn Thule,wi th i ts rosy pearl s and golden

roo fed p al aces ; the fi rs t to Speak o f that Museum of Beau ty and Wonde r

,s ti l l so imper

fec tly rans acked , the Ind i an Arch ipel ago ,sou rce o f those a romati cs then so h igh lyp ri zed

,and whose o rigin was so d a rk ; o f

J ava,the Pea rl of I sl ands ; o f Sumatra with

i ts many kings,i ts s t range

,cos tly p roducts

,

and i ts cann ib al races ; o f the n aked s avageso f N i cob a r and Andaman ; o f Ceylon , the I s l eo f Gems

,with its S ac red Mountain and i ts

Tomb'

of Adam ; of Ind i a the G reat, not asa d re aml and o f Alexand ri an fab l es

,but as a

country seen and p arti al ly exp lo red,with i ts

v i rtuous B rahmans,i ts obscene asceti cs

,i ts

d i amonds and the s trange tales o f the i r acqu is i tiou

,i ts s e a -beds o f pea rl

,and i ts powe rful

sun ; the fi rs t in medi eval times to give any1 1 1 1 191 1 199

d is tinc t account o f the secluded Chri sti an iigij’

g‘

,

ened

Empi re o f Abyss in i a,and the semi - Ch ri s ti an

Is l and o f Socotra ; to spe ak, though indeeddimly, of Zanz ib a r with i ts negroes and i tsivo ry

,and o f the vas t and d is tinct M adagas

ca r,bo rde ring on the Da rk Ocean o f the

South,with i ts Ruc and othe r mons tros i ties ;

and,in a remotely oppos i te region

,o f S i

be ri a and the Arcti c Ocean,o f dog- s l edges

,

white be ars,and re indee r - r id ing Tunguses .

That al l th i s ri ch catalogue o f d i s cove ries

81 2 TH E WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS

shoul d belong to the revel ations o f one Man“381511 1 9 1 and one Book is su rely ample ground enougholo

’s fame.

to account fo r and to j ust i fy the Autho r s hIghpl ace on the rol l o f Fame

,and the re can be no

need to exagge rate h i s gre atness,o r to inves t

h im with imagin a ry attributes .

!The fi rs t convocation o f the S tates -Gene ral o f France met in 1 303. The seat of thePapacy is t rans fe r red to Avignon

,1 305 ; the

G reat P ap al S ch ism l asted ti l l 1 376. In 1 31 0 ,

Ven i ce see s th e consp i racy of Tiepolo and thec re ation o f the Counci l o f Ten . ]

8 1 4 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS

these canton s . The people we re ind ignan t atth i s a ttempt to reduce them to se rvi tude .

Th ree men,S tau ffache r o f S chwyz

,Furs t Of

U ri,Melch th al o f Un te rwal den

,e ach wi th ten

comp an ions,met by n igh t in a sec re t val ley

,

and swo re to asse rt the l ibe rty Of thei r country .

I t was,the re fo re

,the en cro achments Of du c a l,

not imperi al,tyranny th at d rove these b rave

mountainee rs to vind icate the i r independencewi th the swo rd . The enc ro achment whichthe con fede rates Of Gru ttl i pledged themselves to wi ths tand was the attempt to degradethei r l and f rom being a f ree fi ef o f the emp i rein to becoming a p a rt o f the he red i ta ry posses s ions o f the House o f Aus tri a .

W i l l i am Tel l,a b rave and hones t peas an t

,

was the popul a r he ro Of th i s b and o f l ibe rato rs

,who

,d riven at l ength into Open rebel l ion

by a se r ie s o f insul ts Offe red to them by Gess l e r,

th e Austr i an b ai l i ff Of U ri,made a success ful

s tand agains t the tyrann ical Duke Albe rt .S eve ral c i rcums tances o f hi s l i fe

,even h i s

exi s tence,have been doub ted ; but i t seems

clea rly p roved th at he re al ly sh a red in thes t ruggles and del ive rance Of h i s country.

Bo rn at Bu rghen, in the canton o f U ri , hema rried the d aughte r Of Wal te r Fu rs t o f Al tinghau sen ,

who had taken the o ath (7th Sep t .

1 307) at the Gru ttl i with Arnol d de Melchth al and We rne r de S tau ffache r . Gessl e r h adcaused to be fixed upon a pole in the market

pl ace Of Alto rf a h at (the ducal h at acco rd ing

THE SW ISS CONFEDERACY

to J ohn de Mulle r ) , command ing the Swissto bow thei r heads whil e passi ng

'

i t . Tel lindignantly re fused to Obey th at humil i atingo rde r . The tyran t

,fu rious at th e audaci ty o f

the recus an t,compel led h im

,unde r p ain Of

death,to shoot an ar row

,at a d i s tance o f one

hund red and twenty paces,th rough an apple

p l aced upon the head of the youngest o f h i sboys ( 1 8th Nov . Tel l shot so t rue thathe p ie rced the apple without h a rming h is son .

Gess l e r then pe rce iving a second a r row hidden beneath hi s bel t

,asked h im what i t was

fo r . Tel l would h ave excused h imsel f by s aying th at i t was the common cus tom Of a rche rs ;but Gess le r

,seeing h im con fused

,p ressed h im

to d i sclos e the real reason,p romi s ing th at

,

whateve r he might s ay,h i s l i fe should be s afe .

“Wel l,then

,

” rep l i ed W i l l i am Tel l,

“I wi l lSpeak the truth . I f I had s l ain my son

,the

second a rrow shoul d h ave p ie rced thy heart .”“I p romised thee thy l i fe

,rep l ied Gess le r ;

“but s ince thou a rt thus evi l d i sposed towa rdme

,I wi l l send thee to a pl ace where thou

sh al t neve r see sun o r moon mo re .

” Gessle rthen caused h im to be lo aded wi th chains

,

and th rown into a boat ; and , fea ring les t heshould be rescued by hi s compan ions

,he de

term i ned to conduct h im himsel f to the s trongfo rtres s Of Kussn ach t . They emba rked uponthe l ake o f the Fou r Cantons ; and sca rcelywere they in f ron t o f the Gru ttl i th an the

jo c ker, an impetuous wind f rom the South

8 1 5

Tell ’s bolddefi ance.

81 6 TH E WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS

which often b lows in these regions,rai sed a

violen t s to rm,which rende red the smal l ski ff

unmanageab l e . Tel l was known to be a ski l fu lboatman

,and he ave rred th at he coul d s tee r

the ski ff to a po in t whe re they could l ands a fe ly . Gess l e r

,te r rified

,consented to h i s

ch ains being taken Off,and trusted h im with

the helm . Tel l d i rected the boaf sho rewardtoward a rocky pl atfo rm which s ti l l be a rs thename o f Tel l ’s Leap

,s i tu ated on the S chwyz

sho re . There,sn atch ing h i s bow

,he sp rang

asho re f rom the ski ff,th rus ting i t b ack wi th

h i s foo t,the reby le aving h i s enemy exposed

to the fu ry of the waves . Gessl e r,howeve r

,

escaped al so,and continued hi s way by l and

towa rd Kussn ach t . Tel l wai ted fo r h im bythe roads i de

,unti l he h ad en te red a hol low

,

woody pas s,and

,watch ing h i s Oppo rtuni ty

,

took a s te ady aim at the tyran t,and sen t an

a rrow th rough hi s hea rt . Afte r th is exp lo i t,

Tel l ’s l i fe becomes Obscu re . We le a rn onlyth at he fough t in the b attle o f Mo rga rten

and th at he d ied at B ingen,rece ive r

Of the chu rch Of th at c i ty,in 1 354 . His de ath

was anothe r devoted ac t,fo r he pe ri shed in

an attemp t'

to s ave a ch i l d who had fal lenin to a to r rent . The Gove rno r Of U ri dec reedthat

,on the ann ive rs a ry o f h i s de ath

,a sermon

should be del ivered at the spot whe re s toodthe house Of Tel l

,

“ou r be loved c i ti zen,and

res to re r Of ou r l ibe rtie s,i n ete rn al memory o f

Heaven ’s benefi ts,and the h appy deeds o f the

H is dea th .

S U PPR E S S I O N O F T H E T EMPLA R S

(A .D. 3 07- 1313)

DAV ID HUME

HE O rde r Of Knights Templ a rs h ada ri sen du ring the fi rs t fe rvo r o f theC rus ades ; and un i ting the two qual i

1 11 9 1 1 91 1 19 ti es, the most popul a r in th at age , devotionpiety.and valo r

,and exe rc i s ing both in the mos t

popul a r Of al l ente rp ri ses,the defence o f the

Holy Land,they h ad made rap i d advances in

c redi t and autho ri ty,and h ad acqui red

,f rom

the p iety Of the f a i th ful,ample posses s ions in

eve ry country Of-

Eu rope,especi al ly in France .

Thei r great ri ches,j o ined to the cou rse Of

time,had

,by degree s

,re l axed the seve ri ty Of

these vi rtues ; and the Templ a rs h ad in a greatmeasu re los t th a t popul a ri ty which fi rs t rai sedthem to hono r and d i s tin ction . Acquaintedf rom expe rience with the fatigues and d ange rsOf those f ru i tle ss exped i tions to the Eas t

,they

rathe r chose to enj oy in ease the i r Opulent revenues in Eu rope : and being al l men o f b i rth

,

educated,acco rding to the custom of that age

,

withou t any tinctu re o f lette rs,they

.

s co rnedthe ignob l e occup ations o f a monasti c l i fe

,and

p assed thei r time whol ly in the f ash ion able(81 8)

1 3137- 1 31 3 SUPPRESS ION OF THE TEMPLARS 8 1 9

amusements o f hunting,gal l an try

,and the

pleasu res Of th e tabl e . Thei r rival o rde r,th at

o f S t . John Of J e rus alem,whose pove rty h ad

as yet p rese rved them f rom l ike co rruptions ,s ti l l d i s tingu i shed themselves by the i r en te rp ri s es agains t the infi dels

,and succeeded to al l

the popul a ri ty,which was los t by the indo

lence and luxu ry Of the Templ a rs . But though1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 9 1

these reasons h ad weakened the foundations the Order

of th i s O rde r,once so celeb rated and reve red

,

the immedi ate cause Of the i r des t ruction p roc eeded f rom the c ruel and vind i ctive Sp i ri t OfPhi l ip the Fa i r

,who

,h aving en te rta ined a p ri

vate d i sgus t agains t some eminent Templ a rs,

dete rmined tO'

grati fy at once h i s avid i ty andrevenge

,by involving the whole O rde r in an

undi s tingu i shed ruin . On no bette r in fo rmat i on th an th at o f two kn ights

,condemned by

thei r supe rio rs to pe rpetual imp ri sonment fo rthei r v i ces and p rofl igac y, he o rde red on oneday al l the Templ a rs in France to be comm i tted to p ri son

,and imputed to them such

eno rmous and absu rd c rimes as a re suffi cien to f themselves to des troy a ll the c red i t Of theacqu is i tion . Bes i des thei r b eing un ive rs al lycha rged with mu rde r

,robbe ry

,and vi ces the 9523

“

most shocking to natu re ; eve ry one , i t was p retended

,whom they rece ived into thei r o rde r

,

was obl iged to renounce h i s S aviou r,to Sp i t

upon the c ros s,and to jo in to th i s imp ie ty the

supe rs ti tion o f wo rsh ipp ing a gi l ded head ,wh ich was sec retly kept in one Of thei r houses

820

C rimesconfessedundertorture .

F ifty-foura re burned .

T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS - 1 31 3

a t Marsei l l es . They al so in i t i ated,i t was s aid

,

eve ry candid ate by such in f amous r i tes,as

cou ld se rve to no othe r pu rpose th an to degrade the O rde r i n h i s eyes

,and dest roy fo r

eve r the autho ri ty Of al l h i s supe rio rs ove r h im .

Above a hund red Of these unhappy gentlemenwere put to the question

,in o rde r to exto rt

f rom thema confes s ion Of thei r gu i l t ; the moreobstin ate pe ri shed in the h ands o f the i r to rmento rs : seve ral

,to p rocu re immedi ate e ase

in the Violence o f thei r agon ies,acknowledged

whateve r was requi red of them : fo rged confes s ions we re imputed to Othe rs : and Ph il ip

,

as i f the i r gui l t were now ce rta in,p roceeded

to a confi s c ation Of al l the i r t re asu res . Butno soone r we re the Templ ars rel i eved f romthei r to rtu res

,th an

,p re fe rr ing the most c ruel

execution to a l i fe wi th in famy,they d i s

avowed thei r con fes s ions,excl a imed agains t

the fo rge ries,j u stified the innocence o f thei r

O rde r,and appealed to al l the gal l ant actions

p erfo rmed by them in ancient o r l ate r t imes,

as a ful l apology fo r thei r conduct . Thetyrant

,en raged at th i s d i s appointment

,and

th inking h imsel f now engaged in hono r top roceed to extremiti es

,o rde red fi fty

- fou r o fthem

,whom he b randed as rel apsed he reti cs

,

to pe ri sh by the puni shment o f fi re in h i s cap ital : great numbe rs exp i red afte r a l ike manne r in othe r p a rts Of the kingdom : and whenhe found that the pe rseve rance o f these un

h appy Victims,in j us ti fying to the l as t thei r

B A N N O C K B U R N

(A .D. 1314)

ANDREW LANG

AN N OCKBU RN l ike the Rel i e f Of

O rl eans,o r Marathon

,was one Of the

d ec i s ive b attl es o f the wo rld . Histo ryh inged upon i t . I f Engl and won

,S cotl and

might h ave dwindled into the'

c ond i tion Of

o

Ireland,—fo r Edward I I . was not l ikely to

a im at a s tatesmanl ike pol i cy Of union,in h is

f a the r’s manne r . Could S cotl and h ave ac

c epted union at the fi rs t Edward ’s h andscoul d he h ave re f rained f rom his mis t re atment (as we mus t th ink i t) of B al l iol , the fo rtunes Of the i s l e Of B ri tain might h ave beenhappie r . But h ad S cotl and been t roddendown at Bannockbu rn

,the fo rtunes o f the i s l e

might wel l h ave been wo rse .

The s ingul a r and ce rtain fact i s,th at Ban

noc kbu rn was fough t on a point o f ch ival ry,

on a rul e in a game . Engl and mus t “touchb a r

,

” rel ieve S ti rl ing,as in some ch i l d ’s p as

time . To the secu ring o f the cas tl e,the cen

t ral gate Of S cotl and,no rth and south

,Eng

l and put fo rth he r whole s t rength . B ruce h adno cho i ce bu t to concen trate all the power(822)

1 31 4 BANNOCKBURN

Of a now,at l as t

,un i ted realm

,and to s tand

jus t whe re he d id s tand . His enem i e s knewhis pu rpose : by May 27, writs in fo rmed Engl and th at the Scots were gathe ring on he ightsand mo rasses in acces s ib le to caval ry. I f eve rEdward showed ene rgy, i t was in p rep aringfo r the appo inted Midsummer Day o f 1 31 4.

The Rotul i S cotias” contain seve ra l p ages o fh is demands fo r men

,ho rses

,wines

,hay

,grain

,

p rovi s ions,and sh ips . Endles s l e tte rs we re

sen t to mas te r marine rs and magis t r ates o ftowns . The King appeal ed to h i s belovedIri sh ch ie fs

,O

’

D onnells,O

’

Flyns, O’

H anlens,

M acM ahons,M ’Carthys, Kel lys, O

’Re i llys,

and O’

Bri ens,and to H i bern i a e Magna tes,

d ngl i c o genere Ortos, Butle rs , B lounts , DeLacys

,Powe rs

,and Russel l s .

‘

J ohn o f Argyl lwas made admi ral o f th e wes te rn fleet

,and was

asked to conci l i a te the I sl esmen,who

,unde r

A ngus'

Og, were ral lying to B ruce . The numbers o f men engaged on e i the r s ide in th i s warcan no t be asce rta ined . Each kingdom had ayea r whe re in to muste r and a rm .

Then all that worthy we re to fi ghtOf Scotland, set all ha le the i r m ight

whil e B a rbou r makes Edward assemble,no t

onlyH i s own ch iva l ry

That was so great i t was fe r ly,”

but al so kn ights Of France and Ha i naul t,

B retagne and Gascony,Wales

,I re l and

,and

823

Musteringfor thestruggle .

824 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

Aquitaine . The whole E ngl i sh fo rce i s s a idto h ave exceeded Of whomwere caval ry

,includ ing horses b a rded

f rom counte r to tai l,

” armed agains t s t rokeOf swo rd o r po in t Of spea r . The b aggagetra in was endles s

,bea ring tents

,harnes s

,and

“app a rel Of ch ambe r and hal l,wine

,wax

,

and al l the luxu ri es o f Edward ’s manne r Ofcampaign ing

,includ ing an ima l i a

,perhaps

l ions . Thus the Engl i sh advanced f rom Berwick

Banners r ight fa irly flamingAnd pensels to the w ind wav ing.

On June 23, B ruce hea rd th at the Engl i shhos t h ad s treamed out Of Ed inbu rgh

,where

the d i smantled cas tl e was no s afe ho ld,and

we re advancing on Falki rk. B ruce h ad summoned S cotl and to trys t in the To rwood

,

whence he coul d re t re at a t p leasu re,i f,a fter

all,ret reat h e mus t . The Fie ry C ross

,red'

with the b lood o f a s ac rificed goat,must h ave

flown th rough the whole Of th e Cel ti c l and .

Lan a rksh i re,Dougl asd ale

,and E tt ri ck Fo r

es t we re muste red unde r the banne r Of Dougl as

,the mul l ets not yet en ri ched wi th the royal

hea rt . The men Of Moray fo l lowed thei rnew ea rl

,Randolph

,the adventu rous knight

who sealed the rock Of the Cas tle o f the Maidens . Ren f rewsh i re

,Bute

,and Ayr we re

unde r the fes se chequy o f young Wal terS tewa rt . B ruce h ad gathe red h i s own C ar

826 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

which a column could p ass,in sc rubby coun

try,and between the bogs was a so rt Of b ridge

o f d ry l and . By these two avenues the Engl i sh might ass a i l the S cott i sh l ines . Theseapp ro aches B ruce i s s a i d to h ave rende redd iffi cu l t by p i tfal l s

,and even by cal th rops to

maim the ho rses . I t i s wh ispe red xthat calthrops fo r tou ri s ts a re occas ion al ly manu fac

tu red by mode rn local en te rp ri se . He dete rmined to fight on foot

,the wooded country

be ing d iffi cul t fo r ho rsemen,and the foe be ing

infin i tely supe rio r in caval ry . His a rmy wasa rranged in fou r “battl es

,

” with Randolph tol e ad the vawa rd

,and watch agains t any at

tempt to th row caval ry in to S ti rl ing . E d

ward B ruce commanded the d ivi s ion on therigh t

,next the To rwood . Wal te r S tewart

,a

l ad,with Dougl as

,le d the th i rd d ivi s ion.

B ruce h imsel f and Angus Og, with the menOf Ca rri ck and the Cel ts

,were in the rea r .

B ruce had no mind to take the Offens ive,and

,

as at the Ba ttl e o f the S tanda rd,to open the

figh t wi th a cha rge Of impetuous mountaineers. On Sunday mo rn ing mass was s a id

,and

men sh rived them .

They thought to d ie i n the melee,O r e lse to set the i r country f ree.

”

They ate but b read and wate r,fo r i t was the

v igi l’

Of S t . J ohn . N ews came th at the Engl i sh h ad moved out o f Falki rk

,and Dougl as

and the S teward b rought tid ings o f the great

1 31 4 BANNOCKBURN 827

and Splendid hos t that was rol l ing no rth .

B ruce b ade them make l i ttl e Of i t in the hea ring o f the a rmy . Meanwhi le Phi l ip de Mow Phil ip d cb ray

,who commanded in S ti rl ing

,had ridden

fo rth to meet and counsel Edward . His advice was to come no neare r : perhaps a techn i c al rel ie f was held to h ave al re ady beensecu red by the p resence o f the a rmy . Mowbray was not hea rd— “the young men woul dnot l i s ten . Glouces te r

,with the van

,ente red

the p ark,where he was met

,a s we Shal l see

,

and Cl i ff o rd,Beaumont

,and S i r Thomas

G rey,with th ree hund red ho rsemen

,ski rted

the wood whe re Randolph was pos ted,a cle a r

way lying befo re them to the cas tl e o f S ti rl ing .

B ruce had seen th i s movement,and tol d

Randolph th at “a rose o f h i s Chaple t wasfal len

,

” the ph rase attes ting the King’s loveOf ch ival rous romance . To pu rsue ho rsemenwith in fantry seemed vain enough ; but Randolph moved out Of cove r

,th inking pe rh aps

th at kn ights so adven tu rous would refuse noch ance to fight . I f th i s was h i s though t

,he

reckoned wel l . Beaumont c ri ed to h i skn ights

,

“Give ground,l e ave them fai r

fiel d .

” Grey h inted th at the S co ts we re intoo great fo rce

,and Beaumont answered

,

you fea r,fly !” “S i r

,s a i d S i r Thomas

,for

c a va lry

fea r I fly not th is d ay !” and so Spu rred in between Beaumont and D

’

Eync ou rt and galloped on the spea rs . D

’Eyn c ou rt was s l ain ,

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

Grey was unho rsed and taken . The hund redl ances o f Beaumont then ci rcled Randolph ’sSpea rmen round about on eve ry s ide

,but the

spea rs kept b ack the ho rses . Swo rds,maces

,

and knives were th rown ; al l was done as bythe French caval ry agains t ou r squa res atWate rloo

,and al l as va in ly . The hedge Of

s tee l was unb roken,and

,in the hot sun of

June,a mis t Of dust and heat b rooded ove r

the battl e .Si c m i rkness

In the a i r above them was,”

as when the son s o f Theti s and the D awnfough t unde r the wal l s Of windy Troy . Dougl as behel d the d i s tant cloud

,and rode to

B ruce,implo ring le ave to hu r ry to Ran

dolph ’s ai d .

“I wi l l no t b reak my ranks fo rh im

,s a id B ruce ; yet Dougl as h ad h i s wi l l .

Bu t the Engl i sh wave red,s ee ing h is l ine ad

vance,and the reon Dougl as h al ted h i s men

,

l es t Randolph shoul d lose renown . Beholding th i s

,the Spea rmen o f Randolph

,in thei r

tu rn,cha rged and d rove the wea ry Engl i sh

ho rse and the i r d ishea rtened ride rs . Meanwhi l e Edward h ad h al ted h i s main fo rce tocons i de r whethe r they shoul d fight o r res t .But Glouces te r ’s p a rty

,knowing noth ing Of

h i s h al t,had advanced into the wooded p ark ;

and B ruce rode down to the right in a rmo r,

and with a gol d co ronal on hi s b asne t,but

mounted on a mere p al f rey . T O the f ron t Ofthe Engl i sh van

,unde r Glouces te r and Here


by the clumps o f spea rs,and again the E n

gl i sh kn igh ts might b reak th rough the sh akenranks . B ruce h ad but a few squad rons o fho rse— coul d they be t rus ted to s catte r thebowmen o f the Engl i sh fo res ts

,and to es cape

a fl ank ch a rge f rom the f a r heavie r caval ryo f Edwa rd ? On the whole

,was not the Old

s t rategy bes t,the s t rategy o f re treat ? SO

B ruce may have ponde red . He had b roughth is men to the ring

,and they vo ted fo r danc

ing . Meanwhi le the Engl i sh res ted on amarshy pl ain “outre B annockbu rn” in so red i sc omfi ture

,s ays G rey . He must mean

sou th o f B annockbu rn,taking the po int Of

View o f h i s f athe r,at that hou r a cap tive in

B ruce ’s c amp . He tel l s us th at the S cotsmeant to re ti re “ in to the Lennox

,a righ t

s t rong coun try” (th i s confi rms, in a way, B arbou r’s tal e o f B ruce sugges ting retre at ) , whenS i r Alexande r Seton

,dese rting Edward ’s

camp,advi sed B ruce Of the Engl i sh l ack of

Sp i ri t,and b ade h im face the foe next d ay .

To reti re,in deed

,was B ruce ’s

,as i t h ad been

Wal l ace ’s, natu ral pol i cy . The Engl i shwould soon be d i s t res sed fo r want Of suppl ies ;on the othe r h and

,they had clea rly made no

a rrangements fo r an o rde rly retre at,i f they

los t the d ay : with B ruce th is was a motive fo rfigh ting them . The advice Of Seton p revai ledthe S co ts woul d s tand the i r ground .

The sun o f M idsummer Day rose on the ri teOf the mas s done in f ron t Of the S cotti sh l ines .

1 31 4BANNOCKBURN

Men b reakfas ted,and B ruce knighted Doug

l as,the S teward

,and o the rs o f h i s nobles .

The hos t then moved ou t o f the wood,and the

s tanda rds rose above the spe a rs Of the sc hi l

trons . Edward B ruce hel d the right wing ;Randolph the centre ; the le f t, unde r Dougl asand the S tewa rd

,res ted on S t . N in i an ’s .

B ruce,as he h ad ar ranged

,was in rese rve

wi th Ca rri ck and the I s l es . W i l l these menfight?” asked Edward

,and S i r Ingram repl i ed

th at su ch was thei r in tent . He advi sed that theEngl i sh shoul d make a feigned re tre at

,when

the S cots woul d ce rtain ly b re ak the i r ranks

Then p r ick we on them hard i ly.

Edward rej ected th i s Old ruse,which p rob

ab ly woul d not h ave begu il ed the S cotti shl eade r . The S cots then knel t fo r a momentOf p raye r

,as the Abbot o f In c hafray bo re the

c rucifix along the l ine ; but they did not kneelto Edward . His van

,unde r Glouces te r

,fel l

on Edward B ruce ’s d ivi s ion,where the re was

h and - to - hand fighting,b roken l ances

,d ying

charge rs,the re a r ranks Of Glouces te r p res s

ing va inly on the f ron t ranks,unable to deploy

fo r the s tra i tnes s o f the ground . Meanwhi le,

Randolph ’s men moved fo rwa rd s lowly,with

extended Spea rs,

“as they were plunged in these a” o f ch a rging knights . Dougl as and theS tewa rd were al so engaged

,and the h ideous

showe r o f a r rows we re eve r ra in ing f rom thebows Of Engl and . This mus t h ave been the

831

The Scott ish hostadvances .

The greatfi ght

832 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

c ri s i s o f the fight,acco rd ing to B arbou r

,and

B ruce b ade Kei th wi th h i s five hund red ho rsech a rge the Engl i sh a rche rs on the fl ank . Thebowmen do not seem to h ave been defendedby p ikes ; they fel l bene ath the l ances o f theMari s ch al

,as the a rche rs Of E tt ri ck h ad f al len

at Falki rk . The S cotti sh a rche rs now tookheart

,and loosed into the c rowded and reel

ing ranks Of Engl and,while the flying bow

men o f the South c l ashed agains t and con fusedthe Engl i sh ch a rge . Then Scotti sh a rche rstook to the i r s teel spe rthes (who eve r loved tocome to h and st rokes ) , and hewed into themass Of the Engl i sh

,so th at the fiel d

,whithe r

B ruce b rough t up h i s rese rves to suppo rt E dward B ruce on the right

,was a mass o f wi l d

con fused fighting . In thi s mel l ay the greatbody o f the Engl i sh a rmy could do no s troke,swaying help l ess ly as Southe rn kn ights o rNo rthe rn spears won some fee t o f ground .

SO,i n the sp ace bet ween Halbe rt’s

‘

Bog andthe bu rn

,the mel l ay rang and wave red , the

long spea rs Of the S cotti sh ranks unb roken ,and push ing fo rwa rd

,the ground be fo re them

so cove red wi th f al len men and ho rses th at theEngl i sh advance was clogged and c rushed be

tween the re s i s tance i n f ron t and the p ressu re

beh ind .

God wi l l have a s t roke in eve ry fight, s aysthe romance o f Malo ry . Wh i le di sc ip l inewas los t

,and Engl and was trus ting to sheer

weight and “who wil l pound longest,

” a f resh

834 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS 1 31 4

th at fo lk might p ass d ry- shod ove r i t . Thecountry-people fel l on and s lew . I f B ruceh ad posses sed mo re caval ry

,not an Engl i sh

man would have reached the Tweed . E d

ward,as Argentine b ade h im

,rode to S ti rl ing

,

but Mowb ray tol d h im that the re he wou ld bebut a captive king . He spu rred South

,with

five hund red ho rse,

.Dougl as fol lowing withs ixty

,80 close th at no Engl i shman might

al igh t bu t was s l a in o r taken . Lau rence deAbe rnethy

,with e ighty ho rse

,was ri d ing to

j o in the Engl i sh,but tu rned

,and

,with

Dougl as , pu rsued them . Edward reachedDunba r

,whence he took boat fo r B e rwick .

In h is te rro r he vowed to bu i l d a col l ege o fCarmel i tes

,s tudents in theo logy . I t i s O riel

Col lege to - d ay,with a S co t fo r P rovos t .

Among those who fel l on the Engl i sh s idewe re the son Of the Red Comyn

,Glouces te r

,

Cl i ffo rd,Harcou rt

,Cou rten ay

,and seven

hund red othe r gentlemen Of co at- a rmo r we res l a in . Here fo rd (l ate r ) , with Angus , Umfrav i l l e

,and S i r Thomas G rey were among the

p ri sone rs . S ti rl ing,Of cou rse

,su r rende red .

The sun o f M idsummer Day se t on menwounded and weary

,but vi cto rious and f ree .

The task o f Wal l ace was accompl i shed . Tomany o f the combatants not th e le as t agreeabl e resul t Of Bannockbu rn was the unp rec

edented abundance o f booty . When cam

paign ing, Edward den ied himsel f noth ing .

His wa rd robe and a rms ; h is eno rmous and,

1 31 4BANNOCKBURN 835

app a rently, well- suppl ied a rray Of food

wagons ; h is eccles i as ti cal ves tments fo r theceleb ration o f vi cto ry ; hi s pl ate ; h is s iege - arti l le ry ; h is mil i ta ry ches ts ,with al l the j ewel ry

Of h i s young minion kn ights , fel l into theh ands o f the S cots . Down to Queen Mary’sreign we read

,in invento ries

,about cos tly ves t

ments “f rom the fight at B annockbu rn . I nS co tl and i t rained ransoms . The “Rotul iS c oti ae

,

” in 1 3 1 4 ful l Of Edward’s p rep a ra

tion fo r wa r,in 1 3 1 5 a re ri ch in s afe - conducts

fo r men going into S cotl and to redeem p ri sone rs . One Of these

,the b rave S i r M armaduke

Twenge,renowned at S ti rl ing B ridge

,h id in

the woods on Midsummer’s N i gh t,and su r

rende red to B ruce next d ay . The King gaveh im gi fts

,and set h im f ree un ransomed . In

deed,the clemency Of B ruce afte r h is success

i s cou rteous ly acknowledged by the Engl i shch ron icle rs .This vi cto ry was due to Edward ’s inc om

petenc e , as wel l as to the excel l ent d i spos i tionsand indomi tabl e cou rage of B ruce

,and to “the

into l e rable axes” of h i s men . N O measu resh ad been taken by Edward to secu re a retre at .Only one ral ly

,at “the B loody Fauld

,

” i s repo rted . The Engl i sh fought wi ld ly

,the i r

measu res being l a id on the s t rength o f a confi denc e which

,a fte r the ski rmishes Of Sunday

,

June 23, they no longe r ente rta ined . Theysuffe red what

,at Agincou rt

,C recy, POi c ti e rs,

and Ve rneu i l,the i r descend ants were to i n

Magnifi centbooty .

836 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 1 31 4

fl i c t. Horses and banne rs,gay a rmo r and

chival ri c t rappings,were set at n aught by the

spe rthes and spea rs o f in fant ry acting on favorab le ground . From the dus t and reek ofth at bu rn ing d ay Of June

,S cotl and emerged

a peop le,fi rm in a glo rious memo ry . Out

o f weakness She was made s trong,being

s trangely led th rough paths Of l i ttl e p romises ince the d ay when B ruce ’s d agge r- s t roke atDumfries c losed f rom him the p ath o f t e

tu rn ing .

!In 1 328, on the death Of the l as t mal e i s sueo f Ph i l i p the Fai r

,the S al i c Law i s en

fo rced and the French c rown passes to thehouse o f Valo i s . Edward I I I . o f Engl and

( 1 337) l ays cl aim to the c rown ; and the Hund red Yea rs ’ Wa r begins ]

838 T H E WORLD ’


more pos i tive d ange rs than those Of s to rm and

£55593“wreck . The coas ts o f no rthe rn Ge rmany ha rbo red numbe rs Of rove rs and p i rates

,who re

garded the peace ful t rade r as thei r n atu ralp rey . T O inc re ase the i r powe rs Of res i s tance

,

i t was usu al fo r me rchants to unde rtake the i rvoyages in more o r less numerous companies .The un ion thus begun on sea was Sti l l fu rthe rcemen ted on l and . I n those days l aw was pe rsonal and not te r ri to ri al . The fo re i gn merchant h ad no sh a re in the l aw Of the l andwhere he soj ou rned ; he b rought with h im h isown l aw

,and admin i s te red i t as bes t he coul d .

The legal customs of no rthe rn Ge rmany weresubstan ti al ly al ike ; and th i s s imi l a ri ty s trengthened the bonds Of union among the merchantswho found themselves fo r a time settled in afo re ign l and . Moreove r

,the s tate o f t rade

f requently requ i red a long stay,and sometimes

a depos i ting o f goods among st range rs . Thisl ed in time to the acqu i s i tion Of commonpossess ions ab road

,l odgings

,s to rehouses

,etc .

This common dépét, o r“f acto ry

,

” became thecen tral po in t o f the un ion o r H ansa fo rmedby the me rchants . The un ion soon rece ived aco rpo rative consti tution . At i ts head s toodthe elde rs

,whose ch ie f functions we re to ad

min i s te r j us ti ce and to rep resen t the soc iety ini ts re l ations to the natives Of the country. I twas by means Of these o rde rly un ions th at theGerman me rch an ts ob ta ined the i r importantp ri vi leges

,ch iefly advantages in trade and

1 1 9 , 1 349 1 999T H E HANS EATIC LEAGUE 839

taxes,f rom the people among whom they so

jou rned .

The mos t impo rtant German mercanti lesettlements were founded in W i sby

,the cap i

tal Of Gothland,London

,Novgo rod

,Be rgen ,

and B ruges . W i sby was the cent ral po int of T heImportantmerc an tIIethe B al ti c t rade ; the othe r towns rep resent the 99 1 1 19 1 1 9 1 1 1 1

fou r extreme poi nts Of No rth -German commerce . W i sby di ffe red f rom the othe r settlements in the fact that the Ge rmans the re wereno t me rchants making a tempo ra ry vi s i t

,but

were real settle rs l iving s ide by s i de wi th thenative popul ation . Novgo rod was a me re colony of the German settl ement in W i sby

,and

neve r hel d an independen t pos i tion . Bergenwas comparatively unimpo rtant

,and the Ge r

man “counte r” in B ruges was not fo rmed un

ti l some amount o f un ion had been attained athome . But in the Ge rman co lony in Londonthe majo ri ty o f the members were me rely p assing trade rs

,who remained ci ti zens o f the i r

native towns . I t was,the re fo re

,the London

Hans a which exe rc i sed the greates t influenceon the growth Of the town league .

In the re ign o f Edga r we find the “peopleo f the Empero r” occupying a p rominen t pos ition in London trade

,and jo ined in a l as ting

league . The membe rs o f th i s league came 1 111 9 1 1 1 1 1 9 9

mostly f rom Cologne,the fi rs t Ge rman town

Of 9 19 9 1 1 9 .

which Obta ined great impo rtance both at homeand ab road . I ts c i ti zen s possessed a t an ea rlydate a gui l d -hal l o f thei r own

,and al l Ge r

840 _ THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .O . 1 343- 1 669

mans who wished to trade wi th Engl and hadto jo in the i r gu i l d . This soon included merch ants f rom Dortmund

,Soes t

,and Munste r

,

in Wes tph al i a ; f rom U t recht, S tave rn , andGroningen

,in the N ethe rl ands ; and f rom

P remen and Hamburg on the No rth Sea . Butwhen

,at the beginn ing of the Th i rteenth Cen

tu ry,the rap id ly ri s ing town of Li i bec kwished

to be admitted in to the gui l d,eve ry e ffo rt was

made to keep he r out . The inte rvention Of

515334339 9the Empero r Frede ri ck I I . was powerles s to

of Lu b ec k ove rcome the d read fel t by Cologne toward aposs ib le r ival t o i ts sup remacy . But th i s Ohstac le to the extens ion o f the le ague was soonove rcome . In 1 260

,a ch arte r o f Hen ry I I I .

as su red p rotection to al l Ge rman merch ants .A few yea rs l ate r H ambu rg and L i i bec k wereal lowed to fo rm thei r own gui lds . The Hans aOf Cologne

,which h ad long been the only

gui l d,now Sinks to the pos i tion o f a b ranch

Hans a,and h as to endu re othe rs wi th equal

p rivi l eges . Ove r al l the b ranch H ansas ri sesthe “Hans a A lamann i T

,fi rs t mentioned in

1 282 .

The Oppos i tion to the exclus ive p retens ionso f Cologne was ch iefly the wo rk Of L i i bec k

,

and wi th the ri s e o f L i i bec k we mus t connectthe second el ement

,the in te rn al pol i t i cal e le

ment,which con tributed to the fo rmation o f

the Hans a . The Old c ap i tal s Of Germantrade

,Cologne and W i sby

,took thei r s tand

on the un ions Of German merchants ab road .

842

F irst ment ion of theHansa .

Its pol it ica lcha ra cter .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A . O . 1 343—1 669

a l eague o f towns at home . In 1 330, mentioni s fi rs t made o f the Hanse towns

,where befo re

i t h ad been the H anse merchants . I n 1 343,

the le ague i s fi rs t des ignated as the H ans a bya fo re ign p rince

,Magnus Of No rway

,and thus

acqu i res a d ip lomati c pos i tion as a un i ted s tate .

In 1 356, a s tatu te about mercanti le p rivi legesat B ruges i s made

,no t by the Ge rman mer

ch an ts,but by the towns themselves

,th rough

the i r rep resen tatives as sembled at B ruges .Hencefo rth the town - l e ague subo rd in ates toi tsel f the me rcanti l e un ion s ; the f acto ries anddepots Of the merch ants lose the i r i ndependence

,and become the “counte rs

,

” as they a recal l ed

,Of the Hanse towns .

The league thus fo rmed would s ca rcelyh ave held long togethe r o r d i spl ayed any realfede ral un i ty but fo r the p res su re Of exte rnald ange rs . The true function o f the H ansa

,and

especi al ly o f the B al ti c towns,was to conduct

the commerce between the e as t and wes t Ofno rthe rn Eu rope . But the geograph i cal posi ti on Of the S cand in avi an countri es enabledthem to inte rpose a b a r to th i s commerce .

Thus f rom an ea rly pe riod the Hans a stoodin a pos i tion Of watch fu l hos ti l i ty toward thosecountri es . I t was the ca reful mainten ance o fth i s watch ove r the Bal ti c which gave Lubecki ts pos i tion in the League

,and wh ich gave the

League i ts pol i ti cal,as cont ras ted with i ts mer

c anti le,ch a racte r .

From 1 36 1 we can date the regul a r meet

m . 1 343 T H E HANSEATIC LEAGU E 843

ings o f the gene ral assembl ies,Whose act s

(R e c esse ) have been p rese rved in the a rch iveséfifi u

a t Lubeck . These as sembl ies met once a year6 5 °

about midsummer,usual ly but not exclus ively

at Lubeck . They were attended by rep resen

tatives of the va rious towns,but no one below

the rank o f counci l lo r coul d ac t as rep resentative . The League always endeavo red to re

ta in i ts a ri s to c ratic ch a racte r . The assembl ies bus ied themselves with al l the detai l s o ffo re ign pol i cy as wel l as o f inte rn al management . The penal ty fo r non - obse rvance o f thei rdec rees Was expuls ion f rom the League (V er

ha nsu ng) . The chief offence which b roughtth i s punishmen t on a town was the a dmiss iono f democ rati c tendencies . The s truggle between the a rti s ans and the old bu rghe r f ami l i es

,which i s so impo rtant a fe atu re o f Eu ro

pean hi s to ry in the Thi rteen th and Fou rteenthCentu ri es

,neces s a ri ly affected the Hans a

towns . I t was fo r admi tting a rti s ans to theAristocrat iccounci l th at B runswick was expel led from c hm c ter of

the Leagu e in 1 375, and was not readm i tted éifcff igge

t i l l 1 380 , when the ol d cons ti tution was re

s to red .

The compos i tion o f the League was alwaysfluctuating

,and i t i s impos s ibl e to s ay at any

fixed time how many membe rs i t contained .

The towns l ay scatte red ove r a l a rge te rrito ry

,extend ing f rom Revel to the Scheld t

,and

the i r inte res ts,both te r ri to ri al and commer

c i al,must h ave often cl ashed . I t was only in

844 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 1 343—1 669

t ime o f d ange r th at the League di sp l ayed anyreal cons i s tency . The wonder l ie s

,not in . the

d issens ions which sp rang up among the towns,

but in the fact th at fo r th ree cen tu ries theydid in a manne r hol d togethe r

,and not in

f requently s ac rificed the i r individual advantages fo r the common good .

W i th the S ixteenth Centu ry the Hans a begins re al ly to decl ine . The Engl i sh andDutch p roved fo rmidabl e rival s fo r thecomme rc i al sup remacy in no rthe rn Eu rope .

Henry VI I . secu red,in 1 489, a t re aty f rom

Hans o f Denmark,which gave Engl and the

righ t o f commerce in the no rthe rn se as,and

which enab led Engl i sh merchants to foundmercan ti l e e stab l i shments in the po rts . Theher rings no longe r c ame in c rowds to theSwedi sh and No rwegi an coas ts

,where the

membe rs o f the Hans a had so long held ap racti c al monopoly of the fishe ries . Thesefi sh made at th i s time one o f the i r pe riodicalchanges o f cou rse

,and went to the co as ts o f

Hol l and . The D utch were no t s low to graspat the advantages thus o ffered to them . A n

othe r great b low was deal t to H anseatic commerce by the grand d i scove ries o f th e age .

Most o f the Ge rman towns we re out o f theway o f the new commerci al routes

,and coul d

s ca rcely hope to hol d thei r own wi th morefavo rab ly s i tu ated countri es .Bes ides these causes o f decl ine

,the domes

tic pos i tion o f the H anse towns had al te red

B A T T L E O F C R E C Y

(A .D. 1 346)

DAV ID HUME

T is natu ral to th ink th at Ph i l ip,at the head

of so vas t an a rmy,was impatien t to take

revenge on the Engl i sh,and to p revent

the d i sgrace to which he must be exposed i fan in fe rio r enemy should be al lowed

,afte r

ravaging so great a pa rt o f h i s kingdom,to

es cape with impuni ty . Edward al so was sens ible th at such mus t be the obj ect o f the Frenchmonarch ; and as he had advanced but a l i ttl eway be fo re h i s enemy

,he s aw the dange r o f

p recip i tating h i s march ove r the p l ain s o fP i ca rdy

,and o f expos ing hi s re a r to the insul ts

o f the numerous caval ry,in which the French

camp abounded . He took,the refo re

,a p ru

den t reso lu tion : he chose h is ground withadvantage

,nea r the vi l l age o f C recy ; he dis

posed h i s a rmy in excel l ent o rde r ; he dete rmined to awai t in t ranqui l l i ty the a rr ival o fthe enemy ; and he hoped that thei r e age rnes sto engage and to p reven t h is retre at a fte r al lthei r p as t d i s appo intments

,would hu rry them

on to some rash and i l l - conce rted action . Hed rew up his a rmy on a gentle ascen t

,and

(846)

A .D . 1 346BATTLE OF CRECY

d ivided them into th ree l ines : the fi rs t wascommanded by the P rince o f Wales

,and

,un

de r h im,by the Earl s o fWarwick and Oxfo rd

,

by Harcou rt,and by the Lo rds Chandos

,Hol

l and,and othe r nob lemen : the E a rl s o f Arun

del and No rth ampton,with the Lo rds W i l

loughby, B asset, Roos , and S i r Lewis Tufton ,were at the head o f the second l ine : he tookto h imsel f the command o f the th i rd d ivi s ion

,

by wh ich he pu rposed e ithe r to b ring succo rto the two fi rs t l ines

,o r to secu re a ret reat in

case of any mis fo rtune,o r to push hi s adv an

tages agains t the enemy . He had l ikewise thep recaution to th row up trenches on h is fl anks

,

in o rde r to secu re h imsel f f rom the numerousbodies o f the French

,who migh t ass ai l h im

f rom that qua rte r ; and he pl aced al l h i s b aggage beh ind him in a wood

,which he also se

cu red by an in t renchment ;I t i s rel ated by some h is to ri ans th at Edward

,

bes i des the resou rces which he found in h isown gen ius and p resence o f mind

,employed

al so a new invention aga ins t the enemy,and

pl aced in h is f ront some p ieces o f a rti l le ry,the

fi rs t th at h ad yet been made use of on any re

markable occas ion in Eu rope .

847

Edwa rdprepa resfor atta ck .

The invention of a rti l l e ry was at th is time Art il leryfi rst em

known in France as wel l as in Engl and ; but p loyed .

Phi l i p,in h is hu rry to ove rtake the enemy

,had

p robably l e ft h is c annon beh ind h im,which

he regarded as a use les s incumb rance . Allh i s othe r movements d i scove red the s ame im

848 TH E WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS”

“ 3 346;

p rudence and p rec ip i tation . Impel led by an 1

fi lliié’

éi c e . ge r,a dange rous counsel lo r

,and trus ting to the

great supe rio ri ty o f h i s numbers,he thought

th at al l depended on fo rc ing an engagementwi th the Engl i sh ; and th at, i f he coul d oncereach the enemy in thei r ret reat

,the victo ry

on h i s s i de was ce rtain and inev i tab l e . Hemade a h asty march

,in some con fus ion

,f rom

Abbevi l l e ; but a fte r he h ad advanced abovetwo leagues

,some gentlemen

,whom he h ad

sent be fo re to take a View o f the enemy,t e

tu rned to h im,and b rought h im intel l igence

th at they h ad seen the Engl i sh d rawn up ingreat o rde r

,and awai ting hi s a r rival . They

the re fo re advi sed h im to defe r the combat ti l lth e ensu ing day

,when h i s a rmy would h ave

recove red f rom thei r f atigue,and might be

d isposed in to bette r o rde r th an thei r p resen thu r ry h ad pe rmitted them to obse rve . Phi l ipassented to th i s counsel ; but the fo rme r p rec i p i tati on o f h i s march , and the impati ence o fthe French nob i l i ty

,made i t imp racti c ab le fo r

h im to put i t in execution . One divi s ionFrench p ressed upon anothe r : o rde rs to s top were notla c k ofdisc ip line s easonab ly conveyed to al l o f them : th i s 1mand ord er .

mense body was not gove rned by suffi cientd is c ip l ine to be manageab le ; and the Frencha rmy

,impe rfectly fo rmed into th ree l ines

,a r

r ived,al ready f atigued and d i so rde red

,in

p resence o f the enemy . The fi rs t l ine,con

s i s ting o f Genoese c rossbow-men,was

commanded by Anthony .Dori a and Charles

850 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS M .

The young P rince o f Wales h ad the p resencegfiigi fii

‘

. o f mind to take advantage o f th i s s i tu ation,

2333313? and to l ead on h i s l ine to the cha rge . TheFrench caval ry

,hOVvever

,recove ring some

what the i r o rde r,and encou raged by the ex

ample of the i r l eade r,made a s tout res i s tance ;

and h aving at l as t cl e a red themselves o f theGenoese runaways

,advanced upon thei r ene

mies,and by the i r sup e rio r numbe rs began to

hem them round . The Ea rl s o f Arundel andNo rth ampton now advanced the i r l ine to sustain the P rince

,who

,a rden t in h i s fi rs t fe ats

o f a rms,se t an example o f valo r which was

imi tated by al l h i s fo l lowers . The battl e became

,fo r some time

,hot and dange rous ; and

the Ea rl o f Warwick,app rehens ive o f the

even t f rom the supe rio r numbers o f the French,

desp atched a messenge r to the King,and en

gggggg t re ated h im to send succo rs to the rel ie f o f theigfici

e

é’

é'

ms. Prince . Edward had chosen hi s s tation onthe top of the h i l l ; and b e su rveyed in t ranqui l l i ty the s cene o f action . When the messenge r accos ted h im

,h i s fi rs t ques tion was

,

whethe r the P rince was s l a in o r wounded ?On receiving an answe r in the negative

,Re

tu rn,

” s a i d he,

“ to my son,and tel l h im that I

rese rve the hono r o f the day to h im : I am confi dent th at he wi l l show h imsel f wo rthy of thehono r o f kn ighthood which I so l ately confe rred upon h im : he wil l be ab le

,W i thout my

ass i s tance,to repel the enemy . This Speech

being repo rted to the P rince and h i s atten

1 346BATTLE OF CRECY

dants,insp i red them with f resh cou rage : they

made an attack wi th redoubled vigo r on theFrench

,in wh ich the Count o f Alencon was

s l ain : th at whole l ine o f c aval ry was th rowninto d i so rde r : the ri de rs we re ki l led o r d i smounted : the Wel sh in fantry rushed in to theth rong

,and with the i r long knives cut the

th ro ats o f al l who had fal len ; no r was anygiigni m er

qua rte r given that d ay by the vi cto rs .The King of France advanced in vain wi th

the rea r to sus ta in the l ine commanded by h isb rothe r : he found them al re ady d i sc omfi ted ;and the example o f the i r rout inc re ased thecon fus ion wh ich was be fo re but too p revalentin h i s own body . He had himsel f a ho rseki l l ed unde r h im : he was remounted ; andthough le f t almos t alone

,he seemed s ti l l de

term i ned to mainta in the comb at ; when Johno f Hainaul t se ized the re in s o f h is b ridle

,

tu rned about h i s ho rse,and ca rried h im off

the fiel d o f b attl e . The whole French a rmytook to fl i gh t

,and was fo l lowed and put to the

swo rd,Withou t me rcy

,by the enemy ; ti l l the

da rknes s o f the n igh t put an end to the pu rsu i t . The King

,on h i s retu rn to the camp

,

flew into the a rms of the P rince o f Wales,andg

‘

éi sfsili

excl aimed,

“My brave son l Pe rseve re in you rson '

hono rable cause : you a re my son ; fo r val i antlyhave you acqui tted you rse l f to - day : you h aveshown you rsel f wo rthy o f empi re .

This battl e,which i s known by the name

o f the b attle o f C recy,began afte r th ree

THE WORLD ’


o ’clock in the afte rnoon,and continued ti l l

even ing . The next morn ing was foggy ; andas the Engl i sh obse rved th at many o f theenemy had los t thei r way in the n ight and inthe mis t

,they employed a s tratagem to b ring

them into the i r powe r : they e rected on theeminences some French standa rds wh ich theyhad taken in the b attle ; and al l who were allu red by th i s f al se s ign al were put to theswo rd

,and no qua rte r given them . I n ex

cuse fo r th i s inhuman i ty,i t was al leged that

the French King h ad given l ike o rde rs to h ist roops ; but the real reason p rob ably was , th atthe Engl i sh

,i n thei r p resent s i tu ation

,d id not

choose to b e incumbered with p ri sone rs . Onthe day o f b attl e and on the ensu ing

,the re

fe l l,by a mode rate computation

,French

kn ights,

gentlemen,

men - at- a rms,

bes ides about o f in fe rio r rank : manyo f the p rincip al nob i l i ty of France , the Dukeso f Lo r ra ine and Bou rbon

,the E a rl s o f Fl an

de rs,B lo is

,Vaudemont

,Aumale

,were le ft on

the fiel d o f b attl e . The kings al so o f Bohemiaand Majo rc a we re s l ain . The fate o f the fo rme r was remarkab l e : he was b l ind f rom age ;but being resolved to h az ard hi s pe rson

,and

set an example to othe rs,he o rde red the re ins

o f h i s b ridle to be ti ed on each s i de to theho rses o f two gentlemen o f h i s t rain ; and h i sdead body

,and those o f h i s attendants

,were

a fterward found among the sl ain,with thei r

ho rses s tand ing by them in th at s i tu ation . His

854 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS “ 1 1 346

the P rince o f Wales . The King,the re fo re

,

l imi ted h i s ambition to the conques t o f Cal ai sand a fte r the inte rval o f a few days

,which he

employed in in te rring the s l a in,he marched

fore Ca la is . with h i s vi cto rious a rmy,and p resented h im

sel f be fo re the p l ace .

R E V O L U T I O N S IN R O M E

(AD . 1347)

HENRY HALLAM

OME i tsel f was,th roughout the M iddle

Ages,very l i ttle d i sposed to acqu iesce

in the gove rnment o f he r b i shop . Hisrights we re indefini te

,and unconfi rmed by

pos i t ive l aw ; the Empero r was long sove re ign ,the people always meant to be f ree . Bes ides thecommon causes o f insubo rd ination and ana rchyamong the I tal i ans

,which appl ied equal ly to

the cap i ta l c i ty,othe r sentiments mo re pecul i a r

to Rome p rese rved a continu al,though not

uni fo rm,influence fo r many cen tu ries . There

s ti l l remained enough,in the wreck o f that

vas t inheri tance,to swel l the bosoms o f he r

c i ti zens wi th a consc iousnes s o f thei r own digmi ty . They bo re the vene rab le n ame

,they

con templ ated the monuments o f a rt and empi re

,and fo rgot

,in the i l lus ions o f national

p ri de,th at the tutel a r gods o f the bu i l d ings

we re dep arted fo reve r . About the middle o fthe Twel fth Centu ry

,these reco l le ctions we re

heightened by the eloquence o f Arnold o fB resci a

,a pol i ti cal he reti c

,who p reached

aga ins t the tempo ral i u ri sd i c tion o f the h ie r

Interna lstate ofRome .

A rnold o fB resc ia .

856 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .n . x347

a rchy. I n a tempo ra ry intoxic ation o f fancy,

they were led to make a rid iculous show

Ba rba rossa o f sel f- impo rtance towa rd Frede ri ck B arbawhen he came to rece ive the impe ri al

c rown ; but the Ge rman s te rn ly ch ided the i ros tentation

,and ch as ti sed thei r res i s tance .

W i th the popes they coul d deal mo re secu rely .

S eve ral o f them were expel l ed f rom Romedu ring th at age by the sed i tious ci t izens . Lu

c ius I I . d ied o f hu rts rece ived in a tumul t .The gove rnment was vested in fi fty- s ix S enato rs

,annual ly chosen by the people

,th rough

the in te rven tion of an electo ral body : ten delegates f rom each o f the th i rteen d is t r i cts o f thec i ty . This consti tut ion l as ted not qu i te fi ftyyea rs . I n 1 1 92, Rome imitated the p revai ling fash ion by the appo intment o f an annualfo re ign magi s t rate . Excep t in n ame

,the Sen

3213333” a to r o f Rome appea rs to h ave pe rfectly resembled the podes ta o f o the r c i ties . This magi strate supe rseded the rep resentative Senate

,

which had p roved by no means adequate tocon trol the mos t l awless a ri s toc racy o f I taly .

I sh al l no t repe at the s to ry o f Bran c aleon’

s

rigo rous and inflexib l e j us ti ce,which a great

h i s to ri an has al re ady d rawn f rom obscu ri ty .

It i l lus t rates not the annal s o f Rome alone,

but the gene ral s tate o f I tal i an soci ety,the

n atu re o f a podes ta’s duty,and the d iffi cul tie s

o f i ts execu tion . The ofli c e o f S en ato r su rv ives a fte r more than s ix hund red yea rs ; afo reign magi s t rate s ti l l res ides in the cap i tol ;

858 THE WORLD ’


to i ts cap i tal,as the contemptible feuds o f the

O rs in i and Colonna famil ies . Whateve r the rewas o f gove rnment

,whethe r admin i s te red by

a legate f rom Avignon,o r by the municip al

autho ri t ies,had los t al l hol d on these power

ful b a rons .In the mids t o f th i s degradation and

wretchednes s,an obscu re man

,N i co l a d i

Rienz i,conceived the p roj ect o f res to ring

Rome not only to good o rde r,but even to he r

ancien t greatnes s . He had rece ived an education beyond h i s b i rth

,and nou ri shed h i s

mind wi th the s tudy o f the bes t wri te rs . Afte rmany ha rangues to the people

,which the no

b i l i ty, bl inded by thei r sel f - c onfi denc e, d idnot attempt to rep ress

,Rienz i suddenly exci ted

an insu r rection,and obtained complete suc

ces s . He was p l aced at the head of a newgove rnmen t

,with the ti tl e o f t ribune

,and with

almos t unl imited power . The fi rs t effects o fth i s revolu tion we re wonde rful . All the noblessubmi tted

,though with great re luctance ; the

ro ads we re cl ea red o f robbe rs ; t ranqui l l i tywas res to red at home ; some seve re exampleso f j us ti ce intimid ated offende rs ; and the tribune was rega rded by al l the peop le as the‘

des tined res to re r o f Rome and I taly . Thoughthe cou rt o f Avignon coul d no t app rove o fsuch a usu rp ation

,i t tempo rized enough not

d i rectly to oppos e i t . Most o f the I tal i an re

publ i cs,and some o f the p rinces

,sent amb as

sadors,and seemed to recognize p retens ions

860 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

Rienz i,the f reedom of Rome seems to have

rev ived in republ i can ins ti tutions,though

wi th n ames les s c al cul ated to insp i re pecul i a rreco l lection s . Magis trates c al l ed b anne rets

,

chosen f rom the th i rteen d is t ri cts o f the ci ty,

with a mi l i ti a o f th ree thousand ci ti zens atthe i r command

,were pl aced at the head o f

th i s commonweal th . The great obj ec t o f th i snew o rgan iz ation was to in timid ate the R0

31333.man nobi l i ty

,whose outrages

,in the to tal ab

sence o f gove rnmen t,had‘ grown in tole rab le .

Seve ral o f them we re h anged the fi rs t yea r byo rde r of the banne rets . The c i tizens

,how

eve r,had no se rious in ten tion o f th rowing off

the i r subj ection to the popes . They p rovidedfo r thei r own secu ri ty

,on account o f the l am

entabl e seces s ion and neglec t o f those whocl a imed al legi ance whi l e they den ied p rote ct ion . But they were re ady to acknowledgeand welcome back thei r b i shop as the i r sove re i gn . Even w i thout th is

,they su r rende red

thei r republ i can cons ti tution in 1 362— i t does

not appea r fo r wh at reason— and pe rmitted the

T he papa,l egate o f Innocen t V I . to assume the government . We find

,howeve r

,the ins ti tu tion o f

banne rets rev ived,and in ful l au tho ri ty

,some

ye a rs afte rwa rd . But the in te rn al h i s to ry o fRome appea rs to be obscu re

,and I have no t

h ad opportun i ti es o f examin ing i t minu tely.

Some degree o f pol i ti cal f reedom the ci typ rob ab ly enjoyed du ring the sch ism o f theChu rch ; but i t i s no t easy to d isc rimin ate the

A .D . 1 347 REVOLUTIONS IN ROME 861

as se rtion o f legitimate p rivi l eges f rom the l ic entious tumul ts o f the b arons o r popul ace .

In 1 435, the Romans fo rmal ly took away thegove rnment f rom Eugen ius IV .

,and elected

seven s ign io rs o r ch ie f magis trates,l ike thegagigéfi

’

ééé

Prio rs o f Flo rence . But th i s revolution wasnot o f long continu ance . On the death o fEugen ius

,the c i ti zens del ibe rated upon p ro

pos ing a consti tution al ch a rte r to the futu rePope . S tephen Po rcaro

,a man of good fam

i ly,and infl amed by a s trong sp i ri t o f l ibe rty

,

was one o f the i r p rinc ip al in s tigato rs . Butthe people d id no t suffi c iently p a rtake o-f th atsp i ri t . No measu res were taken upon th i soccas ion ; and Po rca ro, whose ardent imaginati on disgu i sed the hopel essness o f h i sen te rp ri se

,tampe ring in a f resh c onsp i r

acy,was put to death

“

under the ponti fi c atco f N i chol as V .

AnOrienta lplague .

D esc ri pt ion of theplagu e .

T H E B L A C K D E A T H

J . F. C. HECKER

HE most memorab le example o f cal ami tous pl agues i s affo rded by a greatpes ti l ence o f the Fou rteenth Centu ry

,

which desol ated As i a,Eu rope

,and Afri ca

,

and o f whi ch the peop le yet p rese rve the re

membranc e in gloomy trad i t ions . I t was anO ri en ta l p l ague

,marked by infl ammato ry

bo i l s and tumo rs o f the gl ands,such as b reak

ou t in no othe r feb ri l e d isease . On accoun to f these infl ammato ry boi l s

,and f rom the

bl ack spots,ind i c ato ry o f a put ri d dec ompo

si ti on,which appea red upon the skin

,i t was

cal l ed in Ge rmany and in the no rthe rn kingdoms o f Eu rope

,the B la c k D ea th, and in

I taly,la M orta lega Grande, the G reat Mo r

tal i ty .

The impe r i al wri te r,Kantakusenos

,whose

own son,A ndron ikus

,died o f th i s p l ague in

Cons tantinop l e,noti ces great impos thumes o f

the thighs and a rms o f those aff ected,which ,

when opened,a ff o rded rel ie f by the d is ch a rge

o f an offens ive matte r . ‘Buboes,which a re the

(862)

864 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS I s m s

Wh ich i s s a i d to h ave ca rried off abou t000 of people . A few months afte rward anea rthquake fo l lowed

,at and nea r Ki ngsai ;

and subsequent to the f al l ing in o f the mountains o f Ki -ming - ch an

,a l ake was fo rmed of

more than a hund red l eagues in c i rcumfe rence

,whe re

,again

,thous ands found thei r

grave . In H oukouang and H o-n an,a d rought

p revai led fo r five months ; and innumerab leswa rms o f locus ts des t royed the vegetation ;whil e famine and pes ti l ence

,as usual

,fol

A

lowed in thei r t ra in . Connected accounts o fthe condi tion of Eu rope befo re th is greatcatas t rophe a re not to be expected f rom thewri te rs o f the Fou rteenth Centu ry . I t i s remarkable

,howeve r

,th at s imul taneously with

a d rought and renewed floods in Ch in a,in

1 336, many uncommon atmosphe ri c phenomen a

,and in the win te r

,f requen t thunde rs to rms

533021 . were ob se rved in the no rth o f France ; and soearly as the even tful year o f 1 333, an e rup tiono f E tn a took pl ace .

The s igns o f te r res tr i al commotions commenc ed in Eu rope in the yea r 1 348, a fte r thein te rven ing di s tri cts o f country in As i a h adp rob ab ly been Vi s i ted in th e s ame manne rOn the is l and o f Cyp rus the pl ague f rom

Ea rth the Eas t h ad al re ady b roken ou t,when an

33223329, e a rthquake shook the foundations o f the i s lCypm s’

and,and was accompanied by so f rightful

a hu r ri cane th at th e inhab i tan ts,who had

s l ain the i r M ahometan sl aves, in o rde r th at

A .O. 1 348 THE BLACK DEATH

they migh t not themselves be subj ugated bythem

,fled in d ismay in al l d i rec tions . The

sea overflowed —the sh ips we re dashed top ieces on the rocks

,and few outl ived the te r

ri fi c even t whe reby th is fe rti l e and b loomingi s l and was conve rted into a dese rt . Befo rethe ea rthquake

,a pes ti fe rous wind sp read so

po isonous an odo r th at many,be ing overpow

865

Poisonouscond it iono f the a t

e red by i t,fe l l down suddenly and exp i red “ Sphere

in d read ful agon ies .This phenomenon i s one o f the ra res t that

have eve r been obse rved,fo r noth ing is more

constan t th an the compos i tion o f the a i r ; andin no respect h as n atu re been mo re c are fulin the p rese rvation of o rgan ic l i fe . Neve rhave natu ral i s ts d i scove red in the a tmosphe refo re ign elements

,which

,eviden t to the senses ,

and bo rne by the winds,sp re ad f rom l and to

l and ca r rying di sease ove r al l po rtions o f theea rth

,as i s recounted to h ave taken pl ace in

the yea r 1 348. Yet Ge rman accounts s ay exp ress ly

,th at a th ick

,s t inking mis t advanced

f rom the Eas t and Sp read i tsel f ove r I taly ;and the re coul d be no decep tion in so palp ab lea phenomenon .

To attempt,five centu ries af te r that age

o f desol ation,to poin t ou t the causes o f a cos

mical commotion,which h as neve r recu rred

to an equal extent,— to ind icate s c ientifical ly

the influences which cal led fo rth so te r rifica po i son in the bodies o f men ahd an imal s

,

exceeds the l imits o f human unde rs tand ing

866 THE WORLD ’


In the p rogres s o f connected n atu ral phenomena

,f rom E as t to Wes t

,th a t gre at l aw

of N a tu re i s p l a inly reve aled which h as s oo ften and evi den tly man i fes ted i tsel f in thee a rth ’s o rgan i sm

,as wel l as in the s tates o f

n ations dependen t upon i t . I n the inmostdep ths o f the globe

,th at impul se was given

in the ye a r 1 333, which in un inte r rup ted succes s ion fo r s ix- and - twenty yea rs shook the su rf ace o f the e a rth

,even to the wes te rn shores

o f Eu rope . From the ve ry beginn ing the ai rp a rtook o f the te r res t ri al concus s ion

,a tmos

pheri c al wate rs ov erflowed the l and,o r i ts

p l ants and animal s pe ri shed unde r the s co rching heat . The insect t ribe was wonde rfullycal l ed into l i fe

,as i f an imated be ings were

des tined to compl ete the des truction whichas tral and tel lu ri c powers h ad begun . Thusd i d th i s d re ad ful wo rk o f n atu re advancef rom yea r to yea r ; i t was a p rogress ive infection o f the Zones

,which exe rted a powerfu l

influence both above and beneath the su rf aceo f the ea rth ; and afte r h av ing b een pe rcep tib lein s l ighte r in d i cations

,at the commencement

o f the te r res tr i al commotions in Ch in a,con

vu lsed the whole e a rth .

Fa r mo re powerful th an the exc i tement o fthe l aten t e l ements of the pl ague by atmos

pheri c influences was the effect o f th e contagi on communicated f rom one peop le to

anothe r,on the great ro ads

,and in the ha r

bo rs o f the Medi te r ranean . From Ch in a,the

868

Number o fv ict ims.

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

yea r : almos t two. -years a fte r i ts e ruption in

Avignon . Pol and rece ived the pl ague in1 349, p rob ab ly f rom

“

Germany,i f no t f rom the

no rthe rn countrie s ; but in Russ i a, i t d i d notmake i ts appe a rance unti l 1 35 1 , more th anth ree yea rs a fte r i t h ad b roken ou t in Constantinop le . Ins te ad of advancing in a no rthwes te rly d i rection f rom Tau ri s and f rom theC asp i an Se a

,i t h ad thus made the great

c i rcui t o f the B l ack Sea,by way of Con

stanti n0p le , Sou the rn and Central Eu rope ,Engl and

,the no rthe rn kingdoms and Pol and

,

befo re i t re ached the Russ i an te rri to rie s ; aphenomenon wh ich h as not again occu rredwi th respec t to mo re recent pes ti lence s o rigin ating in As i a .

I t was repo rted to Pope Clemen t a t Avignon that th roughout the Eas t

,p rob ably with

the exception o f Ch in a,

people h adfal len victims to the p l ague . In Flo rencethe re died o f the B l ack Pl ague

,in

Ven ice,

in Marse i l le s (in onemon th ) , in S ienna

,in Pa ri s

,

in S t . Denys , in Avignon,60

,

000 ; in S trasbu rg, in Lubeck,

inB asle

,in E rf i i rt (at l eas t ) , i n

We ima r,

in L imbu rg,

i n London

(at l eas t) , in No rwich,

towh ich may be added Franci sc an Fri a rs i nGermany M ino ri tes in I talyThis short c atalogue might by a l abo riousand unce rta in c al cul ation

,deduced f rom othe r

A .D . x348THE BLACK DEATH

sou rces,be eas i ly fu rthe r mul tipl i ed

,but would

sti l l f ai l to give a true p i ctu re o f the depopu lation wh ich took pl ace . Lubeck

,at th at time

the Ven ice o f the No rth,which could no

longe r conta in the mul ti tudes that flocked toi t,was th rown into such cons te rn ation on the

e ruption of the p l ague that the c i ti zens des troyed themselves as i f in f renzy . I t i s estimated that a numbe r o f smal l country townsand Vi l l ages

,which h ave been es timated

,and

not too h igh ly,at we re be re ft -of al l

the i r inh ab i tants .The whole pe riod du ring which the B l ackPl ague raged wi th des tructive v io l ence inEu rope was

,with the exception o f Russ i a

,

f rom the yea r 1 347 to 1 350 . The pl agueswhich in the sequel o ften retu rned unti l theyea r 1 383, we do no t cons ide r as belonging to“the G re at Mortal i ty .

” They were rathe rcommon pes ti lences

,without infl ammation

o f the lungs,such as in fo rme r times

,and

in the fol lowing cen tu ries we re exci ted by thematte r o f contagion eve rywhe re exi s ti ng

,and

wh i ch,on eve ry favo rab le o ccas ion

,gained

ground anew,as i s u su al ly the case wi th th i s

f rightful d ise ase .

The concou rse o f l a rge bod i es o f peoplewas especi a l ly d ange rous ; and thus the p rematu re celeb ration of the Jub i lee

,to wh ich

C l ement V I . c i ted the fai th ful to Romed u ring the great ep idemic

,caused

a new e ruption of the pl ague,f rom which

869

Durat ion ofthe plague

Ravagesamongpilgrims.

1 870 TH E WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS

i t i s s a i d th a t sca rcely one in a hund red o fthe p i lgrims escaped . I taly was

,in c onse

quenc e, depopul ated anew ; and those whoretu rned sp read po ison and co r ruption o fmo ral s in al l d i rections .

£35553,

O f al l the es timates o f the numbe r o f l iveslos t in Eu rope

,the mos t p rob ab le i s th at

,al

togethe r,a fou rth p art o f the inhab i tan ts we re

c a rried off : Now,i f Eu rope at p resen t con

ta in s inhab ti tants,the popul ation

not to take a h ighe r es timate,wh ich might

be e as i ly justified,amoun ted to at l e as t 1 05,

in the S ixteen th Centu ry.

I t may,the re fo re

,be assumed

,without ex

agge ration,th at Eu rope lo s t du ring the B l ack

Death o f inh ab i tan ts . That he rn ations coul d so qu ickly ove rcome such a fea rful concuss ion in the i r exte rn al c i rcums tances

,

and,in gene ral

,withou t re t rograd ing more

th an they actu al ly d id,coul d so develop the i r

ene rgies in the fo l lowing cen tu ry,i s a most

convinc ing p roo f o f the indes tructib i l i ty o f

55233313

3; human society as a whole . To as sume,how

V i si tatm eve r,

- th a t i t d i d not suffe r any essenti alch ange inte rn al ly

,because in appea rance

eve ryth ing remained as be fo re,i s incons i s tent

wi th a jus t Vi ew of - c ause and effec t . Manyh is to ri an s seem to h ave adopted such an Op inion

,accus tomed

,as u su al

,to j udge o f the

mo ral cond i tion o f the peop l e sol ely acco rding to the vi c i s s i tudes o f e a rth ly powe r

,th e

events o f b attl es,and the influence o f rel igion,

872 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A d ) . 1 348

s ins they h ad committed,and o ffe red p rayers

and suppl i c ations fo r the ave rting of th i sp l ague . This O rde r cons i s ted ch iefly o f pe rsons of the lowe r cl as s

,who were e i the r actu

ated by s in ce re contr i tion,o r who joyfu lly

avai led themselves o f th i s p retext fo r id lenes s

,and we re hu rri ed along wi th the tide o f

di s tracting f renzy . But as these b rothe rhoodsgained in repute

,and we re welcomed by the

people wi th vene ra tion and enthus i asm,many

nobles and eccles i as t ics ranged themselvesunde r thei r s tand a rd ; and the i r bands we renot in f requen tly augmented by chi l d ren

,hon

orab le women and nuns,so powerful ly were

the minds o f the mos t opposi te t emperaments

ensl aved by th i s in fatu ation . They marchedth rough the ci tie s

,in wel l o rgan ized p roc es

s ions,with le ade rs and s inge rs ; the i r heads

cove red as fa r as the eyes,the i r look fixed on

the ground,accompan ied by eve ry token o f

the deepes t cont ri tion and mou rn ing . Theywere robed in somb re ga rments

,with red

c ro sses on the b reas t,back

,and cap, and bo re

t ripl e scou rges tied in th ree o r fou r knots,in

which po ints o f i ron we re fixed . Ta‘pe rs andmagn ificen t b anne rs o f velvet and cloth o fgol d we re ca r r i ed be fo re them ; whereve r theymade the i r appea rance

,they we re welcomed

by the ringing o f the bel l s ; and the peopleflocked f rom al l qua rte rs to l i s ten to thei rhymns and to wi tnes s the i r pen ance

,with de

voti on and te a rs .

1 348 TH E BLACK DEATH 873

T he p roces s ions o f the B rothe rhood of theProcessions

C ross undoubted ly p romoted the sp reading of45532

1

111 1 1

the pl ague ; and i t i s eviden t th at the gloomyfanati c i sm which gave ri se to them would lnfuse a new po i son in to the al ready desponding minds o f the people .

S ti l l,howeve r

,al l th i s was wi th in the

bounds o f b arba rous enthus i asm ; but ho rrib lewe re the pe rsecutions o f the J ews which we recommi tted in mos t countries with even greate rexaspe ration th an in the Twel fth Centu rydu ring the fi rs t C rus ades . I n eve ry destru ctive pes ti l ence

,the common people at fi rs t at

t ribute the mo rtal i ty to po ison . N o instruc

tion avai l s ; the supposed tes timony o f thei reyes ight i s to them a p roo f

,and they au thori

tatively demand the Victims o f thei r rage . On£363}?vwhom then was i t so l ikely to f al l as on theJ ews

,the usu re rs and the s t range rs who l ived

at enmi ty with the Chri s t i an s ? They we reeve rywhe re su spected o f h aving po isoned thewell s o r in fected the a i r . They alone we recons i de red as h aving b rough t th is fea rfulmo rtal i ty upon the Ch ris ti ans . They were

,in

consequence,pu rsued wi th merc i les s c ruel ty

,

and e i the r ind i sc rimin ately given up to thefu ry o f the popul ace o r sentenced by s anguina ry t ribun al s

,which

,with al l the fo rms o f

l aw,o rde red them to be bu rned al ive .

A l ively image o f the Bl ack Pl ague,and o f

the mo ral evi l wh ich fol lowed in i ts train ,W i l l v iv i d ly rep resent i tsel f to h im who i s ac

874 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

qua i nted with n atu re and the cons ti tu tion o f

gfo

pfrgjpyns socie ty . Almos t the only c red ible accounts o f

l i fe afi ec ted the manne r o f l iving and o f the ruin whichoccu rred in p rivate l i fe du ring th i s pes ti l encea re f rom I taly ; and these may enab le us tofo rm a jus t es timate o f the gene ral s tate o ff amil ies in Eu rope

,taking into cons i de ration

what i s pecul i a r in the manne rs o f e achcountry .

“When the evi l h ad become un ive rs al

(sp eaking o f Flo rence )“the hea rts o f al l the

inhab i tants we re closed to feel ings o f humanity . They fled f rom the s i ck and al l th atb elonged to them

,hop ing by these means to

s ave themselves . O th e rs shu t themselves upin the i r houses

,with the i r wives

,the i r ch i ld ren

and households,l iving on the mos t costly food

,

but c a reful ly avo i d ing al l exces s . None wereal lowed acces s to them ; no inte l l igence o fdeath o r s i cknes s was pe rmi tted to re ach thei re a rs ; and they spent thei r t ime in s ingingand musi c

,and othe r p as times . O the rs

,on

Luxury and the con t ra ry, cons i de red eating and d rinkingexc em '

to exces s,amusements o f al l des c r ip tions

,the

indulgence o f eve ry gratification,and an i n

di ff e rence to what was p ass ing a round them ,

as the bes t med i c ine,and acted acco rdingly .

They wande red day and n igh t,f rom one

tavern to anothe r,and feasted wi thout moder

ation o r bounds . I n th i s way they ende avo redto avo id al l contact with the s i ck

,and ab an

doned the i r houses and p rope rty to chance,

876 THE WORLD ’


b and ; and at l as t, even the p a rent h i s own offsp ring

,and ab andoned them

,unvi s i te d and

unsoothed,to thei r f ate . Those

,the refo re

,th at

s too d in need o f as s i s tance fe l l a p rey to greedyattendants

,who fo r an exo rb i tant recompens e

me rely h anded the s i ck the i r food and medicine

,remained wi th them in the i r l as t mo

ments,and then no t in f requently became them

selves vi c tims to thei r ava ri ce and l ived notto enj oy thei r exto rted gain . Prop riety anddeco rum were extingui shed among the helpl es s s i ck . Females o f rank seemed to fo rgetthei r n atu ral b ash fulness

,and committed the

care o f thei r pe rsons,ind i sc rimin ate ly

,to men

and women o f the lowes t o rde r . No longe rwe re women

,rel atives o r f ri ends found in the

house o f mou rn ing,to sh are the gri e f o f the

su rvivo rs ; no longe r was the co rpse aecom

pan i ed to the grave by neighbo rs and a numerous t r ain o f p ries ts

,ca r rying wax tap ers

and s inging ps alms,no r was i t bo rne along by

othe r c i ti zen s o f equal r ank . Many b reathedthei r l as t wi thout a f ri end to soothe the i r dying p i l low ; and few indeed were they who de - 1

pa rted amid the l amentations and te a rs o fthe i r f r iends and kind red . Inste ad o f so rrowand mou rn ing appeared ind i ffe rence

,f rivol i ty

and mi rth ; th i s be ing cons ide red , especi al lyby the females

,as conducive to heal th . Sel

dom was th e body fol lowed by even ten o rtwelve attendants ; and instead o f the usualbe a re rs and sextons

,mercen aries o f the lowest

1 343 T H E BLACK DEATH 877

o f the popul ace unde rtook the offi ce fo r thes ake o f gain

,and accompan ied by only a few

p ries ts,and o ften wi thou t a s ingle tape r

,i t

was bo rne to the ve ry neares t chu rch,and

lowe red into the fi rs t grave th at was no t already too ful l to rece ive i t . Among the midd l ing cl asses , and especi al ly among the poo r,3312

5

21

33315

the mise ry was s ti l l greate r . Pove rty or negf

l igenc e induced mos t o f these to remain inthei r dwel l ings

,o r in the immed i ate ne igh

borhood ; and thus they fel l by thous and s : andmany ended the i r l ives in the st reets by dayand by n igh t . The stench o f pu tre fyingco rpse s was o ften the fi rs t ind i cation tothei r ne ighbo rs that mo re deaths h ad oc

cu r red . The su rvivo rs,to p rese rve them

selves f rom in fection,gene ral ly h ad the

bodies taken ou t o f the houses and l a i d b efo re the doo rs

,whe re the ea rly mo rn found

them in heaps,exposed to the aff ri ghted gaze

o f the pass ing s t range r . I t was no longe r poss ib le to h ave a b ie r for eve ry co rp se . Threeo r fou r were gene ral ly l ai d togethe r— husb and and‘wife

,f athe r and mothe r

,with two

o r th ree ch i l d ren,were f requently bo rne to 11 1 1 1 11 1 .

the grave on the s ame bie r ; and i t o ften h appened th at two p ries ts would accompany ac ofli n

,bea ring the c ross be fo re i t

,and be

j o ined on the way by seve ral o the r fune ral s °

so th at in s te ad o f one,the re we re fi ve or s ix

bodies fo r in te rment .”

Thus fa r Boccacc io . On the conduct o f the

878 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

p ries ts,anothe r c ontemporary

’f obse rves : In5& 3?f l a rge and smal l towns

,they h ad withdrawn

themselves th rough fea r,l eaving the pe rfo rm

ance o f ecc les i as ti c al dutie s to the few whowere found courageous and f ai th ful enoughto unde rtake them . But we ought not on th ataccount to th row mo re b l ame on them th an onthe oth e rs ; fo r we find p roo fs o f the s ametimid i ty and hea rtles snes s in eve ry cl ass .During th e p revalence o f the B l ack Pl ague

,

gige

fi iéfiii '

the ch a ri tabl e o rde rs conducted themselvesadmi rably

,and did as much good as can be

done by individu al bod ies in times o f greatmise ry and des truction ; when comp ass ion ,cou rage and the nobl e r fee l ings a re found butin the few

,whi le cowa rdi ce

,selfishnes s and

i l l -wi ll,with the b ase r p ass ions in thei r t rain

,

as se rt th e sup remacy .

!In 1 353, the conques t o f Gal l ipol i the keyo f the Hel lespon t

,gave the Ottomans thei r

fi rs t foo tho l d in E u rOpe . ]

Gu i llelm d e Nang is.

880 THE WORLD '


but on hi s way home he put into the ha rbo r ofPorto Lungo on the coas t o f Lacon i a . Here

,

almos t on the ve ry spot whe re a c rush ing blowh ad been infl i cted by the Athen i ans upon theSpa rtans in the Peloponnes i an wa r

,Dori a

pu rsued h im,and on Novembe r 3 succeeded

in b ringing on a b attl e wh ich resul ted in theen ti re defeat o f the Veneti ans . Dori a re

tu rned in t riumph to Genoa,b ringing wi th

h im the Veneti an Admi ral wi th al l h i s fleetand p ri sone rs . The defeat o f G rimald iat Loi era was amply revenged . The resul t o fthe battl e was

,fi rs t

,a suspens ion of a rms and

then a defin i te peace . The main cond itionswe re th at the Genoese and Veneti ans were toresto re e ach othe r’s p ri sone rs

,and the Vene

ti ans were not to s ai l to Rome fo r th ree years ;al so th at no Genoese sh ip was to p ass in to theAdri ati c

,and no Veneti an sh ip to p ass between

Po rto Pi s ano and Marse i l les . As a gua ranteefo r the obse rvance o f the cond i tions

,Ven ice

and Genoa were each to depos i t a hund redthous and gol d florins in S i en a

,Pis a

,Flo rence

,

o r Pe rugi a . The treaty was d ated June 1,

1 355Be fo re th i s t reaty was concluded a te rrible

consp i racy h ad been detected and pun i shed atVen ice . The consp i racy o f Marino Fal ie romay o r may not h ave h ad a romanti c o rigin .

I t i s ce rta in th at i ts real cause l ay in the fundamental ch a racte r o f Veneti an ins ti tutions . Weh ave seen how the gove rnment o f the Republ i c

EX ECUTION OF MARINO FALIERO

came gradual ly to be confined to a close o l iga rchy ; how the Great Counci l usu rped the (21 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 01Ten thepower wh ich belonged to the people on one Govern

ment .s ide

,and to the Doge on the othe r ; how the

G reat Counci l i tse l f was confined to a com

parati v ely few fami l ies ; and how the powe ro f the G reat Counci l was c i rcumscr ibed by thecreation o f a pol i ti cal inqui s i tion

,in the sh ape

o f the Counci l o f Ten . Lo rd Beac onsfi e ldi s bel i eved to have invented the te rm

,

“ou rVeneti an consti tu tion

,

” in speaking o f the E ngl i sh Gove rnment

,mean ing to imply that the

p arl i ament o r “the ch ambe rs

,

” as pe rh aps hewould have ca l l ed them

,have cu rtai led the

autho ri ty o f the sove re ign,and abso rbed the

pol i ti c al influence o f the people,and th at the

pa rl i ament i tse l f h ad fal l en into the h ands o fce rtain p rivi l eged fami l ies

,namely

,the Wh ig

famil ie s o f the revo lu tion o f 1 688 . I t i s notce rtain what end Fal i e ro h ad in View . Theidea h as been gene ral ly accep ted

,founded on 0 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 11

the evidence o f Matteo V i l l an i,th at he des i red 11 1 11 1 5

to es tab l i sh a popul a r gove rnmen t . Recentwri te rs h ave thought i t mo re p rob able th at hewished to es tabl i sh a despoti sm simi l a r to thoseexis ting in the othe r towns o f I taly . Certa ini t i s th at he wished to ove rth row the exclus iveautho ri ty o f the nobles . One o f h i s p rinc ip alaccompl ices was Be rtu c c io Isdrae l i

,a d is tin

gu i shed s a i lo r, and a man of the people . I tmay be th at the recent wa r agains t Genoa hadgiven an impulse to democracy, j us t as at

882 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

Athens the democrati c s a i lo rs took a pos i tiono f greate r influence when the fleet h ad beenb rought into p rominence . On the othe r h and

,

the Doge was connected wi th the most a ri s toc ra ti c f ami l ies of Ven ice ; the Republ i c wasnow extending i ts empi re on term fi rma

,and

h ad to fea r the rival ry o f the tyrants o f theLombard pl a in

,the E s te

,Gonz aghi , S cal ige ri ,

and V i sc ont1 . I t might be the mos t p atrioticcou rse in the p res s ing dange rs o f the S tate toconsol id ate power in to a s ingle b and . BothViews a re indeed reconci l ab l e . We see in theRepubl i c o f Hol l and th at the people we realways re ady to suppo rt the autho ri ty o f thes tadtholde rs agains t the ol iga rchy o f the ri chmerchants . Fal i e ro migh t bel i eve that hewas acting a p atrio ti c p a rt

,and that in shak

ing off the th raldom o f the nobles,he was not

only t rue to the h i s to ry o f h is country,but was

taking the bes t cou rse to p rese rve i t f rom im

minent dange r . These questions wi l l p robably neve r b e settl ed

,fo r the volume o f the

a rch ives o f the Counci l o f Ten,which i s s ai d

to h ave con ta ined the ful l account o f Fal ie ro ’sc rime

,has been los t beyond recove ry .

Howeve r th i s may be,a ri s ing was pl anned

3232533} fo r Ap ri l 1 5, 1 355 . The s ignal fo r action wasto be the sound o f the great bel l o f S t . Mark’s

,

which was neve r rung excep t by the exp res so rde r o f the Doge . A cry was to be made th atthe fleet o f Genoa was be fo re the town ; thenobles we re to be cut down as they ente red


of the pal ace,hold ing the b lood - s ta ined swo rd

wh ich h ad j us t done i ts wo rk . The gateswe re th rown open

,and the peop le s aw the

head o f the t ra i to r rol l ing in i ts b lood . Inthe great h al l o f the ducal pal ace

,whe re the

po rtra i ts o f the long l ine o f doges fo rm a co rn i ce below the roo f

,the re i s a s ingle gap . A

b l ack cu rtain cove rs the sp ace where a po rt rai t shoul d be

,and on i t i s wri tten

,

“LocusMarin i Fal ie ri decap i tati p ro c rim in i bus.

”

Such i s the s to ry of the vi ctim whom Byronh as immo rtal ized . Whateve r judgment wep ass on h i s ente rp ri se

,i ts f a i lu re h ad the effect

o f riveting more closely on doge and peoplethe fe tte rs o f a n arrow and susp i c ious ol iga rchy . Consp i racy ra rely succeeds

,and i s

neve r j us tified except by succes s .

!In 1 356, Edward the B l ack Prince defeated the French at Po i tie rs and took thei rking p ri sone r . This d is as te r was fol lowedby insu rrection in Pa ri s

,headed by Marcel . ]

T H E JA CQU E R IE

(A .D. 1358)

HENRI MARTIN

HAT the inhab i tants o f the countryh ad endu red fo r two yea rs su rp assed the measu re of human mis

the nob i l i ty h ad vi s i ted upon the i r sub

je c ts al l the b runt o f the d i s as te r at Poi tie rs,and had only kept the sh ame o f i t fo r themselves . One can imagine what might be thegreat tax upon the feud al l ands o f many thous ands of ransoms ; th e nobles could no t, no r di dthey wish to

,bo rrow f rom the Lombards

,o r

Jews,at th at time p ros c ribed and sc atte red ;

whosoeve r h ad money would rathe r bu ry i tth an lend i t ; to sel l the i r l ands in sum o r inpa rt was no t p racti c able ei the r ; th at mass o ffi efs

,even at a low p rice

,would no t find pu r

chase rs ; the peas an t p aid fo r eve ryth ing .

Each lo rd d rew f rom his f ree peas ants asmuch aid as pos s ib le ; as fo r the se rfs , at themercy o f taxation

,the wh ip

,the dungeon

,and

to rtu re we re use ful in exto rting f rom thei rve ry bodies the i r l as t penny ; the i r compl aintswe re rep l ied to by blows and gibes ;

“J acques(885)

Suff eringsof thepeasantry.

886 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

Bonhomme,as the sold ie rs cal l ed the peas

ant,

“J acques Bonhomme has a good back,he

s tands eve ryth ing !” He would sti l l h ave suffered eve ryth ing

,be ing so wel l accustomed to

i t,i f he h ad been al lowed to b reathe again

and to get b ack to wo rk ; but afte r the lo rdscame the b rigands : J acques Bonhomme hadsca rcely del ive red to h is maste r the humbles avings accumul ated du ring two o r th ree generations

,when companies a rr ived to empty h is

s tabl e,to ca rry away from his b a rn the l i ttl e

that the lo rd h ad l eft,and

,in thei r tu rn

,to

l e ave beh ind them rape,murde r and c onfla

grati on, whil e the lo rd , f rom the . secu ri ty ofh i s wel l - forti fi ed and wel l - p rovi s ioned manorhouse

,looked wi th t ranqui l l ity upon the peas

ant’s bu rn ing cab in wi thout deign ing to d rawa bol t upon the b rigands

,— gentlemen mos t

o f them,and pe rh ap s

,indeed

,hi s rel atives .

Afte r h aving seen h is d aughte r outraged andh i s son mass ac red

,J acques Bonhomme

,fam

i shed and bleed ing, i s sued f rom the ruin s o fh i s bu t.On the 28th o f May seve ral menu es gem

of S ain t-Leu de Cérent (o r E ssérent) , Noin

The fi sing,tel

,Cramois i

,and seve ral o the r Vi l l ages o f

Beauva is i s and the envi rons o f Cle rmont,as

sembled and agreed th at al l the nobles o fFrance

,knights and squ i res

,honn i ssoi ent

!sh amed ] and betrayed the kingdom,and

that i t would be a ve ry good th ing to des troy

Common peop le .

888

S tupe fa c

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

The nob i l i ty was stupefi ed : beas ts o f p rey1 1 11 1 1 11 1 1 11 5 would not have been more as ton i shed i f thenob ility.

flocks which they a re accustomed to te ar top ieces without res is tance shoul d sud denly tu rnupon them with fu ry . S ca rcely any Of thenobl es t ri ed to de fend themselves : the mos ti l lus t rious fami l i es fled ten o r twenty leaguesaway when the app ro ach o f the J acques wasnoted and s aw beh ind them ramparts and dungeons c rumbl ing in the whi rlwind of fl amesmo re th an s ixty fo rtresses and “bonnes maisons” were des troyed in B eauvai s i s

,Amieno i s

and S an te r re ; more th an a hund red in Valo i sand the d ioceses Of Laon

,Noyon and So is sons

,

without counting those des troyed in B ri s,in

the envi rons o f S enl i s and in the othe r d i stri c ts o f the I l e de France and in Champagne .

All the cas tl es o f the house o f Montmo renciwere raz ed . The Duchess o f O rl e ans hadba rely time to es cape f rom Beaumont- su r -O i se

,

whi c hwas s acked immedi ately a fte r her fl igh t ;she sough t shel te r at Meaux

,to which the

Duchess o f No rmandy and mo re th an th reehund red noble l adies and gi rl s had reti red “i nfea r o f being outraged and subsequently mur

Fl ight o f de red by these wicked people , s ays Fro iss a rt .nob le ladiesThey coul d hope fo r no mercy ; no insu rrectiono f modern times h ad such a te rrib le and atroc ious ch a racte r The J acques possessed nolonge r the rel igious exal tation o f the shephe rds ; they wai ted no longe r fo r the HolyS pi ri t and the re ign o f J us tice ; they fought so

1 358 T H E JACQUERIE 889

as to retu rn to rtu re fo r to rtu re,outrage fo r

outrage,so as to empty ou t in a few days thatgfii ‘ifii f;

ho rrib l e s to re o f h atred and vengeance thatno mm y '

had been t ransmi tted f rom age to age by thegene rations th at h ad died upon the l and . Thescenes du ring the revol t o f the b l acks a t S anDomingo can alone give an idea o f whatp assed in the cas tl es invaded by the J acques .They even ki l led l i ttl e ch i l d ren who had notyet done any evi l

,

” s ays the continu ato r o fN angis .Desp i te the excesses and c ruel t ies o f the

J acques,the middle cl ass p arty coul d no t re

s i s t p rofi ting by such a dive rs ion,and many

“ri ch men,

” on the spu r o f the moment,min

gled in the J acque rie to endeavo r to mode rateand d i rect i t . Marcel resolutely tri ed both *

he sent th ree hund red Pa ri s i ans to help the 33535“

J acques take the s trong Chate au d ’

E rmenon- ffifijiéfifie‘

é’

Vi l l e : they did not cu t the th ro ats o f the peoplethey found the re ; but they fo rced them to re

nounce genti lesse and nob i l i ty : thus s ays Robe rt de Lo rri s

,King John ’s Chambe rl a in

,one

o f the seven grand ofli c ers l ate r denouncedby the S tate . That b and o f J acques

,having

,

howeve r,begun again mass ac res e l s ewhere

,

the Pari s i an detachment sep a rated itsel f,and

,

on Marcel ’s o rde r,t rave rsed the country

th roughout to publ i sh th at “on pain o f losing hi s head

,no one

,unles s he wi shed to make

h imsel f enemy of the good ci ty o f Pa ri s,

shoul d ki l l the wives o r ch i ld ren o f gentle

890 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT E VENTS

men,no r p i l l age

,bu rn

,o r dest roy houses be

longing to them . Pari s o ffe red an asylumto such noble fami l i es as we re not noto riouslyiden tified wi th the pa rty th at wished i l l to thepeople . But

,at the s ame time

,Marce l con

tinued to nego ti a te with the l e ade rs o f theJ acquesThe peasants

,on the othe r h and

,fel t the

necess i ty o f al lying themselves wi th the bou r

geoi s ; they wen t to Compiegne , a royal i s ttown

,which shu t i ts gates to them

,but they

were rece ived in Sen l i s : they were mas te rs o fal l th e flat country f rom Pari s to Noyon

,Soi s

Peasantsand Laon ;

“and the re we re,

” the Ohmn i qu e d e Sa i nt D en i s s ays— “the re were ve ryfew towns o r ci ties in France th at we re notmoved agains t the nobles

,whethe r in sym

pathy wi th Pa ri s o r wi th the peasants .” Thecommon peop le o f the c i ties sympathi zedeve rywhe re wi th the

'

Pari s i ans,and even with

the J acques : a succes s o f some impo rtance hadgained ove r al l the mun ici pal co rps th a t s ti l lhes i tated . Marcel

,who wanted to rep ress a

plo t fo rmed to in troduce the sold ie rs o f theregent in to Pari s

,reso lved to make an attack

SEE?” upon Meaux : the regent h ad su r rounded,with

ve ry st rong wal l s,the market o f th at town

,s i t

u ated on an i s l and fo rmed by the Marne andthe c an al o f the Co rn i l lon

,and had conve rted

i t into h i s s t ronghold . The attack was so

l i c i ted by the inh ab i tants o f Meaux themselves

,who did not d are alone to ri se up

892 THE WORLD ’


to o ffe r the se rvices o f s ixty val i ant l ances .The gentlemen of the ga rri son

,exci ted by the

dange r to the l ad ies and the p resence o f theserenowned knights

,d id not wai t fo r an attack

,

but opened the gate of the Market and im

petuou sly ch a rged the peas ants ,“who were

b l ack and l i ttl e and ve ry badly armed,s ays

Fro i ss a rt . These unhappy men,hal f -naked

,

missh apen,and more th an hal f famished

,

coul d not withs tand the shock of men whowere robust

,ski l fu l and p rotected with al

most impenetrab le a rmo r : they ki l l ed seve ralkn ights

,howeve r ; but they we re ve ry soon

ove rth rown,and complete ly put to rou t ;

“thesol d ie rs cu t them to pieces

,and ki l l ed those

they h ad lef t whole by making them jumpin to the r ive r of M arne . They put anend to more th an seven thous and” (Froiss a rt ) . The victo rs

,c ros s ing the b ri dge pel l

mel l wi th the fugi t ives,rushed upon the

town " ‘l ike fu ries,

” mass ac red o r took as p ri sone rs al l the bou rgeo is th at they coul d sei ze

,

p‘

i l l aged the houses and the chu rches,and

s ta rted a fi re in Meaux th at bu rned fi f teendays . The town was ve ry nea rly des troyed :the faubou rg h ad been burned during the attack

,and the inh ab i tants who wished to flee

had been d riven into the fl ames at the l ancepo in t . The M ayo r

,J ean Soul as

,who was

among the p ri sone rs,was h anged (June

Thi s fi rs t comb at was deci s ive agains t theJ acque ri e ; the nob les, recove ring f rom the i r

1 551 TH E JACQUERIE 893

fi rs t f right,a rmed on eve ry s ide and cal l ed

to thei r a i d al l the i r re l atives and f riends inthe Low Coun tries ; they immedi ately tookagain the o ffen s ive and imi tated eve rywhe re

,

as best they could,the example o f the ga rri

son of Me aux, which , afte r i ts bloody Victo ry,se t i tsel f the task o f rush ing th rough the

country,bu rn ing the Vi l l ages

,and cutting the

th roats o f a l l the peas an ts th at fe ll into i tsh ands . The paroxysm of fury which hadt ranspo rted the peasants began to give pl aceto d i scou ragemen t and f ri ght : the ch ie f of theJ acque rie de Beauvoi s in

,Guil l aume C al le t

, Gu i l laumewho was cal le d the K1 ng o f the J acques

,ga

jlr

e

egr ies

tried to treat with the King o f N ava r re ; butgm;Charles the B ad fe a red i f he accepted such an 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 11 .

al l i ance th at he would pl ace h imsel f unde ra b an wi th the nobi l i ty ; two o f the rel ativeso f the S i re de P i c qu in i , the most cons ide rabl eo f h i s p a rtis ans

,had

,moreove r

,been put to

death by the J acques . Charles of Navar regave cou rteous speech to the “King o f theJ acques” and to h i s p rinc ip al adhe ren ts

,who

repa i red to Cle rmont upon the invi ta tion o f theN av arroi s ; but the bou rgeoi s o f Cle rmont a rrested the ch ie fs o f th e peas ants and del ive redthem to the N av arro i s

,who cut Off the 1 r

heads . A contempo ra ry autho r p retends th athe c rowned Gui l l aume Cal le t with a trivet o fred -hot i ron . Afte r th i s execution

,the King

Behav ior ofo f N ava rre

,accompan ied by the Count o f Cha rles of

Navarre .S aint- Pol

,went to c rush

,unawares

,a body o f

894 T H E WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS

insu rgent peas ants encamped nea r M ontd i

d i e r,and kil led th ree thousand and s catte red

the re s t .The regen t and h i s so ld ie rs

,between the

S eine and the Marne,and the S i re Enguer

rand de Couci,between the O i se and the Aisne

,

l ikewi se des troyed numerous b ands o f theJ acques . The nobles and the i r auxi l i a ri es th ath ad come from eve ry si de

,

'

gave ch ase to thepeas ants

,as the l atte r h ad done to the nob les

they found them ; more th an twen ty thouants and se rfs

,

“gu i l ty o r not,

” in the houses,

in the fields,i n the Vineya rds

,whereve r

Numerous$333e

they found them ; more th an twenty thoud estroyed~ s and h ad pe ri shed befo re S ain t-John ’s D ay

,

and the ca rn age continued fo r long afte rward .

Enti re can tons were nea rly depopul ated .

“Such great evi l h ad been done by the nobleso f France

,th a t the re was no need fo r the

Engl i sh to des troy the count ry ; fo r, in t ruth ,th e Engl i sh

,enemies o f the kingdom

,coul d

not h ave done what the n ative nob les h addonef

’

Such was the annih i l ation o f tha t great insu r rection o f the peas ants o f th ree p rovinces

(I l e de France, P i c a rd ie, and Champagne ) ,which a s ingl e Vi cto ry h ad p ropagatedth roughout France : the J acques we re de

Through s troyed , the bou rgeo is democ racy en feebledthe Ja cquerie F rance and sh aken

,the nob i l i ty rev ived\ and heated

ga ined 3.by the blood sp i l led and by easy success . Theresul t o f the J acque ri e was to give an a rmy to

C O S M O D E’

M E D l C l

(A .D . 1389—1464)

W ILLIAM ROSCOE

HE f ami ly o f the Medici h ad fo r manyages been es teemed one o f the mos tcons i de rabl e in the republ i c ; nor have

the re been wanting autho rs who have de rivedi ts eminence f rom the age o f Charl emagne :but i t mus t b e remembered th at these genealogies h ave been the p roduction of subsequenttimes

,when the el evation o f th i s fami ly to the

sup reme command in Flo rence made i t nec ess a ry to imp res s on the minds o f the people anidea o f i ts antiqu i ty and respectab i l i ty . I tappea rs

,howeve r

,f rom authenti c monuments

,

th at many ind ividual s o f th i s f amily had s ignal i z ed themselves on impo rtan t occas ions .Giovann i de ’ Medic i

,in the yea r 1 35 1 , with

a body o f only one hund red Flo ren tines,fo rced

h i s way th rough the Mil anese a rmy,then be

s i eging the fo rt res s o f S ca rpe ri a,and ente red

the pl ace with the los s o f twen ty l ives .Salv estro de ’ Medi ci acqu i red great reputa

tion by h i s tempe rate but fi rm res i s tance to thetyranny o f the nobles

,who

,in o rde r to secu re

(896)

A : D . 1 389- 1 464

COSMO DE ’ MEDICI

the i r powe r,accused those who opposed them

of being attached to the pa rty of the Gh ibe ll ines

,then in great od ium at Flo rence . The

pe rsonsso accused were s ai d to be admoni shed,

ammon i tz’

,and by th at act we re excluded f rom

al l offi ces o f gove rnment . This custom wasa t length car ried to such an extreme as to become insu ffe rabl e . In the yea r 1 379, S alvestro

,being chosen ch ie f magis t rate

,exe rted hi s

powe r in re fo rming th i s abuse ; which was not,however

,effected without a vio lent commo

tion,in which seve ral o f the nob i l i ty los t thei r

l ives . Afte r the de ath o f Salv estro,h is son

,

Ve ri de ’ Medic i,continued to hol d a h igh

rank in the republ i c,and

,l ike the res t o f th is

fami ly,was always in great f avo r wi th the

popul ace .

The pe rson,howeve r

,who may be s a id to

h ave l ai d the foundation o f that greatnes swh ich hi s pos te ri ty enjoyed for seve ral ages

,

was Giovann i de ’ Medi ci,the great grand

fathe r of Lo renzo . By a s tr ic t attention tocommerce

,he acqu i red immense. weal th ; by

h i s affab i l i ty,mode ration

,and l ibe ral i ty

,he

ensu red the confidence and esteem of h is fellow—ci tiz ens . W i thou t seeking afte r the offi ceso f the republ i c

,he was hono red with them all .

The maxims,wh i c h

,uni fo rmly pu rsued

,ra i sed

the house o f Med ic i to the splendo r which i tafte rwa rd enj oyed

,a re to be found in the

cha rge given by th is vene rab l e old man onh i s dea thbed to h i s two sons

,Cosmo and LO

897

G iovannide ’ Medi c r.

898

Giovanni ’scha rge toh i s sons .

Cosmo ’sreputation .

THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 1 389- 1 464

renzo : I fee l,s a id he

,

“th at I h ave l ived thetime p res c r ibed me . I d ie conten t ; l e avingyou

,my sons

,i n affluence and in he al th

,and

in such a sta tion,th at whi l e you fo l low my ex

ampl e,you may l ive in you r n ative pl ace

,hon

o red and respected . Noth ing aff o rds me morep le asu re than the reflection th at my conducth as not given off ence to any one ; but th at, onthe contra ry

,I h ave endeavo red to se rve al l

pe rsons to the bes t o f my ab i l i ti es . I advi seyou to do the s ame . W i th respect to the honors of the S tate

,i f you would l ive wi th sec u r

i ty,accep t only such as a re bes towed on you by

the l aws,and the f avo r o f you r fel low- c i t i

zens ; fo r i t i s the exe rc i s e o f th at powe r whichi s ob tained by violence

,and no t o f th at which

i s volun ta ri ly given,th at occas ions h atred and

contention .

” He died in the yea r 1 428, l e aving two sons

,Cosmo

,bo rn in the yea r 1 389,

and Lo renzo,in 1 394, f rom the l atte r o f whom

is de rived the col l a te ral b ranch o f the fami ly

,which in the beginn ing of the S ixteenth

Centu ry ob tained the absolute sove reignty ofTuscany .

Even in the l i fe time o f h i s f athe r,Cosmo

had engaged h imsel f deeply,not only in the

extens ive commerce by wh i ch the family h adacqu i red i ts we al th

,but in the weightie r con

ce rns o f gove rnment . Such was h is autho ri tyand reputation

,th at in the yea r 1 4 1 4, when

B al th as a r Coss a,who had been elected Pope,

and had assumed the name o f John XXI II ,

900 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS u p . 1 389- 1 464

“

sou rce o f the weal th o f the Medic i was thei rsupe rio r talents and appl ic ation to comme rce .

The p rope rty o f the Cardin al was s ca rcely suffi c i ent to di sch arge h i s legacies and h is deb ts .Afte r the death o f Giovann i de ’ Medici

,

Cosmo supported and inc reased the f ami lyd igni ty . His conduct was un i fo rmly markedby u rb ani ty and kindness to the supe rio r rankso f h is fel low - c i t iz ens

,and by a cons tan t atten

tion to the in te rest and the wants o f the lowe rcl as s

,whom he re l i eved with unbounded gen

erosi ty. By these means he acqu i red numerous and zealous p a rti s ans o f eve ry denomination ; but he rathe r cons ide red them as pledgesfo r the con tinu ance o f the power he possessed

,

th an as ins t ruments to be employed in extending i t to the ru in and subj ugation o f the S tate .

“No fami ly,

” s ays Vol ta i re,

“eve r ob tained i tspowe r by so j us t a ti tl e .

”

The autho ri ty wh ich Cosmo and h i s desc endants exe rc i sed in Flo rence du ring theFi f teenth Centu ry was of a ve ry pecul i a r natu re ; and cons i s ted rathe r in a taci t influenceon thei r p a rt

,and a volunta ry acqu ies cence on

that o f the people,th an in any p resc r ibed o r

defini te compact between them . The fo rm ofgove rnmen t was os tens ib ly a republ i c

,and was

d i rected by a counci l o f ten c i ti zens,and a

ch ief executive offi ce r cal l ed the Gonfalon ie re,

o r standa rd - bea re r,who was chosen eve ry two

months . Unde r th is es tab l i shment the ci tizens imagined they enj oyed the ful l exe rcise

A .D . 1 389- 1 464 COSMO DE . MEDICI

o f thei r l ibe rties ; but such was the powe r o fthe Medici

,th a t they general ly e i the r as sumed

to themselves the fi rs t offices o f the S tate,o r

nominated such pe rsons as they thought p rope rto those employments . In th is

,howeve r

,they

paid great respec t to popul a r Op in ion . Thatoppos i tion o f inte res ts so gene ral ly app a ren tbetween the people and the i r rule rs

,was at

th i s time sca rcely pe rce ived at Flo rence,where

supe rio r qual ifications and industry we re thesu res t recommendations to publ i c autho ri tyand favo r . Convinced of the benefi ts constantly rece ived f rom thi s fami ly, and s ati sfiedthat they could at any time wi thd raw themselves f rom a connection th at exacted no en

901

gagements,and requ i red on ly a temporary Fa thers ,

acqu iescence,the Flo rentines cons ide red the

rM CdICI as the fathe rs,and not as the rule rs

,

o f the republ i c . On the othe r h and,the ch ie fs

o f th i s house,by appea ring rathe r to decl ine

than to cou rt the hono rs bes towed on them,

and by a s ingul a r mode ration in the use o fthem when obtained

,were ca re ful to mainta in

the ch a racte r o f s imp l e c i ti zens o f Flo rence,and se rvants o f the S tate . An inte rch ange ofreci p rocal good offices was the only tie bywh ich the Flo ren tines and the Medic i we rebound

,and pe rh aps the long continuance o f

th i s conf ection may be attributed to the ve ryci rcumstance o f i ts h aving been in the powe ro f e i the r o f the parties

,a t any time

,to d i s

solve i t .

not rulers,of theRepubl ic .

902 THE WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS A .D . 1 389- 1 464

I f,f rom cons ide ring the p rivate ch a racte r

o f Cosmo,we attend to h i s conduct as the mod

c rato r and d i recto r o f the Flo rentine Repub l i c,

ou r admi ration of h is ab i l i ti es wil l inc reasewi th the exten t o f the theatre upon wh ich heh ad to ac t . So imp'o rtant we re h i s me rcanti leconce rns

,th at they often influenced

,in a ve ry

remarkabl e degree,the pol i ti cs o f I taly . When

Al fonso,King of N aples

,l eagued with the

Veneti ans agains t Flo rence,Cosmo cal led in

such immense deb ts f rom those pl aces as de

p ri ved them of resou rces fo r ca rrying on thewa r . During the contes t between the Houseso f Yo rk and Lancas te r

,one o f h i s agents in

Engl and was reso rted to by Edward IV . fo ra sum o f money

,which was acco rd ingly fu r

n i shed,to such an extrao rd in a ry amount

,th at

i t migh t almost be cons i de red as the means o fsuppo rting that monarch on the th rone

,and

was rep aid when h i s succes ses en ab led h im tofu lfi l h i s engagement . The al l i ance o f Cosmowas sedulous ly cou rted by the p rinces o f I taly ;and i t was rema rked th at

,by a happy kind o f

fatal ity,whoeve r un i ted thei r in te res t with h i s

were always en ab led e i the r to rep res s o r toove rcome thei r adve rs a rie s . By his as s i s tancethe Republ i c o f Ven i ce res i s ted the un ited at

tacks of Fil ippo,D uke o f Mil an

,and o f the

French nation,but when dep rived of h is sup :

po rt,the Veneti ans we re no longe r able to

withs tand thei r enemies . W i th whateve r di ffic u lti es Cosmo had to encounte r

,at home o r

T H E I N V A S I O N O F T A M E R L A N E

(A .D. 1397)

MAHUMMU D CAS IM FERISHTA

MIR TIMUR,be ing in fo rmed of the

commotions and civi l wars o f H indos tan

,began hi s exped i tion in to th at

country,in the e igh t hund redth year o f the

H i gerah, and on the twel fth o f M ohi rrim inthe fol lowing yea r a r rived on the b anks o f theChule j allal i f

K He immedi ately desp atchedAmi r Sheeb Noo r u l Dien to di spossess Shabu l Dien M ub ari c k

,who h ad in cha rge the de

fence of the f rontie r d i s tri cts . When Shec hNoo r u l Dien h ad a r rived wi th in a few mileso f Sh ab u l Dien M ubari c k

,he summoned h im

to submi t to Timur . But as the impe ri al gene ral h ad p revious ly re tre ated in to a s tronghold

,on the b ank of the rive r

,round wh ich

he had d rawn a di tch,fo rming the pl ace into

an i s l and,he dete rmined to de fend h imsel f . to

the l as t .Shec h Noo r u l Dien

,however

,found means

,

upon making h i s app ro aches,to fi l l up the

d i tch : but at n igh t he suffe red a cons ide rable

A r iver on the front iers of H i ndostan .

T H E INVAS ION OF TAMERLANE 905

l oss,by a violen t s al ly o f the bes ieged ; whom,

i n the end,he repul sed

,and fo rced to take

shel te r wi th in thei r wal l s . Ami r Timu r himsel f advanced agains t the enemy with hi swhole a rmy . Sh ab u l Dien

,intimidated by

the app roach o f Timu r,s towed p rivately

,in

fo rty boats,h i s tre asu re and fami ly

,and fel l

down the rive r,being two days pu rsued in vai n

by She c h Noo r u l Dien,who was detached

with a pa rty a fte r h im . The garri son,afte r

the dep artu re o f the i r l eade r,immedi ately

su r rende red .

Ami r Timu r p roceeded down the rive r toTamerlane

the c onflux o f the'

j imboo and Chin ab , whe re laysT u lmub 1 n 1 underthere was a s t rong fo rt and town

,known

‘

bythe n ame o f T u lmub in i . He o rde red a bri dgeto be l a i d ac ros s

,by which h is army m ight

pass . Having p i tched h is c amp wi thout th etown

,he l a id i t unde r a heavy contri bution .

But whi le the inh ab i tants we re ve ry busy incol l ecting the sum demanded

,a compl a int was

made in the camp of the sc a rc i ty o f p rovi s ions,

and o rde rs we re i s sued to se ize grain whe reeve r i t should be found . The sold ie rs uponth i s h as tened to sea rch the town

,but not be ing

con ten t to take p rovis ion s alone,th e n atu ral

consequence was that a gene ral p lunder en-

The ,n_sued . The inh ab i tants

,endeavo ring to oppose fia

‘

éfié‘

fii d ,

th i s out rage,were mass ac red without me rcy .

To bes iege the c i tadel would bu t re ta rd thed es igns o f Timu r . He the re fo re ma rched

,

th e next day afte r the;amass ac re

,to a town

906

M irza PierMahummudi sblockadedin Mou ltan .

THE WORLD '


c al l ed Shawnawaz e,where he found more

grain th an was sufli c i ent to se rve h i s wholea rmy . He the re fo re o rde red th at what coul dno t be ca r ried away should be bu rned

,hav

ing p revious ly cut off J i sseri t, the b rothe r o fShuha Giker

,who had attempted to de fend

the pl ace wi th two thous and men . Timurmarched

,on the th i rd d ay

,f rom Shawnawaze

,

and,c ros s ing the Bea

,came into a ri ch and

p lenti ful country .

I t may no t be imp rope r he re to s ay someth ing conce rn ing the p roceed ings of Mirz aP i e r M ahummud

,afte r h is h aving taken

M ou ltan . The so l s t i ti a l ra in s h aving des troyed a gre at p a rt o f h i s caval ry in the field

,

he was unde r the neces s i ty o f d rawing h i s a rmyin to the ci ty o f M ou ltan . The re he wasd riven to the utmost d i s t ress by the inhab itan ts o f the country

,who h ad close ly inves ted

h im . His caval ry,i ns tead o f being abl e to ac t

again s t them,dimin ished dai ly in the i r num

bers,fo r wan t o f fo rage .

In thi s untoward s i tu ation we re the a ffai rso f th at P rince

,when h i s grand fathe r

,Ami r

Timu r,ente red H indos tan

,who immedi ate ly

re in fo rced M ahummud with a detachment o fth i rty thous and chosen ho rse

,and soon j oined

him wi th h i s whole a rmy . The Prince c a r ri edin h i s mind great an imos i ty agains t the Governor o f Batten i z e

,who had ch iefly di s t res sed

h im . Ami r Timu r h imsel f,to ch as ti se the

Gove rno r,se lected ten thous and ho rse

,wi th

908

The J its exterminated .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A ~D » 1 397

In consequence o f th i s inhuman o rde r,five

hund red pe rsons in a few minutes we re putto death . Those who remained s ti l l wi th inthe fo rt we re so s t ru ck wi th th i s mass ac re thatthey set fi re to the p l ace

,murdered thei r wives

and ch i l d ren,and

,in me re despa i r

,sough t

a fte r noth ing but revenge and death . Thescene now became te r rib le indeed !but the unfo rtun ate inh ab i tants we re

,in the end

,cu t

off'

to a man ; they, howeve r, revenged themselves amply upon the rap ac ious and inbuman autho rs o f the i r d i s t res s

,some thousands

o f the Mogul s h aving fal l en by thei r h ands .This so much exasp e rated Ami r Timu r

,th at

fi reb rand o f the worl d,th at he o rde red every

soul in Batten i ze to be mass ac red and to t e

duce the ci ty i tsel f to ashes .Timur

,march ing to Su rusti

,put the inhab i

tants o f th at p l ace,al so

,to the swo rd

,and gave

the town up to p i l l age . Advancing to Fatteab ad

,he continued the s ame s cene o f b a rb a ri ty

th rough th at and the adj acen t towns o f Rahib,

Ami ran i,and J onah . He detached Hakim

Agherac k towa rd Sammana with five thous and ho rse

,and wi th the few that remained he

himsel f s cou red the country and cu t off a tribeo f bandi tt i c al led J i ts

,who had l ived fo r some

yea rs by rap ine . His a rmy,in the meantime

,

being divided unde r d i ffe rent ch i e fs,ca rri ed

fi re and swo rd th rough al l the p rovinces o fM ou ltan and Laho re

,but when they advanced

nea r the cap i tal,he o rde red a gene ral ren

A . D - t 397 THE IN VAS ION OF TAMERLANE 909

dezvous at Ke i t i l,a town with in five c ro res o f

Sammana .

Timu r h imsel f soon j o ined hi s a rmy,and

,

having r egul ated the o rde r o f h i s march,ad

vanc ed towa rd Delh i . When he reached Pann i put, he o rde red h i s sol d ie rs to put on theirfighting app a rel f

f and th at he migh t be thebette r suppl ied wi th fo rage

,c ros sed the Jum

na,took the fo rt o f Lowni by ass aul t

,and pu t

the gar ri son to the sword . He then marcheddown along the rive r

,and encamped oppos i tegr

a

l-322112?

to the ci tadel o f Delh i,pos ting gua rds to p re - fore D elh i

vent al l commun ication . He immed i ate ly detac hed Ami r Sol iman Shaw and Ami r J ehanShaw to s cou r the country beh ind him to thesouth and southeas t o f the ci ty ; whil e he h imsel f th at ve ry day

,with seven hund red ho rse

only,c rossed the rive r to reconno i tre the

ci tadel .Mahmood Shaw and Mul lu E c kbal Chan

,

s eeing so few in the retinue of Timu r,i s sued

fo rth with five thous and foot and twenty- sevenel ephants agains t h im . M ahummud S i ll i f

,an

Omrah of repute in Delh i,who led the attack

,

was repul sed and taken p ri sone r by the Moguls . Timu r o rde red him to be immed i atelybeheaded

,and afte r h aving made the obse rva

tions which he des igned,repas sed the rive r

and jo ined the a rmy .

He next mo rning moved h i s camp more tothe ea s twa rd

,where he was tol d

,by the p rinces

Coats stu ffed th ick w ith cotton , worn instead o f a rmo r .

91 0

Tamerlanecrosses theJumna .

THE WORLD ’


and gene ral s o f h i s a rmy,th at the re were then

above one hund red thous and p ri sone rs in h isc amp

,who h ad been taken s ince he c rossed

the S ind ; th at these un fo rtunate pe rsons h ad ,the d ay befo re

,exp res sed great j oy when they

saw h im attacked befo re the c i tadel ; whichrende red i t extremely p rob ab l e th at

,on a day

o f b attl e,they would j o in wi th the i r country

men aga ins t h im . The inhuman Timu r,who

,m igh t h ave found other means o f p revention ,gave o rde rs to put al l above the age o f fi fteento the swo rd

,so th at

,upon th at ho r ri d day

,

one hund red thous and men were mass ac red incold blood . This b a rb a ri ty

,togethe r wi th h i s

othe r actions of equal c ruel ty,gained him the

n ame of H i llak Chan,o r the Des troying

Prince .Upon‘ the fi f th o f Jemmad u l Awil

,Timur

fo rded the rive r wi th h i s a rmy wi thout oppos i tiou and encamped on the pl ains o f Fi roseab ad

,where he in trenched h imsel f

,fi l l ing the

d i tch wi th bu ffaloes f ronting the enemy,whom

he fas tened wi th ropes and p i ckets to thei rs tations

,pl acing

,a t th e s ame time

,s trong

gua rds,at p rope r d i s tances

,behind them .

Though the as tro loge rs p ronounced the sev

enth an unlucky day, the King marched out o fh i s l ines and d rew up h is a rmy in o rde r ofb attl e . Sul tan Mahmood and Mullu E c kbal

Chan,with the a rmy of Delh i and one hun

d red and twen ty el eph ants in mail,advanced

towa rd h im . But upon the ve ry fi rs t charge

91 2 T H E WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS

the con tribution acco rding to the weal th andrank o f the inh ab i tants . In fo rmation was

,in

the mean time,lodged

,th at seve ral omrahs and

ri ch men had shu t themselves up in thei rhouses

,with thei r dependants

,and re fused to

p ay down thei r sh a re o f the ransom . Thisobl ige d Timur Shaw to send t roops in to thec i ty

,to en fo rce the autho ri ty o f the magis

t rates . A gene ral con fus ion,up ro a r

,and

plunde ring immed i ately fol lowed,which

could not be res t ra ined by the Mogul ofli c ers,

who,at the s ame time

,du rs t not acquain t the

King th at the i r autho ri ty was contemned bythe troops .Timur was then busy in h i s c amp

,in cele

b rating a grand fes tival on accoun t o f h i s vi cto ry

,so th at i t was five days befo re he received

any intel l igence of these p roceedings . Thefi rs t noti ce he h ad o f them was by the fl ameso f the ci ty ; fo r the H indoos , acco rd ing to the i rmanne r

,seeing thei r wives and daughte rs rav

i shed and pol lu ted,the i r weal th se i zed by the

h and o f rap ine,and they themselves beat and

abused,at l ength

,by one consen t

,shu t the

ci ty gates,se t fi re to the i r houses

,murde red

thei r wives and ch i l d ren,and ran out l ike

madmen agains t the i r enemies .But l i ttl e e ff ect h ad the desp ai r o f the un

fo rtunate upon the M ogu ls,who soon col lectedthemselves and began a gene ral mass ac re .

Some st reets we re rende red impass able by theheaps o f de ad ; and, in the meantime, the gates

THE INVAS ION OF TAMERLANE 91 3

being fo rced,the whole Mogul a rmy were

admitted . Then fol lowed a scene o f ho r ro r,95532552

1

much eas ie r to be imagined th an desc ribed .

The despe rate cou rage o f the un fo rtunateD e lhi ans was at l ength cooled in the i r ownblood . They th rew down the i r weapons

,they

submitted themse lves l ike sheep to the s l aughter . They pe rmi tted one man to d rive a hund red o f them p ri sone rs befo re h im ; so th at wemay pl ain ly pe rce ive th at cowa rdi ce i s themothe r o f desp ai r . In the ci ty

,the Hindoos

”

hwere,at l e as t

,ten to one

,sup er i o r i n numberga rgfigled

misfortun esto the enemy,and h ad they posses sed soul s i t ogme n e l

would h ave been imposs ib le fo r the Mogul s,

mans '

who were scatte red about in eve ry st reet,house

and co rne r,l aden wi th p lunde r

,to h ave re

s i s ted the d read fu l as s aul t . But though theHindoos h ad the s avage reso lu tion o f imb ruing the i r h ands in the b lood o f the i r wives andchi l d ren

,we find them sti l l the s l aves o f fea r

,

and sh rinking at the app ro ach o f th at deathwhich they could so read i ly execute uponothe rs .The King

,afte r th i s ho r rid scene

,ente redgé

mr

e

s

r lane

the c i ty,taking to h imsel f one hund red and D 6 1

8

“

twenty eleph ants,twelve rh inoce roses

,and a

numbe r of cu rious an imal s that h ad beencol lected by Fi rose Sh aw . The fine mosquebui l t by th at P rince

,upon the s tones o f which

he had ins c ribed the h is to ry o f h i s re ign,be

ing es teemed a maste rp iece o f a rch i tectu re andtas te

,took so much the f ancy of the conque ro r

91 4

Theconquerorma rches tothe head o fthe Ganges .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS n o . 1 397

th at he o rde red stone - cutte rs and masons f romDelh i to S ama rcand to bu i l d one upon thes ame pl an .

Afte r h aving s tayed fi fteen days a t Delh i,

Timur took a sudden reso lution o f re tu rning

,and he acco rdingly marched out to Fi

roseabad,whithe r Bahadre N ahi r s ent h im

two whi te p a rro ts,as cu rios i ti es f rom Mewat

,

with p ro fes s ion s o f subj ection . T imu r'

c on

tinued hi s march to the ski rts o f the mounta in s o f Sewal i c

,marking h i s way with fi re

and swo rd . Cross ing then the Ganges,he

subdued the country as h igh as Whe re therive r i s sues f rom the mountains ; retu rn ingf rom thence

,he rep assed the rive r and

marched th rough the h i l l s .We do no t find th at Timu r appointed any

king to gove rn H indos tan,which he had in a

great measu re subdued . He,howeve r

,con

fi rmed the sub as,who had submi tted to h im

in the i r gove rnments ; and , f rom thi s c i rcumstance

,we may suppose th at he intended to re

ta in the Empi re in h i s own name ; though hele ft no troops b eh ind h im except a smal l detac hment i n Delh i

,to secu re i t f rom fu rthe r

dep red ations .

!The Counci l o f Pi s a ( 1 409) deposes bothG rego ry XI I . and Benedict XI I I . ; and , asnei the r wi l l give way

,elects Alexande r. V .

Thus the re a re th ree rival Popes . ]

91 6 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A -D . 1 4 1 4- 1 437

meri ts I am so ful ly acquainted as wi th myJown . I am su rp assed by none —e i the r in powero r in the p rudence wi th which I h ave ruled

,

whethe r in p rospe ri ty o r adve rs i ty . Therefo re do I

,as E l ecto r o f B randenbu rg

,give my

vote to S i gi smund,King o f Hungary

,and wil l

th at he be elected King o f Ge rmany .

” S igismund ’s ch a racte r was a combin ation of thech a racte ri s ti cs o f h is immedi ate p redecesso rs .L ike Charles IV .

,he was crafty and pol i ti c

,

but resembled vW enc eslau s in h i s love o f sensu al grati fi c ati ons. Handsome

,eloquent

,and

l ively,he had no steadines s o f pe rson

,s eem

ing to act on the impulse of the moment,and

wi th a view to p resent exped iency rathe r th anon any settle d p l an . The fi rs t obj ect o f h i satten tion was the s ch i sm in _ the Chu rch , the rebeing a Pope in I taly

,anothe r in France

,and

a th i rd in Spain,and each o f them l aunched

anathemas agains t h i s adve rs a rie s and thecountri es subj ected to h im . S igi smund

,in

fu rthe rance o f h i s f avo ri te des ign,acted at

fi rs t wi th sound pol i cy and di s c retion ; he summoned a Gene ral Counci l to meet at Constance

,and in o rde r to give i ts members the

cha racte r o f rep resentatives o f al l Eu rope,he

p rocl a imed th at no t me rely the cle rgy,but

d i s tingui shed l aymen from di ffe ren t countri esshoul d ass i s t at i ts del ibe ration s

,the Empero r

h imsel f waiving the right o f sup remacy whichthe Romano -German i c Empi re h ad hi the rtoas sumed ove r other kingdoms

,al though i ts

1 4 1 4—1 437 COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE

p retens ions we re l i ttl e mo re th an a n ame . Butal l these fai r p l ans we re ru ined by hi s ownwant o f sel f - con trol . During the s i tting ofthe Counc i l

,S igi smund gave h imsel f up en

ti rely to low debauche ry ; and the only effec to f h i s condescens ion was to make h imsel f thel augh ing- s tock o f the Chu rch

,and give fo r

e i gn n ations encou ragement to enc ro ach s ti l lfu rthe r on the p riv i l eges o f the Empi re .

The pl ace fixed upon fo r th i s impo rtant assemb ly o f the Sp i ri tu al and tempo ral powe rso f Catho l i c Eu rope

,i n compl i ance wi th the

wi shes o f the Empero r,but not in acco rd ance

with the in te res ts o f the Pope,J ohn XXI I I

was Constance in Swi tze rl and ; and the day

91 7

appoin ted fo r the meeting was the rst o f No -

T b e Counc il of Con

v ember,1 4 1 4 . The assembl age o f eccles i as ti cs

,stance.m 4.

and al so o f l aymen,on th i s occas ion was im

mense . The Counci l was d ivi ded into fou rn ation al sections

,of I taly

,France

,Germany

,

and Engl and,and the votes we re taken acco rd

i ng to th i s d ivi s ion,ins te ad o f be ing regi s te red

acco rd ing to the op in ions o f ind ividual members o f the body . Both the Empero r and Johnwere p resent . The p rofessed obj ects o f th i sf amous Counci l we re the extinction o f thes ch ism

,and the re fo rmation o f the Chu rch

,

o r the co r rection o f those man i fo ld abuseswhich exi s ted in the man agement o f eccles i asti cal revenues . Here i t was dete rmined

,a fte r

some debate,th at a Gene ral Counci l coul d

compel the Pope to abdic ate,and the method

91 8

John X X I I Iannounceshi s a bdicat ion .

GregoX II. a

cates .

YYbdi

THE WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS A -D~I41 4- 1 437

of cess ion was,moreove r

,decl a red to be the

only means o f s ecu ring the peace o f theChu rch . Acco rd ingly

,on the 2d o f March

,

1 4 1 5, J ohn publ i cly p ronounced h is abd i cation

,on cond i tion o f a s imi l a r p roceed ing on

the p a rt o f B ened i ct and Grego ry . Susp i

c ions,howeve r

,h aving been mani fes ted by

the Counci l wi th rega rd to the s ince ri ty o f thePonti ff in these t rans actions

,the l atte r p l anned

h i s es cape f rom Constance,and fled fi rs t to

S chaffh ausen,afte rwa rd to B ri s s ac

,and at

l ength to Fribou rg,where he expected to

‘

rec e ive the p rotection o f the Duke o f Austri a

,

but was tre ache rous ly del ive red into thepowe r o f the Empero r and the Counci l . Ase ries o f eno rmous c rimes being now l aid toh i s ch a rge

,John was so lemnly deposed f rom

the Ponti fi c ate (May 29, and condemned to r igo rous imp ri sonment

,which he

suffe red,fi rs t a t Heidelbe rg and a fte rward at

M annheim,fo r the pe riod of th ree yea rs . In

the cou rse o f the s ame yea r G rego ry sen t tothe Counci l a volunta ry and solemn res ignation o f h i s d ign i ty . Bened i ct

,howeve r

,re

mained inflexib l e,decl a ring th at he was the

t rue and now the only Pope . S igismund wentin pe rson to Pe rp ignan wi th a view to ob ta inh i s res i gnation ; but Benedi ct ob stin ately re

s i s ted al l sol i c i tations,and ul timately wi th

d rew,fo r the secu ri ty o f h i s pe rson

,to the

smal l fo rtres s o f Pan i sc ola . The Counci l,

ful ly convinced o f h i s contumacy,p roceeded

920 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A -D . 1 4 1 4- 1 437

had a s afe - conduct f rom the Empe ro r to ap

pea r at the Counc i l . But the p rincip le onwhi ch the Counci l acted was not conce aled :i t was indeed openly avowed th at

,in ce rta in

c ases,f a i th was not to be kep t wi th he reti cs .

A s imil a r f ate was the po rtion o f h i s f riendand d i s ci pl e

,J e rome o f P rague

,who dis

p l ayed a t h i s execution the eloquence o f anapos tl e

,and the cons tancy o f a martyr .

’

S igi s

W ar of theHuss ites.

mund fel t the consequences o f these ho rrib lep roceed ings ; fo r the Bohemi ans , j us tly exas

perated a t the tre ache rous execution o f thei rcountrymen

,opposed h is success ion to thei r

c rown,vacan t by the de ath o f h i s deceased

b rothe r Wences l au s,and i t cos t h im a war o f

s ixteen yea rs to atta in i t .Wh ateve r was the impe ri al powe r at th i s

time,i t de rived but smal l consequence f rom

i ts actual revenues . The weal th o f the German i c s tates was exclus ively posses sed by the i rs ep arate sove re igns

,and the Empero r h ad

l i ttl e mo re than what he d rew f rom Bohemi aand Hungary. The sove re ignty o f I taly wasan empty ti tl e . The in te res t o f the Empero rin th at country fu rn ished only a sou rce o f faction to i ts p rinces

,and emb ro i l ed the s tates in

pe rpetual qu ar rel s .The execution o f Huss

,with al l i ts c i rcum

s tances of c ruel ty and fal sehood,h ad been re

garded by the Bohemi ans as a n ation al insul t,

which cal led aloud fo r s ignal and adequateretribution . When the ashes o f the martyr

A .D . 1 41 4- 1 437 THE HUSS ITE WAR

were th rown in to the Rhine,the rul e rs o f the

Chu rch bel i eved that h i s n ame h ad pe ri shedwith hi s body . But the people thought fa rothe rwise . J ame

-

s H u ssin i tz,a nobleman re

s i d ing in the v i l l age where Huss was bo rn,

dete rmined to avenge h i s death,and to main

tain h i s doctrines . Wences l aus,find ing h im

sel f whol ly unab l e to res i s t the s to rm of popul a r ind ignation

,withd rew f rom Prague

,which

soon fel l enti rely in to the h ands o f the malcon tents . Under the command o f the le ade rso f the new doct rines

,they p roceeded to yet

mo re violent extremi ties . To revenge somesl ight offence wh ich h ad been o ffe red to themin one o f the i r rel igious p rocess ions

,they bu rs t

into the counci l ch amber at P rague,and

,s e iz

ing th i rteen o f the p rinc ip al magi s t rates,flung

them from the windows upon the p ikes o fthei r as soc i ates . The intel l igence o f th is

outrage roused Wences l aus to so vio len ta p aroxysm of fury

,th at i t occas ioned an

a'

pop lecti c fi t whi ch put an end to h i s exi stence .

The access ion o f S igi smund,who

,notw i th

s tand ing a lette r add ressed to the Bohemiansin vind ication o f h i s conduct

,was unive rs al ly

cons ide red as the cause o f Huss ’s execution ,and a p romul gation o f a degree o f the Counci l o f Constance conta in ing a mos t unqual ifieddenunci ation o f the i r sect

,wrought the pas

s ions o f the Huss i te s to a yet h ighe r s tate o fexaspe ration . .They refused to recogn ize S ig

921

D ea th ofW enceslaus, 1 41 8 .

922

S igismundsuff erssevera ldefea ts .

The Counc il of Basi c .

THE WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS A-D . x41 4- 1 437

i smund as King,whereupon the Huss i te c ivi l

wa r b roke out . They were d ivided into twop a rtie s

,the mo re mode rate C al ixtines and the

more rigi d Tabo ri tes . Ziska,the le ade r o f

the l atte r p a rty,a man o f ext rao rd in a ry pow

ers,assembled them on Mount Tabo r

,c ap

tu red P rague,p il l aged and bu rned the mon

asteri es,and in seve ral engagements defe ated

S igismund . Afte r the death of Ziskah i s pl ace was fi l l ed by a monk named Procop ius

,who defeated the mercen a ri es sent unde r

the name o f C rus ade rs by the Empero r andthe Papal l egates in the b attles o f M ies ( 1 427)and Tachau ( 1 43 and whose troop s ravagedAustr i a

,Francon i a

,S axony

,Cathol i c Bohe

mia,Lus ati a

,and S i l es i a . A counci l hel d at

Bas l e,in 1 433, made concess ions which were

accep ted by the Cal ixtines . The Tabo ri te s,

rej ecting the comp romise , were vanqu ished inthe b attl e o f P rague and by the treatyo f Igl au the comp romise o f Bas l e wasaccep ted by Bohemi a

,and S igismund recog

n i z ed as King .

The Empe ro r,having commi tted to the

Counci l o f Bas l e the task o f ca rrying on negoti ations

,had wi thd rawn to Rome on p retext o f

being c rowned by the new POpe , . E ugen i us

IV . The counci l,l ed by the sp i ri tu al and tem

po ral lo rds,who we re ful ly aware o f the im

po rtance o f the cause at s take,sha red the Em

peror’s opin ion

,and were

,consequently

,fa r

more incl ined to make concess ion th an was the

924 T H E WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS W W W ,

the res t h ave merged into Calvin i s ts,Luthe r

ans,Moravi ans

,and othe r sects .

!Hen ry V . of Engl and cl aims the c rown ofFran ce and resolves on the conquest o f th atre alm

B A T T L E O F A G I N C O U R T

DAV ID HUM‘

E

HE succes ses which the a rms o f Engl and h ave

,in d i ff e rent ages

,ob tained

ove r those o f France,h ave been much

owing to the favo rab le s i tu ation o f the forme r kingdom . The Engl i sh

,happ i ly se ated

in an i s l and,coul d make advantage o f eve ry

mis fo rtune which attended thei r neighbo rs,

and were l i ttl e exposed to the dange r o f re

p ri sals. They neve r le f t the i r own countrybut when they were conducted by a king o fextrao rd in ary gen ius

,o r found the i r enemy

divided by intes tin e f ac tions , o r we re suppo rted by a powerful a l l i ance on the Con tinen t ; and as al l thes e c i rcumstances concu rredat p resen t to favo r the i r ente rp ri se

,they had

reason to expect f rom i t p ropo rtion ab le success . The Duke o f Bu rgundy

,expel led France

by a comb in ation of the p rinces,had been

sec retly sol i ci ting the al l i ance o f Engl and :and Hen ry knew that th i s Prince

,though he

sc rupled at fi rs t to j o in the invete ra te enemyof h i s country

,would wi l l ingly

,i f he s aw any

(925 )

926

Invasion o fFrance .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

p rob ab i l i ty o f success,both ass i s t h im with

h i s Flemish subj ects,and d raw ove r to the

s ame s i de al l h i s numerous p a rti s ans inFrance . Trusting the refo re to th is c i rcums tance

,but wi thout e s tabl i sh ing any concert

wi th the Duke,he put to s e a Augus t 1 4th ,

and l anded nea r H arfleu r,at the head of an

a rmy o f men - at- a rms,and foo t

,

mostly a rche rs . He immed i ately began thes i ege o f th at p l ace

,whi ch was val i antly de

fended by D ’

E stoi i tev i l le,and unde r h im by

De Gui tri,De Gau c ou rt

,and o the rs o f the

French nob i l i ty ; but as the ga rri son was weak,and the fo rtification s in b ad rep ai r

,the gov

ernor was at l as t ob l i ged to cap i tu l ate ; andhe p romised to su r rende r the pl ace

,i f he t e

c e ived no succo r be fo re the e ighteenth o f Septembe r . The day came

,and the re was no ap

pearanc e o f a F rench a rmy to rel ieve h im .

Capture of Henry,taking posses si on of the town

,pl aced

H a rfleur.

a ga rri son in i t,and expel led al l the French

inhab i tan ts,with an inten tion o f peop l ing i t

anew with Engl i sh .

The fatigues o f th i s s i ege,and the unusu al

heat o f the se ason,had so was ted the Engl i sh

a rmy,th at Hen ry coul d en te r on no fu rthe r

en te rp ri se ; and was obl iged to th ink of retu rning in to Engl and . He had di smis sed h is transpo rts

,which coul d not ancho r in an open road

upon the en emy’s co as ts : and he l ay unde r aneces s i ty o f ma rch ing by l and to C al a i s , be

fo re he could re ach a pl ace o f s a fety. A nu

928 T H E WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A-D-m s

pe rate s i tu ation : when he was so dexte rous o r3129312

3

31 . s o fo rtun ate as to se ize by su rp ri se a p as s agenea r S t . Quin tin

,which had not been sufli

c i ently gu a rded ; and he s afe ly ca rried ove rh i s army .

Hen ry then ben t h is ma rch no rthward toCal a i s ; but he was s t i l l exposed to gre at andimminen t d ange r f rom the enemy

,who had

also p assed the Somme,and th rew themselves

ful l in h i s way,with a pu rpose o f in te rcepting

hi s re t re at . Afte r he had p assed the smal lrive r o f Te rno i s at E l angi

,he was su rp ri sed

to observe f rom the he igh ts the whole Frencha rmy d rawn up in the pl a ins o f Agincou rt

,

and so pos ted th at i t was imposs ib le fo r h imto p roceed on hi s march withou t coming to anengagemen t . No th ing in appea rance couldbe more unequal th an the b attle

,upon wh ich

h is s a fe ty and al l h i s fo rtunes now depended .

The Engl i sh a rmy was l i ttl e mo re than h al fthe numbe r which h ad disembarked at Ha r

OVGFfleu r ; and they l abo red unde r eve ry di s cou r

gfiiéf

fii w agement and neces s i ty . The enemy was fou rthe Frenc h '

times more numerous ; was headed by theDauph in and al l the p rin ces o f the blood ; andwas p lenti ful ly suppl ied with p rovis ions o feve ry kind . Hen ry’s s i tu ation was exac tly

s imi l a r to th at o f Edward at C recy,and th at

o f the B l ack P rince a t Po i c ti ers ; and thememory o f these great even ts

,in sp i ring the

Engl i sh wi th cou rage,made them hope fo r a

l ike del ive rance f rom thei r p resen t diffi c ul

A .n . 1 41 5 BATTLE OF AGIN COURT

t ies . The King l ikewise obse rved the s amep rudent conduct wh ich had been fol lowed bythese great commande rs : he d rew up his a rmyon a na rrow ground between two woods

,

which gua rded e ach fl ank ; and he p atientlyexpecte d in th at po s tu re the attack o f theenemy .

Had the French Constable been able,e i the r

to reason jus tly upon the p resen t ci rcumstanceso f the t o a rmies

,o r to p rofi t by p as t expe

ri en c e,he h ad decl ined a combat

,and had

wai ted ti l l neces s i ty,obl iging the Engl i sh to

advance,h ad made them rel inqu i sh the ad

vantages of the i r s i tu ation . But the impetuousvalo r o f the nob i l i ty

,and a vain confidence in

supe rio r numbe rs,b rough t on th i s f atal action

,

which p roved the sou rce o f infin i te c al amities to thei r country . The French a rche rs onho rseb ack and thei r men - at- arms

,c rowded

in thei r ranks,advanced upon the Engl i sh

a rche rs,who had fixed p al i s adoes in the i r

f ront to b reak the imp res s ion o f the enemy,and who s afely pl i ed them

,f rom behind th at

d e fence,with a showe r o f a rrows wh ich noth

ing coul d res i s t . The cl ay so il,mois tened by

some rain wh ich h ad l ate ly fal len,p roved an

othe r obs tacle to the fo rce o f the French cavalry : the wounded men and ho rses d i sc omposed thei r ranks : the narrow compass inwhich they we re pen t h inde red them from re

cove ring any o rde r : the whole a rmy was ascene o f con fus ion

,terrpr,and d i smay z

fan

éi

9 1 0 .

929

Ba ttl e ofAgincourt .

930 TH E WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A -D du s

Hen ry,pe rce iving hi s advantage

,o rde red the

Engl i sh a rche rs,who were l i gh t and unin

cumbered,to advance upon the enemy

,an d

Great se i ze the momen t o f vi cto ry . They fel l wi ththei r b attl e - axes upon the French

,who

,in

a rc ers.

the i r p resen t postu re,were incap ab le e i the r

o f flying o r of making defence : they hewed,

them in p ieces without res i s tance : and beingseconded by the men - ar- a rms

,who al so pushed

on agains t the enemy,they cove red the fiel d

wi th the ki l l ed,wounded

,d ismounted

,and

ove rth rown . Afte r al l appea rance o f oppos ition was ove r

,th e Engl i sh had le i su re to make

p ri sone rs ; and h aving advanced wi th un inter

rupted success to the open p l ain , th ey the res aw the remains of the F rench rea rgua rd

,

which sti l l main ta ined the appea rance o f al ine o f b attl e . At the s ame time

,they hea rd

an al a rm from beh ind : some gentl emen o f Pica rdy

,having col l ected abou t 600 peas ants

,

h ad f al len upon the Engl i sh baggage,and

we re do ing execution on the una rmed followers o f the c amp

,who fled befo re them .

Hen ry,see ing the enemy on al l s i des o f h im

,

began to ente rtain app rehens ion s f rom hisp ri sone rs ; and he though t i t neces s a ry to i s sue

e

Tr

lée

s gene ral o rde rs fo r putting them to death : buton d i scove ring the truth

,he s topped the

s l augh te r,and was s ti l l abl e to s ave a great

numbe r .N 0 battl e was eve r more fatal to France,

by the number o f p rinces and nob i l i ty s l ain

A.D .BATTLE OF AGINCOURT 931

o r taken p ri sone rs . Among the fo rme r werethe Cons table h imsel f

,the Count o f Neve rs

and the Duke o f B rab an t,b rothe rs to the

Duke o f Bu rgundy,the Count o f Vaudemont

,

bro the r to the Duke o f Lo r raine,the Duke o f

Alencon , the Duke of B a rre , the Count o fMarl e . {The mos t eminen t p ri sone rs we re theDukes o f O rle ans and Bou rbon

,the Counts

d’

Eu,Vendome

,and Richemont

,and . the

Marech al o f Boucicaut . An Archb ishop o fS ens al so was s l ain in th i s b attl e . The ki l l eda re computed

,on the whole

,to h ave amounted

to ten thous and men ; and as the s l aughte r fel lch iefly upon the caval ry

,i t i s p retended that

o f these e igh t thous and we re gentlemen .

H en ry was maste r o f p ri sone rs . Thepe rson o f ch ie f note who fel l among theEngl i sh was the Duke o f Yo rk

,who pe ri shed

fighting by the King’s s i de,and h ad an end

more hono rabl e than h i s l i fe . He was su cc eeded in h i s hono rs and fo rtune by h isnephew

,son o f the Ea rl o f Camb ridge

,exe

c u ted in the beginning o f the yea r . All theEngl i sh who were s l a in exceeded not fo rty ;though some wri te rs

,with great p rob abi l i ty

,

make the numbe r mo re cons ide rable .

The th ree gre at b attl es o f C recy,Po i c ti ers C recy

,

and Agincou rt bea r a s ingul a r resembl ance to ffiéC

XC

gfli .

each othe r,in the i r mos t cons ide rab le c i rcum—

Co‘m ‘

s tances . In al l o f them the re appe ars thes ame temeri ty in the Engl i sh p rin ces

,who

,

without any obj ect o f moment,merely fo r the

'

932 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A .O . 1 41 5

s ake o f p lunde r,had ventu red so f a r into the

enemy’s country as to l e ave themselves no re

t re at ; and unles s s aved by the utmos t imp rudence in the French commande rs

,were

,f rom

thei r ve ry s i tu ation,exposed to inevi tab le de

s t ruction . Bu t al lowance being made fo r th i steme ri ty

,which

,acco rd ing to the i r regul a r

p l ans o f wa r fol lowed in those ages , seems toh ave been

,in some measu re

,unavo i d able ;

the re appe a r,in the day o f action

,the s ame

p resence o f mind,dexte ri ty

,cou rage

,fi rmness

and p recaution on the p a rt o f the Engl i sh ;th e s ame p recip i t ation

,con fus ion and vain

c onfi denc e on the p a rt o f the French : and theevents we re such as might h ave been expectedf rom such Oppos i te conduct . The immedi ate

Immed iate consequences,too

,o f these th ree great vi c

222? q to ri es were s imi l a r : in s te ad o f push ing theF rench with vigo r

,and taking advantage o f

the i r cons te rn ation,the Engl i sh p rinces a fte r

thei r vic to ry seem rathe r to h ave rel axed the i reffo rts

,and to h ave al lowed the enemy le i su re

to recover f rom h is loss es . Hen ry inte r rup tednot h i s ma rch a momen t a fte r the b attl e o fAgincou rt ; he ca r ri ed h i s p ri sone rs to C al ai s ,thence to Engl and ; he even conc luded a trucewi th the enemy ; and i t was not ti l l a fte r anin terval o f two years th at any body o f Engl i sht roops appea red in France .

The pove rty o f al l the Eu ropean p rinces,

and the smal l resou rces o f thei r kingdoms ,were the cause o f these continu al in te r rup

934 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

France . On h i s death,1 422, h is son, Hen ry

VI . o f Engl and,i s p rocl aimed King o f

France al so . The Engl i sh Regent,Bedfo rd

,

“defeats the D auph in ’s fol lowe rs at C revant,

1 422, and Ve rneu i l , 1 429 ; and the Engl i shlay s iege to O rl e ans in 1 429 ]

J O A N O F A R C A T O R L E A N S

(A .D. 1429)

E . S . CREASY

ELDOM h as the extinction o f a n ation ’sindependence appea red mo re inevi tableth an was the case in France when the

Engl i sh invade rs completed the i r l ines a roundO rl e ans . A se ries o f d readfu l de fe ats h adth inned the ch ival ry of France

,and daunted

the Sp i ri ts o f he r sol d i e rs . A fo re ign kinghad been p rocl aimed in he r c ap i tal ; and fo re ign a rmies o f the braves t vete rans , and ledby the ables t capta ins then known in the world

,

occup ied the fai res t po rtions o f he r te r ri to ry .

Wo rse to he r,even

,th an the fi erc eness and the “ F’am e'

s trength o f he r foes,were the factions

,the

vices and the c rimes o f he r own chi ld ren . Hernative p rince was a d i s so lute trifler

,s ta ined

wi th ass as s in ation o f the mos t powe rful nobl ein the l and

,whose son

,in revenge

,had leagued

h imsel f with the enemy . Many mo re of he rnob i l i ty

,many of he r p rel ates

,he r magi s t rates

,

and rule rs,had swo rn feal ty to the Engl i sh

King . The cond i t ion o f the peas antry amidthe gene ral p revalence o f an a rchy and b rigandage , which were added to the cus tom

(935 )

936 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS IU D - 1 429

a ry devastations o f contending armies,was

wretched beyond the powe r o f l anguage todesc ribe . The sense o f te r ro r and wretchedness seemed to h ave extended i tsel f even to theb rute c re ation .

In the autumn of 1 428, the Engl i sh , whowere al ready mas te rs o f al l France no rth Of theLo i re

,p rep a red thei r fo rces fo r the conques t

o f the southe rn p rovinces,which yet adhe red

to the cause o f the Dauph in . The ci ty of Or

l e ans,on the b anks o f that r ive r

,was looked

upon as the l as t Stronghol d of the Frenchn ational p a rty . I f the Engl i sh coul d once obta in posses s ion o f i t thei r vi cto rious p rogres sth rough the res idue o f the kingdom seemedf ree f rom any se rious obstacle . Acco rd inglythe E a rl o f S al i sbu ry

, one o f the b raves t andmos t expe rienced o f the Engl i sh gene ral s

,who

h ad been tra ined unde r Hen ry V .

,marched

to the attack o f the al l - impo rtan t c i ty ; andafte r reducing seve ral pl aces o f in fe rio r consequence in the ne ighbo rhood

,appea red wi th

h i s a rmy befo re i ts wal l s on the 1 2th o f Octobe r

,1 428.

The ci ty o f O rl e ans i tsel f was on the no rths ide o f the Lo i re

,but i ts subu rbs extended fa r

on the sou the rn s i de,and a s trong b ri dge con

ne c ted them with the town . A fo rtification,

which in mode rn mi l i ta ry ph rase would bete rmed a téte -du - pont

,defended the b ridge

head on the southe rn s ide,and two towe rs

,

c al led the Tou rel l es,were bui l t on the b ridge

938 TH E WORLD ’


During the win te r l i ttle p rogres s was madewi th the in trenchments

,but when the sp ring

of 1 429 came, th e Engl i sh resumed thei r workwith activi ty ; the communications between theci ty and the country became mo re d ifficul t

,and

the app ro ach o f want b ‘egan al ready to be fel tin O rl eans .The Orleanna i s now

,in the i r d is t res s

,of

fered to su r rende r the c i ty in to the hands o fthe Duke of Bu rgundy

,who

,though the al ly

o f the Engl i sh,was yet one o f thei r n ative

p rinces . The Regent Bed fo rd re fused thesete rms

,an d the speedy submiss ion o f the

ci ty to the Engl i sh seemed inevi tab l e . TheDauphin Charles

,who was now at Chinon

wi th h i s remnant o f a cou rt,despai red o f con

ti nu i ng any longe r the s t ruggle fo r h is c rown ,and was only p reven ted f rom ab andon ing thecountry by the mo re mascu l ine sp i ri ts o f h i smis t ress and h i s queen .

In the vi l l age o f Domremy,on the bo rde rs

o f Lo rra ine,the re was a poo r peas ant o f the

n ame o f J acques d ’A rc

,respected in h i s s ta

tion o f l i fe,and who had re a red a family in

vi rtuous h ab i ts and in the p racti ce of the s tri c tes t devotion . His el des t d aughte r was namedby he r p a ren ts J eannette

,but she was cal led

Jeanne by the French,which was Latin ized

into Joh ann a and Angl i c ized into Joan .

At the time when Joan fi rs t att racted at

tention,she was abou t e ighteen ye a rs o f age .

She was n atu ral ly o f a suscep tib l e d ispos i tion,

“ 1 1 429 JOAN OF ARC AT ORLEANS

which di l igent attention to the legends o f s ain tsand tal es o f f ai ri es

,a ided by the d re amy lone

l iness of he r l i fe whi le tending he r fathe r’sflocks

,had made pecul i a rly p rone to enthu

si asti c fe rvo r . At the s ame time,she was

eminen t fo r p iety and pu ri ty o f soul,and fo r

he r compass ion ate gentlenes s to the s i ck andthe d i s tres sed .

From in fancy to gi rlhood Joan had hea rdcontinual ly o f the woes o f the war

,and h ad

he rse l f wi tnes sed some o f the wretchednessth at i t caused . A feel ing o f intense p at rio t

939

i sm grew in he r with he r growth . The del iv H er d reams

e ranc e o f France f rom the Engl i sh was thesubj ect o f he r reve ries by day and he r d reamsby n igh t . B lended wi th these asp i r ations werereco l l ections o f the mi raculous in te rpos i tionso f Heaven in favo r o f the opp ressed

,which

she h ad le a rned f rom the l egends o f he rChu rch . Her fa i th was undoub ting ; he rp raye rs we re fe rven t . “She fea red no dange r

,fo r she fel t no s in

,and

‘

at l ength she bel i eved hersel f to h ave received the supe rnatural ins p i ration which she sought .

“At the age o f th i rteen,a vo ice f rom God

came to he r to help he r in rul ing he rsel f,and

th at vo i ce came to he r abou t the hou r Of noon ,in summer time

,while she was in he r fathe r’s

ga rden . And she had fas ted the d ay befo re .

And she hea rd the voice on he r righ t,i n the

d i rection o f the chu rch ; and when she hea rdthe vo ice

,she s aw also a b right l ight .” Afte r

and aspirat ions.

940 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS AN D- 1 429

ward S t . Michael,and S t . Marga re t, and S t.

Cath a rine appea red to he r . They were ai

ways i n a h alo o f glo ry ; she could see thatthei r heads were c rowned wi th j ewel s ; andshe he a rd thei r vo i ces

,which were sweet and

mil d . She d id not d i s tingui sh thei r a rms o rl imbs . She hea rd them more f requently thans aw them ; and the usual time when she heardthem was when the chu rch bel l s we re sounding fo r p raye r . And i f she was in the woodswhen she hea rd them

,she could p l ain ly d i s

ti ngu i sh the i r vo i ces d rawing nea r to he r .When she thought th at she d isce rned theHeavenly Vo i ces

,she knel t down

,and bowed

he rse l f to the ground . Thei r p resence gl addened he r even to te a rs ; and afte r they dep arted

,she wept because they had not taken

he r back to Pa radi se . They always spokesooth ingly to he r . They tol d he r th at Francewould be s aved

,and th at she was to s ave i t .

Joan ’s hea rt was so rely t roubl ed at the though to f the f ate Of O rl eans ; and he r Vo i ces now or

de red he r to le ave he r home ; and warned he rth at she was the ins t rument chosen by Heavenfo r d riving away the Engl i sh f rom th at ci ty,and fo r taking the D auph in to be ano in ted .

One of he r uncles consented to take he r toVaucouleu rs

,where De B aud ri cou rt a t fi rs t

thought he r mad,and de ri ded he r

,but by de

grees he was led to bel ieve,i f not in he r i n

sp i r ati on,at l eas t in he r enthus i asm

,and in i ts

poss ibl e uti l i ty to the Dauph in’s c ause .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A -D J 429

the re fo re,was reso rted to in o rde r to set J oa n’s

o rthodoxy and pu ri ty beyond susp i cion . A t

l as t Ch a rles and h i s advi se rs fel t s afe in ac

c ep ting he r se rvi ces as those o f a t rue andvi rtuous Ch ri s ti an daughte r o f the HolyChu rch .

Wh i le Charles and h i s docto rs o f theology,

and cou rt l ad ies,had been del ib e rating as to

recogn iz ing o r d i smiss ing the Maid,a c onsi d

erab le pe riod had passed away,du ring wh ich

a smal l a rmy,the l as t gl ean ings

,as i t s eemed

,

o f the Engl i sh swo rd,had been assembled at

Blo i s,unde r Dunoi s

,La H i re

,Xaint rai l les

,

and othe r ch iefs,who to the i r n atu ral valo r

were now beginn ing to uni te the wisdom thati s taught by mis fo rtune . I t was resolved tosend J oan wi th th is fo rce and a convoy o fp rov i s ion s to O rl eans . The d is t res s o f th atci ty h ad now become u rgen t . But the commun i c ation with the Open country was noten ti rely cu t off . The Orleannai s h ad hea rd o fthe Holy Maid whom Providence h ad ra i sedup fo r thei r del ive rance

,and thei r mes sen

ge rs ea rnes tly implo red the D auph in to sendhe r to them wi thou t del ay .

Joan marched f rom B lo i s on the 25th o fApri l wi th a convoy o f p rovi s ions fo r O rl eans

,

accompan ied by D -uno i s,L a H i re

,and the

othe r ch i e f cap ta ins o f the French,and on the

even ing o f the 28th they app ro ached the town .

In the wo rds o f the ol d ch ron i cle r Hal l : “TheE ngl i shmen

,perce iving th at the i with in coul d

A . 1 > . 1 429 JOAN OF ARC AT ORLEANS 943

not long continue fo r faute o f v i tai le andpoude r

,kep te not thei r watc he so di l igently as

thei we re accustomed,no r s cou red now the

c ountrey envi roned as thei befo re h ad or

dained . W hi c he negl igence the ci ti zens shutin pe rce iving

,sen t wo rde the reof to the French

c ap taines, which wi th Pucel l e , in the deddetyme o f the n i ghte , and in a great rayne andthunde re

,with al l thei r v ata i le and a rti l le ry

,

ente red in to the c i ti e .

”

When i t was day,the Maid rode in solemn

p roces s ion th rough the c ity,cl ad in complete

a rmo r,and mounted on a whi te ho rse . D u

noi s was by he r s ide,and al l the b ravest

knights of he r a rmy and o f the ga r r i son followed in he r tra in . The whole popul at i onth ronged a round he r ; and men , women andch i l d ren s trove to touch he r ga rments

,o r he r Emma

b anne r,o r her ch arge r . They pou red forth93

1

1

1

513sgel

.

e

bles s ings on he r,whom they al ready c onsi d

e red thei r del ive re r .When i t was known by the Engl i sh th at theMai d was in O rl eans

,the i r minds we re not

l es s occup ied about he r th an were the minds o fthose in the ci ty ; but i t was in a ve ry d i ffe ren tsp i ri t . The Engl i sh bel i eved in he r supe rnatural miss ion as fi rmly as the French d id

,

but they thought he r a so rce ress who h ad cometo ove rth row them by he r enchan tments . Sheh ad sen t a he rald to the Engl i sh gene ral s befo re she ma rched fo r O rl eans

,and he had

summoned the Engl i sh gene ral s in the name

944 THE WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS

o f the Mos t H igh to give up to the Maid,who

was sen t by Heaven,the keys Of the French

1 08 9 er ci ti es which they had wrongful ly taken . Onsona l ysummons.heE ngl ish ,

he r a rrival in O rl e ans,Joan sen t anothe r s imi

l a r mess age ; but the Engl i sh s coffed at he rf rom thei r towe rs

,and th reatened to bu rn he r

he rald s . She dete rmined,befo re she shed the

blood o f the bes iege rs,to repeat th e warn ing

wi th he r own voi ce ; and acco rd ingly shemounted one o f the bouleva rds o f the town

,

which was wi th in he a ring o f the Tou rel les,

and thence she spoke to the Engl ish,and bade

them dep a rt,o the rwise they woul d meet with

sh ame and woe . S i r W i l l i am Gladsdale

(whom the French cal l Glac i das) commandedthe Engl i sh post a t the Tou rel le s

,and he and

anothe r Engl i sh offi ce r repl i ed by bidd ing he rShe is go home and keep he r cows

,and by rib al d

t reatedwith con.umely ,

j es ts,th at b rought tea rs o f sh ame and i nd ig

n ation into he r eyes . But,though the En

gl i sh l eade rs vaunted aloud,the e ff ect p ro

du c ed on thei r a rmy by Joan ’s p resence inO rl e an s was p roved fou r days afte r he r a rr ival

,

when,on the app ro ach of rein fo rcements and

s to res to the town,J oan and La Hi re marched

ou t to meet them,and es co rted the long train

o f p rovi s ionwagons s afely in to O rl e ans, between the b asti l l e s o f the Engl i sh

,who cow

e red beh ind thei r wal l s i ns tead o f ch a rgingfie rcely and fea rl es s ly

,as h ad been thei r wont

,

on any French b and th at d a red to Show i tsel fwi th in re ach .

946 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A .D - X 429

c rossed the rive r in boats,and afte r some se

ve re fighting,in wh ich the Maid was wounded

in the heel,both the Engl i sh b as ti l l es o f the

Augus tin s and S ain t J ean de B l anc we re captu red . The Tou rel l es we re now the only pos twhich the bes iege rs hel d on the south o f therive r . But th at pos t was fo rmidab ly strong

,

and by i ts command o f the b ri dge,i t was the

key to the del ive rance o f O rle ans . I t wasknown that a f resh Engl i sh a rmy was ap

p roac h ing unde r Fastol fe to re in fo rce the bes i ege rs

,and shoul d th at a rmy a rrive wh i le the

Toure l le s we re yet in the pos ses s ion o f thei r553999

9 6

com rades,the re was great pe ri l o f al l the ad

vantages wh ich the French had gained beingnul l ified

,and o f the s iege being aga in actively

car ried on .

I t was reso lved,the refo re

,by the French

,

to ass a i l th e Tou rel l es a t once,while the en

thusi asm which the p resence and the he ro i cvalo r of the M aid h ad c reated was at i tsh eigh t . But the en te rp ri se was d ifficul t . Therampart o f the téte -du - pont

,o r l andward bul

wark,o f the Tou rel l es was s teep and h igh

,

and S i r John Gladsdale occup ied th i s al l - impo rtant fo rt wi th five hund red a rche rs andmen - at- a rms

,who we re the ve ry flowe r o f the

Engl i sh a rmy .

Ea rly in the morning o f the seventh o f May,some thous ands o f the bes t French troops inO rl eans hea rd mass and attended the c onfes

sional by Joan ’s o rde rs , and then c ros s ing the

- 1 429 JOAN OF A R c AT ORLEANS 947

r ive r in boats,as on the p receding day

,they

T has s a i l ed the bulwark o f the Tou rel l es “

wrth T o{°

1 re 1 1es

l igh t hearts and heavy hands .” But Gradsd al e ’s men

,encou raged by the i r bold and ski l

fu l l e ade r,made a reso lute and

‘

ab le de fence .

The Maid pl anted he r b anne r on the edge ofthe fo ss e

,and then sp ringing down into the

d i tch,She pl aced the fi rs t l adde r aga ins t the

wal l and began to mount . An Engl i sha rche r sen t an a r row at he r

,which pie rce d

he r co rse le t,and wounded he r seve rely be

tween the neck and shoulde r . She fel l b leeding f rom the l adde r ; and the Engl i sh werel eap ing down f rom the wal l to cap tu re he r

,

but he r fol lowe rs bo re he r off . She was ca rried to the rea r

,and l a id upon the gras s ; he r

a rmo r was taken off,and the angui sh o f he r

wound and the s ight o f he r b lood made he r atfi rs t t remble and aweep . But he r confidence inhe r celest i al miss ion soon retu rned ; he r p atrons aints seemed to s tand be fore he r

,and reassu re

he r . She s at up and d rew the a r row out withhe r own h ands . Some o f the sol d ie rs whos tood by wished to s tanch the blood by s aying a ch a rm ove r the wound ; but she fo rbadethem

,s aying that she d id not wi sh to be cu red

by unhal lowed means . She h ad the woundd ressed wi th a l i ttl e o i l

,and then b idd ing he r

con fesso r come to he r,she betook he rse l f to

p raye r .In the meanwhi le

,the Engl i sh in the bul

wark o f th e Tou rel les had repul sed the o ft

948

The assault .

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A -D - l 429

renewed effo rts o f the French to scale thewal l . Dunoi s

,who commanded the ass ai l

ants,was at l as t d i s cou raged

,and gave o rde rs

fo r a re tre at to be sounded . J oan sen t fo rh im and the othe r gene ral s

,and implo red

them not to desp ai r . “By my God,

” she s a idto them

,

“you sh al l soon ente r in the re . Donot doub t i t . When you see my banne r waveagain up to the wal l

,to you r a rms aga in ! fo r

the fo rt i s you rs . Fo r the p resen t,res t a l i ttl e

,

and take some food and d rink .

” “They didso

,s ays the ol d ch ron i cle r o f the s iege

,

“fo rthey obey he r marvel lous ly .

” The f aintnes scaused by the wound h ad now pas sed off

,and

she headed the French in anothe r rush agains tthe bulwa rk . The Engl i sh

,who had thought

he r s l a in,were al a rmed at he r reappea rance ,

whi le the F rench p res sed fu rious ly and fanati c al ly fo rward . A Bisc ayan sold ie r was ca rrying J ean ’s b anne r . She h ad tol d the t roop sthat d i rectly the b anne r touched the wal l

,they

shoul d en te r . The B i s cayan waved the b anne r f rom the edge o f the foss e

,and touched

the wal l wi th i t ; and then al l the French hos tswa rmed madly up the l adde rs th at now wererai se d in al l d i rections agains t the Engl i shfo rtAt th i s c ri s i s

,the e ffo rts o f the Engl i sh ga r

ri son we re d i s t racted by an attack f rom an

othe r qua rte r . The French troop s who hadbeen l e ft in O rl ean s had pl aced some pl anksove r the b roken arch o f the b ri dge

,and ad

THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS

was despond ing gloom among the sold ie ry .

Even Talbo t now counsel l ed retre at . On thefo l lowing mo rn ing the Orleannai s

,f rom thei r

wall s,s aw the gre at fo rts c al l ed “London”

and “S t . Lawrence” in fl ames,and witnes sed

the i r invade rs busy in dest roying the s to resand muni tions which h ad been rel ied on fo rthe des truction o f O rl eans . S lowly and sullenly the Engl i sh a rmy reti red ; and no t befo re i t h ad d rawn up in b attl e a rray oppos i teto the c i ty

,as i f to ch al l enge the ga rri son to

an encounte r . The French troops we re eage rto go out and attack

,but J o an fo rb ade i t . The

day was Sunday .

“In the'n ame o f God

,

” shes a id

,

“l e t them depa rt,and le t us retu rn th anks

to God .

” She l ed the sold ie rs and c i ti zensfo rth f rom O rle ans

,but no t fo r the Shedd ing

o f blood . They passed in solemn p rocess ionround the c i ty wal l s

,and then

,while the i r t e

ti ring enemies we re yet in s igh t,they knel t

in th anksgiving to God fo r the del ive rancewh ich he had vouchs afed them .

W i th in th ree month s o f the time of he r fi rs tin te rview with the Dauphin

,Joan h ad ful

fi l l ed the fi rs t p a rt Of he r p romi se,the rai s ing

o f the s iege Of O rle ans . W i th in th ree month smo re she h ad fulfi l l ed the second p art al so

,

and had s tood wi th he r b anne r in he r h andby the h igh al ta r at Rheims

,wh ile he was

ano in ted and c rowned as King Ch arles VI I .

o f F rance . In the in te rval she had taken J a r

geau, Troyes, and othe r s trong pl aces , and She

w . 1 429 JOAN OF ARC AT ORLEANS 95 1

had de feated an Engl i sh a rmy in a f a i r fiel dat Patay .

When Ch arles h ad been anointed King ofFrance

,J oan bel ieved th at he r mis s ion was

accompl i shed . And,in truth

,the del ive ran ce

Of France f rom the Engl i sh,though not com

p leted fo r many yea rs a fte rward , was then en

su red . W i th a s trong tide o f n ation al fee l ingin h is favo r

,with vi ctor ious gene ral s and sol

d ie rs round h im,a nd a d i sp i ri ted and d ivided

enemy befo re h im,Charles could no t f ai l to

conque r,though h i s own imp rudence and mis

conduct,and the s tubbo rn valo r wh ich the

Engl i sh s ti l l f rom time to time disp l ayed,p ro

Fran c e has

longed the wa r in F rance unti l the c ivi l warggggggnd

o f the Roses b roke out in Engl and,and left

France to peace and repose .

, !The Pragmati c S anction of Bou rges es tabl i shes the l ibe rties o f the Gal l i can Church

The es tab l i shment of the companiesof a rchers the fi rs t n ational stand ingfijfiféna la rmy

,and a pe rmanent tax fo r thei r suppo rt

,i ififl

”g

powerful ly a i d the Opp res s ion o f the Frenchmonarchs . In 1 440 , the Flo rentines gain avicto ry ove r the Mil anese at the b attle

_of

Angh i a ri,known al so as the “Figh t fo r the

S tanda rd . The Repub l ic o f Mil an i s t e

es tab l i shed ( 1 447) extinction o f the V i s conti .The Engl i sh a re final ly expel led f rom Francein

T H FA L L O F C O N S TA N T I N O P L E

(A .D. 1453)

EDWARD GIBBON

F the tri angle which composes the figu re o f Cons tantinople

,the two s i des

along the sea were made inacces s ibleto an enemy : the Proponti s by n atu re

,and the

ha rbo r by a rt . Between the two wate rs,the

b ase o f the tri angle,the l and s ide

,was p ro

ggf

gggf w f tec ted by a doub le wal l and a deep di tch o fthe dep th o f one hund red fee t . Agains t th i sl ine o f fo rtifica tion

,which Phranz a

,an eye

wi tness,p rolongs to the measu re Of s ix miles

,

the O ttom ans d i rec ted the i r p rin cip al attack ;and the Empe ro r

,afte r d i s tr ibu ting the se r

vice and command Of the mos t pe ri lous s tations

,unde rtook the defence o f the exte rn al

wal l . I n the fi rs t d ays o f the s i ege,the Greek

sold ie rs des cended in to the d i tch,o r s al l i ed

into the fiel d ; but they soon d i scove red that,i n the p ropo rtion o f thei r numbe rs

,one Ch ri s

t i an was o f mo re value th an twenty Turks ;and

,afte r these hold p reludes

,they were p ru

dently con ten t to mainta in the rampart wi ththe i r miss i le weapons . No r should th i s p rudence be accused Of pus i l l an imi ty . The na(952)

954

Burst ingo f the b iggun .

Atta ck anddefence .

T H E wOR LD '

S GREAT EVENTS w . 1 453

agains t the wal l s ; fou rteen batte r ie s thunde red at once on the mos t acces s ib le. pl aces ;and o f one o f these i t i s amb iguous ly exp res sed th at i t was mounted with one hund red and th i rty guns

,o r th at i t d i sch a rged

one hund red and th i rty bul l e ts . Yet,in

the power and activi ty o f the Sul tan,we

may d i s ce rn the in fancy o f the new science .

Unde r a maste r who counted the moments,the

grea t c annon could be lo aded and fi red nomo re th an seven times in one day . The heatedmetal un fo rtunately bu rs t ; seve ral wo rkmenwe re des troyed ; and the ski l l o f an a rti s t wasadmi red

,who bethought h imsel f o f p revent

ing the dange r and the acci den t,by pou ring

o i l,a fte r e ach explos ion

,in to the mouth o f the

cannon .

The fi rs t random shots we re p roductive o fmo re sound th an effect ; and i t was by the advice of a Ch ri s ti an th at the enginee rs weretaught to l eve l thei r a im agains t the two Oppos i te s i des of the s al ien t angles o f a bas tion .

Howeve r impe rfect,the weigh t and repeti tion

o f the fi re made some imp res s ion on the wal l s ;and the Turks

,push ing the i r app ro aches to

the edge o f the d i tch,attempted to fi l l the

eno rmous chasm and to bui l d a ro ad to theas s aul t . ‘ Innumerab le fasc ines and hogsheadsand trunks o f t rees we re heaped on e ach othe r ;and such was the impetuos i ty o f the th rongth at the fo remos t and the weakes t we re pushedheadlong down the p rec ip ice and ins tantly

IMO- 1 453 T H E FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE 955

bu ri ed unde r the accumulated mass . To fi l lthe d i tch was the to i l o f the bes iegers ; toclea r away the rubb i sh was the s afety o f theb es ieged ; and , af te r a long and bloody confl i c t

,the web that h ad been woven in the day

was s ti l l un ravel l ed in the n ight . The next resou rce of Mahomet was the p racti ce o f mines ;but the So i l was rocky ; in eve ry attempt he

mines .

was s topped and unde rmined by the Ch ri s ti anenginee rs ; no r had the a rt been yet inventedof rep l en i sh ing whole subte r raneous pass agesW i th gunpowde r and blowing whole towe rsand ci t ies in to the ai r . A ci rcumstance thatd i st i ngui shes the s iege o f Cons tantinople i sthe reun ion o f the ancien t and mode rn a rti llery . The Cannon we re in te rmi ngled with themechan i ca l engines fo r cas ting s tones anddarts ; the bul le t and the b atte ring- ram wered i rected agains t the s ame wal ls ; no r had thed i scovery o f gunpowder supe rseded the use

o f the l iqu id and inextingui sh able fi re . A Greek fi re

wooden tu rre t o f. the l a rges t Si ze was advancedon rol l e rs ; th i s po rtab le magaz ine o f ammun i ti on and fas c ines was p ro tected by a th reefo ld cove ring o f bull s ’ h ides ; incess ant vol leyswe re secu rely d isch arged f rom the loop -holesin the f ront

,th ree doo rs we re contrived fo r

the al te rn ate s al ly and re treat of the sold ie rsand wo rkmen . They ascended by a s tai rcaseto the uppe r pl atform

,and

,as h igh as the

level o f th at pl atfo rm,a scal ing l adde r could

be ra ised by pul leys to fo rm a b ridge and

956 THE WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS A-D-u ss

grapple with the adve rse rampart . ‘By theseva rious a rts o f annoyance

,some as new as they

we re pe rn icious to the G reeks,the towe r o f S t .

Romanus was at length ove rtu rned ; afte r aseve re s t ruggle

,th e Tu rks were repul sed f rom

the b reach and inte rrupted by d a rkness { butthey trus ted th at wi th the retu rn o f l ight theyshoul d renew the attack with f resh vigo r anddeci s ive succes s . O f th i s pause o f action

,th i s

in te rval o f hope,e ach moment was imp roved

by the activi ty o f the Empe ro r,and Ju stin i an i ,

who passed the n igh t on the spot,and u rged

the l abo rs wh ich involved the s afety o f thechu rch and ci ty . At the d awn of d ay

,the im

pati en t Sul tan pe rce ived,with aston ishmen t

and gri e f,th at h i s wooden tu r ret h ad been

reduced to ashes ; the d i tch was cl ea red andres to red ; and the towe r o f S t . Romanus wasagain s trong and enti re . He dep lo red thef a i lu re o f h i s des ign ; and utte red a p ro fane excl amation th at the wo rd o f the th i rty- s eventhous and p rophets should not h ave compel ledh im to be l ieve th at such a wo rk

,in so sho rt

a time,shoul d h ave been accompl i shed by the

infi dels.

The gene ros i ty o f the Ch ri sti an p rin ces wascol d and ta rdy ; but, in the fi rs t app rehens iono f a s iege

,Constantine h ad negoti ated

,in the

i s les o f the Arch ipel ago,the Morea

,and S i c

i ly,the mos t ind isp ens ab le suppl ies . As ea rly

as the beginn ing o f Ap ri l,five great sh ip s ,

equ ipped fo r me rchand ise and war,would

958

Mohammedannava l defeats.

Mahomet’sfruit lessefforts .

THE WORLD 'S GREAT EVENTS M 1 1 453

the wi l l o f th e Sul tan . In the he ight o f thei rp ro spe ri ty

,the Tu rks h ave acknowledged

th at,i f God had given them the ea rth

,he had

left the sea to the i nfi dels ; and a se rie s o f defe ats

,a rap i d p rogres s o f decay

,h as es tab

l i shed the t ruth o f the i r modes t con fes s ion .

Excep t e igh teen gal l eys o f some fo rce,the

res t o f thei r flee t cons i s ted o f open boats,

rudely cons tructed and awkwardly managed,

c rowded with troops and des ti tute o f cannon ;and

,s ince cou rage a ri se s in a great measu re

f rom the consc iousnes s o f s t rength,the b raves t

o f the J an i z a ri es migh t t remble on a new element . In the Ch ri s ti an squ ad ron

,five s tout

and lo fty sh ip s we re guided by ski l ful p i lots,

and manned with the vete rans o f I taly andGreece

,long p racti ced in the a rts and pe ri l s

o f the se a . Thei r weigh t was d i rected to Sinko r scatte r the weak ob stacl es th at impededthei r p ass age ; the i r a rti l l e ry swept the wate rs ;the i r l i qu i d fi re was pou red on the heads o fthe adve rs a ries who

,with the des ign o f boa rd

ing,p resumed to app ro ach them ; and the

winds and waves a re always on the Si de o f theables t n avigato rs . I n th i s confl i c t

,the Impe

ri al ves se l,which h ad been almos t overpow

e red,was res cued by the Genoese ; but the

Tu rks,in a d i s tan t and close r attack

,were

twi ce repul sed with cons i de rab le los s . Mabomet h imsel f s at on ho rseb ack on the beach ,to encou rage thei r valo r by h i s voi ce and p resence

,by the p romise o f reward

,and by fea r

Ann- 1 453 TH E FALL OF CoN STAN T i NOPLE 959

more potent than the fe a r o f the enemy . Thepass ions o f h i s soul

,and even the ges tu res of

h i s body,seemed to imi tate the actions o f the

combatants ; and , as i f he h ad been the lo rd o fnatu re

,he spu rred h is ho rse wi th a fe a rles s

and impoten t e ffo rt in to the se a . His loud re

p roac hes, and the cl amors o f the camp , u rgedthe O ttomans to a th i rd attack

,more f atal and

bloody th an the two fo rmer ; and I must repeat

,though I can not c red i t

,the evidence o f

Phranz a,who affi rms

,f rom thei r own mouth

,

th at they los t about twelve thous and men inthe s l augh te r Of the d ay . They fled in d i so rde r to the sho res o f Eu rope and Asi a

,while

Triumphthe Ch r i s t i an squad ron

,t r i umphan t and un- o f the

hu rt,s tee red along the Bospho rus and se -

Cm m g

cu rely ancho red with in the chain o f the h arbo r . In the confidence o f vic to ry

,they boasted

that the whole Turki sh powe r must h aveyi elded to thei r a rms ; but the adm i ral , o r captain -bash aw

,found some consol ation fo r a

p ain fu l wound in h i s eye,by rep resen ting th at

acciden t as the cause o f h i s de fe at . Baltha

Ogl i was a renegade o f the race o f the Bulgari an p rinces ; h i s mi l i ta ry cha racte r wastainted with the unpopul a r vi ce o f avari ce ;and

,unde r the despo ti sm of the p rince o r peo

ple,mis fo rtune i s a suffi ci en t evi dence o f gu i l t .

His rank and se rvices we re ann ih i l ated by thed i spleasu re o f Mahomet . In the royal p res p unish

ment o f theence

,the cap tain - b ash aw was extended on the T urkish

admira l .ground by fou r Sl aves

,and rece ived one hun

960 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS M ) . 1 453

d red s trokes wi th a gol den rod ; h is death hadbeen p ronounced ; and he ado red the clemencyof the Su ltan

,who was sati sfi edwi th the milde r

pun i shment o f confi s c ation and exi l e . The introdu c tion o f th i s supply revived the hopeso f the G reeks

,and accused the sup ineness

Of the i r Wes te rn al l i es . Amid the dese rts o fAn atol i a and the rocks Of Pales tine

,the mi l

l ions o f the c rus ade rs h ad bu ried themselvesin a volun ta ry and inevi tab l e grave ; but thes i tu ation of the Impe ri al C i ty was s trongagains t he r enemies

,and acces s ib le to he r

f ri ends ; and a ration al and mode rate a rmament o f the ma ri time s tates might h ave s avedthe rel i cs Of the Roman name and maintaineda Ch ri s ti an fo rtres s in the hea rt o f the Ottoman Empi re . Yet th i s was the sole and feebl eattempt fo r the del ive rance o f Constantinople ;the more d i s tan t powe rs we re insens ib le o f i tsd ange r ; and the amb ass ado r o f Hunga ry, o ra t le as t o f H un i ades

,res i ded in the Tu rkish

camp,to remove the fe a rs

,and to d i rect the

ope rations,of the Sul tan .

I t was d ifli c u lt fo r the G reeks to penet ratethe sec re t o f the d ivan ; yet the G reeks a repe rsu aded th at a res i s tance

,so obs tin ate and

su rp ri s ing,had fatigued the pe rseve rance o f

Mahomet . He began to med i tate a re t re at,and the s iege woul d have been speed i ly rai sed

,

i f the amb i tion and j ealousy of the secondvi z i r h ad not opposed the perfi d i ous advi ce ofCal i l B ash aw

,who s ti l l main tained a sec ret

962 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A -D - 1 453

l eys . Two guides o r p i lots we re s tationed atthe helm and the “ p row of e ach vessel ; thes ai l s we re un fu rl ed to the winds ; and thel abo r was chee red by song and accl amation .

In the cou rse o f a s ingle n igh t,th i s Tu rk

i sh flee t p a in fu l ly cl imbed the h i l l,s tee red

ove r the p l ain,and was l aunched f rom the

decl iv i ty in to the sh al low wate rs o f the ha rbo r

,f a r above the moles ta tion o f the deepe r

vessel s o f the G reeks . The re al impo rtanceo f th i s Ope ration was magn ified by the consternati on and confidence wh ich i t insp i red ;but the no to rious

,unquestion able fact was

d i sp l ayed be fo re the eyes,and i s reco rded

by the pen s,of the two nations . A simil a r

s t ratagem had been repeatedly p racti cedby the anci en ts ; the O ttoman gal leys (I mustagain repeat ) shoul d be cons i de red as l a rgeboats ; and , i f we compare the magn itudeand the d i s tance

,the obs tacles and the means

,

the boas ted mi racle h as pe rh aps been equal ledby the indus try o f ou r own times . As soon asMahomet had occup i ed the uppe r h arbo r wi tha fleet and a rmy

,he cons tru cted

,in the na r

rowest pa rt,a b ri dge

,o r rathe r mole

,o f fi f ty

cub i ts in b read th and one hund red in length ;i t was fo rmed Of c asks and hogsheads

,j o ined

with rafte rs l inked wi th i ron,and cove red with

a sol i d floo r . On th i s flo ating b attery hepl anted one o f h i s l a rges t cannon

,while the

fou rsco re gal l eys,with troops and s cal ing

l adde rs,approached the mos t access ib l e Si de,

w u ss TH E FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE 963

which h ad fo rmerly been sto rmed by theLatin conque ro rs . The indolence of the Chri sti ans h as been accused fo r not des troying theseunfin i shed works ; but thei r fi re, by a supe rio rfi re

,was contro l led and s i l enced ; no r were

they wanting in a noctu rn al attemp t to bu rnthe vessel s as well as the b ri dge of the Sul tan .

His vigi l ance p revented thei r app roach ; the i rfo remos t gal l iots we re Sunk o r taken ; fo rtyyouths

,the b raves t o f I taly and Greece

,were

inhumanly mass ac red at h i s command ; no rcoul d the Empe ro r’s gri e f be assu aged by thej us t though c ruel retal i ation o f expos ing f romthe wal l s the heads o f two hund red and s ixtyMussulman cap tives . Afte r a s iege o f fortyg

ie

st

égsof

days,the f ate o f Constantinople coul d no

longe r be ave rted . The d iminutive gar ri sonwas exh aus ted by a double attack ; the fo rtifi c ations

,which had stood fo r ages agains t hos

t i l e violence,were d i smantled ou al l s i des by

the O ttoman cannon ; many b reaches wereopened ; and nea r the gate o f S ain t Romanusfou r towe rs h ad been level led wi th theground . Fo r the p aymen t o f h is feeb le andmutinous troops

,Constantine was compel led

to despo i l the chu rches,with the p romise o f a

fou rfo l d res ti tution ; and hi s s ac ri l ege Offe reda new rep ro ach to th e enemies o f the union .

A sp i ri t o f d i sco rd impai red the remnant ofthe Ch ri s t i an s t rength ; the Genoese and Vene Desertionof the Gent i an aux i l i ar i es as se rted the p re - em i nence of oese a nd

V enet iansthe i r respective se rvice ; and Justin i an i and the

964 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A -D-u ss

Great Duke,whose ambition was no t extin

gu i shed by the common dange r, accused e acho the r o f t reache ry and cowa rd ice .

During the s iege o f Cons tantinop le,the

words o f peace and cap i tul ation h ad beensometimes p ronounced ; and seve ral embass ies h ad passed between the camp and the c i ty .

The G reek Empe ro r was humbled by adve r

si ty ; and would h ave yiel ded to any te rmscompatib le wi th rel igion and royalty. TheTu rkish Sul tan was des i rous o f sp a ring theblood o f h i s so ld ie rs ; s ti l l more des i rous o f secu ring fo r h i s own use the Byzantine t reasu res ; and he accompl i shed a s ac red duty inp resen ting to the Gabou rs th e choice o f ci rc umc i sion

,o f t r ibute

,o r o f death . The ava

ri ce of Mahomet might h ave been s ati sfiedwith an annual sum of one hund red thous andducats ; but h i s ambi tion grasped the cap i talo f the Eas t ; to the p rince he Offe red a ri chequ ivalen t

,to the people a f ree tol e ration o r

a s a fe depa rtu re ; but, afte r some f rui tles st reaty

,he decl a red h is resolution Of finding

e i the r a th rone o r a grave unde r the wal l s OfCons tantinople . A sense o f hono r

"

and thefe a r o f unive rs al rep roach fo rb ade Paleo logusto res ign the c i ty into the h ands o f the O ttomans ; and he dete rmined to ab ide the l as text remi tie s o f wa r . Seve ral d ays we re em

p repm ,ployed by the Sul tan in the p repa rations o f

i’é’

s

’

ii ifir thethe as s aul t ; and a resp ite was granted by hi sf avo ri te s ci ence o f as t rology

,which h ad fixed

966 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A -D -Mss

o f gold and beauty ; be ri ch and be h appy.

Many are the p rovinces o f my emp i re : the i nt rep id sold ie r who fi rs t as cends the wal l s o fCons tan tinopl e sh al l be rewarded with thegove rnment o f the fa i res t and most weal thy ;and my grati tude sh al l accumul ate h i s hono rs and fo rtunes above the measu re o f h is ownhopes . Such va rious and potent motives d i ffused among the Tu rks a gene ral a rdo r

,t e

gardless o f l i fe and impatient fo r action ; thec amp re - echoed wi th the Moslem shouts o f“God i s God

,the re i s but one God

,and Ma

homet i s the apostl e o f God” ; and the se a andl and

,f rom Gal ata to the seven towe rs

,were i l

lum inated by the b l aze o f the i r noctu rn al fi res .Far d i ffe rent was the s tate o f the Ch ris ti ans ;

who,with loud and impoten t compl aints

,de

p lored the gu i l t, o r the puni shment, o f thei rs ins . The celes ti al image of the V i rgin h adbeen exposed in solemn p roces s ion : but thei rd ivine p atrones s was de af to thei r entre atiesth ey accused the obstin acy o f the Empero r fo rre fus ing a t imely su rrende r ; anti c ip ated theho rro rs o f the i r f ate ; and s ighed fo r the reposeand secu ri ty o f Tu rki sh se rvi tude . The nobles t o f the G reeks

,and the b raves t o f the

al l i es,were summoned to the p al ace

,to p re

p are them,on the even ing o f the t wenty

‘e ighth,fo r the duties and dange rs o f the gen

e ral as s aul t . The l as t speech Of Paleologuswas the fune ral o ration o f the Roman Empi re : he p romised

,he conju red

,and he vainly

A -D - 1 453 THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE

ttemp ted to in fuse the hope which was exti ngu i shed in h i s own mind . In thi s wo rld al lwas comfo rtl ess and gloomy ; and ne ithe r theGospel no r the Chu rch have p roposed anyconspi cuous recompense to the he roes who fal li n the se rvi ce o f thei r country . But the example o f thei r p rince and the confinement o fa Si ege had a rmed these wa rrio rs with thecou rage of despai r ; and the p atheti c scene i sdesc ribed by the feel ings o f the h is to ri anPh ranz a

,who was h imsel f p resent at th i s

mou rn ful assembly . They wept,they em

b raced ; rega rdles s of the i r f ami l i es and fo rtunes

,they devoted thei r l ives ; and each com

mande r,depa rting to h i s s tation

,maintained

al l n ight a vigi l ant and anxious watch on theramp art . The Empero r

,and some fa i th ful

comp an ions,ente red the dome o f S ain t Sophi a

,

which in a few hours was to be conve rted intoa mosque ; and devoutly rece ived , with tea rsand p raye rs

,the s ac rament o f the holy com

munion . He reposed some moments in thepal ace

,which resounded with c ries and l am

entati ons ; sol i c i ted the p a rdon of al l whom hemight h ave inju red ; and mounted on ho rseback to vi s i t the gua rd s and explo re the motion s o f the enemy . The dis t ress and fal l o fthe l as t Constantine a re mo re glo rious th an thelong p rospe ri ty o f the Byz antine Caes a rs .In the con fus ion o f d a rknes s an ass a i l ant

may sometimes succeed ; but, in th i s great andgene ral attack

,the mi l i ta ry judgment and as

967

The courage o fdespa i r .

The gloryo f the lastConstant ine .

968 T HE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS w . 1 453

trologi c al knowledge o f Mahomet advi sedh im to expect the morn ing

,the memorable

twenty-n inth o f May,in the fou rteen hund red

and fi fty- th i rd ye ar o f the Ch ri sti an e ra . Thep reced ing n igh t h ad been s trenuous ly em

;f

sgggfis era l

p loyed : the t roops, the cannon , and the fasc ines we re advanced to the edge o f the d i tch

,

which,in many pa rts

,p resented a smooth and

level p as s age to the b reach ; and h i s fou rs co regal l eys almos t touched

,with thei r p rows and

thei r s cal ing- l adde rs,the les s defens ib le wall s

o f the h a rbo r . Unde r pain o f death,s i lence

was enjo ined ; but the phys i cal l aws o f motionand sound a re not obed ien t to d i sc i p l ine o rfea r ; each ind ividu al migh t supp res s h i s vo iceand measu re h is foots teps ; but the march andl abo r o f thous ands mus t inevi tab ly p roduce as trange con fus ion Of di sson an t cl amo rs

,which

reached the ea rs o f the watchmen o f the towers . At daybreak

,without the cus toma ry s ig

nal o f the mo rn ing-gun,the Turks as s aul ted

the c i ty by sea and l and ; and the s imi l i tude ofa twined o r twis ted th read has been appl iedto the closenes s and con tinu i ty o f thei r l ine o fattack . The fo remos t ranks cons i s ted o f the

51113559251 re fuse o f the host, a volun ta ry c rowd , whogm “

fought wi thout o rde r o r command ; of thefeeb lenes s o f age o r ch i l dhood

,o f peas an ts and

vagrants,and o f al l who h ad j o ined the camp

in the bl ind hope o f p lunde r and martyrdom .

The common impuls e d rove them onward tothe wal l ; the mos t audacious to cl imb were

970 TH E WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS m . 1 453

c han i c al ope ration o f sounds,by quicken ing

the c i rcul ation o f the blood and Sp i ri ts,wil l

act on the human machine more fo rcibly thanthe eloquence o f re ason and hono r . From thel ines

,the gal l eys

,and the b ridge

,the O ttoman

a rti l l e ry thunde red on al l s i des ; and the campand c i ty

,the G reeks and the Turks

,were in

volved in a cloud o f smoke,which coul d only

be d i spel l ed by the final del ive rance o r des truction o f the Roman Empi re .

The immedi ate loss o f Constantinopl e maybe asc ribed to the bul le t o r a rrow whichp ie rced the gauntle t o f John Justin i an i . Thes igh t o f h is b lood

,and the exqui s i te p ain

,ap

p al l ed the cou rage o f the ch ie f,whose a rms

and counsel we re the fi rmest rampart o f thec i ty . As he withd rew f rom hi s s tation in ques tof ‘a su rgeon

,h i s fl igh t was pe rce ived and

s topped by the inde fatigab le Empero r . “You rwound

,

” excl a imed Paleo logus,

“i s s l i gh t ; thedange r i s p res s ing ; you r p resence i s neces s a ry ;and wh i the r wi l l you reti re ?” “I wil l reti re

,

”

s a i d the t rembl ing Genoese,by the s ame road

which God has opened to the Turks ;” and at

these wo rds he h asti ly passed th rough one o fthe b reaches o f the inne r wal l . By th i s pus i llan imous act

,he s tained the hono rs o f a mil i

ta ry l i fe ; and the few days which he su rvivedin Gal ata

,off th e I s le o f Chios , were imb i t

tered by hi s own and the publ i c rep ro ach . His

fii’

rfn’

iifi éd example was imi tated by the greate r p a rt o fthe Latin auxi l i a ri es

,and the de fen ce began to

A ~O 1 453 THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE

s l acken when the attack was p ressed with redoubled vigo r . The numbe r o f the O ttomanswas fi fty

,perh aps a hund red

,times supe rio r

to th at o f the Ch ri s ti ans ; the double wal l s werereduced by the cannon to a heap o f ru ins ; ina ci rcu i t o f seve ral mi les

,some pl ace s must be

found mo re easy o f acces s o r more feeb lygua rded ; and , i f the bes i ege rs coul d penetratein a s ingle poin t

,the whole c i ty was i rre c over

ably los t . The fi rs t who dese rved the Sul tan ’sreward was H ass an

,the J an iz a ry

,o f gigantic

s tatu re and st rength . W i th h i s c imete r in oneh and

,and h i s buckle r in the othe r

,he ascended

the ou tward fo rtification ; of the thi rty J aniz a ri es who we re emulous o f h is valo r

,eigh

teen pe ri shed in the bo l d adventu re . Hass anand h i s twelve companions h ad reached thesummi t ; the gi ant was p recip i tated f rom therampart ; he rose on one knee , and was againopp res sed by a shower o f d arts and s tones .But h i s su cces s h ad p roved th at the ach ievement was poss ibl e ; the wal ls and towe rs we reinstan tly cove red with a swarm of Turks ; andthe Greeks

,now driven f rom the vantage

ground,were ove rwhelmed by inc reas ing mul

t i tudes. Amid these mul ti tudes,the Empe ro r

,

who accompl i shed al l the duti es o f a gene raland a sold i e r

,was long seen

,and fin al ly los t .

The nobles who fought round h i s pe rson sustained

,ti l l the i r l as t b re ath

,the hono rable

n ames o f Paleologus and Cantacuzene : hi smou rn fu l excl amation was hea rd

,

“Can n ot

971

Rout o fthe Greeks.

972 TH E WORLD ’


the re be found a Ch ri s ti an to cut off myhead ? and h i s l as t fea r was th at o f f al l ing

D eath 0,al ive into the h ands o f the infi de ls. The pru

tiri ng .. dent desp ai r o f Constantine cas t away the pu r$23.2?n ple ; amid the tumul t he fel l by an unknown

hand,and hi s body was bu ri ed unde r a moun

tain o f the s l ain . Afte r h is de ath res i s tanceand o rde r we re no more ; the Greeks fled towa rd the ci ty ; and many were p ressed ands tifled in the n a rrow pass o f th e gate o f S ain tRomanus . The victo rious Tu rks rushedth rough the b re aches o f the inne r wal l ; and,as they advanced into the s treets

,they were

soon j o ined by the i r b reth ren,who had fo rced

the gate Phenar on the s i de o f the ha rbo r . Inthe fi rs t heat o f the pu rsu i t

,about two thou

i’

ifir’

ifii fifge sand Chri s ti ans we re put to the swo rd ; butava ri ce soon p revai led ove r c ruel ty ; and thevicto rs acknowledged th at they shoul d haveimmedi ately given qua rte r

,i f the valo r o f the

Empero r and hi s chosen b ands h ad no t p repa red them fo r a s imi l a r oppos i tion in eve rypa rt o f the cap i tal . I t was thus

,afte r a s iege

o f fi fty- th ree d ays,th at Cons tantinopl e

,which

h ad defied the power o f Chosroes,the Chagan

,

and the cal iph s,was i r retrievab ly subdued by

the a rms o f Mahomet the S econd . Her empi re only h ad been subve rted by the Latins ;he r rel igion was trampled in the dus t by theMoslem conque ro rs .

974 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

in th at o f typography,in which the s ame types

can be used again and again .

Block-p rin ting and p rinting wi th movabletypes seem to h ave been p racti ced in Chin aand J apan long befo re they we re known inEu rope . I t i s s a i d th at in the yea r 1 75 thetext of the Chinese cl as s i cs was cut upon tabl ets

,which were e rected ou ts i de the un ive rs i ty

,

and that imp res s ions we re taken Of them,some

o f which a re s ai d to be s ti l l i n exi s tence . Printing f rom wooden b locks can be traced as f a rb ack as the S ixth Centu ry

,when the founde r

o f the Suy dynasty i s s a id to h ave had theremain s o f the cl ass i c al books engraved on

wood,though i t was not unti l the Tenth Cen

tu ry th at p rin ted books became common . InEa rly bl ock

J ap an,the ea rl i es t example o f b lock- p r i nt i ng

dates f rom the pe riod 764-

770 , when the Empress Sh i yau - toku

,in pu rsu ance o f a vow

,had

a mil l ion smal l wooden toy p agodas madefo r d i st ribution among the Buddhi s t templesand monaste ri e s

,each o f wh ich was to contain

a dhfi ran i out o f the Buddh i s t S c rip tu res,en

ti tl ed,

“V imal a n i rbhasa Sfi tra,p rin ted on a

sl ip o f p ape r abou t e ighteen inches in lengthand two in width

,which was rol l ed up and de

pos i ted i n th e body o f the p agoda unde r theSp i re . In a j ou rnal o f the pe riod

,unde r the

yea r 987, th e exp res s ion“p rin ted -book” (su rf

hofi ) i s found appl ied to a copy o f the Buddhi st c anon b rought b ack f rom Ch ina by aBuddhi s t p ri es t . This

,o f cou rse

,must have

East Asianprint ing.

7

1 454 INVENTION OF PRINTING 9 J 5

been a Chinese ed i tion ; but the use o f thete rm impl ies tha t p rin ted books we re al re adyknown in J ap an . I t i s s a i d th at the Chinesep rinted wi th movable types (o f cl ay ) f rom Mova blethe middle o f the El eventh Centu ry . Theautho ri ti es o f the B ri ti sh Museum exh ib i t asthe ea rl ies t in s tance o f Co rean books p rintedwi th movable types a wo rk p rin ted in 1 337.

To the Co rean i s attributed the invention o fcoppe r types in th e beginn ing o f the Fi fteenthCentu ry ; and an inspection o f books bea ringd ates o f th at pe riod seems to show th at theyused such types

,even i f they did not invent

them .

From such evidence as we have i t wouldseem th at Eu rope i s not i ndeb ted to the Chinese o r J apanese fo r the a rt o f block- p rinting

,nor fo r th a t o f p rinting with movable

types .In Eu rope

,as l ate as the second hal f o f the

Fou rteen th Centu ry,eve ry book ( i nc lu d i ng

MS ' Pe f iod

s chool and p raye r-books ) , and eve ry publ i cand p rivate document

,p rocl amation

,bul l

,

l e tte r,e tc .

,was wri tten by hand ; al l figures

and p i ctu res,even pl aying- ca rds and images

o f s aints,were d rawn with the pen o r p ain ted

wi th a b rush . In the Th i rteenth Centu rythe re al re ady exis ted a kind Of book- trade .

The organiz ation o f unive rs i tie s,as wel l a s

that o f l a rge eccles i as ti cal es tabl i shments,was

Scribesat that time incomplete

,espec i al ly in I taly

,and transcribers .

France,and Ge rmany

,withou t a s taff o f

976

Burgundythe European centre

C la sses o fwrit ing.

TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS

s c ribes and transc r ibe rs (s c r ip tores ) , i l lum inators

,l ende rs

,s el l e rs

,and cus todi ans o f

books (sta ti ona r i i l i brorum ,l i bra r i i ) , and

pergam ena r i i , i . e .,pe rsons who p rep a red and

sol d the vel lum o r p a rchmen t requ i red fo rbooks an d documents . The books suppl iedwe re

,fo r the mos t p a rt

,l egal

,theol ogical

,

and education al,and a re c al cu l a ted to have

amounted to above one hund red d iffe ren two rks .As no book o r documen t coul d gain ap

p roval unl es s i t h ad some o rn amented andi l luminated in i ti al s o r cap i tal l ette rs

,the re

was no wan t o f i l lumin ato rs . The workmens c ribes and transc ribe rs we re

,pe rh aps wi thout

exception,c al igraphers, an d the i l lumin ato rs

fo r the most p a rt a rti s ts . Beauti fu l ly wri ttenand ri ch ly i l lumin ated manusc ri p ts on vel lumbecame obj ec ts o f l uxu ry wh i ch we re e age rlybough t and tre asu red up by p rinces and peopl e o f d i s tin ction . Bu rgundy of the Fi fteen thCentu ry

,with i ts ri ch l i te ratu re

,i ts we al thy

towns,i ts love fo r a rt

,and i ts ri ch schoo l o f

pain ting,was in th i s respec t the centre o f Eu

rope,and the l ib ra ri es o f i ts dukes a t B russel s

,

B ruges,Antwe rp

,Ghen t

,etc .

,con ta ined mo re

than th ree thous and be au ti fu l ly i l luminatedmanus c rip ts .In spe aking o f the wri ting o f the manu

sc ri p ts of the Fi fteenth and two p recedingcen tu ries

,i t i s e ssenti al to d ist in gu i sh in each

coun try between at l eas t fou r d i ffe ren t cl as ses

THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A -D » r454

known all ove r Ge rmany,Fl ande rs

,and H 0 1

l and .

When we,for the moment

,l eave ou t of

sigh t the question as to when,where

,and by

whom the a rt o f p rin ting wi th movable metaltypes was inven ted

,and take ou r s tand on

wel l - au thenti c ated dates in such p rin ted documen ts as h ave been p rese rved to us

,we find

that the fi rs t p rin ted date,1 454, occu rs in two

1 454.

d i ffe ren t ed i tions o f the s ame lette rs of indu lgence i ssued in th at yea r by Pope N i chol as

(V . in behal f o f the kingdom o f Cyp rus . Thesetwo di ffe ren t ed i tions a re usual ly regarded ash aving been p rin ted at Mainz; and , so longas the re i s no evidence to the con t rary

,we may

assume th at such was re al ly the f act . But wemus t at the s ame time conclude th at aboutNovembe r

,1 454, the re we re a t l e as t two rival

p rin te rs a t wo rk the re .

Til l the momen t (s ay 1 477) th at p rin tingsp read to almos t al l the ch ie f towns of Ge r~

many,I taly

,Swi tze rl and

,F rance

,the N eth

e rl ands,Sp ain

,Engl and

,no t a s ingle p rin ter

T he spm d ca rried away with h im a set o f types o r a se tOf prm’mg'

o f punches o r molds f rom the mas te r who h adtaugh t h im

,but

,in setting up h i s p rin ting

offi c e,e ach man cas t a se t o f types fo r h i s own

use,always imi tating as close ly as poss ibl e

the h andwri ting o f some particul ar manusc rip t wh ich he or h i s p at ron des i red to publ i sh . Anothe r mos t impo rtan t featu re in theea rl ies t books i s th at the p rin te rs imitated

,not

A .D . 1 454 INVENTION OF PRINTING

only the h andwri ting,with al l i ts contractions

,

combined lette rs,etc .

,but al l the othe r pecul i

ari ti es o f the manusc ripts they Copied . Therei s

,in the fi rs t p l ace

,the unevenness o f the

l ines,which ve ry o ften se rves as a guide to

the app roximate date o f a book,espec i al ly

when we deal with th e wo rks o f the s amep rin te r

,s ince each commenced wi th uneven

l ines,and gradual ly made them les s uneven

,

and final ly even . The p racti ce among earlyp rin te rs o f imi tating and rep roducing manu

the fi rs t p rin ted book ( 1 454) made i ts appea rance ; and , looking at the books p rin ted , s ayf rom 1 454 to 1 477, f rom ou r p resen t s tandpo in t o f dai ly imp rovement and al te ration

,

the p rinting o f th at pe rio d may be s a id to h avebeen almos t whol ly s tagnant

,without any im

p rovement o r modification . I f some p rinte rs

(fo r in s tance, Sweynheym and Pannarts atSub i aco and Rome, and N i chol as J ensen atVen ice ) p roduced handsomer books th an othe rs

,th i s i s to b e attributed to the beauty o f the

manusc rip ts imi tated and the pape r usedrathe r th an to any supe rio r ski l l . Gene ral lyspeaking

,the re fo re

,we shal l no t be ve ry fa r

wrong in s aying th at the wo rkmansh ip o fKetelaer and De Leemp t

’s fi rs t book

,pub

l i shed at U t rech t,e . 1 473, and th at o f Cax

ton ’s fi rs t book,i s sued atWestminste r in 1 477,

exhib i t the ve ry s ame s tage o f the a rt o f p rin ting as the 1 454 indulgences . If

,there fo re

,

979

R eproduCJ

t ion ofs c ri pts was not ab andoned ti l l many years a f te r MSS

980 THE WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A~D- 1 454

any evi dence were found th at Ketelaer and DeLeempt and Caxton h ad real ly p rin ted thei rfi rs t books in 1 454, the re would be nothing inthe workmansh i p o f these books to p reven tus f rom pl ac ing them in th at yea r .Though the Cologne Chron i c le of 1 499 de

n ies to M ainz the honor o f the inven tion of thea rt o f p rin ting

,i t was r ight in as serting that

a fte r i t h ad been b rough t the re f rom Holl and

,i t became much mo re masterly and ex

act,and more and mo re a rti s ti c . During the

fi rs t h al f cen tu ry o f p rin ting a good manyp rin te rs d i s tingu i shed themselves by thebeauty

,excel l en ce

,and l i te ra ry value o f the i r

p roductions . We may mention as suchJoh an Fus t and Pete r Sc hoeffer a t M ainz ;Joh an M entel in and Hein ri ch Eggeste in atS trasbu rg ; U l r i ch Zel l a t Cologne ; Sweynheym and Pannarts at S ub i aco and at Rome ;N i chol as J ensen at Ven i ce ; Anton Kobergera t Nu rembe rg ; Ketelaer and De Leempt a tU t recht ; J ohan V e ldener at Louvain

,U t rech t

,

and Kn i lenbu rg ; Gera rd Leeu at Gonda,Joh an o f Wes tphal i a at Louvain ; and W i lfl i am Caxton at We s tmins te r .Ve ry soon the demand fo r books in c re ased

,

and wi th i t came a reduction in the i r pri ces .This c aused a decl ine in the execution o f p rin tin g

,which begins to be app rec i able about

1 480 in some local i tie s , and may be s ai d toh ave become gene ral toward the end o f theFi fteen th Cen tu ry . At al l times

,howeve r,

INVENTION OF PRINTING 981

we find some p rin te rs rai se thei r a rt to a greatheigh t by the beauty o f thei r types and the l i tc ra ry excel lence o f thei r p roductions .

!The Wa rs o f the Roses begin in Engl andbetween the Yo rki sts and Lancas tri ans ; battl eso f S a in t Alb ans No rth ampton andWakefiel d Towton and Hexh am B arne t and Tewksbu ryMohammed I I . bes ieges ’Belgrade and i s dQ'

Moham1n ed. IL

feated by H un i ades ; but he conque rs Athens c on nersthe reek

and al l the G reek S tates The Coun Stats-S

c i l o f Ten depose Fosc ari , Doge o f Ven ice ,who immedi ately d ies M atth i as ofHunga ry wres ts Bosn i a f rom the Tu rks ; heabol i shes the ol d Magya r wa r sys tem andfo rms a s tand ing a rmy o f in fantry

,—the B l ack

Gua rd The Genoese lose the C rimeaand thei r t rade in the Levan t to the Veneti ans

Ivan o f Russ i a marries Soph i a,the

n iece o f the l as t G reek Empero r ( 1 472 )hence ari ses the Russ i an cl aim to the GreekEmp i re — fi rst adoption o f the ti tl e of Cz a r .The S anta H ernandad (Holy B rothe rhoo d )i s ins ti tu ted by the c i ti es o f Cas ti l e agains t theplunde ring nobles Cha rles the Bol dsu ffe rs te r rib l e de fe ats by the Swiss at G ranson and Morat ( 1 476 ) .J

NANCY.

—DEATH OF CHARLES THE BOLD

(A .D. 1476—1477)

JULES M ICHELET

HE Duke fled to Morges,twelve l eagues

d is tan t,withou t s aying a wo rd ; thence

rep ai red to Gex,where the s teward

of the Duke of S avoy lodged h im,and got

h im to attend to h i s pe rson al wants .He assembled a t S al ins the S tates o f

313

. Franche -Comté,where he spoke h aughti ly

,

5339128 5

with th at indomi tab le cou rage of h is,of h i s

resou rces,o f h i s p roj ects

,and of the futu re

Kingdom of Bu rgundy. He was about to coll ect an a rmy o f fo rty thous and men

,to tax h i s

subj ects to the exten t o f a qua rte r of thei r posses s ions . The S tates gro aned to hea rh im

,and rep resented to h im that the country

was ru ined ; al l they coul d Offe r h im was th reethous and men

,and th at sol ely fo r the de fence

Of the country .

“Wel l,th en

,excl a imed the Duke

,you

wil l soon h ave to give the enemy more thanyou re fuse your Prince I Shal l rep ai r toFl ande rs and take up my abode the re

,where

I h ave mo re f ai th fu l subj ects .”

(982)

984 TH E WORLD '

S GREAT EVENTS A -D . I476- 1 477

al l th i s fo r the two months that he remainednea r Joux

,in a gloomy castl e o f the Ju ra .

He fo rmed a camp to wh ich no one came,h a rdly a few rec ru i ts . But what d i d come

,

cou rs ing each othe r’s heel s,was b ad news

th i s al ly h ad gone ove r,th at se rvant d i sobeyed

o rde rs,now a town of Lo rra ine h ad su rren

de red,and next d ay

,anothe r . As thes e re

po rts we re b rought in he s a i d noth ing . Hesaw no one

,but shut h imse l f up .

Chagrin woul d mos t l ikely h ave d riven h immad

,h ad not the ve ry exces s o f h i s ch agrin

1 1 d

and wrath roused h im . From eve ry quarte rSO ate

595 1

30

1of he hea rd o f men acting as i f he we re al readye u e.dead . The King

,who had h i the rto d i spl ayed

such p recaution in h i s deal ings with h im,had

the Duchess o f S avoy ca r ri ed off f rom h is te rri tori es

,f rom hi s c as tl e o f Rouvre

,and was

exho rting the Swis s to invade Bu rgundy,of

feri ng to take cha rge o f Fl ande rs h imsel f,whi l e he suppl i ed Réné

,who was gradual ly

recove ring Lo rra ine,with money. Now Lo r

raine l ay nea res t o f al l to the Duke ’s hea rt ;i t was the l ink wh ich un i ted al l h i s p rovinces

,

and the n atu ral centre o f the Bu rgund i an Empi re

,o f which he was s ai d to h ave des igned:

to make N ancy the cap i tal .Thithe r he set ou t

,as soon as he h ad got a

smal l b and togethe r,and again a rr ived too

Réné takes l a te (22d o f Octobe r ) , th ree d ays a fte r RenéNam y ’

h ad retaken N ancy ; retaken i t, but no t p rovi s ioned

,so th at the ch ance was th at be fo re

m . 1 476- 1 477 DEATH OF CHARLES T H E BOLD 985

René coul d rai se money,take Swiss in to h i s

p ay,and fo rm an a rmy

,N ancy would b e

wrested f rom him . The Pope ’s l egate was legateintriguing wi th the Swis s in f avo r o f the Dukeo f Bu rgundy

,and bal anced the F rench King’s

c redi t wi th them .

All Réné could at fi rs t ob tain was tha t theRM

con fede rates shoul d send an embassy to the i iii

iifigm

Duke to asce rtain h i s intentions ; though i t wasthe SW l ss '

l i ttl e wo rth whi le to send,s in ce eve ry one

knew be fo reh and that h i s final dete rmin ationwould be— noth ing wi thou t Lo rraine and theLandgravi ate o f Als ace .

Happi ly,Réné h ad a powe rful

,active

,i r re

si sti b le in te rcesso r wi th the Swis s— the King .

Afte r the b attl e o f Morat,the le ade rs o f the

Swis s h ad managed to be sen t as ambass ado rsto Pless i s - l es -Tours

,where these b rave men

found the i r Capua,s ince thei r good f riend

,the

King,by fl atte ry

,p resents

,f ri endsh ip

,and

confidence,bound them wi th such swee t

ch ains,th at they di d al l he wished

,res igned

thei r conquests in S avoy,and gave up eve ry

th ing fo r an incons ide rab l e sum . T he t roops,

v i c to rious in the l ate b ri l l i an t campaign,d i s

cove red th at they would be d i smis sed to thetedium of thei r mountain l i fe unles s they dec lared fo r Réné ; in wh ich case the King gua ranteed them thei r p ay . The wa r

,i t was true

, “ 6 5m g

would take them f rom home,the se rvice was h

e

fifc'

l’

fiary

a h i rel ing one ; they were abou t to begin the i rsomxm

sad .h i story as mercenary sold ie rs .

986 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS x476- 1 477

The re was need fo r desp atch . N ancy wassu ff e ring seve rely . Réné canvassed Switze rl and

,sol i c i ted

,p ressed

,and got no othe r an

swe r than th at he might pos s ib ly h ave succo rin the sp ring . The deacons o f the t rades

,

. butchers , tanners, rough folk, but ful l o f heart

(an d great f r iends o f the King ) , c ri ed sh ameon thei r towns fo r not a id ing h im who hadaided them so wel l in the great b attle . Theypoin ted to the poo r young P rince in the i rs treets

,who went about wande ring

,weep ing

l ike a mendi can t a tame bea r which foll owed h im del ighted the popul ace by flat

te ring and cou rting,a fte r i ts f ash ion

,the - bea r

o f B e rne,and he was at l as t al l owed

,without

the can tons being p ledged by the s tep,to l evy

some troops . The permi s s ion was,in fact

,ob

t a in ing eve ryth ing,s ince the in s tant i t was

made publ i cly known that the re were fou rflorins a month to be gained

,so many p re

sented themselves th at i t was found neces s a ryto range them unde r the respective b anne rs o fthe can tons

,and to l imi t thei r numbe r

,o r al l

woul d have l e ft .The d i fli c u lty was to make th i s long march ,

i n the hea rt o f win te r,along wi th ten thous and

Ge rmans,Often d runk

,who obeyed no one .

The winte r,th i s yea r

,was te rrib l e

,a Mos

Sevefi ty of cow winte r ; and the Duke experienced ( inthe winter .

l i ttl e ) the d i s as te rs o f the famous retreat . Fourhund red men were f rozen to death on Ch ri s tmas n igh t alone ; and many los t thei r h ands

988 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS m . 1 476- 1 477

ing to read . The Lo rd of Ch imai,who took

the ri sk upon himsel f,and fo rced h is way in

,

found h im lying d res sed,on a bed

,and coul d

extract bu t one wo rd f rom h im :“I f needs be

,

I wi l l fight alone .

” The King Of Po rtugal,

who wen t to see h im,l e f t wi thout ob tain ing.

more .

He was add res sed as i f he we re a l ivingman

,but he was dead . Franche -Comté opened

negoti ations indepen dently o f h im ; Flande rsdetained hi s d aughte r as a hos tage ; Holl and,on a repo rt being sp read o f h is death

,d rove

out h i s tax- gathe re rs (end o f D ecembe r ) . Thefatal time h ad come . The best that was lef tfo r h im to do

,i f he would not go and ask h i s

subj ects ’ pa rdon,was to seek death in the as

s aul t,o r to endeavo r

,with the smal l but long

tri ed'

b and s ti l l devoted to h im,to cut h i s way

th rough Réné’s ove rpowering fo rces . He hada rti l l e ry

,which Réné h ad not

,o r a t l e as t to a

ve ry l imi ted exten t . His fol lowe rs were few,

but they we re truly h i s,lo rds and gentlemen

,

ful l o f hono r,ancien t re ta ine rs

,res igned to

pe ri sh wi th h im .

On the S atu rday even ing he tr ied a l ast asH is assault s aul t

,which was repul sed by the s ta rving ga r

IS repu lsed .ri son o f Nart

‘

c y, s t rengthened as they were byhope

,and by see ing al re ady on the towers of

S ain t N i co l as the j oyous s ignal s o f del ive rance .On the next d ay

,th rough a heavy fal l o f snow

,

the Duke s i l ently qui tted h i s camp,and hast

ened to meet the enemy,th inking to b ar the

m . 1 476- 1 477 DEATH OF CHARLES TH E BOLD 989

p ass age with h is a rt i l l e ry. He had not muchhope h imsel f ; and as hewas putting on h i she lmet

,the c res t fe l l to the ground : “Hoc est é

’rfiei

‘

ifl

s ignum Dei,

” he s ai d,and mounted hi s l a rge

b l ack wa r-ho rse .

The Burgundi an s soon came to a rivuletswol len by the mel ted snow

,which they had

to fo rd . and then, f rozen as they were , to takeup a pos i tion and awai t the Swis s . The l atte r

,

ful l o f hope,and suppo rted by a hea rty meal

o f hot soup,l a rgely wate red wi th wine

,a r

rived f rom S aint N i co l as. Shortly be fo re therencounte r

,

“a Swi s s qu i ckly donned a s tol e,

showed h i s count rymen the Host,and assu red

them that whateve r might be the resul t,they

were al l s aved . So numerous and dense werethei r masses

,th at whi l e oppos ing a f ront to the

Bu rgundians and occupying thei r attention ateve ry poin t

,they eas i ly detached a body f rom

the rea r to tu rn the i r fl ank as at Morat,and

to take possess ion of the heights wh ich c om

manded them . One Of the vi cto rs h imsel fcon fesses that the Duke ’s c annon had s ca rcelytime to fi re a shot . As soon as they

‘saw them

selves attacked on th e fl ank,the in fantry gave

T he Bu r

way,and i t was ou t o f the ques tion to s tay the i r fi gfifi

’

;fl ight . They hea rd h igh' above the lowi ng gi ve way "

ho rn o f U nde rwald,the sh ri l l co rnet o f wa r

Thei r hea rts we re ch i l led by the sound,

“fo rat Morat they had heard i t .”

The caval ry,l e f t alone in p resence of th i s

mass o f twenty thous and men,was h ardly to

990 T H E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A» . 1 476—1 477

be di sce rned on the snow- cove red pl a in . Thesnow was s l ippe ry, and the ho rsemen fel l .

“Atth i s moment

,

” s ays the eye -witnes s,who fol

lowed in the pu rsu i t,

“we only s aw ho rseswi thout ri de rs

,and al l so rts o f p rope rty ab an

doned .

” The gre ate r numbe r of the fugi tivesp res sed on as fa r as the b ri dge o f Bus s i e re .

Campob asso,suspecting th i s

,had ba rred the

b ridge,and awaited them the re . The pu rsui t

was checked on hi s account ; h i s comrades ,whom he had j us t dese rted

,passed th rough

h i s h ands,and he rese rved those who had the

means o f p aying ransom .

The inhabi tan ts o f N ancy, who s aw thewhole f rom thei r wal l s

,were so f ranti c wi th

joy as to hu rry fo rth wi thou t p recaution,so

that some fel l by the h ands o f thei r f ri ends theSwi ss

,who s truck wi thout attending . The

mass o f the routed we re impel led by the i nc l inati on o f the ground to a Spot whe re tworivul ets met

,nea r a f rozen pond

,and the i ce

,

which was weake r ove r these running wate rsb roke unde r the weight o f the men - at- a rms .Here

,the wan ing fo rtunes o f the House o f

Bu rgundy s ank fo reve r . The Duke stumbledthe re ; and he was fol lowed by men whomCampob as so had l ef t fo r the pu rpose . O the rsbel ieve th at i t was a b ake r o f N ancy whos t ruck h im fi rs t a blow on the head

,and that

a man -at- a rms,who was deaf

,and d id no t hea r

th at he was the Duke o f Bu rgundy,desp atched

him wi th th rusts o f h is l ance .

992 THE WORLD ’S GREAT EVENTS A d ) . 1 476- 1 477

h im migh t ; none we re tu rned back . Somep rayed to God fo r h im

,others no t . Three

days and th ree n igh ts the re he l ay .

He had met with rough tre atment: Hishead had been l ai d open , and he h ad beens tabbed in bo th th ighs

,and in the fundament .

He had been wi th some diffi culty recogn ized .

In remov ing h i s head f rom the i ce, the skinh ad come off on th at s i de o f h is f ace ; and theo the r cheek h ad been gnawed by the dogs andwolves . Howeve r

,h i s attend ants

,h is phys i

e i an,h i s body- s e rvan t

,and h i s l aund ress

,rec

ogn i z ed h im by the wound he had rece ived at

Montlhery, by h i s teeth , h i s n ai l s, and somep rivate ma rks .He was al so recogn ized by O l ivie r de l a

Marche,and many o f the p rincip al p ri sone rs

“Duke Réné l ed them to see the Duke of Burgundy

,ente red the fi rs t

,and

,

uncove red hi she ad ; They knel t down : ‘Al as they s ai d

,

‘the re i s ou r good mas te r and lo rd .

’ TheDuke h ad p rocl amation made th roughout thec ity o f N ancy th at e ach househol de r shoul dattend

,wax- tape r in h and

,and h ad the chu rch

o f S t . Geo rge hung al l round wi th bl ack cloth ,and sen t fo r the th ree abbots and al l thep ries ts fo r two leagues round . Th ree highmasses we re sung .

”Réné

,in deep mou rn ing

mantle,with al l h i s Lo r raine and Swiss cap

tain s,came to sp rinkle h im with holy wate r,

“and cl asp ing h i s r ight h and in h is unde r thep al l

,

” he exc l a imed grac ious ly,Wel l - a-day,

w . 1 479 1 477 DEATH OF CHARLES T H E BOLD 993

f a i r cous in,may God have you r soul in h i s

holy keep ing ! You have wrought us greath arm and grie f .I t was not easy to pe rsuade the people th at

he who h ad beeni the theme o f eve ry tonguewas re al ly dead . He was concealed

,ran

the rumor,he was immu red in p ri son

,he had

tu rned monk ; he had been seen by p i lgrims in Popula rGermany

,at Rome

,at J e rus alem ; soone r 0 1 21

1

95955

3

l ate r he would reappea r,l ike King Arthu r o r 9355

5

Frede ri ck B arb a ross a ; i t was ce rtain th at hewould retu rn . The re we re me rch ants evenwho gave goods on c red i t

,to be p aid double

when the great Du ke o f Bu rgundy came back .

I t i s as se rted th at the gentleman who hadthe mi s fo rtune to ki l l h im,

not knowing whohe was

,could neve r be consoled

,and d ied of

gri e f . I f he were thus regretted?

by theenemy

,how much more by hi s se rvants

,by

those who had known his noble n atu re,befo re

he los t h i s head and was ru ined ! When thech apte r o f the Golden Fleece met fo r thefi rs t time at S ain t- S auveu r’s

,B ruges

,and the

kn igh ts,reduced to five

,behel d in th i s vas t

chu rch,on a cush ion o f b l ack velvet

,the

Duke ’s col l a r which occupied h i s accus tomedpl ace

,and read upon h i s s cu tcheon

,a fte r the

l i s t o f h i s ti tl e s,

“the dolo rous wo rd .

they bu rs t in to te a rs .

!The Tu rks ravage I taly with fi re andsword ( 1 477 Giul io de ’ Med i ci i s

994 TH E WORLD ’

S GREAT EVENTS A -D o 1 475- 1 477

ki l l ed by the consp i racy of the Pazz i ; h i sb ro the r

,Lo renzo the Magnificent

,succeeds

The Ch ri s ti an kingdoms o f Spaina re un i ted unde r Fe rd in and o f Aragon andI s abel la o f Casti l e The Inqu is i tioni s es tab l i shed in Spain ; fi rs t auto - de - fé ( 1 484)a t S ev i l le ]

E N D OF V O LUME TWO

UN IV ERSITY OF CALIFORN IA LIBRARYLos A ngeles

T h is book i s DU E on the las t date stamped below.

Form L9—25m-9’47 (A 5 6 1 8 444

A History of the World From Ancient to Modern Times B. C. 4004 to ...

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