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VOL I. ^riu,KsiiKr) nv iws'v s:, co. *-OR OEOUGK C. TKEMAlxVi;, KINOS 1811. STflV /< 4 &T > .. . A P 1)105' K7 I'S^lf // •h q h ^ CI ai of be sa to El tei the ble anc civ all mo and has f ll AUTHOR'S PREFACE. Ta« work hero prflsented to the public, is a summary of the Revolutions, \joth general and particular, which have happened in Europe since the oxtinction of the Roman Empire in the fifth century. As an elementary Luok, it will be found useful to those who wish to have a concise and ge- noral view of the successive revolutions that have changed the aspect of states and kingdoms, and given birth to the existing policy and establish- ed Older of society in modern times. N* uhout some preliminary acquaintance with the annals of these revo- lutions,we can neither study the history of our own country to advantage nor appreciate the influence which the different states, formed from the wreck of the ancient Roman Empire, reciprocally exercised on each other Allied as it were by the geographical position of their territories by a conformity in their religion, language, and manners, these states contraci- ed new attachments in the ties of mutual interests, which the progress of civilization, commerce, and industry, tended more and more to cement and confirm. Many of them whom fortune had elevated to the summit of power and prosperity, carried their laws, their arts and institutions, boUi civil and military, far beyond the limits of their own dominions. The extensive sway which the Romish hierarchy held for nearly a thou- sand years over the greater part of the European kingdoms, is well known to every reader of history. P„Tnn'r"""'T^ intercourse and relationship among the powers of Europe, became the means of forming them into a kind of republican sys- tem ; ,t gave birth to a national law and conventional rights, founded on the agreement of treaties, and the usages of common practice. A lauda" ble emulation sprung up among contemporary slates. Their jealousies and even their competitions and divisions, contributed to the progress of civilization, and the attainment of that high state ol perfection to which IcTe™" "' "''"''" ''" '"" ''"'-' '' ''' ^^'^^' ^' andth^tT^f '•'^''T'^^"'"''''''' ''"^'''"^^ '■'^fl'^^«'^« of kingdoms T^»ZL T-T^ ?' "P"'"^"^ ^'^ ''''''''' ^ 'y^^'"^ -h-h Europe has experienced m the lapse of 50 many ages, th.t n^nnire to be developed fiii PRErAOB. in a general view, such as that which professes to be the object of the pre- sent work. The author has here remoddled his " Views of the Revolutions of the Middle Ages," (published in 1790,) and extended or abridged the different periods according to circumstances. In continuing this work down to the present time, he h, . 361 brm . . 365 , . 377 and became the means of establishh/o hL ?, l" ^"^"^^^'P' whShe pi bed riTls"''^ °" the P,..„,,„.,fc SancHo,,, ordinary sensa „„ in r^fhT r?''' "'■"''' "=""'«<■ ™ ^«™- eminen. for lea7„"fa„d ;SSr' ^"^^ ""'"'^^ "= ""^ ««'=« m03t distinguthed literaui , ^h^^'v 7'*]''? ™"^'y »f *e Eoyal LibraVXlIy "culdfnS!'' ""'' \"l'"^'"i''S Ae pared him f„r.he leLeTlSu r" t 1 LTh':'"ff "'"'=} I"'" gaged. On his reliim f„ i, k , "* afterwards en only was drawn up b;sSn1^if'l',r'^^r''-l'''°fir^t volume tho work of Koch"; .Lurt .C-h..f '..'i'l"!''"^''? ^""■■^'y master 14 LIFE OF KOCi:. •'f li'l library and his cabiret of antiques, on condition tbnf Vnnh Sv /r y ^1".? *■," ?'="=" '^ "" '"^'™'^>" of youth „, he iiius irdnsierred to Koch, who became the head of thit H.'nl^ matic school, which, for sixty years cr-^vPtnitl Ir ^ °' a number of ministers andsUesn^t " '^" ^^^^'^ ^° ^'reat In 1779 the Government of Hanover offered him the chair of public German Law in the University of Gottin^en which he declined Next year the Emperor Josepeh II., who'kne w well of KnlbfoV^fh"^^"^"^^' ^°"?PJ^-^nted him 'with theXnity of Kmght of the Empire, an intermediate title between thaTo baron and the simp e rank of noblesse A hmn fhl ■ he obtained the ch^ir of Pu^Hc Taw at 1 r'a" b trwhi^h: held until that University was suppressed at the French Revolu S" Jr"'^' '^' '"^ °^ ^^^^''^' Protestants of A saces"; To^,?- r'^'fT^'^J""'' ^° ^°^'^^^ ^'^^ the KinJ and the Constuutional Assembly, the maintenance of thei/dvil and re hgious rights, according to the faith of former trea^Ls He" ru'ufl700 t"r"^^ ''' ^5^"^ '^' ^^-- of the 17th of Augus 1790 which sanctioned these rights, and declared th.r the ecclesiastical benefices of the Protestants were no inlS among those which the decree of the 1st of Noveml " t/ce^ dec?;. ' P^"''^ "' '^' ^'^P'^^^l «^ '^' "-tion. The former decree was moreover extended and explained by an act bearTn J date December 1st 17Qn Rr^fk „r .u -^ ti-i, uearmg ratified by the King. ^ "^ '^''' '''''' ^^P^^^^^ «"d Meantime, the terrors and turbulence of the Revolution harl dispersed from Strasbourg that brilliant assembS of youth which the reputation of the professors, and the natural belutes of the place, had attracted from all quarters. These disastrmi! events mterrupted the career of Koch nt n timo ft "'sastrous capable of renSeiing the most imp^tm en'ce tfhh.ounr; From that moment he devoted h self to public aff.lr T'^' appomted a Member of tU- first i.eo-isk^ivp Ac uV i, ^'"^ posed the faction which conv led tli n'tL 3^ subverted the throne. Whep President ofTh/r "^^!"^^tely that Assembly, he exerted himseVfrrtem^Jitta^crfp^^^^^ and, in a Report which he made in 1792 he forPtnld 1! 7 ' rnmes which would over elm France if wflhouldte decared against Austria rh^ .epublic'an faction by thei' I« re-establishment of He did. LlffecfS hT™U' mS r be ^,f t? r^!""""^' period, '^'^"""'y ■" S'rMbourg, which was suppressed at this cfTrtt''oi\riJ?ss;TcL"sii;itt„iti:'' '''' ^''".' fell in.o-a state of ,a„,„o,\S tt^it^^ h?s fl^'^o'nte^a^' 16 LIFE OF KOCH. i i (Ij '] il I'll l?tpf f ^?^' ^'' «°"^^8^«es. the professors of Strasbourg, churca of S^Tr™°'^ ' monument of white marble in th^ churcn of St. Thomas, near thosa of Schcepflin and Oberlin • which was executed by M. Onnmacht, an eminent sculp or in lowln J""/^' -^"^ "^ i^' biographers has pronounced the fol" owing eulogium on Koch:-" A noble regard for justice and historical researches, a remarkable talent in arranging and illus- trating his subject, an incorruptible integrity of principle and uncouded serenity of mind, with a zealoL d^esireTrSdng ills researches, his information and activity, useful to his species -these were the prominent features of the mind and character thnt «ir^'l^'^"?-" I V^'ldition to this, it has been remarked that although Professor Koch had not the art of a graceful or even a fluent elocution, no man ever possessed in a'higher de' gree the talents and qualifications of a public instructor! Lik,^ Socrates he had a manner peculiar to himself. He was not so much a teacher of sciences, as of the means of acquirno- them He could inspire his scholars with a taste for labour, and knew a m«l? 1^°''^ '^r '"''-'i: ^''^''' «"^ dispositions. Though Two lives of this celebrated professor have been written bv foreigners. The one is by M. Schweigh^user juniorra profes^ sor at Strasbourg; and the other is prefixed to L new ?du7on of the Htstozre des Traitis de Paix, by M. Schcell, the edi^to? and contmuator of several of our author's works. This la tel biographer has accompanied his sketch with a descriptive cata- Sn°. 1 ^^'J;' "^^'^'^'^^ P""^ipal of which are the fol- Midt et del' Quest de I'Etcrope, 2. Sanctio Pragmatica Gev manorum zlustrata. 3. Abregg de VHistoire des Traites l Paiz e.Jre les Pmssances de VEurope. A new edition of this work appeared m 1818, enlarged and continued by M. SchSl down to the Congress of Vienna and the Treaty of Paris; IsS A Tabh des Traztes entre la France et les piissances Etrat geres, depmsla Paix de Westphalie, ^c. 5. Tableau des Revo- hmom de VEurope, ^c 6 Tables Genealogiques des MaisZ Souveraines de VEst et du Nord de VEuropl This work w^ published, after the author's death, by M. SchcBll. Besides iwn i;f7° f ""^''T ^^^"f ^"Pts. containing memoirs of hi« own life ; and several valuable papers on the ancient ecclesias Ileal history and literature of his native province. A. C. CHAPTER I JNTHOOUOriON HrsTORY has rery properly been considered as that particulai branch of philosophy, whicfi teaches, b, examples Cmei ought to conduct themselves in all situations of life, both nnh- he and private Such is the infirmity and incapacity of^Sie human mmd, that abstract or general^'deas rnX io last n^ .mpression on it ; and often appear to us doubtfufor obscure ^ :vrot:i::iz'' "" ^"^^^^^^^^ ^-^ -"^^^^^ ^y -poSce ripnV.'tKTr''^u'^'''°"^'^'''"^ superadds to our own exne- rience that of o her men and of other times, that vve Team'^to conquer the prejudices which we have imbib;d from educa on and which our own experience, often as contracted as our edu' 5:s;;:;^^"'No"t f;rnn' "^'" to strengthen th:n to^'uMu 'o" 15; ^o^sr^i/^e^h;;^^^ I'cti^^JTpa'sfares r ^°"'^"^ '''''^' ^^"^^ -^'^ ^^-ecol! There are certain principles or rules of conduct that hnU .0 ihe s.„. predated by their contemporaries ; and while men individuallV^ and from their own observation, can see great events as it were but m part, history embraces the whole in all its various details. Ihus, for example, we can see but imperfectly all the bearings of that mighty revolution which is now 179^, passing before pur eyes; and it will remain for posterity to perceive all its influence and effects, and to judge of its different actors with- out leelmgs of irritation or party spirit. «n!!J%^^^'* universally admitted, that all ranks and profes- sions ol men, find m history appropriate instruction, and rules o conduct suited to their respective conditions. In occupvinff the mmd agreeably with such a vast diversity of sobiects, it serves to form the judgment, to inspire us with the ambition of glory, and the love of virtue. Those especially who devote themselves to the study of politics, or who are destined to the management of public affairs, will discover in history the struc- lure and constitution of governments, their faults, and their advantages, their strength and their weakness; they will find there the origin and progress of empires, the principles that have raised them to greatness, and the causes which have pre- pared their fall. The philosopher, and the man of letters, will there trace the progress of the human mind, the errors and il- lusions that have led it astray; the connexion of causes and eftects ; the origin of arts and sciences, their changes, and their influence on society ; as well as the innumerable evils that have sprung from ignorance, superstition and tyranny. History, in short, avails more than all precepts to cure us of those mistakes originating in self-love, and national partiality. He who knows no other country than his own, easily persuades nimself, that the government, manners, and opinions of the lit- tle comer of the earth which he inhabits, are the only ones con- sistent with reason and propriety. Self-love, so natural to man, cherishes this prejudice, and makes him disdain all other na- tions. It IS only by an extensive acquaintance with history, «n^ u\^'"'l'T5!"ff ourselves with the institutions, customs and habits of different ages, and of different countries, that we earn to esteem wisdom and virtue, and to acknowledge ta- lents wherever they exfst. Besides, when we observe, tha^ though revolutions are continually changing the face of kino--' doms, nothing essentially new ever happens in the world, we ".ZV. ^i^T' *^^ '!Y^' °^ ^^^' extravagant admiration, ana that credulous astonishment which is generally the charac- '.enstic of ignorance, or the mark of a feeble mind. Ihe most important attribute of history is truth, and in ordei INTRODUCTION. 19 to find this out, it is necessary to examine the materials which serve as the elements and evidences of history, by the test of sound criticism. These materials are of two kinds : I. Pitblic Acts and Records, such as medals, inscriptions, treaties, char- ters, official papers ; and in general, all writings drawn up or published by the established authorities, II. Private writers, viz. authors of histories, of chronicles, memoirs, letters, &c. These writers are either contemporary, or such as live remote from the times of which they write. Public acts and official records, are the strongest evidences we can possibly have of historical truth ; but as, in different ages, there have been fabricators of pretended acts and wri- tings, it becomes necessary, before making use of any public document, to be assured that it is neither spurious nor falsified. The art of judging of ancient charters or diplomas, and discri- minating the true from the false, is called Diplomatics; ' in the same way as we give the name of Numismatics to the art of distmguishing real medals from counterfeit. Both of these sciences are necessary in the criticism of history. It will not be out of place to subjoin here some rules that may serve as guides in the proper selection of historical docu- ments. 1. The authority of any chartulary or public act is preferable to that of a private writer, even though he were contemporary. These public registers it is always necessary to consult, if pos- sible, before having recourse to the authority of private writers; .md a history that is not supported by such public vouchers must m consequence be very imperfect. 2. When public acts are found to accord with the testimony of contemporary authors, there results a complete and decisive proof, the most satisfactory that can be desired, for establishing the truth of historical facts. '^ 3. The testimony of a contemporary author ought generally to be preferred to that of an historian, who has written lonj after the period in which the events have happened. 4. Whenever contemporary writers are defective, great cau- tion must be used with regard to the statements of more mo- dern historians, whose narratives are often very inaccurate or altogether fabulous. ' 5. The unanimous silence of contemporary authors on any memorable event, is of itself a strong presumption for suspect- ing, or even for entirely rejecting, the testimony of verv recent miters. •' 6. Historians who narrate events that have happened ante- rior to the times in which they lived, do not, properly speaking !vf i* SO CHAPTER I. as the circumstances in w fich ttT f '"'^' '^^ '^^'^^ writing. ^'''^^ "^^y are placed -^t the time of or who scruplesnot, n o cer o nl' ' '^^ '' ^'"^ "^ ^'^^"'' to alter or dLguise h" tr uh Th » •'' """"'" ^"^ ''^'^'''> t-I quality i„°a hi'oH: t InraSTjlf ^ ^^^ "" — against writers who allow thei mi„,kln^h "" .''"' ^fuard the prejudices of their n i. on .^ "^ ^^ '"''''"P^^ «^'de by for. in irder to be impar; a i. h^^ '' '^f^ profession^ ment on actions thenSvet ^ ho. "e^ar't'o^u/"" '" J^^^' his tonans who have had a persona cSn "tt """'■'•" ^^'''' or been eyewitnesses of thl events tCv T I '''^"f =t'«"s, ting bv the permission or nmhn -w 7 describe, or who, wri- free access ^l na^TJX^":^ ^^^}--^^rn, ^«- ^-^ ways to be preferred to those who hive not in'''''1' 7"^' ^^- advantages: That -imnno- .^„/ i • • "' ^"J'^y^^'l ^'le same ten last often deserves "Vr^^r "''"''^^ ^'' '''^^ ^'^' writ! handled the san^ ub e rbefor:t'n"! ''^'" ^^^ ^^'^° ^-« ^t in his power to ob{a mt^ewtin o^nr ^^ " ^" ^^'^-^ ^^^ party spirit, and rectify the error of h. /?"'"' '° ^^"''^ «" There are several auv L, ' Predecessors. constitute the veT; fLtrda ion of'h^^^^ " '^' "'^ ^' '''^ ^" graphy,, ,,4, anf ronolt^ Lrirr-f ^\^-T- truth, no Aict can be fully estihlish^.1 J ^'^"'^- ^^ possess interest, unless t le c cu nt 1 ?""■ ''"^ "^''^'^'i^e and places in which the eve ts Tave bn'. ' '?^ '" ''^^ '''"^'^ the persons who have bee^ concerned t^Pfr^^' f '''^^ ^' '^ made known, and distinctly exj Lined It s nh'-^' Previously riiat geography, genealo^v and rhrnn 1 ^hvious, therefore, terp..ters a^d^^feparaKom^^^^^^^^^ ^-"'^^^l in' examine the nalural or phvsical !trn 7 r ^u' '^' ^^J^" 'o political geography illustr'. : h' Sn- mdi isi ' "f J "'^'^^ which men have invented sue h nfl ^ ''"' °^ ^^^ ^arth vinces. This science l^^lo d vided "el ^elVf I?' ''' ^''^ which It treats, into ancient middllaVrrf ^.,^°.^^^ ''"^^^ of "o^» and modi ern geography. INTRODUCTION. 81 Ancient geogrnpliy is that which explains the primitive state ot the world, and us political divisions prior to the subversion oi ihe Roman Empire in the west. By the geofrraphy of the Sui ages, IS understood that which ac^cp.ain^ts uslT he pXS state of the nations who figured in history from the fifth cennrv to t e end of the fifteenth, or the beginiling o th fsiS^^ Mouern geography represents to us the state of the world and .ts^pohtical divisions, from the sixteenth century to the prernt Antiquity has handed down to us the works of several verv eminent gx-ographers, the most celebrated of whom are S rnbo Ptolemjs Pomponius Mela, Pausanias, and Stephanus of lyLn.' Uum Among the moderns who have laboured in this deW- ment of geography, those more particularly deservincr of nm?.: »ireCluverius,Cellarius3riet,Dinville,GJsseZ The geography of the middle ages is but little known • inrl remains jet a sort of desert which demands cultivation Vp^ does not exist a single geographical work which g? es a clirecl representation of that new order of thino-s whiVh .^n r- nations introduced into Europe after &;™St^io™:; .tz:hTf™v.^ed'r™^''°"'^^ Of modern authors, the most conspicuous as the restorer of Janson Bleau, and Fischer, are well known by he mtos an 1 learned works which they have produced ^ ^ "'^ Among the number of celebrated French geoo-ranhers irP fn be reckoned Sanson, Delisle Ca^Jni D'aT. -fi ^ , ^° recently Zannoni, Bauch: tenten'^B^rSe^: to^ar mT" Brun &c. Delisle is the first who submitted oeoSvltht touchstone of astronomical observation. BuschinTTRl'^" wrote a work on geography, which has t ftrfislafed "nTo several languages, and has received various addiulns and Z'TTtl "^"""7 '"^ '" ^^"'^^ '' ^^^ French tran?h^ tors. M. Kitter, a professor at Berlin, published a work in which he gives a new and scientific form to geoglhy ' " It was dnnng the latter half of the eighteenth century th.t he attention of the learned was turned more partit laH^to'^^d^^^ Stf CHAPTER I. ii Ihe revolution cncourarred slvpr;i "'"' '^'^^ 'P"'"? ^"-om both foreigners and F ^nchmen Tn n"f 1" l^'l""'^ geographers, • of their art the charts ^n^T' r f "^'"^^ ^^«^« rnasterpieces as the theatre 0? Clities^ °^ '^' ^'""^^^^^ ^^«^ ^'^'t ^'^"'ed Italians, SansovinnnTfil o K 'T^'^^' °^ ''^'^'' ^^o centnry;werethe"fi';sl^:rn;n dTo?^^^^^^^^ sconce separate and distin tTom ieo^ anhv'^' t7 V'''''^'' followed nearly in the foot^fpn, J .vf f ^ ^^^ Germans introduced statistics nto thp t ?f • •^•'^ ^'''''^" ^^'•^'^'•«' ^^'ey and gave it alsi^tlS na^ 'bTvyhi'cir irl's'stm InT''. °V'"'^^' chiefly, however, during the rurse of .h! .""l ^' ^^^ ond disdneuish he nrin.?nnfT^™P''^- !' "'="*«' "^ '» know almoste/erTiLttif: r/„ *<="rV'> I^''-^ the origin „1 has given ^inlZ aThoLlrf '"t ^"""y'/i" byl^Hery pieces a. .he .oucr„ trd iiS°T. rK"^r',!\^' '■J"/" science ihat we learn to distinm, fh ! , • . / ""^ ''^'^ "^ ■''« and probabilicie. CtLTef nV ™Ser\T'^^^^ who have occupied the thrnn«. ^r r '^°"J^^'""^es. Few families hold pre-eminent rank in F.r"/'' ^^"^^^''^«' «^ ^vho now beyo/d the twemVcTntu^;.^"^^ H^u^J^T C^n^^ -^^^^^T one that can boast ofa pedigree 1^71.1^ 7'' '^ ^^^ °"'y of the ninth century £ LnI Tu' ° '^^ ""^^^^^ aan. evidence ^ p"— 1"^^."!':^^^^?^^ t^: INTRODUCTION. 33 tics, or the ites. Two 3 sixteenth particular ■ Germ' 1- To the a'e of th^ world, J. 1 he different forms of the vpir- «? Tk^ u c years .ha. elapsed from .he orealiln.JThV b^.h of cS- 4' The vanety of epochs or periods of reckoning .iL ' ;vaf:ra[/^0Xs"&^^^^^^^^^^^ Abk Bacteux have translated inu, Frenl^h. Arii";.!; mLoI i; 84 CHArTEJl I. in the foolotops of Ocellus, His .ho universe, is diUailed at lonq-th in 1 opinion as to the eternity of us conitnonlaries fc>omo nimloni pliilo.so])hor.s, a.s IJuflon, llainiltoti, Dol on Phy Suussurc, Fatijaa do St. Fond, &c. have SICS. otnieu. nn existence long anterior to the ago.s when hi.^i a.s.-ijriifd to our globe Tl ory commences. iinr rea.soning they sujiport hy ihc conformation of the Me pf- nu ivo no «... <: 1... .. . 1 .. f,'""** itself, n.s well as the time that must 1 hefore tl le <'aitli, in the j)rogrcs.sive o lave necessarily elapsed he rendered a suitable hahifalion f( perations of nature, could Tl or man. le most ancient account that we h ive of the origin of the noikl, and of the human race, is derived from Moses. This cader and lawgiver of the Jewish nation, lived about 1500 Ijefore Christ ; and nearly 1000 hef ore Herodotus, th years cient profane author whose works have been handed down to hll'.I""'i-.i ^.''--'^''^^'''S- ^" |^I««^^« ""d the Jewish annals, the imto.y ot the human race does not yet comprehend a period of SIX tiiousand years. I Ins account .seems to be in opposition to £ldL?''TI •;'";•''''' "^^'i""f '. ^"^'» "^ ^'^^ Egyptians, Indians. Chaldeans, Ihibetians, and Chmese, who carry back their chro- nology to a very remote date, and far beyond what ]\Ioses ha.s assigned to the human race. But it is suflicient at present to i^'itinrk, that this high antir|i.ity, which vanity has led those na- tions to adopt as a reality, i^ either altogether imnginarv, or purely mythological, founded o.i a symbolical iheolo^v whose mysteries and allegories have been but little understood. This primeval epoch is usually filled with gods and demigods, who are alleged to have reigned over these nations for so many mv- viads o( years. ^ -^ Traditions so fabulous and chimerical will never destroy the nnthenticity of lAIoses, who independently of his nativitv", and he remote age in which he lived, merits implicit credit from I le sim])!icity of his narrative, and from the circumstance, that tliere has never yet been discovered on the surface, or in the internal struciure of the earth, any organic evidence or work of iiuman art, that can lead us to believe that the history of the world, or more properly speaking, of the human race, is ante- '^^' w-V" ^'^'' ''^'^^ ^^''■''^^ ''"'^ Jewish legislator has assigned it With regard to the division of time, a considcabfe period must, no doubt, have elapsed before men began to reckon by years, calculated according to astronomical observations. Two sorts or forms of computation have been successively in u^e among dilleront nations. Some have employed solar years caV rulated by ihe annual course of the sun; others have made usp of lunar year?, calculated by the periodical olutions of the riioun. All Christian nutis-as of the present d;.. adop* th» solar f INTRODUCTION. 26 voar, while the lunar calculation is that followed by the Ma- ir • r- 7^'? '"'"■' y^''"' '"'"'''''' '^ 365 days. 5 hU s. 48', 45 JO : the lunar year, of 354 days, 3 hours, 48', 38" lo''' the .nl.'r"rr"'r '""''^Pr^P^^'y «Pe"'" ^^e year of i -■' 1 I 4'H '''1 ■S Pi m ;! 1! 28 CHAPTER I. of their own, adopted chronological eras that were peculiar to themselves. The ancient Greeks had their Olympiads, and the Syro-Macedonians the era of the SeieucidjB. The Romans calculated by consulships, which became the era of their public acts ; and besides these, their historians used to reckon from the foundation of the city, which goes back 752 years before Christ, or 3249 after the creation. The era of Dioclesian, in- troduced in honour of that emperor, and sometimes also called the era of the martyrs, began in the year 284 after Christ, and was for a long time used in the West. But, without stopping here to enumerate the different eras of :> utiquity, we shall rathe'r restrict ourselves at present to the pointing out of those that 1, 3. 5. The era of Of the Spa- Tbe Diony- belong more properly to modern history, viz the modern Greeks. 2. Of the modern Jews niards. 4. The Hegira, or Mahometan era. sian, or Christian era. The era of the modern Greeks is known by the name of the Mundane era of Constantinople. It begins 5508 years before the birth of Christ. The first year of the Incarnation thus falls in the year of the world 5509 ; and, consequently, the year 1823 of the Christian era answers to the year 7331 of the Mun- dane era of Constantinople. Under this system, two kinds of years are in use, the civil and the ecclesiastical. The former commences with the month of September, the other has begun sometimes on the 21st of March, and sometimes on the 1st of April. This era is followed, even at this day, by the Greek church. The Russians, who adopted it from the Greeks, along with the Christian religion, made use of it even in their civil acts, until the reign of Peter the Great. That emperor, in 1700, abolished the Mundane era of Constantinople, and sub- stituted in its place, the Christian era, and the Julian calendar or ok! style. The modern Jews have likewise a mundane era ; as they reckon from the creation of the world. It commences on the 7th of October of the Julian year, and reckons 3761 years be- fore Christ. The year 3762 of the world, is the first of the Christian era, according to the Jews ; and the current year (1823) answers to the year 5583 of their mundane era. In Spain, the era began with the year of Rome 714, thirty- eight years before the birth of Christ; being the time when the triumvirate was renewed between Cocsar Octavianus, Mark An- tony, and Lepidus. The Spaniards, wishing to give Octavia- nus some testimony of their satisfaction on being comprehended within his province, began a new era with this event,* which orevailed not only in Spain and Portugal, but also in Afrir-^, •A s '^'ik INTRODUCTION. peculiar to mpiads, and rhe Romans their public 'eckon from ^'ears before 3clesian, in- I also called Christ, and ut stopping shall rather ' those that The era of Of the Spa- rhe Diony- lame of the ears before n thus falls y, the year )fthe Mun- vo kinds of rhe former ■ has begun the 1st of the Greek eeks, along their civil smperor, in ;, and sub- in calendar a. ; as they ces on the I years be- first of the irrent year ra. 14, thirty- 3 when the Mark An- e Octavia- iprehended 3nt,* which > in Afrir-i, 99 ^ and those parts of France which were subject to the dominion of the Visigoths. It is of great importance to know, that the Spaniards and Portuguese constantly employed this era in their annals and public acts, so late as the 14th and 15th centuries, when they substituted the Christian era in its place. The era which the Mussulman nations follow is that of Ma- homet, called the Hegira, or the Flight of the Prophet. It be- gan on the 16th of July 622 A. C, and is composed of lunar years. In order to find out in what year of the vulgar era any given year of the Hegira falls, it is necessary first to reduce the lunar into solar years, and then add the number 622. For example, the year 1238 of the Hegira, answers to the year 1823 of the vulgar, or Christian era. It began on the 18th of Sep- tember 1822, and ended on the 7th of the followincr September Dionysius or Denys the Little, a Roman Abb(5, who lived in the time of the Emperor Justinian, about the year of Christ 530 was the author of the vulgar era, which afterwards received a more perfect form from the hands of the venerable Bede an English monk, about the year 720. Before that time, the Latins or Christians of the West, employed the era of the Consuls, or that of Dioclesian. Denys the Little, imagining it would be more convenient for the Christians to reckon their time from the birth of Christ, applied himself with great industry to calculate the number of years that had elapsed from the Incarnation to his own times Modern chronologists have remarked, that both Denys and Bede were mistaken in their calculations ; but a ditterence of opinion prevails on this subject, as mav be seen in the learned work of Fabricius. There are some of these chronologists who date the birth of Christ thirty-four years earlier, while others find adifllsrence of but one year, or at most four^ between the true epoch of the nativity, and that adopted by Denys. Inis disagreement of the modern chronologists has given rise to the distinction between the true era of the birth ot Christ, and the Vii/gar or Dionysiau era, which the general usage has now consecrated and established. ixr^"/ j''"''''' ^^? ^'■''J '"^^ """ introduced until the eighth century We find It employed, for the first time, in the acts ^of the Coun- cils of Germany Liptines, and Soissons, held in the years 742-3-4, under Pepin, surnamed the Short. The Kin^s of France never used it in their public acts, until the end of the nmth century; and the Popes only since the eleventh Jn order to compare the different eras, and to facilitate the process of reducing the years of one into those of another a scheme has beeen proposed called llie Julian period. The in venlion of this ,s due to Joseph Scaliger, a professor at Leyden' 30 CHAPTER I. and well known by his chronological works. He gave it the name of Julian, because the Julian year served as the basis of it. It is composed of the several products of the cycles of the sun, the moon, and the indictions multiplied by each other. The cijcle of the sun is a period, or revolution of twenty- eight solar years ; at the end of which the same order of years returns, by a kind of circle or cycle. Its use is to indicate the days on which each year commences, and the Dominical Let- ters. These are the first seven letters of the alphabet, a, b, c, D, E, F, G, which are employed to indicate the seven days of the week, more particularly the Sabbath {dies Dominica.) At the end of twenty-eight years, of which this cycle is composed, there returns a new order or series of years, so similar to the preceding, that the dominical letters again answer exactly to the same days. The cycle of the moon comprises nineteen lunar years, twelve of which are called common, and the remaining seven interca- lary ; these yield a product of 6939 days 18 hours, according to the calculation of the ancients f and are equal to nineteen Julian or solar years. By means of this cycle always re- curring, the new moons fall again on the same days and the same hours on which they had happened nineteen years before ; so that, for all the new moons, the cycle which is to come is entirely similar to the preceding. The cipher which indicates the year of the cycle, is called the golden number, because they used to write it in characters of gold in the ancient calendars, where it was employed to mark the times of the new moons. The cycle of indiations is a cycle which recurs every fifteen cears ; and which, like those already mentioned, was frequent- ly employed in charters and public records. The origin of these indictions is generally referred to a contribution or cess appointed, for fifteen years, by the Romans, and afterwards re- newed for the same period. They began in the reign of Con- stantino the Great, that is, about the year of Christ 313, and are distinguished into three kinds ; 1. That of Constantinople, which was employed by the Greek Emperors, and began on the 1st of September; 2. That which was termed the Irr;perial, or CcEsarean indiction, the use of which was limited to the West, and which began on the 25th of September ; and, 3. The Roman or Pontifical indiction, which the Popes employed in their bulls. This last began on the 25th of December, or the 1st of January, according as the one or the other of these days was reckoned by the Romans the first of the new year. The cycle of the sun, comprising twenty-eight years, and Ujat of the moon nineteen, when multiplied together, • give a :ave it the le basis of 'les of the other. )f twenty- r of years dicate the nical Let- it, A, B, C, ays of the ) At the ;omposed, ar to the ctly to the rs, twelve n interca- according • nineteen I ways re- 5 and the rs before ; I come is indicates ause they ;alendars, moons, ry fifteen frequent- origin of n or cess wards re- 1 of Con- 3, and are mtinople, began on Imperial, id to the ; and, 3. employed smber, or of these V year, ears, and r, give a INTRODUCTION. 82 produc of 532, which is called the Paschal cycle, because it serves ascertain the feast of Easter. The produc' of I'i2 ZXo^ l^- I'' '^' '''^' 'I ^"d'^'--' amoun'ts to L num.' ber 7980, which constitutes the Julian period. Within the com- ZIa^'" P'"°^ "^'T ^' P'^^^^' ^' '^ ^^«r^. under one vTew these different eras and epochs, in order to compare and rlJon' cile them with each other; adopting, as their conrnon term th^ nauv, ty of Christ, fixed to the year 4714 of li.e Julian p^Hod H.Story has been divided, according to the different sub ecfs of which it treats, into Civil, Ecclesiastical/ aTdSv Civil and pohtica history is occupied entire y with eveSs that relate to mankind, as distributed into societies/and united together by governments, laws, and manners. Ecdesiast ical history IS confined to those events that properly belon' to reh gion. Literary history treats more parlicularly of the origin progress and vicissitudes of the artJ and scienLs The g "* tory of Philosophy, which is a subdivision of Literarv Histoiv Illustrates the different systems of philosophy haTIave fl' J' rished in the world, both in ancient and modem time Another division of history, according to its extent *is nat or Universa , General and Particular History. Univer aMi'i'lv gives a kind of outline or summary of the^events of II he S ir ;rtnt tIL'.°^"^^' °" ''' -'''' '-- ^'^ remolsf atTo By general history, is understood that which treats of tb^ revolutions that have happened in the world, whether of ^rlat I'TJI ^«"f^.^<^^--te powers, or of several nation combined o &c. Particular history embraces, in detail, the events of a nnr' 'Fin'.Rr''' '' ""T^"' '' ''''y^ - illust'rious inlividiy ''* 1- mal y, m regard to the time of which it trf>it« 1 icfl" • distinguished into Ancient and Modem, Id that of the M Ll' I *> 39 niArTicti f. 7- MiUpn in inodiMij Kiimpr ; wliib llml of llio nftopnlli ruili wliirh (liiltvs its ('()uiiMciii-«>iiic willi it ili« iwivnl ol' liirrnliim Mini (li(< (inc Mils, mill lli.* iviuivMlinii of civil sot'i.'ly in Miiropc. AIlli(t\i«li Miiciriit lii.Nlory (It.cs mil nilcr iiilu ih.' pjun (.1' ih,. 'ii\viii!>- wnrli. iirvfillit'N'Ns ii nupcnnMl iirccNNnry U) f{ivi' licro (1 loll n lirit'l" sKi'lcli o{' il \o \\\o n'lidrr. willi llic view of llu' (iitliM- of limi'. iiiiil llii< (-liiiii) tif ill ftim(«cllll|ir o j;rciit cvcnlN ilmi Imvn oociiriTil (Voin llu> rriiuilcM nj.vs lo lli(> prcsiMil diiy. •livitli'd il into ll r.>(' p(>riodN, llic (irsi dl" wliicli (Mid vv th (' s(>('oin lOlH). rii(> liiNl period, wliicl mid ilio iliird i'M) yiMirs. inici'M htivo Wholly liiliiilou r\ > fompriscs lliiilv coimirics, is hIiiionI II' nolii'i's ol' il iliiii liavo Iiimmi IrmiMiiilli'd (o us ,iV(> viM-y impi'ili-fi. Tin. oidoi of liuio (miiihiI I.i. oslnli- lislii'd on miv .sidid roiiiidnl llunous I'mi.ni iiinrldi's, |i;is I iiin. I'ivi'u till' iiiillii'iitirilv of llit ami ihiTo IS MO ollior i'liroiiolos,;v lliut t <''iiii«ii in «pi('siioii n,s spiinouM 111! jvuiili' our .strps tliroiij;h this darlv lnhyriiilli ol' proi'mii' liislory.' 'riu> only liio nu'y niomiiniMils iljut mv Ii>|| ns ol' ihoso n-iiioio mid olVsiMin n,j>vs, iu-e ilii' hooks of Mosos mid ilio .Iow.n. Morodoiiis. ihi onrlii'si proliiiu> hisioriiiit, uroio iimro llimi m li nl\iM' i\losi\s. mid ahoiii ITiO liofoiv ('liri.si. Mo Imd I liod sovonil riMiUirios liy S.iiiilioniiillitiu iho IM \\w work of lliis killiT liisi r< loiisiinil yoaiM ii'oii pri'iw but iiriiicimi onaii is lost, and iIhm'i* exists only n bvv soaM.Mvd iVauiiioiils of il in IVrpIivrv and lOiisoliius. Il appears, llioroloie. that of iho d^lOO" v<>ars that fall with m (he eompsiss of mieieul history, ihe lirsi ihirly ((Miliiries may, willioul iih-oiiveiiieiu-e. he relreiu'hed. Amidst the (hirkiiess Ih ot osoages. wodiscover noihiiii« hut the jvonn.s ofsoiMotie ornineiils.seieiioes Mud arts. The Ivirypiiaiis, the Israeliies^tho ^o\. V\ iiruii'iaus, ih ssyrians, flio nahyloniaiis, or ('haldeant^ made then the inosl oonspicuons lij'ure mnoiii)- tho nutions of Asia and Africa. The Hiryp'i!»'»s and t'liaKleaus were the (list who eullivafod astronomy. K.irypt was loiilmn, tlu! Assyrian, the Persian, ilie Macedonian, and the Jjoman ; all of wlii(di succcssivoly cstuMisliod tliet^ selves on tin,' ruins of each other. Tho history of the two (irst inonarcliie mystery and donhl. Of iIk; anci(!nt lOuvnt remains hut lln-ir pyramids, tlu-ir temples.and ohefisks nients w hich monarchies is enveloped m "K.ypli!ins, nothing now nionu- le an only attest tlie power and grundeiir of tl ncienl sovereigns of I'^gyjit As to ili(> Assyrian nnti.|nities, the contradictions that we find between the narrat tnak the magnilicc'iice of N iv(\sof ilerodolns and (Jtesias. e us reject, ns fabulous, the dcitaiis of the hit!. cannot fail to r, respecting mils, Semiramus, and Sardanapulus, tl supposed inonarchs of Assyria and Habylon. NotI he is known of this beyond what we find recorded in tl empire, or the con(|uests of these k ling certain ic! annals of the Jews JShalmaneser, King of Assyria, subdued the kin^r-dom of S.uou riu or Israel, about the year of the world '.WO ; and JVebu ama- chadnezzar, one of his sue erusalem, about the year .*MO.'J cessors, conquered that of Judah and Th« I ersian monarch y was founded by Cyrus, who put nn end tolhedominionof the Assyrians and IJabylonian.s, b/taking the uty of .Habylon, about the year of the world 34G3 The cn)pire when at its great.>st h.-ight, under Darius Hv-staspes, comprehended all that part of Asia which .stretches Lm the ndus to the Caspian bea, and fn,m the iCuxine to the shores of the Mediterranean. Lgypi ,n Africa, and Thrace in Europe, were subject to MS aws. After a duration of nearly two ccSries U was finally destroyed by the Macedonians in the year 3672 Crcece, which was at first divided into several petty kin crl u!r,T. n!ll ■'^■' ''' '7"^'''"" '""■'"■''" "'^ commencement of the ulin.Ienary; when Its principal cities, till then governed b> Iv.nos, formed themselves nito detached republics. Anon- thus.asm or liberty spread over all Greece, and inspired every bosom with the ove ol glory. Military bravery, as well as Im and talents of all kinds, were fostered and encouraged by pubfc' games, the principal of vvhicii were the Olympic. Two c ties i^il' I 34 CHAPTER I. cumbed, either as allic, o, by rS "f cSies; t""' T' rendered herself immor.al bV the vie or°es^wh Lh fu'"-'"^'"'! over ihe Persians, at Ihe famous baulesTf If, 1,' „ sT'" m,d Pla.a«; fought .. „. 3512, 3529 ' a, 'dS' ^"''"""' ans ov^ertrtst'^onhoV'' '"T """^^ "'""'^'^ *^ A"-""'" US uvtr mc lest ot the Greek states, exc ted the inlmi^.r of the Lacedemonians, and became the principa caJse ortha famous cival war which arose in 3572, beUveeHhese two rep b! & ;1^ if ^' 1 r^'" ^y '^' "'-^'"^ '^ 'he PeloponneTian war Ihis was fo lowed by various other civil wars ; and these di. as ers contributed to greatly exhaust the Greeks, and to brek that union which had been the true source of their pros neritv Se^ilmseTf tSr'^^^^U-G^ Tietttr^'ch"^ ^°"" ;S366^"^^°T t'- ASans^rur\t^;ra TfX world 3664, completed the conquest of that country. p Alexander the Great, son of Philip, afterwards attacked the Persian empire, which he utterly overthrew, in conseq en'e ol he^tT:fTheP;r"'t•'^ .-1.-1 over Darius Codrannus QRRc * T Persian kings, at the passage of the Granicusi^i 3668 at Issus m 3669, and near Arbela in 3672 de.ih T""''*^'!?^ ^'^""^f d by Alexander fell to pieces after hi- death From its wreck were formed, among Jthers, by^hreV i^gypt; all of which were conquered in succession bv tb^ Jin rnans, . h 3835, 3936, and%972. Greece tsfL^b^en reduced to a Roman province, after the famous sack of Corinth ;i-stft^S" °' ''' ^^'^^" '-°^-' - - ^^^^ - i^^' The empire of the Greeks was succeeded bv that of the Romans, which is distinguished from all its predecessois not more by its extent and duration, than b. the wisdom witt wSit hn'?'^"'^"''T'^' ''^'"' '"^^^"^ rnonuments of all kind pre was not, however, the achievement of a single conqueror bu the work 01 ages. Its prosperity must be chieflv ascribed to the primitive constitution of the Republic, which in'spired the Romans with the love of liberty, and the spirit of patriot 1- hem toT' ^'^'"' '' ^\V ""^ perseverance, and taught them to despise dangers and death. Their religion, likewf.e serve, as a powerful engine to restrain and direct^he multitude; according to the views and designs of the government. I I INTRODUCTION. 38 lb- had been ■■f r Corinth, 1 ), or 144 It of the isors, nof lorn with all kinds ''this eni- )nqLieror, ascribed pired the iotism — ' :1 taught ikevvise, ultitude, The earlier part of the Roman history may be divided n,to mree pcnods. The first of tliese represontsCme under he government of kings ; from the time of its foundation 'bmu the year of the world 3249, to the expulsion orTarquin tl e Proud and the establishment of the Kepublic, in 3493 Tie second extends from the establishment of the Republic," in the year of Rome 245 to the first Punic war, in the\ear of the tt Vr , p' • '""' ^™- '^^^' '^''"^ commences wi^h the first Punic ^yar, and terminates at the battle of Actium vh.ch put an end to the Republican government, and rt-e "ab-* lished monarchy under Augustus, in The year of Rome 723 . During the first of these periods, the Romans had to Stain incessant wars with their neighbours, the petty stafe of 1 1 They subdued the whole of that peninsula i,[ course of Z second period; and it was not till the third, that they carr ed their arms beyond their own country, to conquer the ^^cr portion of the then known world. The first two periods^rf the Roman history, are full of obscure and uncertain t?St,ons Jn those remote ages the Romans paid no attention to thesSy of le ters Immersed entirely in the business of war, thev had no other historical records than the annals of their pontiff? which perished in the sack of Rome, at the time of its iSva i^n bv th« Gauls, in the year of the City 365. invasion by the The most ancient of their historians was Fabius Pictor who Efe'ortbltthVt-' ^'''; century after the'Lndation 'of i^ome, or about the time of the second Punic war TU^.L ftt'i::'^ jj^t^alif '-''''''' ^oth t^raitiora^d these twHeWorUnf if ' , '''^ ^""''^'^ "° information on us bv Dionr n ? u p"'"" "''^' ''-^"'P' ^^'^^^ ^^' t'^en left Florus, and ¥611^^3 Pat clr;"'rG:*°r' '^i'"^ ^'''''>^' 3n CHAPTER 1. Statesman will there find lessons on politics and government- and the soldier instructions in the art of war. A long scries of foreign wars put the fiomans in possession of the Isles of the Mediterranean, Spain, Northern Africa, Egypt, Gaul, Illyria, Macedonia, Greece, Thrace, and all Asia, as far as the Euphrates. The destruction of the powerful re- public of Carthage was the grand cast of the die that decided the empire of the world in favour of the Komans, Carthage was a colony which the ancient Phenicians had founded on the coast of Africa, near the modern city of Tunis, in the year of the world 3119, and 130 before the founding of Rome. In imitation of their mother country, the Carthaginians rendered themselves famous by their merchandise and their marine. The extent to which they carried their commerce, and the force necessary for its protection, rendered their arms every where victorious. They gradually extended their conquests along the shores of Africa, in Spain, and the islands of the Mediterranean. The attempts which they had made to get possession of Sicily, was the occasion of embroiling them in a war with the Romans. For nearly two hundred years, Rome and Carthage disputed between them the empire of the world; and it was- not until these two mighty rivals had, more than once, made each other tremble for their independence, that the Carthaginians yielded to the yoke of the conqueror. Their capital, after a siege which lasted nearly three years, was completely laid in ruins by the famous Scipio -^milianus, the scholar of Polybius. No monument of the Carthaginians now remains to point out the ancient splendour of that republic. Their national archives, and all the literary treasures they contained, perished with the city, or were destroyed by the Romans. The destruction of Carthage happened in the year of Rome 608, and of the world 3S5Q, the same year that witnessed the sack of Corinth. The fall of Carthage, and more especially the conquest of Greece, Egypt, and the Asiatic kingdoms, occasioned a wonder- ful revolution in the manners and government of the Romans The riches of the East, the arts and institutions of t^ van quished nations, brought them acquainted with luxuries they had never known, which soon proved the fatal harbingers of vice. Their patriotism and love of liberty insensibly declined, and became extinct : powerful and ambitious citizens fomented insurrections and civil wars, which ended in the subversion of the republican government, and the establishment of monarchy- Two triumvirates appeared in succession. The first consisted oJ Pompey, Caisar, and Crass us, and was dissolved in con3'> mmmm wnwtra INTRODUCTION. 37 quence of the civil wnr that arose among the triumvirs. Cresar. having conquered Pompey at the battle of Pharsalia, in the year of Komc 706, bccan)e master of the empire, under the title of perpetual dictator. This new elevation of fortune he did not Jong enjoy ; he was assassinated in the senate bv a band of conspirators, at the head of whom was Brutus, in the year of Kome 710, and 42 before the birth of Christ. A second triumvirate was formed between Mark Antony ta3siir Octavianus, and Lepidus. Many thousands of illustri- ous Komans, and among others Cicero, were at this time pro- scribed, and put to death by order of the triumvirs. Jealousy havingat length disunited these new tyrants, Octavianus stripped Lepidus of his power, and defeated Mark Antony in the famous naval battle vvhich took place near the promontory of Actium m the year of Rome 723. Antony having been assassinated in Egypt, immediately after his defeat, Caesar Octavianus became sole master ot the empire, which he afterwards ruled with sovereign authority under the name of Augustus. At this time the Roman empire comp°rehended the finest countries of Europe and Asia ; with Egypt and all the northern pait of Africa. It was bounded on the west by the Rhine and the Danube, and on the east by the Euphrates. The successors of- Augustus added the greater part of Britian to the empire Irajan carried his victorious arms beyond ■;he Danube; hecoi> quered the Dac.ans, who inhabited those countries known at Wnlnl^h " ' 1 r' "'T "^ ^?""="^>'' Transylvania, Moldavia, Walachm and Bessarabia. In the East this prince extended the hmits of the empire beyond the Euphrates, having subdued Mesopotamia, Assyria, Armenia, Colchis and Iberia, (or Geor- gia;) but the conquests of Trajan were abandoned by his spc- cessors, and the empire again shrunk Avithin the bounds pr- .scribed by Augustus. ■* ' This empire, which extended from north to south nearly six hundred leagues and rnore than a thousand from east to west, Vmo'cT ^^^ '" '^' ^^^.'^ ^^^""^^' ^'^'^P'-'^^J a total 180,000 square leagues. The population, during its mjs ttourisgng state, may be estimated at about 120,000,000 —a population which equals that of modern Europe, with the ex- ce]^ion of Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Russia and Turkey. Ihe government which had been introduced, was an absolute monarchy, only clothed with the form, oi the ancient republic. Under the popular titles of consul, tribune of the people, o-ene- ral, grand pontiff, censor, &c. the prince united in himsetf all the various attributes of supreme power. The senate indeed enjoyed extensive prerogatives; the legislative power, which »ol. I. ^ ri 38 CHAPTER I. had been reserved at first for the people, was afterwards trans- ferred to this body ; but as the military were wholly subordinate to the prince, and as ho had also at his couunand a numerous fi"uard, it is easy to perceive that the authority of the senate was but precarious, and by no means a counterpoise to that of the prince. A fj'overnment so constructed could not insure the welfare and happiness of the peoj)le, except under princes as humane as Titus, as just and enlightened as Trajan and the Anlonines; or so long as the forms introduced by Augustus should be respect' ed. It could not fail to degenerate into arbitrary power, under tyrants such as Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and Domiiian ; and the senate must then have been but a servile instrument in the hands of the prince, emplov^J by him to facilitate the means of satiating his passions and his tj'ranny. The maxims of absolute power soon became the fashionable and favourite doctrine. Civilians began to teach publicly, that all the authority of the senate and the people was transferred to the prince; that he was superior to the laws; that his power extended to the lives and foriunes of the citizens; and that he might dispose of the stale as his own patrimony. These en- croachments of despotism, joined to the instability of the imperial throne, the decay of military discipline, the unbridled license of the troops, the employing whole corps of barbarians in their wars, must all be reckoned among the number of causes that hastened the downfall of the Roman empire. Constanline the Great, was the first of the emperors that em- braced Christianity, and made it the established religion of the state in 32-i. He quilted the city of Rome, the ancient residence of the CoBsars, and fixed his capital at Byzantium, in 330, which took from him the name of Constantinople. Anxious to provide for the security of his new capital, he stationed the flower of his legions in the East, dismantled the frontiers on the Rhine and the Danube, and dispersed into the provinces and towns, the troops who had heretofore encamped on the borders of these great rivers. In this way he secured the peace and tranquillity of the interior, and infused, for a time, a new vigour into the government; but he commilted a great mistake in giUjIg the first example of making a formal division of the state between his sons, without regard to the principle of luiity and indivisi- bility which his predecessors had held sacred. It is true, this separation was not of long continuance ; but it was renewed afterwards by Theodosius the Great, who finally divided the empire between his two sons in the year 395; Arcadius had the eastern, and Honorius the western part of the em.pire. Tnis llfTHODUCTION. 39 ntter comprehem ed Italv, Gnul. Britain. Spain, Northern Afri- n. Rhotia. V.nclelK-m. INToricum, Pannonin. and Illyria. It was [luring: the reiffM of H«„ori„s. and lu.dor the administration of his minister Stilicho, ihut the memorable invasion of the burba- rians happened, which was followed shortly uficr, by the de- Etriiction of the Western Empire. . j ue It is with this great event, which ^ave birth to a variety of new states and kingdoms, that the following History of the Ke vo- lutions of Europe commences. It is divided into nine sections or periods of lime, according to the successive changes which the political system of Europe experienced from the fifth to the nineteenth century. .JH-^^'"' {'T:J^lif^ ''■'''';,'^' '"^ '^'^ y^'"^"" SOO, the barbarians, u-ho invaded the Western Empire, formed new states in Spain Oaul, and Ita y; and produced a complete revolution in the governments, laws, manners, letters, and arts of Europe. It was during this period that the Franks gained the ascendency ove the other European nations; that the Popes laid the ground- jvork of their secular power ; that Mahomet founded a new re- itfiTs 'ain ' """ '''"^''"' '"*''"'' t'-^tcnded through Africa In the seco?id period, which extends from 800 to 962, a vast empire was erected, and again dismembered, after enjoyin-r a shor -lived splendour. From its wreck were formed new kin." dons which have served as the basis for several states of mo- and^Hungaria'!,'"" ""'' '''''''''''' '^ '^^ ^^ ^' ^--ns, In the third period, which terminates with the year 1072 Germany became the preponderating power, and began to de' cl.ne through the abuse of the feudal 'system. The House oi Cap^t mounted the throne of France ; and the Normans achiev- JAZT'^T ^^ ^"=^""^-. ^^' ^^"^'^^^» "-'io"«. converted narchy of Russia became great and powerful ; while the Greek empire, and that of the Romans, fell into decay. During the fourth period, which ends with ihe year 1300. the Roman Pontiffs acquired an immense sway. This is also he epoch% the Crusades, which had a powei^Iul influence on the social and pohtical state of the European nations : The dark! ness of the middle ages began gradually to disappear ; the esta- bl.shment of communities, and the enfranchisement o the serfs gnve birth to new ideas of liberty. The Roman jurisprudence was restored from the neglect and oblivion into\vhi?h it had fa en and taught in the universities: Italy was covered with a multitude of republics, and the kingdom of the two Sicilies, and 40 CHAPTER I. ll ii i> of Portugal were founded: The iiiquisiiion was established in France, and Magna Charta in England : The Moguls in the east raised, by their conquests, a powcrfiil and extensive empire. The /ifth period, wliich ends at the taking of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, witnessed the decline of the Pontifical jurisdiction : Learning and science made some progress, and various important discoveries prepared the way for still greater improvements : Commerce began to flourish, and extend its in- tercourse more widely: The European states assumed their present form ; while the Turks, an Asiatic race, established their dominion in Europe. The sixlh period, from 1453 to 1S48, is the epoch of the re- vival of the belles lettres, and the fine arts ; and of the discovery Ameuca: It is also that of the Reformation of religion accom- I Hshed in Germany; the influence of which has extended over all the countries in the world. It was likewise during this period that Europe was desolated by religious wars, which eventually must have plunged it again into a state of barbarism. The peace of Westphalia became the basis of the political sys- tem of Europe. In the serotlh period, from 1648 to 1713, this federal system was turned against Franco, whose power threatened to overturn the political balance of Europe. The peace of Utrecht set bounds to the ambition of its aspiring monarchs, while that of Oliva adjusted the contending claims of the North. The European states, delivered from the terror of universal dominion, began to think the establishment of it an impossibility ; and losing conceit of the system of political equipoise, they sub- stituted in its place maxims of injustice and violence. The eighth period, which comes down to 17S9, is an epoch of weakness and corruption, during which the doctrines of a libertine and impious philosophy led the way to the downfall of thrones and the subversion of social order. [The consequences of this new philosophy bring us to the nidth period, during which, Europe was almost entirely revolu- tionized. The present history terminates with the year 1815, which forms a natural division in this revolutionary epocju the final results of which can be known onlv to posterity "j t of the re- discovery on accom- mded over uring this us, which barbarism, litical sys- ral system overturn ^trecht set ile that of universal ossibility ; , they sub- an epoch rines of a ownfall of us to the ily revolu- ^ear 1815, poch; the 1 m OF THE REVOLUTIONS OF EUROPE. CHAPTER II PERIOD L From the Invasion of the Roman Empire in the West by the Barbarians, to the time of Charlemagne, a. d. 406—800. The Roman empire had, for many years, been gradually tending towards its downfall. Its energies were exhausted^ and It required no great efforts to lay prostrate that gi^mic power which had almost lost its strength and activity^ ° The vices of the government, the relaxation of discipline, {he ani- mosities of faction, and the miseries of the people, all announced he approaching rum of the empire. Divided by mutuaMea lousies, enervated by luxury, and oppressed by despotism,\he Romans were in no conduion to withstand the numerous swarms of barbarians from the North, who, unacquainted with luxuTv and despising danger and death, had learned to conquer in the' ranks of the Imperial armies, ^"uquer in me Several of the Emperors, guided by a short-si ahted policy had received into their pay entire battalions of foreioners^ S to reconipense their servicies. had assigned them setU^nems "n the frontier provinces of the empire. Thus the Franks Sned by way of compensation, territories in BelgicGaul; while S lar grants were made in Pannonia and in Thrace, to the Vandd Alans, Goths, and other barbarians. This liberality of the Ro-' mans, which was a true mark of weakness, together with The vast numbers of these troops which they employed in thdr wars a ength accustomed the barbarians to regard th^e emp re as he ; prey. Towards the close of the year 406, the Vandals the Suevi, and the A ans, sounded the ^ocsin of 'that famous inva! sion which accelerated the downfall of the Western empire The example of these nations was soon followed by the Y[l goths the Burgundians, the Alemanns,' the Franks, the Huns the Angles, the Saxons, the Heruls, the Ostrogoths, and the wer'^tf Gernian -t^t."^^'""'' '''''^ '^'^ exception of the Hubs origin. 4* 42 CHAPTER II. The Van pals, it appears, were originally settled in that part of northern Germany which lies between the Elbe and the Vis- tula. They formeda branch of the ancient Suevi, as did also the Burgundians and the Lombards. After the third century, and under the reign of the Emperor Probus, we find them, with the Burgundians, engaged in warring against the Romans on the Rhine. In the time of Aurelian, (272) they established them- selves in the western part of Dacia, that is, in Transylvania, and a part of modern Hungary. Oppressed in these districts by the Goths, they obtained from Constantino the Great, settlements in Pannonia, on condition of rendering military service to the Romans. They remained in Pannonia, until the commencement of the fifth century, when they set out on their emigration to- wards Gaul. It was on this occasion that they associated them- selves with the Alans, a people originally from Mount Caucasus, and ancient Scythia; a branch of which, settled in Sarmatia near the source of the Borysthenes or Dnieper, had advanced as far as the Danube, and there made a formidable stand against the Romans. In their passage through Germany, the Vandals and the Alans joined a body of the Suevi, who also inhabited the banks of the Danube, eastward of the powerful nation of the Alemanns. United in this rude confederacy, they entered Gaul, plundering and destroying wherever they went-. Mayence, Worms, Spire, Strasbourg, and many flourishing cities of Gaul, were pillaged by these barbarians. The Goths,* the most powerful of these destructive nations, began to rise into notice in the third century, after the time of the Emperor Caracalla. They then inhabited the country be- tween the Vistula, the Dniester, the Borysthenes, and the Tanais Oi Don. It is not certain whether they were originally from these regions, or whether, in more remote times, they inhabited Scandinavia, from which, according to Jornandes, a Gothic au- thor, they emigrated at an early period. It is however certain, that they were of German extraction ; and that, in the third and fourth centuries, they made the Caesars tremble on their thrones. The Emperor Aurelian was compelled (274) to abandon the pro- vince of Dacia to their dominion. This nation, the first of the German tribes that embraced the Christian religion,' was divided, in their ancient settlements beyond the Danube, into two principal branches. They wlio inhabited the districts towards the east and the Euxine Sea, between the Dniester, the Borysthenes, and the Tanais, were called Ostrogoths ; the Visigoths were the branch which extend- ed westward, and occupied ancient Daciaj and the regions situ- ated between the Dniester, the Danube and the Vistula. At- PERIOD I. A. D. 406—800. 43 tacked in these vast countries by the Huns, (375) some were subjugated, and others compelled to abandon their habitations. A part of the Visigoths then fixed their abode in Thrace, in Mxsia, and the frontiers of Dacia, with consent of the emperors • who granted also to the Ostrogoths settlements in Pannonia. At length the Visigoths, after having twice ravaged Italy, sacked and plundered Rome, ended their conquests by establishing themselves in Gaul and in Spain. One branch of these Goths appears to have been the Thuringians, whom we find in the fifth century established in the heart of Germany, where thev erected a very powerful kingdom. The Franks were probably a confederacy which the German tribes, situated between the Rhine, the Maine, the Weser, and the Ji be, had formed among themselves, in order to maintain their liberty and independence against the Romans. Tacitus, who wrote about the commencement of the second century, did not know them under this new name, which occurs for the first tnne in the historians of the third century. Among the German tribes who composed this association, we find the Chauci, the feicambn, the Chamavi, the Cherusci, the Bructeri, the Catti, the Ampsivarii, the Ripuarii, the Salii, &c.* These tribes, though combined for the purposes of common defence, under the general name of Franks, preserved, nevertheless, each their .aws and form of government, as well as their particular chiefs, and the names of their aboriginal tribes. In the fourth, and tou-ards the beginning of the fifth century, the whole country lying mthm the Rhine, the Weser, the Maine, and the Elbe. was called Francia. Another confederation of the German tribes, was that of the AlemaxNns; unknown also to Tacitus. It took its origin about the commencement of the third century. Their territories ex- tended between the Danube, the Rhine, the Necker, the Main, and the Lahn. On the east, in a part of Franconia and modern buabia, they had for their neighbours and allies the SuEvr who after having long formed a distinct nation, were at length blended with the Alemanns, and gave their country the name of buabia. The Alemanns rendered themselves formidable to the Romans, by their frequent inroads into Gaul and Italy, in the third and fourth centuries. The Saxons, unknown also to Tacitus, began to make a hgure in history about the second century, when we find their settled beyond the Elbe, in modern Holstein, having for their neighbours the Angles, or English, inhabiting Sleswick Proner Ihese nations were early distinguished as pirates and hw booters; and, while the Franks and the Alemanns spread their ii.i 44 CHAPTER ir. selves over the interior of Gaul, the Saxons infested the coasts and even extended their incursions into Britain. The Franks having penetrated into Gaul with their main forces, the Saxons passed the Elbe, and in course of time, occupied, or united in alliance with them, the greater part of ancient Francia, which took from them the name of Saxony. There they subdivided themselves into three principal branches; the Ostphalians to the east, the Westphalians to the west^ and the Angrians or Ajigrivaria7iSy whose territories lay between the other two, along the Weser, and as far as tlie confines of Hesse. The Huns, the most fierce and sanguinary of all the nations which overran the Roman Empire in the fifth century, came from the remote districts of northern Asia, which were altogether unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans. From the de- scriptions which the historians of the fifth and sixth centuries have given us of them, we are led to believe, that they were Kalmucks or Monguls originally. The fame of their arms had begimto spread over Europe so early as the year 375 of the Christian era. Having subdued the Alans, and crossed the Tanais, they subverted the powerful monarchy of the Goths, and gave the first impulse to the great revolution of the fifth cen- tury, which changed the face of all Europe. The Eastern empire first felt the fury of these barbarians, who carried fire and sword wherever they went, rendered the Emperors their tributaries, and then precipitated themselves on the West under the conduct of the famous Attila.* Several of the nations we have now enumerated, divided among themselves the territories of Gaul. This province, one of the richest and most important in the Western empire, was repeatedly overrun and devastated by the barbarous hordes of the fifth century. The Visigoths were the first that formed settle- ments in it. On their arrival under the command of King Alulf or Adolphus, (412,) they took possession of the whole c'ountry lying within the Loire, the Rhine, the Durance, the Mediter- ranean, and the Alps. Toulouse became their capital, and the residence of their kings. The Burgundians, a people, it would appear, originally from the countries situated between the Oder and the Vistula, fol- lowed nearly in the track of the Visigoths ; as we find them, about the year 413, established on the Upper Rhine and in Switzerland. After the dissolution of the empire, they suc- ceeded in establishing themselves in those parts of Gaul, known by the names of the Sequanois, Lyonnois, Viennois and Nar- bonnois, viz. in those districts which formed, in course of time, the two Burgundies, the provinces of Lyonnois, Dauphiny and PERIOD I. A. D. 406 800. 45 fie coasts e Franks e Saxons united in ia, which abdivided alians to ^rians or [her two, c nations ry, came iltogether m the de- centuries hey were arms had 75 of the issed the ioths, and fifth cen- rn empire nd sword ibutaries, e conduct I, divided ince, one pire, was desof the ed settle- ing Alulf 2 country Mediter- , and the 1 ally from stula, fol- ind them, le and in they suc- jl.knowa and Nar- 2 of time, )hiny and Provence on this side of the Durance, Savoy, the Pays de Vaud, the Valais and Switzerland." These cou.itries then assumed the name of the Kingdom of the Burgundians. The Alkmanni and the Sukvi became flourishing nations on the banks of the Upper Rhine and the Danube. They invaded those countries in Gaul, or the Germania Prima of the Romans, Jcnown since under the names of Alsace, the Palatinate, May- ence, &c. ; and extended their conquests also over a considerable part of Rhctia and Vindclicia. At length the Franks, having been repulsed in different ren- counters by the Romans, again passed the Rhine (430,) under the conduct of Clodion their chief; made themselves masters of the greater part of Belgic Gaul, took possession of Tournay, Cambray and Amiens ; and thus laid the foundation of the new kingdom of France in Gaul. The Romans, however, still main- tained their authority in the interior of that province, and the brave jEtius their general made head against all those hordes of barbarians who disputed with him the dominion of Gaul. It was at this crisis that the Huiss made their appearance on the theatre of war. The fierce Attila, a man of great military talents, after having overthrown various states, conquered Pan- nonia, and difltrent provinces of the Eastern empire on the right bank of the Danube, undertook his fomous expedition into Gaul. Marching along the Danube from Pannonia, at the head of an innumerable army,^ he passed the Rhine near the Lake of Con- stance, pillaged and ravaged several places, and spread the terror of his arms over all Gaul. The Franks and the Visi Gaul became thus, by degrees, the undisputed possession of the Franks. The descendants of Clovis added to their conquests the kingdom of the Burgundians (534,) which they totally oA'erthrew. These same princes increased their possessions in the interioi of Germany, by the destruction of the powerful kingdom of the Thuringians (531,) comprising those vast countries between the "VVerra, the Aller, the Elbe, the Saal, the Mulda, and the Danube ; and which are now known under the names of Saxony, Thu ringia, Franconia, the Upper Palatinate," «3cc. Thts kingdom they divided with their allies the Saxons, who obtained the nor them part of it, situated between the Unstrut and the Saal. While the Visigoths, the Burgundians, the Franks and the Alemanns, were disputing with each other the conquest of Gaul, the Vandals, the Suevi, and the Alans, turned their ambitious views towards Spain. After having settled some years in Gaul, these tribes passed the Pyrenees (409,) to estabHsh themselves in the most fertile regions of Spain. The Vandals seized Bop- tica, and a part of Gallicia ; the Suevi seized the rest of Gal- licia; while the Alans took possession of Lusitania, and the province of Carthagena. The Alans afterwards submitted to the sway of Gonderic, King of the Vandals (420,) while the Suevi preserved their native princes, who reigned in Gallicia and Lusitania ; this latter province having been abandoned by the Vandals, (427,) when they passed into Africa. Meanwhile new conquerors began to make their appearance in Spain. The Visigoths, pressed by the Romans in Gau}, took the resolution of carrying their arms beyond the Pyrenees. Under the conduct of their King, Adolphus, they made them- selves masters of the city of Barcelona (in 415.) Euric, one of the successors of this prince, took from the Romans (472) all that yet remained of their possessions in Spain ; and Leovigild, another of their kings, completed the conquest of all that coun- try (584,) by reducing the kingdom of the Suevi. The mo- narchy of the Visigoths, which in its flourishing state comprised, besides the continent of Spain, Septimania or Languedoc m \v languages, which slill irlain eviaciion of ihcir Koiniiii oiioit., siioh m tlio Itiilian, Spmiish, I'orliiiUK'sc, rn.|ich itiul ICn^li.sh laii«ui\j,M«s. In iho lifili iMul followiiin- cfiiHirics, ilic TtMitonic lim^iuific, or ilmt spolion l>y iho I'oiKiiicmr.s of Cmil, wsis nill.'d //■//,i,'//« Fraiicica; tills wnsdisiiDyiiislu'il from l\u: ///is^n/a Iio//infia, or \\w Iim^iiii{,»'o spoken by tlu' peonic ; niul wImcIi iiflcrwurds pivc ri.so to the nuidiM-n I'liMu-li. It iippoars, tluM-cforo, from wliat wo liavo just •stali'd, that the incursion of tlio (lormaii trilx-s into liic provinct-s of the West, was tlu; true soiirco of nil tlu> harharity, ii-Morixuce and superstition, in which that part of Europe was so h)ng and so universally buried. There would have been, therefore, every reason to deplore a revolution, not li'ss sanguinary in itself than disastrous in its (•onsequenees, if, on the one hand, it had not been the instru- ment of delivering Europe from tho terrible despolisin of the Komans ; and, on the oilier, if we did not lind, in the rude in- stitutions ol the (Jerinaii coiKiucrors, somo germs of liberty which, sooner or later, were sure to lead the nations of Europe to wiser laws, and belter orijatii/ed tjovcM'nmenls. Amoiiy the slates which rose on the ruins of tin; Konmn em- pire, that of the Franks aciiuired the prepoiid(es, it sustained the character of bein,j>- i|u> most pow- erful kinjjdoin in Kiirope. This monarchy, founded by Clevis, and extended still more by his successors," embraced the whole of Gaul except Laiis^uedoc, which belonged to the Visigoihs.*" The greater part of CJermany also was subj(>ct to it, uTtli tho excej.iion of Saxony, ami the territories of the Slavi. After it iiad fallen into decay, by the partitions and civil wars of the descendants of Clevis, it rose again, solely however by the wis- dom and ability of the mayors of the palace, who restored it once more to its original splendour. These mayors, from being originally merely grand-masters of the court, rose by degrees lu be prime ministers, governors of the state, and ultimately to be kings. Tho founder of tlieir greatness, was Pepin d'lleristal, a cadet of the dynasty of tho Carlovingians, which succeetled that of the Merovingians, to- wards the midille of the eighth century. Under the Merovin- gian princes, tlie sovereignty was divided between t\.o principal kingdoms, vi/. that of Austrasia, which comprehended East- ern France, being all that part of Gaul situated between the Meuse, the Scheld, and the Rhine; as well as the German pro- vinces boyond the Rhine, which also made a part of that mo- narchy. The whole of VVestern Gaul, lying between the Scheld, the Meuse and the Loire, was called Neustria. Burgundy, PERIOD I. A. D. 406—800. m Aquitain, and Provence, were considered as dependencies of this latter kuift-doin. n-^jT^I/'-' ^'•'Jli''^ "f A.iHlrasia, h■.^vm^ boon assassinated, in 678, the Kinff (,( Ncustria, Thierry III., would in all probabilitv have reunited the two monarchies ; but the Ausira.siuns, who dreaded and detested Ebroin, Mayor of Neustria, elected a mayor of tht-ir own, under the nominal authority of Thierry lhi8 ^rave rise to a sort of civil war between the Austrasians and the Neustrians, lieaded bv Pepin Heristal, Mayor of Austrasia, and Bertaire, Mayor of Neustria, who succeeded Ebroin. The battle which Pepin gained at Testry, near St. Quentin (687,) dccjdcd the fate of the empire ; Jjertaire was slain, and Thierry ill. fell under the power of the conqueror. Pepin afterwards confirmed to Thierry the honours of royalty, and contented him- self with the dignity of mayor, and the title of Duke and Prince of the Franks; but regarding the throne as his own by right of conquest, he vested in himself the sovereign authority, and granted to the Merovingian Prince, nothing more than the mere externals of majesty, and the simple title of king. Such was the revolution that transferred ilio supreme authority of the I< ranks te a new dynasty, viz. that of the Carlovingians, who with great moderation, still preserved, during a period of sixty- five years, the royal dignity to the Merovingian princes, whom they had stripped of all their power,*' 1 epin d'Heristal being dead (714,) the partisans of the ancient dynasty made a last efl^ort to liberate the Merovino-ian kino-g from that dependence under which Pepin had held them so long. 1 his prince, in transferring the sovereign authority to his rrrand- son Iheodvvald, only six years of age, had devolved on his willow, xyhose name was Plectrude, the regency and guardian- snip ot the young mayor. A government so extraordinary emboldened the factious to attempt a revolution. The regent, as well as her grandson, were divested of the sovereignty, and the Neustrian grandees chose a mayor of their own party named Rainfroy; but iheir triumph was only of short duration. Charles Martel, natural son of lepin as is supposed, having escaped from the prison where he had been detained by the regent, passed into Austrasia, and then caused himself to be proclain.ed duke, after the example of his father. He engaged in a war against Chilperic II. and his mayor KainfiY.y; three successive victories which he gained, viz. at &tavelo, Vinci near Cambray, and Soissons, in 716-17-18 made him once more master of the throne and the sovereign authority, liio Uuke 01 Aquilain Jiaving delivered up King Chilperic to him, he confirmed anew the title of royalty to that prince; and IB I:-, 111 fihortly I CHAPTER II. . . / ^'''®/. '■aifed his glory to its highest pitch, bv the brilhant MlZ"'(!%^''i-^''' '^u ^^°''^ '•'" ^"'^ successor of Charles Marte . finding his authonty established both within and with! out h.s dominions judged this a favourable opportunity for re- uniting the title of royalty to the power of thrLverei Jn He bt"of'tt Frtr ^T'u ^'^^^'^^ ^'"^^ •■" ^^« Generaflssem! ply ot the t ranks, which was convened in the Champ-de-Mars in the neighbourhood of Soissons. Childeric III L la't of he Merovingian kings, was there deposed (752,) and sh^t up m a convent. Ppp.n, with the intention of rendering his persoS sacred and inviolable had recourse to the ceremony of corona- tion ; and he was the first King who caused himself to be lonThl %TT'-f '"^^ "°""^^ ^" '^' Cathedra of Sois! sons, by Su Boniface, first archbishop of Mayence 22 Th», example of Pepin was followed soon afte? by sever^a' pn'nces an.1 sovereigns of Europe. The last conquest he added "0 his da The origin of the secular power of the Roman pontiffs com. mences with the reign of Pepin. This event, wS hadTo peculiar an mfluence on the religion and government of the Eurn pean nations, requires to be detailed at some kn.th At the period of which we write, there existed°a violent con- troversy between the churches in the East, and tho^einX West, respecting the worship of images. The Emoeror £ the Isaurian had declared hiLelf against thit worlw^and haj proscribed it by an imperial edict (726.) He and his successors persisted in destroying these objects of idolatr^; a v^e 1 as L persecuting those who avowed themselves devotees th^^ heresy This extravagant zeal, which the Roman pontiff' blamed as excessive, excited the indio-nation of the TnT. ag^unst the Grecian Emperors.^-3 j, j J^re we e fre^^t rebellions against the imperial officers that were charcred^S the execution of their orders. The Romans especially. Took occasion, from this, to expel the duke or governorf who r^. ded in their city on the part of the empero?; and h^y formal J erected themselves into a republic (730,) under thepontiSe of Gregory I., by usurping all the rights of sovereign^ and at the same time reviving the ancient names of the sen a^; ami the Roman people. The Pope was recognised as ch e head of this new republic, and had the generaf direction of all affairs both at home and abroad. The territory of this republic- fo"med 01 ihe dutchy or Rome, extended, from north to somh, frorn PERIOD I. A. D. 406—800. 59 S ms person Viterbo as far as Terracina ; and from east to west from Nim" :o the mouth of the Tiber. Such was the Sn^ of the Lastern empire, that all the efforts of the emperors to reduce he Romans to subjection proved unavailing. The Greek vice! roy-the Duke o Naples who had murch°ed to besiege Rome was killed m battle, together with his son ; and the exarch E self was compelled to make peace with the republicans. This state of distress to which the Grecian empire was re- duced, afforded the Lombards an opportunity of extending their possessions in Italy. A istolphus their king attacked the°city of Ravenna (751,) where the exarchs or governors-general of the Ureeks had fixed their residence ; and soon made himself master of It, as vvell as the pi^ovince of the exarchate,'-^^ and the Pen- Serin Naffer' ^"'^^^'^"^ "^^ °^^'^^^ ^° %' -^ took This surrender of the capital of Grecian Italy, emboldened he Lombard King to extend his views still farther j he demanded the submission of the city and dutchy of Rome, which he con- sdered as a dependency of the exarchate. Pope Stephen II b;.came alarmed and began to solicit an alliance with the C.reek empire, whose distant power seemed to him less formi- dabk than that of the Lombards, his neighbours; but beTn. cbsely pressed by 4istoIphus, and finding that he had no sue" CO ir to expect from Constantinople, he determined to apply for protection to the Franks and their Kincr Pepin ^^ The Franks, at that time, held the first rank among the na- tions of Europe ; their exploits against the Arabians had gained them a high reputation for valour over all the West. Stephen with' Penin ^h?f" '", ^''"''' '"'^ ^" ^" ^"'^^^^^^ ^^ich he^aS with Pepin, he found means to in^^rest that prince in his cause th?'" ^'t"J\^'l'¥"'''^ himself as securely established on a throne which he had so recently usurped from theMerovin4n prmces ; more especially as there still existed a son of Child°eric II., named Thierry, and a formidable rivalry in the puissa^ dukes of Aquitain, who were cadets of the same family He had no other right to the crown than that of election ; and th^s title, ms ead of descending to his sons, might perhap^ serve as a pretext for depriving them of the sovereignty. Anxious To render the crown hereditary, he induced the Poje to renew the ceremony of his coronation in the Church of St. Denis and ionmn""The P'' ^°;r---t\his two sons, Charles an Car-' 1\- T u ^u'^Pf "^'.^ "'°'"^ 5 he disengaged the Kino- from the oath which he had taken to Childeric, and^ound all the nobilit; of T, ni • ' ^^\ ^^^re present on the occasion, in the name of Jesus Chrtst and St. Peter, to preserve the royal dignkHn uo CHAPTER II. H'l the right of Pepin and his descendants; and lastly, that he might the more efTcclually secure the altaclinionl of Pepiu and his sons, and procure lor liiinself the title of being their pro- tector, he publicly conferred on them the honour of being patri- cions of Koine. So great condescension on the part of the Pope could not but excite the gratitude of Pepin. He not only promised him siic- cour against the Lombards ; ho engaged to recover the exarchate from their hands, and make a present of it to the Holy See ; he even made him a grant of it by anticipation, which he signed at the Castle of Chiersi-sur-l'Oise, and which he likewise caused to be signed by the princes his sons.'-^* It was in fuUilment of these stipulations that Pepin undertook (755-56) two successive expeditions into Italy. He compelled Aistolphus to acknowledge himself his vassal, and deliver up to him the exarchate with the Pentapolis, of which he immediately put his Holiness in possession. This donation of Pepin served to confirm and to extend the secular power of the Popes, which had already been augmented by various grants of a similar kind. The original document of this singular contract no longer exists; but the names of the places are preserved which were ceded to the pontifical hierarchy.-" In the conclusion of this period, it may be proper to take some notice of the Arabs, commonly called Saracens," and of their irruption into Europe. Mahomet, an Arab of noble birth, and a native of Mecca, had constituted himself a prophet, a legisla tor, and a conqueror, about the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era. He had been expelled from Mecca (622) on account of his predictions, but afterwards returned at the head of an army; and having made himself master of the city, he succeeded by degrees, in subjecting to his yoke the numerous tribes of Arabia. His successors, known by the name of Ca- liphs, or vicars spiritual and temporal of the prophet, follovved the same triumphant career. They propagated their religion wherever they extended their empire, and overran with their conquests the vast regions both of Asia and Africa. S-'ria, Palestine, Egypt, Barca, Tripoli, and the whole northern coasts of Africa, were won from the Greek empire by the Caliphs; who at the same time (651) overthrew the powerful monarchy of the Persians ; conquered Charasm, Transoxiana, and the In- dies, and founded an empire more extensive than that of the Romans had been. The capital of the Caliphs, wh-ch had ori- ginally been at Medina, and afterwards at Cufa, was transferred (661) "by the Caliph Moavm I. to Damascus in Syria; and by the Cafiph Alraanzor, to Bagdad in Irak- Arabia, (766) which was founded bv that prince. ly, that be I'cpiu and ■ their pro- being patri- )uhl not hut ;d him suc- c exarchate Holy Sec ; li he signed vise caused uHihiient of » successive :kno\vledge "chate with [holiness in firm and to h'cady been he original Ls ; but the ded to the ) take some ad of their 3 birth, and t, a legisia nth century [ecca (622) ned at the of the city, 5 numerous tme of Ga- it, followed eir religion with their ;a. S-'ria, hern coasts e Caliphs ; monarchy ind the In- hat of the ch had ori- transferred ia ; and by t66) which Flight of MahumcL Vol. 1, p. 60. PBRIOD 1. A. D. 406—800. «) It was under the Caliphate of Walid (711,) that the Arabs first invaded Europe, and attacked the monarchy of the Visigoths lu tspnin. This monarchy had already sunk under the fe^eble- ness of Its kmgs, and the despotic prerogatives which the ffran- dees, and especially the bishops, had arrogated to themselves ihese latter disposed of the throne at iheir pleasure, having declared it to be elective. They decided with supreme authority in the councils of the nation, and in all affairs of slate. Muza at that time commanded in northern Africa, in name of the Ca- hph Wahd. By the authority of that sovereign, he sent into 5>pain one of his generals, named Taric or Tarec-Abenzara. who having made a descent on the coasts of Andalusia, took his station on the hill which the ancients called C^.lpe, and which has since been known by the name of Gibraltar (GibeUTaric.) or the hill of Taric, in commemoration of the Arabian general. It was in the neighbourhood of the city Xeres de la Frontera, m Andalusia, that Tanc encountered the army of the Visigoths commanded by their King Roderic. The baule was decisive as the Visigoths sustained a total defeat. Roderic perished in the flight; and Muza the Arabian governor, having arrived tn second the efforts of Taric, the conquest of all Spain followed as a consequence of this victory .23 Septimania, or Languedoc which then made a part of the Visigothic monarchy, passed ^* the same time under the dominion of the Arabs These fierce invaders did not limit their conquests in Europe to Spam and Languedoc ; the Balearic Isles, Sardinia, Corsica part of Apulia and Calabria, fell likewise under their dimin in •' hey infested the sea with their fleets, and more than once car- ried terror and desolation to the very gates of Rome. It is pro- bable even that all Europe would have submitted to their yoke. ^Charles Martel had not arrested the career of their victories He defeated their numerous and warlike armies in the bloodv 737r.nH ''^ were fought near Poitiers and Narbonne 7321 737 and at length compelled them to shut themselves u" within the province of Languedoc. inemseives up The unity of the empire and the religion of Mahomet did not long remam undivided. The first dynasty of the Caliphs bat of the Ommiades was subverted; and all the princerof that family massacred by the Abassides (749,) who seized the ca .phate.''' A solitary descendant of the Ommiades named lb dalraham grandson of the fifteenth Caliph Sam w.; saved in Spain, and fixed his residence at CordoV. ITV ■ acknowledged as Caliph by the Mussulman";!: e ^^fJZ'^ tnat pi-ovHice from the great empire of the Arabiais." 7^ )'" This revolution, and the confusion with which il was accoL I. Q 62 CHAPTER II. panied, gave fresh courng-e to the small number of Visigothfl, who, to escape the Mahometan yoke, had retired to the moun- tains of Asturias. Issuing from their retreats, they retaliated on the Infidold; and towards the middle of the eighth century, they laid the foundation of a new Christian state, called after- wards the kingdom of Oviedo or Leon. Alphonso I., sur- named the Catholic, must be regarded as the first founder of this new monarchy.'"' The Franks, likewise, took advantage of these events, to ex- pel the Arabs from Languedoc. Pepin took possession of the cities of Nismes, Maguclonne, Agde, and Beziers (752,) which were delivered up to him by a noble Goth, named Osmond. The reduction of Narbonne was by no means so easy a task. For seven years he continued to blockade it; and it was not until 759 that he became master of the city, and the whole of Languedoc. The loss of Spain, on the part of the Abassides, was soon after followed by that of Northern Africa, Ibrahim Ben-Aglab, Having been sent thither as governor by the Caliph of Bagdad, Haroun Alrashid (SOO,) he found means to constitute himsell sovereign prince over the countries, then properly termed Afri- ca ; of which Tripoli, Cairoan, Tunis, and Algiers, formed a part. He was the founder of the dynasty of the Aglabites ;•" while another usurper, named Edris, having conquered Numi- diaand Mauritania, called by the Arabs Mogreb, founded that of the Edrissites. These two dynasties were overturned (about 908) by Aboul Cassem Mohammed, son of Obeidallah, who claimed to be descended from Ali, by Fatima, daughter of the prophet; he subjected the whole rf Northern Africa to his yoke, and took the titles of Mahadi and Caliph. From him were descended the Caliphs, called Fatimites, who extended their conquests to Egypt, and laid there the foundation of Ka- herah, or Grand Cairo (968,) where they established the seat of their caliphate, which, in the twelfth contury, was destroyed by the Ayoubides. The irruption of the Arabs into Spain, disastrous as it was, did not fail to produce « ffects beneficial to Europe, which owes its civilization partly to this circumstance. The Abassidian Caliphs, aspiring to be the protectors of letters and arts, began to found schools, and to encourage translations of the most eminent Greek authors into the Arabic language. Their ex- ample was followed by the Caliphs of Cordova, and even by the Faiimites, who held the sovereignty of Egypt and Northern Africa, Iij this manner a taste for learning was communicated to uil the Mahometan states. From Bagdad it passed to Cairo ; TERIOO II. A. D. 800 — 062. 11 and from the banks of the Euphrates and the Nile, it spread itself as far as the Tnjrus. Mathematics, " Astronomy. Che- mistry, Medicine, Botany, and Materia Medica, were th-e sci- ences which the Arabians aflected chiofly to cultivate. They excelled al-^o in poetry, and in the art of embodying the fictions of imagination in the most ag-reeable narratives. Rhazes, Aver- roes, Avicenna, are among the number of their celebrated phi- losophers and physicians. P^lmacin, Abulfeda, Abulpharagius, and Bohadin, as historians, have become famous to ail posterity. Thus Spain, under the Malmmotans, by cultivalinf many sciences little known to the rest of Europe, became the semi- nary of the Christians in the West, who resorted thither in crjjwds, to prosecute in the schools of Cordova the study of learning and the liberal arts." The use of the numerical cha- racters, the manufacture of paper, cotton, and gun-powder, were derived to us from the Arabians, and especially from the Arabians of Spain. Agriculture, manufactures, and naviga- tion, are all equally indebted to the Arabians. They gave a new impulse to the commerce of the Indies ; from the Persian Gulf they extended their trade along the shores of the Mediter- ,ranean, and to the borders of the Black Sea. Their carpets and embroideries in gold and silver, their cloths of silk, and their manufactures in steel and leather, maintained for years a ce- lebrity and a perfection unknown to the other nations of Europe CHAPTER III. PERIOD II. From Charlemagne to Otho the Great, a. d. 800—962. The reign of Charles the Great forms a remarkable epoch in the history of Europe. That prince, who succeeded his father J'epin (768,) eclipsed all his predecessors, by the superiority of his genius, as well as by the wisdom and vigour of his admin- istration. Under hini the monarchy of the Franks was raised to the highest pinnacle of glory. He would have been an ac- complished prince and worthy of being commemorated as the benefactor of mankind, had he known how to restrain his im- moderate thirst for conquest. He carried his victorious arms into the centre of Germanv: and subdued the warlike nation of the Saxons, whose territories extended from the Lower Rhine, to the Elbe and the Baltic sea After a bloody war of thiriythrue years, he compelled them to receive his yoke, and to embrace Christianity, by the 64 CHAPTER III. peace which he concluded with them (803) at Sahz on the Saal. The bishoprics of Munster, Osnaburg, Minden, Pader- born, Verden, Bremen, Hildesheim, and Halberstadt, owe their origin to this prince. Several of the Slavonian nations, the Abotrites (789,) the Wilzians (805,) the Sorabians (806,) the Bohemians (811,) &c., acknowledged themselves his tributaries; arid by a treaty of peace which he concluded with Hemming, King of Jutland, he fixed the river Eyder, as the northern limit of his empire against the Danes. Besides these, the powerful monarchy of the Avars,' which comprehended all the countries known in modern times by the names of Austria, Hungary, Transylvania, Sclavonia, Dalmatia and Croatia, was completely subverted by him (791 ;) and he likewise despoiled the Arabians of all that part of Spain which is situated between the Pyrenees and the Ebro (796,) as also of Corsica, Sardinia, and the Balearic Isles. In Spain he established military com- manders under the title of Margraves. Of these conquests, the one that deserves the most particu- lar attention is that of Italy, and the kingdom of the Lombards. At the solicitation of Pope Adrian I., Charles undertook an ex- pedition against the last of the Lombard kings. He besieged that prince in his capital at Pavia; and having made him pri- soner, after a long siege, he shut him up in confinement for the rest of his days, and incorporated his dominions with the mo- narchy of the Franks. T.'.: Dukes of Benevento, who, as vassals of the Lombard kings, then occupied the greater part of Lower Italy, were at the same time compelled to acknowledge the sovereignty of the conquerors, who allowed them to e.-cer- cise their hereditary rights, on condition of their paying an anriual tribute. The only places in this part of Italy 'that re mained unsubdued, were the maritime towns, of which the Greeks still found means to maintain the possession. In order to secure the conquest of this country, as well as to protect it against the incursions of the Arabians, Charles estab- lished several marches and military stations, such as the marches of Friuli, Tarento, Turin, Liguira, Teti, Ace. The downfall of the Lombards, put an end to the republican govern- ment of the Romans. During the blockade of Pavia, Charles having gone to Rome to be present at the feast of Easter (774,) was received there with all the honours due to an Exarch and a Patrician; and there is incontestable proof that he after- wards received, under that title, the rights of sovereignty over Rome and the Ecclesiastical Slates. The Patrician dignity, instituted by Constantine the Great, ranked, in the Greek empire, next after that of emperor. It was m to exer- PERIOD 11. A. D. 800^962. 08 of such consideration, that even barbarian kin *^o"'.ations. He did not even aun-mon* his authuuty over Rome, where he continued to exercis^e'the ;6 CHAPTER III. snnic rifrhts of superiority under the title of emperor, which he Imil formerly clone under that of patriciiin. This prince, whose genius soared Ijcyond his age, did not figure merely as a warrior and a ronqueror; he was also a le- givslator, and a zealous patron of letters. By the laws whicli he published under the title of Capif.uiar/rs, he reformed several abuses, and introduced new ideas of order and justice. Com- inissioners nominated by himself, were charged to travel through the i)rov'inces, to .superintend the execution of the laws, listen to the complaints of the people, and render justice to each without distinction and without partiality. He conceived like- wise the idea of establishing a uniformity of weights and mea- sures throughout the empire. Some of the laws of that groat man, however, indicate a disposition tinctured with *he barba- rism and superstition of his age. The Judgmciils of God are expressly held by him to be legal tests of right and wrong, and the greater part of crimes expiable by money. By a general law, which he passed in 779, introducing the payment of eccle- siastical tithes, and which he extended to the vanquished Saxons (791,) he alienated the iifiections of that people; and the code which he dictated on this occasion, is remarkable for its atrocity; which their repeated revolts, and frequent returns to paganism, cannot justify. As to his patronage and love of letters, this is attested by the numerous schools which he founded, and the encouragements he held out to them ; as well as the attention he showed in in- viting to his court, the most celebrated learned men from every country in Europe. He formed them into a kind of academy, or literary society, of which he was liimself a member. When at an advanced age, he received instruction in rhetoric, logic and astronomy, from the famous Alcuin, an Englishman, to whom he was much attached. P{e endeavoured also to improve his vernacular tongue, which was the Teutonic, or lingua Fra/H'ica, by drawing up a grammar of that language, giving German names to the months and the winds, which had not yet received them; and in making a collection of the military songs of the ancient Germans. He exteniled an equal protection t( the arts, more especially architecture, a taste for which he had imbibed in Italy and Rome. Writers of those times speak with admiration of the palaces and edifices constructed by his orders, at Ingelhcim, near Mentz, atNimeguen, on the left bank of the Waal, and at Aix-la-Chapelle. These buildings were adorned with numeious paintings, as well as marble and mosaic work, which he had brought from Rome and Ravenna. The empire of Charlemagne, which may bear a comparisoK pj i PERIOD 11. A. D. 800—962. 67 as to its extent with the ancient empire of the West, embraced the principal part of Europe. All Gaul, Germany, and Spain as far as tlio Ebro, Italy to Bonevenlo, several islands in the Mediterranean, with a considonible part of Pannonia, composed this vast empire, which, from west to east, e.'ende.' from tho Jibro to the Elbe and the Raab ; and from south to .. ,rth, from the dulchy of Benevento and the Adriatic Sea to the River Ey- der, which formed the boundary between Germany and Denmark. In defining- the limits of the empire of Charlemaone, care must be taken not to confound tho provinces and states incor- porated with the empire with those that were merely tributary. 1 he former were governed by officers who mij^ht be recalled at the will of the prince; while the latter were free states, whose only tenure on the empire was by alliance, and the contributions they engaged to pay. Such was the policy of this prince, that, besides the marches or military stations which he had established on the frontiers of Germany, Spain, and Italy, he chose to retain on dillerent points of his dominions, nations who, under tho name of tributaries, enjoyed the protection of the Franks, and might act as a guard or barrier against t'o barbarous tribes of the east and north, who had long been in the habit of makino- incursions into the western and southern countries of Europe ° Thus the dukes of Benevento in Italy, who were simply vas- sals and tributaries of the empire, supplied as it were a -impart or bulwark against the Greeks and Arabians; while the Scla- vonian nations of Germany, Pannonia, Dalmatia, and Croatia, though feudatories or vassals of France, were governed, never- theless, by their own laws, and in general did not even profess the Christian religion. From this brief sketch of the reign of Charlemagne, it is easy to perceive, that there was then no single power in Europe for- midable enough to enter into competition with the empire of thp pranks. I he monarchies of the north, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and those of Poland and Russia, were not then in ex- istence ; or had not emerged from the thick darkness that still covered those parts of continental Europe. England then pre- sented a heptarchy of seven confederate governments, the union 01 which was far from being well consolidated. The kin wholly under dependence to bishops and ecclesiastics, who thus disposed of the sijile at their pleasure. The consequence was, that govern- ments, at lirst alleral'le only by the will of the King, passed eventually to the children, or heirs, of those who were merely administrators, or superintendents, of them. Charles the Hald, lirst King of France, had the weakness to constitute thi.s dangerous principh' into a standing law, in the narliamenl which he lieKI at Chiersi (877,) towards the close of his reign. He even extended this principle generally to all fiefs ; to those that held iunnediately of the crown, as well as to those which held of laic, or ecrlesiaslioal superiors. This new and exorbitant power of the nobles, joined to the injudicious partitions already mentioned, tended to sow fresh discord among the ditlerent members of the state, by exciting a multitude of civil wars and domestic feuds, which, by a neces- sary conseijuence, brought the whole body-poliiic into a state of decay and (lissolution. The history of the successors of Charle- magne presents a sad picture, humiliating and distressing to humanily. Every page of it is filled with insurrections, ilevas- tations, and carnage: princes, sprung from the same blood, armed against each other, breathing unnatural vengeance, and bent on mutual destruction : the royal authority insulted and despised b}' the nobles, who were perpetually at war with each other, either to decide thrir private quarrels, or aggrandize them- selves at the expense of their neighbours ; and, finally, the citi- zens exposed to all kinds of oppression, reduced to misery and serviuuit}, without the hope or possibility of redress from the government. Such was the melancholy situation of the States that composed tbo Etnpirc of Cliarlemagne, when the irruption of new barbarians, the Normans from the extremities of the I m PERIOD 11. A. n. 800—962. f^ North, and tho Hungarians from the bark settlements of Asia expos...] ,t afresh t.. the terrible ,s.-ourge of fore i,.n invasion '' Ibe Normans, of Cerman oricri,,, an.l inhabiting ancient Scandinavia, that is to say, Siveden, D..n.nark, and modern Norway, began, towards the end of the eighth century, to cover ho sea w.lh their ships, and to infest successively ail the mari- uno ..oasts of Kurope.' During the sp>..e of two hundred years, they coi.tmued their incursions and devastations, with a fierce- ness and perseverance that surpasses all imagination. This nhe- nomen.m, however, is easily explained, if we atu-nd to the state ol barbarism in which the inhabitants of Scandinavia, in general were at that time plunged. Despising agriculture and the arts.' they found themselves unable to draw from fishing and the chase, the ne.-essary n.eans even for their scanty subsistence. 1 he c^nnfortab circumstances of their neighbours who culti- vated their lands, excite.l their cupidity, ami invited them a quire by force, piracy, or plunder, whu't they had not sufRc^ert slc.ll to procure by iheir own industry. Tht?y were, moreover annnated by a sort of religious fanaticism, which inspired theil with cjurage for the most perilous enterprise. Th s reckles! superstition they drew from the doctrines of Odin, who was th god of their armies, the rewarder of valour and intrepidity in war, receiving into his paradise of ralAalla, the brave wh.;fel ^h^nLT 77"^' '^ the enemy; while, on the other hand, the abode of the wretched, called by them Helvele, was pre' pared for those who abandoned to ease and eff'eminacy, prefer- warlike adventure. * This doctrine, generally diffused over all the north, inspired the Scandinavian youth with an intrepid and ferocious courallf, king of llio Muruviiins, and the Irouljles conse- quent on that evfiit, th(!y di-ssevcred from Moravia all tlie coun- try which extends from the frontiers of Moldavia, Wallacliiu nnd Transylvania, to the Danube and the Morau. They con- quered, about the same time, I'amio*'''^. w'tli a part of Noricum, wiiich they had wrested from the licrmans; and thus laiil the foumlation of a new stale, known since by tlie name of Hungary No sooner liad the Hungarians established ihetnselves in I'annonia, tlian they commenced their incursions into the prin- cipal states of Europe. Gernnuiy, Italy, nnd (Jaul, agitated by faction and anarchy, and even the (Jrecian empire in the East, became, all in their turn, the bloody scone of their ravages and devastations. G(>rnuiny, in particular, for a long time felt the etfecls of their fury. All its provinces in succession were laid waste by these barbarians, and compelled to pay them tribute. Henry f-i King of Gernuuiy, and his son Oiho the Great, at length succeeded in arresting their desliiu-tive career, and de- livered Europe from this new yoke which threatened its in- dependence. It was in consequence of these incursions of the Hungarians and Normans, to which may be acKled those of the Arabs and Slavoninns, that the kingdoms which sprang from the enqiirc of the Franks lost once more the advantages which the political institutions of Charlemagne had procured them. Learning, which that prince had encouraged, fell into a state of absolute languor; an en' was put both to civil and literary improvement, by the destruction of convents, schools, and libraries ; the po- lity and internal security of the states were destroyed, and commerce reduced to nothing. England was the only excep- tion, which then enjoyed ii transient glory under the memora* ble reign of Alfred the Great. That prince, grandson of Egbert who was the first king of all I'^ngland, succeeded in expelling the Normans from the island (8S7,) and restored peace and tran- quillity to his kingdom. After the example of Charlemagne, he cultivated and protected learning and the arts, by restoring the convents nnd schools which the barbarians had destroyed; inviting philosophers and artists to his court, nnd civilizing his subjects by literary institutions and wise regulations. '■• It is to be regretted, that a reign so glorious was so soon followed by new misfortunes. After the Normans, the Danes reappeared in England, and overspread it once more with turbulence and uiisolai.on. During these unenlightened and calamitous times, we hud I PERIOD III. A. D. 962 — 1074. 79 ihc art of navigation making considerable progress. The Nor- mans, traversing the seas perpetually with thiir fleets, learned to construct their vessels with greater perfection, to become better skilled in wind and weather, and to use then- oars a^d sails with more address. It was, moreover, in consequence of these invasions, that more correct information was obtained re- garding bcandinavia, and the remote regions of the North 1 wo Normans Wolfstane and Other, the one from Jutland and the other from Norway, undertook separate voyages! ir; course ofthe ninth century, principally with the view of mak- ...g marrinne discoveries. t\^olfstane' proceeded to visit that part of Prussia, or the Esthonia of the Lcients, which was re! nowned for its produce of yellow amber. Other did not con- hne lus advcuitures to the coasts of the Baltic ; setting out from the port of Heligoland, his native country, he doubled S North, and advanced as far as Biarmia, at the mouth of the Dw.na, 11, the province of Archangel. Both he and Wolf tane conunun.catod the details of their voyages to Alfred the Great who made use of them in his Anglo-Saxon translation of Orosfus: Besides Iceland and the Northern Isles, of which we have already spoken, we find, in the tenth century, some ofthe fuJu "entf i;T"l ''T''7- P"^"'^"^ ' ^"^ ° 'h-^ forming seX ments in Finland, which some suppose to be the island n/ Newfoundland, in Norih America. ^5*^ ^''^ ''^^"'^ <^ CHAPTER IV. PERIOD III. Frovi Otho the Great to Gregory the Great, a. d. 962—1074 em^irn'f ?h"'V'^ 'f' ''^''' '^^1 'P'''^"^ ^^''"^ '^^ dismembered empire of the Franks, continued to be the prey of disorder and anarchy, the kingdom of Germany assumed a new forr^ and for several ages maintained the character of being the ruHno: power "'Europe. It was erected into a monafchy at hf peace of Verdun (843,) and had for its first king L^ou^ the German, second son of Louis the Gentle. At that tir^e il comprised, besides the three cantons of Spire, Worm and Mayence, on this side the Rhine, all the countries and pro- vinces beyond that river, which had belonged to the emnire of he FranL, from the Eyder and the Baltic, to the aT and From the first formation of this kingdom, the royal authority 80 CHAPTER IV. . was limited ; and Louis the German, in an assembly held at Marsen (851,)had formally engaged to maintain the states in their rights and privileges ; to follow their counsel and advice ; ana to consider them as his true colleagues and coadjutors in all the affairs of government. The states, however, soon found means to vest in themselves the right of choosing their kings. The first Carlovingian monarchs of Germany were hereditary. Louis the German even divided his kingdom among his three sons, viz. Carloman, Louis the Young, and Charles the Faf but Charles having been deposed in an assembly held at Frank- fort (887,) the states of Germany elected in his place Arnulph, a natural son of Carloman. This prince added to his crown both Italy and the Imperial dignity. The custom of election has continued in Germany down to modern times. Louis I'Enfant, or the Infant, son of Arnulph, succeeded to the throne by election ; and that prince having died very young (911,) the states bestowed the crown on a French nobleman, named Conrad, who was duke or governor of France on the Rhine, and related by the female side to the Carlovin- gian line. Conrad mounted the throne, to the exclusion o. Charles the Simple, King of France, the only male and legiti- mate heir of the Carlovingian line. This latter prince, how- ever, found means to seize the kingdom of Lorrain, which Louis the Young had annexed to the crown of Germany. On the death of Conrad I. (919,) the choice of the states fell on Henry I., surnamed the Fowler, a scion of the Saxon dynasty of the kings and emperors of Germany. It was to the valour and the wisdom of Henry I., and to his mstitutions, civil and military, that Germany was indebted foi its renewed grandeur. That monarch, taking advantage of the intestine troubles which had arisen in France under Charles the Simple, recovered possession of the kingdom of Lorrain, the nobility of which made their submission to him in the years 923 and 925. By this union he extended the limits of Germa ny towards the west, as far as the Meuse and the Scheld. Th kings of Germany afterwards divided the territory of Lorraii into two governments or dutchies, called Upper and Lower Lor- rain. The former, situated on the Moselle, was called the dutchy of the Moselle ; the other, bounded by the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheld, was known by the name of Lothiers or Brabant. These two dutchies comprised all the provinces of the kingdom of Lorrain, except those which the emperors judged proper to exempt from the authority and jurisdiction of the dukes. The duichy of the Moselle, alone, fiually retained the name of Lorrain; and passed (1048) to Gerard of Alsace, PERIOD III. A. D. 962 — 1074. ei ' held at s ill their ice; ana In all the 1(1 means rs. The ?reditary. his three the Fat • It Frank- vnulph, a own both down to Arnulph, ving died 1 French 3f France Carlovin- lusion o. nd legiti- ice, how- n, which my. On :s fell on 1 dynasty nd to his ebted foi ge of the larles the •rain, the ;he years f Gerna eld. Th f Lorruit twer Lor- ailed rhe hine, the othiers or vinces of emperors liction of f relaiued f Alsace, from whom descended the dukes of that name, who in the eigh. teenth century, succeeded to the Imperial throne. As to the dutchy of Lower Lon ain, the Emperor Henry V. conferred it on Godfrey, Count of Louvain (1106), whose male attendants kept possession of it, under the title of Dukes of Brabant, till 1355, when it passed by female succession to the Dukes of Burgun- dy, who found means also to acquire, by degrees, the greater part of Lower Lorrain, commonly called the Low Countries. Henry L, a prince of extraordinary genius, proved himself the true restorer of the German kingdom. The Slavonian tribes who inhabited the banks of the Saal, and the country be- tween the Elbe and the Baltic, committed incessant ravages on the frontier provinces of the kingdom. With these he waged a successful war, and reduced them once more to the condition of tributaries. But his policy was turned chiefly against the Hungarians, who, since the reign of Louis IL, had repeatedly renewed their incursions, and threatened to subject all Germa- ny to their yoke. Desirous to repress eflfectually that ferocious nation, he took the opportunity of a nine years truce, which he had obtained with them, to construct new towns, and fortify places of strength. He instructed his troops in a new kind of tactics, accustomed them to military evolutions, and above all, he formed and equipped a cavalry sufficient to cope with those of the Hungarians, who particularly excelled in the art of rnanaging horses. These depredators having returned with fresh forces at the expiry of the truce, he completely defeated them in two bloody battles, which he fought with them (933) near Sondershausen and Merseburg ; and thus exonerated Ger- many from the tribute which it had formerly paid them.* This victorious prince extended his conquests beyond the Eyder, the ancient frontier of Denmark. After a prosperous war with the Danes (931,) he founded the margravate of Sles- wick, which the Emperor Conrad II. afterwards ceded back (lUJJ) to Canute the Great, King of Denmark. Otho the Great, gon and successor of Henry I., added the kingdom of Italy to the conquests of his father, and procured also the Imperial dignity for himself, and his successors in Ger- many. Italy had become a distinct kingdom since the revolu- tion, which happened (888) at the death of the Emperor Charles the t at. a en princes in succession occupied the throne during the space of seventy-three yoars. Several of these princes, such as Guy, Lambert, Arnulf, Louis of Burgundy, and Bereno-er L, were invested, at the same time, with the Imperial dignity." Be- renger I. having been assassinated (924,^ thip- 'afterd-*--!"- ceased entirely, and the city of Rome was even *£smemSerec Irom the kingdom of Italy. 83 CHAPTER IV. The sovereignty of that city was seized by the famous Maro- zia, widow of a nobleman named Alberic. She raised her son to the pontificate by the title of John XL ; and the better to es- tablish her dominion, she espoused Hugo King of Italy (932,) who became, in consequence of this marriage, master of Rome. But Alberic, another son of Marozia, soon stirred up the people against this aspiring princess and her husband Hugo. Having driven Hugo from the throne, and shut up his mother in prison, he assumed to himself the sovereign authority, under the title o[ Patrician of the Romans. At his death (954,) he transmit- ted the sovereignty to his son Octavian, who, though only nine- teen years of age, caused himself to be elected pope, by the title of John Xn. ^ ^ This epoch was one most disastrous for Italy. The weak- ness of the government excited factions among the nobility, gave birth to anarchy, and fresh opportunity for the depredations of the Hungarians and Arabs, who, at this period, were the scourge of Italy, which they ravaged with impunity. Pavia, the capital of the kingdom, was taken and burnt by the Hunga- rians. These troubles increased on the accession of Berenger II. (950,) grandson of Berenger I. That prince associated his son Adelbert with him in the royal dignity; and the public voice accused them of having caused the death of King Lothaire, son and successor of Hugo. Lothaire left a young widow, named Adelaide, daughter of Rodolph II., King of Burgundy and Italy. To avoid the impor- tunities of Berenger II., who wished to compel her to marry his son Adelbert, this princess called in the King of Germany to her aid. Otho complied with the solicitations of the distressed queen ; and, on this occasion, undertook his first expedition into Italy (941.) The city of Pa\ia, and several other places, having fallen into his hands, he caused himself to be proclaimed *Cing of Italy, and married the young queen, his protegee. Beret.ger and his son, being driven for shelter to their strongholds, had recourse to negotiation. They succeeded in obtaining for them- selves a confirmation of the royal title v.*" Italy, on condition of doing homagk? for it to the King of Germany ; and for this pur- pose, they repaired in person to the diet assembled at Augsburg (952,) where they took the oath of vassalage under the hands of Otho, who solemnly invested them with the royalty of Italy; reserving to himself the towns and marches of Aquileia and Verona, the command of which he bestowed on his brother the Duke of Bavaria. In examining more nearly all that passed in this affair, it ap- pears that it was not without the regret, and even contrary to PERIOD in. A. D. 962 — 1074. 83 Ihe wish of Adelaide, that Otho agreed to enter into terms of accommodat.on with Berenger, and to ratify the compact which Conrad, Duke of Lorrain, and son-in-law of the Emnerorhad made with that prince. Afterwards, however, he lentVfa;our- ableear to the complamts which Pope John XII., and some Italian noblemen had addressed to him against Berenger and h.s son ; and took occasion, on their account, to conduct a new army into Italv (961.) Berenger, too feeble to oppose him^re^ inm P '^''f.i'!!'^ within his fortifications. 6lho marched from Pavia to Milan, and there caused himself to be crowned King of Italy ; from thence he passed to Rome, about the com- mencement of the following year. Pope John XII., who had himselt invited him, and again implored his protection aoainst Berenger, gave him, at first, a very brilliant reception : and re- vived the Imperial dignity in his favour, which had been dor- mant for thirty-eight years. It was on the 2d of February 962, that the Pope consecrated and crowned him Emperor ; but he had soon cause to repent of this proceeding Otho, immediately after his coronation at Rome, undertook the siege of St. Leon, a fortress in Umbria where Berenger and his Queen had taken refuge. While en- gaged in the s.ege, he received frequent intimations from Rome ot the misconduct and immoralities of the Pope. The remon- strances which he thoiight it his duty to make on this subject, offended the young Pontiff, who resolved, in consequence, to break off union with the Emperor. Hurried on by the impe- tuosity of his character, he entered into a negotiation with Adel- bert ; and even persuaded him to come to Rome, in order to concert with him measures of defence. On the first news of this event Otho put himself at the head of a large detachment, with which he marched directly to Rome. The Pope, however did not think It advisable to wait his approach, but fled with the King, his new ally. Otho, on arriving at the capital, exacted a solemn oath from the clergy and the people, that henceforth they would elect no pope without his counsel, and that of the Emperor and h.s successors^';; Having then assembled a coun- cil, he caused Pope John XII. to be deposed ; and Leo VII was elected m his place. This latter Pontiff was maintain, u m the papacy, in spite of all the efl^orls which his adversary made to regain it. Berenger II., after having sustained a \ mg siege at St. Leon, fell at length (964) into the hands of tl v> ^ queror, who sent him into exile at Bamberir, and compelled 'lis son Adebert, to take refuge in the court (.H^mstantinople. . ^'^ HV' ^°,'^ f^'e."^ of the ancient kingdom of the Lorn- uarus, leii under the dominion of the Germans : only a 'w 5A CHAPTEB ly. maritime towns in Lower Italy, with the grenfer pnrt of Apulia and Calabria, still remained in the power of the Greeks. 1 his kingdom, together with the Imperial dignity, Otho transmitted to his successors on the throne of Germany. From this time the Germans held it to be an inviolable princip e, that as the im- perial dignity was strictly united with the royally of Italy, kings elected by the German nation should, at the same time, in virtue of that election, become kings of Italy and Emperors. Ihe practice of this triple coronation, viz. of Germany, Italy,^ and Rome, continued for many centuries ; and from Otho the Great, till Maximilian I. (150S,) no king of Germany took the title of Emperor, until after he had been formally crowned by the Fope. xhe kings and emperors of the house of Saxony, did not terminate their conquests with the dominions of Lorrain and Italy. Towards the east and the north, they extended them be- yond the Saal and the Elbe. All the Slavonian tribes between the Havel and the Oder- the Abotrites, the Rhednrmns, the Wilzians, the Slavonians on the Havel, the Sorabians, the Dale- mincians, the Lusitzians, the Milzians, and various others ; the dukes also of Bohemia and Poland, although they often took up arms in defence of their liberty and independence, were all re- duced to subjection, and again compelled to pay tribute. In order to secure their submission, the Saxon kings introduced German colonies into the conquered countries ; and founded there several margravates, such as that of the North, on this side of the Elbe, aftenvards called Brandenburg ; and in the East, those of Misnia and Lusatia. Otho the Great adopted measures for promulga- ting Christianity among them. The bishopric of Oldenburg in Wagria, of tiavelberg, Brandenburg, Meissen, Merseburg, Zeitz; Uiose of Posnania or Posen, in Poland, of Prague in Bo- hemia; and lastly, the metropolis of Magdeburg, all owe their orif^in to this monarch. His grandson, the Emperor Otho III., fou°nded (in 1000) the Archbishopric of Gnesna, in Poland, to which he subjected the bishoprics of Colberg, Cracow, and Breslau, reserving Posen to the metropolitan See of Magdohurg. The Saxon dynasty became extinct (1024) with tho Emperor Henry II. It was succeeded by that of Franconia, commonly called the Sedic. Conrad II., the first emperor of this house, i-.iited to the German crown, the kingdom of Burgundy; or, as it is sometimes called, the kingdom of Aries. This monarchy, situate between the Rhine, the Reuss, Mount Jura, the Soane, the Rhone, and the Alps, had been divided among a certain number of counts, or governors of provinces, who, in conse- iiuence oi me weaKncss ui uicu ia=i n.::iy=, vonr.,,-, ".j-i » ■■■y III., had converted their temporary jurisdictions into hereditary PERIOD III. A. D. 962 — 1074. 85 nnd patrimonial offices, after the example of the French nobility, who had already usurped the same power. The principal and most puissant of these Burgundian nobles, were the Counts ot Provence, Vicnne, (afterwards called Dauphins of Vienne,) Sa- voy, Burgundy, and Montbelliard ; the Archbishop of Lyons, Besancon, nnd Aries, and the Bishop of Basle, &c. The con- tempt in which these powerful vassals held the royal authority, induced Rodolph to apply for protection to his kinsmen the Emperors Henry II. and Conrad II., and to acknowledge them, by several treaties, his heirs and successors to the crown. It was in virtue of these treaties, that Conrad II. took possession of the kingdom of Burgundy (1032) on the death of Rodolph III. He maintained his rights by force of arms against Eudes, Count of Champagne, who claimed to be the legitimate suc- cessor, as being nephew to the last king. This reunion was but a feeble addition to the power of the German emperors. The bishops, counts, and great vassals of the kingdom they had newly acquired, still retained the au- thority which they had usurped in their several departments; and nothing was left to the emperors, but the exercise of their feudal and proprietory rights, together with the slender remains of the demesne lands belonging to the last kings. It is even probable, that the high rank which the Burgundian nobles en- joyed, excited the ambition of those in Germany, and emboldened them to usurp the same prerogatives. The emperors Conrad II. (1033) and Henry III. (1038,) were both crowned Kings of Burgundy. The Emperor Lothaire conferred the vice-oyalty or regency on Conrad Duke of Zah- ringen, who then took the title of Governor or Regent of Bur- gundy. Berihold IV., son of Conrad, resigned (1156,) in favour ofthe Emperor Frederic I., his rights of viceroyalty over that part of the kingdom situate beyond Mount Jura. Switzerland, at that time, was subject to the Dukes of Zahringen, who, in order to retain it in vassalage to their government, fortified Morges, Mouden, Yverdun, and Berthoud; and built the cities of Fri- bourg and Berne. On the extinction of the Zahringian dukes, (1191,) Switzerland became an immediate province ofthe empire. It was afterwards (1218) formed into a republic , and the other parts of the kingdom of Burgundy or Aries were gradually united to France, a.-s we shall see in course of our narrative. The Hungarians, hince their first invasion under Louis I'En- fant, had wrested from the Geruian crown all its possessions in Pannonia, with a part of ancient Noricum ; and the boundaries of Germany had been couirucled wiiuiu ilie river Ens in Bava- ria. Their growing preponderance afterwards enabled the Ger- VOL. I, 8 m CHAPTER IV. mans to recover from the Hungarians a part of their conquests They succeeded in expelling them, not only from Noncum, but even from that part of Upper Pannonia which lies between Mount Cetius, or Kahlenberg as it is called, and the river Leila. Henry III. secured the possession of these territories by the treaty of peace which he concluded (1043) with Samuel, sur- named Aba, King of Hungary. This part of Hungary was annexed to the eastern Margravate, or Austria, which then be- gan to assume nearly its present form. Such then was the progressive aggrandizement of the German empire, from the reign of Henry I. to the year 1043. Under its most flourishing state, thai is, under the Emperor Henry 111., it embraced nearly two-thirds of the monarchy of Charlemagne. All Germany between the Rhine, the Eyder, the Oder, the Leila, and the Alps ; all Italy, as far as the confines of the Greeks in Apulia and Calabria; Gaul, from the Rhine to the Scheldt, the Meuse, and the Rhone, acknowledged the supremacy of the emperors. The Dukes of Bohemia and Poland, were their tn- bjlaries ; a dependence which continued until the commotions which ao-itated Germany put an end to it in the thirteenth century. Germany, at this period, ranked as the ruling power in Europe ; and this preponderance was not owing so much to the extent of her possessions, as to the vigour of h r government, which still maintained a kind of system of political unity. The emperors may be reo-arded as true monarchs, dispensing, at their pleasure, all dignities, civil and ecclesiastical -possessing very large do- mains in all pai. 5 of the empire— and exercismg, individually, various branches of the sovereign power ;— only, in affairs ot great importance, asking the advice or consent of the grandees. This greatness of the German emperors gave rise to a system of polity which the Popes took great care to support with all theiv credit and authority. According to this system, the whole of Christendom composed, as it were, a single and individual republic, of which the Pope was the spiritual head, and the Emperor the secular. The duty of the latter, as head and patron of the Church, was to take cognizance that nothing should be done contrary to the general welfare of Christianity. It was hi^ part to protect the Catholic Church, to be the guardian of its preservation, to convocate its general councils, and exercise such rights as the nature of his office and the interests of ChnstiauUy •reined to demand. . It was in virtue of this ideal system that the emperors enjoyed a precedency over other monarchs, with the exclusive right of elect- ino- kino-s ; and that they had bestowed on them the title of mas- lef» of the world, and sovereign of sovereigns. A more impor- PERIOD III. A. D. 962—1074. m lant prerogative was that which they possessed in the electiou of the Popes. From Oiho the Great to Henry IV., all the Roman Eontiffs were chosen, or at least confirmed, by the emperors, lenry III. deposed three schismatical popes (1046.) and sub- stituted in their place a German, who took the name of Clement II. The same emperorafterwardsnominated various other popes of his own nation. However vast and formidable the power of these monarchs seemed to be, it was nevertheless far from being a solid and durable fabric ; and it was easy to foresee that, in a short time. It would crumble and disappear. Various causes conspired to accelerate its downfall ; the first and principal of which necessa- rily sprang from the constitution of the empire, which was faulty in itself, and incompatible with any scheme of aggrandizement or conquest. A great empire, to prolong its durability, requires a perfect unity of power, which can act with despatch, and com- municate with facility from one extremity to the other; an armed force constantly on foot, and capable of maintaining the public tranquillity; frontiers well defended against hostile Inva- sion ; and revenues proportioned to the exigencies of the state. All these characteristics of political greatness were wan tin ^ in the Geman empire. That empire was elective; the states co-operated jointly with the emperors in the exercise of the legislative power. There were neither permanent armies, nor fortresses, nor taxation, nor any regular system of finance. The government was without vigour, incapable of protecting or punishing, or even keeping m subjection, its remote provinces, consisting of nations who diflered in language, manners, and legislation. One insurrec- tion, though quelled, was only the forerunner of others ; and the conquered nations shook off the yoke with the same facility as they received it. The perpetual wars of the emperors in Italy, from the first conquest of that country by Otho the Great, prove, in a manner most evident, the strange imbecility of the government. At every change of reign, and every little revo- lution which happened in Germany, the Italians rose in arms, and put the emperors again to the necessity of reconquering that kingdom ; which undoubtedly it was their interest to have abandoned entirely, rather than to lavish for so many centuries their treasures and the blood of their people to no purpose. The climate of Italy was also disastrous to the Imperial armies ; and many successions of noble German families found there a foreign grave. An inevitable consequence of this vitiated constitutinn. wa= he decline of the royal authority, and the gradual increase cf ^ OnAPTBR IV. the power of the nobility. It is important, however, to remark that in Germany the progress of the femliil system had been much less rapid than in France. The dukes, county and mar- jrraves, that is, the governors of provinces, and wardens of the marches, continued for long to be regarded merely as nnperial officers, without any pretensions to consuler their govcrnnicnts as hereditary, or exercise the rights of sovereignty. Lven hela remained for many ages in their primitive slate, without being perpetuated in the families of those to whom they had been ori'vinallv granted. , . j r .u A tota'l change, however, took place towards the end of the eleventh century. The dukes and counts, become formidable by the extent of their power and their vast possessions, by do- the former, subject immediately to the king, gave rise to what has since been called imperial cities. It was in the«o rovttl cities that the German kings were in the practice ol establishing counts and burgomasters or magistrates, to ex- ercise in their name the rights of justice, civil and criminal, the .evymg of money, customs, &c. as well as other prerogatives usually reserved to the King. Otho conferred the counties, or governorships of cities where a bishop resided, on thi bishops ihemsclves, who, in process of time, made use of this n nv power to subject these cities to their own authority, and render thmn mediate nnd episcopal, instead of' being immediate and royal as they were originally. The successors of Otho, as impolitic as himself, imitated his example. In consequence of this, the possessions of the crown were, by degrees, reduced to nothing, and the authority of the emperors declined with the diminution of their wealth. The bishops, at first devoted to the emperon , both from necessity and gratitude, no sooner perceived their own strength, than they yvore tempted -to make use of it, and to join the secular princes, in order to sap the imperial authority, as well as to consolidate their own power. To these several causes of the downfall of -le empire must be added the new power of the Roman poniifTs, .he origin of which is ascribed to Pope Gregory VII. In the tollowing Period, this matter will be treated more in detail ; meantime, we shall proceed to give a succinct view of the other states that figured during this epoch on the theatre of Europe The dynasty of the Ommiades in Spain, founded about the middle of the eighth century, was overturned in the eleventh. An insurrection having happened at Cordova against the Ca- liph Hescham, that prince was dethroned (1030,) and the caliph- ate ended with him. The governors of cities and provinces, and the principal nobility of the Arabs, formed themselves into mdependent sovereigns, under the title of kings ; and as many petty Mahometan States rose in Spain as there had been prin- cipal cities. The most considerable of these, were the kin"-- doms of Cordova, Seville, Toledo, Lisbon, Saragossa, Tortosl, Valencia, Murcia, &c. This partition of the caliphate of Cor- dov::, enabled the princes of Christendom to Mgrandize their 8* IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) .5^%. 1.0 I.I 1.25 u Hi M 1.8 U IIIIIM Photographic Sciences Corporation J\^ V \ €^ :\ ^^^^ \ ^9) V yi 'C»^ 6^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 w^ OBAFTEE IV. power at the expense of the Mahometans. Besides the king'- doms of Leon and Navarre, there existed in Spain at the com- mencement of the eleventh century, the county of Castille, Avhich had been dismembered from the kingdom of Leon, and the county of Barcelona, which acknowledged the sovereignty of the Kings of France. Sancho the Great, King of Navarre, had the fortune to unite in his own family all these different sovereignties, with the ex- ception of Barcelona ; and as this occurred nearly at the same time with the destruction of the caliphate of Cordova, it would have been easy for the Christians to obtain a complete ascen- dency over the Mahometans, if they had kept their forces united. But the King of Navarre fell into the same mistake that had been so fatal to the Mahometans ; he divided his dominions among h s sons (1035.) Don Garcias, the eldest, had Navarre, and was *he ancestor of a long line of Navarrese kings ; the last of whom, John d'Albert was deposed (1512) by Ferdinand the Catholic. From Ferdinand, the younger son. King of Leon and Castille, were descended all the sovereigns of Castille and Leon down to Queen Isabella, who transferred these kingdoms (1474,) by marriage, to Ferdinand the Catholic. Lastly, Den Ramira, natural son of Sancho, was the stem from whom sprung all the kings of Arraf on, down to Ferdinand, who by his mar- riage with Isabella, he ppened to unite all the different Christian States in Spain; ami put an end also to the dominion of the Arabs and Moors in 'hat peninsula. In France the royal authority declined more and more, from the rapid progress which the feudal system made in that king- dom, after the feeble reign of Charles the Bald. The Dukes and the Counts, usurping the rights of royalty, made war on each other, and raised on every occasion the standard of revolt. The kings, in order to gain over some, and maintain othsrs in their allegiance, were obliged to give up to them in succession every branch of the royal revenue ; so that the last Carlovin- gian princes were reduced to such a state of distress, that, far from being able to counterbalance the power of the nobility, they had hardly left wherewithal to furnish a scanty subsistence for their court. A change of dynasty became then indispensable ; and the throne, it was evident, must fall to the share of the most powerful and daring of its vassals. This event, which had long been foreseen, happened on the death of Louis V., surnamed the Slothful (987,) the last of the Carlovingians, who died childless at the age of twenty. Hugh Capet, great-grandson of Robert the Strong, possessed a<. iiiai nine iHc trcuiiai puxis oi iiie Kmgaom. ne was (Jount PEKIOD 111. A. D. 962—1074. 91 of Paris, Duke of France and Neustria; and his hrnrKo^ u vjas master of the dutchy of Burgundy' ' h tarn'c^tfficSrf?; Hugh to form a party ; and under their auspices he ffoThhnselJ FocIa.med kmg at Noyon, and crowned affiheims^ Charts JJuke of Lorram, paternal uncle of the last kino-, and sole Ipo Ti mate heir to the Carlovingian Iine,3advancei his claim toX* crown; he seized, by force of arms, on Laon and RheTms t' being betrayed by the Bishop of Laon. and delivered up ti his^ Ae^c^rfwn^lhrw"^ the throne, restored to the possession of uie crown, the lands and dominions which had belonffed trt it between the Loire, the Seine, and the Meuse. His power alvl a new lustre to the royal dignity, which he found meCltoS ml tedTh""^ '." ^'^ ^^"^"y' ''^''^' ^' the same tim" I e pe?' muted the grandees to transmit to their descendam^ r^^nir ^ a female, the dutchies and counties which they heldtf^^ row^^^ reserving to it merely the feudal superiority^ Thus the feudal government was firmly established in France, by S^"e hereSv tenure of the great fiefs ; and that kingdom vvas in conseouence divided among a certain number of powerful vassaL whl r^n dered fealty and homage to their kings, anrmarch;d at tS reaTat„7r"'^"^^^P^'^''°"^' ^"^ who never heless were r^^L^rofcapt'^^^ ''''-'' '^^^- - -"'^ '-S England, during the feeble reie-ns of thp Atirrio ax,k„ow„ brthi narae^f iCjri'' Under the command of the.r kmgs SueJo or Swe™ '^nYci Zw thr^nl"' '■"/ "■' '7^'\ ^""^ "■= Anglo-Sax^on kiZ\?oZ nni?! n '.r^ r"^' 'l"=mselves masters of all Sand (1UI7.) But the domin on of the Danes iva, nr,W „f .iT f D.reif'i^tmr;'" ^'^ -"-'^"- - "■"p-"" »f Wiiil™ This nrincn Kr. J »»^ _.l .•.i. . ., r-- ""O i,u uiucr rigni to the crown. than that fnnn/I^J ona verbal promise of Edward the C„„fe,sor, and confirmXan 99 CHAPTER IV. oath which Harold had given him while Earl of Kent. "William landed in England (October 14th 1066,) at the head of a conside- rable army, and having offered battle to Harold, near Hastings in Sussex, he gained a complete victory. Harold was killed in the action, and the conquest of all England was the reward of the victor. To secure himself in his new dominions, William constructed a vast number of castles and fortresses throughout all parts of the kingdom, which he took care to fill with Nor- man garrisons. The lands and places of trust of which he had deprived the English, were distributed among the Normans, and other foreigners who were attached to his fortunes. He intro- duced the feudal law, and rendered fiefs hereditary ; he ordered the English to be disarmed, and forbade them to have light in their houses after eight o'clock in the evening. He even at- tempted to abolish the language of the country, by establishing numerous schools for teaching the Norman-French ; by pub- lishing the laws, and ordering the pleadings in the courts of justice to be made in that language ; hence it happened that the ancient British, combined with the Norman, formed a new sort of language, which still exists in the modern English. William thus became the common ancestor of the kings of England, whose right to the crown is derived from him, and founded on whe Conquest. About the time that William conquered England, another co- lony of the same Normans founded the kingdom of the two Sicilies. The several provinces of which this kingdom was composed, were, about the beginning of the eleventh century, divided among the Germans, Greeks, and Arabians,^ who were incessantly waging war with each other. A band of nearly a hundred Normans, equally desirous of war and glory, landed in that country (1016,) and tendered their services to the Lombard princes, vassals of the German empire. The bravery which »hey displayed on various occasions, made these princes desirous oi' retaining them in their pay, to serve as guardians of their frontiers against the Greeks and Arabians. The Greek princes very .'ioon were no less eager to gain their services ; and the Duke of Naples, with the view of attaching them to his interest, ceded to them a large territory, where they built the city of Averssa, three leagues from Capua. The emperor Conrad II. erected it into a county (1038,) the investiture of which he granted to Rainulph, one of their chiefs. At this same period the sons of Tancred conducted a new colony from Normandy into Lower Italy. Their arrival is gen- erally referred to the year 1033 ; and tradition has assigned to Tancred a descent from Rollo or Hobert I. Duke of Normandy PKBioD m. A. D. 962—1074. 9$ whf.h ?K ^^''^"^y?" undertook the conquest of Apulia (1041.) which they formed into a county, the investiture of which they obtained from Henry 11. Robert Guiscard, one of the sons of Jinn^ I' ^^^JT^^^10f ) completed the conquest of that pro- vince; he added to it that of Calabria, of which he had also deprived the Greeks (1059,) and assumed the title of Duke of Apulia and Calabria. To secure himself in his new conquests, as well as in those which he yet meditated from the two Lpir;s, Robert ondided Pont?^ fi same year with Pope Nicholas II.. by which that ;n,.r I k"- "'*''' ^"^ V^^ possession of the dutchies of Apulia md Calabria ; granting him not only the investiture of these but promising him also that of Sicilyf whenever he should expe Llp^h-^' '?? ^'^^'T ?r i- «°b«"' i" his turn, acknow- ledged himself a vassal of the Pope, and engaged to pay him an annual tribute of twelve pence, money of" Pa via. foHverv K^r °'n"J" '^t'^^° ^•"^'^'^^•' ^'"'"ediately after this treaty^ Robert called m the assistance of his brother Roger, to rescue Sicily from the hands of the Greeks and Arabs.« No sooner Sad he accomphshed this ob ect, than he conquered in succession Oie primnpa .ties of Bari, Salerno, Amalfi,^orren S, ^^^ vento; this latter city he surrendered to the Pope Such IS the origin of the dutchies of Apulia and Calabria- which after a lapse of some years, were formed into a kingdTm under the name of the Two Sicilies. i^'ufeuom As to the kingdoms of the North, the light of history scarcely began to dawn there until the introduction^f ChristianUwEich happened about the end of the tenth or beginnino- of the devemh ZVi J^t P;°?"l^^^-" °f the Gospel opened a way In o the North for the diffusion of arts and letters. The Scand na° dme tT' ^"TJ^' ^"''^^"' ^"^ ^°^^^^y' -hich before hat time were parcelled out among independent chiefs, began then to form plans of c.v.l government, and to combine into settled monarchies . Their new religion, however, did not inspirethese nations with its meek and peaceable virtues, nor overcame thek IwiM «nH P'°P""^'iy ^° ^^^^^ ,^."? rapine. Their heroism was ITil . A^^ ^T'J^' ""^'"^ emboldened them to face all dangers, to undertake desperate adventures, and to achieve sud- den conquests, which were lost and won with the same rapidity. Harold, surnamed Blaatand, or Blue teeth, was the first sole monarch of the Danes, who with his son S^eyn received bat tism, after being vanquished by Otho the Great (965.) Swevn relapsed to paganism ; but his son Canute the Great o- his accession to the throne (1014,) made Christianity the estHulished religion of his kingdom. He sent for tr-rk-- A - - ' 94 CHAPTER IV. tries, founded churches, and divided the kingdom into diocessea. Ambitious to distinguish himself as a conqueror, he afterwards subdued England and Norway (1028.) To these he added a part of Scotland and Sweden; and conferred in his own life- time on one of his sons, named Sweyn, the kingdom of Nor- way, and on another, named Hardicanute, that of Denmark. These acquisitions, however, were merely temporary. Sweyn was driven from Norway (1035;) while England and Scotland also shook off the Danish yoke (1042,) on the death of Hardi- canute ; and Magnus King of Norway, even made himself mas- ter of Denmark, which did not recover its entire independence until the death of that prince (1047.) The ancient dynasty of Kings who occupied the throne of Denmark from the most remote ages, is known by the name of Skioldungs, because, according to a fabulous tradition, they were descended from Skiold, a pretended son of the famous Odin who, frotn being the conqueror, was exalted into the deity of the North. The kings who reigned after Sweyn II. were called Estrithides, from that monarch, who was the son of Ulf a Danish nobleman, di.nA Estrith, sister to Canute the Great. It was this Sweyn that raised the standard of revolt against Mag- nus King of I^orway (1044,) and kept possession of the throne until his death. In Sweden, the kings of the reigning family, descended, as is alleged, from Regner Lodbrok, took the title of Kings of Upsal, the place of their residence. Olaus Skotkonung changed this title into that of King of Sweden. He was the first monarch of his nation that embraced Christianity, and exerted himself to propagate it in his kingdom. Sigefroy, Archbishop of York, who was sent into Sweden by Ethelred King of England, bap- tized Olaus and his whole family (1001.) The conversion cf the Swedes would have been more expeditious, had not the zeal of Olaus been restrained by the Swedish Diet who decided for full liberty of conscience. Hence the strange mixture, both of doctrine and worship, that long prevailed in Sweden, where Je- sus Christ was profanely associated with Odin, and the Pagan goddess Freya confounded with the Virgin. Anund Jacques, son of Olaus, contributed much to the progress of Christianity ; and his zeal procured him the title o{ Most Christian King. In Norway, Olaus I., surnamed Tryggueson, towards the end of the tenth century, constituted himself the apostle and mis- sionary of his people, and undertook to convert them to Chris- tianity by torture and punishment. Iceland and Greenland ^ were likewise converted by his efforts, and afterwards became ais tributaries (1029.) One of his successors, Olaus II., called PERIOD in. A. D. 962 — 1074. 09 on^^h :'»:' T-' ''^'^"^^" instrumental in throwin^Tnp rav hJIm'Ji ? '=°"'™'-y. the Polabes,and the Wa(;rians» were cuurts oi me uukes of Saxony, and the Margraves of the North haggis t^-^^^^ speaking, and in the rTgJtf bIIL'^^^^^^^ emDire • InHth ' .'V'"'" '^'.'"'^ «"^ tributarfes of the German Ixen Thll"' ^"^"'^'^^"^i^ted of 500 silver marks, and^SO over \he oeoole rhf''^' ^'""''''^ '" '^' '''^^'' '^ so;ereignty SI . ^1 Pi ' ' . ' '■^'8^" ^vas a system of terror, and thev seldom took the opmion or advice of their nobles and 'randees^ The succession was hereditary in the reignin^ d vnal v ami llLf^^l:'!' ?Ir''^-" --in "-. otherwii'tfetSf ^0*! c..c,on .vuulu have oeen iixed and. permanent. Oter a nurabei 96 CHAPTER IV. of these partitionary princes, one was vested with certain right« of superiority, under the title of Grand Prince, according t'» a cm:totn found very prevalent among the half civilized nations vi tiie north and east of Europe.^' The greater proportion r.t iho inhabitants, the labouring classes, artisans, and doniestics, were serfs, and oppressed by the tyrannical yoke of their mas- ters. The public sale of men was even practised in Bohemia; the tithe, or tenth part of which, belonged to the sovereign. The descendants of Borzivoy possessed the throne of Bohemia until 1306, when the male line became extinct. The Poles were a nation whose name does not occur in his- tory before the middle of the tenth century; and we owe to Christianity the first intimations that we have regarding this people. ■ Mieczislaus I., the first duke or prince of the Poles of whom we posse^" any authentic accounts, embraced Christianity (966,) at the solicitation of his spouse Dambrowka, sister ot Boleslaus II., duke of Bohemia. Shortly aftfir, the first bish- opric in Poland, that of Posen, was founded by Otho the Great. Christianity did not, however, tame the ferocious habits of the Poles, who remained for a long time without the least progress in mental cultivation. '^ Their government, as wretched as that of Bohemia, subjected the great body of the nation to the most debasing servitude. The ancient sovereigns of Poland were hereditary. They ruled most despotically, and with a rod ot iron ; and, although they acknowledged themselves vassals and tributaries of the German emperors, they repeatedly broke out into open rebellion, asserted their absolute independence, and waged a successful war against their masters. Boleslaus, son of Mieczislaus I., took advantage of the troubles which rose in Germany on the death of Otho III., to possess himself of the Marches of Lusatia and Budissin, or Bautzen, which the Em- peror Henry II. afterwards granted him as fiefs. This same prince, in despite of the Germans, on the death of Henry II. (1025,) assumed the royal dignity. Mieczislaus II., son of Bo- leslaus, after having cruelly ravaged the country situate between the Oder, the Elbe, and the Saal, was compelled to abdicate the throne, and also to restore those provinces which his father had wrested from the Empire. The male descendants of Mieczis- laus I. reigned in Poland until the death of Casimir the Great (1370.) This dynasty of kings is known by the name of the Piasts, or Piasses, so called from one Piast, alleged to have been its founder. Silesia, which was then a province of Poland, received the light of the Gospel when it first visited that kingdom ; and had fo^ its apostle, as is supposed, a Romish priest named Geoflfry, who is r^eckoned the first bishop of Sraogra (966.) PERIOD III. A. D. 962 — 1074. fff In Russia, Vladimir the Great, ffreat-^rrandson of Pur.'/. ,„- the fir.t grand duke that embraced Christ anitv%4? £ w,ih Anna Romanovvna, sister of Basil II. and Conslantine VIII Emperors of Constantinople. It was this prince thaUntroduced onv^nts Th'' Tu ?"^tv'^"^ ^«"nded several s hools and .onvents. The alphabet of the Greeks was imported into Rus- Ma alonfir wuh their religion ; and from the reign of VI ad S that nauon, more powerful and united than mo^s" of the X; European states carried on a lucrative commerce with fhe Greek fr^S:rjnf^t^:.^s.ri:^^^^^ aiountam'5, and the coi.nnes of Huncrarv and MollvL Th neighbourmg nations. Jaroslaus, one of the sons of'vkd r n. rTdt^'^r^ ^^"°"^ ^^ ^ '^^'^^^^-' -d -PPlied the Novo": rod.ans with laws to regulate their courts of justice No ?fss he fnend and protector of letters, he employed h mself in trans pu"gt7ct ratVo^^ ^'^ f lavoman Lg^uaVel" He fouS. t?re educald afh^T '" ""^i^^ '^''^ ^"""^^^^ children Tenrri Kin/of F.I "'P'TL- "'' ^^"^^'" ^nna married Ser of nl tLi.^'''"'^i ^"'^ '^'' ^'^^'^'^ was the common mother of all the kings and princes of the Capetian dvnastv pre-eminence n rank and dio-nitv V'Zt V,^ ^^ '°.^ ^""P'® and patron zed bv the Grand PHnr-^ P • ^ . . ^^*^^'-' sionaries into HuLary (973 ) 8^1?.^";'^"^^^' f'^' ">'«- lio.J tk^ u ^^""p'iry l»'o.; &t. Adelbert, bishon of Praami 1 ad the honour to baptize the son of Geisa, called WaifS but vvM.0 received then the baptismal name of sl^b.n ^ '^ Ihi. latter pnnce. having succeeded his father (997.) changed 96 CHAPTER IV. entirely the aspect of Hungary. He assumed the royal dignity, .viih the consent of Pope Sylve.^ter II., who sent him on this occasion the Angelic Crown^Ks it is called ; the same, accord- inff to tradition, which the Hungarians use to this day in the coronation of their kings. At once the apostle and the law- giver of his country, Stephen I. combined politics with justice, and employed both severity and clemency in reforming his sub- iects. He founded several bishoprics, extirpated idolatry, banish- ed anarchy, and gave to the authority of the sovereign, a vigour and efficiency which it never before possessed, lo him like- wise is generally ascribed the political division of Hungary mto counties, as also the institution of palatines, and gi-e^t officers of the crown. He conquered Transylvania, about 10U-2-J, ac- cording to the opinion of most modern Hungarian authors, and formed it into a distinct government, the chiefs of which, called Vaivodes, held immediately of his crown. The history of the Greek empire presents, at this time, nothmg but a tissue of corruption, fanaticism and perfidy. The throne, as insecure as that of the Western empire had been, was filled alternately by a succession of usurpers ; most of whom rose from the lowest conditions of life, and owed their elevation solely to the perpetration of crime and parricide. A supersti- tion gross in its nature, bound as with a spell the mmds of the Greeks, and paralyzed their courage. It was carefully cherished by the monks, who had found means to possess themselves at the government, by procuring the exclusion of the secular clergy from the episcopate; and directing the attention of princes to those theological controversies, often exceedingly Irivolous, which >vere produced and re-produced almost without inter- mission.'^ Hence originated those internal commotions and distractions, those schisms and sects, which more than once divided the empire, and shook the throne itself. These theological di^^puies, the rivalry between the two pa- triarchs of Rome and Constantinople.'^ and the contests respect- ina the Bulgarian converts, Led to an irrepanible schism between the churche; of the East and the West This controversy was most keenly agitated under the pontificate of John VIU., and when the celebrated Photius was patriarch of Constantinople; and in spite of the eflTorts which several of the Greek emperors and patriarchs afterwards made to effect a union with the Romish See, the animosity of both only grew more implacable, and onded at last in a final rupture between the two churches. A eovernment so weak and so capricious as that of Constantinople could not but be perpetually exposed to the inroads of foreign enemies. The Huns, Ostrogoths, Avars, Bulgarians, Kussidiis- PERIOD la. A. D. 962—1074. 99 Kungarians. Chazars, and Patzinacites. harassed ihc- empire on tlie side of the Danube ; while ihe Persians'" were incossantlv exhausting it., strenjjth in the East, and on the side of the Eii- pfirates. All these nations, however, were content with merely desolatmg the frontiers of the empire, and itnposinj? frequent contributions on the Greeks. It was a tasU reserved for tne Lon.bards. the Arabs, the Normans, and the Turks, to detach Irorn It whole provinces, and by degrees to hasten its downfall. Ihe Lombards were the lirst that conquered from the Greeks the greater part of Italy. Palestine, Syria, and the whole pos- se.ssio is of the Empire in Greater Asia, as well as Egypt, Nor- thern Af,K-a, and the Isle of Cyprus, were seized in the seventh c^.ntury by the Arabs, who made themselves masters of Sicily and three times laid siege to Constantinople (669, 717, 719 )' i hey would have even succeeded in taking this Eastern capital and annihilaiing the Greek empire, had not the couruire of Leo the Isaurian, and the surprising effects of the Greseoislov Greek tire," rendered their efforts useless. At length, in the eleventh century,theNornf)ans conquered all that remained to the Greeks in Italy ; while the Seljuk Turks, who must not be confounded Asia IVW"°'"^" ^'^^' ^^^''^^^ '^^"^ °^ '^^ ^'^^'^' P"^" ^^ Turk is the generic appellation for all the Tartar nations, ^a mentioned by the ancients under the name of Scythians. Their onginal country was in those vast regions situate to the n..rth 01 Alount Caucasus, and eastward of the Caspian Sea, beyond the,lihon or Oxus of the ancients, especially in Charasm, Tran- oxiana, Turkestan, &c. About the eighth century, (he Arabs had passed the Oxus, and rendered the Turks of Chiirasm and J ransoxiana their tributaries. They instructed them m the re- lig.on and laws of Mahomet; but, by a transition rather extra- ordinary, ,t afterwards happened, that the vanquished imposed the yoke on their new masters. ^ Jhe empire of the Arabs, already enfeebled by the territorial Ws which have been mentioned, declined nmre and more I^'VaT^^^ middle of the ninth century. The Caliphs of Bag^dad had committed the mistake of trusting their persons to a mlitary guard of foreigners,'^ viz. the Turks, who, Taking ad- vantage of the effetmnacy of these princes, soon arrogated to henrjselves the whole authority, and abused it ^o far, as to leave the tahphs entirely dependent on their will, and 10 vest in them- selves the hereditary succession of the government. Thus in the very centre of the caliphate of Bagdad, there rose a mulii- un/.rlrrT. '''°;%«'&"^'«« o-- dynasties, the heads of which, under the Utle of Emir or Commander, exercised the supreme CHAPTER IV. power ; leaving nothing more to the Caliph than a pre-eminence of dignity, and that rather of a spiritual than a tempornl nature. Besides the external marks of homage and respect which were paid him, his name continued to be proclaimed in the mosques, and inscribed on the coined money. By him were granted all letters-patent of investiture, robes, swords, and standards, accom- panied with high-sounding titles ; which did not, however, pre- vent these usurpers from maltreating their ancient masters, insulting their person, or even attempting their lives, whenever it might serve to promote their interest. A general revolution broke out under the caliph Rahdi. That prince, wishing to arrest the progress of usuroation, thought ot creating a new minister, whom he invested with the title of E7nir-al-Omra, or Commander of Commanders ; and conferred on him powers much more ample than those of his vizier. This minister, whom he selected from the Emirs, officiated even in the grand mosque of Bagdad, instead of the caliph ; and his name was pronounced with equal honours in the divine service throughout the empire. This device, which the caliph employ- ed to re-establish his authority, only tended to accelerate its destruction. The Bowides, the most powerful dynasty amon^^ the Emirs, arrogated to themselves the dignity of Chief Com- mander (945,) and seized both the city and the sovereignty of Bagdad. The Caliph, stripped of all temporal power, was then only grand Iman, or sovereign-pontiff of the Mussulman religion, under the protection of the Bowidian prince, who kept him as his prisoner at Bagdad. Such was the sad situation of the Arabian empire, fallen from its ancient glory, when a numerous Turkish tribe, from the centre of Turkestan, appeared on the stage, overthrew the dominions of the Bowides ; and, after imposing new fetters on the caliphs, laid the foundation of a powerful empire, known by the name of the Seljukldes. This roving tribe, which took its name from Seljuk a Mussulman Turk, after having wandered for some time with their flocks in Transoxiana, passed the Jihon to seek pasturage in the province of Chorasan. Rein- forced by new Turkish colonies from Transoxiana, this coali- tion became in a little time so powerful, tin* Togrul Beg, grandson of Seljuk, had the boldness to cause himself to be proclaimed Sultan in the city of Niesa4)ur,^ the capital of Cho- rasan, and formally announced himself as a conqueror (1038.) This prince, and the sultans his successors, subdued by de- grees most of the provinces in Asia, which foriiu'd the caliphate of Bagdad.^' They annihilated the power of the Bowides -^A,,„°A tUa r.oUphs to the rnpditinn of denendents. and at iength attacked also the possessions of the Greek empire. MRIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. lOl AIp-Arslan, the nephew and immediate successor of Tog^rul Beg, gained a signal victory in Armenia, over the Emperor Ro.nanus Diogenes (1071) who was there taken pristmer. The confij.sion which this event caused in the Greek empire, was favourable to the Turks, who seized not only what re- T*'"^n^ '0 the Greeks in Syria, but also several provinces in Asia Minor, such as Cilicia, Isauria, Pamphvlia, Lycia, Pisidia, Lycaonia, Cappadocia, Galatia, Ponlus, and Bythinia. The empire of the Seljukidos was in its most flourishing «tj'e under the sultan ^Ialek Shah, the son and successor of AIp-Arslan. The caliph Cayem, in confirming to this prince the title of Sultan and Chief Commander, added also that ol Commander of the Faithful, which before that time had never been conferred but on the caliphs alone. On the death of Ma- Ick (1092,) the disputes that rose among his sons occasioned a civil war, and the partition of the empire. These vast territories were divided among three principal dynasties descended from Seljuk, those of Iran, Kerrnan, and Roiim, or Rome. This latter branch, which ascribes its origin to Soliman, great-wrand- ^°" °^,.^^'j"^' obtained the provinces of Asia JVlinor, which the Seljukides had conquered from the Greeks. The princes of this dynasty are known in the history of the Crusades by the name of Sultans of Iconium or Cogni, a city of Lycaonia, where the sultans established their residence after beino- de^ prived by the crusaders of the city of Nice in Bythinia. °The most powerful of the three dynasties was that of the Seljukides of Iran, whose sway extended over the greater part of Upper Asia. It soon, however, fell from its grandeur, and its states were divided into a number of petty sovereignties, over which the Emirs or governors of cities and provinces usurped the supreme power.^ These divisions prepared the way for the conquests of the crusaders in Syria and Palestine ; 'and fur- nished also to the Caliphs of Bagdad the means of shaking off the yoke of the Seljukides (1152,) and recovering the sove- reignty of Irak-Arabia, or Bagdad. CHAPTER V. PERIOD IV. FrotnPope Gregory VIL to Bo7iiface VIII. a. d. 1074—1300, A NEW and powerful monarchy rose on the ruins of the Ger- man empire, that of the Roman Pontiffs ; which mononoHzPd both spiritual and temporal dominion, and extended its influ- 9 # 102 CHAPTER V. ence over all the I 'ngdoms of Christendom. This suprem-iy whose artful and complicated mechanism is still an object ol astonishment to the most subtle politicians, was the work of Pope Gregory VII., a man born for great undertakings, as re- markable for his genius, which raised him above his limes, as for the austerity of his manners and the boundless reach of his ambition. Indignant at the depravity of the age, which was immersed in ignorance and vice, and at the "gross immorality which pervaded all classes of society, both laymen und ecclesi- astics, Gregory resolved to become the reformer of morals, and the restorer of religion. To succeed in this project, it was ne- cessary to replace the government of kings, whjch had totally lost its power and efficiency, by a new authority, whose salutary restraints, imposed alike on the high and the low, might restore vigour to the laws, put a stop to licentioubness, and impose a reverence on all by the sanctity of its origin. This authority was the spiritual supremacy of the Pope, of which Gregory was at once the creator and inventor. This extraordinary person, who was the son of a carpenter at Saona in Tuscany, named Bonisone, or according to others, descended of a Roman family, had paved the way to his future greatness under the preceding pontiffs, whose counsels he had directed under the title of Cardinal Hildebrand. While Cardi- nal, he engaged Pope Nicolas II. to enter into a treaty with Robert Gufscard (1059,>for procuring that brave Norman as an ally and a vassal of the Holy See. Taking advantage, like- wise of the minority of Henry IV., he caused, this same year, in a council held at Rome, the famous decree to be passed, which, by reserving the election of the pontifls principally to the cardinals, converted the elective privileges which the em- perors formerly enjoyed in virtue of their crown rights, into a personal favour granted by the Pope, and emanating from the court of Rome. , tt-i i i i On the death of Pope Nicolas II., Cardmal Hildebrand pro- cured the election of Alexander II., without waiting for the or- der or concurrence of the Imperial court; and he succeeded in maintaining him in the apostolical chair against Pope Honorius II., whom The reigning empress had destined for that honour. At' length, being raised himself to the pontifical throne, scarce- ly had°he obtained the Imperial confirmation, when he put in execution the project which he had so long been concerting and preparing, viz. the erecting of a spiritual despotism,^ extend- ing to nrlests as well as kings; making the supreme pontiff the arbiler'iii ail affairs, both civil and ecclesiastical— the bestower of favours, and the dispenser of crowns. The basis of this PEPIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 103 dominion was, that the Vicar of Jesus Christ ought to be su- penor to all human power. The better to attain his object, he began by withdrawing himself and his clergy from the auiho- iiy ot the secular princes. .i.^1 ^^'''^ ^'T '^f ""'^y °^ ^°'"^' ^"^ ^^'6 whole ecclesiastical ITJ: ""en ^' ^'^^g-^^eater part of Itolv, were subject to the kings of Germany, who, in virtue of their being kin^s of Italv and Koman emperors, nominated or confirmed the popes, and nstalled the prefects of Rome, who there received the power of the sword in their name. They sent also every year commis- sioners to Rome, to levy the money due to the royal treasury. Ihe popes used to date their acts from the years of the empe- rors reign, and to stamp their coin with his name; and all the higher clergy vvere virtually bound and subject to the secular power, by the solemn investiture of the ring and the crosier. 1 his investiture gave to the emperors and the other sovereigns nn!.-n° i T'f ^'"^ ^''^ Confirming bishops, and even of de- p_osing them if they saw cause. It gave them, moreover, the ngh of conferring, at their pleasure, those fiefs and royal pre- CUnrrT 'tu^ '^' munificence of princes had vested in the l^hurch. The emperors, in putting bishops and prelates in possession of these fiefs, used the symbols of the rinVand the abbot? th ''''i ^^^'^ °^ ^.^""^"^ ^'^'"Si^S to bifhops and fJin a1 '^■''^'' '^^"'':''' '^'^ ^^"^^ time, take the oath of ^ZrJ """/a °'?r' ' .^"^ '^'' ^^^ 'h« °"ff'" of their depen- dence, and their obligation to furnish their princes with troops, and to perform military service. Gregory VII. prohibited, under pain of excommunication, all sovereigns o exercise the rights of investiture, by a formal de- cree which he published in a council assembled at Rome in 1074. Ihere was more than the simple ceremony of the ring and the crosier imphed in this interdict. He aimed at depriving princes of the right of nominating, confirming, or deposing prelates, as well as of receiving their fealty and homage, and exacting military wen;iH ^fr-'''-«'^« ^'» those ties by which the bishops weie held m allegiance and subordination to princes ; making them, m this respect, entirely independent. li suppressing irf vestitures, the pontiff had yet a more important object in view. l\ 'ITu F^Vl ''^''^.^'"^^^ ^"'^ '^""^'^'f '-^"d his successors. as well as the whole ecclesmstical state, from the power of the German kings; ecpecially by abolishing the right which these princes had so long exercised of nominating and confirming the r^?!u- "' f ''■' T ^^'''r'^^' '^ ^" ^•^"''^ «"<^*^^ed in rendering The .lergy independent of the secular power, it would follow, by a natural consequence, that the Pope, as being supreme head of 104 CHAPTER V. the clergy, would no longer be dependent on the emperors, while the emperor, excluded from ihe nomination and investi- ture of bishops, would have still less right to interfere in the election of pontiffs. This affair, equally interesting to all sovereigns, was of the utmost importance to the kings of Germany, who had committed the unfortunate error of putting the greater part of their domains into the hands of ecclesiastics ; so that to divest those princes of the right to dispose of ecclesiastical fiefs, was in fact to de- prive them of nearly the half of their empire. The bishops, vainly flattering themselves with the prospect of an imaginary liberty, forgot the valuable gifts with which the emperors had loaded them, and enlisted under the banners of the Pope. They turned against the secular princes those arms which the latter had imprudently trusted in their hands. There yet subsisted another bond of union which connected the clerffy with the civil and political orders of society, and gave them an interest in the protection of the secular authority, and that v/as, the marriages of the priests ; a custom in use at that time over a great part of the West, as it still is in the Greek and Eastern Churches. It is true, that the law of celibacy, al- ready recommended strongly by St. Augustine, had been adopted by the Romish Church, which neglected no means of introducing it by degrees into all the churches of the Catholic communion. It had met with better success in Italy and the south of Europe than in the northern countries ; and the priests continued to marry, not only in Germany, England, and the kingdoms of the North, but even in France, Spain, and Italy, notwithstanding the law of celibacy, which had been sanctioned in vain by a multitude of councils. Gregory VII., perceiving that, to render the clergy completely dependent on the Pope, it woul^' be necessary to break this powerful connexion, renewed the law of celibacy, in a council held at Rome (1074;) enjoining the married priests either to quit their wives, or renounce the sacerdotal order. The whole clergy murmured against ihe unfeeling rigour of this decree, which even excited tumult and insurrection in several countries of Germany ; and it required all the firmness of Gregory and his successors to abolish clerical marriages, and establish the law of celibacy throughout the Western churches.^ In thus dissolving the secular ties of the clergy, it was far from the in- tention of Gregory VII. to render them independent. His designs were more politic, and more suitable to his ambition. He wished to make the clergy entirrly subseryient to his own elevation, and even to employ them as an instrument to humble and subd the power of the princes. PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 105 The path had already been opened up to him by the False Decretals, as they were called, forged about the beginning of the ninth century, by the famous impostor Isidore, who, with the view of diminishing the authority of the metropolitans, advanced in these letters, which he attributed to the early bishops of Rome, a principle whose main object was to extend the rights of the Romish See, and to vest in the popes a jurisdiction°till then unknown in the church. Several Popes before Gregory VII. had already availed themselves of these False Decretals j'^ and they had even been admitted as true into different collec- tions of canons. Gregory did not content himself with rigidly enforcing the principles of the impostor Isidore. He went even farther ; he pretended to unite, in himself, the plenary exercise both of the ecclesiastical and episcopal power ; leaving nothintr to the archbishops and bishops but the simple title of his lieu° tenants or vicars. He completely undermined the jurisdiction of the metropolitans and bishops, by authorizing in all cases an appeal to the Court of Rome ; reserving to himself exclusively the cognizance of all causes termed viajor — including more es- pecially the privilege of judging and deposing of bishops. This latter privilege had always been vested in the provincial councils, who exercised it under the authority, and with the consent of the secular powers. Gregory abolished this usage ; and claimed for himself the power of judging the bishops, either in person or by his legates, to the exclusion of the Synodal Assemblies. He made himself master of these assemblies, and even arroga- ted the exclusive right of convocating Generai Councils. This pontifF, in a council which he held at Rome (1079,) at length prescribed a new oath, which the bishops were obliged to take ; the main object of which was not merely canonical obedience, but even fealty and homage, such as the prelates, as lieges, vowed to their sovereigns; and which the pontiff' claimed for himself alone, bearing that they should aid and defend, against the whole world, his new supremacy, and what he called the royal rights of St. Peter. Although various sovereigns maintained possession of the homage they received from their bishops, the oath imposed by Gregory nevertheless retained its full force; it was even augmented by his successors, and ex- tended to all bishops without distinction, in spile of its incon- sisiency with that which the bishops swore to their princes. Another very effectual means which Gregory VII. made use of to oonfirin his new authority, was to send, more frequently than his predecessors had done, legates inio the different states and kingdoms of Cbrisiendom. He made them, a kind of o-ny^ ernors of provinces, and invested them with the most atnple 4 Peter the Hermit preaching to the Crusaders. Vol. 1, p. 116. PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074-1300 ,09 tax on ^1 the lands thoy had conouere r' ""1! Pf^''"^ *"'" ^ He affirmed to Solomon, Kimr^of ^1^"' '^? ^"J'^^'^' on receiving his crown at he hands of P^""^^ l'^"' ^''P^''^ ^" surrendered his kingdom olr ^°P^ Silvester II., had that, in virtue o^f l^^^s^d^n ^Z^El'^ ^'^ Holy See ; ani as a part of the domain of the chLrch h '' '° ^" considered same style to Gevsn his im L r . "e wrote m exactly the letters (o Sueno. ^K^ng f^S^mark hr""" t '^"^ «' ^^ up h.s kingdom to the power onhe Ro 'To' ^'"^ '« '^^''^er {1076.) to grant the royal dili.fnn""^ ^'"' «« '"erused of Croatia Ind Dalma^fa? exfpt ^^^ Swinimir. Duke he should do him homage for'iis kin^do,?''''. '°"'^"'°"' '^at the Pope an annual tribute of two hunflw ' u^ '"°'§^" '^ P^Y zantmm. This poniiffhad the nrf nf ^' ^- ''^^^ P'^^^^ "^ %• dexterously, under t e mask of usLt^'"'.''"-^ ^'^ ^^^'^ition s^o vailed with various other sovereigns «. I ^l"'/' '^"^ ^' P^^' his vassals. Bertrand, Count of Pm?""'"''^" themselves !'s fealty and homage to the nreirdr^rV'''"^/^"^^ '« him tions he owed to the Empire Sr f °^ '^°'' ^^"^^^ ^hliga- many, influenced by Xfice or in?-^?'."' °^^^'^'y ^nd Ger emperor, and put thLse v u'der Smf"' '^^"'^u^"^^ '^^ His efl^orts were not eauallv <=„." r . • ^^'O" to the Pope queror.Kingof EngCd Xmhe t^^ ^h William the cZ to do him homage for hi Soil .f ^".'"^^^ ^"^''^^ hy letter, predecessors. That pdnce fooTv' f l^^"^«"»er of his roya position,replied,that he wL notinTh, ° ^' ^"^^"^ ^^ P^P^' '^ which he had never promised lid j^rT^ '° P''^«^™ '"'"^^^e ever been performed by any of his n Ih ^' '^"' "°' ^^^^"-e naa The successors of G^re^ory VII ?nn'''''f.'^''^; opened up; giving their uCtllon TJl V" " ^^'^ ^' ^'^ tensions. In consequence a verv^nri ? ^f ""^""'"'^ ^nd pre- of Christendom, some Sfdated LTh "r^"' °^ ^*^^ P"»^es tical anathemas, others wUh n vl« » thunders of ecclesias- the protection of the HoTv S,p II '° f .'"'^ ^"^ themselves powers of the Popes The kL' J^^r'^ged these usurped Scotland, SardinL, the two S andT'-'^rf^'^^^^'^^d, -n course of time, vassals and t Sariel ^^ p '^T' ^^^^'"^^ there ,s not a doubt, that the . ni, ? ""^ ^^P'^^ See ; and of which GrefforvVIfLH ""'^P'"^?' monarchy, the scheme pletelyestabnS,™ me o?hirsS "°"^.' 5^ ^-" -- -J his vast ambition. aTd his'lVp"e ^ ge^i':' '^^" '"^^^^ JVS,:t;_-P-^' circumstLices ^?:r;uch .3 .. ...ten ^^--.^to thei,rogr..sof this new pontifical suprema;yT It no CttAPTER V. had commenced in a barbarous age, when the whole of the Western world was covered with the darkness of ignorance , and when mankind knew neither the just rights of sovereignty, nor the bounds which reason and equity should have set to the authority of the priesthood. The court of Rome was then the only school where politics were studied, and the Popes the only monarchs that put them in practice. An extravagant supersti- tion, the inseparable companion of ignorance, held all Europe in subjection ; the Popes were reverenced with a veneration resembling that which belongs only to the Deity ; and the whole world trembled at the utterance of the single word Excommu- nication. Kings were not sufficiently powerful to oppose any successful resistance to the encroachments of Rome ; their au- thority was curtailed and counteracted by that of their vassals, who seized with eagerness every occasion which the Popes offered them, to aggrandize their own prerogatives at the expense of the sovereign authority. The Emperor of Germany, who was alone able to countervail this new spiritual tyranny, was at open war with his grand vas- sals, whose usurpations he was anxious to repress; while they, disrespecting the majesty of the throne, and consulting only their own animosity against the emperor, blindly seconded the pretensions of the pontifl'. The emperor, however, did all in his power to oppose a barrier to this torrent of ecclesiastical despotism ; but the insolence of Gregory became so extrava- gant, that, not content to attack him with spiritual weapons, he set up rival emperors, and excited intestine wars against him ; and his successors even went so far as to arm the sons against their own father. Such was the origin of the contests which arose between the Empire and the Papacy, under the reign of Henry IV., and which agitated both Germany and Italy for a period of several centuries. They gave birth, also, to the two factions of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, the former Imperial, *»nd the other Papal, who for a long course of time tore each other to pieces with inconceivable fury. Henry V., son and successor of Henry IV., terminated the grand dispute about the investitures of the ring and the crosier. By the Concordat which he concluded at Worms (1122) with Pope Calixtus II., he renounced the ceremony of the ring and the cross ; and granting to the churches free liberty oi^ election, he reserved nothing to himself, except the privilege of sending commissioners to the elections, and giving to the newly elected prelates, after consecration, the investiture of the regalian rights, by means of the sceptre, instead of the ring and crosier. The lies of vassalaoe which connected the bishops with the empe- PERIOD IV. A, D. 1074—1300. jii approveofthepisLs whom ho^J ''^uT ^«'"*r obliged to sent, lost their chief inflr \'''''^, '^""^'^ hereafter pre- These broils with the co^^r^Jp *"' '^^'^^^^'^yeslhuve. gave to the Impe al author^ T' '^l '^''^ '""^^'^ ^^ey of the feudal syste n aied ^h'"'""^ '° '^' increasing abuses Pire the meanf f isut^^^^^ dutchies, counties and fi.f ? . 7"^.^'*' ^"'^cession of tl,eir new power! which ^hev .^i' '''^'^^'"^ ^'^^ foundations of a territorial s'u^eSi y. ^ F eS Jl" """1, 'T^u" ''^^' "^^^ °^ of events, wis the fist en.nZl JJ-'/^'^P^ P^^l by the pressure rights of 'the states by chaTrs w" J h?H°r'^ '^.' ^^"^''^^'^' princes, secular and eccles kst i ^ fL ''''fo^J '° '^'''^^ The Imperial dignity thus los ill ,^'''' -^P^ ^"^ ^232. the emperors ; a^nd t^he con ti u ion ^of the^^F "' -^ '^' ^''''' '^ changed. That vasf mnnoVlL i ^® Empire was totally kind of federaf syienT and f^^^^^^^^ >3^ '^'^rees into J became only the common chfef 1 1 P"""'' ^" '°'^''«^ ^^ li'^e. vassals of j^hich ZraUd ioT v:"^^:;:] ^' T^^'^"^ ordinary efforts made bv thp Fmnn. ^""^Pos^y- The extra- house of Hohenstaufen 4'to re eS^fff.^'"' ^- ""^ "' ^^ ^he the empire. endeH nolhinV anTth«. H^' '^""''"^ ''''•°"« °f powerful in Europe, Cdep'rived of nir?"'"' °"' °^ ^'^^ ">°^^ cuted even to the scaffold ^ ^" ''' '''°'^"'' «"d Perse- poler! Sg'on al'^Lr^^^^^^^^^^ the pontifical of strength.^ The suc^ssofsr Greg'^rv^'lT'S T'^r^ that policy could sucrfrest tn thc^L ■ ,y , omitted nothing more^he dignity of tfeEmnerorT' fl'^'u '' '^"'"^'^ "^^'^ ^^^ of absolute dependence b^arrna;, "^'° ^'"^ ^^""^ '"'« « ^tate right of confirSrand evrnTf 3fn ° ^^'"^f'^\'^- express polling them to acCowledTe their M^ '^''^' ""^.'^°"^- thus no longer obliged to suhm f !L • ^ .superiority. Being of the Imperial cofrf ,? f ''"'tV-^'' ^'^'''°" ^^ ^^e arbitration absolute^o^vereignty ' '"" ' ^^"^'^^ ^^°°" ^^P'^^^ to witMhe":tampl'd^^;i'otth^r' ^"' ^°'"i"^ ^^^"- — y the time of Gregory VII a„V,hn''"?r'' '^'W^ared after rors had exercised Jf «!!;«' , ^" bority which the empe- prefecture or g^^^^^^^^^ entirely n-ith the loss of t'^e took into his^ovrn his flSs . 2'- -'^'1 ^^^^^ ^""°^«"t J"- to .v.r the usual ^l^^l^^ll^^i:! ^^1:%:! |,-^ that mag..ra:e owed to the emperor, from whom he ^^ceived 112 CHAPTER V. the prefecture. Hence it happened, that the chiefs of the Em- pire, obliged tot;omproniise vviili n power which they hnd learned to drend, hud no longer any difruiiliy in recognising ihe entire independence of the Popes ; even loinially roncuncing the rights of high sovereignly which their predecessors had enjoyed, not only over Rome, but over the Ecclesiastical States. . The domains of the church were likewise considerably increased by the acquisitions which Innocent III. made of the March of Ancona, and the dutchy of Spoleto ; as well as by the per- sonal property or Patrimony of the Countess Matilda^^ which the Emperor Frederic II. ceded to Honorius III. (1220,) and which his successors in the Apostolic chair formed into the pro- vince known by the name of the Patrimomj of St. Peter. One of the grand means which the Popes employed for the advancement of their new authority, was the multiplication of Religious Orders, and the way in which they took care to man- age these corporations. Before the time of Gregory VII., the only order known in the West was that of the Benedictines, divided into several families or congregations. The rule of St, Benedict, prescribed at the Council of Aix-la-Chapelie (817) to all monks within the empire of the Franks, was the only one allowed by the Romish Church ; just as that of St. Basil was, and still is, the only one practised in the East by the Greek Church. The first of these newly invented orders was that of Grammont in Limosin (1073,) authorized by Pope Gregory VII. This was followed, in the same century, by the order of Char- treux, and that of St. Antony.^ The Mendicant orders took their rise under Innocent III., near the end of the twelfth, and beginning of the thirteenth century. Their number increased in a short time so prodigiously, that, in 1274, they could reckon twenty-three orders. The complaints which were raised on this subject from all parts of Christendom, obliged Pope Gregory to reduce them, at the Council of Lyons, to four orders, viz. the Hermits of St. William or Augustines, Carmelites, the Minor or Franciscan friars, and the Preaching or Dominican friars. The Popes, perceiving that they might convert the monastic orders, and more particularly the mendicants, into a powerful engine for strengthening their own authority, and keeping the secular clergy in subjection, granted by degrees to these frater- nities, immunities and exemptions tending to withdraw them from the jurisdiction of the bishops, and to emancipate them from every other authoiily, except that of their Heads, and the Popes. They even conff^rred on them various vileges, such as those of preaching, c<-i..^tw'j.on, end instructi. ^ the young; ;»3 being the most likely r;je.^. ,; to augment their credit and their PKRIOD IV. A. D. 1074-1300. 1J3 i;.eml7empToy:drvTp::/"'' '""V ^'^ '"^'^^ -"« fr- sionaries ; they were fearH'^!n .'" '^""'"^ ,i '^^"'^'^ «'"' ^'^^^ gularly reVere/by the j^^p e and lerin''''^ ^^ ■^'^^""■^"'^' «'"- a pou-er to which nlnnT.h J u^ "° °'^**«'°" o'^^^'^'ting »pe^.binty.an^"lVt 'heir r/- knowledge, was I, noTiLt 11 ^h"'"'' "".^ /'^" ^•'''^"' «^'' his Counts of Se^ni L HpL i"'."" u ^"' °^ ^'^^ ''"'^"y ^^ '''^ 37. He w..ls an hi '.yf '^ '? '^' P«"i^ficate at the age of in resources ; and he even surn /' T".-'"^ a"d equallv fertile his plans, and .'^ succesVnTh '^ '"'"•'" '^^^ bolclness of noun';.! himself as r/^cclt'V'T'p 7" '""^-^^^ ^"' this Pope who first made use of hpf '"^"^' "'"'^^- ^' ^^«« the sun and the moZAsGoJ^^ TT '^TP''''^^" °^°"t other to give ligh^bvniJht !«;/'' '*"^' ^'^^ ''^^^^ ««^ '^« /4cr /?>;%^ from the sun sn Z i^ ? ^^^ ^''''^ ^^^^'^^ /V«m M. P«;>a^ authority ' ""^"^'^ ^^^^^"^ ^'^^ 'Vlendour all Christendom, this pomiffwa, thJfi . i'^ ^ dispersed over «elf the prerojra ive ord/sn.r;n -'u' ^t^' «"ogated to him- in virtue of vvC he termedTh?^; with the laws themselves, to h.m also that he ori"r„ 1,nhf f ''"•'^' '^ ^'' ^^^^'•- ^' '« terrible tribunal which Xrward, ["^"'=^'''°[: \ ascribed, that sacerdotal despotism Nut wha^^ll'^^^ '^' ^''"^^^ P-'^P °^ mark, is, that he la^th. founl,.- f"^^ ''"Portance to re- which his successes wTn'r-t^ ^^"^^' sentmg to ecclesiastical dignitie: a d benefi 3 "° " ^'"' The secular pnnces having been deprived of th.- • u , nom.nat.on and confirmation, by heTecrees of ^7 "'^^%?} and his successors, the priv le.^e of plflf- u u °°'^ ^'^• stored to the clero-v anrl Vn. ^ • ^'^^""§' bishops was re- the chapters of con^vLts 'h> °fi''°" °^ ^^"""^ ^^"'•^h' «"d to lates belonged to "herimlw'?^"""'^" °^ ^^^ ^'^^'ed pre- the other e'cclesLttl W ct^l^^rUdtr th^l^T ^° and ordinaries. All these reauLr.!; '^^^'^^^dior the bishops the end of the twelfth centfrvT J''' '^'"^^'^ '''^"^^ churches, authorized by the Srt J^J^T ""K '^'^^^'"^^ se ves the right.of electin.^to'^treL^u'lr'j'r^ill^.'^-: .he people; while ti.e Popes, gradually inteVferi;g-^;i;rere"e! 114 CHAPTER V. iions and collations, found means to usurp the nomination nnJ collation to almost all ecclesiastical benefices. Tlie principle of these usurpations was founded on the false decretals ; accord- ing to which all ecclesiastical jurisdiction emanates from ihe court of Rome, as a river flows from its source. It is from the Pope that archbishops and bishops hold that portion of authori- ty with which they arc endowed ; and of which he does not divest himself, by the act of communicating it to them ; but is rather the more entitled to co-operate with them in the exercise of that jurisdiction as often as he may judge proper. This principle of a conjunct authority, furnished a very plau- sible pretext for the Popes to interfere in collation to benefices. This collation, according to the canon law, being essential to the jurisdiction of bishops, it seemed natural that the Pope, who concurred in the jurisdiction, should also concur in the privileges derived from it, namely, induction or collation to be- nefices. From the right of concurrence, therefore. Innocent III. proceeded to that o( prevcntio7i,hc\nglhe first pontiff that mad« use of it. He exercised that right, especially with regard vO benefices which had newly become vacant by the death of their incumbents, when at the Court of Rome ; in which cases it was easy to anticipate or get the start of the bishops. In the same manner, this right was exercised in remote dioceses, by means of legates a latere, which he dispersed over the diflferept provinces of Christendom. From the right of prevention were derived the provisional mandates, and the Gntces Expectatives, (reversionary grants or Bulls) letters granting promise of church livings before they became vacant. The Popes not having legates every where, and wishing, besides, to treat the bishops with some respect, began by addressing to them letters of recommendation in fa- vour of those persons for whom they were anxious to procure benefices. These letters becoming too frequent and importu- nate, the bishops ventured to refuse their compliance ; on which the Popes began to change their recommendations into orders or mandates ; and appointed commissioners to enforce their execution by means of ecclesiastical censures. These man- dates were succeeded by the GnXces Expectatives, which, pro- |) on account of the conquests of Atabek-Zenghi, who, three years before, had made himself master of Edessa. The third (1189) was headed by the Emperor Frederic I., surnamed Barbarossa ; Philip Augus- tus King of France ; and Richard Coeur-de-Lion of England; and the occasion of it, was the taking of Jerusalem by the fa- mous Saladin (1187.) The fourth was undertaken (1202,) at the pressing instigation of Innocent III. Several of the French and German nobility \initing with the Venetians, assumed the cross under the command of Boniface, Marquis of Montferrat ; but instead of marching to Palestine, they ended their expedi- tion by taking Constantinople from the Greeks. The fifth cru- sade (1217) was conducted by Andrew, King of Hungary, at- tended by many of the princes and nobility of Germany, who had enlisted under the banner of the Cross in consequence of the decrees of the council of Lateran (1215.) The Emperor Frederic II. undertook the sixth (122S.) By a treaty which ho PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 119 concluded with the Sultan of Egypt, he obtained the restoration of Jerusalem and several other cities of Palestine; although they did not long continue in his possession. The Carizmian nod/> ""PrMf^ by the Moguls, seized on the Holy Land 1244) and Pillaged and burnt Jerusalem. That famous city, ogether with the greater part of Palestine, fell afterwards under the dominion of the Sultans of Egypt. The seventh and last grand crus'ade, was undertaken by Louis IX. King of France (1248.) He conceived it necessary to be- SiVnrwT'^T •' ^^ '^a' °^.^-?yP^' but his design completely miscarried. Being made prisoner with his army after the actioJ at Mansoura (1250,) he only obtained his liberty by restoring Damietta, and paying a large ransom to the Sultan of Effvot'' The unfortunate issue of this last expedition, slackened the zeal of the Europeans for crusading. Still, however, they retained two important places on the coast of Syria, the cities of Tyre m1 I r n'oQi^x^u'^^'" P^^'^^ ^^^'"^ b^^» conquered by fhe Mamelukes (1291,) there was no longer any talk about crusades the East ; and all the attempts of the Court of Rome to revive them proved ineffectual. It now remains for us briefly to notice the effects which re- I'^lfjT ^^^.^^"^.^'^^/'^'"h regard to the social and political TZ '^%"^^^°"^ ^» Western Europe. One consequence of these, vvas the aggrandizement of the Roman Pontiffs, who, during the whole period of the crusades, played the part of su- preme chiefs and sovereign masters of Christendom. It was at their request, as we have seen, that those religious wars were uridertaken ; it vvas they who directed them by means of their egates,-who compelled emperors and kings, by the terror of their spiritual arnis, to march under the banner of the Cros=,- who taxed the clergy at their pleasure, to defray the expenses of these distant expeditions,-who took under their immediate protection the persons and effects of the Crusaders, and eman- cipated them, by means of special privileges, from all depend- ence on any power, civil or judiciary. The wealth of the clerffv was considerably increased during the time of which we speak both by the numerous endowments which took place, and bv the acquisition which the Church made of the immense landed property which the pious owners sold them on assuming the badge of the Cross. ^ These advantages which the See of Rome drew from the crusades m the East, were inducements to undertake similar expeditions in the West and North of Europe. InlbLelar' ter« we find that the wars of the r.rnsR w^re ca-^d 4 1 Against the Mahometans of Spain and Africa. 2^ Again"st'the 120 CHAPTEn V. Emperors and Kings who refused obedience to the orders of the Popes. ^^ 3. Against heretical or schismatic princes, such as tlie Greeks and Russians. 4, Against the Slavonians and other Pagan nations, on the coasts of the Baltic. 5. Against the Waldcnses, Albigenses, and Hussites, who were regarded as heretics. 6. Against the Turks. If the result of the crusades was advantageous to the hier- archy, if it served to aggrandize the power of the Roman Pop tiffs, it must, on the contrary, have proved obviously prejudicial to the authority of the secular princes. It was in fact during this period that the power of the emperors, both in Germany and Italy, was sapped to the very foundation ; that the royal nouse of Hohenstaufen sunk under the determined efforts of the Court of Rome ; and that the federal system of the Empire gained gradual accessions of strength. In England and Hungary, we observe how the grandees seized on the opportunity to increase their own power. The former took advantage of their sove- reign's absence in the Holy Land, and the latter of the protec- tion which they received from the Popes, to claim new privi- leges and extort charters, such as.they did from John of England, and Andrew II. of Hungary, tending to cripple and circumscribe the royal authority. In France, however, the result was different. There, the kings being freed, by means of the crusades, from a crowd of restless and turbulent vassals who often threw the kingdom into A state of faction and discord, were left at liberty to extend their prerogatives, and turn the scale of power in their own favour rhey even considerably augmented their royal and territorial revenues, either by purchasing lands and fiefs from the proprie- tors v/ho had armed in the cause of the cross ; or by annexing to the crown the estates of those who died in the Holy Land, without leaving feudal heirs ; or by seizing the forfeitures ol others who were persecuted by religious fanaticism, as heretics or abettors of heresy. Finally, the Christian kings of Spain, the sovereigns of the North, the Knights of the Teutonic order, and of Livonia, joined the crusades recommended by the Popes, trom the desire of conquest ; the former, to subdue the Ma- hometans in Spain, and the others to vanquish the Pagan nations of the North, the Slavonians, Finns, Livonians, Prus- sians, Lithuanians, and Courlanders. It is to the crusades, in like manner, that Europe owes the use of surnames, as well as of armorial bearings, and heraldry. '' It is easy to perceive, that among these innumerable armies of crusaders, composed of different nations and languages, some mark or symbol was necessary, in order to distinguish j^rticular ! of the I as t))e I other ist the (led aa e hier- n Pop udicial during jrmany 2 royal 5 of the gained iry, we icrease r sove- protec- V privi- ngland, nscribe re, the 'owd of om into id their favour ritorial )roprie- inexing r Land, ures ol leretics Spain, : order, Popes, he Ma- Pagan , Prus- ves the ildry. "3 Kiies of s, some irticular Zenghis Khan the Mogul Prince. Vol. 1, p. 155. Venice in the I6th Ceritury, Vol. 1, p. 138. PBHioD rv. A. D. 1074—1300. i|B} nations, or signalize their commanders. Surnames and eonts ofarmsxvere employed as these distinctive badgl ; "he laUe espec.ally were mvented to serve as rallyin^r points for the vnt sals and troops of the crusading chiefs.^ Necessi v Lt in^?'' duced them, and vanity afterwanls caused then? X lined lt7.T' n ''""T' ^'^'^^ - '^'- standards. theS the middle of the thirteenth century. Ihe same enthusiasm that inspired the Euroneans for tV,o vo^e "in th"''r,' ^" ''^. ""T^^ '^ bri^g^toXrentM^ S ; • A '°^?""' ''"'^ "'^^^'^'•y sports, the youncr noblesse were tramed to violent exercises, and to he managemem of heavy arms • so as to gain them some reputation forvalour Ld to insure their superiority in war. In order to be admiued to these tournaments it was necessary to be of noble blood and to shovy proofs of their nobility. The origin of these feats TsVe neraly traced back to the end of the°tenth, or belTnniig^of the eleventh century. Geoffrey of Preuilly, ihom the Trhers of the middle ages cite as being the inventor of them did no more, properly speaking, than draw up their code of reila tions. France w^s the country from which t^ practice ^^^ tournaments diffused itself overall other nations o^Eu ope manTalTel"^ '^^^"^"^' '"""= ^" '^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ crrdTg miitaiy 07de7s. These were originally established for the purpose of defending the new Christian slates in the East for protecting pilgrims on their journey, taking care of them when Kmgdoms ot Jiurope, preserved their existence lonff after the loss of the Holy Land ; and some of these orders fven made a^conspicuous figure in the political history of the WeTtern Of all these, the first and most distinguished was the Order of St John of Jerusalem, called afterwards the Order of Mai ta Prior to the first crusade, there had existed at Jerusalem a a'c °J '^v.^'^'" "' ^°"^'^^ ^^'"^^y- dedicated to sf Ev Nanfr Th^^ '°"' "?"^^^"'^ '^ ^^^'^ - ^^e kingdl o^f Naples. There was also a monastery of the Order of s/ Ro ^' TmsT'":' ,''°:."'^""'f ■"■ *' poor otafflLted ^C grims. inis hospita . thp d'reffnr's nf -j-k;^!- • *^ \ by jhe^Abbo. of d Miy^: haSg^; °I ^^XnVr^'^ CHAPTER V. immensely rich by numerous donations of lands and seignoriea both in Europe and Palestine, one of its governors named Gc- rard, a native of Martigues in Provence, as is alleged, took the regular habit (1100,) and formed with his brethren a distmct congregation, under the name and protection of St. John the Baptist. Pope Pascal II., by a bull issued in 1114, approved of this new establishment, and ordained, that after the death of Gerard, the Hospitallers alone should have the election of their superintendent. Raymond da Puy, a gentleman from Dau- phin^, and successor to Gerard, was the first that took the tiilo of Grand Master. He prescribed a rule for the Hospitallers ; and Pope Calixtus II., in approving of this rule (1120,) divided the members of the order into three classes. The nobles, called Knights of Justice, were destined for the profession of arms, making war on the Infidels, and protecting pilgrims. The priests and chaplains, selected from the respectable citizens, were intrusted with functions purely ecclesiastical ; while the serving brethren, who formed the third class, were charged with the care of sick pilgrims, and likewise to act in the capacity of soldiers. These new knights were known by the name of Knights of the Hospilai of St. John of Jerusalem, and were dis- lino-uished by wearing a white octagon cross on a black habit. After the final loss of the Holy Land, this order established themselves in the Isle of Cyprus. From this they passed into Rhodes, which they had conquered from the Infidels (1310.) This latter island they kept possession of till 1522 ; and being then expelled by Soliman the Great, they obtained (1530) from Charles V., the'munificent grant of the Isle of Malta, under the express terms of making war against the Infidels. Of this place they were at length deprived by Buonaparte in 1798. The order of Templars followed nearly that of St. John. Its first founders (1119) were some French gentlemen ; the chief of whom were Hugo de Payens, and Geoff'rey de St. Omer. Having made a declaration of their vows before the Patriarch of Jerusalem, they took upon themselves the special charge of maintaining free passage and safe conduct for the pilgrims to the Holy Land. Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, assigned them an apartment in his palace, near the temple, whence they took the name of Knights of the Temple, ^nd Templars. They ob- tained from Pope Honorius II. (1120) a rule, with a white habit; to which Eugene III. added a red cross octagon. This order, after accumulating vast wealth and riches, especially in France, and distinguishing themselves by their military exploits for n^arlv two centuries, were at length suppressed by the Council of Vienna (1312.) PKHioD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 123 honnnr o?' f • ^u .""""P ^^^''"' ^''^' "^ Ptolemais. The and F nhp. '.? '"'""'^'^ '^^°'^*' charitable citizens of Bremen nntfnn I f'n ""^ '^^ """lerous sick and wounded of their bS'ent ^r;v /'';";r"u^""''T^" having joined in this esta- blishment, ihev devoted themselves by a vow to the service of SSof St M ''A"°'"",^^ '^' ""^^ ''f the Teutonic Kf Celelfn Tyf^/Tioo^'^u'"^""^' '^'^"'"^^ confirmation from the^HSnkS of 9; Vl^^'^ '^t° prescribed for them the rule of sick an^J 1-?K r ^; ""t 'T'^ '° ^*^^'''' 'Attendance on the ordo; of T^^nl ^^"'"Ij*" "^w^'fy °'* knighthood, that of the order of Templars. Henry Walpott de Passenheim was the first grand master of the order; and the new knighS assumed ^e whue hab,t, with ablackcross,to distinguish he^from^So S S^ltt^io Jtl ,T Tfr '^'" 'T^ ^4' --terVrmann connuted(1309' Th '7 ^u'^ mto Prussia, which they hnr2" Jf,. i ■ , ^^7 ^""^"^ ^^^'"^ chief residence at Marien- burg; but havmg lost Prussia in consequence of a change in tni:^lfn%l7T''''' '^r'^''' ^^^"'^ "'^^ter. Albert de Bran- in FmfcinS^ ^^ transferred their capital to Mergentheim that orst^ ?\^'' °^ Hospitallers founded in the Holy Land, was that of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, who had for their princinal Sm a m'edrlT"' °^ ^^^^^Z' ^"^ '''^'' ^" processTtir rested iTtt F ^T^'T " T^^'^y °^^^^- ^^ter having long Holv wa?s L rSr^''"! they distinguished themselves°in thi Holy wars, they followed St. Louis into France (1254.) and fixed the.r ch.ef seat at Boigny, near Orleans. Pope Gregory Xin united them w.th the «rder of St. Maurice, in Safoy^ and Henry IV. with that of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, In F ance. On the model, and after the example of these foir military orders, several others were founded in succession in various kingdoms of Europe.'^ All these insUtu^ns Tont " Cs ' Th ^or-' "rT" ?^ '^'''^^y' ^° ^^-°- - the MiSdle Ages. The origin of this latter institution is earlier than the (imes of which we now speak, and seems to belono- to the tenth or the begmning of the eleventh century. The ana chy ofTeu-' da ism being then at its height, and robberies and private quar- rels every vvhere prevailing, several noble and distlnguiTed ndividuals, devoted themselves, by a solemn vow, accSg to .ers , as also of the fair sex, and of every person sufr--:nQ' from distress or oppression From the end of Iheele^th centu?;;^ 184 CHAPTER V. to the time when the crusades began, we Hnd chivalry, with hn pomp and its ceremonies, established in all the principal states of Europe. This salutary institution, by inspiring the minds of men with new energy, gave birth to many illustrious cha- racters. It tended to repress the disorders of anarchy, to revive order and law, and establish a new relationship among the na- tions of Etirope. In general, it may be said, that these ultra-marine expeditions prosecuted with obstinacy for nearly two hundred years, hasten- ed the progress of arts and civilization in Europe. The cru- saders, journeying through kingdoms better organized than their own, and observing greater refinement in their laws and manners; were necessarily led to form new ideas, and acquire new information with regard to science and politics. Some vestiges of learning and good taste had been preserved in Greece, and even in the extremities of Asia, where letters had been encouraged by the patronage of the Caliphs. The city of Con- stantinople, which had not yet suffered from the ravages of the barbarians, abounded in the finest monuments of art. It pre- sented to the eyes of the crusaders, a spectacle of grandeur and magnificence that could not but excite their admiration, and call forth a strong desire to imitate those models, the sight of which at once pleased and astonished them. To the Italians especially, it must have proved of great advantage. The continued inter- course which they maintained with the East and the city of Constantinople, afforded them the means of becoming familiar with the language and literature of the Greeks, of communica- ting the same taste to their own countrymen, and in this way advancing the glorious epoch of the revival of letters. About the same time, commerce and navigation were making considerable progress. The cities of Italy, such as Venice, Genoa, Pisa,. and others, in assisting the Crusaders in their ope- rations, by means of the transports, provisions, and warlike stores with which they furnished them, continued to secure for them- selves important privileges and establishments in the seaports of the Levant, and other ports in the Greek empire. Thrlr example excited the industry of several maritime towns in France, and taught them the advantage of applying their atten- tion to Eastern commerce. In the North, the cities of Ham- burgh and Lubec, formed, about the year 1241, as is generally supposed, their first commercial association, which afterwards became so formidable under the name of the Hameatic Iieagnie.^' The staple articles of these latter cities, consisted in marine stores, and other productions of the North, which they exchanged for the R'^icerics of the Rast and the manufactures of Italv anci the Low Countries. PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074-1300. 125 f<'udalism. contributed t'oth pro'^^e ity oHo" ns b '^T^''"'' °^ menimg their population and their weal hTh^ ''"''^ ^"?- about the times wi are speakil of L „ I . ^^" produced, the civil and social conS ohL " op" T^^^^^^^ principal states of Emone citip^ KpI?, *!• J-'^'^^^Si^out the ry. to erect themselve iKoH i^ Jh H ''" ''l' 'T'^'*^ ^^"^^^ prees, a third order, distinct from thit nf 'th'' T'^ '° ^"7' ^^^ ^« Before this period hp i hn .;. ? r '^ '^^ '^'^''S'y «"^ nobility SSe5^r;Snl-«^^ --M tached to their functions, ity £d ttem T.h ''^^'"""^ t'- trary way, and loaded the inhabi a^nt?^^^th evTrv k.-L'-Tf "'^' s.on that avarice or caprice could surest ^ ^ ''^^''' At length, the cities which were ehher ibp mn.f impositions and arbitrary exactions securpd fLr«T ' , . ^^ °'^ and the possession of th'eir efrrc"^;rd"r1he;Xrn" f hTi? own magistrates, and the institution of a miliC, or X fua^ Ihis revolution, one oT the most imoortinf in P.. J ^ , place in Italy, where it wa. ocUTir„er ;"htfrr„'e« Z^ regnums that occurred in Germanv as w.M !.. k Vi, . ^%S-i thJtb- its ^"^SerTS^JtZ their sovereign, served as a pretext to the citks of l^alvfor shaking off the authority of the Imperial viceroys or baHiS who had become tyrants instead of rulers, and fr;s°abirsS free and republican governments. In this they were en o^^^^^^^ ged and supported by the protection of the Roman pontiffs NT^^f-^^'^'^'VP^" '^''^''-'"^^ maritime cities of Italv. .nrh ^, WapK Amain Venice, Fisa, and Genoa, emboldened b7the advantages of their situation, by the increase of their popuktLn 11 ^ 126 CHAPTER V. »• and their commerce, had already emancipated themselves from the Imperial yoke, and erected themselves into republics. Their example was followed by the cities of Lomburdy and the Vene- tian territory, especially Milan, Pavia, AiUi, Cremona, Lodi, Como, Parma, Placentia, Verona, Padua, ice. Ail these cities, animated with the enthusiasm of liberty, adopted, about the be- ginning of the twelfth century, consuls and popular forms of government. They formed a kind of military force, or city guard, and vested in themselves the rights of royalty, and the power of making, in their own name and authority, alliances, wars, and treaties of peace. From Italy, this revolutitm ex- tended to France and Germany, the Low Countries, and Eng- land, In all these different states, the use of Communes, or boroughs, was established, and protected by the sovereigns, who employed these new institutions as a powerful check against the encroachments and tyranny of the feudal lords. In France, Louis the Fat, who began his reign in 1108, was the first king that granted rights, or constitutional charters, to certain cities within his domain, either from political motives, or the allurement of money. The nobility, after bis example, eagerly sold liberty to their subjects. The revolution became general; the cry for liberty was raised every where, and inte- rested every mind. Throughout all the provinces, the nihabi- bants of cities solicited charters, and sometimes without wailing for them, they formed themselves voluntarily into communities, electing magistrates of their own choice, establishing companies of militia, and taking charge themselves of the fortifications and wardenship of their cities. The magistrates of free cities in northern France, were usually called mayors, sherifls, and liv- erymen ; while, in the south of France, they were called syndics and consuls. It soon became an established principle, that kings alone had the power to authorize the erection of corporate towns. Louis VIII. declared that he regarded all cities in which these corporations were established, as belonging to his domain. They owed military service directly and personally to the king ; while such cities as had not these rights or charters, were obliged to follow their chiefs to the war. In Germany, we find the emperors adopting the same policy as the kings of France. The resources which the progress of commerce and manufactures opened to the industry of the in- habitants of cities, and the important succours which the empe- rors, Henry IV. and V., had received from them in their quar- rels with the Pope and the princes of the Empire, induced them •• s>>v-v • ittv- Uiiuci ificii prOicniuti, lOuuj^iuctil iiicit num- ber, and multiply their privWeges. Henry V. was the fir?t em- PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 127 peror that ndopted this line of nollrr M« the inhabitants of severa citie .J^nl ■ ^'""'^'' ^""^^oo^^ to whose condition, at tf'at im^w.s " 7''''?"f ""^ tradesmen; that of serfs. He extend dt;Thon;rh^^''t'^ ^"^ ^'^^^^^'^ «^ citizens, and thus Lmve "isetl t u>T ' ''^" ' '"'^ privileges of and corporations of trade 'Vf !'"" '^ '''''''' '"'° ^^•'^■^^es ing the fault which the emnorors nr7u ^5'"'^ '""^ "^""^ ''^P^''- committed, of givinm^he jurisSion of'th^^ sterb:! '''''''''' '^^"^-'-^ imperial or feudal, and adopted in^m ^r """ r^?''''''^ ^^*^^ther and France, mag strates of (hV/ I" of the cities in Italy form of government,;ralLtl^^^ a republican^ the sonrc'r ?izr:;rr:"t:T ^'-'^"^ r'^^'^-^^y -"'^'p'ied till then unknot nElTl^^^^^^ increased with their weahh Com P"P"'^''°" "^ these cities consequence; and vrfi.dthomT "•''/"'" ^'"^^ P^'i^ diets a..d national a semblts tal rfn "''^ T'"""^'^ '« ^^e 'ope. England set an exSe J h' ^ "''.P'i '^"^"^ "^ ^u. authors are not agreed as to tZnr--^' ' - "^'^ ^"•^''^'' of that kingdom were cal ed nto T.r "' '"^ •'" ^^" ^^"^'^''"^ tain that their first adm^s inn Tj ^^' ''^T"^' '^ is at least cer- (about 1265 or 1266 ) and that t^f " l^S-'"''^" ^^"^"--y "'• h-ament into two hou es t as ,fp /T'' '^"''*°" °^ ^^e W France followed the exlTnle if P I T'^P ''^ Edward III." the states, by Philip the Fat (Jgof'I^J^^^^^ the convocation of pntes with Pope Boniface V 11 1 '^ o" the subject of his dis- hly of the States-general !o rn^o 17^ ^^ f '^' ^''' ^'''^^ kingdom. As to Germnnv fffi . ""J- ^^-^ ^^'^^ ""'"^^'^ of the the Empire app'^aredTnTlfe m " nT, "'r*^ ^^^ ^•^'- «' Spire (1309, convoked bVth?l? third order, was that of house of Luxembourg Aftenvari"'^"'"^ ^T^ ^"^ °^ ^^e cising a decisive or del befit vevl ^ ^^ ^ '^'"'^ "^''- (1344,) ,,nder Louis tC"a„"' '' '^' ^"' of Frankfort where cities in aca^acit^Vo cb^^VtS el eft'"'"^ ^^^^^ terpr.stng ,„ their ambifion; and eJeTrhll;t'"o? !:^:r!o"; I! I ]28 CHAPTER V. rank learned to respect the power of these communities. The royal authority was thereby strengthened ; and the cities, natu- rally inclining to the sovereigns that protected them, served as a counterpoise in the general assemblies, to the power of the clergy and the noblesse, and were the means of obtaining those subsidiary supplies necessary for the exigencies of the state. The liberty which the inhabitants of cities had thus procured by the establishment of these communities, or corporate bodies, extended itself to the inhabitants of the country, by way of en- franchisements. Various circumstances concurred to render the use of these more frequent, after the twelfth century. The fiovcreigns, guided by the maxims of sound policy, set the first example of this within their own demesnes ; and they were speedily imitated by the feudal lords and nobles, who, either out of courtesy to their sovereigns, or to prevent the desertion of their vassals, or acquire new dependents, were compelled to grant liberty to the one, and mitigate the servitude of the other. The communities, or chartered cities, likewise seconded and promoted these enfranchisements, by the protection which they granted to the serfs against their feudal superiors. In Italy, we perceive these enfranchisements following as an immediate consequence of the institution of communities. The continual feuds that arose among the numerous republics which had lately thrown off the yoke of authority, made the liberty of the serfs a measure absolutely necessary, in order to augment the numberofcitizensqualified to bear arms, and hold places of trust. Bonacurso, Captain of Bologna (1256,) pro- posed to his fellow-citizens, and carried the law of enfranchise- ment. All those who had serfs were obliged to present them before the Podesta, or Captain of the people, who afTranchised them for a certain sum or lax, v/hich the republic Tpaid to the owner. The feudal superiors, finding that these enfranchise- ments had a powerful support in the liberty of the free cities, were obliged either to meliorate the condition of their serfs, or grant them liberty. In France, after the twelfth century, and the reign of Louis the Fat, these enfranchisements began to be frequent. The son and successor of that prince, Louis VII., by royal letter (1180,) affranchised all the serfs which the crown possessed at Orleans, and within five leagues of it. Louis X. passed a general law (1315,) for the enfranchisement of all serfs belonging to the crown. He there made a positive declaration, that slavery tons contrary to nature, lohich inteiided that all men by birth should be jree and equal; invA, %\iic& h\s hiJigdoru was de/ijiniiiaied the kingdom of the Franks, or Freeimn, it appeared just a?id PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 129 right thai the fact should corresvontJ with fh.^ tt . . . at the same tune all ihJ^IrA^y?!^..^^^*^- He inv ted, granting Mberty to thei .erf^ % ? '"•"''" ^'' ^"^^^P'^' ^7 nobled The ho^e he^p^id't^nature^V^ riiarflib'^r ^^ the reign o!Tm2^\ '° ^ ^"""'^ '" '"'^""•J. ^» h'e a» wars Avhich the Bn],J nf % '^'^"^'^^'5^', and the destruct ve North earn^dt wSlhf staZTrribes'tSrb;" °f T Bult,c, having depopulated the norlbern and eastern l"!* f HSUFlXnd-^rnnieTr^ .Tot:ftVXl.*™rl7U^^^^^^^^^^^^ custom of enfranchTsemen s e« nde5r.h^°nr '^""""'.y ""^ F.nd along ihe banks of ihe Rhine This '?"" P«»"ff% their walls, but "herefen ™eT^r^^^^ """ "''''Pf '"" "''»'» ei.i.e„ship, ,0 thosrS-h^d settrd IvA?^ S """ •«""' "" liberties of the town •>» or wh„ !1 ,• i ', Pr^mcts or their habitation, ^ore'side" „The land ""fttirfenT'l '^''""?'"= the I-ppressirn'r^ i ig ,i""of sf'r"/' 'tV^--^-''^" themselves for the loss of tht fi sl'i^eiy They reimbursed in the habit of evyin' on th- do'.t'h' 7 u^-''^ '^'^ ^'""^ ^''^ by degrees recovered ™ pS S ^ " '•"' ,"^'1' '"'"'i' the clouds of ignorance and ,,S,.',- 'T'^ '" "I'spelling h«tre over Eur°ope One eten^'^.t^lT"^ Tt '''?'"^ " "«' to give n-.en more^xac7n„^„s „ 'iteX^rrnd'"'"''""^ ^ence, was the revival of tb^ R feovernmen and jurispru- about the time we nowsneau'^'^^rJl"!^:'^'^^^^ '^•^PP-ecl - gt,„^.^j .K ,v -^ ^P^ak of. The German tnbec \h' strojeu .he vVestern Empire in the iifth century, would d de- natu- 130 CIIArTER V. Ml Hi rally despise a system of legislation, such as that of the Romany which neither acronled with the ferocity of their manners, nor the rudeness of their ideas. In consequence, the revolution which occasioned the downfall of that empire, brought at the same time the Koman jurisprudence into desuetude over all the Western world.''-* A lapse of several centuries, however, was requ'..ed, to rec- tify men's ideas on the nature of society, and to prepare them for receiving the laws and institutions of a civilized and re- fined government. Such was the general state and condition of political knowledge, when the fame of a celebrated civilian, called Irnerius, who taught the law of Justinian publicly at Bologna, about the commencement of the twelfth century, at- tracted to that academy the youth of the greater part of Europe. There they devoted themselves with ardour to the study of this new science. The pupils, instructed by Irnerius and his suc- cessors, on returning home, and being employed in the tribunals and public offices of their native country, gradually carried into practice the principles which they had imbibed in the school ot Bologna. Hence, in a short time, and without the direct inter- ference of the legislative authority, the law of Justinian was adopted by degrees, as a subsidiary law in all the principal states of Europe. Various circumstances contributed to acce- lerate the progress of this revolution. People had felt for a long time the necessity of a new legislature, and the insuffi- ciency of their national laws. The novelty of the Roman laws, as well as their equity and precision, arrested the atten- tion of all Europe; and sovereigns found it their interest to protect a jurisprudence, whose maxims were so favourable to royalty and monarchical power, and which served at once to strengthen and extend their authority. The introduction of the Roman jurisprudence was soon fol- lowed by that of the Canon law. The Popes, perceiving the rapid propagation of this new science, and eager to arrest its progress, immediately set themselves to the work of raising that vast and astonishing edifice the Canon law, as an engine to pro- mote the accomplishment of their own greatness. Gratian, a monk of Bologna, encouraged by Pope Eugenius III., compiled a collection of Canons, under the title of the Decret, which he arranged in systematic order, to serve as an introduction to the study of that law. This compilation, extracted from diflerent authors who had preceded him, recommended itself to the world by its popular method, which was adapted to the genius of the times. Pope Eugenius III. gave it his approval in 1152 and ordained that it should be read and exnlained in the schools PERIOD IV. A. D 1074— laOO. 131 This collection of Gratian soon obtained a wide and most ,n. cessful reception ; from the schools it passed to the SJIT buna s, both civil and ecclesiastical, /t length Pnni^r smmm comm,„ praclice, what ha,l been orijinal y 'es Lblishld buK If this ne,,, system of jurisprudence servocl 10 ex eSd?hf^ not ?a"il °"'',r''"«*'"-"'^ '™P"™' P""'- of .he Pop s!t did ::ef!„ei.*:„rra„''e";: s o 'tr "^^^^ °" -4 nes as suited their con- of Hapsburgin sS ,fj^,7|;^.^,7^rors, ^odolph. Count tions of his°electors. He r;pres!ed Wf^P^'^V'^ '^' "^P^'^^^' orders of anarchy, res"rerthe li-^ °'f °( ^'""^ dis- pristine vigour, and reconquereS 'ev^ral onhA"^""''', 1' '^'^' from the usurpers who had seized ihTm '"P'''"' ^°'"'^^"^ we^findTrTlmXn^^^^^^^^^^ the difTeren^pro^Tes of L Sr th^^^^^ - of the Germanic body, regardi^f H' ,h P""'"' ""^ ^^'^'''■' provinces and fiefs w th Xh'tf ^'' ^"'" Patrimony the themselves further auXrizld to rtl^ '''T ^"'"^^"^' '^^"ght sons. The usage of these ntn-tr." '^""^ °"* ^"'^"g their thirteenth century -and fhj/u' ''f ^"'^ g^"^''^! after the the most powerS 'fa^ 1 e^ and' tetdeJ'. '"^f ^'1 °^ ^^^^ «' infinity the dutchie.,prSaiiie^^^^^^ to multiply almost to The Emperor, far fm^co^d S^fhr'^^""-' °^ ^'^.^ ^"^P^'^^^ means accorded with theTax ^0^1^ ^/^'/f' ""^'"^ ^y "° trary gave it their counrennni """^^^ '^'''' «" the con- .nstJument for hLw ngThe Cr oT^e""^^ ^J ''''"' ' P^«P- r'n| for themselves a prepondSg a ho^ rt^p' ^^^"^- Ihe ancient dutrhips of H'^v^ri^ ? « ^ ^"^ Empire. 134 CllAPTEU V Cuelpha, which was deprived of both these dutchiesby the sen- tence of proscription which the Emperor Frederic I. pronounced against Henry the Lion (IISO,) Duke of Bavaria and Saxony The lirst of these dutchies, which hud formerly been dismembered from the Margravate of Austria by Frederic I. (1156,) and erected into a dutrhy and fief holding immediately of the Em- pire, was exposed to new partitions at the time of which we now speak. The bishoprics of Bavaria, Sliria, Carinthia, Car- niola, and the Tyrol, broke their alliance with Bavaria; and the city of Ratisbonne, which had been the residence of the ancient dukes, was declared immediate, or holding of the crown. It was when contracted within these new limits that Bavaria was conferred, by Frederic I. (IISO,) on Otho, Count of Witlelsbach, a scion of the original house of Bavaria. This house afterwards acquired by marriage (1215) the Palatinate of the Rhine. Tt was subse(|uently divided into various branches, of which the two principal were the Palatine and the Bavarian. As to the dulchy of Saxony, which embraced, under the Guelphs, the greater part of Lower Germany, it completely changed its circumstances on the decline jf that house. Ber- nard of Aschersleben, younger son of Albert named the Bear, first Margrave of Brandenburg, a descendant of the Ascanian line, had been invested in the dutchy of Saxony by Frederic L (IISO,) but was found much too feeble to support the high rank to which he had been elevated. In consequence, the title, or qualification to the dutchy of Saxony and the Electorate, was restricted, under the successors and descendants of that prince, to an inconsiderable district, situated on both sides of the Elbe ; called since the Electoral Circle, of which Wittenberg was the capital. The princes of Pomerania and Mecklenburg, the Counts of Holstein and Westphalia, and the city of Lubeck, took advan- tage of this circumstance to revolt from the authority of the Duke ofSaxony, and render themselves immediate. A part of West- phalia was erected into a distinct dutchy, in favour of the Arch bishop of Cologne who had seconded the Emperor in his schemes of vengeance against the Guelphic princes. This latter house, whose vast possessions had extended from the Adriatic Sea to the Bali.c and the Northern Ocean, retained nothing more of its ancient splendour than the free lands which it possessed in Lower Saxony, and which the emperor Frederic II. (1235) converted into a dutchy, and immediate fief of the empire, in favour of Otho the Infant, grandson of Henry the Lion, and the new foundor of the House of Brunswick. The extinction of the House of Hohenstaufen having occa- sioned a vacancy in the dulchies of Suabia and Francon'a the PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074— 1300. .35 different states of these ^.rovinces, both secular and p-cle^asti- cal, found means to render themselves also immedia ^ (foes ande't dnlos"'" "''"\^"^ ^^'''^"^^^^ '« the dm." ns o?^i =it and tlS Hon' '"7r ? '^?,/^"''^ '^ ^''^ ^"d '■"^P^i-'^l -mes, and the Houses of Baden, Wurtembercr, Hohen-Zollem and Furstenberg, date their celebrity from th s Sd The ^ at ,"/|»;f,-^--P-o^ Henry le^Raspon (loi?. ast land! f aves of Mi ni?'' Tf^ "'n^? ^ ^""= '"''' ^''^'''^ ^'^^ Mar- contested thas^;/ '^^" ^"H' '^^ ^'•'^^«"'' ^^f^° "^^^^^Uy contested that succession. The former advanced an Exnerti. tive or deed of Keversion of the Emperor Frederic 11 as vvll mVinLireTthlt"o?'rT■°'^'f^^ mamtained those of Sophia, daughter of the lano-rave Louis gdled was ™ade over -o .h'e'Tou''e''*f'^{;t",™°T„'d''K'? 7l iJrabant, surnamed the Infant, son of Henrtr II Dnt. Ilr 6 bant, and Sophia of Thuringia was sicuredU he posseHon o? The ancient dukes of Austria, of the House of Bamberc- hav- Zl "'T^u'^'T r'^ ^''^^''^^ ^he Valiant (12460 the sul cession of that dutchy was keenly contested between the Jp.I F^ed: Wo" :;^ot:cS"nTon'o7"we '^^'^ t'^^'i Bohemia took advantage ^'Zj^^rZi:! ^^^r^:::; p'Sl S n9fi9w ^^^^ PT"r ^^^^1-) He obtained the investUure of pu hS dTe t^b :f Em" '''^'" '''"° •^^ England, who "a'd r.f H„r, K of Emperor at a vast expense; but Rodolph of Hapsbourg treating him as a usurper, made iar upon h m defeated and slew hun in a battle which was fought (1278) al AusTr f Stiria' r""=h'°"^'r^.^^ ^•^"-- T^fduSs o Au.tna, Stiria, Carinthia, and Carniola, being then detached Te tSZire ^ Th"^'-^' '^^'^ ^'-l-d^ac:n\t" d^' CO f:?rrd 2Btr^^^^^^^ ^:^:^:'t hen, the eldest of these princes, who was afterwards Empert" hecame the founder of the Hapsbourg dynasty of lustria^ "' In Italy, a great number of republics arose about the end of ^lt""l'^' X ^^^'"r/ '^ '^' ^^^^•f'h century. TheTe re- publics though they had cast off the Imperial authority and la-med to themselves the rights of sovereignty, protested n;ver. theless, their fealty to the Emperor, whom^he^^ac^reed to reZ. mse as their supreme head. The Emperors, Her!ry V Lo 196 CHAPTER V. thnire the Saxon, and Conrad III., saw thenr.se.ves compeTied to tolerate "^n usurpation which they were too feeble to rppre<-6. But Frederic Barbarossa being determined to restore the roynhy of Italy to its aii.-ient splendour, led a powerful army into thai kingdom (1158;) auu in a diet which he assembled on the plains of Roncaglia, in the territory of Placentia, he caused a strict in- vestigation to be made by the lawyers of Bologna, into the rights on which he founded his pretensions to the title of King of Italy. The opposition which the execution of the decrees of that diet met with on the part of the Milanese, induced the Emperor to undertake the siege of their city. He made himself master of it in 1 162, razed it to the foundation, and dispersed the inhabi ints. This chastisement of the Milanese astonished the Italia«ns, but without abating their courage. They afterwards took ad- vantage of the reverses of the Emperor, and the schism which had arisen in the Romish Church, to form a league with the Erincipal cities of Lombardy (1167,) into which th\v drew the [ing of the Two Sicilies, as well as Pope Alexander'HI., whom the Emperor treated as a schismatic. The city of Milan was rebuilt in consequence of this league; as also that of Alexan- dria, called della Paglia. The war was long prrtrncted ; but the Emperor being abandoned by Henry the Lion, Duke of Ba- varia and Saxony, the most powerful of his vassals, received a defeat at Lignano, which obliged him to make an accommoda- tion with Pope Alexander III., and to sign, at Venice, a treaty of six years with the confederate cities (1177.) This treaty was afterwards converted, at Constance, into a definitive peace (1183;) by virtue of which, the cities of Italy were guaranteed in the forms of government they had adopted, as well as in the exercise of the regalian rights which they had acquired, whether by usage or prescription. The Emperor reserved for himself the investiture of the consuls, the oath of allegiance, which was to be renewed every ten years, and all appeals, in civil cases, where the sum exceeded the value of twenty-five imperial livres, (about 1500 francs.) The Emperor Frederic II., grandson of Frederic I., and heir, in right of his mother, to the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, made new efforts to restore the prerogatives of the Empire in Italy. But the cities of Lombardy renewed their league, into which they drew Pope Gregory IX. (1226,) whose dignity and power would be endangered if the Emperor, being possessor of the Two Sicilies, should succeed in conquering the cities of Lom- bardy. The war which ensued (1236,) was long and bloo or Doi^'o. Thisdii'iiily was for lil'c, and dcpt-tidi'd on the sullVaj^fs of iho conuminity ;" but ho i>xori:isod nevertheh-ss the rights of soveroi^njiy, and it was not till after a ionj^' course ot tinio that his authority was gradually abridged ; and the govern- nifiit, whicli had lu-cn monarchical,* became again democralical. Venice, which from its birth was a conunercial city, enjoyed in the middle ages nearly the same renown which Tyre had among the trading cities of antiquity. The conunencenieni of its gratuieur nuiy be dated from the end of the tenth century, and under the magistracy of the Ooge Peter Urseolo II., whom the Venetians regard as the true founder of their state (99y.) From the Greek emperors ho obtained for them an entire liberty and inununity of connnerce, in all the ports of that empire ; and he procured them at the same time several very important ad- vantages, by the treaties which he concluded with the emperor Otho HI. and with the Caliphs of Egypt. The vast increase of thck commerce, inspired these republicans with a desire to ex- tend the contracted bounds of their territory. One of their first conquests was the maritime cities of Istria, as well as those of Dalmatia; both of which occurred under the magistracy of Peter Urseolo II., atul in the year 997. They were obliged to make a surrender of the cities of Dalmatia, by the emperors of the East, who regarded these cities as dependencies of their empire ; while the kings of Croatia and Dalmatia also laid claim to them. Croatia having passed into the hands of the Kings of Hungary, about the end of the eleventh century, these same cities became a perpetual source of troubles and wars between the Kings of Hungary and the Republic of Venice ; and it was not till the fiftee°uh century that the Kepublic found means to confirm its authority in Dalmatia. The Venetians having become parties in the famous League of Lombardy, in the eleventh century, contributed by their ef- forts, to render abortive the vast projects of the Emperor Frede- ric I. Pope Alexander III., as a testimony of his gratitude, granted them the sovereignty of the Hadriatic (1177,Pand this circumstance gave rise to the singular ceremony of annually marrying this sea to the Doge of Venice. The aggrandizement of this republic was greatly accelerated by the crusades, espe- cially the fourth (1204,) which was followed by the dismem- berment of the Greek empire. The Venetians, who had joined this crusade, obtained for their portion several cities and ports m Dalmatia, Albania, Greece and the Morea • as also the Islands PEnioD IV. A. D. 1074 — 1300. 139 of Corfu, Ceplmloniii, nnd Cnn.lia or Crrio. Al Ipneth towards ihe end ol ihn tl,irl,...M.I, .M.„l„ry, tl.i. n.,,„I,|,V nssunnnl il.; no. ciilnir lor.n of ^ovcrnm.'tit wliirh it rct.tincd till iIr, da-/ of its destruction. In ihc ...iriior a^.-s its ronslinaion was .IcuKTalic-. and tho pou.r of tin, Doge li,nitr..| hy a jrnu.d co.mcil, wl.irh wan chosen annually fro.n among th., d,|i;.n.„t classes of the citizens, by electors named l,y il,,. p.-o,,],.. As these forms gave occasion to troubles and inlestino commotions, the Do<.e Pietro 1 Ti'Snu ? '?-T ?" '""-^^ "'■ '"^'•«"l^'"t in future., passed a law (1L9S.) which abrogate.! the custom of annual elections, and fixed irrcvo.-ably in their oflice all those who then sat in the grand council, and this to descend to their posterity for ever. The here.iitary aristocracy thus introduced at Venice. did not fail to excite the discontent of those whose families this new law had exclu.led from the government; and it was this which afterwards oc^cas.oned various insurrections, of which that of liepolo (IJIO) is the most remarkable. The nurti>ans of the ancient government and those of the new, attempted to decide the matter by a battle in the city of Venice. Ticnolo and his party were defeated, and Querini, one of the chiefs, ■vas killed in the action. A commission of ten members was nominated to inform against the accomplices of this secret con- spiracy. This commission, which was meant to be but tem- .C7;rT r '''''v""'^;- i'^'r^' perpetual; n.ul, under the name of the Coiuml of Ten, became one of the most formida- l)le supports of the aristocracy. The city of Genoa, like that of Venice, n^ed her prosperity the progress of her commerce, which she extended to the Levant, Constantinople, Syria, and Egypt. Governed at first by Consuls, like the rest of the Italian states, she afterwards 1190) chose a foreign Podcsfa or governor, to repress the vio- lence of faction, and put a check on the ambition of the nobles Ihis governor was afterwards made subordinate to a Captain of the people, whom the Genoese chose for the first time in 1257 without being able yet to fix their government, which ex-' perienced frequent variations before assuming a settled and permanent form. These internal divisions of \he Genoese did not impede the progress of their commerce and their marine. The crusades of the 12th and 13th centuries, the powerful sue' cours which these republicans gave to the crusaders, and to the Mnorkh^' TL^" '^" ''■"''''■'' '''^''^ '^'y concluded with the Moorish and African princes procured them considerable esta- blishments in the Levant, and also in Asia and Africa Caffa a famous seaport on the Black Sea and rh port of A^soph, the ancient Tanais, at the mouth of the Don,' belonged to them N'* 140 CHAPTER V. and served as entrepots for their commerce with China and the Indies. Smyrna in Asia Minor, as also the suburbs of Pera and Galata at Constantinople, and the isles of Scio, Metelin and Tenedos, in the Archipelago, were ceded to them by the Greek emperors. The kings of Cyprus were their tributaries. Tl e Greek and German emperors, the kings of Sicily, Cas- tillt and Arragon, and the Sultans of Egypt, ^ealotisly sought theit alliance, and the protection of their marine. Encouraged by these successes, they formed a considerable territory on the continent of Italy, after the 12th century, of which nothing but a fragment now remains to them. Genoa had at that time, in its immediate neighbourhood, a dangerous rival of its power and greatness. This rival was Pisa, a flourishing republic on the coast of Tuscany, which owed its prosperity entirely to the increase of its commerce and marine. The proximity of these two states---the similarity of their views and their interests — the desire of conquest — and the command of the sea, which both of them desired, created a marked jealousy between them, and made them the natural and implacable enemies of each other. One of the principal sub- jects of dispute was the possjssion of Corsica and Sardinia,^ which the two republics contested at the point of the sword, after having, by means of their combined force, expelled the Moors, toward the middle of the eleventh century. Pisa, ori- ginally superior to Genoa in maritime strength, disputed with her the empire of the Mediterranean, and haughtily forbade the Genoese to appear within those seas with their ships of war. This rivalry nourished the animosity of the two republics, and rendered it implacable. Hence a continual source of mutual hostilities, which were renewed incessantly for the space of 200 years, and only terminated in 1290 ; when, by the conquest oi Elba, and the destruction of the ports of Pisa and Leghorn, the Genoese effected the ruin of the shipping and commerce ot the Pi^'an republic. Lower Italy, possessed by the Norman princes, under the title 3f Dutchy and Comt^, became the seat of a new kingdom in the eleventh century— that of the two Sicilies. On the extinction of the Dukes of Apulia and Calabria, descendants of Robert Guiscard, Roger, son of Roger, Count of Sicily, and sovereign of that island, united the dominions of the two branches of the Norman dynasty (1127 ;) and being desirous of procuring for himself the royal dignity, he attached to his interest the Anti- pope Anacletus II., who invested him with royalty by a bull (1130,) in which, however, he took care to reserve the territorial right and an annual tribute to the Church of Rome. This PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074 — 1300. 141 pnnce received the crown of Palermo from the hands of a car- dmiil, whom the pope had deputed for the express purpose. On ihe death of the Emperor Lothaire, he succeeded in dispossess- ing the Prince of Capua, and subduing the dutchy of Naples (1139;) thus completing the conquest of all that is now deno- minated the kingdom of Naples. William II., grandson of Roger, was the principal support of Pope Alexander III. ; and of the famous League of Lombardy formed against the Empe- ror t rederic Barbarossa. The male line of the Norman princes havmg become extinct in William II., the kingdom of the Two Sicilies passed (11S9) to the House of Hohenstaufen, by the marriage which the Emperor Henry IV., son of Frederic Bar- barossa, contracted with the Princess Constance, aunt and here- trix of the last king. Henry maintained the rights of his wife against the usurper Tancred, and transmitted this kingdom to his son Frederic II., who acquired by his marriage with Jolande, daijghiher of John de Brienne, titular King of Jerusalem, the titles and arms of this latter kingdom. The efforts which Fre deric made to annihilate the League of Lombardy, and confirm his own authority in Italy, drew down upon him the persecution of the court of Rome, who taking advantage of the minority of the young Conradin, grandson of Frederic II., wrested the crown of the two Sicilies from this rival house, which alone vvas able to check its ambitious projects. Mainfroi, natural son of Frederic II., disgusted with playing the part of tutor to the young Conradin, in which capacity he at first acted, caused him- self to be proclaimed and crowned, at Palermo, King of the Two Sicilies, (1258.) The Popes Urban IV., and Clement IV., dread- ing the genius and talents of this prince, made an oflfer of that kingdom to Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence, and brother of St. Louis. Clement IV. granted the investiture of it (1265) to him and his descendants, male and female, on condition of his doing fealty and homage to the Holy See, and presenting hfm annually with a white riding horse, and a tribute of ei[rht rnillion ounces of gold. Charles, after being crowned at Rome, marched against Mainfroi, with an army chiefly composed of crusaders. He defeated that prince, who was slain at the battle of Biine- vento (1266,) which was soon after followed by the reduction of the two kingdoms. One rival to Charles still survived, the young Conradin, the lawful heir to the throne of his ancestors. Charles vanquished him also, two years afterwards, in the plains of Tagliacozzo : nnd having made him prisoner, together with his young friend Frederic of Austria, he caused both of these princes to he beheaded at Naples {29th Oetobc o/ir-i lor lisoo.) Charles did not long enjoy his new dignity. While he was I' ll I'l'l-l iW 142 CHAPTER V. preparing to undertake a crusade against Michael Paleologua, a schismatic prince who had expelled the Latins from Constan- tinople, he had the mortification to see himself dispossessed of Sicily, on the occasion of the famous Sicilian Vespers (1282.) This event, which is generally regarded as the result of a con- spiracy, planned with great address by a gentleman of Salerno, named John de Procida, appears to have been but the sudden effect of an insurrection, occasioned by the aversion of the Sici- lians to the French yoke. During the hour of vespers, on the second day of Easter (30th March,) when the inhabitants of Palermo were on their way to the Church of the Holy Ghost, situated at some distance from the town, it happened that a Frenchman, named Drouetle, had offered a private insult to a Sicilian woman : hence a quarrel arose, which drew on a gene- ral insurrection at Palermo. All the French who were in the city or the neighbourhood were massacred, with the exception of one gentleman from Provence, called William Porcellet, who had conciliated all hearts by his virtues. This revolt gradually extended to the other Sicilian cities. Every where the French were put to death on the spot. Messina was the last that caught the infection ; but there the revolution did not take place till thirty days after the same event at Palermo, (29th April 1282.) I' is therefore not true, that this massacre of the French hap- pened at the same hour, and at the sound of the vesper bells, over all parts of the island. Nor is it more probable, that the plot had been contrived by Peter III,, King of Arragon ; since the Palermitans displayed at first the banner of the church, having resolved to surrender to the Pope ; but being driven from this resolution, and dreading the vengeance of Charles, they despatched deputies to the King of Arragon, who was then cruising with a fleet off' the African coast, and made him an offei of their crown. This prince yielded to the invitation of the Palermitans ; he landed at Trapani, and thence passed to Pa lermo, where he was crowned King of Sicily. The whole island submitted to him; and Charles of Anjou was obliged to niise the siege of Messina, which he had undertaken. Peter entered and took possession of the place, and from that time Sicily remained under the power of the Kings of Arragon; it became the inheritance of a particular branch of the Arragonese princes ; and the House of Anjou were reduced to the single kingdom of Naples. Spain, which was divided into several sovereignties, both Chris- tian and Mahometan, presented acontmi'al spectacle of commo- tion and carnage. The Christian States of Castille and Arragon, were gradually increased by the conquests made over the Maho* PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. uts nnlTh' -7 ?"'• '"""^°"' °^ ^^^'''^"^' ^«^« "posed to con- quest by its local s.tuat.on, remained nearly in its original state of rnecl.ocruy Th.s latter kingdom passed in succession o female he.rs of different houses. Blanche of Nr.varre. dam-hte? of Sancho VI., transferred it to the Counts of Champagne (1234 On the extmct,on of the male line of that house, in Hen y J o Navarre (1274,) Joan I., his daughter and heiress conveyecl ha kingdom, together with the Comtes of Champagne an^d B ie to the crown of France. Philip the Fair, husband of that nrin cess, and h.s three sons. Louis le Hutin. Philip the Lonl,Td and Navarre. Finally, n was Queen Joan II., dau-hter of Louis le Hutin. and herelrix of Navarre, who transferred tha kingdom to the family of the Counts d'Evreux, and relinnuished the Comtds of Champagne and Brie to Phili> of Va o isuc. cessor of Charles the Fair to the throne of Fmnce (S. of Iirn^on'/5ni '^t ^r'' '^- ^''''^"''^ ^'"'^'^''^ ^h^B throne ot Arrapn (1131,) by the marriage of Count Raymond-Beren- guier V. with Donna Petronilla, daughter and heiress of Sra II., King of Arragon. Don Pedro II., grandson of Raymond^ Berenguier, happening tote at Rome (1204.) was there awned king of Arragon by Pope Innocent III. On this occa Ln he did homage for his kingdom to that pontiff; and eno-aoedfbr himself and successors, to pay an annual tribute to Jhe Holy U Jr^ "' •^•' '"'"'"^'^ '^' Conqueror, son of Don Ped7o JI , gained some important victories over the Mahometan. Uom t^^"^:^^ Baleariclsles (1230.) and the k1ng"dmnTf va eniia, (l^JS.) Don Pedro 111. eldest son of Don Jame« I had dispossessed Charles I. of Anjou and Sicily w"iichde; down upon him a violent persecution on the part o Pope M.r tin IV., who was on the eve of publishing a crLade .Sst h m and assigning over his estates to Charles of Valois.^a youn^Tr' brother of Philip called the Hardy, king of France. Doi James II., younger son of Don Pedro III., Succeeded in makin' li!' KTfa^e VTn%?297)fh'''^""' -^"^ ^^l ^^^--d from P p conildce VJJl. (1297) the investiture of the Island of Sardin a „72"h l°V- 'r''"r^',^.°^"S himself the vassal and S ta J of the Holy See for that kingdom, which he afterwards obSed by conquest from the republic of Pisa. ootained The principal victories of the Christians over the Mahome- tans in Spain, were reserved for the kings of Casti lie whose history IS exti^niey fertile in great eve"nts. A pho.^o VI whom some call Alphonso I., after having" taken ^^S ^"d T.euo (lOSoj ana subdued the whole kingdom of Toledo wa. on the point of altogether expelling the Mah'^mctans rom Spain 144 CHAPTER V. •1 when a revolution which happened in Africa augmented their forces by fresh numbers, and thus arrested the progress of the Casijlian prince. The Zeirides, an Arab dynasty, descended from Zeiri, son of Mounad, reigned then over that part of Africa which compre- hends Africa properly so called (viz. Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers,) and the Mogreb (comprehending Fez and Morocco,) which they had conquered from the Fatimite caliphs of Egypt. It hap- pened that a new apostle and conqueror, named Aboubeker, son of CJmer, collected some tribes of Arabs in the vicinity of Sugul- messa, a city in the kingdom of Fez, and got himself proclaimed Commander of the Faithful. His adherents took the name of Morabelhin, a term which signifies zealously devoted to religion; and whence the Spaniards have formed the names Almoravides and Marabonths. Having made himself master of the city of Sugulmessa, this v;arlike Emir extended his conquests in the Mogreb, as well as in Africa Proper, whence he expelled the Zeirides. His successor, Yousuff, or Joseph, the son of Tas- chefin, completed the conquest of these countries ; and built the city of Morocco (1069,) which he made the capital of the Mogreb, and the seat of his new empire. Ttts prince joined the Ma- hometans of Seville, to whoee aid he marched with his victorious troops, defeated the king of Castille at the battle of Badajos (1090,) and subdued the principal Mahometan states of Spain, b^uch as Grenada and Seville, &c. The empire of the Almoravides was subverted in the twelfth century by another Mahometan sect, called the Moahedim, or Almohades, a word signifying Unitarians. An upstart fanatic, named Abdalmoiimen, was the founder of this sect. He was educated among the mountains of Sous, in Mauritania, and assumed the quality of Emir (1120,) and the surname of Mo- hadi, that is, the Chief— ihe leader and director of the faithful. Having subdued Morocco, Africa, and the whole of the Mogreb, he annihilated the dynasty of the Almoravides (1146,) and at the same time vanquished the Mahometan states in Spain. He took also (1160) from the Normans Tunis, Mohadie, and Tripoli, of which they had taken possession. One of lis successors, named Naser-Mohammed, formed the project of re-conquering the whole continent of Spain. The immense preparations whit h he made for this purpose, alarmed Alphonso VIII., king of Cas- ,ille, who immediately formed an alliance with the kings of Ar- ragon and Navarre, and even engaged Pope Innocent III. to proclaim a crusade against the Mahometans. The armies of Euro|)e and Africa met on the confines of Cujlile and Andalutju (1112;) and in the environs of the city Ubeda was foughi a PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 146 bloody battle, which so crippled the power of the Almohades, as to occasion in a short time the downfall and dismemberment of their empire.20 About this period (1269,) the xMahometans of Spain revolted afresh from Africa, and divided themselves into several pettv states, of which the principal and the only one that existed for several centuries, was that of the descendants of Naser, Kincrg of Grenada. Ferdinand III., Kin- of Castille and Leon, took advantage of this event to renew his conquests over the Ma- hometans. He took from them the kingdoms of Cordova, Mur- cia, and Seville (1236, et seq.,) and left them only the single kmgdom of Grenada. ^ ° These vyars against the Mahometans Avere the occasion of several religious and military orders being founded in Spain 'nese, the most ancient was that founded and fixed at Alcan^ tara (1156,) whence it took its name; having for its badae or decoration a green cross, in form of the lily, or Jleur.de-lis° The order of Calatrava was instituted in 115S; it was confirmed bv Fope Alexander III. (1164,) and assumed as its distinctive mark the red cross, also in form of the lily. The order of St. James p ^^"JP^l^ella, founded in 1161, and confirmed by the same Pope (117o,) was distinguished by a red cross, in form of a sword. Finally, the order of Montesa (1317,) supplanted that ot the 1 emplars in the kingdom of Arragon. .1. "^i?^ ?^"°^ ^^ Castillo and Arragon having conquered from the Arabs a part of what is properly called Portugal, formed it into a distinct government, under the name of Portocalo, or Por- tugal. Henry of Burgundy, a French prince, grandson of Eo bert, called the Old, Duke of Burgundy, and great-grandson of Kobert II., King of France, having distinguished himself bv his bravery in the wars between the Castillians and the Mahome- tans, Alphonso VI., King of Castille, wished to attach the youno- prince to him by the ties of blood ; and, for this purpose, ffave him m marriage \iis daughter the Infant Donna Theresa: and created him Count of Portugal (1090.) This State, including at first merely the cities of Oporto, Braga, Miranda, Lamego, Viseo, and toimbra, began to assume its present form, in the reign of Alphonso I., son of Count Henry. The Mahometans, alarmed at the warlike propensities of the young Alphonso, had marched with a superior force to attack him by surprise. Far from being intimidated by the danger, this prince, to animate the courage of his troops, pretended that an apparition from hea- ven had authorized him to proclaim himself King in the face ot the army, m virtue of an express order which he said he had received from Christ. '^ He then marched against the enemv. vol.. r. 13 *" •'' 140 CHAPTEK V. und totally routed them in the plains of Ourique (1139.) Thii* victory, famous in the annals of Portugal, paved the way for the conquest of the cities Leiria, Santaroin, Lisbon, Cinlra, Alcazar do Sal, Evora, and Elvas, situated on the banks of the Tagus Moreover, to secure the protection of the Court of Rome against the Kings of Leon, who disputed willi him tiie independence of his new slate, Alphonso took the resolution of acknowledging himself vassal and tributary to the Holy See (1142.) He after- wards convoked the estates of his kmgdom at Lamego, and there declared his independence by a fundamental law, which also regulated the order of succession to the throne. Sancho L, sou and successor of Alphonso, took from the Mahometans he town of Silves in Algarve ; and Alphonso III., soon aft*. (1249,) completed the conquest of that province. The first Kings of Portugal, in order to gain the protection of the Court of Rome, wore obliged to grant extensive benefices to the ecclesiastics, with regalian rights, and the exemption of the clergy from the secular jurisdiction. Their successors, how- ever, finding themselves firmly established on the throne, soon changed their policy, and manifested as much of indifFerence for the clergy as Alphonso I. had testified of kindness and attach- ment to them. Hence originated a long series of broils and quarrels with the Court of Rome. Pope Innocent IV. deposed Sancho II. (1245,) and appointed Alphonso III. in his place. Denys, son and successor of this latter prince, was excommuni- cated for the same reason, and compelled to sign alreaty (1289,) by which the clergy were re-established in all their former rights. " In France, the whole policy of the Kings was directed against their powerful vassals, who shared among them the finest pro- vinces of that kingdom. The Dukes of Burgundy, Normandy, and Aquitaine ; the Counts of Flanders, Champagne, and Tou- louse ; the Dukes of Bretagne, the Counts of Poitiers, Bar, Blois, Anjou and Maine, Alenc^on, Auvergne, Angouleme, Pe- rigord, Carcassonne, ^ &c. formed so many petty sovereigns, eqiial in some respects to the electors and princes of the Ger- manic empire. Several circumstances, however, contributed to maintain the balance in favour of royaUy. The crown was he- reditary, and the demesne lands belonging to the king, which, being very extensive, gave him a power which far outweighed that of any individual vassal. Besides, these same demesnes being situate in the centre of the kingdom, enabled the sovereign to observe the conduct of his vassals, to divide their forces, and prevent any one from preponderating over another. The per- petual wars which they waged with each other, the tyranny Which they exercised over their dependants, and the enlighten- PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074— 1300. 147 •J policy of several of the French kings, by degrees re-estab- lished ihe royal authority, which had been almost annihilated under the last princes of the Carlovingian dynasty. It was at this period that the rivalry between France and Eng- land had its origin. The fault that Philip I. committed, in making no opposition to the conquest of England, by William Duke of Normandy, hh vassal, served to kindle the flame of war between these princes. The war which took place in 1087, was the first that happened between the two nations ; it was renewed under the subsequent reigns, and this rivalry was still more in- creased, on occasion of the unfortunate divorce between Louis VII. and Eleanor of Poitou, heiress of Guienne, Poitou, and Gascogne, This divorced Princess married (1152) Henry, sur- named Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and Maine, and afterwards King of England ; and brought him, in downr, the whole of her vast possessiont . But it was reserved for Philip Augustus to repair the fauits of his predecessors, llm great monarch, whose courage was equal to his prudence and his policy, recovered his superiority over England; he strengthened his power and authority by the numerous acces- sions which he made to the crown-lands, •" (1180-1220.) Be- sides Arlois, Vermandois, the earldoms of Evreux, Auvergne, and Alonvon, which he annexed under different titles, he took advantage of the civil commotions which had arisen in England against King John, to dispossess the English of Normandy, An- jou, Maine, Lorraine, and Poitou (1203;) and he maintainjed these conquests by the brilliant victory which he gained at Bou- vmes (1214,) over the combined forces of England, the Empe- ror Otho, and the Count of Flanders. ^2 Several of the French kings were exclusively occupied with the crusades in the East. Louis VII., Philip Augustus, and Louis IX. took the cross, and marched in person to the Holy Land. These ultra-marine expeditions (1147, 1248,) which re- quired great and powerful resources, could not but exhaust France ; while, on the contrary, the crusades which Louis VIII. undertook against the Albigenses and their protectors, the Counts of Toulouse and Carcassonne, considerably augmented the royal power. Pope Innocent III., by proclaiming this crusade (1208,) raised a tedious and bloody war, which desolated Languedoc ; and during which, fanaticism perpetrated atrocities which make humanity shudder. Simon, Count Monfort, the chief or general of these crusaders, had the whole estates of the counts of Tou- Jouse adjudged him by the Pope. Amauri, the son and heir ot Sim.on. surrendered his claims over these forfeitures to Louis VIIL King of France (1226 ;) and it was this circumstance that 148 CHAPTER V. induced Louis to march in person nt the head of the crusaders, against the Count of Toulouse, his vassal and cousin. He died at the close of tliis expedition, leaving to his son and successor, Louis IX., the task of finishing this disiaslrous war. By the peace which was concluded at Paris (1229,) between the King and the Count, the greater part of Languedoc was allowed to re- main in the possession of Louis. One arrangement of this treaty was the marriage of the Coutit's daughter with Al- phonso, brother to the King ; with this express clause, that failing heirs of this marriage, the whole territory of Toulouse should revert to the crown. The same treaty adjudged to the Pope the county of Venaissin, as an escheat of the Counts of Toulouse ; and the Count of Carcassonne, implicated also in the cause of the Albigenses, was compelled to cede to the King all right over the viscounties of Beziers, Carcassonne, Agde, Rodez, AIbi, and Nismes. One consequence of this bloody war was the establishment of the terrible tribunal of the In- quisition,^^ and the founding of the order of Dominicans,^^ Henry II., a descendant of the house of Plantagenct, having mounted the throne of England, in right of his mother Ma- tilda, annexed to that crown the dutchy of Normandy, the coun- tries of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine, together with Guienne, Gascogne and Poitou. He afterwards added Ireland, which he subdued in 1172. This island, which had never been con- quered, either by the Romans, or the barbarians who had deso- lated Europe, was, at that time, divided into five principal sovereignties, viz. Munster, Ulster, Connaught, Leinsier, and Meath, whose several chiefs all assumed the title of Kings. One of these princes enjoyed the dignity of monarch of the island ; but he had neither authority sufficient to secure inter- nal tranquillity, nor power enough to repel with success the attacks of enemies from without. It was this state of weakness that induced Henry to attempt the conquest of the island. He obtained the sanction of Pope Adrian IV., by a bull in 1155, and undertook, in a formal engagement, to subject the Irish to the jurisdiction of the Holy See, and the ipayment of Peier^s pent ;.^^ The expulsion of Dermot, king of Leinsier, who had rendered himself odious by his pride and his tyranny, furnished Henry with a pretext for sending troops into that island, to assist the dethroned prince in recovering his dominions. The success oi the Englit^li, and the victories which they gained over Roderic, King of Connaught, who at that time was chief monarch of the island, determined Henry to undertake, in person, an expedition into Ireland (in October 1172.) He soon reduced the provinces of Leinster and Munster to submission ; and after having corx- PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 149 siructed several forts, and nominatea a viceroy and other crown ofticers, he took his departure without completing the conquest 01 the jsland. Roderic, King of Connaught, submitted in 1175 ; but It was not till the reign of Queen Elizabeth that the entire reduction of Ireland was accomplished. Tn England, the rashness and rapacity of John, son of Henry 11. occasioned a mighty revolution in the government. The discontented nobles, with the Archbishop of Canterbury at their head, joined in a league against the King. Pope Innocent III. grmally deposed him, made over his kingdom to the Crown of 1- ranee, and proclaimed a crusade against him in every coun- try of Europe. John obtained an accommodation with the I'ope, and in order to secure his protection, he consented to be- come a vassal of the Church, both for England and Ireland ; engaging to pay his Holiness, besides Peter's pence, an annual tribute of a thousand marks. But all in vain ; the nobles per sisted in their revolt, and forced the King to grant them the grand charter of Magna Charta, by which he and his succes- sors were for ever deprived of the power of exacting subsidies without the counsel and advice of Parliament ; which did not then include the Commons. He granted to the city of London, and to all cities and burghs in the kingdom, a renewal of their ancient liberties and privileges, and the right of not bein^r taxed except with the advice and consent of the common coun" cil. Moreover, the lives and properties of the citizens were secured by this charter; one clause of which expressly pro- vided, that no subject could be either arrested, imprisoned, dis- possessed of his fortune, or deprived of his life, except by a legal sentence of his peers, conform to the ancient law of the country. This charter, which was renewed in various subse- quent reigns, forms, at this day, the basis of the Encrlish Constitution. ° King John, meantime, rebelled against this charter, and caused it to be rescinded by Pope Innocent III., who even is- sued a bull of excommunication against the barons ; but they far from being disconcerted or intimidated, made an offer of their crown to Louis, son of Philip Augustus King of France This prince repaired to England, and there received the fealty and homage of the grandees and the nation. John, abandoned by all his subjects, attempted to take refuge in Scotland ; but he died in his flight at the castle of Newark. His death made a sudden change in the minds and sentiments of the English. The barons forsook the standard of the French prince, and rallied round ihat of young Henry, son of King John, whose long and unfortunate reign was a succession of troubles aud ]3# 160 CHAPTKR V. Mitestino wars. Edwiinl I., won imd Hnrccssor of Henry ITI., as (li'itM'iiiincil iu)(l ooiinigooiis us his fnilicr hud hi'oii \vh l(in;^s. Althonj,>h ihey had been vassals nnd Irihntaries of the knipfs of Knyhmd, ihey exercised, neverlheh'ss, the rights of sovereignty in their own connlry. Leweilyii, prince of Wales, haviiij,' e;> ponsed the cause of the insnri"> (liJH'J;) ami in a battle foii;;ht near tln> Mennn, licwellyn was defeatod and slain, with two thousand of his followers. David, his bro- ther and successor, met with a fat(> still more melancholy. Hav- injjf boon taU«M» prisoner by Kdward, ho was condeimied to death, and executed like a traitor (l'J8.'l) The territory of Wales was atinexed to the crown ; the kiny' created his (ddest son lidward, Prince of Wales; a title which has since been borne by the eldest sons of the kinf;:s of Kntjland. At this period, the kinj^doms of the North presented, in pen- eral, little else than a spectacle of horror and carnage. The warlike and ferocious temper of the Novlhcrn nations, the want of fixed and specilic laws in the succession of their kinpfs,*' j>avo rise to innnmenible factions, cncourajred insolence, and foment- ed troubles and intestine wars. An extrnvasant and supersti- tious devotion, by loadin«T the church with wealth, aggravated still more the evils with which these kin«idoma were distracted. The bishops and the new metropolitans,'" enriched at the ex- pense of the crown-lands, and rendered bold by their power, nnd the strength of their castles, domineered in the senate and the assemblies of the states, and neglected no opportunity of encroaching on the sovereign's authority. They obtained, by compulsion, the introduction of tithes, and the immunity of the ecclesiastics ; and thus more and more increased and cemented the sacerdotal power.-*^ This state of trouble and internal com- motion tended to abate that ardour for maritime incursiona which had so long agitated the Scandinavian nations. It did r.ol. however, prevent the kings of Denmark and Sweden from und'Htaking, from time to time, expeditions by sea, under the nane of Crusades, for the conversion of the Pagan nations of he North, whose territories they were ambitious to conqner. - The Siayians, who inhabited the coasts of the Baltic, were tlicti constantly committing piracies, in imitation of the ancient PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074—1300. 101 wnnt <;nvo Norrnans, plundormg and ravnping iho provinces and islands ot Uenrnark. Valdomar I., wishinff to put an end to these de- vasliilioi.y, and ibirblin^r moreover for tho glory of converiinfr to Uirislianity ihose nations against whom all the efTorls of the Oermans had failed, allacked them at different times with his numerous flotillas. Jl,. i„ok and j,illaged several of their towns, r.'w.ol". ■!"'"'"' "'"* (>''"<"i'lz or CJariz, in the isle of Kugen (llbH.) Julin, now called Wollin, and Stettin, two seaports in ^^omerama (1175-6.) lie made the princes of Rugen his vas- jals and tributaries, and is generally regarded as the founder of l)antzic (1105,) which originally was merely a fort constructed by the Danes. Canute VI., son and successor of Valdemar 1., followed the example of his father; he reduced the princes of Pomurania (1183) and Me.-ldenhurg (118«,) and the Counts of bchwenii (1201,) to a state of dependence; he made himself master of Hiimburg and Lubec, and subdued the whole of Hol- stein Valdemar II. assumed the title of King of the Slavians, and Lord of Nordaldu/fria. He added Lauenburg, a part of Prussia, Esihonia, and the Isle of Oescl, to the conquests of his predecessors, and became the founder of the cities of Stralsund and Kcvel (1209 and 1222.) This prince, master of nearly the whole southern coast of the Kaltic, and raised to the summit of prosperity by the superiority of his commercial and maritime power, commanded for a time the attention of all Europe ; but an unforeseen event eclipsed his glory, and deprived him of all the advantages of his victories and his conquests. Henry, Count of Schwerin,one of the vas- sals of Valdemar, wishing to avenge an outrage which he pre- tended to have received from him, seized that prince by surprise (1223,) and detained him for three years prisoner in the castle ofSchwerin. This circumstance aroused the courage of the oiher vanquished nations, who instantly took to arms. Adol- phus, Count of Schauenburg, penetrated into Holstein, and subdued the princes of Mecklenburg and Pomerania, with the cities of Hamburg and Lubec. Valdemar, restored to liberty, made several efforts to reconquer his revolted provinces ; but a powerful confederacy being formed against him, he was defeat- ed in a battle fought (1227,) at Bornhoevet, near Segeberg, in Holstein. Of all his conquests, he retained only the Isle of Rugen, Esthonia, and the town of Revel, which, in course of time, were lost or abandtmed by his successors. Sweden, which had been governed in succession by the dy- nasties of Slenkil, Swerkar, and Si. Eric, was long a prey to internal dissensions- which arnspi nrinf Innllir frnm tUo t"'f» rtif ferent forms of worship professed and authorized by the state. 153 CHAPTBR V. 1 I lift 11 f ' - The whole nation, divided in their religious sentiments, §aw themselves arranged into two factions, and under two reigning families, mutually hating and exasperated against each other, for nearly half a century. Two, and sometimes more, princes were seen reigning at once from 1080 till 1133, when the throne began to be occupied ultimately by the descendants of Sweyn and St. Eric. During all this time, violence usurped the place of right, and the crown of Sweden was more than once the prize of assassination and treason. In the midst of these intestine disorders, we find the Swedes even attempting foreign conquests. To these they were insti- gated both by the genius of the age, which encouraged crusades and military missions, as well as by the desire of avenging the piracies which the Finlanders, and other Pagan tribes of the North, committed from time to time on the coasts of Sweden. St. Eric became at once the apostle and the conqueror of Fin- land (1157;) he established also a Swedish colony in Nyland, and subdued the provinces of Helsingland ami Jampiland. Charles I., son of Swerkar, united the kingdom of Gothland to Sweden, and was the first that took the title of these two king- doms. Eric, surnamed Laspe, or the Lisper, restimed the cru- sading system of warfare ; and, in the character of a missionary, conquered Tavastland and the eastern part of Bothnia. Birger, a prince of the Folkungian dynasty, who ascended the throne of Sweden in 1250, conquered, under the same pretext, Carelia and Savolax, and fortified Viburg. He compelled the inhabit- ants of these countries to embrace the Christian religion (1293,) and annexed them to Finland. We find, also, several of the Swedish kings undertaking missio./ary expeditions against their Pagan neighbours the Esthonians, who, from time to time, com- mitted dreadful ravages on the coasts of Sweden. These ex- peditions, which were always esteemed sacred, served as an excuse for the sovereigns of the North in avoiding ihe crusades to the Holy Land, in which they took no part.-''* Prussia and the Prussians are totally unknown in history be- fore the end of the tenth century .'^'^ The author of the Life of St. Adelbert of Prague, who suffered martyrdom in Prussia in the reign of Otho III., is the first that mentions them under this new name (997.) Two hundred yearsafter, the Abbe of Oliva, surnamed the Christian, became the apostle of the Prussians, and was appointed by Pope Innocent III. the first bishop ol Prussia (1215.) This idolatrous nation, haughty and indepen- dent, and attached to the reigning superstition, having repulsed all the efforts that were repeatedly made to convert them to Christianity, Pops Honorius III., in the true spirit of his age, PERIOD IV. A. D. 1074 1300. 152 nublished a Crusado against them (1218,) to proselytite them by lorce. Armies of crusaders were poured into Prussia, and overran the whole country with fire and sword. The Prussians took cruel vengeance on the Polonese of Masovia, who had made common cause against them with the crusaders of the Jiast. At length, Conrad, duke of Masovia, finding himself too weak to withstand the fury of the Prussians, called in the Tea- tonic knights to his aid ; and, anxious to secure for ever the as- sistance and protection of that order, he made them a gra.U of the territory of Culm; and moreover, promised them whatever lands he might conquer from the common enemy (1226.) This contract having been sanctioned by the Emperor Frederic II., the knights speedily came into possession of their new domin- ions (1230.) They extended themselves by degrees over all Prussia, after a long and murderous war, which they had car- ried on against the idolatrous natives. That country, which had been peopled by numerous German colonics in succession, did not submit to the yoke of the Teutonic order, until the greater part of its ancient inhabitants had been destroyed. The Knights took care to confirm their authority and their religion in Prussia, bv constructing cities and forts, and foundin^"" '^"'^ '^' ^^'' ^" 'h« CHAPTER VI. PERIOD V. From Pope Boniface VIIL to the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, a. d. 1300— 1453. xv„t^ ^^K '•°"^™f'^'^f'^ent of this period, the Pontifical power the til Of m";'^ °V'l^?.?^1!J'^- '^^^ P°P^^ P^«"d'y a^^umed tv h 7 -"''u °^ '^' ^^r^'^ ' ^"d ^«^^^'^d 'h«t their author- ity, by divine right, comprehended every other, both snirtual and temporal Boniface VIIL went even^ farth^- t^an h^il pre no hinre^: .h"'- ^'"''^'''^ '' ^'"^' '^' -^•^'- P°-e was noth ng else than a mere emanation from the ecclesiastical • bellf Id'f ' T''' '^l^' P°P^ -^^ --" 'n«de - art le o! belief and founcieu on the sacred scriptures. " God has in- rusted," said he, " to St. Peter and his successors, tvvo swords the one spiritual, and the other • mporal. The former cin be exercsod by the church alone; the other, by the secular ponces the PonrThr/l'l? '^r^- '"? "^ submission to the^v^ ol nate to^the f^Jl 'I'^.f ''' '^'^ ^f'"P"^'^' '^'^'^^ ^^ «"bordi. judge the spiritLl power/ p/nally.-^dd^cUel^r,^^^^^^^^ 166 CHAPTER VI. indispensable to solvation, that every human creature be subject to the Pope of Rome." This same Pope published the first Jubilee (1300,) with plenary indulgence for all who should visit the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome. An immense crowd from all parts of Christendom flocked to this capital of the Western world, and filled its treasury with their pious contributions.* The spiritual power of the Popes, and their jurisdiction over the clerg-y, was moreover increased every day, by means of dispensations and appeals, which had multiplied exceedingly since the introduction of the Decretals of Gregory IX. They disposed, in the most absolute manner, of the dignities and be- nefices of the Church, and imposed taxes at their pleasure on dU the clergy in Christendom. Collectors or treasurers wero established by them, who superintended the levying of the dues they had found means to exact, under a multitude of dif- ferent denominations. These collectors were empowered, by means of ecclesiastical censure, to proceed against those who should refuse to pay. They were supported by the authority of the legates who resided in the ecclesiastical provinces, and seized with avidity every occasion to extend the usurpation of the Pope. Moreover, in support of these legates appeared a vast number of Religious and Mendicant Orders, founded in those ages of ignorance ; besides legions of monka dispersed over all the states of Christendom. Nothing is more remarkable than the influence of the papal authority over the temporalities of princes. We find them in- terfering in all their quarrels — addressing their commands to all without distinction — enjoining some to lay down their arms— receiving others under their protection — rescinding and annulling their acts and proceedings — summoning them to their court, and acting as arbiters in their disputes. The history of the Popes is the history of all Europe. They assumed the privilege of legitimating the sons of kings, in order to qualify them for the succession ; they forbade sovereigns to tax the clergy; they claimed a feudal superiority over all, and exer- cised it over a very great number ; they conferred royalty on those who were ambitious of power ; they released subjects from their oath of allegiance ; dethroned sovereigns at their pleasure ; and laid kingdoms and empires under interdict, to avenge their own quarrels. We find them disposing of the states of excommunicated princes, as well as those of heretics and their followers ; of islands and kingdoms newly discovered ; of the property of infidels or schismatics ; and even of Catholics who refused to bow before the insolent tyranny of the Popes.' PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. im tiiOiicS Thus, It IS obvious that the Court of Rome, at the time of which we speak, enjoyed a conspicuous preponderance in the political svstem of Ii.i,rope. But in the ordinary course of human af. fairs, this power, vast and formidable as it was, began, from the fourteenth century, gradually to diminish. The mightiest em- pires have their appointed term ; and the highest stage of their elevation is often the first step of their decline. Kings, be- coming more and more enlightened as to their true interests, learned to support the rights and the majesty of their crowns, against the encroachments of the Popes. Those who were vassals and tributaries of the Holy See, gradually shook off the yoke ; even the clergy, who groaned under the weight of this spiritual despotism, joined the secular princes in repressin^r these abuses, and restraining within proper bounds a power which was making incessant encroachments on their just prerogatives. Among the causes which operated the downfall of tli. Pon^ tifical power, may be ranked the excess of the power itself and the abuses of it made by the Popes. By issuing too often their anathemas and interdicts, they rendered them noseless and contemptible ; and by their haughty treatment of the greatest princes, they learned to become inflexible and boundless in their own pretensions. An instance of this may be recorded, in the famous dispute which arose between Boniface VIII. and Philip the Fair, King of France. Not content with constitutino- him- self judge between the King and his vassal the Count of°Flan- ders, that Pontiff maintained, that the King could not exact subsidies from the clergy without his permission ; and that the eight ot Regale (or the revenues of vacant bishoprics) which the Crown enjoyed, was an abuse which should not be tolera- ted.- He treated as a piece of insanity the prohibition of Philip against exporting either gold or silver out of the king- lorn ; and sent an order to all the prelates in France to repair >n person to Rome on the 1st of November, there to advise measures for correcting the King and reforming the State. He declared, formally, that the King was subject to the Pope, as well in temporal as spiritual matters ; and that it was a fool- (sh persuasion to suppose that the King had no superior on earth, and was not dependent on the supreme Pontiff. Philip ordered the papal bull which contained these ex- travagant assertions to be burnt , he forbade his ecclesiastics to leave the realm ; and having twice assembled the States-Ge- neral of the kingdom (1302—3,) he adopted, with their advice and approbation, measures against these dangerous pretensions of the Court of Rome. The Three Estates, who appeared for the first time in these Assemblies, declared themselves strongly 16S CHAPTER VI. IlJ-Io. in favour of the King, and the independence of the crown. In consequence, the excotnnumication which the Pope had threat- ened against the King proved ineffectual. Philip made his appeal to a future assembly, to which the three orders of the Siutr adhered.'' The Emperor Louis of Bavaria, a prince of superior merit, having incurred the censures of the Church for defending the rights and prerogatives of liis crown, could not obtain absolu- tion, notwithstanding the most humiliating condescensions, and the offer which he made to resign the Imperial dignity, and surrender himself, his crown and his property, to the discretion of the Pope. Ho was loaded with curses and anathemas, after a scries of various proceedings which had been instituted against him. The bull of Pope Clement VI., on this occasion, far surpassed all those of his predecessors. " May God (said he, in speaking of the Emperor) smile him with madness and disease; may heaven crush him with its thunderbolts; may the wrath of God, and that of St. Peter and St. Paul, fall on him in this world and the next ; may the whole universe com- bine against him ; may the earth swallow him up alive; may his name perish in the first generation, and his memory disap- pear from the earih ; may all the elements conspire against him ; may his children, delivered into the hands of his enemies, be massacred before the eyes of their father." The indignity of i. ach proceedings roused the allenlion of the princes and states of the Empire ; and on the represcntauon of the Electo- ral College, they thought proper to chei-lc these boundless pre- tensions of the Popes, by a decree which was passed at the Diet of Frankfo t in 1338. This decree, regarded as the fundamen- tal law of the Empire, declared, in substance, that the Imperial dignity held only of God ; that he whom the Electors had chosen emperor by a plurality of suffrages, was, in virtue of that election, a true king and emperor, and needed neither confirma- tion nor coronation from the hands of the Pope ; and that all persons who should maintain the contrary, should be treated as guilty of high treason. Among other events prejudicial to the authority of the Popes, one was, the translation of the Pontifical See from Rome to Avignon. Clement V., archbishop of Bordeaux, having been advanced to the papacy (1305,) instead of repairing to Rome, had his coronation celebrated at Lyons; and thence he trans- ferred his residence to Avignon (1309,) out of complaisance to Philip the Fair, to whom he owed his elevation. The suc- cessors of this Pope continued their court at Avignon until inn?, whsr! Gregory XI again removed the See to Rome. PERIOD V. A. D. 1300 — 1453. 169 This sojourn at Avignon tended to Popes, and diminish the respect an weaken the Authority of the veneration which till ther. had been paid them. The prevailing opinion beyond the Alp adniilied no other city than that of Konie Jor the true capital o St. Peter ; and they despised the Popes of Avignon as aliens who, besides, were there surrounded with powerful princes, to whose caprice they were often obliged to yield, and to make condescensions prejudicial to the authority they had usurped This circumstance, joined to the lapse of nearly seventy years caused the residence at Avignon to be stigmatized by the Italians under the name of the Babylonish Captivity. It occasioned aisc the diminution of the papal authority at Rome, and in the Ec clesiastical States. The Italians, no longer restrained by the presence of the sovereign pontiffs, yielded but a reluctant obe- dience to their representatives ; while the remembrance of theit ancient republicanism induced them to lend a docile ear to those who preached up insurrection and revolt. The historian Rienzi informs us, that one Nicolas Gabrini, a man of great eloquence, and whose audacity was equal to his ambition, took advantage of these republican propensities of the Romans, to constitute himself master of the city, under the popular title of Tribune (1347.) He projected the scheme of a new government, called the Good Estate, which lie pretended would obtain the accepta- tion of all the princes and republics of Italy ; but the despotic power which he exercised over the citizens, whose liberator and lawgiver he affected to be, soon reduced him to his original in- significance; and the city of Rome again assumed its ancient form of government. Meantime the Popes did not recover their former authority ; most of the cities and slates of the Ecclesi- astical dominions, after having been long a prey to faction and discord, fell under the power of the nobles, who made an easy conquest of them ; scarcely leaving to the Pope a vestige of the soveroign authority. It required all the insidious p°olicy of Alexander VI., and the vigilant activity of Julius II., to repair the injury which the territorial influence of the PontifTs had suf- fered from their residence at Avignon. Another circumstance that contributed to humble the papal authority, was the schisms which rent the Church, towards the end of the fourteenth, and beginning of the fifteer.th century. Gregory XL, who had abandoned Avignon for Rome, being dead (1378,) the Italians elected a Pope of their own nation, who took the name of Urban VI., and fixed his residence at Rome. Ihe French cardinals, on the other hand, declared in favour ol the Carflinal Rolirrt nfrjpppvn bK.'^^.'n K— th~ ---. -r/~ii .j-jj I - - -J- — --- 'fi-i \^\! nt,■J^^n uy uic uaniu ui v^icmen Vll., who fixed his capital at Avignon. The whole of Chris voi^. I. 15 170 CJIAPTKU VI. la^ iMk IimmIoiu whs ilividod lu'iwrcn llicffc two Popps ; nnd this gmnd ^'^•l»i^m coiilimuHl IVmiu II17S lill 1117. At liomo, Urimn Vf. WHS .siii'C('('(lt'(l by Unulliicc 1 X., linim'ciil VII., iitul (Jrcf^dfy Xll.; wliilo ('It'iiK'iit VII. 1)11(1 Hcnt'dii-i XIII. I(tr his Hiu-ccssor nl Avij^ium. In order lo UM'minulo ihis srhism, ovcry c.xpcdiont was trii'd \o i'ldiu c the rivivl I'uprs lo ^'wv in llicir idxiifiuion ; hill liolh h!ivini>: ivftist'd, .scvoral oI'iIr' ('nrdiimls withdraw llioir nllogii«iu'o, uinl assomhiod n oouiicil «l I'isu (M09,) wIkmo tlio iwo rcrnicloi V l'(»nos woro dcpost'd, and lli(< pcuiliiital dij^nily ronCcrrod on .MoNandi'f V., who whn alU'i'ward.s siicoct'dcd hy John XXlll. 'Phis rioclion of llit> romuMJ only Iciidod to iii- i'Voas(» ilio schism. Instead of two Popes, llicro arose throe; and if liis Pisan Holiness .oained partisans, the Popes of Koine and Avii>non i-ontriv(-d also lo inaiiilain eaeh a niiinher of sup- lortery. All those Poptvs, wisliiniv lo maintain their rank and liiinily with thai spleiidonr and maonilii-ence which their pre- (leoessor.s had displayed before the schism, set themselves to invent now means of »»ppressini;- the people ; hence the inimenso number of ahnses and exactions, which snbverleil the discipline of the chnrch, anil roused tile c>xasperaled nations against the court of Kome. A new CJeneral (\nincil was convoked at (■onsiance (lUl) by order i>f the V'mpiM'or Siiiismniul ; and ii was there that the maxim of the unity and pennanency ol't\nincils was established, as well as of its snperit>rity over tlie Pope, in all that pertains lo matters of faith, lo the extirpation o( schism, and the r(>for- mation of the church both in its supreme head, and in its subor- dinate members. The orand schism was hen' terminaieil by the abdication of the Koman ponlitf, and the deposition of those of Pisa and .Vvii^non. It was this fanmus council tluil yave iheir ticcision against .lohn Huss. the K'efonner of Btdiemia, and a follower of the celebrated Wicklilf. His doctrines were condemned, and he himself burnt ai Constance; as was .leromo oi I'nijiue, one of bis most zealous partisans. As to the mea- sures that were taken at Constance for eflectini;- liie reformation of the Cluuvh. they practically ended in nolhintr. As their nu\in object was to refcu'su tlie court o\ Pome, by suppressincf or liinitino- the new prero_s;atives which t!ie Pipes lor sevtM'al centuries had usurped, and which referred, amo.iji: other tb.ings, to the subject o( benetices aiul pecuniary exactions, all those who had an interest in maintaining these abuses, instantly set themselves to doteal l!u» proposed ameiulmonts. and elude re- dress. The (\nuuMl had formed a committee, composed of the deputies of diirereiit nations, to advise means for accomplishinjj this roforination, whicii the whole world so ardently desired. PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 171 vr. This cnmmillee, known by the niunc of the Cnllfige of Reformers. had nireiuly math! considcrahh! |)io^',resH in their task, when n question was .started, Whether it was pr<)|)(T to proceed to any reformation without the consent and co-operaliftri of the visible Ilead of the Church ? It was carried in the negative, through the inlri^.riies of the cardinals; and, lieforc; they could accotnplish this salutary work of reformation, the (dection of a new Pope had taken place (1417.) Tlie dioico fell on Otho de Colonna, who assumed the name of Martin V., and in conformity with a pievious decision of the council, he then laid before them a scheme of reform. This proceeding liaving been disapproved l)y the different nations of Europe, the whole matter was remitted to the next council ; and in ihe meanwhile, they did nothing more than pass some concordats, with the new Pope, as to what steps they sho'.iM lake until the decision of the ap- proaching council. This new council, which was assembled at Basle (1431) by Martin V., resumed the suspended work of reformation. The former decrees, that a General Council was superior to the Pope, and could not bo dissolved or prorogued except by their own free consent, were here renewed ; and the greater part of the reserves, reversions, annals, and other exactions of the Popes, were regularly abolished. The liberty of appeals to the Court of Rome, was also 'circumscribed. Kugenius IV., successor to Martin V., alarmed at the destruction thus aimed at his author- ity, twice proclaimed the dissolution of the Council. The first dissolution, which occurred on the 17th of December 14131, was revoked, at the urgent application of the Emperor Sigismund, by a bull of the same Pope, issued on the l/jlh of December 1433. In this he acknowledged the validity of the Council, and annulled all that he had formerly done to invalidate its au- thority. The second dissolution took phice on the 1st of Octo- ber 1437. Eugenius then transferred the Council to Ferrara, and from Ferrara to Florence, on pretext of his negotiating a union with the Greek church. This conduct of the Pope "oc- casioned a new schism. The prelates who remained at Basle, instituted a procedure against hin\ ; they first suspended him for contumacy, and finally deposed him. Amadous VIII., Ex- duke of Saxony, was elected in his place, under the name ot Felix v., and recognised by all the partisans of the Council as the legitimate Pope. This latter schism lasted ten years. Fe- lix V. at length gave in his demission ; and the Council, which hud withdrawn from Basle to Lausanne, terminated its siltinas in 1449. ^ The French nation adopted several of the d^-iees of the 172 CHAPTER VI. Council of Basle in the famous Pragmatic Sanction, which Charles VII. caused to be drawn up at Bourges (1438;) and whose stipulations served as the basis of what is called the Liberties of the Gallican Church. The example of the French was speedily followed by the Germans, who acceded to these decrees, at the Diet of Mayence in 1439. The Court of Rome at length regained a part of those honourable and lucrative rights of which the Council of Basle had deprived them, by the con- cordats which the Germans concluded (1448) with Nicholas V., and the French (1516) with Leo X. The Councils of which we have now spoken, tended materially to limit the exorbitant power of the Roman pontiffs, by giving sanction to the princi- ple which established the superiority of General Councils over the Popes. This maxim put a check to the enterprising ambi- tion of the Court of Rome ; and kings availed themselves of it to recover by degrees the prerogatives of their crowns. The Popes, moreover, sensible of their weakness, and of the need they had for the protection of the sovereigns, learned to treat them with more attention and respect. At length the new light which began to dawn about the four- teenth century, hastened on the progress of this revolution, by gradually dissipating the darkness of superstition into which the nations of Europe were almost universally sunk. In the midst of the distractions which agitated the Empire and the Church, and during the papal schism, several learned and in- trepid men made their appearance, who, while investigating the origin and abuse of the new power of the Popes, had the courage to revive the doctrine of the ancient canons, to enlighten the minds of sovereigns as to their true rights, and to examine with care into the justs limits of the sacerdotal authority. Among the first of these reformers was John of Paris, a famous Do- minican, who undertook the defence of Philip the Fair, King of France, against Pope Boniface VIII. His example was follow- ed by the celebrated poet Dante AUghieri, who took the part of the Emperor Louis of Bavaria against the Court of Rome. Mar- silo de Padua, John de Janduno, William Ockam, Leopold de Babenberg, &c. marched in the track of the Italian poet -, and among the crowd of writers that signalized themselves after the grand schism, three French authors particularly distinguished themselves, Peter d'Ailly, Nicholas de Clemange, and John Gerson, whose writings met with general applause. Most of these literary productions, however, were characterized by bad taste. The philosophy of Aristotle, studied in Arabic transla- tions, and disfigured by scholastic .subtleties, reigned in all the scliools- im'iosed its fetters on the human inind» and nearl" es» PERIOD V. /. D. 1300—1453. 173 tmguished every vestige of useful knowledge. The belles let- tres were quite neglected, and as yet had shed no lustre on the sciences. Sometimes, however, genius broke with a transient splendour through the darkness of this moral horizon : and several extraordinary persons, despising the vain cavils of the schools began to study truth in the volume of nature, and to copy after the beautiful models of antiquity. Such was Roger Bacon (1294,) an Englishman, and a Franciscan friar, who has become so famous by his discoveries in chemistry and mechani- cal philosophy. Dante (1321,) nurtured in the spirit of the an- cients, was the first that undertook to refine the Italian lanaua^e into poetry, and gave it the polish of elegance and grace In his compositions. He was succeeded by two other celebrated authors, retrarca and Boccacio (1374-5.) The period of which we speak -ave birth to several new in- Zw ^ t P'^'l^ "''^'^' auxiliaries to men of genius, a.d tended to acce erate the progress of knowledge, lettefs, and arts. Among the principal of these may be mentiC.ed the invention ot writing paper, oil-painting, printing, gunpowder, and the ma- riners compass; to the effbcls of which, Europe, in a oreat measure, owes its civilization, and the new ofder of things which appeared m the fifteenth century ^ Before the invention of paper from linen, parchment was gen- erally used m Europe for the transcribing of books, or the draw- Lm' the e'."^ ' '"f • '^^"'^^ P^P"-' ^^'^^^h ^'- ^-^^ brought 5Z, r 'k""' ^"%^ P°"' """"'^^y ^'' 'he scarceness and rane fro/?' "''"^' J' ^"^'^''^ "PP^'^''' '^^' '^e invention of paper frorn linen, and the custom of using it in Europe is not of older date than the thirteenth century! The flmou 'MohI faucon acknow edges, that, in spite of all his researches, both in France and Italy, he could never find anv manuscript o char" ter written on our ordinary paper, oUier' than the year 1270 he time when St Louis died. The truth is, we know neithe the exact date of the invention of this sort of paper, nor the ame of the inventor.-' It is certain, however, that the manufacture of paper from cotton must have introduced that of paper f on linen; and the only question is, to determine at whaft^me the use of linen became so common in Europe, as to lead u To^up! pose they might convert its rags into paper. Tne cuh^aZ of hemp and flax being originally p.rJav io the v v-he m coin ries, It ,s probable that the firs!, auernpts at man ... paper of men rags vvere made in Germany, ..Kllhe countries aboS one T^ "^' ''"•'' """' '" ''"' ^""^''^'•" P^-'inces of Eut rope, ihe most ancient nmnulactory of paper Jrom Mmpp tn h» met wuh in Germany, was established at VureiXig (1390.) 15 ^ 174 CHAPTEll VI. \v ! ;'«i» The invention of oil-painting is generally ascribed to the two brothers Van-Eick, the younger of whom, known by the name of John of Bruges, had gained considerable celebrity about the end of the fourteenth century. There is, however, reason to believe that this invention is of an older date. There are two authors who have carried it back to the eleventh century, viz. Theophilus and Eraclius, whose works in manuscript have been preserved in the library at WolfTenbiittel, and in that of Trinity College, Cambridge ; and who speak of this art as already known in their times. According to them, all sorts of colours could be mixed up with linseed oil, and employed in painting; but they agree as to the inconvenience of applying this kind of painting to images or portraits, on account of the difficulty in drying colours mixed with oil. Admitting the credibility of these two authors, and the high antiquity of their v/orks, it would appear, nevertheless, that they made no great use of this invention ; whether it may be that painters preferred to retain their for- mer mode, or that the difficulty of drying oil colours had dis- couraged them. It is, however, too true, that the finest inven- tions have often languished in unmerited neglect, long before men had learned to reap any adequate advantage from them_. Were the Van-Eicks the first that practised this style of paint- ing ? Or did John of Bruges, the younger of the brothers, and who carried it to the highest degree of perfection, invent some mixture or composition for increasing the exsiccative qualities of linseed or nut oil ; especially with regard to colours not easily dried ? It belongs to connoisseurs and artists to examine these questions, as well as to decide whether the pictures, alleged to have been painted in oil-colours before the time of the Van- Eicks, were executed with any degree of perfection in that style of painting.*^ This invention totally changed the system and the principles of the art of painting. It gave birth to rules as to light and shade, and procured modern painters one advantage over the ancients, that of rendering their works much more durable. One of the most important inventions is that of printing; which was borrowed, it would appear, from the art of engraving on wood ; while this latter owes its origin to the moulding or imprinting of common cards, which seems to have suggested the first idea of it. The use of cards was borrowed from Italy ; though we find this custom established in Germany soon after the commencement of the fourteenth century, where card- makers formed a distinct trade, about four and twenty years be- fore the invention of printing. It i« probable that the iieimana were the first who designed models and proper casts for the im- PERIOD V. A. D. 1300 — 1453. 175 pression of cards.' The desire of gain, suggested to these card-makers the idea of engraving on wood, ufier the same manner, all kinds of figures or scenes from Sacred History, accompanied with legends, or narratives, intended to explain iheir meaning. It was from these legends, printed in single folios, and published also in the form of books, or rather of im- pressions from engravings on solid blocks of wood, that the art of typography took its origin.^ This wonderful art, to which Europe owes its astonishing progress in the sciences, consists of two distinct inventions, — that of the moveable types, and that of the font. The former belongs to John Gutenberg, a gentle- man of Mayence, who made his first attempt in moveable types at Strasburg, in 1436 ; the other, which is generally attributed to Peter Schceflfer of Gernsheim, took place at Mayence in 1452. Gutenberg resided at Strasburg, from 1424 till 1445. Being a noble senator of that city, he married a lady of rank ; and during the twenty years of his residence there, he cultivated all sorts of occult arts, especially that of printing. It was chiefly in re- ference to this latter art that he contracted an acquaintance with several of his wealthy fellow-citizens, one of whom, named Andrew Drizchn, having died, his heirs brought an action against Gutenberg on account of some claims which they laid to his charge. The magistrate ordered an inquiry to be instituted, the original copy of which, drawn up in 1439, was discovered by Schospflin (1745) in the archives of the city, and is still preserv- ed in the public library at Strasburg. According to this au- thentic document, it appears, that from the year 1436, there existed a printing-press at Strasburg, under the direction of Gutenburg, and in the house of Andrew Drizehn, his associate j that this press consisted of forms, that were fastened or locked by means of screws ; and that the types, either cut or engraved, which v/ere enclosed within these forms, were moveable.'' Gutenburg, after his return to Mayence, still continued his typographical labours. While there, he contracted an acquaint- ance with a new associate in the exercise of his art (1445) — the famous John Faust, a citizen of Mayence. This second alliance coniinued only five j^ears ; and it is within this interval, as is generally supposed, that the invention of the font, or casting of types, should be placed ; as well as that of the die and the mould or matrix, by the help of which the art of typography was brought nearly to its present state of perfection.'" Some disputes, which had arisen between these new associates, having dissolved their partnership, Faust obtained the press of Gutenberg, with all its printing apparatus, which had fallen to him by sequestration. Gutenberg, however fitted up another press, and continued to 176 CttAfTER Vl. print till the time of his death, in 1468. Not one of the hooku which issued from the press of this celebrated man, either at Stiasburg or Mayence, bears the name of the inventor, or the date of the impression ; whether it was that Gutenberg made a secret of his invention, or that the prejudices at tiie cast to which he belonged prevented him from boasting of his discovery. " Faust, on the contrary, no sooner saw himself master of Guten- berg's presses, than he became ambitious of notoriety, an ex- ample of which he gave by prefixing his name and that of Peter Schoeffer to the famous Psalter, which they published in 1457. The arts of which we have just spoken, in all probability, suggested the idea of engraving on copper, of which we can discover certain traces towards the middle of the fifteenth cen- tury. The honour of this invention is generally ascribed to a goldsmith of Florence, named Maso Finiguerra, who is supposed to have made this discovery about the year 1460, while engrav- ing figures on silver plate. Baccio Baldini, another Florentine, Andrew Montegna, and Mark Antony Raimondi, both Italians, followed in the steps of Finiguerra, and brought this art to a high degree of perfection. There is, however, some cause to doubt whether Finiguerra was exactly the first to whom the idea of this sort of engraving occurred ; since, in difl^erent cabi- nets in Europe, we find specimens of engraving on copper, of a date earlier than what has been assigned to Finiguerra. If, however, the glory of this invention belongs in reality to the Italians, it is quite certain that the art of engraving on copper, as well as on wood, was cultivated from its infancy, and brought to perfection, in Germany. The first native engravers in that country who are known, either by their names or their signa- tures, in the fifteenth century, were Martin Schosn, a painter and engraver at Colmar, where he died in 1486 ; the two Israels Von Mecheln, father and son, who resided at Bockholt, in West- phalia ; and Michael Wolgemuth of Nuremberg, the master of the celebrated Albert Durer, who made so conspicuous a figure about the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century. Next to the invention of printing, there is no other that so much arrests our attention as that of gunpowder, which, by in- troducing artillery, and a new method of fortifying, attacking, and defending cities, wrought a complete change in the whole an and tactics of war. This invention comprises several disco- veries which it is necessary to distinguish from each other. 1 The discovery of nitre, the principal ingredient in gunpowder, and the cause of its detonation. 2. The mixture of nitre with sulphur and charcoal, which, properly speaking, forms the in- PERIOD V. A. D. 1300 — 1453. 177 n vcntion of gunpowder. 3. The application of powder to nre- works. 4. Its employment as an agent or propelling power for throwing stones, bullets, or other heavy and combustible bodies. 5. Its employment in springing mines, and destroying fortifications. AH these discoveries belong to different epochs. The know ledge of saltpetre or nitre, and its explosive properties, called detonation, is very ancient. Most probably it was brought to us from the East (India or China,) where saltpetre is found in a natural state of preparation. It is not less probable that the nations of the East were acquainted with the composition of gunpowder before the Europeans, and that it was the Arabs who first introduced the use of it into Europe. The celebrated Roger Bacon, an English monk or friar of the thirteenth century, was acquainted with the composition of powder, and its employment in fire-works and public festivities ; and according to all appear- ances, he obtained this information from the Arabic authors, who excelled in their skill of the chemical sciences. The em- ployment of gunpowder in Europe as an agent for throwing balls and stones, is ascertained to have been about the commencement of the fourteenth century ; and it was the Arabs who first avail- ed themselves of its advantages in their wars against the Span- iards. From Spain the use of gunpowder and artillery passed to France, and thence it gradually extended over the other States of Europe. As to the application of powder to mines, and the destruction of fortified works, it does not appear to have been in practice before the end of the fifteenth cen- tury. ^^ The introduction of bombs and mortars seems to have been of an earlier date (1467.) The invention of these in Europe, is attributed to Sigismund Pandolph Malatesta, Prince of Rimini ; but in France they were not in use till about the reign of Louis XIII. Muskets and matchlocks began to be in- troduced early in the fifteenth century. They were without spring-locks till 1517, when for the first lime muskets and pis- tols with spring-locks were manufactured at Nuremberg. Several circumstances tended to check the progress of fire- arms and the improvement of artillery. Custoni made most people prefer their ancient engines of war ; the construction of cannons was but imperfect ;'•' the manufacture of gunpowder bad ; and there was a very general aversion to the newly in- vented arms, as contrary to humanity, and calculated to extin- guish military bravery. Above all, the knij^hts, whose science WPS rendered completely useless by the introduction of fire- arms, set themselves with all their might to oppose this invention. From what we have just said it is obvious, that the common 178 CHAPTER VI. tradition which ascribes the invention of gunpowder to a certain monk, named Berthoid Schwartz, merits no credit whatever. This tradition is founded on mere hearsay ; and no writers agree as to the name, the country, or the circumstances of this pretended inventor ; nor as to the time urnl place when he made this extraordinary discovery. Lastly, the mariner's compass, so essential to the art of navigation, was likewise the produc- tion of the barbarous ages to which we now refer. The ancients were aware of the property of the magnet to attract iron ; but its direction towards the pole, and the manner of communica- ting its magnetic virtues to iron and steel, were unknown even to all those nations of antiquity who were renowned for their navigation and commerce. This discovery is usually attributed to a citizen of Amalfi, named Flavio Gioia, who is said to have lived about the beginning of the fourteenth century. This tra dition, ancient though it be, cannot be admitted, because we have incontestable evidence that, before this period, the polarity of the loadstone and the magnetic needle were known in Europe ; and that, from the commencement of the thirteenth century, the Provencal mariners made use of the compass in navigation. ^* It must be confessed, however, that we can neither point out the original author of this valuable discovery, nor the true time when it was made. All that can be well ascertained is, that the mariner's compass was rectified by degrees ; and that the English had no small share in these corrections. It is to this polar virtue or quality of the loadstone, and the magnetic needle, that we owe the astonishing progress of commerce and navigation in Europe, from the end of the fifteenth century. These were already very considerable at the time of which we speak, although navigation was as yet confined to the Mediter- ranean, the Baltic, and the shores of the Indian ocean. The cities of Italy, the Hanseatic towns, and those of the Low Countries; engrossed, at that time, the principal commerce of Europe. The Venetians, the Genoese, and the Florentines, were masters of the Levant. The Genoese had more espe- cially the command of the Black Sea, while the Venetians laid claim exclusively to the commerce of India and the East, which they carried on through the ports of Egypt and Syria. This rivalry in trade embroiled these two republics in frequent dis- putes, and involved them in long and sanguinary wars. The result turned in favour of the Venetians, who found means to maintain the empire of the Mediterranean against the Genoese. The manufactories of silk, after having passed from Grtece into Sicily, and from Sicily into the other parts of Italy, at length fixed their principal residence at Venice. This city pehiod v. a. d. 1300 — 1453. 179 14 came at length to furnish the greater part of Kurope with silk mercery, and the productions of Arabia and India. The Italian merchants, commonly known by the name of Lombards, ex- tended their traffic through all the different states of Europe. Favoured by the privileges and immunities which various sovereigns had granted them, they soon became masters of the commerce and the current money of every country where they established themselves ; and, in all probability, they were the first that adopted the practice of Letters or Bills of Exchange, of which we may discover traces towards the middle of the thirteenth century. The Hanseatic League, which the maritime cities on the Baltic had formed in the thirteenth century, for the protection of their commerce against pirates and brigands, gained very considerable accessions of strength in the following century, and even became a very formidable maritime power. A great iiumber of the commercial cities of the Empire, from the Scheld and the isles of Zealand, to the confines of Livonia, entered successively into this League ; and many towns in the interior, in order to enjoy their protection, solicited the favour of being admitted under its flag. The first public act of a general con° federation among these cities, was drawn up at the assembly of their deputies, held at Cologne, in 1364. The whole of the allied towns were subdivided into quarters or circles; the most ancient of which were the Venedian quarter, containing the southern and eastern coasts of the Baltic; the Westphalian, for the towns on the western side ; and the Saxon, compre- hending the inland and intermediate towns. A fourth circle or quarter was afterwards added, that of the cities of Prussia and Livonia. The boundaries of these different circles and their capital towns varied from time to time. The general assem- blies of the League were held regularly every three years, in the city of Lubec, which was considered as the capital of the whole League ; while each of the three or four circles had also their particular or provincial assemblies. The most flourishing epoch of this League was about the end of the fourteenth and the early part of the fifteenth cen- tury. At that time, the deputies of more than fourscore cities appeared at its assemblies ; and even some towns who had not the privilege of sending deputies v/ere, nevertheless, regarded as allies of the League. Having the command of the whole commerce of the Baltic, their cities exercised at their pleasure the rights of peace and war, and even of forming alliances. They equipped numerous and powerful fleets, and offered bat- tle to the sovereigns of the North, whenever they presumed to 1 I III IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / O ^^ //^ ids 1.0 I.I 2.8 1^ 150 ^ "^ lis. us 2.5 iiiiii 1.8 L25 i 1.4 i 1.6 7 Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 \ iV ^9) .V 4? 4» " o 6^ 'o .•^ -%^ 180 CHAPTBR VI. interfere with th'^r monopoly, or to restrict the privileges and exemptions which they had the weakness to grant them. The productions of the North, such as hemp, flax, timber, potash, tar, corn, hides, furs, and copper, with the produce of the large and small fisheries on the coast of Schonen, Norway, Lapland, and Iceland,'^ formed the staple of the Hansealic commerce. They exchanged these commodities, in the west- ern parts of Europe, for wines, fruits, drugs, and all sorts of cloths, which they carried back to the North in return. Their principal factories and warehouses, were at Bruges for Flan- ders, at London for England, at Novogorod for Russia, and at Bergen for Norway. The merchandise of Italy and the East was imported into Flanders, in Genoese or Venetian bottoms, which, at that time, carried on most of the commerce of the Levant and the Mediterranean. Extensive as the trade of the Hanseatic cities was, it proved neither solid nor durable. As they were themselves deficient in the articles of raw materials and large manufactories, and entirely dependent on foreign traffic, the industry of other na- tions, especially of those skilled in the arts, had a ruinous effect on their commerce; and, in course of time, turned the current of merchandise into other channels. Besides, the want of union among these cities, their factions and intestine divisions, and their distance from each other, prevented them from ever forming a territorial or colonial power, or obtaining possession of the Sound, which alone was able to secure them the exclu- sive commerce of the Baltic. The sovereigns of Europe, per- ceiving at length more clearly their true interests, and sensible of the mistake they had committed in surrendering the whole commerce of their kingdom to the Hanseatic merchants, used every means to limit and abridge their privileges more and more. This, in consequence, involved the confederate lowns in several destrtictivc wars with the Kings of the North, which exhausted their finances, and induced one city after another to abandon the League. The English and the Dutch, encouraged by the Danish Kings, took advantage of this favourable oppor- tunity to send their vessels to the Baltic; and by degrees they appropriaied to themselves the greater part of the trade that had been engrossed by the Hanseatic Union. But what is of more importance to remark, is, that this League, as well as that of Lombardy, having been formed in consequence of the state of anarchy into which the Empire had fallen in the middle ages, the natural result was, that it should lose its credit and its influence in proportion as the feudal anarchy declined, and when the adnunistralion of the Empire had assumed a new form, aiid PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 181 the landed nobility, emboldened by the accessions which the seventeenth century had made to their power, had found means to compel their dependent cities to return to their allegiance, alter having made repeated efforts to throw off their authority, encouraged as they were by the protection which the League held out to them. ^ In this manner did the famous Hanseatic League, so formi- dable at the time of which we now speak, decline by degrees during the course of the seventeenth century, and in the early part of the eighteenth ; and during the Thirty Years War it be- came entirely extinct. The cities of Lubec, Hamburg and Bre- men, abandoned by all their confederates, entered into a new union for the interests of their commerce, and preserved the an- cient custom of treating in common with foreign powers, under the name of the Hanse Towns. The cities of Italy and the North were not the only ones that made commerce their pursuit in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, and other towns in the JNetherlands, contributed greatly to the prosperity of trade by their manufactures of cloth, cotton, camlets, and tapestry; arti- cles with which they supplied the greater part of Europe. The ^nghsh exchanged their raw wool with the Belgians, for the finished manufactures of their looms, while the Italians furnish- ed them with the productions of the Levant, and the silk stuffs 01 India. Nothing is more surprising than the immense popu- lation of these cities, whose wealth and afliuence raised their rulers to the rank of the most powerful princes in Europe. The cuy ot Bruges was, as it were, the centre and principal reposi- tory for the merchandise of the North and the South. Such an entrepot was necessary, at a time when navigation was vet in its infancy. For this purpose, Flanders and Brabant were ex- • J? 1^ Pl^P^''.' ^^ *^^^^ provinces had an easy communication with all the principal nations of the Continent ; and as the great number of their manufactories, together with the abundance of fish which their rivers afforded, naturally attracted a vast con- ^^n fT^T ^'^^n'' "^^''^ ^"Periority, as the commercial capital of the Low Countries, Bruges retained till nearly the end of the fifteenth century, when it lost this preponderance, which was then transferred to the city of Antwerp rhe intestme dissensions with which the cities of Flanders and Brabant were agitated, the restraints which were incessant- ly imposed on their commerce, and the frequent wars which desolated the Low Countries, induced, from time to time, a great many * lemish operatives about the fourteenth centurv. and the feign or ^.awartl lii., to take refuge in England, where they VOL. I. 16 1S2 CHAPTER VI. established their cloth manufactories under the immediate pro- tection of the crown. One circumstance which more particu- larly contributed to the prosperity of the Dutch commerce, was the new method of salting and barrelling herring, which was discovered about the end of the fourteenth century (or 1400) by a man named William Beukelszoon, a native of Biervliet, near Sluys. The new passage of the Texel, which the sea opened up about the same time, proved a most favourable accident for the city of Amsterdam, which immediately monopolized the principal commerce of the fisheries, and began to be frequented by the Hanseatic traders. We now return to the history of Germany. The Imperial throne, always elective, was conferred, in 1308, on the princes of the House of Luxembourg, who occupied it till 1438, when the House of Hapsburg obtained the Imperial dignity. It was under the reign of these two dynasties that the government of the Empire, which till then had been vacillating and uncertain, began to assume a constitutional form, and a new and settled code of laws. That which was published at the Diet of Frank- fort in 1338, secured the indapendence of the Empire against the Popes. It was preceded by a League, ratified at Rens^ by the Electors, and known by the name of the General Union of the Electors. The Golden Bull, drawn up by the Emperor Charles IV. (1356,) in the Diets of Nuremberg and Metz, fixed the order and the form of electing the Emperors, and the cere- monial of their coronation. It ordained that this election should be determined by a majority of the suffrages of the seven Elec- tors — and that the vote of the Elector, who might happen to be chosen, should also be included. Moreover, to prevent those electoral divisions, which had more than once excited factions and civil wars in the Empire, this law fixed irrevocably the right of suffrage in the Principalities, then entitled Electorates. It forbade any division of these principalities, and for this end it introduced the principal of birthright, and the order of suc- cession, called agnate, or direct male line from the same father. Finally, the Golden Bull determined more particularly the rights and privileges of the electors, and confirmed to the electors of the Palatinate and Saxony the viceroyalty or government of the Empire during any interregnum. The efforts which the Council of Basle made for the reforma- tion of the church excited the attention of the Estates of the em- pire. In a diet held at Mayence (1439,) they adopted several decrees of that council, by a solemn act drawn up in presence of the ambassadors of the council, and of the kings of France, Castille, Arragoa, and Portugal. Among these adopted decrees, PERIOD V. A. D. 1300 — 1453. 183 which were not afterwards altered, we observe those which establish the superiority of councils above the Popes, which prohibited those appeals called omisso medio, or immediate^ and enjoined the Pope to settle all appeals referred to his court, by- commissioners appointed by him upon the spot. Two concor- dats, concluded at Rome and Vienna (1447^48,) between the Papal court and the German nation, confirmed these stipulations. The latier of these concordats, however, restored to the Pope tjeveral of the reserves, of which the Pragmatic Sanction had deprived him. He was also allowed to retain the right of con- iirraing the prelates, and enjoying the annats and the alternate months. The ties which united the numerous states of the German empire having been relaxed by the introduction of hereditary feudalism, and the downfall of Imperial authority, the conse- quence was, that those states, which were more remote from the seat of authority, by degrees asserted their independence, or were reduced to subjection by their more powerful neighbours. [t was in this manner that several provinces of the ancient kingdom of Burgundy, or Aries, passed in succession to the crown of France. Philip the Fair, taking ndvantage of the dis- putes which had arisen between the Archb:: jop and the citizens of Lyons, obliged the Archbishop, Pater de Savoy, to surrender to him by treaty (1312) the sovereignty of the city and its de- pendencies. The same kingdom acquired the province of Dau- phiny, in virtue of the gra ,t which the last Dauphin, Humbert II., niade (1349) of his estates to Charles, grandson of Philip de Valois, and first Dauphin of France. Provence was likewise added (1481) to the dominions of that crown, by the testament of Charles, last Count of Provence, of the House of Anjou. As to the city of Avignon, it was sold (1348) bv Joan I., Queen of Naples, and Countess of Provence, to Pope Clement VI.. who at the same time obtained letters-patent from the Ernperor Charles IV., renouncing the claims of the Empire to the sove- reignty of that city, as well as to all lands belonging to theChurch. A most important revolution happened about this time in Switzerland. That country, formerly dependent upon the king- dom of Burgundy, had become an immediate province of the Empire (1218,) on the extinction of the Dukes of Zahringen, who had governed it unuer the title of Regents. About the beginning of the fourteenth century, Switzerland was divided into a number of petty states, both secular and ecclesiastical. Among these we find the Bishop of Basle, the Abb^ of St. Gall, the Counts of Hapsburg, Toggenburg, Savoy, Gruyeres, Neuf- chtttel. "'Verd'.pbc^i;, Bucheck, &c. The towns of "Zurich, So- 184 CHAPTER VI. leure, Basle, Berne, and others, had the rank of free and imperial cities. A part of the inhabitants of Uri, Schweitz, and Under- wald"en, who held immediatelj' of the Empire, were governed by their own magistrates, under the title of Cantons. They were placed by the Emperor under the jurisdiction of governors, who exercised, in his name and that of ihe Empire, the power of the sword in all these cantons. Such was the constitution of Switzerland, when the Emperor Albert I. of Austria, son of Rodolph of Hapsburg, conceived the project of extending hiy dominion in that country, where he already had considerable possessions, in his capacity of Count of Hapsburg, Kyburg, Baden, and Lentzburg. Being desirous of forming Switzerland into a principality, in favour of one of his sons, he made, in course of time, several new acquisitions of territory, with the view of enlarging his estates. Ihe Abbeys of Murbach, Ein- siedel, Interlaken, and Disentis.and the Canons of Lucerne, sold him their rights and possessions in Glaris, Lucerne, Schweitz, and Underwalden. He next directed his policy against the three immediate cantons of Uri, Schweitz, and Underwalden ; and endeavoured to make them acknowledge the superiority of Austria, by tolerating the oppressions which the governors exer- cised, whom he had appointed to rule them in the name of the Empire. It was under these circumstances that three intrepid in- dividuals, Werner de Stauflfach, a native of the canton of Schweitz, Walter Fiirst, of Uri, and Arnold de Melchihal of Underwalden, took the resolution of delivering their country from the tyranny of a foreign yoke.^° The conspiracy which they formed for this pur- pose, broke out on the 1st of January 1308. The governors, surprised in their castles by the conspirators, were banished the country, and their castles razed to the ground. The deputies of the three cantons assembled, and entered into a league of ten years for the maintenance of their liberties and their privileges ; reserving however to the Empire its proper rights, as also those claimed by the superiors, whether lay or ecclesiastical. Thus a conspiracy, which was originally turned only against Austria, terminated in withdrawing Switzerland from the sovereignty of the German empire. The victory which the confederates gained over the Austrians at Morgarten, on the borders of the canton of Schweitz, encouraged them to renew their league at Brunnen (1315;) and to render it perpetual. As it was confirmed by oath, the confederates, from this circumstance, got the name o{ Eidgenossen^ which means, bou7id by oath. This league became henceforth the basis oi" the federal system of the Swiss, who were not long in strengthening their cause by the accession of other cantons. The city of Lucerne, having- shaken off the yoke of Hapsburg, PERIOD V. A. D. 1300 — 1453. 180 joined the League of Brunnen in 1322, Zurich in 1351, Glarin and Zug 1353, and Berne in 1355. These formed the eight ancient cantons. The situation of the confederates, however, could not fail to be very embarrassing, so long as the Austrians retained the vast possessions which they had in the very centre of Switzerland. The proscription which the Emperor Sigismund and the Coun- cil of Constance, issued against Frederic, Duke of Austria (1415,) as an adherent and protector of John XXIII., at length fur- nished the Swiss with a favourable occasion for depriving the , house of Austria of their possessions. The Bernese were the first to set the example ; they took from the Austrian Dukes, the towns of Zoffingen, Arau, and Bruck, with the counties of Hapsburg and Lentzburg, and the greater part of Aargovia. Ky- burg fell into the hands of the Zur'chers ; the Lucernese made themselves masters of Surs«5e ; and the free bailiwicks, with the county of Baden, the towns of Mellingen and Bremgarten, were subdued by the combined forces of the ancient cantons, who. since then, have possessed them in common. In the kingdom of Lorraine a new power rose about this time (1363,) that of the Dukes of Burgundy. Philip the Hardy, younger son of John the Good, King of France, having been created Duke of Burgundy by the King his father, married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Louis III., last Count ot Flanders. By this marriage he obtained Flanders, Artois, Franche-Comt^, Nevers, Rethel, Malines, and Antwerp, and transmitted these estates to his son John the Fearless, and his grandson Philip the Good. This latter prince increased them still more by several new acquisitions. The Count of Namur sold him his whole patrimony, (1428.) He inherited from his cousin Philip of Burgundy, the dutchies of Brabant and Lim- bourg, (1430.) Another cousin, the famous Jaqueline de Ba- varia, made over to him by treaty (1433) the counties of Hainault, Holland, Zealand, and Friesland. Finally, he acquired also the dutchy of Luxembourg and the county of Chiny, by a compact which he made with the Princess Elizabeth (1443,) niece of the Emperor Sigismund. These different accessions were so much the more important, as the Low Countries, especially Flanders and Brabant, were at that time the seat of the most flourishing manufactories, and the principal mart of European commerce. Hence it happened, that the Dukes of Burgundy began to com- pete with the first powers in Europe, and even to rival the Kings of France. Among the principal reigning faniihes of the i jmpire, several revolutions took place. The ancient Slavonic dynasty of the 16 =* 186 CHAPTER VI. Dukes and Kings of Bohemia became extinct with Wenceslau* v., who was assassinated in 1306. The Emperor Henry VII., of the house of Luxembourg, seized this opportunity of trans- ferring to his own family the iiingdom of Bohemia, in which he invested his son John (1309,) who had married the Princess Elizabeth, sister to the last King of Bohemia. John, having made considerable acquisitions in Bohemia, was induced to cede, by treaty with Poland, the sovereignty of that province. The Emperor Charles IV., son of John, incorporated Silesia, as also Lusatia, with the kingdom of Bohemia, by the Pragmatics which he published in 1355 and 1370. The war with the Hus* sites broke out on the death of the Emperor Wenceslaus, Kin? of Bohemia (1418;) because the followers of John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, had refused to acknowledge, as successor of that prince, the Emperor Sigismund, his brother and heir, whom they blamed for the martyrdom of their leaders. This war one of the most sanguinary which the spirit of intolerance and fanaticism ever excited, continued for a long series of years John de Trocznova, surnamed Ziska, general-in-chief of the Hussites, defeated several times those numerous armies of cru- saders, which were sent against him into Bohemia ; and it wm not till long after the death of that extraordinary man, that Si- gismund succeeded in allaying the tempest, and re-establi?;hing his own authority in that kingdom. The house of Wiltelsbach, which possessed at the same time the Palatinate and Bavaria, was divided into two principal branches, viz. that of the Electors Palatine, and the Dukes of Bavaria. By the treaty of division, which was entered into at Pavia (1329,) they agreed on a reciprocal succession of the two branches, in case the one or the other should happen to fail of heirs-male. The direct line of the Electors of Saxony of the Ascanian House happening to become extinct, the Emperor Sigismund, without paying any regard to the claims of the younger branches of Saxony, conferred that Electorate (1423,) as a vacant fief of the Empire, on Frederic the Warlike, Mar- grave of Misnia, who had rendered him signal assistance in the war against the Hussites. This Prince had two grandsons, Ernest and Albert, from whom are descended the two principal branches, which still divide the House of Saxony. The Ascanian dynasty did not lose merely the Electorate of Saxony, as we have just stated ; it was also deprived, in the preceding century, of the Electorate of Brandenburg. Albert, surnamed the Bear, a scion of this house, had transmitted this latter Electorate, of which he was the founder, to his descend- ants in direct line, the male heirs of which failed aboat the be- PERIOD V. A. D. 1300 — 1453. 187 *6nu- ffinning of the fourteenth century. The Emperor Louis of Bavaria then bestowed it on his eldest son Louis (1324,) to the exclusion of the collateral branches of Saxony and Anhalt. The Bavarian Princes, however, did not long preserve this Electo- rate; they surrendered it (1373) to the Emperor Charles IV., whose sen Sigismund ceded it to Frederic, Burgrave of Nu- remberg, of the House of Hohenzollern, who had advanced him considerable sums to defray his expeditions into Hungary. This Prince was solemnly invested with the electoral dignity by the Emperor, at the Council of Constance (1417,) and became the ancestor of all the Electors and Margraves of Brandenburg, as well as of the Kings of Prussia. The numerous republics which had sprung up in Italy, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, were torn to pieces by contend- ing factions, and a prey to mutual and incessant hostilities. What contributed to augment the trouble and confusion in that unhappy country was, that, during a long series of years, no Emperor had repaired thither in person, or made the smallest attempt to restore the Imperial authority in those states. The feeble efforts of Henry VII., Louis of Bavaria, and Charles IV., only served to prove, that in Italy the royal prerogative was without vigour or effect. Anarchy every where prevailed ; and that spirit of liberty and republicanism which had once anima- ted the Italians gradually disappeared. Disgusted at length with privileges which had become so fatal to them, some of these republics adopted the plan of choosing new masters ; while others were subjected, against their inclinations, by the more powerful of the nobles. The Marquises of Este seized Modena and Reggio (1336,) and obtained the ducal dignity (1452) from the Emperor Frederic III. Mantua fell to the house of Gonza- ga, who possessed that sovereignty first under the title of Mar- graves, and afterwards under that of Dukes, which was confer- red on them by the Emperor Charles V. in 1530. But the greater part of these Italian republics felt to the share of the Visconti of Milan. The person who founded the prosperity of their house was Matthew Visconti, nephew of Otho Visconti, Archbishop of Milan. Invested with the titles of Captain and Imperial Viceroy in Lombardy, he continued to make himself acknowledged as sovereign of Milan (1315,) and conquered ia succession all the principal towns and republics of Lombardy. His successors followed his example : they enlarged their terri- tories by several new conquests, till at length John Galeas, great grandson of Matthew Visconti, obtained, from the Emperor Wen- ceslaus (1395.) for a sum of a hundred thousand florins of gold which he paid him, the title of Duke of Milan for hims«lf and 18S CHAPTER VL all his descendants. The Visconti family reigned at Milan till 1447, when they were replaced by that of Sforza. Among the republics of Italy who escaped the catastrophe of the fourteenth century, the most conspicuous were those of Florence, Genoa and Venice. The city of Florence, like all the others in Tuscany, formed itself into a republic about the end of the twelfth century. Its government underwent frequent changes, after the introduction of a democracy about the middle of the thirteenth century. The various factions which had agi- tated the republic, induced the Florentines to elect a magistrate (1292,) called Gonfalonkre de Justice, or Captain of Justice; invested with power to assemble the inhabitants under his stand- ard, whenever the means for conciliation were insufficient to suppress faction and restore peace. These internal agitations, however, did not prevent the Florentines from enriching them- selves by means of their commerce and manufactures. They succeeded, in course of time, in subjecting the greater part of the free cities of Tuscany, and especially that of Pisa, which they conquered in 1406. The republic of Lucca was the only one that maintained its independence, in spite of all the eflforts which the Florentines made to subdue it. The republican form of government continued in Florence till the year 1530, when the family of the Medici usurped the sovereignty, under the protection of the Emperor Charles V. The same rivalry which had set the Genoese to quarrel with the Pisans, excited their jealousy against the Venetians. The interests of these two Republics thwarted each other, both in the Levant and the Mediterranean. This gave rise to a long and disastrous series of wars, the last and most memorable of which was that of Chioggia (1376-82.) The Genoese, after a signal victory which they obtained over the Venetians, before Pola in the Adriatic Gulf, penetrated to the very midst of the lagoons of Venice, and attacked the port of Chioggia. Peter Doria made himself master of this" port; he would have even surprised Ve- nice, had he taken advantage of the first consternation of the Venetians, who were already deliberating whether they should abandon their city and take refuge in the isle of Candia. The tardiness of the Genoese admiral gave them time to recover themselves. Impelled by a noble despair, they made extraordi- nary efforts to equip a new fleet, with vvhich they attacked the Genoese near Chioggia. This place was retaken (24th June 1380,) and the severe check which the Genoese there received, may be said to have decided the command of the sea in favour of the Venetians. But what contributed still more to the down- fall of the Genoese, was the instability of their government, and PERIOD v. A. D. 1300 — 1453. 199 in the internal commotions of the republic. Agitated by continual divisions between the nobles and the common citizens, and in- capable of managing their own affairs, they at length surrender- ed themselves to the power of strangers. Volatile and incon- stant, and equally impatient of liberty as of servitude, these fickle republicans underwent a frequent change of masters. Twice (1396-1458) they put themselves under the protection of the Kings of France. At length they discarded the French, and chose for their protector either the Marquis of Montferrat or the Duke of Milan. Finally, from the year 1464, the city of Genoa was constantly regarded as a dependency of the dutchy of Milan, until 1528, when it recovered once more its ancient state of independence. While the Republic of Genoa was gradually declining, that of Venice was every day acquiring new accessions of power. The numerous establishments which they had formed in the Adriatic Gulf and the Eastern Seas, together with the additional vigour which they derived from the introduction of the heredi- tary aristocracy, were highly advantageous to the progress of their commerce and marine. The treaty which they concluded with the Sultan of Egypt (1343.) by guaranteeing to their re- public an entire liberty of commerce in the ports of Syria and Efvpt, as also the privilege of having consuls at Alexandria and D&mascus, put it in their power gradually to appropriate to themselves the whole trade of India, and to maintain it against the Genoese, who had disputed with them the commerce of the East, as well as the command of the sea. These successes en- couraged the Venetians to make new acquisitions ; the turbu- lent state of Lombardy having afforded them an opportunity of enlarging their dominions on the continent of Italy, where at first they had possessed only the single dogeship of Venice, and the small province of Istria. They seized on Treviso, and the whole Trevisan March (1388,) which they took from the pow- erful house of Carrara. In 1420 they again got possession of Dalmatia, which they conquered from Sigismund, King of Hun- gary. This conquest paved the way for that of Friuli, which they took about the same time from the Patriarch of Aquileia, an ally of the King of Hungary. At length, by a succession of good fortune, they detached from the dutchy of Milan (1404) the cities and territories of Vicenza, Belluno, Verona, Padua, Brescia, Bergamo, and Cremona (1454,) and thus formed a con- siderable estate on the mainland. Naples, during the course of this period, was governed by a descendant of Charles, of the first House of Anjou, and younger brother of St. Louis, Queen Joan I., daughter of Robert, King 190 CHAPTER VI. of Naples, having no children of her own, adopteo a younger prince of the Angevine family, Charles of Diirazzo, whom she destined as her successor, after having given him her niece in marriage. This ungrateful prince, in his eagerness to possess the crown, took arms against the Queen his benefactress, and compelled her to solicit the aid of foreign powers. It was on this occasion that Joan, after rescinding and annulling her former deed of adoption, made another in favour of Louis I., younger brother of Charles V., King of France, and founder of the second House of Anjou. But the succours of that prince came too late to save the Queen from the hands of her cruel enemy. Charles having made himself master of Naples and of the Queen's per- son (1382,) immediately put her to death, and maintained him- self on the throne, in spite of his adversary Louis of Anjou, who obtained nothing more of the Queen's estates than the single county of Provence, which he transmitted to his descendants, together with his claim on the kingdom of Naples. Joan IL, daughter and heiress of Charles of Durazzo, having been at- tacked by Louis IIL of Anjou, who wished to enforce the rights of adoption which had descended to him from his grandfather Louis L, she implored the protection of Alphonso V., King of Arragon, whom she adopted and declared her heir (1421 ;) but afterwards, having quarrelled with that prince, she changed her resolution, and passed a new act of adoption (1423) in favour of that same Louis of Anjou who had just made war against her Ren^ of Anjou, the brother and successor of that prince, took possession of the kingdom of Naples on the death of Joan IL (1435;) but he was expelled by the King of Arragon (1445,) who had procured from Pope Eugenius IV. the investiture of that kingdom, which he transmitted to his natural son Ferdi- nand, descended from a particular branch of the Kings of Na- ples. The rights of the second race of Angevine princes, were transferred io the Kings of France, along with the county oi Provence (1481.) Spain, which was divided into a variety of sovereignties both Christian and Mahometan, presented at this time a kind of sepa- rate or distinct continent, whose interests had almost nothing in common with the rest of Europe. The Kings of Namrre, Cas- tillo, and Arragon, disagreeing among themselves, and occupied with the internal affairs of their own kingdoms, had but little leisure to attempt or accomplish any foreign enterprise. Of ail the Kings of Castillo at this period, the most famous, in the wars against the Moors, was Alphonso XI. The Mahometan kings of Morocco and Grenada having united their forces, laid sie^e to the cilv of Tariffa in Andalusia, where Alnhonso as- PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1463. !•! listed by the King of Portugal, ventured to attack them in the neighbourhood of that place. He gained a complete victory over the Moors (1340;) and this was followed bv the conquest of various other cities and districts; among others, Alcala-Real, and Algeziras. While the Kings of Castllle were extending their conquests in the interior of Spain, those of Arragon, hemmed in by the Castillians, were obliged to look for aggrandizement abroad. They possessed the country of Barcelona or Catalonia, in virtue of the marriage of Count Kaymond Berenger IV. with Donna Petronilla, heiress of the kingdom of Arragon. To this they added the county of Rousillon, and the seignory or lordship of Montpelier, both of which, as well as Catalonia, belonged to the sovereignty of France. Don James I., who conquered the king- dom of Valencia and the Balearic Isles, gave these, with Rou- sillon and Montpelier, to Don James his younger son, and from whom were descended the Kings of Majorca, the last of whom, Don James III., sold Montpelier to France (1349.) Don Pedro III., King of Arragon, and eldest son of Don James I., took Sicily, as we have already seen, from Charles I. of Anjou. Ferdinand II., a younger son of Don Pedro, formed a separate branch of the kings of Sicily, on the extinction of which (1409,) that kingdom reverted to the crown of Arragon. Sardinia was incorporated with the kingdom of Arragon by Don James II who had conquered it from the Pisans. Finally, Alphonso V King of Arragon, having deprived the Angevines of the king dom of Naples, established a distinct line of Neapolitan kings This kingdom was at length united with the monarchy of Arra gon by Ferdinand the Catholic. In Portugal, the legitimate line of kings, descendants of Henry of Burgimdy, had failed in Don Ferdinand, son and suc- cessor of Don Pedro III. This prince had an only daughter named Beatrix, born in criminal intercourse with Eleanora Tellez de Meneses, whom he had taken from her lawful hus- band. Being desirous to make this princess his successor, he married her, at the age of eleven, to John I., King of Castille : securing the throne to the son who should be born of this union, and failing him, to the King of Castille, his son-in-law. Fer- dinand dying soon after this marriage, Don Juan, his natural brother, and grand-master of the order of Aviez, knowing the aversion of the Portuguese for the Castillian sway, turned this to his own advantage, by seizing the regency, of which he had deprived the Queen-dowager. The King of Castille imme- diately laid siege to Lisbon ; but having miscarried in this en- terprise, the States of Portugal assembled at Cnimbra, and 192 CHAPTER Vl. conferred the crown on Don Juan, known in history by the nam- of John the Bastard. This prince, aided with troops from England, engaged the Castillians and their allies the Frencli, at the famous battle fought on the plains of Aljubarota (14th August 1385.) The Portuguese remained masters of the field, and John the Bastard .succeeded in maintaining himself on the throne of Portugal. The war, however, continued several years between the Portuguese and the Castillians, and did not terminate till 1411. By the peace which was then concluded, Henry III., son of John I., King of Castille, agreed never to urge the claim.s of Queen Beatrix, his mother-in-law, who had no children. John the Bastard founded a new dynasty of kings, who occupied the throne of Portugal from 1385 to 1580. In France, the direct line of kings, descendants of Hugh Capet, having become extinct in the sons of Philip the Fair, the crown passed to the collateral branch of Valois (1328,) which furnished a series of thirteen kings, during a period ol two hundred and sixty-one years. The rivalry between France and England, which had sprung up during the preceding period, assumed a more hostile charac- ter on the accession of the family of Valois. Till then, the quarrels of the two nations had been limited to some particular territory, or province ; but now they disputed even the succes- sion to the throne of France, which the kings of England claimed as their right. Edward III., by his mother, Isabella of France, was nephew to Charles IV., the last of the Capetian kings in a direct line. He claimed the succession in opposition to Philip VI., surnamed de Valois, who being cousin-german to Charles, was one degree more remote than the King of England. The claim of Edward was opposed by the Salic law, which excluded females from the succession to the throne ; but, according to the mterpretation of that prince, the law admitted his right, and must be understood as referring to females personally, who were excluded on account of the weakness of their sex, and not to their male descendants. Granting that his mother, Isa- bella, could not herself aspire to the crown, he maintained that she gave him the right of proximity, which qualified him for the succession. The States of France, however, having de- cided in favour of Philip, the King of England did fealty and homage to that prince for the dutchy of Guienne ; but he laid no claim to the crown until 1337, when he assumed the title and arms of the King of France. The war which began in 1338, was renewed during several reigns, for the space of a hundred years, anu enucu wUu tji8 entire expuiSion oi tue jung< Ksh from France. PERIOD V. A. D. 1300 — 1453. 183 Nothing could be more wretched than the situation of this kingdom during the reign of Charles VI That prince having fallen into a state of insanity in the flower of his age, two par- ties, those of Burgundy and Orleans, who had disputed with each other abcut the regency, divided the Court into factions, and kindled the flames of civil war in the four corners of the kingdom. John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, and uncle to the king, caused Louis, Duke of Orleans, the King's own brother, to be assassinated at Paris (1407.) He himself was assassinated in his turn (1419) on the bridge of Montereau, in the very presence of the Dauphin, who was afterwards king, mder the name of Charles VII. These dissensions gave the tinglish an opportunity for renewing the war. Henry the V. of England gained the famous battle of Agincourt, which was followed by the conquest of ail Normandy. Isabella of Ba- varia then abandoned the faction of Orleans, and the party of her son the Dauphin, and joined that of Burgundy. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and son of John the Fearless, being determined to revenge the death of his father, which he , laid to the charge of the Dauphin, entered into a negotiation with England, into which he contrived to draw Queen Isabella, and the imbecile Charles the VI. By the treaty of peace con- cluded at Troyes in Champagne (1420,) it was agreed that Catharine of France, daughter of Charles VI. and Isabella of Bavaria, should espouse Henry V., and that, on the death of the King, the crown should pass to Henry, and the children of his marriage with the Princess of France ; to the exclusion of the Dauphin, who, as an accomplice in the murder of the Duke of Burgundy, was declared to have lost his rights to the crown, and was banished from the kingdom. Henry V. died in the flower of his age, and his death was followed soon after by that of Charles VI. Henry VI., son of Henry V. and Catharine of France, being then proclaimed King of England and France, fixed his residence at Paris, and had for his regents his two uncles, the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester. Such was the preponderance of the English and Burgundian •party in Fiance at this period, that Charles VII., commonly jailed the Dauphin, more than once saw himself upon the point of being expelled the kingdom. He owed his safety en- tirely to the appearance of the famous Joan of Arc, called the Maid of Orleans. This extraordinary woman revived the drooping courage of the French. She compelled the English to raise the siege of Orleans, and brought the King to be Crowned at Rheims (1420.) But what contributed still more to retrieve the party of Charles VII., was the reconciliation of that vol,. I. 17 I. d4 CHAPTER VI. prince with the Duke of Burgundy, which took place at the peace of Arras (1435.) The Duke having then united hia forces with those of the King, the Enghsh were in their turn expelled from France (1453,) the single city of Calais being a.1 that remained to them of their former conquests. An important revolution happened in the government of France under the reign of Charles VII. The royal authority gained fresh vigour by the expulsion of the English, and the reconciliation of various parties that took place in consequence. The feudal system, which till then had prevailed in France, fell by degrees into disuse. Charles was the first king who estab- lished a permanent militia, and taught his successors to abandon the feudal mode of warfare. This prince also instituted Com- panies of ordonance (1445 ;) and, to defray the expense of their maintenance, he ordered, of his own authority, a certain impost ■o be levied, called the Tax of the Gens-d'armes. This stand- mg army, which at first amounted only to six thousand men, was augmented in course of time, while the royal finances increased in proportion. By means of these establishments, the kings obtained such an ascendancy over their vassals that they soon found themselves in a condition to prescribe laws to them, and thus gradually to abolish the feudal system. The most powerful of the nobles could make little resistance against a sovereign who was always armed ; while the kings, imposing taxes at their pleasure, by degrees dispensed wi \ the necessity of assembling the states-general. The same prince secured the liberties of the Galilean church against the encroachments of the Court of Rome, by solemnly adopting several of the decrees of the Council of Basle, which he caused to be passed in the National Council held at Bourges, and published under the title of the Pragmatic Sanction (1438.) In England, two branches of the reigning family of the Plan- tjigenets, those of Lancaster and York, contested for a long time the right to the crown. Henry IV., the first king of the House of Lancaster, was the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and grandson of Edward III. King of England. He usurped the crown from Richard II., whom he deposed by act of Parliament (1399.) But instead of enforcing the rights which he inherited from his father and grandfather, he rested his claims entirely upon those which he alleged had devolved to him in right of his mother, Blanch of Lancaster, great grand- daughter of Edward, surnamed Hunchback, Earl of Lancaster. This prince, according to a popular tradition, was the eldest son 01 nenry in., who, ii was aniu, naO Dcen cwiuucu num ine throne by his younger brother Edward I., on account of his de PBBIOD V. A. D. 1300 — 1453. 196 formlty. This tradition proved useful to Henry IV. in excluding the rights of the House of Clarence, who preceded him in the order of succession. This latter family was descended from Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and elder brother of John of Gaunt. Philippine, daughter of Lionel, was married to Edward Morti- mer, by whom she bad a son, Roger, whom the Parliament, by an act passed in 1386, declared presumptive heir to the crown. Ann Mortimer, the daughter of Roger, married Richard, Duke of York, son of Edward Langley, who was the younger brothel of John of Gaunt, and thus transferred the right of Lionel to the Royal House of York. The Princes of the House of Lancaster are known in Eng- lish history by the name of the Red Rose, while those of York were designated by that of the White Rose. The former of these Houses occupied the throne for a period of sixty-three years, during the reigns of Henry IV., v., VI. It was under the feeble reign of Henry VI. that the House of York began to advance their right to the crown, and that the civil war broke out between the two Roses. Richard, Duke of York, and heir -to the claims of Lionel and Mortimer, was the first to raise the standard in this war of competition (1452,) which continued more than thirty years, and was one of the most cruel and san- guinary recorded in history. Twelve pitched battles were fought between the two Roses, eighty princes of the blood pe- rished in the contest, and England, during the whole time, pre- sented a tragical spectacle of horror and carnage. Edward IV., son of Richard, Duke of York, and grandson of Ann Mortimer, ascended the throne (1461,) which he had stained with the blood of Henry IV., and of several other Princes of the House of Lancaster. In Scotland, the male line of the ancient kings having become extinct in Alexander III., a crowd of claimants appeared on the field, who disputed with each other the succession of the throne. The chief of these competitors were the two Scottish families of Baliol and Bruce, both descended by the mother's side from the Royal Family. Four princes of these contending families reigned in Scotland until the year 1371, when the crown passed from the House of Bruce to that of Stuart. Robert II., son ot Walter Stuart and Marjory Bruce, succeeded his uncle David II., and in his family the throne remained until the Union, when Scotland was united to England about the beginning of the seventeenth century. Under the government of the Stuarts, the royal authority acquired fresh energy after being long re- otiaiiiou aiiu. LiiLutIxc^,xxucu. ltV »• tuit/ux^iit. ixuLrixity* xuWiXiQs the middle of the fifteenth century, James I., a very accomplished 196 CHAPTBR VI. prince, gave the first blow to the feudal system and the exorb'- tant power of the grandees. He deprived them of several 0/ the crown-lands which they had usurped, and confiscated the property of some of the most audacious whom he had con- demned to execution. James II. followed the example of his father. He strengthened the royal authority, by humbling the powerful family of Douglas, as v^ell as by the wise laws which he prevailed with his Parliament to adopt. The three kingdoms of the North, after having been long agitated by internal dissensions, were at length united into a single monarchy by Margaret, called the Semiramis of the North. This princess was daughter of Valdemar III,, the last King of Denmark of the ancient reigning family, and widow of Haco VII., King of Norway. She was first elected Queen of Den- mark, and then of Norway, after the death of her son, Olaus v., whom she had by her marriage with Haco, and who died without leaving any posterity (1387.) The Swedes, discon- tented with their King, Albert of Mecklenburg, likewise be- stowed their crown upon this princess. Albert was vanquished and made prisoner at the battle of Fahlekoeping (1389.) The whole of Sweden, from that time, acknowledged the authority of Queen Margaret. Being desirous of uniting the three king- doms into one single body-politic, she assembled their respective Estates at Calmar (1397,) and there caused her grand-nephew Eric, son of Wratislaus, Duke of Pomerania, and Mary of Mecklenburg, daughter of Ingeburg, her own sister, to be re- ceived and crowned as her successor. The act whicn ratified the perpetual and irrevocable union of the three kingdoms, was approved in that assembly. It provided, that the united states should, in future, have but one and the same king, who should be chosen with the common consent of the Senators and Depu- ties of the three kingdoms ; that they should always give the preference to the descendants of Eric, if there were any ; that the three kingdoms should assist each other with their combined forces against all foreign enemies ; that each kingdom should preserve its own constitution, its senate, and national legisla- ture, and be governed conformably to its own laws. This union, how formidable soever it might appear at first sight, was by no means firmly consolidated. A federal system of three monarchies, divided by mutual jealousies, and by dis- similarity in their laws, manners, and institutions, could present nothing either solid or durable. The predilection, besides, which the kings of the union who succeeded Margaret showed for the Danes j the preference which they gave them in the distribution of favours and places of trust, and the tone of su PERIOD V. A. D. 1300 — 1453. 197 \ periority which they affected towards their allies, tended natu- rally to foster animosity and hatred, and, above all, to exasperate the Swedes against the union. Eric, after a very turbulent reign, was deposed, and his nephew, Christopher the Bavarian, was elected King of the union in his place. This latter prince having died without issue, the Swedes took this opportunity of breaking the union, and chiosing a king of their own, Charles Canutson Bonde, known by the title of Charles VIII. It was he who induced ib". Danes to venture likewise on a new elec- tion ; and this same year they transferred their crown to Chris- ian, son of Thierry, and Count of Oldenburg, descended by vile female side from the race of their ancient kings. This prince had the good fortune to renew the union with Norway (1450;) he likewise governed Sweden from the year 1437, when Charles VIII. was expelled by his subjects, till 1464; when he was recalled. But what deserves more particularly to be remarked, is the acquisition which Christian made of the provinces of Sleswick and Holstein, to which he succeeded (1459,) by a disposition of the States of these provinces, after the death of Duke Adolphus, the maternal uncle of the new King of Denmark, and last male heir of the Counts of Hol- stein, of the ancient House of Schauenburg. Christian I. was the progenitor of all the Kings who have since reigned in Den- mark and Norway. His grandson lost Sweden ; but, in the last century, the thrones both of Russia and Sweden were occupied by princes of his family. Russia, during the whole of this period, groaned under the degrading yoke of the Moguls and the Tartars. The Grand Dukes, as well as the other Russian princes, were obliged to solicit the confirmation of their dignity from the Khan of Kip- zack, who granted or refused it at his pleasure. The dissen- sions which arose among these northern princes, were in like manner submitted to his decision. When summoned to appear at his horde, they were obliged to repair thither without delay, and often suffered the punishment of ignominy and death. ^' The contributions which the Khans at first exacted from the Rus- sians in the shape of gratuitous donations, were converted, ia course of time, into regular tribute. Bereke Khan, the suc- cessor of Baton, was the first who levied this tribute by officers of his own nation. His successors increased still more the load of these taxes ; they even subjected the Russian princes to the performance of military service. The Grand Ducal dicnitv, which for a long time belons'ed exclusively to the chiefs of the principalities of Vladimir ano Kiaso, became common, about the end of the fourteenth ceiw 17* loe CHAPTER VI. tury, to several of the other principalities, who shared among ihem the dominion of Russia. The princes of Rezan, Twer, Smolcnsko, and several others, took the title of Grand Dukes, to distinguish themselves from the petty princes who were es- tablished within their principalities. These divisions, together with the internal broils to which they gave rise, emboldened the Lithuanians and Poles to carry their victorious arms into Russia ; and by degrees they dismembered the whole western »»^rt of the ancient empire. The Lithuanians,'^ who are supposed to have been of the same race with the ancient Prussians, Lethonians, Livonians, and Esthonians, inhabited originally the banks of the rivers Niemen and Wilia ; an inconsiderable state, comprehending Samogitia and a part of the ancient Palatinates of Troki and Wilna. After having been tributaries to the Russians for a long time, the princes of Lithuania shook off their yoke, and began to aggrandize themselves at the expense of the Grand Dukes, their former masters. Towards the middle of the eleventh century, they passed the Wilia, founded the town ofKier- now, and took from the Russians Braclaw, Novgorodek, Grodno, Borzesc, Bielsk, Pinsk, Mozyr, Polotsk, Minsk, Witepsk, Orza, and Mscislaw, with their extensive dependencies. Ringold was the first of these princes that assumed the dignity of Grand Duke, about the middle of the thirteenth century. His succes- sor Mendog or Mindow, harassed by the Teutonic Knights, em- braced Christianity about the year 1252, and was declared King of Lithuania by the Pope ; though he afterwards returned to Paganism, and became one of the most cruel enemies of the Christian name. Gedimin, who ascended the throne of the Grand Duke (1315,) rendered himself famous by his new con- quests. After a series of victories which he gained over the Russian Princes, who were supported by the Tartars, he took possession of the city and Principality of Kiow (1320.) The whole of the Grand Dutchy of Kiow, and its dependent princi- palities on this side the Dnieper, were conquered in succession. The Grand Dukes of Lithuania, who had become formidable to all their neighbours, weakened their power by partitioning their estates among their sons ; reserving to one, under the title of Grand Duke, the right of superiority over the rest. The civil dissensions which resulted from these divisions, gave the Poles a"n opportunity of seizing the principalities of Leopold, Przemysl, and Halitsch (1340,) and of taking from the Lithuanians and their Grand Duke Olgerd, the whole of Volhynia and Podolia, of which they had deprived the Russians (1349.) Nothing more then remained of the ancient Russian Emp ire PERIOD V. A. D. 1300—1453. 199 except the Grand Dutchy of Wolodimir, so called from the town of that name on the river Kliazma, where the Grand Dukes o. Eastern and Northern Russia had their residence, before thej' had fixed their capital at Moscow ; which happened about the end of the thirteenth or the beginning of the fourteenth century. This Grand Dutchy, which had several dependent and subor dinate principalities, was conferred by the Khan of Kipzach (1320) on Iwan or John Danilovitsh, Prince of Moscow, who transmitted it to his descendants. Demetrius Iwanovitsh, grand- son of Iwan, took advantage of the turbulence which distracted the grand horde, and turned his arms against the Tartars. As- sisted by several of the Russian princes his vassals, he gained a signal victory near the Don (1380,) OA'er the Khan Temnic- Mamai, the first which gained the Russians any celebrity, and which procured Demetrius the proud epithet of Dovjiki, or con- queror of the Don. This prince, however, gained little advan- tage by his victory ; and for a long time after, the Tartars gave law to the Russians and made them their tributaries. Toktamish Khan, after having vanquished and humbled Mamai, penetrated as far as Moscow, sacked the city, and massacred a great num- ber of the inhabitants. Demetrius was forced to implore the mercy of the conqueror, and to send his son a hostage to the horde in security for his ailegiance. The chief residence of the Teutonic Order, which had for- merly been at Verden, was fixed at Marienburg, a city newly built, which from that time became the capital of all Prussia. The Teutonic Knights did not limit their conquests to Prussia; they took from the Poles Dantzic or Eastern Pomerania (1311,) situated between the Netze, the Vistula, and the Baltic Sea, and known since by the name of Pomerelia. This province was definitively ceded to them, with the territory of Culm, and Michelau, by a treaty of peace which was signed at Kalitz (1343.) The city of Dantzic, which was their capital, increased considerably under the dominion of the Order, and became one of the principal entrepots for the commerce of the Baltic. Of all the exploits of these Knights, the most enterprising was that which had for its object the conquest of Lithuania. Religion, and a pretended gift of the Emperor Louis of Bavaria, served them as a pretext for attacking the Lithuanians, who were Pa- gans, in a murderous war, which continued almost without in- terruption for the space of a century. The Grand Dukes of Lithuania, always more formidable after their defeat, defended their liberties and independence with a courage and nerseverance almost miraculous; and it was only by taking advantage of the dissensions which had arisen in the family of the Grand Duke 900 CHAPTKIt VI. ihiU they Bucceedoil in oblniriinftf possession of Samoffitia. by ll.o iroiuj' of police wliich was (•(Miclucicd nl Ruci«n/ (1404.) The Kriglits of Livonia, unilod to the 'IViiionic Order under tho authority of ono and tho siuno (.Jnnjd Muster, added to their fornior conijuosts the nrovinoo of lisihoniii, whic-h was sold to thorn hy Vahlonuir IV., Kin^f „C Donniarlv. '» Tho Toutonic Knifrliis u'ortMil tho zonith of ihoir ^ncalnoss, ahout tho hegin* ninj^ of tho (ifioonth oonliiry. At thai ti n\o ihoy \von> booo niQ otninion a forn)i(h»blo power in tlio IVorlh, imvinjf under "their d iho whoh? of Prussia, eoinprehendinjf roincrunia and tho New March, as also Sanio^nlia, Courland, liivonia and K.sthonia. ^" A nopulalion proporiioned to tliu extent of their dominions, a well regulated treasury, and a nourishing: commerce, seemed to gtiaranlee them a solid and durable empire. Nevertheless, the jealousy of their neighbours, the union of Lithuania with Po- land, and tho conversion of tho Lithuanians to Christianity, whi(h deprived the Knijrhls of the assistance of the Crusaders, soon became fatal to their Order, and accelerated their down- fall. The Lithuanians a<;ain obtained possession of Samog-itln, which, with Sudavia, was ceded to them by the various treaties which they concluded with that Order, between 1411-1430. The oppressive j^overnment of tho Teutonic Knig-hls — their own private dissensions, and the intolerable burden of taxation — the fatal consequence of incessant war— induced tho nobles and cities of Prussia and Pomerania to form a confederacy against the Order, and to solicit the protection of the Kings of Poland. This was granted to ihom, on their signing a deed of submission to that kingdom (1454.) The result was u long and bloody war with Polacu, which did not terminate till the peace of Thorn (146(5.) Poland then obtained tho cession of Culm, Michelau and Dantzic ; that is to say, all the countries now comprehended under the name of Polish Prussia. The rest of Prussia was retained by tho Teutonic Order, who promised, by means of their Grand Master, to do fealty and homage for it to the Kings of Poland. The chief residence of the Order was then trans- ferred to Koningsberg, where it continued until the time when the Knights were deprived of Prussia by the House of Brandenburg. At length, however, Poland recovered from this state of weak- ness into which the unfortunate divisions of Boleslaus III. and his descendants had plunged it. Uladislaus IV. surnamed the Dwarf, having combined several of these principalities, was crowned King of Poland at Cracow (1320.) From that time the Royal dignity became permanent in Poland, and was trans- mitted to all the successors of Uladislaus. "* The immediate successor of that Prince was his son Casimir the Great, who PERIOD V. A. D. 1300 — 1463. 901 renounced his rights of sovereignty over Silesia in favour of the King of Bohemia, and afterwards compensated this loss by the acquisition of sovorul of the provinces of ancient Russia. He likewise took possession of Kcd Russia (1340,) as also of the provinces of Volhynia, Podolia, Chelm and Belz, which he con- quered from the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (1349,) who had formerly dismembered them from the Russian Empire. Under Casimir the Great, another revolution happened in the government of Poland. That Prince, having no children of his own, and wishing to bequeath the crown to his nephew Louis, his sister's son, by Charles Robert King of Hungary, convoked a g^tneral assembly of the nation at Cracow (1339,) and there got the succession of the Hungarian Prince ratified, in opposi- tior. to the legitimate rights of the Piust Dynasty, who reigned in Masovia and Silesia. This subversion of the hereditary right of the different branches of the Piasts, gave the Polish Nobles a pretext for interfering in the election of their Kings, until at last the throne became completely elective. It also afforded them an opportunity for limiting the power of their Kings, and laying the foundation of a republican and aristocratic government. Deputies were sent into Hungary (1355,) even during the life of Casimir, who obliged King Louis, his intended successor, to subscribe an act which provided that, on his ac- cession to the crown, he should bind himself, and his successors, to disburden the Polish nobility of all taxes and contributions ; that he should never, under any pretext, exact subsidies from them ; and that, in travelling, he should claim nothing for the support of his court, in any place during his journey. The an- cient race of the Piast sovereigns of Poland ended with Casimir (1370,) after having occupied the throne of that kingdom for several centuries. His successor in Poland and Hungary was Louis, surnamed the Great. In a Diet assembled in 1382, he obtained the con- currence of the Poles, in the choice which he had made of Sigis- mund of Luxembourg, as his son-in-law and successor in both kingdoms. But on the death of Louis, which happened imme- diately after, the Poles broke their engagement, and confeired their crown on Hedwiga, a younger daughter of that Prince. It was stipulated, that she should marry Jagellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania, who agreed to incorporate Lithuania with Poland, to renounce Paganism, and embrace Christianity, himself and all his subjects. Jagellon was baptized, when he received the name of Uladislaus, and was crowned King of Poland at Cracow (1386.)^^ It was on the accession of Jagellnn,that. Poland and Lithuania, long opposed in their interests, and implacable enemies 203 CHAPTER VI. of each other, were united into one body politic under the au- thority of one and the same King. Nevertheless, for nearly two centuries, Lithuania still preserved its own Grand Dukes, who acknowledged the sovereignty of Poland ; and it was not, properly speaking, till the reign of Sigismund Augustus, that the union of the two elates was finally accomplished (1569.) This important union rendered Poland the preponderating power of the North. It became fatal to the influence of the Teutonic Order, who soon yielded to the united efforts of the Poles and Lithuanians. Uladislaus Jagellon did not obtain the assent of the Polish nobility to the succession of his son, except by adding new pri- vileges to those which they had obtained from his predecessor. He was the first of the Polish kings who, for the purpose of im- posing an extraordinary taxation, called in the Nuncios or De- puties of the Nobility to the General Diet (1404,) and established the use of Dietines or provincial diets. His descendants enjoyed the crown until they became extinct, in the sixteenth century. The succession, however, was mixed ; and although the princes of the House of Jagellon might regard themselves as hereditary possessors of the kingdom, nevertheless, on every change of reign, it was necessary that the crown should be conferred by the choice and consent of the nobility. In Hungary, the male race of the ancient kings, descendants of Duke Arpad, had become extinct in Andrew III. (1301.) The Crown was then contested by several competitors, and at length fell into the hands of the House of Anjou, the reigning family of Naples. Charles Robert, grandson of Charles II. King of Naples, by Mary of Hungary, outstripped his rivals, and trans- mitted the Crown to his son Louis, surnamed the Great (1308.) This Prince, characterized by his eminent qualities, made a dis- tinguished figure among the Kings of Hungary. He conquered from the Venetians the whole of Dalmatia, from the frontiers of Istria, as far as Durazzo ; he reduced the Princes of Moldavia, Walachia, Bosnia and Bulgaria, to a state of dependence ; and at length mounted the throne of Poland on the death of his uncle Casimir the Great. ^ Mary, his eldest daughter, succeeded him in the kingdom of Hungary (1382.) This Princess mar- ried Sigismund of Luxembourg, who thus united the monarchy of Hungary to the Imperial crown. The reign of Sigismund in Hungary was most unfortunate, and a prey to continual disturbances. He had to sustain the first war against the Ottoman Turks ; and with the Emperor of Constantinople, as his ally, he assembled a formidable army, with which he undertook the siege of Nicopolis in Bulgaria. FBSIOD V. A. D. 1300 — 1453. 203 Here he sustained a complete defeat by the Turks. In his re- treat he was compelled to embark on the Danube, and directed his flight towards Constantinople. This disaster was followed bv new misfortunes. The malcontents of Hungary offered their Cfrown to Ladislaus, called the Magnanimous, King of Naples, who took possession of Dalmatia, which he afterwards surren- dered to the Venetians. Desirous to provide for the defence and security of his kingdom, Sigismund acquired, by treaty with the Prince of Servia, the fortress of Belgrade (1425,) which, by Us situation at the confluence of the Danube and the Save, seemed to him a proper bulwark to protect Hungary against th« Turks. He transmitted the crown of Hungary to his son-in-law, Albert of Austria, who reigned only two years. The war with the Turks was renewed under Uladislaus of Poland, son of JagelIon,andsuccessor to Albert. That Prince fought a bloody battle with them near Varna in Bulgaria (1444.) The Hungari- ans again sustained a total defeat, and the King himself lost his life in the action. ** The safety of Hungary then depended en- tirely on the bravery of the celebrated John Hunniadcs, governor of the kingdom, during the minority of Ladislaus, the posthu- mous son of Albert of Austria. That general signalized himselt in various actions against the Turks, and obliged Mahomet II. to raise the siege of Belgrade (1456,) where he lost above twenty- five thousand men, and was hipiself severely wounded. The Greek Empire was gradually approaching its downfall, under the feeble administration of the House of Paleologus, who had occupied the throne of Constantinople since the year 1261. The same vices of which we have already spoken, the great power of the patriarchs and the monks, the rancour of theological disputes, the fury of sectaries and schismatics, and the internal dissension to which they gave rise, aggravated the misfortunes and disorders of the state, and were instrumental in hastening on its final destruction. John I. and his successors, the last Emperors of Constantinople, being reduced to the sad necessity of paying tribute to the Turks, and marching on military expe- ditions, at the command of the Sultans, owed the preservation of their shattered and declining Empire, for some time, entirely to the reverses of fortune which had befallen the Ottomans ; and to the difficulties which the siege of their capital presented to a barbarous nation unacquainted with the arts of blockade. The power of the Ottoman Turks took its rise about the end of the thirteenth century. A Turkish Emir, called Ottoman, or Osman, was its original founder in Asia Minor. He was one of the number of those Emirs, who, after the subversion of the Seliukians of Roum or Iconium, by the Moguls, shared i( 904 CIIAPTF.R Vr. ■mong them tho spoils of thoir nnciciil mnsters. A pon U Bilhyiiiii, nnd tho whole country lyiiiK^ round Mount Olympus, tril to llu< .shun- of Oltonii.n, who nCtiTWiinls forincd iiti iiljidncff with the other Kmirs, (uid invaded the noi^Mcs.sionN of the CJreelf Empire, under the feehle rei^Mj of the Kmperor Andronicus II. Prusa, or Mursa, the principal city of Hiijiynia, was contpn-red by Ottoman (laiJ?.) lie and his snccessors nnide it the capital ol ihoir new slate, which, in course of time, j^ained the as.-en- dency over all the other 'riirki.sli Movereijrmie.s, formeil, lik(! that of Ottoman, fruui the ruins of Iconinm and the (JreeU Mnipir.-. Orchan, the s(»n and successor of Oltonnin, instituted the famous Order of the Janissaries, to which in u ^reat mensuro iho Turks owed their success, lie took from the (Jreeks tho cities of Nice and Nicoujedia in liilhyniii; and, after having- subdued inost of the Turkish I'.mirs in Asia Minor, he took thu litlo of Sultan or Kin«-, as wtdl as that of Pacha, which is e(|ui- vnlent to tho title of Emperor. Ilis son Solinum crossed the Hel- lespont, by his orders, near the ruins of am-ienl Troy, and look the city of Ctallipoli, in the 'J'hracian (Jhersonesus (i;l58.) The coiupjest of this place opened n passage for the Turks into Eu- rope, when Thrace and the whol(> of CJreeco was soon imnidaterf by these new invaders. Amurath I., the son and successor oI Orchan, made himself master of Adriaiu)ple and the wholo of Thrace (13G0;) he next attacked Macedonia, Servia and Bulj)aria, and appointed the (Irst livir/cr/trv;, or (jiovernor-i^^pnera. cf Konielin. Several Turkish princes of Asia Minor were obliged to aoknowlodj^e his aiuhority ; he made himself master of Kiutaja, the metropolis of Phrygia, which afterwards became the capital of Anatolia, ami the residence of the governor of tha». province (1389.) Amurath was slain at the batilo of Cassova, which he fought with the Despot of Servia, assisted by his numc- rous allies. In this bloody battle the Despot himself was slain and both sides cipially claimed tho victory. Bajuzet I., tho sue- ■ cessor of Amurath, put an end to all the Turkish sovereignties Avhich still subsisted in Asia Minor. He completed the reduc- tion of Bulgaria, ami maintained the possession of it by tho signal victory which he gained at Nicopolis (1IJ96) over Siv,i.> mund, King of Hmigary. The Greek Empire would have Jul I ed to the persevering etforts of that prince, who had mainuiutd, for ten years, the siege of Constantinople, had he not been at- tacked, in the midst of these enterprises, by the Aimous Timour. ihe new conqueror of Asia. Timour, conunonly called Tam(> ' no, was one of those Mogu Emirs who at\' v'ivided amongst i, a thesovereijrnty of Trans- flxiana, aft. o .f.^ extinction of the xVlogul dynasty of Zagatai. Death of Joan of Arc. Vol. I, p. 19. Ihath of Constanlinc XV in defending Constan- tinople Vol. 1, 200 ^ < I PEEI0D V. A. J>. 1300 — 1453. 205 Transoxiana was the theatre of his first exploits; there he usurped the whole power of the Khans, or Emperors of Zagatai, and fixed the capital of his new dominions at the city of Samarcand (1369.) Persia, the whole of Upper Asia, Kipzach, and Hindostan, were vanquished by him in succession ; where- ver he marched, he renewed the same scenes of horror, blood- shed, and carnage, which had marked the footsteps of the first Mogul conqueror.^ Timour at length attacked the do- minions of Bajazet in Anatolia (1400.) He fought a bloocly and decisive battle near Angora, in the ancient Gallogrecia, which proved fatal to the Ottoman Empire. Bajazet sustained an entire defeat, and fell himself into the hands of the con- queror. All Anatolia was then conquered and pillaged by the Moguls, and there Timour fixed his winter quarters. Meantime he treated his captive Bajazet with kindness and generosity ; and the anecdote of the iron cage, in which he is said to have confined his prisoner, merits no credit. Sherefeddin Ali, who accompanied Timour in his expedition against Bajazet, makes no mention of it ; on the contrary, he avers that Timour consented to leave him the Empire, and that he granted the investiture oi it to him and two of his sons. Bajazet did not long survive his misfortune ; he died of an attack of apoplexy (1403,) with which he was struck in the camp of Timour in Caramania. Timour, a short time after, formed the project of an expedi- tion into China; but he died on the route in 1405, at the age of sixty-nine. His vast dominions were dismembered after his death. One of his descendants, named Babour, founded a pow- erful Empire in India, the remains of which are still preserved xmder the name of the Empire of the Great Mogul. The inva- sion of Timour retarded for some time the progress of the Turk- ish Empire. The fatal dissensions, which arose among the sons of Bajazet, set them at open war with each other. At length Amurath II., the son of Mahomet I., and grandson of Bajazet, succeeded in putting a stop to these divisions, and restored the Empire to its primitive splendour. He deprived the Greeks of all the places which still remained in their hands on the Black Sea, along the coast of Thrace, in Macedonia and Thessaly. He even took, by assault, the wall and forts which they had constructed at the entrance of the isthmus of Corinth, and car- ried his ravages to the very centre of the Peloponnesus. The two heroes of the Christians, John Hunniades and Scan- derbeg, arrested the progress of the Ottoman Sultan. The former, v/ho was General of the Hungarians, boldly repulsed ihc Sultan of Servia, whom he was aiubitious to conqucf. Thc other, a Greek Prince, who possessed one of the petty states of vor- I. 18 206 CHAPTER V7. Albania of which Croja was the capital, re!«istepe. They soon diflusod their influence over every department of literature and science, which by dejvrces assumed an aspect totally new. The scholastic system, which till then had been in vo^nie in the pulpits and universities, lost its credit, and gave place to a uu)re refined philosophy. Men learned to discriminate the vices of the feudal system, and sought out the means of correcting them. The sources of disorder and anarchy were gradually dried uj), and gave place to better organized governments. Painting, sculnture, and the arts in general, cleared from the Gothic rust which they had contracted during the barbarous ages, and finished after the models of the ancients, shone forth with renewed lustre. Navigation, under the direc- tion of the compass, reached a degree of perfection which at- tracted universal attention ; and while the ancients merely coasted along their own shores in the pursuit of commerce or maritime - exploits, we find the modern Europeans extending their naviga- tion oyer the whole globe, and bringing both hemispheres under their dominion. America, unknown to the ancients, was discovered during this period ; as well as the route to India and the East, round the Continent of Africa. The notion of a fourth quarter of the world had long been prevalent among the ancients. We all recollect the Atlantis of Plato, which, according to the assertion of that philosopher, was larger than Asia and Africa ; and we know that .Elian the historian, who lived in the reign of Adrian, affirmed in like manner the existence of a fourth continent of immense extent. This opinion had got so much into fashion, during the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era, that Lactantius and St. Augustine thought themselves bound in duty to combat it in their writings ; inveighing against the antipodes by reasons and arguments, the frivolousness of which is now very generally admitted; but, whatever were the notions which the anciouts miglil li.ive enf.^rtp.ine^ a?- to a fourth quarter of the globe, it is very certain that they knew it only from conjecture and that their navigation never extended so far. PERIOD VI. 1453—1648. 209 The honour of this important discovery belongs to modern navigators, more especially to Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa. From tlie knowledge which this celebrated man had acquired in the sciences of Navigation, Astronomy, and Geo- graphy, ho was persuaded that there must l)e another hemisphere Tying to the westward, and unknown to Europeans, but neces- sary to the equilibrium of the globe. These conjectures he cor|miunicated to several of the courts of Europe, who all re- garded him as a visionary ; and it was not till after many soli- citations, that Isabella, Queen of Castile, granted him three vessels, with which he set sail in quest of the new continent, 3d August 1492. After a perilous navigation of some months, he reached the Island Guanahani or Cat Island, one of the Lu- cayos or Bahamas, to which he gave the name of St. Salvador. This discovery was followed soon after by that of the Islands of St. Domingo and Cuba; and in the second and third voyages which that navigator undertook to America (1493-1498,) he dis- covered the mainland or continent of the New World, especially the coast of Paria, as far as the point of Araya, making part of the province known at i)resent by the name of Cumana. The track of the Genoese navigator was followed by a Flo- rentine merchant, named Amerigo Vespulio. Under the con- duct of a Spanish captain, called Alphonso de Ojeda, he made several voyages to the New World after the year 1497. Diffe- rent coasts of the continent of South America were visited by him ; and in the maps of his discoveries which he drew up, he usurjied a glory which did not belong to him, by applying his own name to the new continent ; which it has since retained. The Spaniards conquered the islands and a great part of the continent of America ; extending their victories along with their discoveries. Stimulated by the thirst of gold, which the New World offered to them in abundance, they committed crimes and barbarities which make humanity shudder. Millions of the unfortunate natives were either massacred or buried in the sea, in spite of the efforts which the Spanish Bishop, Bartholomew de Las Casas, vainly made to arrest the fury of his country- men. ^ In the year after the first discovery of Columbus, Fer- dinand the Catholic, King of Spain, obtained a bull from Pope Alexander VI., by which that Pontiff made him a gift of all the countries discovered, or to be discovered, towards the west and the south ; drawing an imaginary line from one pole to the other, at the distance of a hundred leagues westward of Cape Verd and the Azores. This decision having given offence to the King of Portugal, who deemed it prejudicial to his discoveries in the East, an accommodation was contrived between the two courts, 18^ 810 CHAPTER Vlt. in virtue of which the same Pope, by another Bull (1494,) re« moved the line in question farther west, to the distance of four hundred and seventy leagues ; so that all the countries lying tc rhe westward of this line should belong to the King of Spain, while those which might be discovered to the eastward, should fall to the possession of the King of Portugal. ^ It was on this pretended title that the Spaniards founded their right to demand the submission of the American nations to the Spanish Crap/n. Their principal conquests in the New World commence from the reign of the Emperor Charles V. It was in his name that Ferdinand Cortes, with a mere handful of troops, overthrew the vast Empire of Mexico (1521 ;) the last Emperors of which, Montezuma and Gatimozin, were slain, and a prodigious num- ber of the Mexicans put to the sword. The conqueror of Peru was Francis Pizarro (1533.) He entered the country, at the head of 300 men, at the very time when Atabalipa or Atahualpa was commencing his reign as Incas, or Sovereign of Peru. That prince was slain, and the whole of Peru subdued by the Spaniards. [The Spaniards founded various colonies and establishments m that part of America which they had subjected to their do- minion. The character of these colonies differed from that of the establishments which the Portuguese had founded in India, and the Dutch, the English, and the French, in different parts of the world. As the Spaniards were by no means a commer- cial nation, the precious metals alone were the object of their cupidity. They applied themselves, in consequence, to the working of mines ; they imported negroes to labour in them, and made slaves of the natives. In process of time, when the number of Europeans had increased in these countries, and the precious metals became less abundant, the Spanish colonist;? were obliged to employ themselves in agriculture, and in raising what is commonly called colonial produce. What we have now said, accounts for the limitations and restrictions which were imposed on the trade of these colonies by the Spanish govern- ment ; they wished to reserve to themselves exclusively the pro- fits of the mines. Commerce, which at first had been confined to the single entrepot of Seville, fell into the hands of a small number of merchants, to the entire exclusion of foreigners. As for the Spanish possessions in America, they were planted with Episcopal and Metropolitan Sees, Missions, Convents, and Uni- versities. The Inquisition was also introduced ; but the hierar- chy which was founded there, instead of augmenting the power of the Popes, remained in a state of complete dependence upon the Sovereigns.] The discovery of Brazil belongs to the Portuguese, Aivares PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 21 Cabra., the commander of their fleet, while on his route to India, was driven, by contrary winds, on the coast of Brazil (1500,) and took possession of the country in name of the King of Vor- tuc^al. This colony, in the course of time, became highly im- portant, from the rich mines of diamonds and gold which were discovered there. The Spaniards and Portuguese were at first the only mastfirs of America ; but in a short time, establishments were formeij there by some of the other maritime nations of Europe. The first English colony was that of Virginia, which was conducted to North America by Sir Walter Raleigh (1584,) but it did not gain a permanent settlement till the reign of James I. This was afterwards followed by several other colonies which had settled in that part of the American continent, on account of the perse- cution carried on by the Stuart Kings against the non-conform- ists. The first settlements of the English in the Antilles, were those which they formed in the Islands of Barbadoes and St, Christopher (1629 ;) to these they added the Island of Jamaica, which they took from the Spaniards (1655.) The date of the French establishments in Canada, is as old as the reigns of Francis I. and Henry IV., in the years 1534 and 1604. The city of Quebec was founded in 1608. It was at a later period when the French established themselves in the Antilles. The origin of their colonies in Martinique and Gaudaloupe, is gene- rally referred to the year 1635. They gained a footing in St, Domingo as early as 1630, but the flourishing state of that re- markable colony did not begin^roperly speaking, till 1722. All the establishments which the Elnglish and French had formed in America, were purely agricultural ; and in this respect they were distinguished from the Spanish colonies. The discovery of a passage by sea to the East Indies round Africa, belongs also to the Portuguese. It forms one of those great events which often take their first impulse from very slen- der causes. John I. surnamed the Bastard, the new founder of the kingdom of Portugal, being desirous of afl<: rding to his sons an opportunity of signalizing themselves, and earning the honour of knighthood, planned an expedition against the Moois in Africa; he equipped a fleet, with which he landed in the neighbourhood of Ceuta (1415,) of which he soon made himself master, and created his sons knights in the grand mosque of that city. After this event, the Portuguese began to have a taste for navigation and maritime discoveries. In this they were encouraged by the Infant Don Henry, Duke of Viseu, and one ot the sons of King John, who had particularly distinguished himself in the expedi- *on of which we have just xjoken. That prince, who waa well 213 CMAtTER Vll. skilled in mathematics and the art of navigation, established his residence at Cape St. Vincent, on the western extremity of AI- garva. There he ordered vessels to be constructed at his own expense, and sent them to reconnoitre the coasts of Africa, From that time the Portuguese discovered, in succession, the Islands of Madeira (1420,) the Canaries (1424,) the Azores (1431,) and Cape Verd (1460.) There they founded colonies; and, ad- vancing by degrees along the southern shores of Africa, they extended their navigation as far as the coasts of Guinea and Ni- gritia. The islands which they had newly discovered, were confirmed to the Kings of Portugal by several bf the Popes. The Canaries, however, having been claimed by the Spaniards, a treaty was negotiated between the two kingdoms, in virtue of which these islands were abandoned to Spain (1481.) It was under the reign of John 11. that the Portuguese ex- tended their navigation as far as the most southerly point of Africa. Bartholomew Diaz, their admiral, was the first who doubled the Cape, which he called the Stormy Cape ; a name which King John changed into that of Good Hope. At length, after twelve years of toils, Vasco di Gama, another Portuguese admiral, had the glory of carrying his national flag as far as India. He landed at the Port of Calicut (1498,) on the Ma- labar coast, in the third year of the reign of Emmanuel. Several other celebrated Portuguese navigators, such as Almeida, Albu- querque, Acunga, Silveira, and de Castro, following the tract of Vasco di Gama, laid the foundation of the power of the Portu- guese in India. Francis Almeida defeated the fleet of the Mameluke Sultan of Egypt, in conjunction with that of the Kings of India (1509.) Alfonzo Albuquerque conquered Goa (1511,) and made it the capital of all the Portuguese settlements in that part of the world. About the same time, the Portuguese established themselves in the Molucca Islands, with some oppo- sition on the part of the Spaniards. Anthony Silveira signalized himself by his able defence of Diu (1535.) He repulsed the Turks, and ruined the fleet which Soliman the Great had sent to the siege of that place (1547.) The King of Cambay having resumed the siege, he experienced likewise a total defeat from John de Castro, who then conquered the whole kingdom of Diu. The Portuguese found powerful kingdoms in India, and nations rich and civilized. There, nature and the industry of the natives, produced or fabricated those articles of commerce and merchandise which have since become an object of luxury to Europeans ; at least until the activity of the Venetians had furnished the inhabitants of this part of 'the world with them in such abundance, as to maKe them fcgarded as articles of abso- 1 ERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. iiUi lute necessity. This circumstance was the reason why the Por- tuguese never formed any other than mercantile establishments in India, which they erected on the coasts, without extenamg them into the interior. The working- of the mines, and the cares of agriculture, were abandoned entirely to the natives. This era produced a total change in the commerce of the East. Formerly the Venetians were the people that carried on the principal traffic to India. The Jewish or Mahometan merchants purchased at Goa, Calicut, and Cochin, those spiceries and other productions of the East, which they imported into Syria by the Persian Gulf, and into Egypt by the Red Sea. They Avere then conveyed by a laborious and expensive land-carriage, either to the port of Alexandria, or that of Bairout in Syria. Thither the Venetians repaired in quest of the luxuries of India ; they fixed their price, and distributed them over all Europe. This commerce proved a source of vast wealth to these republicans : it furnished them with the means of maintaining a formida- ble marine, and of very often dictating the law to the other European powers ; but after the discovery of the new passage round the Cape, and the conquests of the Portuguese in India, the Venetians saw themselves compelled to abandon a traffic in which they could not compete with the Portuguese. This was a terrible blow to that republic, and the principal cause of its downfall. The Portuguese, however, did not profit by this ex- clusive commerce as they might have done. They did not, like other nations, constitute Companies, with exclusive commercial privileges ; they carried it on by means of fleets, which the go- vernment regularly despatched at fixed periods. In this manner, the commodities of the East were imported to Lisbon ; but the indolence of the native merchants left to other nations the care of distributing them through the markets of Europe. The Dutch were the people that profited most by this branch of industry ; they cultivated it with so much success, and under such favour- able circumstances, that they at length succeeded in excluding he Portuguese themselves from this lucrative traffic, by dis- possessing them of their colonies in the East. If the events which we have now briefly detailed proved fatal to the Venetians, and afflicting to humanity, by thi wars ant', misfortunes which they occasioned, it is nevertheless certain, that commerce and navigation gained prodigiously by these new discoveries. The Portuguese, after having maintained for some time the exclusive possession of the navigation and trade of the East, found afterwards powerful competitors in the Spaniards, the Dutch, English, French, and Danes, who all established mercantile connexions both in India and America. Hence in- 214 CHAPTER VII. numerable sources of wealth were opened to the industry of the iJ-uropeans ; and their commerce, formerly limited to the Medi- terranean, the Baltic, and the Northern Seas, and confined fo a few cities in Italy, B' landers, and Germany, was now, by means ot their colonies m Africa, and the East and West Indies, ex. tended to all parts of the globe. * The intercourse of the Por- tuguese with China was as early as the year 1517, and with Japan it began in 1542. Ferdinand Magellan undertook the hrst voyage round the world (1519,) and his example found afterwards a number of imitators. •' By degrees the maritime power of Europe assumed a formidable aspect ; arts and manu- factures were multiplied ; and states, formerly poor, became rich and flourishing. Kingdoms at length found in their commerce, resources for augmenting their strength and their influence, and carrying into execution their projects of aggrandizement and conquest. [Among the causes of this revolution which took place in commerce, it is necessary to take into account a discovery ap- parently of trivial importance, but which exercised a most ex- traordinary influence over the civilization of Europe, viz. that of horse-posts for the conveyance of letters. Before the sixteenth century, the communications between distant countries were tew and difficult. Messengers, travelling on short journeys, on toot or on horseback, were their only couriers. About the be- ginning of the seventeenth century, and during the reit^n of Maximilian I., an Italian gentleman of the name of Francis de la Tour et Taxis, established the first posts in the Low Coun- tries. Their object at first was merely for the conveyance of ^tters by posts or post, for which he provided regular relays. By and by, for the sake of despatch, the use of horses was in- troduced, placed at certain distances. From the Low Countries this system found its way into Germany, where its profits were secured to the family of Taxis by imperial grants ; and irom thence it spread over every civilized country in the world.] A revolution not less important, is that which took place in re- ligion about the beginning of the sixteenth century. The abuses which disgraced the court of Rome, the excess of the power, and the depravity of the morals of the clergy, had excited a very ge- neral discontent. A reformation had for a long time been deemed necessary, but there was a difierence of opinion as to the me- thod of effecting it. The common notion was, that this task could be legally accomplished only by General Councils, con- voked under the authority of the Popes. It was easy, however, to perceive the inefficacy of any remedy left at the disposal of Liose very persons from whom the evil proceeded ; and the un- PERIOD VI. A. D. 146J)— 1648. S216 KVCcessful results of the Councils of Constance and Basle, haJ taught the people, that, in order to obtain redress for the abu«es of which they complained, it was necessary to have recourse to some other scheme than that of General Councils. This scheme was attempted by the Reformers of the sixteenth century, who were persuaded, that, in order to restrain the exorbitant power of the clergy, they ought to reject the infallibility of the Pope, as well as that of General Councils ; admitting no other autho- rity in ecclesiastical matters, than that of the sacred scriptures, interpreted by the lights of reason and sound criticism. The immediate and incidental cause of this change in reli- gion, was the enormous abuse of indulgences. Pope Leo X., who was of the family of the Medicis, and well known for his extensive patronage of literature and the fine arts, having ex- hausted the treasury of the church by his luxury and his mu- nificence, had recourse to the expedient of indulgences, which several of his predecessors had already adopted as a means of recruiting their finances. The ostensible reason was, the ba- silica of St. Peter's at Rome, the completion of which was equally interesting to the whole of Christendom. Offices for the sale of indulgences were established in all the diflferent states of Europe. The purchasers of these indulgences ob- tained absolution of their sins, and exemption from the pains of purgatory after death. The excesses committed by the emis- saries who had the charge of those indulgences, and the scan- dalous means which they practised to extort money, brought on the schism to which we are about to advert. Two theologians, Martin Luther, and Ulric Zuingle, opposed these indulgences, and inveighed against them in their sermons and their writings ; the former at Wittemberg in Saxony ; the other, first at Einsiedeln, and afterwards at Zurich, in Switzer- land. Leo X. at first held these adversaries in contempt. He did not attempt to allay the storm, until the minds of men, ex- asperated by the heat of dispute, w^ere no longer disposed to listen to the voice of calmness and conciliation. The means which he subsequently tried to induce Luther to retract having proved abortive, he issued a thundering Bull against him (1520,) which, so far from abating the courage of the Reformer, tended, on the contrary, to embolden him still more. He publicly burnt the Pope's Bull, together with the Canon Law, at, Wittemberg (10th December,) in presence of a A'ast concourse of doctors and students from different nations, whom he had assembled for the purpose. From that moment Luther and Zuingle never ceased to preach against the abuses of the indulgences. They completely undermined this system of abomination, and even tie CHAPTER Vlt. attacked various other dogmas and institutions of the Romia^ church, such as monastic vows, the celibacy of the priests, the Pupreniacy of the Pope and the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Thet»e tivo celebrated men, who agreed in the greater part of their opinions, soon attracted a number of followers. The people, long ago prepared to shako off a yoke which had been so op- pre|^ive, applauded the zeal of the Keformers; and the new opinions, promptly and easily diffused by means of the press, were received with enthusiasm throughout a great part of Europe. John Calvin, another Reformer, trod nearly in the footsteps of Zuingle. He was a native of Noyon in Picardy, and began to distinguish himself at Paris in 1532. Being compelled to leave that city on account of his opinions, he withdrew to Switzerland (1538;) thence he passed to Strasbourg, where he was nomi- nated to the office of French preacher. His erudition and his pulpit talents gained him disciples, and gave the name of Cai- vinists to those who had at first been called Zuinglians. The Lutherans, as well as the Zuinglians or Calvinists in Germany, were comprehended under the common appellation of Protest- ants, on account of the Protest which they took against the decrees of the Diet of Spire (1529,) which forbade them to make any innovations in religion, or to abolish the mass, until the meeting of a General Council. The name of Lutherans was applied more particularly to those who adhered to the Confession of Augsburg, that is, the Confession of Faith which they presented to the Emperor Charles V., at the famous Diet of Augsburg, held in 1530. In this manner a great part of Europe revolted from the Pope and the Romish Church, and embraced either the doc- trines of Luther, or those of Zuingle and Calvin. The half ol Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Prussia, and Livonia, adopted the Confession of Augsburg; while England, Scotland, the United Provinces, and the principal part of Switzerland, declared themselves in favour of the opinions of Zuingle and Calvin. The new doctrines made likewisi; great progress in France, Hungary, Transylvania, Bohemia, Silesia, and Poland. This revolution did not convulse merely the Church ; it in- fluenced the politics, and changed the form of government, m many of the States of Europe. The same men who believed themselves authorized to correct abuses and imperfections in re- ligion, undertook to reform political abuses with the same free- dom. New States sprung up ; and princes took advantage of these commotions to augment their own power and authority. Constituting themselves heads of the Church and of the relifirioft ilgiOA !t I Landing of Columbus. Vol. 1— p. 209. Luther burning the Pope's Bull, Vol. 2, p. 151. PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 217 151. of their country, they shook off the fetters of priestly influence ; while the clergy ceased to form a counteracting or controlling power in the State. The freedom of opinion which characterized the Protestant faith, awoke the human mind from its intellectual lethargy, infused new energy into it, and thus contributed to the progre°ss of civilization and science in Europe. Even the systems of public instruction underwent a considerable change. The schools w«re reformed, and rendered more perfect. A multitude of new seminaries of education, academies, and universities were founded in all the Protestant States. This^ revolution, however, was not accomplished without great and various calami- ties. A hierarchy, such as that of the Church of Rome, sup- ported by all that was dignified and venerable, could not be attacked, or shaken to its foundation, without involving Europe in the Convulsion. Hence we find that wars and factions arose in Germany, France, the Low Countries, Switzerland, Hungary, and Poland. The march of reformation was every where stain- ed with blood. The means that were employed to bring the quarrels of the Church to an amicable conclusion, tended rather to exasperate than allay the mischief; and if the conferences among the clergy of different persuasions failed, it was not to be expected that a better agreement, or a union of parties, could be founded on the basis of a General Council. The Protestants demanded an un- controlled liberty for the Council. They wished it to be assem- bled by order of the Emperor, in one of the cities of the Empire ; and that their divines should have a voice and a seat in its meet- ings. The Pope was to submit to its authority, and all matters should there be decided according to the rule of the sacred Scrip- tures. These terms were by no means agreeable to the Catho- lics. Paul III. summoned a Council at Mantua (1537,) and another at Vicenza (1538;) but both of these convocations were ineffectual, as was also the proposed reform in the Court of Rome, made by the same Pontiff. It was resolved at last, at the instance of the Catholic princes (1542,) to convoke the Council of Trent, though the opening of it was deferred till 1545. This famous Council met with two interruptions; the first :Ook place in 1547, when the Pope, who had become alarmed at the success of the Imperial arms, transferred the Council to Bo- logna, on pretence that an epidemic distemper had broken out at Trent. All the prelates of the Emperor's party remained at Trent, in obedience to the command of their master, who pro- tested loudly against the assembly at Bologna, which neverthe- less held its ninth and tenth Sessions at that cit_y._ This latter Council having been dissolved by Pau. '»I (lo4b,) its afiaka VOL. I. 19 ^ 218 CHAPTER VII. M- continued in a languid state for the next two years, wnen Pope Julius III., the successor of Paul, revived it, and transferred i: once more to Trent (1551.) Another interruption took place at the time when Maurice, Elector of Saxony, had made himself master of Augsburg, and was marching against the Emperor towards Inspruck. It was then agreed to prorogue the Council, now in its sixteenth Session, for two years ; and to assemble again at the end of that period, if peace should happen in the mean time to be established. At length, in 1560, Pius IV., summoned the Council, for the third and last time, to meet at Trent. The session, however, did not commence till 1562 ; and next year its sittings were finally terminated. In this Council, matters were not treated in the same way as they had been at Constance and Basle, where each nation delibe- rated separately, and then gave their suffrage in common, so that the general decision was taken according to the votes of the dif- ferent nations. This form of deliberation was not at all palatable to the Court of Rome, who, in order to gain a preponderance in the assembly, thought proper to decide, by a majority of the votes of every individual member of the Council. The Protestant princes rejected entirely the authority of this Council ; which, far from terminating the dispute, made the schism wider than ever. Its decisions were even condemned by several of the Ca- tholic sovereigns. In France, more especially, it was never formally published, and they expressly excluded such of its acts of discipline as they considered contrary to the laws of the king- dom, to the authority of the sovereign, and the maxims of the Galilean Church. It is nevertheless certain that this Council was instrumental in restoring the tottering power of the Roman pontiffs ; v/hich receiv- ed at the same time a new support by the institution of the Order of the Jesuits. The founder of this order was Ignatius Loyola, who was born at the Castle of Loyola in Guipuscoa. He made the declaration of his vows in the church of Montmartre at Paris (1534,) and obtained from Paul III. the confirmation of his new Society. This order was bound, by a particular vow of obedi- ence, more intimately to the Court of Rome ; and became one of the main instruments of its enormous power. From Spain the Society was speedily propagated in all the other Catholic States ; they filled cities and courts with their emissaries ; undertook missions to China, Japan, and the Indies ; and under the special protection of the See of Rome, they soon surpassed in credit and wealth every other religious order. in the midst of these changes which took place in civil and ecclesiastical matters, we find a new system arising in the poli- PEUioD. VI. A. D. 1453 — 1848. 219 tical ffoveniment of Europe ; the consequence of those new ties and relations which had been established amongst the diflerent powers since the close of the fifteenth century. Prior to this date, most of the European States were feeble, because insulated and detached. Occupied with their own particular interests and quarrels, the nations were little acquainted with each other, and seldom had any influence on their mutual destinies. 1 he laults and imperfections inherent in the feudal system had pervaded a l Europe, and crippled the power and the energies of government. The sovereigns, continually at war with their factious and power- ful vassals, could neither form plans of foreign conquest, nor carry them into execution ; and their military operations were in ge- neral without unity or effect. [Hence it happened, that in the middle ages, changes were produced m the different fctates, which so little alarmed their neighbours, that it may be said thev were scarcely conscious of their existence, buch were the conquests of the English in France, which might certainly have compromised the independence of Europe.] ,,1-1 A combination of causes and circumstances, both physical and moral, produced a revolution in the manners and govern- ments of most of the Continental States. The disorders of feudal anarchy gradually disappeared; constitutions better or- ganized were introduced ; the temporary levies of vassals were succeeded by regular and permanent armies"; which contributed to humble the exorbitant power of the nobles and feudal barons. The consequence was, that States formerly weak and exhausted, acquired strength; while their sovereigns, freed from the tur- bulence and intimidation of their vassals, began to extend their jx)litical views, and to form projects of aggrandizement and conquest. e ^ -c ' From this period the reciprocal influence of the Hiuropean States on each other began to be manifest. Those who were afraid for their independence, would naturally conceive the idea of a balance of power capable of protecting them against the m roads of ambitious and warlike princes. Hence those frequent embassies and negotiations ; those treaties of alliance, subsidies, and guarantees ; those wars carried on by a general combma- tion of powers, who deemed themselves obliged to bear a part in the common cause ; and hence too those projects for establish- ing checks and barriers on each other, which occupied the dit- ferent courts of Europe. • • * 1 [The system of equilibrium or the balance of power, originated in Italy. That peninsula, separated from the rest of the continent by the sea and the Alps, had outstripped the other countries in the career of civilization. There a muUituuo of iuuepnnueut "wm^ipwp 220 CHAPTER VII. states had been formed, unequal in point of power and extent ; but none of them had sufficient strength to resist the united power of the rest, or usurp dominion over them ; while at the same time, none of them were so contemptible in point of weakness, as not to be of some weight in the scale. Hence that rivalry and jealousy among them, which was incessantly watching over the progress of their neighbours ; and hence, too, a series of wars and confederacies, whose object was to maintain some degree of equality among them ; or at least a relative proportion, which might inspire the weaker with courage and confidence. The Popes who were exceedingly active in these transactions, em- ployed all their policy to prevent any foreign power from inter- fering, or establishing itself in Italy. The doctrine of political equilibrium passed the Alps about the end of the fifteenth cen- tury. The House of Austria, which had suddenly risen to a high pitch of grandeur, was the first against which its efforts were directed.] This House, which derived its origin from Rodolph of Haps- burg, who was elected Emperor of Germany towards the end of the thirteenth century, owed its greatness and elevation chiefly to the Imperial dignity, and the different family alliances which this same dignity procured it. Maximilian of Austria, son of the Emperor Frederic III., married Mary of Burgundy (1477,) daughter and heiress of Charles the Rash, last Duke of Bur- gundy. This alliance secured to Austria the whole of the Low Countries, including Franche-Comte, Flanders, and Artois. Philip the Fair, the son of this marriage, espoused the Infanta of Spain, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Castille. They had two sons, Charles and Ferdinand, the former of whom, known in history by the name of Charles V., inherited the Low Countries in right of his father Philip (1506.) On the death of Ferdinand, his maternal grandfather (1516,) he became heir to the ivhole Spanish succession, which comprehended the king- doms of Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia, together with Spanish America. To these vast possessions were added his partimonial dominions in Austria, which were transmitted to him by his paternal grandfather the Emperor Maximilian I. About the same time (1519,) the Imperial dignity was conferred on this prince by the electors ; so that Europe had not seen, since the time of Charlemagne, a monarchy so powerful as that of Charles V. This Emperor concluded a treaty with his brother Ferdinand, by which he ceded to him all his hereditary possessions in Ger- many. The two brothers thus became the founders of the two principal branches of the House of Austria, viz. that of Spain, PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453— IB48. S21 which began with Charles V., (called Charles I. of Spain, ^ and rnded wiS Charles II. (1700 ;) and that of Germany, of whK^h Fertand I. was the ancestor and wh^ch became exUnct m the male line in the Emperor Charles VI. (174U.) inese two rranches!closely allied to each other, acted m concert for the advancement of their reciprocal interests ; moreover they gained SheTr own separate advantages by the marriage connexions which thev formed. Ferdinand I. of the German line, married \nne (1521 ) sister of Louis King of Hungary and Bohemia, who havincr been slain by the Turks at the battle of Mohacs m26 Tthes°e two kingdoms devolved to Ferdinand of the House if iu tHa Flnally,'the marriage which Charles V. contracted withX Infant Isabella, daughter of Emmanuel, Kmg of For- uaal nrocured Philip II. of Spain, the son of that marriage, riErrtugue J^^^^^^^ which he succee ed on the death of Henry, called the Cardinal (1580.) bo vast an ag g "ndizement of power alarmed ^he-vereigns of Europe who becran to suspect that the Austrian Princes, of the Spanish and (German line, aimed at universal monarchy. The unbounded ambufon of Charles V., and his son Philip II., as well as that of Ferdinand II., grandson of Ferdinand I., tended to confirm these suspicions ; and all feU the necessity of uniting to oppose a barrier to this overwhelming power, ^or a long time the whole policy of Europe, its wars and alliances, had no other obiect than to humble the ambition of one nation, whose pre- ponderance seemed to threaten the liberty and mdependence of '^"[The'system of political equilibrium, which from this period became the leading object of every European cabinet, until it was Tnderniined by unjust and arbitrary interferences, and hrearenedTo bury tie independence of Europe m its ruins, did not am at maintaining among the different states an equa ity of nower or territorial possession. This would have been chi- meS! The object of this system was to mamtam a perfect duality of rights in virtue of which the weaker might enjoy in security all that they held by a just claim. It was purely a defenshi and preservative system; nor did it affect to put an end "o aU wars ; it was directed solely against the ambition and usurpation of conquerors. Its fundamental principle was to prevent any one state from acquiring sufficient power to resist the united efforts of the others.] i .i, . i f ,^ France was the leading power that undertook he task of re- Jattng tbe balance against the House of Austria Francis I ^^''""^Xtt u«ed «verv effort to excite combinations against Francis was the first sovereign in Europe that 19* u. tmmm^umm^m^ 222 CHAPTER VII. ! I entered into treaties of alliance with the Turks against Austria, and in this way the Porte was, to a certain extent, amalgamated with the political system of Europe. So long as their object was to subvert the feudal aristocracy, and the Protestant reli- gion in France, Francis and Henry were strenuous defenders of the Germanic system, and extended their protection to the sovereigns of the Protestant States of the Empire, under the persuasion that all Europe would bend to the Austrian yoke, if the Emperors of that House should succeed in rendering their power absolute and hereditary in the Empire. Henrj' IV. Louis XIII., and the Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin, adopted the same line of policy.'' They joined in league with the Protestant Princes, and armed by turns the greater part of Eu- rope against Austria, and the Emperor Ferdinand II., whose ambitious designs threatened to subvert the constitution of the Empire. This was the grand motive for the famous Thirty Years' War, which was put an end to by the treaties of West- phalia (1648,) and of the Pyrenees (1659.) France succeeded, not however without prodigious efforts, in supporting the ba- lance against Austria; while the federative system of the Empire, consolidated by the former of these treaties, arid gua- ranteed by France and Sweden, became a sort of artificial bar- rier, for preserving the equilibrium and the general tranquillity of Europe. It was during this period that almost every kingdom in Eu- rope changed their condition, and assumed, by degrees, the form which they have still retained. The German Empire continued to experience those calamities to which every government is exposed, when its internal springs have lost their vigour and activity. Private wars and feuds, which the laws authorized, were then regarded as the chief bulwark of the national liberty ; the noblesse and the petty states in general, knew no other jus- lice than what the sword dispensed. Oppression, rapine and violence, were become universal ; commerce languished ; and the different provinces of the Empire presented one melan- choly scene of ruin and desolation. The expedients that were tried to remedy these disorders, the truces, the treaties (called the Peace of God,) and the different confederacies of the Im- perial states, served only to palliate, but not to cure the evil. The efforts which some of the Emperors made to establish the public tranquillity on some solid basis, proved equally abortive. It was not until near the end of the fifteenth century that the states of the Empire, impressed with juster notions of govern- ment and civil subordination, consented to the total and entire iibolit)on of feuds and intestine wars This was accomplished PERIOD vt A. 1 . 1463 — 1648. 223 under the reign of Maximilian I., by ihe Perpetual Pubhc PeTe drawn up at the Diet of Worms m 149f AU violent means of redress among the members of the Germanic Body Crrigorously interdicted; and all who had any complaints to LSJ\n^fLch other, were enjoined to apply to the regular Tour s oTrustice Thl' ordinanc'e of the Public Peace which was afterwards renewed and enlarged in severa diets, h^ been TeArded, smce that time, as one of the principal . and funda- mpntal laws of the Empire. The establishment of^he Public Peace rendered a reforma. tion necessary in the administration of justice, Avhich had long beenTn a laniuid and disordered state. For this purpose, the ImperTal Chamber, which sat at first at Spire and was after- S transferred to Wetzlar, was instituted at the Diet o Worms (1495.) Its object was to judge of any differences that miSaise among thi immediate members o the Germanic k,dv; as also to receive any appeals that might be referred to them from the subordinate tribunals. It was composed of a chiS or head, called the Judge of the Chamber, and of a cer- S number of assessors chosen from among the jurists and ndenendent nobility. The institution of the Aulic Council, Itrersoleign cLt of the Empire, followed soon after that of the Imperial Chamber. Its origin is generally referred to 'ho Diet^f Cologne (1512.) Of the same date also is the plan which they adopted of dividing the Empire into ten Circles as r proper expedient for maintaining the public peace, and faci- Utating the execution of the sentences of the two Imperial Cour s Over each of these circles were placed princes direc tors, and colonels, whose duty it was to supermtend and com- mand the troops of their respective districts. ,,,,!,„ The custom of Imperial Capitulations was introduced at the time of the accession of Charles V. to the Imperial throne (1519^ The Electors, apprehensive of the formidable power of thai nHnce thought proper to limit it by a capitulation which they Ke C sfgn Tnd solemnly swear to observe. This compact Sluveen the new Emperor and the Electors, renewed under every subsequent reign, has been always cons dered as the grand char- tPr of the liberties of the Germanic body. j . , The dissensions on the score of religion that happened abou the bednnlno- of the sixteenth century, gave rise to a long series of trouWes and civil wars, which proved of advantage to the House of Austria! by the confirmation of their power m the Em- ?i e Tht Trs'ifLse is known by the name of tke war c Wl\r.\^... of which the following is a brief sketch. Tl* Em- iror Charles V.. in the first diet which he held at W omir ,. «>«,• \ 224 CHAPTEn VIU 11 had issued an edict of moscription against Luther and his adhe- rents, ordaining that they should be treated as enemies of the Empire, and prosecuted to the utmost rigour of the law. The execution of this edict was incessantly urged by the Emperor and the Pope's legates, until the Avhole Empire was in a state of combustion. The Catholic princes, at the instigation of Cardi' nal Campeggio, assembled at Ralisbonne (1524,) and there adopted measures of extreme rigour, for putting the edict into execution within their respective states. The case was by no means the same with the princes and states who adhered to the Reformation, or who gave it their protection. To apply the con- ditions of the edict to them, it would have been necessary to come to a civil war, which the more prudent members of the Germanic body sought to avoid. This religious schism was still more aggravated at the Diet of Augsburg, where the Emperor issued a decree, condemning the Confession of Faith which tho Protestant princes had presented to him. This decree limited a time within which they were commanded, in so far as regarded the articles in dispute, to conform to the doctrines of the Catholic Church. Thus urged to e7Uremities, the Protestant leaders de- termined to assemble at Smalcalden before the end of this very year (1630,) where they laid the foundation of a Union, or de- fensive alliance, which was afterwards renewed at different times. John Frederic, Elector of Saxony, and Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, declared themselves chiefs of this Union. In opposition to this confederacy, the Catholic princes institxited the Holy League; so called because its object was the defence of the Catholic religion. Every thing seemed to announce a civil war, when a new irruption of the Turks into Hungary and Austria, induced the Catholics to sign, at Nuremberg (1530,) a truce, or accommoda- tion, %vith the princes of the Union ; in virtue of which, a peace between the states of the two religions was concluded, and ap- proved by the Emperor ; to continue till a General Council, or some new assembly should decide otherwise. This peace was renewed in various subequent assemblies. The Protestant princes, however, still persisted in their refusal to acknowledge the atithority of Councils convoked by the Popes ; and their confederacy daily receiving new accessions, the Emperor, after having made peace with France, at Crepy (1544,) and concluded an armistice of five years with the Turks, resolved to declare war against these schismatics, who, presuming on their union and their amicable relations with foreign powers, thought them- selves capable of dictating laws to the Empire. He issued an edict of proscription (1546) against the Elector of Saxony and PEHIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 235 the Lar.dgrave of Hesse, the two chiefs of the Union ; and having entered into a secret alliance with Duke Maurice, a younger branch of the family of Saxony, and a near relation of the Elector, he succeeded in transferring the theatre of war from the Dpnube to the Elbe. The Elector being defeated by the Emperor, in an action which took place at Mecklenburg (1547,) fell into the hands of the conqueror ; and the Landgrave of Hesse met with the same fate two months after. The tlnion of Smal- calden was then dissolved, and the Emperor, who now saw him- self master of Germany, assembled a Diet at Augsburg, in which he acted the part of a dictator. A large detachment of his troops, billeted on the city, served as his body guard, while the rest of his army was encamped in the neighbourhood. At this diet, he conferred on Duke Maurice the Electorate of Saxony, of which he had deprived his prisoner, John Frederick. The investiture of the new Elector took place at Augsburg (1548 ;) and what deserves to be particularly remarked in this diet is, that the Em- peror entered into a scheme for the entire ruin and extirpation of Protestantism, by compelling the princes and states of the Reformation to rejoin the Catholic Church, by means of a formula which he made them adopt, knovim by the name of the Interim ; and which, by its preliminary arrangement, allowed them only the use of the communion in both kinds, and the marriage of their priests, until the whole matter should be decided by a Council. The victories of Charles V., which seemed to have made him absolute master of the Empire, were soon followed by reverses, which eclipsed all the former glory of his reign. The Elector Maurice, though indebted to him for his new dignity, thought he might take advantage of the distressed condition to which that prince was reduced by the low state of his finances, to make a new attempt to limit his authority, and restore the Protestant religion. With this view, having inlisted some of the princes of the Empire in his cause, and concluded a secret treaty with Henry II. of France, at Chambord, he marched with such rapi- dity against the Emperor, that he nearly surprised him at Ins- pruck, and obliged him to have recourse to the mediation of his brother Ferdinand, when a treaty was concluded with Maurice, which was sigaed at Passau (1552.) There the liberty of the Protestant worship was sanctioned ; and it was agreed that a General Council should be summoned to draw up the articles of a solid and permanent peace between the states of both religion?. This diet, which was long retarded by political events, did not assemble at Augsburg till the year 1555. There a definitive peace was concluded on the subject of religion, and it was or '^26 CHAPTER VII. ;| dained that both Protestant and Catholic states should enjoy a perfect liberty of worship ; and that no reunion should ever be attempted by an)r other than amicable means. The seculari- zing of the ecclesiastical revenues, which the Protestant princes had introduced into their states, was ratified ; but there was one of the articles of the treaty which expressly provided, that every prelate or churchman, who renounced his ancient faith to embrace the Confession of Augsburg, should lose his benefice. This latter clause, known by the name of Ecclesiastical Reserve, did not pass but with the most determined opposition. Differences of more kinds than one sprung from this treaty of peace, — the articles of which each party interpreted to their own advantage. Hence those stratagems which at length occasioned a new war — that of the Thirty Years. The Protestant Princes and States, wishing to provide for their own security, and to put an end to those arbitrary measures, of which they thought they had reason to complain, assembled at Heilbrunn (1594,) and there laid the foundation of a new union, which was confirmed in the assemblies held at Halle, in Suabia, in the years 1608 and 1610. The chief promoter of this union was Henry IV. of France, who designed to use it as a check on the ambition of the House of Austria ; and as a means for carrying into execution the grand project which he meditated with regard to the pacifi- cation of Europe. He concluded an alliance with the Princes of the Union, and determined the number of troops to be furnish- ed by each of the contracting parties. The Catholic princes and States, afraid of being taken unawares, renewed their League, which they signed at Wurtzburg (1609.) The rich dutchy of Juliers, which had become vacant this same year, was contested by several claimants ; and as Austria was equally desirous of possessing it, this was made the occasion of raising powerful armies in France, Germany, Italy, and the Low Countries. A considerable number of troops had already taken the field, about the beginning of the year 1610, when the unexpected death of Henry IV. disconcerted all their measures. This changed the Politics of the French court, and also induced the Princes of the Fnion to conclude a treaty with the League, — the articles of which were signed at Munich and Wildstett (1610.) In this manner the resentment of both parties was suspended for the moment ; but the cause of their disunion still remained, which at length (1618) kindled a war that extended from Bohe- mia over all Germany, and involved, in course of time, a great part of Europe. The history of this tedious war, in which poli- tics had as great a share as zeal for religion, may be divided into four principal periods, namely, the Palatine, the Danish, tho PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 227 Swedish, and the French war. Frederick V., Elector Palatine, and head of the Protestant Union, having been raised to the throne by the Bohemian States (1619,) -which had rebelled affainst the Emperor Ferdinand II., engaged in a war with that prince ; but being deserted by his allies, and defeated at the bat- tle of Prague (1620,) he was driven from Bohemia, and stripped of all his dominions. The victorious arms of Austria soon ex- tended their conquests over a great part of the Empire. Christian IV., King of Denmark, Avho was m alliance with most of the Protestant princes, next undertook the defence of the federal system ; but he was not more fortunate than the Elector Palatine had been. Being defeated by Tilly, at the famous bat- tie of Lutter (1626,) he was compelled to abandon the cause ov his allies, and to sign a separate peace with the Emperor at Lubeck (1629.) Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, pursued the career of the Danish monarch. Encouraged by France, he put himself at the head of the Protestant princes, with the view of checking the ambitious projects of Ferdinand II., who, by means of his general, Wallenstein, whom he had created Duke of Friedland, and invested in the Dutchy of Mecklenburg, was dictating the law to the whole Empire, and even threatening the kingdoms of the North. Nothing could be more splendid than the campaigns of the Swedish hero in Germany, and the victories which he obtained at Leipsic (1631,) and Lulzen(1632 ;) but having been slain in the latter action, the affairs ot the Swedes began to decline ; and they were totally ruined by the defeat which they sustained at Nordlingen (1634.) trom that time the Elector of Saxony, John George I., renounced the al- liance of Sweden; and in yielding up Lusace to the Emperor, he consented to a separate treaty of peace, which was signed at Fragile (1635.) ,.,..„ i. u j u * ^ It was at this period that France, which till then had but fee- bly supported the Swedes and the Protestant Princes, thought it of advantage to her interests to undertake their defence against Austria. Having declared war against Spam, she marched numerous armies at once into Italy, Spain, Germany, and the Low Countries. Bernard, Prince of Saxe Weimar, and the three French Generals, Guebriant, Turenne, and the Duke d'Enghien, eignalized themselves by their exploits in the Imperial war; while the disciples of Gustavus Adolphus, Banier, Torstenston, and Wrangel, distinguished themselves at the head of the bwe- dish armies, in the various campaigns which took place, from the year 1635 till the conclusion of the peace. Never were ne- ffotiatious more tedious or more complicated than those which preceded the treaty of Westphalia, ihe pveiiminanes weire 228 CHAPTER VII. Signed at Hamburgh in 1641 ; but the opening of the Congresi at Munster and Odnaburg, did not take place till 1644. The Counts D'Avaux and Servien, the plenipotentiaries of France, shared with Oxenstiern and Salvias, the Swedish Envoys, the principal glory of this negotiation, which was protracted on pur- pose, as the belligerent powers were daily expecting to see the events of the war change in their favour. It was not until the 24th of October 1648, that the peace Avas finally signed at Mun- ster and Osnaburg. This peace, which was renewed in every subsequent treaty, and made a fundamental law of the Empire, fixed definitively the constitution of the Germanic Body. The territorial rights of the states, known by the name of mperiority — the privilege of making alliances with each other, and with foreign powers — and advising with the Emperor at the Diets, in every thing that concerned the general administration of the Empire, were con- firmed to them in the most authentic manner, and guaranteed by the consent of foreign powers. As to ecclesiastical aflfairs, the Religious Peace of 1555 was confirmed anew, and extended to those who were known by the name of the Reformed, or Cal- vinists. The state of religion, the forms of public worship, and fhe enjoyment of ecclesiastical benefices, throughout the whole Empire, were regulated according to the decree, called Vti possidetis of the 1st of January 1624, which was termed the normal, or decretory year. In this treaty, France obtained, by way of indemnity, the sovereignty of the three bishoprics, Metz, Toul, and Verdun, as well as that of Alsace. The compensa- tion of the other parties interested, was settled in a great mea- sure at the expense of the Church, and by means of secularizing several bishoprics and ecclesisastical benefices. Besides Pomerania and the city of Wismar, Sweden got the archbishopric of Bremen, and the bishopric of Verden. To the House of Brandeburg, they assigned Upper Pomerania, the archbishopric of Magdeburg, the bishoprics of Halberstadt, Min- den, and Camin. The House of Mecklenburg received, in lieu of the city of Wismar, the bishoprics of Schwerin and Ratzeburg. The princely abbey of Hirschfeld was adjudged to the Land- grave of Hesse-Cassel, and the choice of the bishopric of Osna- burg, to the House of Brunswick-Luneburg. An eighth Elec- brate was instituted in favour of the Elector Palatine, whom he Emperor, during the war, had divested of his dignity, which, *rith the Upper Palatinate, he had conferred on the Duke of Bavaria. The greater part of the provinces known by the name of the uow Countrieis, made part of the ancient kingdom of Lorraine PRnioD VI. A. D. 1453—1048. 229 which had been united to the German Empire since the tenth century. The principal of these had been acquired by the Dukes of Burgundy, who made them over, with other estates, to the House of Austria (1477.) Charles V. added the provinces of Friesland, Groningen, and Gueldres, to the states to which he nnd succeeded in Burgundy. He united the seventeen pro vij CCS of the Low Countries mto one and the same government , r ii , ordered, by the Pragmatic decree which he published (1649,) tliat they should never henceforth be disunited. This same prince, at the diet of Augsburg (1548,) entered into a negotia- tion with the Germanic Body, in virtue of which he consented to put these provinces under their protection ; under condition of their observing the public peace, and paying into the exche- ^uer of the Empire double the contribution of an Electorate, [e guaranteed to the princes of the Low Countries a vote and a seat at the Diet, as chiefs of the circle of Burgundy. These pro/inces, moreover, were to be considered as free and indepen- deiU. sovereignties, without being subject to the jurisdiction either of ihe Empire or of the Imperial Chamber, who were not au- thorized to proceed against them, except when they were found in ai rears with the payment of their contingent, or when they infringed the law of the public peace. Charles V. having transferred these countries to his son, Philip ri. of Spain, they were then incorporated with the Sjpan- ish monarchy ; and it was under the reign of this latter prmce that those troubles began which gave rise to the Republic of the United Provinces of the Low Countries. The true origin of these troubles is to be found in the despotism of Philip IL, and in his extravagant and fanatical zeal for the Catholic religion. This prince, the declared enemy of the rights and liberties of the Belgic Provinces, was mortified to witness the religious pri- vileges which they enjoyed ; under favour of which the doc- trines of the Reformation were daily making new progress. Being resolved to extirpate this new faith, together with the political liberties which served to protect it, he introduced the tribunal of the Inquisition (1559,) as the most sure and itifalli- ble support of despotism. With the consent and authority of Pope Paul IV., he suppressed, for this purpose, the metropolitan and diocesan rights which the archbishops and bishops of the Empire and of France had exercised in the Low Countries ; he instituted three new bishoprics at Utrecht, Cambray, and Mech- lin ; and under their jurisdiction he put thirteen new bishoprics which he had erected, besides those of Arras and Tournay. Having in this way augmented the number of his satellites m the assembly of the"^ States-General, he suppressed a great m"V voL. I. 20 230 CHAPTER VII. titude of abbeys and monasteries, the revenues of which he ay plied to the endowment of his newly made bishoprics. These innovations, added to the publication of the iecreef (A the '^ouncil of Trent, according to his orders, excited a very general discontent. The repeated remonstrances on the pan ot the States, having produced no effect on the inflexible mind of Philip, the nobility took the resolution of formmg a confe- deracy at Breda, known by the name of the Compromise. The confederates drew up a request, which was addressed to Mar- garet of Austria, the natural daughter of Charles V., and Re- gent of the Low Countries, under the King of Spain. Four hundred gentlemen, headed by Henry de Brederod^, a descen- dant of the ancient Counts of Holland, and Louis of Nassau, brother to the Prince of Orange, repaired to Brussels (1566,) and there presented this request, which may be considered as the commencement of the troubles in the Low Countries. It was on this account that the name of Giieux or Beggars was given to the Confederates, which has become so famous in the history of these wars. About this same time, the populace collected in mobs in seve- ral towns of the Low Countries, and fell upon the churches and monasteries ; and having broken down their altars and images, they introduced the exercise of the Protestant religion by force. The storm, however, was calmed ; the Catholic worship was re-established every where ; and the confederacy of the nobles dissolved, several of whom, distrustful of this apparent tran- quillity, retired to foreign countries. William Prince of Orange, Louis of Nassau, the Counts de Culemburg and Berg, and the Count de Brederode, were in the number of thsse emigrants. Philip II., instead of adopting measures of moderation and clemency, according to the advice of the Regent, was deter- mined to avenge, in the most signal manner, this outrage against his religion and the majesty of his throne. He sent the famous Duke of Alba or Alva into the Low Countries, at the head of an army of 20,000 men (1567.) The Regent then gave in her re- signatior. A general terror overspread the country. Vast numbers of manufacturers and merchants took refuge in Eng- land, carrying along with them their arts and theii industry. Hence the commerce and manufactures of the Low Countries, which had formerly been the most flourishing in Europe, fell entirely into decay. The Duke of Alva, immediately on his arrival, established 8 tribunal or court, for investigating the excesses that had been it.- committed during these commulions. This couriCii, vviiiCn Flemings called the " Council of Blood," informed against all PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 281 those who had been in any way concerned with the G^ or B'gLurs, who had frequented their preachings, contributed to the support of their ministers or the building of their churches , or harboured and protected these heretics, either directly, or m- directly. Before this council, whose only judges were he Duke ^of Alva and his confidant John de Vargas were cUed high and low, without distinction; and aU those whose wealth excited their cupidity. There they instituted F^^f^.^i^^g^X^^'' the absent and the present, the dead and the living, and con- fiscated their goods. Eighteen thousand P^^!^"^.^"?^^^^^^^ the hands of the executioner, and more than 30,000 others were entirely ruined. Among the number of those illustrious vie- Ss oTa^'s cruelty, wfre the Counts Egmont and Hon, who were both beheaded. Their execution excited a f^nerd m dignation,andwas the signal of revolt and civil war throughout the Low Countries. . , The Begffars, who seemed ahnost forgotten, began to revive , and were afterwards distinguished into three kinds. All the malcontents, as well as the'adherents of Luther and Calvin were called simply by this name. Those were called Beggars r'AeTFbXwL ^concealed themselves in the forests and marshes never sallying forth but in the night, to commit all To^ts of excesfes. Zasly, the M^iti^ or MarimB^gan were those who employed themselves m piracy; mfestmg the coasts, and making descents on the country. ^ It was in this situation of affairs that the Prince of Orange, one of the richest proprietors in the Low Countries, assi«tedby his brother the Counts of Nassau, assembled different bodies of froops in the Empire, with which he attacked the Low Coun- tS in several places at once (1668.) Fai mg m these first attempts, he soon changed his plan ; and associating the Marine bSs in the cause, he ventured to attack the Spaniards by sea The Beggars, encouraged by that Prince, and William Count de la Ma^k, 'surnamed^he Boar of ^r^^^s, Xoo^^ city of BriUe by surprise (1572,) situated m the Isle of Voom, ana regarded as the stronghold of the new republic of the Bel- g?c Provinces. The capture of the port of BriUe caused a re- solution in Zealand. All the cities of that Province, except Middleburg, opened their gates to the Beggars; and their ex- ample was followed by most of the towns m Holland. An as- sembly of the States of this latter province met this same year atDon, where they laid the foundation of their new republic. The Prince of Orange was there ^.'.^clared Stadtholder or Go- i_ ™f!^!!: ilLiL.« of Holland. Zealand, Friesland, and Ut'recht ; aid they 'agreed never to treat with the Spaniards, ex- n 11 CHAPTER VU. cent by common consent. The public exercise of the reformed reuffion was introduced, according to the form of Geneva. This rising republic became more firmly established in con- sequence of several advantages which the Confederates had gamed over the Spaniards, whose troops being badly paid, at length mutinied ; and breaking out into the greatest disorders, they pillaged several cities, among others Antwerp, and laid waste the whole of the Low Countries. The States-General, then assembled at Brussels, implored the assistance of the Prince of Orange and the Confederates. A negotiation was then opened at Ghent (1576,) between the States of Brussels, and those of Holland and Zealand ; where a general union, known by the name of the Pacification of Ghent, was signed. They engaged mutually to assist each other, with the view of expelling the Spanish troops, and never more permitting them to enter the Low Countries. The Confederates, who were in alliance with Queen Elizabeth of England, pursued the Spaniards every where, who soon saw themselves reduced to the single provinces of Luxemburg, Limburg, and Namur. They were on the point of being expelled from these also, when the government of the Low Countries was intrusted to Alexander Famese, Pnnce of Parma. E qually distinguished as a politician and a warrior, this Prince revived the Spanish inte- rests. Taking advantage of the dissensions which had arisen among the Confederates from the diversity of their religious opinions, he again reduced the provinces of Flanders, Artois, and Hainault, under the Spanish domjnion. He took the city of Maestricht by assault, and entered into a negotiation with the States-General of the Low Countries at Coli^ne, under the mediation of the Emperor Rodolph IL, the Pope, and some of the princes of the Empire. This negotiation proved unsuccess- ful ; but the Prince of Orange, forereeing that the general con- federacy could not last, conceived the plan of a more intimate union among the Provinces ; which he regarded as the most fit to make head against the Spaniards. He fixed on the maritime provinces, such as Holland, Zealand, and Friesland ; and above aU, on those whom the same religious creed, viz. the Calvinistic, had attached to the same interests. The commerce of Hol- land, and ZealaiMi, and Friesland, b^;an to make new progress daily. Amsterdam was rising on the rains of Antwerp. The flourishing state of their marine rendered these provinces for- midable by sea ; and gave them the means not only of repelling the efforts of the Spaniards, but even of protecting the neigh- „-,,,,,,_ „...,,,,..,.,, TTiiivii iiiigjit ji"« mis \jiii\jn.. uucii were las motives which induced the Prince of Orange to form the special PERIOD. VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 233 eonfederacy of the Seven Provinces, the basis of which he laid by the famous treaty of Union concluded at Utrecht (1579.> That Union was there declared perpetual and indissoluble and It was agreed that the Seven Provinces, viz. those of Gueldres, Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Overyssel, Friesland, and Groningen, should henceforth be considered as one and the same Province Each of these, nevertheless, was guaranteed in the possession of their rights and privileges — that is, their absolute superiority in every thing regarding their own internal administration. [We may remark, however, that these insurrectionary pro- vinces had not originally the design of forming a republic. Their intention, at first, was only to maintain their political pri- vileges ; and they did not absolutely shake ofT the Spanish authority until they despaired of reconciliation. Moreover, they repeatedly offeree! the sovereignty of their States to different foreign princes ; and it was not till the Union of Utrecht that the Seven Proviiices became a federal republic. Consequently every thing remained on its ancient footing ; and some of the provinces even retained their Stadtholders or governors, at the head of their administration. Hence that mixture of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, which prevailed in these countries ; and hence, too, the feeble tie which united them with each other, and which would probably have speedily broken, if Holland had not, by its riches and its power, obtained an influence and pre- ponderance which maintained the Union.] The declaration of the independence of the United Provinces did not take place till 1581 ; when the Prince of Orange induced the States-General to make a formal proclamation of it, out of revenge for the furious edicts of proscription which the Court of Spain had issued against him. The Prince, however, was assas- sinated at Delft in 1584 ;' and the Spaniards took advantage of the consternation which this event had spread among the Con- federates, to reconquer most of the provinces of the Low Coun- tries. The general Confederacy languished away by degrees ; and the Union of Utrecht was the only one maintained among the Seven Provinces. This new republic, which was in strict alliance with England, not only made head against the Spaniards, but gained a considerable increase of.strength by the vast num- bers of refugees from the different Belgic provinces, v/ho took shelter there ; as well as from France, where the persecution still rao-ed violently against the Protestants. It is calculated that afrer the taking of Antwerp by the Prince of Parma in 1585, above a hundred thousand of these fugitives transported themselves to Holland and Amsterdam, carrying with them their wealth and their industry. 20* 234 CHAPTER 1. From ihis date the commerce of the Confederate States in- creased every day ; and in 1595 they extended it as far as India and the Sern ^;as. The Dutch India Company was estab- lished in 1602. Besides the exclusive commerce of India, whictt was guaranteed to them by their charter, they became hkewise TpolS body, under the sovereignty of the States-General of 5ie United Pro;inces. Supported by a formidable marme, they acquired vast influence in tL East by their conquests over the Portuguese, whom they dispossessed by degrees of all he r principal establishments in India. The Spaniards, finding their eflbrts to reduce the Confederates by force of arms ineffectual, set on foot a negotiation at Antwerp (1609,) under the media- tion of France and Fngland; m consequence of which a truce of twelve years was concluded between Spam and the United Provinces. It was chiefly during this time that the Confede- rates extended their commerce over al parts of the globe, while their marine daily increased in strength and importance ; which soon raised them to the rank of being the second maritime power, and gave them a decisive influence over the political affairs of ^ Auhe expiration of this truce, hostilities were renewed with Snain. The Ihitch carried on the war for twengr-five years wUh great glory, under the auspices of their ^tadthotders Maurii and'Henry Frederic, Princes of Orange, w-ho discovered great military talents. One event, which proved favourable for the Republicans, was the war that broke oiit between France and Spain, and which was followed by a strict alliance between France and the States-General. The partition of the Spanish Netherlands was settled by this treaty ; and the alhed powers entered into an engagement never to make peace or truce witti Spain, except by common consent. This latter ckuse, however, dfd not prevent the States-General from concluding at Munster a separate peace with Spain, to the exclusion of F^-^Jf ^ (164a) By this peace the King of Spain acknowledged the United Pro- vinces as free and independent States; he gave up to them all the places which they had seized in Brabant, Flanders and Lira- burg, viz. Bois-le-Duc, Bergen-op-Zoom, Breda and Maestricht -. as also their possessions in the East and Wejt Indies m Asia, Africa, and America. The closing of the Scheld, which was granted in favour of the United Province., entire y ruined the city of Antwerp, and shut out the Spanish Netherlands from ali maritime commerce. , . , , ■> • • . j „ iU^ The feudal system of the Swiss, which had originated m the fourteenth century, acquired a new importance lowaros me end of the fifteenth, by reason the success of the confederates in l! PEBIOD VI. A. D. 1453—1648. 235 their war with Charles Duke of Burgundy. This prince, who their war wua v; .. constantly occupied with was of a hot and ^f ^^^^^""A of the ruinous state of rf ^Iro'fThf irchdS of Austria, he induced the fina^'^.f °^ X tPrrUor^^^^ and Alsace, with the mm to sell him the f /"^""^^^^t.^ae^Hagenbach, a gentleman 'ZSprinc r 1 'po"essi„„ of Alsacelnd Brisgau They ^ef rnrso far as to institute legal proceedings agamst Hagen- .„ those state, of wh^h he Cuke of Bur„^^ ^y ^ ^ ^ hjm. Tl>^ 'f I'lf'^'^'iehed to the relief of this place, where S™ Lgh. r thW anXst battle with the Duke, who was here *'T£t"4'orie"of"hIswiss over the Duke of Borgundy.one ..rXttuf them .0 the Germanic Bc,dy^^ ^f S»: in U96,"wi.ich required them to renounce the.r alh- 236 CHAPTER VII- ance with France, and accede to the League of Swabia ; as also to submit themselves to the Imperial Chamber, and the law of the public peace ; and to furnish their quota for the support of that Chamber, and the other contributions of the Empire. All these demands were resisted by the Helvetic Body, who regard- ed them as contrary to their rights and privileges. Meantime the Grisons had allied themselves with the Swiss, in order to obtain their protection under the existing differences between them and the Tyrolese. The Emperor Maximilian seized this pretext for making war against the Cantons. Being desirous of vindicating the dignity of the Empire, which had been outraged by the Swiss, and of avenging the insults offered to his own family, he stirred up the League of Swabia to oppose them ; and attacked them in diffe- rent points at once. Eight battles were fought in succession, in course of that campaign ; all of which, with one solitary excep- tion, were in favour of the Swiss, while the Imperialists lost more than twenty thousand men. Maximilian and his allies, the Swa- bian League, then came to the resolution of making their peace with the Cantons, which was concluded at Basle (1499.) Both parties made a mutual restitution of what they had wrested from each other ; and it was agreed, that the differences between the Emperor, as Count of Tyrol, and the Grisons, should be brought to an amicable termination. This peace forms a memorable era in the history of the Helvetic Confederacy, whose independence, with regard to the German Emperor, was from that time con- sidered as decided ; although no mention of this was made in the treaty, and although the Swiss still continued for some time to request from the Emperors the confirmation of their immunities. Two immediate cities of the Empire, those of Basle and Schauff- hausen, took occasion, from these latter events, to solicit their admission into the Confederacy. They were received as allies, under the title of Cantons (1501 ;) and the territory of Appenzel^ which was admitted in like manner (1513,) formed the thirteenth and last Canton. The alliance which the Swiss had kept up with France, since the reigns of Charles VII. and Louis XL, tended greatly to se- cure the independence of the Helvetic Body.^ This alliance, which Louis XI. had made an instrument for humbling the power of the Duke of Burgundy, was never but once broken, in the reign of Louis XII., on account of the Holy League, into which the Swiss were drawn by the intrigues of the Bishop of Sion (1512.) The French were then expelled from the Milan- ese territory by the Swiss, who placed there the Duke Maximi- iian Sforza. It was in gratitude for this service, that the duke PERIOD VI. A. D. 1463 — 1648. 237 ceded to the Swiss, by a treaty which was concluded at Basle, the four bailimcks of Lugano, Locarno, Mendrisio, and Val- Maggio, which he dismembered from the Milanois. Though conquer)rs at the battle of Novara, the Swiss experienced a san- guinary defeat at Marignano ; when they judged it for their in- terest to renew their alliance with France (1513.) A treaty of perpetual peace was signed at Friburg between these two States (1516,) which was soon after followed by a new treaty of alli- ance, concluded with Francis L at Lucerne (1521,) and regularly renewed under the subsequent reigns. The change which took place in religion, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, extended its influence to Switzerland, where it kindled the flame of civil discord. Four cantons, those of Zurich, Berne, SchaufThausen, and Basle, renouncing entirely the Romish faith, had embraced the doctrines of Zuingle and Calvin ; while two others, viz. Glaris and Appenzel, were divi- ded between the old and the new opinions. The Reformation having likewise found its way into the common bailiwicks, the Catholic Cantons rose in opposition to it (1531 ;) denying liber- ty of conscience to the inhabitants. Hence, a war arose be- tween the Cantons of the two religions ; which, however, was terminated the same year by a treaty of peace, guaranteeing to such parishes within the bailiwicks as had embraced the new- doctrines, the liberty of still adhering to them. The same revo- lution extended to Geneva, whose inhabitants had declared so- lemnly in favour of the reformed worship, and erected themselves into a free and independent republic (15'J4.) The church of Geneva, under the direction of Calvin, became the centre and citadel of the Reformation ; while the academy founded in that city, produced a vast number of theologians and celebrated scho' lars. It was at this time that the duke of Savoy planned the blockade of Geneva, to enforce certain ancient rights which he c^uimed over that city; but the Bernese espoused the cause of the Genevans, in virtue of the treaties of common citizenship which subsisted between them. This Canlon having entered into alliance with Francis I., declared war against the duke of Savoy (1536 ;) and in less than three months took from him the Pays de Vaud. Being desirous of interesting their neighbours the Friburgers in their cause, they invited them to take posses- sion of all those places that might suit their convenience ; and it was on this occasion that the city of Friburg acquired the prin- cipal part of its territory. These acquisitions were confirmed to the two Cantons, by the treaty which the Bernese concluded at vjausanne with the duke of Savoy (1564.) The German Empire from time to time renewed its preten- 238 CHAPTER VII. sions on Switzerland, and the Imperial Chamber usurped an occasional jurisdiction over one or other of the Canions. Ne- gotiations for a general peace having commenced ui Munster and Osnaburg, the thirteen Cantons sent their minister or envoy to watch over the interests of the Helvetic Body at that congress ; and they obtained, through the intervention of France and Swe- den, that in one of the articles of the treatjr it should be decla- red, that the city of Basle, and the other Swiss Cantons, were in possession of full liberty, and independent of the Empire, and m no respect subject to its tribunals. In Italy, the authority of the Emperor of Germany, which had silently doclined during the preceding centuries, languished more and more under the long and feeble reign of Frederic III. At length it was reduced to the mere ceremony of coronation, and the simple exercise of some honorary and feudal rights, such as the investitures which the Imperial Court continued to grant to the vassals of Lombardy. Although the Imperial dignity im- plied the royalty of Italy, which was considered as indissolubly united to it, nevertheless it was the custom that the Kings of Germany should have themselves crowned separately. Kings of Italy at Milan, and Emperors at Rome. Frederic III., haying had certain reasons for avoiding his coronation at Milan, received from the hands of Pope Nicholas V., in his own capital, the two crowns of Italy and Rome. Maximilian I., being prevented by the Venetians from repairing to Italy for his coronation (1508,) was content to take the title of Emperor Elect, which his succes- sors in the Empire have retained till the present time. Charles V. was the last Emperor to whom the Pope, Clement VII., ad- ministered th(3 double coronation of King of Italy and Emperor, ot Bologna, in 1530. The Popes, the Kings of Naples, the Dukes of Milan, and the Republics of Venice and Florence, were the principal powers that shared among them the dominion of Italy towards the end of the fifteenth century. The continual wars which these states waged with each other, added to the werkness of the German Emperors, encouraged foreign powers to form plans of aggran- dizement and conquest over these countries. The Kings of France, Charles VIII., Louis XII., and Francis I., led away by a mania for conquest, undertook several expeditions into Italy, for enforcing their claims either on the kingdom of Naples, or me dutchy of Milan. They were thwarted in their schemes by the Kings of Spain, who, being already masters of Sicily and Sardinia, thought it behoved them also to extend their views to the Continent of Italy. Ferdinand the Catholic deprived the French of the kingdom of Naples (1500.) His successor, Charles PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 339 by V . expelled them from the Milanois, and obliged Francis the treaties of Madrid (1526.) Cambray (1529,) and Crep>- < 1544,) to give up his pretensions on the kingdom of Naples, and the dutchy of Milan. From this time the Spaniards were the predominating power in Italy for more than a hmidred year*. In the midst of these revolutions there arose three new prin- cipalities within that kingdom ; those of Florence, Parma, and Malta. The Republic of Florence held a distinguished rank m Italy during the fifteenth century, both on account of the flour- ishing state of its commerce, and the large extent of its territory, which comprehended the greater part of Tuscany, and gave to this Republic the means of holding the balance between the other powers of Italy. The opulent family of the Medici here exercised a high degree of influence ; they ruled not by force but by their munificence, and the judicious use which they madj? of their great riches. The credit and popularity of the Medici, excited envy and persecution against them, and caused them to be several times banished from Florence. They were expelled from this latter place at the same time that Pope Clement VII., who was of this family, was besieged by the Imperialists in Ronie (1527.) That Pontiff; in making his peace with Charles v., ob- tained his consent that the Medici should be re-established at Florence, in the state in which they were before their last ban- ishment. The Emperor even promised the Pope to give Alex- der de Medici his natural daughter in marriage, with a consid- erable dowry. The Florentines, however, having shown some reluctance to receive the Medici, their city was besieged by the Imperial army, and compelled to surrender by capitulation (1530.) The Emperor, by a charter dated at Augsburg on the 2Sth of August following, preserved to the citjr of Florence its ancient republican forms. Alexander de Medici was declared governor- in-chief of the state ; but this dignity was vested in himself and his male descendants, who could only enjoy it according to the order of primogeniture. He was authorized, moreover, to con- struct a citadel at Florence, by means of which he afterwards exercised an absolute power over his fellow-citizens. As for the ducal dignity with which the new Prince of Florence was vested, it properly belonged to the dutchy of Parma, in the king- dom of Naples, which the Emperor had conferred on him. Alexander de Medici did not long enjoy his new honours. He was universally abhorred for his cruelties, and assassinated by Lorenzo de Medici, one of his own near relations (1537.) His successor iAthe dutchy was Cosmo de Medici, who annexed to the territory of Florence that of the ancient republic of Sienna, which the Emperor Charles V. had conquered, -anci 240 CHAPTER VU. 'Ml conferred on his son Philip II. in name of the Empire (1564.) This latter prince being desirous of seducing Cosmo from hia alliance with the Pope and the King of France, with whom the Spaniards were at war, granted him the investiture of the ter- ritory of Sienna, as a mesne-tenure holding of the crown of Spam, by way of equivalent for the considerable sums which he had advanced to Charles V, while he was carrying on the siege of Sienna. In transferring the Siennois to the Duke, Philip reserved for himself the ports of Tuscany, such as Porto Ercole, Orbitello, Telemone, Monte-Argentaro, St. Ste- fano, Longone, Piombino, and the whole island of Elba, with the exception of Porto Ferrajo. By the same treaty, Cosmo engaged to furnish supplies to the Spaniards, for the defence of Milan and the kingdom of Naples. At length the Medici obtained the dignity of Grand Dukes, on occasion of the difference that had risen between them and the Dukes of Ferrara, on the subject of precedency. The Pope terminated this dispute, by granting to Cosmo the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany, with the royal honours (1569.) The Em- peror, however, took it amiss that the Pope should undertake to confer secular dignities in Italy ; thus encroaching on a right which he alleged belonged only to himself, in virtue of hia being King of Italy. The quarrels which this affair had oc- casioned between the Court of Rome and the Empire, were adjusted in 1576, when the Emperor Maximilian II. granted to Francis de Medici, the brother and successor of Cosmo, the dig- nity of Grand Duke, on condition that he should acknowledge it as a tenure of the Empire, and not of the Pope. Among the number of those republics Avhich the Visconti of Milan had subdued and overthrown in the fourteenth century, were those of Parma and Placentia. They had formed a de- pendency of the dutchy of Milan until 1512, when Louis XII., having been expelled from the Milanois by the Allies of the Holy League, these cities were surrendered by the Swiss to Pope Julius II., who laid some clafim to them, as making part of the dowry of the famous Countess Matilda. The Emperor Maximilian ceded them to the Pope by the treaty of peace which he made with him in 1512. Francis I. took these cities again from the court of Rome, when he reconquered the dutchy of Milan (1515 ;) but this prince having also been expelled from the Milanois (1521,) the Pope again got possession of Parma and Placentia, in virtue of the treaty which he had concluded with Charles V., for the re-establishment of Francis Sforza in the dutchy of Milan. These cilie?. continued to. form part of the Eccle's'astical States until 1545, when thev were dismem- fSBioD VI. A. D. 14d>3— 1648. 341 bered from it by Paul III., who erected them into dutchies, and conferred them on his son Peter Louis Farnese, and his heirs- male in the order of primogeniture ; to be held under the title of fiefs of the Holy See, and on condition of paying an annual tribute of nine thousand ducats. This elevation of a man whose very birth seemed a disgrace to the pontiff, gave universal offence. The new Duke of Parma soon rendered himself so odious by his dissohite life, his crimes and scandalous excesses, that a conspiracy was formed against him ; and he was assassinated in the citadel of Placentia in 1547. Ferdinand Gonzaga, who was implicated, as is alleged in this assassination, then took possession of Placentia in name of the Emperor ; and it was not till 1557 that Philip II. of Spain re- stored that city, with its dependencies, to Octavius Farnese, so i and successor of the murdered prince. The house of Farnese held the dutchy of Parma as a fief of the Ecclesiastical States, until the extinction of the male line in 1731. The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, after their expulsion from the Holy Land, had retired to the Isle of Cyprus, and from thence to Rhodes, in 1310, of which they had dispossessed the Greeks. They did not maintain possession of this place longer than 1523, when Soliman the Great undertook the siege of Rhodes, with an army of two hundred thousand men, and a fleet of four hundred sail. The Knights boldly repulsed the different attacks of the Turks ; but being entirely dependent on their own forces, and receiving no succour from the powers of Christendom, they were compelled to capitulate, after an ob- stinate defence of six months. Leaving Rhodes, these Knights took shelter in Viterbo, belonging to the States of the Church, where they were cordially received by Pope Clement VII. There they remained until the Emperor Charles V. granted them the Isle of Malta, which became their principal residence (1530.) That prince ceded to them the islands of Malta and Gozzo, with the city of Tripoli in Africa, on condition of hold- ing them from him and his successors in the kingdom of Sicily, as noble fiefs, frank and free, without any other obligation tlian the annual gift of a falcon, in acknowledgment of their hold- ing under the crown, and presenting to the King of Sicily three of their svibjects, of whom he was to choose one, on each va- cancy of the bishopric of Malta. Charles V. added another clause, that if ever the Order should leave Malta and fix their residence elsewhere, that island should revert to the King of Sicily. The Knights of St. John continued in the sovereignty of Mnlta «nd Go?;5:o till 1798; but they lost Tripoli, in 1551, which was taken from them bv the Turks. VOL. I. 21 943 CHAPTER VII. rf i; ■if 1 A memorable revolution happened at Genoa, about the begin* tiing of the sixteenth century. That republic, after having lor n long time formed part of the dutchy of Milan, recovered its an- cient independence about the time when the French and Span* ards disputed the sovereignty of Italy, and the conquest of tho Milanois. Expelled by the Imperialists from the city of Genoa in 1522, the F.-ench liad found means to repossess it (1527,) witjj the assistance of the celebrated Andrew Doria, a noble Genoese, who had been in the service of Francis I. This distinguished admiral, supplanted by favourites, and maltreated by the court, abandoned the cause of France in the following year, and es poused that of the Emperor Charles V. The French then laid siege to the city of Naples, which was reduced to the last extremity, and on the point of surrendering, when Doria, having hoisted the Imperial flng, set sail for Naples, with the galleys under his command, and threw abundance of provisions into the besieged city. The French army, no\y cut off from all communication by sea, soon began to experience those calamities from which the Imperialists had just been de- livered. Their whole troops being destroyed by famine and con- tagious disease, the expedition to Naples fell to the ground, and the affairs of the French in Italy were totally ruined. It is alleged that Charles V., to recompense Doria for this important service, offered him the sovereignty of Genoa ; and that, instead of ac- cepting this honour, that great man stipulated for the liberty of his country, whenever it should be delivered from the yoke of France. Courting the glory of being the liberator of his native city, he sailed directly for Genoa, of which he made himself master, in a single night, without shedding one drop of blood (1528.) The French garrison retired to the citadel, and were obliged to capitulate for want of provisions. This expedition procured Doria the title of Father of his Country, which was conferred on him by a decree of the Senate. It was "by his advice that a committee of twelve persons was chosen to organize a new scheme of government for the republic. A register was draAvn up of all those families who were to com- pose°the Grand Council, which was destined to exercise the supreme power. The Doge was to continue in office ten years , and great care was taken to remove those causes which had pre- viously excited factions and intestine disorders. Hence the establibhment of the Genoese aristocracy, Avhose forms have since been preserved, with some few modifications which were introduced afterwards, in consequence of certain dissensions which had arisen between the ancient and the nevv' nobility. Venice, the eldest of the European republics, had reached tho 4^ PERIOD VI. A. D. 1463—1648. S4D zenith of its ^eatness about the end of th ^ fifteenth century. The vast extent of its commerce, supported by a powerful ma- rine, the multiplied sources of its industry, and the monopoly of the trade in the Eant, had made it one of the richest and most formidable States in Europe. Besides several ports on the Adriatic, and numerous settlements which tboy had in tho Archipelago, and the trading towns on the Levant, they gamed ground more and more on the continent of Italy, where they formed a considerable territory. Guided by an artful and en- terprising policy, this Republic seized with marvellous avidity every circumstance which favoured its views of aggrandizement. On the occasion of their quarrels with the Duke of Fenara, they obtained possession of the province of Polesino de Rovigo, by a treaty which they concluded with that prince in 1484. Afterwards, having joined the League which the powers of Italy had opposed to Charles VIII. and his projects of conquest they refused to grant supplies to the King of Naples for the re- covery of his kingdom, except by his consenting to yield up the cities of Trani, Otranto, Brindisi, and Gallipoli. Louis XII., being resolved to enforce his claims on the dutchy of Milan, and wishing to gain over this Republic to his interest, gave up tc them, by the treaty of Blois (1499,) the town of Cremona, and the whole country lying between the Oglio, the Adda, and the Po. On the death of Pope Alexander VI. (1503,) they took that favourable opportunity of wresting from the Ecclesiastical States several towns of Romagna ; among others, Rimini and Of ail the acquisitions which th^ Venetians made, the most important was that of Cyprus. That island, one of the most considerable in the Mediterranean, had been conquered from the Greeks by Richard Cocur de Lion, King of England, who sur- rendered it to Guy of Lusignan (1192,) the last king of Jeru- salem, in compensation for the loss of hi-? kingdom. From Guy of Lusignan descended a long line of Cypiiol kings ; the last of whom, John III., left an only daughter, named Charlotte, who succeeded him in that kingdom, and caused her husband, Louis of Savoy, to be also crowned king. There still remained a Das- tard son of John III., called James, Avho was protected by the Sultan of Egypt, to whom the kings of Cyprus were tributaries, and who succeeded in expelling Charlotte and her husband, the Prince of Savoy, from the throne (1460.) James, who was de- sirous of putting himself under the protection of the Venetians, married Catherine Cornaro, daughter of Marco Corneille, a pa- ficianof Venice. The Senutc, in honnnr of this marriage, adopted Catherine, and declared her daughter of St. Mark or 244 CHAPTER VII. the Republic. James died in 1473, leaving a posthumous son, who died also in the second year of his age. The Republic then considering the kingdom of Cyprus as their own inherit- ance, took possession of the natural children of James, and induced Queen Catherine, by various means, to retire to Venice, and there to resign her crown into the hands of the Senate, who assigned her a pension, ivith the Castle of Azolo, in Trevisano, for her residence ; and obtained for themselves the investiture of that island from the Sultan of Egypt (1490.) A career so prosperous was eventually followed by a reverse of fortune; and several circumstances concurred to accelerate the decline of this flourishing republic. They received a ter- rible blow by the discovery of the new passage to India round the Cape, which deprived them of the commerce of the East; thus drying up the principal source of their wealth, as well as of their revenue and their marine. In vain did they put in practice all the arts of their policy to defeat the commercial en- terprises of the Portuguese in India ; exciting against them, first the Sultans of Egypt, and afterwards the Turkish Emperors, and furnishing these Mahometan powers with supplies. The activity of the Portuguese surmounted all these obstacles. They obtained a firm settlement in the East, where in course of time they became a very formidable power. Lisbon, in place of Venice, became the emporium for the productions of India ; and the Venetians could no longer compete with them in this field of Eastern commerce. Besides, the good fortune which so long attended the undertakings of the republic, had inspired them with a passion for conquest. They took every opportunity of making encroachments on their neighbours; and sometimes for- getting the coimsels of prudence, they drew down upon them- selves the jealousy and resentment of the principal States of Italy. To this jealousy must be attributed the famous League, which Pope Julius IL, the Emperor Maximilian, Louis XII., Ferdinand of Spain, and several of the Italian States, concluded at Cam- bray (1508,) for the partition of the Venetian territory on Terra Firma. Louis XII. gained a signal victory over the republi- cans near Agnadello, which was followed by such a rapid suc- cession of conquests, that the Senate of Venice were struck with consternation ; and the Republic must have been infallibly lost, had Louis been supported by his allies. But the Pope and the King of Spain, who dreaded the preponderance of the French in Italy, suddenly abandoned the League, and concluded sepa- rate treaties of peace with the republicans ; nor was the Emperor Maximilian long in following their example. In consequence of this, the Venetians, after having been menaced with a total PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 24d overthrow, lost only, in course of the war, the territory of Cre- mona and Ghiera d'Adda, with the cities and ports of Komagna and Apulia. But this loss was far surpassed by that which they experienced in their finances, their commerce and manufactures. on account of the expensive efforts which they were obliged to make in resisting their numerous enemies. The ruin of this Republic was at length complet( , by the prodigious increase of the power of the Ottomans, who look from them, by degrees, their best possessions in the Archipelago and the Mediterranean. Dragged as it were in spite of themselves, into the war of Charles V. against the Turks, they lost four- teen islands in the Archipelago ; among others Chios, Patmos, ^gina, Nio, Stampalia, and Paros ; and were obliged, by the peace of Constantinople (1540,) to surrender to the Turks Mal- vasia and Napoli di Romagna, the only two places which re- mained to them in the Morea. The Turks also took from them the isle of Jyprus, the finest of their possessions in the Mediterranean. The Sultan Selim IL, being determined to conquer that pkce, attacked it with a superior force (1570,) although the Venetians had given him no ground for hostilities. He made himself master of the cities of Nicosia and Famagusta; and completed the conquest of the whole island, before the succours which the King of Spain and the Pope had granted to the Venetians, could join their fleet. On the approach of the Christian army, the Turkish fleet re- tired within the Gulf of Lepanto, where they were attacked by the allies under the command of Don John of Austria, a natural son of Charles V. The Christians gained a complete victory (1.571.) The whole Turkish fleet was destroyed, and the Con- federates took immense booty. The news of this defeat struck terror into the city of Constantinople, and made the Grand Sig- nior transfer his court to Adrianople. The Christians, however, reaped no advantage from their victory. A misunderstanding arose among the Confederates, and their fleets dispersed without accomplishing any thing. The Venetians did not return to the isle of Cyprus ; and knowing well that they could not reckon on any effectual aid on the part of their allies, they determined to make peace with the Turks (1573.) By this treaty they left the Porte in possession of Cyprus, and consented to pay it a sum of 300,000 ducats, to obtain the restitution of their ancient boundaries in Dalmatia. From this epoch, the republic of Venice dates its entire decay. It was evident, that it must thenceforth resign its pretensions as a leading power, and adopt a system of neutrality which might put it in condition to main tain peace with its neighbours. 21* 246 CHAPTER Vtl. if m. li England, as we have mentioned above, had been the rival of France, while the latter now became the rival of Austria. This rivalry commenced with the marriage of Maximilian of Austria, to Mary, daughter anu heiress of Charles, last Duke of Burgun- dy ; by which the house of Austria succeeded to the whole do- minions of that Prince. The Low Countries, which at that lime were the principal emporium for the manufactures and com- merce of Europe, formed a part of that opulent succession. Louis XL, King of France, was unable to prevent the marriage of the Austrian Prince with the heiress of Burgundy ; but he took advantage of that event to detach from the territories of that princess whatever he found convenient. He seized on the dutchy of Burgundy as a vacant fief of his crown, as well as the seigniories of Auxerrois, Maconnois, Bar-sur-Seine, and the towns on the Somme ; and these different countries were pre- served to France by the treaties of peace concluded at Arras <1482) and Senlis (1493.) Such was the origin of the rivalry and bloody wars between France and Austria. The theatre of hostilities, which, under Louis XI. had been in the Low Coun- tries, was transferred to Italy, under Charles VIII., Louis XII., and Francis I. From thence it was changed to Germany, in the reign of Henry II. In Italy, besides this rivalry between the two powers, there was another motive, or pretext, for war, viz. the claims of France en the kingdom of Naples and the dutchy of Milan. The claim of Louis XI. on the kingdom of Naples, had devolved to him with the county of Provence, which he inherited in virtue of the will of Charles, Count of Provence, and the last male descen- dant of the house of Anjou (1481.) Charles VIII., the son and successor of Louis XL, urgea on by youthful ambition, was de- termined to enforce this claim, He undertook an expedition into Italy (1494,) and took possession of the kingdom of Naples without striking a blow. But being opposed by a formidable confederacy of the Italian princes, with Maximilian at their head, he was obliged to abandon his conquests with the same facility he had made them ; and he was fortunate in being able to effect his retreat, by the famous victory which he gained over the al- lies near Foronuovo, in the dutchy of Parma. The claim to the dutchy of Milan, was founded on the con- tract of marriage between Louis, Duke of Orleans, the grandfa- ther of Louis XII. , and Valentine of Milan. That contract pro- vided, that failing heirs-male of John Galeas, Duke of Milan, the dutchy should fall to Valentine, and the children of her marriage with the Duke of Orleans. Louis XII. claimed the rights o( Valentine, his grandmother, in opposition to the princes PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 247 s of the family of Sforza, who had taken possession of the dutchy of Milan, on the extinction of the male-heirs of the Visconti, which happened in 1447. The different expeditions which he undertook into Italy, both for the conquest of Milan and the kingdom of Naples, m( with no better strcceas than thcit of his predecessor had done ; in consequence of a new League, called the Holy Leagite, which Pope Julius 11. raised against him, and into which he drew the Emperor Maximilia;*. the King's of Arragon and England, with the Venetians and ihe Swiss. Louis XII. lost all the advantages of his conquests. The kingdom of Naples fell under the power of Ferdinand th^ Catholic, and the family of Sforza were reinstated in the dutchy of Milan. ' . , These Italian wars, which were renewed at different times under the reign of Francis I., cost France much blood and im- mense sums. In this struggle she was forced to succumb, and Francis I. bound himself, by the treaty of Crcpy, to abandon his claims on Italy in favour of Charles V. The kingdom of Na- ples and the dutchy of Milan remained incorporated with the Spanish monarchies. Francis I., nevertheless, had the glorv of arresting the progress of his rival, and effectually counterbalan- cing a power which, at that time, made all Europe tremble. Henry II., the son and successor of Francis I., adopted a new line of policy. He attacked the Huuse of Austria, in Germany ; having entered into a league with Maurice, EleC^or of Saxony, ttnd the Protestant princes of the Empire, to oppose Charles V. That league, which was ratified at Chambord (1552,) procured for Henry II. possession of the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun ; and he even succeeded in forcing the Emperor to raise the siege of Metz, which that prince had undertaken about the end of the year 1552. A truce of five years was agreed on be- tween these two sovereigns at Vaucelles ; but, in the course of a few months, the war was renewed, and Philip II., who had succeeded his father, Charles V., induced his queen, Mary of England, to join in it. Among the events 'of this war, the most remarkable are the victory of St. Quentin, gained by the Span- iards (1557,) and the conquest of the city of Calais, by Francis, Duke of Guise ; the last possession of the Engh"sh in France (1558.) The death of Queen Mary prepared the way for a peace, which was signed at Chateau-Cambresis (1559,) between France, England, and Spain. The Duke of Savoy obtained there the restitution of his estates, of which Francis I. had de- prived him in 1536. Calais rcrr^nined annexed to Franc?. A series of wars, both civil and religious, broke out under the feeble reigns of the thre© sons and successors of Henry II. The 248 CttAPTEE VII. great influence of the Guises, and the factions which distracted die court and the state, were the ti jo source of hostilities, though religion was made the pretext. Francis II. having espoused Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, the whole power and authority of the government passed into the hands of Francis, Duke of ' Juise, and the Cardinal de Lorraine, his brother, who were the qoeen's maternal uncles. The power which these noblemen en- ioyed excited the jealousy cf Anthony, King of Navarre, and his brother Louis, Prince of Conde, who imagined that the pre* cedency in this respect was due to them as princes of the blood, in preference to the Lorraine family, who might be considered as strangers in France. The former being Calvinists, and having enlisted all the leaders of that party in their cause, it was not difficult for the Lorraine princes to secure the interest of all the most zealous Catholics. The first spark that kindled these civil wars, was the conspi- racy of Amboise. The intention of the conspirators was to seize the Guises, to bring them to trial, and throw the manage- ment of affairs into the hands of the princes of the blood. The conspiracy having been discovered, the prince of Conde, who was suspected of being at its head, was arrested ; and he would have been executed, had not the premature death of Francis II. happened in the meantime. The queen-mother, Catherine de Medici, who was intrusted with the regency during the minority of Charles IX., and desirous of holding the balance between the two parties, set Conde at liberty, and granted the Calvinists the free exercise of their religion, in the suburbs and parts lying out of the towns. This famous edict (January 1562) occasion- ed the first civil war, the signal of which was the massacre of Vassy in Champagne. Of these wars, there have been commonly reckoned eight under the family of Valois, viz. four in the reign of Charles IX., and four in that of Henry III. The fourth, under Charles IX., began with the famous massacre of St. Bartholomew, authorized and directed by the King (1572.) It is of some importance to notice here the Edict of Pacifica' tion of Henry III., of the month of May 1576. The new pri- vileges which this edict granted to the Calvinists, encouraged the Guises to form a league this same year, ostensibly for the maintenance of the Catholic religion, but whose real object was the dethronement of the i-"gning dynasty, and the elevation of the Guises. The Duke of Alen9on, only brother of Henry III., being dead, and the King of Navarre, who professed the Cal- viuistic faith, having become presumptive heir to the crown, the chiefs of the Catholic League no longer made a secret of theii PEaioD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 249 measures. They concluded a formal alliance ( 1584,) with Philip 11. of Spain, for excluding the Bourbons from the throne of France. Henry III. was obliged, by the Leaguers, to recom- mence the war against the Calvinists ; but perceivmg that the Duke of Guise, and the Cardinal his brother, took every occa- sion to render his government odious, he caused them both to be assassinated at Blois (1588,) and threw himself on the protec- tion of the King of Navarre. In conjunction with that Prmce, he undertook the siege of Paris, dur ng which he was himself assassinated at St. Cloud, by a Jaco.an of the name of James Clement (1589.) „r . , • The dynasty of Valois ended with Henry III., after havmg occupied the throne for two hundred and sixty-one years. Under this dynasty the royal authority had gained considerably, both by the annexation of the great fiefs to the crown-lsnds, a'^'1 by the introduction of regular armies, which put an end to the feu- dal power. Louis XL was chiefly instrumental in bringing the grandees under subjection, and putting an end to the cruehies and oppressions of anarchy. If these changes, however, contri- buted to public order, it is nevertheless true that the national liberty suffered l^ them ; that the royal authority daily received new augmentations ; and that, so early as the reign of Louis XII., it was considered as high treason to speak of the necessity of assembhng the States-General. The practice of these assemblies, however, was renewed under the successors of that prince ; they even became frequent under the last kings of the house of Valois, who convoked them chiefly with the view of demanding supplies. Francis I. augmented his influence over the clergy by the con- cordat which he concluded with Leo X. (1516,) in virtue of which he obtained the nomination to all vacant prelatures ; leav- ing to the Pope the confirmation of the prelates, and the liberty of receiving the annats. The race of Valois was succeeded by that of the Bourbons, who were descended from Robert Count of Clermont, younger son of St. Louis. Henry IV., the first king of this dynasty, was related in the twenty-first degree to Henry III., his immediate predeces- sor. That prince, who was a Calvinist, the more easily reduced the party of the League, by publicly abjuring his religion at St. Denis. He concluded a peace with the Spaniards, who were allies of the League, at Vervins ; and completely tranquillized the kingdom by the famous edict of Nantes, which he published in favour of the reformed religion. By that edict he guaranteed to the Protestants perfect liberty of conscience, and the public. - • -c *u.„:- ..r^vcUirt i.ritVi tVio nrivilp nf filUncr all offices of trust : but he rendered them, at the same time, a piece of dis- 260 CHAPTER VII. service, by granting them forfeited places, under the name of places of security. By thus fostering a spirit of party and intestine faction, he furnished a plausible pretext to their adversaries for gradually undermining the edict, and finally proscribing the ex- ercise of the reformed religion in France. That great prince, after having established the tranquiiluy of his kingdom at home and abroad, encouraged arts and manufac- tures, and put the admini itration of his finances into admirable order, was assassinated by RavailJac (1610,) at the very moment when he was employed ii executing the grand scheme which he had projected for the pacification of Europe, Cardinal Richelieu, when he assumed the reins of government under Louis XIIL, had nothing so much at heart as the expulsion of the Calvinists from their strongholds. This he accomplished by means of the three wars which he waged against them, and by the famous siege of Re cbelle, which he reduced in 1628. That great states- man next employed his policy against the house of Austria, whose preponderance gave umbrage to all Europe. He took the op- portunity of the viicant succession of Mantua to espouse the cause of the Duke of I^ievers against the Courts of Vienna and Mad- rid, who supported the Duke of Guastalla ; and maintained his protege in the dutchy of Mantua, by the treaties of peace which were concluded at Ratisbon and Querasque (1631.) Having afterwards joined Sweden, he made war against the two branches of Austria, and on this occasion got possession of the places which the Swedes had seized in Alsace. Louis XIV. was only four years and seven months old when he succeeded his father (1643.) The queen-mother, Anne of Austria, assumed the regency. She appointed Cardinal Ma- zarin her prime minister, whose administration, during the minority of the King, was a scene of turbulence and distrac- tion. The same external policy which had directed the minis- try of Richelieu, was followed by his successor. He prose- :-,uted the war against Austria with vigour, in conjunction with Sweden, and their confederates in Germany. By the peace which was concluded with the Emperor at Munster, besides the three bishoprics of Lorraine, France obtained the Land- graviate of Lower and Upper .Alsaje, Sungaw, and the pre- fecture of the ten Imperial cities of Alsace. Spain was ex- cluded from this treaty ; and the war continued bet%veen that kingdom and France until the peace of the Pyrenees, by which the counties of Roussillon and Conflans were ceded to France, as well as several cities in Flanders, Hainault, and Luxembourg. Spain, which had long bp.en divided into seven-i States, and a stranger as it ^vere to the rest of Europe, became all of a sud PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 261 of places intestine aries for ? the ex- uilluy of lianufac- (Imirable moment which he ichelieu, lis XIIL, !alvinists ,ns of the ! famous at states- ia, whose c the op- the cause nd Mad- iined his ce which Having branches ;es which old when Anne of inal Ha- iring; the I distrac- lie minis- le prose- tion with the peace r, besides he Land- the pre- was ex- veen that by which France, embourg. tates, and of a su.d den a formidable power, turning the political balance m her own favour This elevation was the work of Ferdinand the Catholic, a prince born for great exploits ; of a profound and fertile genius , but tarnishing his bright qualities by perfidy and unbounded ambition. He was heir to the throne of Arragon, and la d the foundation of his greatness by his marriage ^^^ sabe.la (1469,) sister to Henry VI. last Kmg of Castille. That ma ch united the kingdoms of Castille and Arragon, which were the two principal Christian States in Spain. Henry of Castille had left a daughter, named Jane, but she being considered as illegi- timate by the Castillians, the throne ^yas conferred on IsabeUa and her husband Ferdinand (1474.) The Infanta Jane, in order to enforce her claims, betrothed herself to Alphonso V. King of Portugal; but that prince being defeated by Ferdinand at the battle of Toro (1476,) was obliged to renounce Castille and hia marriage with the Infanta. At the accession of Isabella to the throne of Castille, that kingdom was a prey to all the miseries of anarchy. The abuses of the feudal system were there maintained by violence and in- iustice. Ferdinand demolished the fortresses of the nobles who infested the country ; he gave new vigour to the laws ; liberated the people from the oppression of the great ; and, under pretence of extirpatino- the Jews and Mahometans, he established the tribunal of the Inquisition (1478,) which spread universal terror bv its unheard of cruelties. Torquemada, a Dommican, who was appointed grand Inquisitor (1483,) burnt in the space of four years near 6000 individuals. , r^ j- a The Moors still retained the kingdom of Grenada, h erdinand took advantage of their dissensions to attempt the conquest ot it, in which he succeeded, after a vigorous war of eighteen years. Abo Abdeli, the last King of Grenada, fled to Africa. An edict, which was published immediately after, ordered the expul- sion of all the Jews ; about an hundred thousand of whom lied from Spain, and took shelter, some in Portugal, and others m Africa. Ferdinand did not include the Moors in this proscrip- tion, whom he thought to gain over to Christianity by means of persecution; but having revolted in the year 1500, he then al- lowed them to emigrate. It was this blind and headlong zeal that procured Ferdinand the title of the Cathohc King, which Pope Alexander III. conferred on him and his successors (149^.) That prince also augmented his power by annexmg to his crown the Grand Mastership of the Military Orders of Calatrava, Al- cantara, and St. James of Compostella. J .f.,u Every thine conspired to aggrandize Ferdinand ; and as it the Old World had not been sufficient, a New " -— -'' ^'^ was 8fi2 CHAPTER VII. Dim by the discovery of America. He wa^ heir, by the father'a side, to the kingdoms of Arragon, Sicily, and Sardinia. Ha got possession of Castillo by his marriage, and of Grenada by force of arms ; so that nothing was wanting except Navarre to unite all Spain under his dominion. The Holy League, which Pope Julius II. had organized against Louis All. (1511,) fur- nished him with a pretext for seizing that kingdom. Entering into an alliance with the Pope, he concerted with the Kmg of England to invade Guienne, on which the English had some ancient claims. They demanded of the King of Navarre that he should make common cause with the allies of the Holy League against Louis XII. That prince, however, wishing to preserve neutrality, they prescribed conditions so severe, that he had no other alternative left than to seek protection in France. Ferdinand then obtained possession of all that part of Navarre which lay beyond the Pyrenees. Twelve years before that time Ferdinand had, by the treaty of Grenada, planned with Louis XII. the conquest of the kingdom of Naples. Frederic of Ar- ragon was then deprived of that kingdom, and his States were divided between the two allied kings ; but Ferdinand having soon quarrelled with Louis XII. as to their respective boundaries, this was made a pretext for expelling the French from Naples, which was again united to the Sjianish monarchy, in the years 1503 and 1505. Charles I. of Austria, grandson of Ferdinand, and his succes- sor in the Spanish monarchy, added to that crown the Low Countries and Franche-Comte, which he inherited in right of his father Philip of Austria, and his grandmother Mary of Bur- oundy. He added likewise the kingdoms of Mexico and Peru on the continent of America, and the dutchy of Milan m Italy, in which he invested his son Philip, after havmg repeated .y ex- polled the French in the years 1522 and 1525. These were all the advantages he derived from his wars against Francis I., which occupied the greater part of his reio-n. Blinded by his animosity against that Prince, and by his rulTng passion for war, he only exhausted his kingdom, and im- paired his true greatness. Charles resigned the Spanish mo- narchy to his son Philip II., which then comprehended the Low Countries, the kingdoms of Naples, Sicily and Sardmia, the dutchy of Milan, and the Spanish possessions in America. 1 he peace of Chateau Cambresis, which Philip II. signed in 1559, after a long war against France, may be regarded as the era of Spanish greatness. To the states which were left him by his father, Philip :iddcd the kingdom of Portugal, with the Portu- guese po»»c-'-:.ns in Africa, Asia, and America ; but this was the PEBioD VI. A. n. 1453 — 1648. 2fi3 teriiiination of his prosperity. His reign after that was only a succession of misfortunes. His revolting despotism excited the Belgians to insurrection, and gave birth to the republic of the United Provinces. Elizabeth of England having joined with the Confederates of the Low Countries, Philip, out of revenge, equipped a formidable fleet, known by the name of the Invinci- ble Armada^ which was composed of 130 vessels of enormous size, manned with 20,000 soldiers, exclusive of sailors, and arm- ed with 1360 pieces of cannon. On entering the Channel they were defeated by the English (21st of July 1588,) and the greater part of them destroyed by a storm. From this calamity may be dated the decline of the Span3fth monarchy, which was exhausted by its expensive wars. Phi.ip, at his death, left an enormous debt, and the whole glory of the Spanish nation perished with him. The reigns of his feeble successors are only remarkable for their disasters. Philip III. did irreparable injury to his crown by the expulsion of the Moors or Morescoes (1610,) which lost Spain nearly a million of her mdustrious subjects. Nothing can equal the misfortunes which she experienced under the reign of Philip IV. During the war which he had to support against France, the Catalans revolted, and put themselves under the protection of that Crown (1640.) Encouraged by their example, the Portuguese likewise shook off the yoke, and replaced the House of Braganza on their throne. Lastly, the Neapolitans, harassed by the Duke d'Oli- varez, prime minister of Philip IV. revolted, and attempted to form themselves into a republic (1647.) These reverses on the part of Spain added to the number of her enemies. The famous Cromwell having entered into an alliance with France (1655,) dispossessed the Spaniards of Jamaica, one of their richest set- tlements in America. Towards the end of the fifteenth century, Portugal had reach- ed a high pitch of elevation, which she owed to the astonishing progress of her navigation and her commerce. John II., whose fleets first doubled the Cape of Good Hope, augmented the royal authority, by humbling the exorbitant and tyrannical power of the grandees. In the diet which was assembled at Evora, he retracted the concessions which his predecessors had made to the nobles, to the prejudice of the Crown. He abolished the power of life and death, which the lords exercised over their vassals, and subjected their towns and their territories to the jurisdiction of ofiicers appointed by the King. The nobles, who were displeased at these innovations, having combined in de- fence of their privileges, and chosen the Duke of Braganza for their leader, John, without being disconcerted by this opposition VOL. I. 22 904 CHAPTER Vn. had the Duke brought to a trial, and his head cut off, while his brother was hanged in effigy. This example of severity mtirai- dated the grandees, and n>ade them submit to his authority. The most brilliant era -a ■' >ra,L,ul was that of Emmanuel and John 111., who r. -n-id bt-- ^m the years 1495 and 1557- " was under these t%vo Princes that the Portuguese formed their powerful empire in India, of which nothing now remains but Vhe"giory of Portugal suffered an eclipse under the feeble reiffn of Sebastian, grandson and immediate successor of John. That Prince, who came to the thrrr.c ■• -.; >ro of three years, had been brought up by the Jesuits, who mstead ol instructing him in the important arts of government, had given him the education of a monk. They had inspired him with a dislike for matrimony, but with a decided attachment lor the crusades. Muley Mahomet, King of Morocco, having requested his assist- ance against his uncle Moluc, who had dethroned him, Sebas- tian undertook an expedition into Africa in person, carryinir with him the flower of his nobility. A bloody battle w-as fought near Alca^-ar, in the kingdom of'Pez (1578.) where the Portuguese sustained a complete defeat. Sebastian was slain ; and, w at is sufficiently remarkable, his enemy Moluc died a natural death during the action, while Muley Mahomet was drowned in the ^louring the reign of this king, every thing had fallen into decay ; even the character of the nation had begun to degenerate. The spirit of chivalry which had distinguished them, was ex- changed for mercantile adventures, which everi infected the hicrher classes ; while avarice, luxury, and effeminacy, brought on°a universal corruption. The governors of their colonies in- dulged in all sorts of violence and injustice. They seized the more lucrative branches of commerce Ihe military force, which Emmanuel and John III. had kept up in India, was neglected. The clergy usurped Ine whole wealth of the colo- nies, and exercised an absolute power by means of the Inquisition, which was no where more terrible than at Goa.J As Sebastian had never been married, the t'l rone passed at his death to Henry the Cardinal, his grand uncie by the lather s side, who was already far advanced in life. Perceiving his end approach, and that his death would involve the kingdom in con- fision, he summoned an assembly of the States at Lisbon (1579,) in order to fix the succession. The States appointed eleven commissioners, who were to investigate the claims of tne di^- ... n .1 ., t>u;K^TT nf Snain whn was (me rent caudiaates lor uiecruwu. mi^.^ "■ ^^ "^' V .V --^^ «* of this number, did not pay the least regard to the decision of^ PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. UBS the Slates. No sooner had he learned the death of Henry ( 1580,) than he sent the Duke of Alva, at the head of an army, to take possession of Portugal. The Duke defeated the troops of his opponent, Anthony prior of Crato, one of the claimants, who had proclaimed himself king; pretending that he was the logUi- mate son of the Infant Don Louis, son of Emmanuel. Anthony had no other alternative left than to take shelter in France, and the whole of Poi.ugal yielded to the yoke of the Spaniards. An inveterate antipathy, however, subsisted between the two nations, which made the Portuguese detest their Spanish mas- ters. This hatred was still more increased, on account of the losses which the Portuguese sustained, in the meantime, m their commerce and possessions in the East Indies. The l>icTative traffic which the Confederates in the Low Countries, called the Dutch, carried on by importing the merchandise of the East from Portugal, and hawking them over the north of Europe, having enabled them to support the war against Spain, Phihp il- thought to strike a fatal blow at their prosperity, by forbidding them all commerce with Portugal. _ That Prince, however, was deceived in his expectation. Ihe Confederates, deprived of this lucrative branch of their industry, and after having made some unsuccessful attempts to find a north-west passage to India, took the resolution of sailing directly thither (1595,) under the conduct of Cornelius Houtman and Molinaar, in order to seek, at the fountain-head, those commodi- ties which were refused them in Portugal. No sooner had they attempted to form settlements in India than the Portuguese de- termined to prevent them, and fought with them, near Bantam, a town in Java, a naval battle, which ended in favour of the Confederates. , ^ i , i . i Encouraged by this first success, the Dutch undertook to de- prive the Portuguese of their principal possessions in India. The conquest which they made of the Moluccas, procured them the spice trade. They likewise formed settlements in the island of Java, where they founded the city of Batavia, Avhich became the capital and emporium of their settlements in India. At length Goa and Diu were the only places that remained to the Portuguese >f their numerous possessions in India. These im- portant los OS greatly exasperated the Portuguese against the Spaniards. What added still more to their resentment was, that in the court of Madrid they saw a premeditated design to make vassals of the Portuguese ; and to cut ofT the most likely means of enabling them, sooner or later, to recover their ancient independence. It was with this view that their army and their marine were disorganized, lueir crown revenues dissipated, their /. CHAPTER VII. nobility precludett irom the management of affairs, and tha nii» tion exhaiisied by exorbitant assessments. The revolt of the Catalans, which happened in 1640, at length *he crown. The States, conformably to the fundamental laws of the kingdom, declared that Catherine, daughter of the infant Don Edward, and grandmother of King John, having become the true and legitimate heiress to the throne on the death of Henry the Cardinal, her grandson John IV. was entitled to the repos- session of those rights of which that princess had been unjustly deprived by the Spaniards. The better to establish himself on the throne, John concluded treaties of peace with France, the United Provinces, the Netherlands, and Sweden ; but conhni.r.g his whole ambition to maintaining the ancient limits of the king- dom, he remained completely inactive with regard to Spain, which, being overpowered by numerous enemies, was quite in- capable of carrying on the war with vigour against Ponugal The truce and alliance which that Prince had entered into with i\ie Dutch, did not prevent these republicans from continuing PERIOD VI. A. D. 1463—1648. 257 their conquests in India ; where, in process of time, ihey strip ped the Portuguese of their finest settlements. England, long before this lime, hud emerged from the state of turbulence and desolation into which she had been plunged by the destructive wars of the two Roses. A new family, that of the Tudors, had mounted the throne ; Henry VII., who was its founder, claimed the crown in right of his mother Margaret Beaufort, alleged heiress of the house of Lancaster, or the Red Rose ; and raised an insurrection against Richard III., the last King of the House of York. This prince being defeated and slain at the battle of Bosworth (1485,) Henry, who was then proclaimed King of England, united the titles or claims of the two Roses, by his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV., and heiress of York, or the White Rose. The country be- ing thus restored to tranquillity after Jiirty years of civil war» every thing assumed a more prosperous appearance. Agricul- ture and commerce began to flourish anew. Henry applied himself to the restoration of order and industry. He humbled the factious nobles, and raised the royal authority almost to a state of absolute despotism. The reformatiom of religion in England began in the reign of his son Henry VIII. That Prince, who was of a very capricious character, vacillating continually between virtue and vice, ap- peared at first as the champion of Popery, and published a treatise against Luther, which procured him, from the Court of Rome, the title of Defender of the Faith. But a violent passion, which he had conceived for Anne Boleyn, having induced him to attempt a divorce from Catherine of Arragon, daughter of Ferdinand th3 Catholic, he addressed himself for this purpose to Pope Clement VII., alleging certain scruples of conscience which he felt on ac- count of his marriage with Catherine, who was within the de- grees of affinity, prohibited in the sacred Scriptures. The Pope being afraid to displease the Emperor Charles V., who was the nephew of Catherine, thought proper to defer judgment in this matter ; but the ^ing, impatient of delay, caused his divorce to be pronounced by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (1532,) and immediately married Anne Boleyn. The sentence of the Archbishop was annulled by the Pope, who published a threatening bull against Henry. This incensed the King, who caused the Papal authority in England to be abro- gated by the Parliament, and installed himself in the capacity of supreme head of the English Church (1534 ;) a title which was conferred on him by the clergy, and confirmed by the Parliament. He also introduced the oalli of supremacy, in virtue of which all who were employed in offices of trust, were obliged to acknow- 22* 258 CHAPTER VII. ledge him as head of the Church. A court of High Commission was established, to judge ecclesiastical causes in name of the king, and from whose sentence there was /lO appeal. The con- vents or monasteries were suppressed, and their revenues confis- cated to the crown (1536-1539.) Henry even became a dogma- tist in theology ; and discarding the principles of Luther, as well as those of Calvin and Rome, he framed a religion according tn his own fancy. Rejecting the worship of images, relics, purga- tory, monastic vows, and the supremacy of the Pope, he gave hi** sanction, by the law of the Six Articles, to the doctrine of the real presence, the communion in one kind, the vow of chastity, the celibacy of the priests, the mass, and auricular confession ; inflicting very severe penalties on all who should deny or disobey one or other of these articles. This monarch, who was the first of the English kings that took the title of King of Ireland (1542,) was involved in the dis- putes which then embroiled the Continental powers ; but instead of holding the balance between France and Austria, he adhered in general to his friend and ally Charles V. against France. This conduct was regulated less by politics than by passion, and the personal interest of his minister Cardinal Wolsey, Avhom the Emperor had attached to his cause, by the hope of the papal tiara. The religion which Henry had planted in England, did not continue after his death. Edv/ard VI., his son and immediate successor, introduced pure Calvinism or Presbyterianism. Mary, daughter of Henry VIII., by Catherine of Arragon, on her accession to the throne, restored the Catholic religion (1553,) and likewise received the new legate of the Pope into England. She inflicted great cruelties on the Protestants, many of whom were burnt at the stake ; among others, Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishops of London and Worcester. With the view of more firmly establishing the Catholic religion m her dominions, she espoused Philip, presumptive heir to the Spanish monarchy ( 1 554. ) The restrictions with which the Eng- lish Parliament fettered his contract of marriage with the Queen, so displeased that prince, that, finding himself without p' wer or authority, he speedily withdrew from England. Ma^-y's reign lasted only five years : she was succeeded by her si' .er Eliza- beth (1558,) daughter of Henry VIII., by Anne Bo'eyn. This princess once more abrogated the authority of t^.e Pope, and claimed to herself the supreme administratior , both spiritual and temporal, within her kingdom. Though she adopted the the Church, she retained many of the Romish ceremonies, and the government of Bishops. It was this that gave rise to the fK.. PEPioD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 259 igh Church, and the Cal- dislinction between the English or Hi^ vanistic or Presbyterian. About the time when the High Church par'y rose in England, a change of religion took place in Scotland, protected by Queen Elizabeth. The regency of that kingdom was then vested in the Queen-dowager, Mary of Lorraine, the widow of James V., and mother of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland and France. That princess, who was guided solely by the councils of her brothers of Lorraine, had introduced a body of French troops to repress the followers of the new doctrines, who had formed a new league, under the name of the Congregation. These, re- inforced by the Catholic malecontents, who were apprehensive of falling under a foreign yoke, took the resolution of applying for assistance to the English Queen, which it was by no means difficult to obtain. Elizabeth readily foresaw, that so soon as Francis became master of Scotland, he would attempt to enforce Mary's claims to the throne of England, grounded partly on the assumption of her being illegitimate. A considerable number of English troops were then marched to Scotland, and having formed a junction with the Scottish malecontents, they besieged the French in the town of Leith, near Edinburgh. The latter were soon obliged to capitulate. By the articles signed at Leith (1560,) the French and English troops were to evacuate Scot* land ; Francis IL King of France, and his wife Mary Stuart, were to renounce the titles and arms of the sovereigns of Eng- land, which they had assumed ; while a Parliament was to be assembled at Edinburgh for the pacification of the kingdom. The parliament which met soon after, ratified the Confession of Faith, drawn up and presented by the Presbyterian ministers. The Presbyterian worship was introduced into Scotland ; and the parliament even went so far as to prohibit the exercise of the Catholic religion. Mary Stuart, on her return to Scot- land (1561,) after the death of her husband Francis, was obliged to acquiesce in all these changes ; and it was with difSculty she was allowed the liberty of having a Catholic chapel attached to her court. This unfortunate princess was afterwards accused of having caused the assassination of Henry Darnley, her se- cond husband ; and being obliged to fly the country, she took shelter in England (1568,) where she Avas arrested and impri- soned by order of Queen Elizabeth. After a captivity of nine- teen years she was sentenced to death, and beheaded (18th Feb. 1587,) as an accomplice in the different plots which had been formed against the life of her royal relative. The troubles which the reformation of religion had excited in Scotland, extended also to Ireland. A kind of conupt feudal !?60 CHAPTER Vil- li, I. lystem had prevailed originally in that island, which Henry II. had not been able to extirpate. The English proprietors, who were vassals of the crown, and governed by the laws of Eng- land, possessed nearly one-third of the whole country ; while the rest of the island was in the hands of the Irish proprietors, who, although they acknowledged the sovereignty of the Eng- lish kings, preserved nevertheless the language and manners of their native land ; and were inclined to seize every opportuniiv of shaking off the English yoke, which they detested. Hence. a continued series of wars and feuds, both among the Irish themselves, and against the English, who on their part had no other object than to extend their possessions at the expense of the natives. The kings of England, guided by an injudicious policy, for several centuries exhausted their resources in perpetual wars, sometimes against France, sometimes aijainst Scotland, and sometimes against their own subjects, without paying the least attention to Ireland, of which they appear to have known neither the importance nor the effectual advantages which they might have reaped from it by means of a wise administration. The progress of agriculture and industry became thus completely impracticable; a deep-rooted hatred was established between the islanders and the English, who in fact seemed two distinct nations, enemies of each other, and forming no alliances either by marriage or reciprocal intercourse. The resentment of the Irish against the English government was aggravated still more, at the time of the Reformation, by the vigorous measures that were taken, subsequently to the reign of Henry VIII., to extend to Ireland the laws framed in Eng- land against the court of Rome and the Catholic clergy. A general insurrection broke out in the reign of Elizabeth (1596,) the chief instigator of which was Hugh O'Neal, head of a clan in the province of Ulster, and Earl of Tyrone. Having gained over the whole Irish Catholics to his cause, he planned an ex- tensive conspiracy, with the design of effecting the entire expul- sion of the English from the island. Philip II , King of Spain, supplied the insurgents with ti jops and ammunition ; and Pope Clement VIII. held out ample indulgences in favour of those who should enlist under the banners of O'Neal, to combat the English heretics. This insurgent chief met at first with con- siderable success ; he defeated the English in a pitched battle, and maintained his ground against the Earl of Essex, Avhom Elizabeth had despatched to the island with a formidable army. The rebels, however, ultimately failed in their enterprise, after a tuiiguinary war which lasted seven years. Charles, juOrd jMountjoy. governor of Ireland, drove the insurgents to their las* PERIOD VI. A. D. 14d!i-'1643. 261 i recesses, and had the glory of achieving the entire reduction of the island. ^ The maritime greatness of England began in the reign of Elizabeth. That Princess gave new vigour to industry and commerce ; and her efforts virere seconded by the persecuting zeal of the French and Spanish governments. The numerous refugees from France and the Netherlands, found a ready asy- lum in England, under the protection of Elizabeth ; and her kingdom became, as it were, the retreat and principal residence of their arts and manufactures. She encouraged and protected navigation, which the English, by degrees, extended to all parts of the globe. An Fnglishman, named Richard Chancellor, having discovered the route to Archangel in the Icy Sea (1555,) the Czar, John Basilowitz II., granted to an English company the exclusive privilege of trading with Russia (1569.) The commerce of the English with Turkey and the Levant, which began in 1579, was likewise monopolized by a Company of n^er- chants. Francis Drake, a distinguished navigator, and the rival of Magellan, was the first Englishman that performed a voyage round the world, between 1577 and 1580. The intercourse be- tween England and the East Indies began in 1591 ; and the East India Company was instituted in 1600. Attempts were also made, about the same time, to form settlements in North America ; and Walter Raleigh, who had obtained a charter from the QuRp.n (1584,) endeavoured to found a colonjr in that part of the American Continent, now called Virginia, m compliment to Elizabeth. That colony, however, did not, properly speak- ing, take root or flourish till the reign of James I. The compe- tition with Spain, and the destruction of the Invincible Armada of Philip II., by the combined fleets of England and Holland, gave a new energy to the English marine, the value of which they had learned to appreciate, not merely in guarding the in- dependence of the kingdom, but in securing the prosperity of their commerce and navigation. The House of Tudor ended in Queen Elizabeth (1603,) after having occupied the throne of England about a hundred and eighteen years. It was replaced by that of the Stuarts. James VI., King of Scotland, son of Mary Stuart, and Henry Darnley, succeeded to the throne of England, p.nd took the title of King of Great Britain, which his successors still retain. This prince de- rivid his right to the crown, from the marriage of his great j^and- mother, Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII., with James IV. of Scotland. Vain of his new elevation, and fond of pre- rogative, James constantly occupied himself jvvith projects for augmenting his royal power and authority in England ; and by 262 CHAPTER VII. instilling these principles into his son, he became the true archi* tect of all the subsequent misfortunes of his house. Charles I., the son and successor of James, seldom convened the Parliament ; and when they did assemble, he provoked them by the measures he proposed, and was then obliged to dissolve them. Being entirely guided by his ministers Laud, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, the Earfe of Strafford and Hamilton, and his Queen, Henrietta of France, he ventured to levy taxes and impositions without the advice of Parliament, This conduct on the part of the King produced a general discontent. The fleimes of civil war began to kindle in Scotland, where Charles had introduced Episcopacy, as more favourable than Presbyte- rianism to royalty. But the Scottish nobility, having formed a confederacy, known by the name of the Covenant, for the main- tenance of their ecclesiastical liberties, abolished Episcopacy (1638,) and subsequently took up arms against the King. The Parliament of England, under such circumstances, rose also against Charles (1641,) and passed an act that they should not be dissolved without previously obtaining redress for the com- plaints of the nation. This act, which deprived the King of his principal prerogative, proved fatal to the royal dignity. A trial was instituted by the Parliament against the King's ministers. The Earl of Straflbrd and the Archbishop of Canterbury were beheaded ; and Charles had the weakness to sign the death- war rant of his faithful servants. The Presbyterians soon became the prevailing party, and ex- eluded the Bishops from the Upper House. The management of affairs fell then into the hands of the House of Commons ; Episcopacy was abolished ; and the Parliament of England ac- ceded to the Scottish Covenant. War now broke out between the King and the Parliament ; a battle was fought near York, m which the latter was victorious (1644.) Charles, seeing his aflTairs ruined, took the determination to throw himself into the arms of the Scots (1646,) who, he supposed, might still retain an affection for the race of their ancient Kings. He soon found reason, however, '^"* repent of this step ; the Scots did not hesi- tate to sell him to the English Parliament for a sum of £400,000, Sterling, which they found necessary for the payment of their troops. A new revolution, which soon after happened in the Parlia- ment, completed the ruin of the King. The Presbyterians, or Puritans, who had suppressed the Episcopalians, were crushed, in their turn, by the Independents. These latter were a sort of fanatics, who admitted no subordination whatever in the Church, entertained a perfect horror for royaltj n-r%A 5 tttt%t PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 803 republican or democratic form of government. The head and soul of this faction was the famous Oliver Cromwell, who, with great dexterity, made it an engine for raising himself to the sovereign authority. The whole power of the Legislature fell entirely into the hands of the Independent party ; who, by one act, expelled sixty members from the House of Commons. The Parliament, now completely under their dominion, appointed a commission of a hundred and fifty persons, whom they vested with power to try the King. In vain did the Upper House oppose this resolution ; in vain did the King object to the Judges named by the House ; the commission proceeded, and pronounced the famous sentence, by virtue of which Charles was beheaded on the 30th of January 1649. His family were dispersed, and saved themselves by flight. The revolutions in the North of Europe, about the period of which we now spefk, were not less important than those which agitated the West and the South. These arose chiefly from the dissolution of the Union of Calmar, and the reformation in religion ; both of which happened a" jout the beginning of the sixteenth century. The Union of Calmar, between the three kingdoms of the North, had been renewed several times ; but, being badly cemented from the first, it was at length irreparably broken by Sweden. This latter kingdom had been distracted by intestine feuds, occasioned by the ambition and jealousy of the nobles, which continued during the whole reign of Charges VIII., of the House of Bonde. After the death of that Prin«:e (1470,) the Swedes, without renouncing the Union, had regu- larly appointed as administrators of the kingdom, from the year 1471 till 1520, three individuals of the family of Sture, viz. Steno Sture, called the Old, Suante Sture and Steno Siure, called the Young. Meantime, John, King of Denmark, and son of Christian I., Lad governed the three kingdoms since 1497, when Steno Sture the elder had resigned, until 1501, when he resumed the admin- istration. At length, however, Christian II., son of John, made war on Steno Sture, surnamed the Young, with a view to enforce the claims which he derived from the act of union. Being victorious at the battle of Bogesund, where Sture lost his life, he succeeded in making himself acknowledged by the Swedes as king, and was crowned at Stockholm (1520.) Within a short time after \\\h ceremony r^' violated the amnesty which he had publicly amouuced ; and , Ratify the reve^ : o*" Gusta- vus Trolle, Archbi -bop of Upsal, wuom the S^^edes i.aa deposed, he caused ninety-lour of the most distinguish .d personages in tho kinffdom to be arre&led, and public'y reheaaed at Stockholm 964 OUAPTKR Vn. This massacre caused a revolution, by which Sweden recover' ed its ancient state of independence?. Gnstavus Vasa put him- self at the head of the Dalocarliuufl, ambitious to become the liberator of his countrjr (1621.) lie was diiclarcd Regent, and two years after, King of Sweden. The example of the Swedes was soon followed by tbe Danes, who, indignant at the exces.^es and cruelties of Christian II., deposed him, and conferred their crown on Frederic, Duke of Holstein, and paternal uncle to that prince. Christian, after having long wanucrod about the Low Countries, was made piisoncr by the Danes, and remained in captivity the rest of his days. The Kings of Donnuirk having renewed, from time to time, their pretensions to the Swedish throne, and still continued the three crowns on their escutclicon, several wars broke out on this subject between the two nations ; and it was not till the peace of Stettin ( 1/570,) that the Danes acknowledged the entire inlependence of Sweden- Denmark then lost the ascendency which she had srio long maintained in the North. The government of the kingdom un- derwent a radical change. A corrupt aiistociacy rose on the ruins of the national liberty. Tiio S(niate, composed wholly of the nobles, usurped all authority ; they overruled the election of :he kings, and appropriated to themselves the powers of the States-General, which tlioy had not convoked since 1536 ; they encroached even on the royal authority, which was curtailed more and more every day ; while the preidgativos of the nobility were extended by the conditions which the Senate prescribed to the kings on their accession to the crown. The reformation ol religion took place in Denmark, in the reign of Frederic L, the successor of Christian II. That prince employed an eloquent preacher, named John Tausen, and several other disciples of Luther, to promulgate the Protestant doctrines in his kingdom. In a diet held at Odensec (1527,) the King made a public pro- fession of the new faith ; and, in spite of the remonstrances of the bishops, he passed a decree, in virtue of which, liberty of conscience was established, and permission granted to the priests and monks to marry. These articles were renewed in another diet, assembled at Copenhagen (1530;) where the King ratified the Confession of Faith presented to him by the Protestant min- isteis, similar to what had taken place the same year at the diet of Augsburg. At length Christian III. who was elected in 1534, brought these changes in religion to a close. The bishops, during the last interregnum, had done every thing to stop the progress of tlie Reformation. The King, desirous of annihilating their temDOml nOW^er- COllude'l with tVlO nrin#»i:^nl nnV>ilWv tn h OYTA a 11 PERIOD VI. A. D. 1463—1648. the bishops in the kingdom arrested ; and having then assem- bled a meeting of the States at Copenhagen, ho abolished Enis- copucy, and Huporossed tho public exercise of the Catholic reli- gion. Iho castles, fortresses, and vast domains of tho prelates wore annexed to the crown ; and the other benefices and reve- nuos of the clergy were anpropriatcd to the support of tho minis- tors of religion, public schools, and the poor. Tho monks and nuns were left ut liberty, either to quit their convents, or remain there during their lives. The bishops wcro replaced by super- uilondents, tho nomination of whom was vested in the Kinir • while each coii^regation retained tho privilege of choosing its own pastors. From Denmark this revolution passed to Norway, which at that tunc, on account of having joined tho party of Christian U., who was deposed by tho Danes, lost its indepen- Uence, and was declared a province of tho kingdom of Denmark. Ihe House of Oldenburg, which had occupied tho throne of Denmark since 1448, was separated in tho reign of Christian 111. into two povverful branches, vi/. the Royal, descended from hat prince ; and tho family of Holstein-Gottorp, descended from his brother the Duko Adolphus. This latter branch was after- wards divided into three others, viz. those of Russia, Sweden and Holstein-Oldenburg. As the law of primogeniture was not established in the dutchies of Slcswick and Holstein, which Imd tallen into the succession of the House of Oldenburg, the Kings of Denmark soon found themselves under the necessity of divi- ding these dutchies among the younger princes of their family. 1 he treaty of partition, which was entered into (1544) between Christian III. and his brother, had been preceded by a treaty of perpetual union, annexing these dutchies to the kingdom, and intended to preserve the throne, which was elective, in the House of Oldenburg ; as well as to prevent any portion of these two dutchies from falling into the possession of strangers. The union was to endure as long as the descendants of Frederic I reigned in Denmark. They promised to settle, by arbitration, whatever differences might arise between the states of the union, to afford each other mutual succour against every external ene- my ; and to undertake no war but by common consent. The treaty of 1544 which regulated this partition, made seve- ral exceptions of matters that were to be managed and adminis- tered in common; such as, the customs, jurisdiction over the nobles, the bishops, and certain cities. This gave rise to a sort of copartnership of power, common to all the princes of the union. Every thing regarding either the general safety as stipulated in the treaty, or the exeicise of these privileges included in thfi pt cepiions, was to be discussed and settled by unanimous consent. VOL. I. ?3 266 CHAPTER Vn. and for this purpose a council of regency, an exchequer, ant? common courts were established. This union and community of rights were followed, as a natural consequence, by long and destructive feuds between the Kings of Denmark and the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp, in which the other powers of the North were also implicated. Christian IV., grandson of Christian III., was distinguished not more by the superiority of his talents, than by the indefati- gable zeal with which he applied himself to every department of the administration. It was in his reign that the Danes extend- ed their commerce as far as India. He founded the first Danish East India Company (1616,) who formed a settlement in Tran- quebar on the Coromandel coast, which had been ceded to them by the Rajah of Tanjore. Various manufactories of silk stuffs, paper, and arms, Avere constructed, and, several towns built un- der the auspices of Christian IV. The sciences were also much indebted to him ; he gave a new lustre to the University of Co- penhagen, and founded the Academy of Soroe in Zealand, be- sides a number of colleges. If he was unsuccessful in his wars against Sweden and Austria, it must be ascribed to the narrow limits of his power, to the influence of the aristocratic spirit, and of the feudal regime which still prevailed in Denmark. He succeeded, however, in excluding the Swedes from access to the Icy Sea, which opened them a way to the coasts of Lapland, by obtaining possession, at the peace of Siorod (1613,) of that part of Lapland which extends along the Northern and Icy Seas, from Titisfiord to Waranger and Wardhuys. The disputes con- cerning the three crowns was settled by the same treaty, in such a way that both sovereigns were permitted to use them, withouf authorizing the King of Denmark to lay any claim to the Swe- dish crown. Sweden, which had lon^ maintained a struggle against Denr mark, at length acquired such a preponderance over her as to threaten, more than once, the entire subversion of the throne. This preponderance was the achievement of two great men, who rose in the period we now speak of, viz. Gustavus Vasa, and his grandson Gustavus Adolphus. Gustavus Vasa was not merely the liberator, but the restorer of his country. Elevated to the throne by the free choice of the nation, he gave Sweden a power and an influence which it never had before. Every thing under him assumed a new aspect, the government, the religion, the finances, the commerce, the agriculture, the sciences and the morals of the Swedes. Instead of the assemblies of the nobles, formerlv in use-, and destructive of the national libert'^'' he sub- stituted Diets composed of the different orders of the State, the PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 164S. M7 nobility, the clergy, the citizens, and the peasantry. By this means he acquired a new influence, of which he took advantage to humble the power of the church and the nobles, which had long been a source of oppression to Sweden. The reformation of religion, which then occupied every mind, appeared to Gustavus a very proper expedient to second his views, and introduce a better order of things. On his accession to the throne, he authorized the two brothers Olaus and Lau- rentius Petri, to preach publicly at Stockholm the doctrines of Luther, and did every thing in his power to accelerate the pro- gress of the Reformation in his kingdom. The bishops, who were apprehensive for their benefices and their authority, having drawn the greater part of the nobility over to their interest, the king, in the presence of a Diet of the four orders assembled at Westeras, took the determination of formally abdicating the crown. This step threw the Diet into a state of consternation, and encouraged the two lower orders, the citizens and peasants, to declare themselves loudly for the King. The bishops and nobles were obliged to comply ; and the King, resuming the reins of government, succeeded in overruling the deliberations of the Diet. By the authority of a decree, he annexed the strong castles of the bishops to the demesnes of the crown, and retrench- ed from their vast possessions whatever he judged convenient. The prelates at the same time were excluded from the senate ; the ties that bound them to the Court of Rome were broken ; and they were enjoined henceforth to elemand confirmation from the King, and not from the Pope. The revenues of the clergy in general, and those of the convents, were left at the free dis- posal of the king, and the nobles were permitted to bring forward whatever claims they could adduce over lands granted to these convents by their ancestors. There was nothing now to retard the march of reformation. The Lutheran religion was introdu- ced universally into Sweden, and that event contributed not a little to exalt the royal authority. Gustavus secured the hereditary succession of the crown in favour of his male descendants. The States, anxious to obvi- ate the troubles and disorders which the demis^ f their kings had often produced, regulated the succession by an act known by the name of the Hereditary Union. It was passed at Ore- bro (1640,) and ratified anew by the States assembled at Wes- teras. The Union Act was renewed at the Diet of Nordkoping, in the reign of Charles IX. (1604,) when the succession was extended to females. The reign of Gustavus Adolphus, the son of Charles IX., .1,,. giory Oi uweden to its heigtit. ihe virtues &nd 988 •HAPTKll VII. energies of that prince, the sagacity of his views, the admirable order which he iutroHuced into every brancli of the administra- tion, endeared him to his subjects ; while his military exploits, and his superiority i the art of war, fixed upon him the admi- ration of all Europe. Gustavus brought the wars, which he had to sustain against the different powers of the North, to a most triumphant conclu- sion. By the peace which he concluded at Stolbova with Rus- sia (1617,) he obtained possession of all Ingria, Kexholm, and Bussian Carelia ; and even cut that Empire off from all com- munication with Europe by the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. His success was not less brilliant in his campaigns against Sigismund III., King of Poland, who persisted in contesting with him his right to the crown of Sweden. He took from the Poles the whole of Livonia, with a part of Prussia ; and kept possession of these conquests by the six years truce which he concluded with the latter at Altmark (1629.) It was about this time that Sweden began to occupy a distin- guished place among the powers of Europe ; and that she was called on to take the lead in the League which was to protect the Princess and States of the Empire against the ambition of Austria. Gustavus, who was in alliance with France, under- took a task as difficult as it was glorious. In the short space of two years and a half, he overran two-thirds of Germany with his victorious arms. He vanquished Tilly at the famous battle of Leipsic (1631,) and extended his conquests from the shores of the Baltic to the Rhine and the Danube. Every thing yield- ed before him, and every place opened its gates to him. This great prince, who had made war a new art, and accustomed his army to order, and a system of tactics never before known, per- ished at the memorable battle of Lutzen (1632,) which the Swedes gained after his death, in consequence of the skilful dis- positions he had formed. This war was continued under the minority of Queen Chris- tina, his daughter and heir. It was still carried on, although the Swedes had undertaken a new war against Denmark, with the view of disengaging themselves from the mediation which Christian IV. had undertaken between the Emperor and Swe- den, at the congress which was to meet at Munster and Osna- burg. The result of that war was completely to the advantage of Sweden, which gained by the peace of Bromsbro (1645) the freedom of the Sound, as also the possession of the provinces and islands of Jamptland, Herjedalen, Gothland, Oesel, and Hal- land. Lastly, the peace of Westphalia secured to Sweden con- siderable possessions on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, such as Wismai, Bremen and Verden, and part of Pomerania. PERIOD VI. A. D. 1463 — 1648. i»9 The power of the Teutonic Knights, which hiid been greatly reduced during the preceding period, by the defection of a par of Prussia, was completely annihilated in the North, in conse* qnence of the changes introduced by the reformation of religion. Albert of Brandenburg, grandson of the Elector Albert Achillea, on his elevation to the dignity of Grand Master of the Order, thought himself obliged to withdraw from Poland that fealty and homage to which the Knights had bound themselves by the treaty of Thorn in 1466. This refusal furnished matter for a war between them ; which began in 1519, and ended in 1521, by a truce of four years ; at the expiration of which the Grand Master, who saw the doctrines of Luther disseminated in Prus- sia, and who had himself imbibed these principles in Germany, found means to settle all differences with the King of Poland, by a treaty which he concluded with him at Cracow (1521.) He there engaged to do homage and fealty to the crown of Po- land, which he had refused; and Sigismund L, who was his maternal uncle, granted him Teutonic Prussia, with the title of Dutchy. as a hereditary fief, both for himself and his male-heirs, and for his brothers of the House of Brandenburg and Franconia, and their feudal heirs ; reserving the right of reversion in favour of Poland, failing the male-descendants of these princes. The Teutonic Knights thus lost Prussia, after having possess- ed it for nearly three hundred years. Retiring to their pos- sessions in Germany, they established their principal residence at Mergentheim in Franconia, where they proceeded to the elec- tion of a new Grand Master, in the person of Walter de Cron- berg. The Poles, in getting rid of the Teutonic Knights, whom they had regarded with jealousy, and substituting the House of Brandenburg in their place, never dreamed of adopting an enemy still more dangerous, who would one day concert the ruin and annihilation of their country. Immediately after the treaty of Cracow, the new Duke of Prussia made a public profession of the Lutheran religion, and married a daughter of the King of Denmark. This princess dying without male issue, he married for his second wife a prin- cess of the Brunswick family, by whom he had a son, Albert Frederic, who succeeded him in the dutchy of Prussia. The race of these new dukes of Prussia (1568,) as well as that of Franconia, which should have succeeded them, appearing to be nearly extinct, Joachim IL, Elector of Brandenburg, obtained from the King of Poland the investiture of Prussia, in fief, con- junctly with the reigning dukes. This investiture, which was renewed in favour of several of his successors, secured the suo :__ -r 4.u_* J,,i_v,— :_ ».u_ _i t^ i f — :i rp j i ^- >.C3SiOu VI iJiai. UUiuuv ill 12IC cicuLOiai laiiiiiv ui iJiaituciluurg{ '.9 23^ &. ,0^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // // 4? 1.0 I.I 6" 2.5 1.8 11.25 IIIIII.4 11.6 V] <^ /a ^. 7 /A ■r> '/ Photograpbc Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 % 270 CHAPTER Vn. Whom it devolved on the dea^i of Albert F'fdenc (1618 ) j^^^^^^^ left no male descendants. He was succeeded by the Elector John Sigismund, who had been comvested with h,m m the dutohy ^That prince, who had married Anne eldest daughter of AlLt Frederic, obtained like wse,m nght of hat pn^^ part of the succession of Juliersviz. the dutchy ^^ Aleves the bounties of Marck and Ravensberg, which l^^d been adjudg^^^ to the house of Brandenburg, by the prov'.sional act of part ion concluded at Santern (1614,) and converted mio a definitive treatv at Cleves. The grandson of John Sigismund, the Elector pSric Wmlam, was a prince of superior genius, and the true foundeTof the Neatness of his family. Illustrious in war as in Zee and respected by all Europe, he acquired by the treaty o. ^eXua a P^^^^ of kmerania, the archbishopric of Magde- burg under the title of a dutchv, with the t^/^^.P"" {^^ «^^^^ ' Tdt. Minden, and Camin, under the title of principahties. His son Frederic was the first King of Prussia. . _, , • %e Teutonic Knights had nearly lost Liyonia at the begin- niigo? the sixteenth century; ^^' '¥' yi^Z^^V^wZ^ t the courage and talents of the Provincial ^.^^f '„7 wing Platteu' -rg. The Grand Duke Iwan, or John III., having Sreatened Livonia with an invasion, Plattenberg concluded a iefeSr alUance at Walik (1501,) with Alexander II., Grand DuK Lithiania, and the bishops of that country. After having SSed trooF^^^^ the number o( 14,000 men, he deieated the RSln army, which was 40,000 strong, at Maholm ; a second Sy?wS he gained with the same number of troops ove 100 000 Russians It Pleskow (1502,) is one of the most famous exDloUs in the history of the North. Next year he concluded a truce of s?x years wi^ the Livonian Order, which was afterwards "r"commonfy S"tU Walter, the Provincial Master, taking advantag^SV distresses of the Teutonic Kmghts, and urging the rCSed succours which he had furnished th.m agamst he Poles purchased from them his own independence, and that oi Ws Order? but a recent author (Le Comte de Bray) has shown that this was not exactly the case. By a first agreement signed IVKor^nXir 1520,) Albert of Brandenburg, who was then ly Taf]^ mVsL^^^^^^ the Teutonic Order, confinned to the KnLhts of Livonia the free right of electing a chief of their own number promising to sustain the individual whom they should nomhtale.^ He secured them the possession of the whole -ve Sy of Reval and Narva; the countries of Altentirken, Jer- wet and Wierland ; as also the town and castle of Wpsenberg, well, aiiv* »» iv-i > _ ,^1 . ^, ^„„o rovivpn and with their dependencies, xnis i^y^'^eui^xitA"- -•-■-- ---; Sed by a second, signed at Grobin (1626.) when it was for- PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 9Vl mallv stipulated, that the relations between the Knights of Li- vonia and the Teutonic Order should be maintained as they w«re. and that the Livonians should continue to regard the ^jrrand Master as their true head, and render him homage and obe- dience They were foibidden to solicit from the Emperor oi the Pope any privilege inconsistent with their allegiance. It ap pears, consequently, that Walter de Plattenberg did not purchase the independence of his Order, but that he regarded those tie5 which existed between it and the Teutonic Order as broken, when Albertof Brandenburg was declared Duke of Prussia. He next renewed those connexions with the German Empire, which had existed since the thirteenth century ; a.id was declared by Charles V. (1527) a prince of the Empire, having a vote and a seat in the Diet. , i t ^i. It was during the mastership of Plattenberg that the Lutheran doctrines penetrated into Livonia, where they made rapid pro- trress, especially in the cities. Walter dexterously turned the disturbances caused by the opposition of the clergy to the new tenets, into an occasion for establishing his authority over all Livonia and Esthonia, which the Order had formerly shared with the bishops. The citizens of Riga acknowledged him as their only sovereign, and expelled the archbishop. Ihe bur- gesses of Revel followed their example. The clergy were so frightened at these movements, that the archbishop of Kiga, and the bishops of Dorpat, Oesel, Courland and Revel, formally sub- mitted to the Order. The clergy themselves soon after embraced the reformed religion.] ,• j The dominion of the Knights Sword-bearers, had continued in Livonia until the time of the famous invasion of that country bv the Czar, John Basilovitz IV. That prince, who had laid open the Caspian Sea by his conquest of the Tartar kingdoms of Casan and Astrachan, meditated also that of Livonia, to obtain a communication with Europe by the Baltic. Gotthard Kettler, who was then Grand Master, finding himself unable to cope with an enemy so powerful, implored first the assistance of the Germanic Body, of which he was a member ; but naving got nothing but vague promises, he next addressed himself to Sigis- mund Augustus, King of Poland, and, m concert with the arch- bishop of Riga, he concluded with that prince a treaty of sub- mission at Wilna (1561;) in virtue of which, the whole of Livonia, with Esthonia, Courland and Semigallia, comprising not only what was still in the possession of the Order, but those parts which had boon seized by the enemy, were ceded to the crown of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, on condi- tion that the use of the Confession of Augsburg should be pre- served on the same footing as it then was, and that all orders of 272 CHAPTER VII. the State should be maintained in their goods, properties, rights, ^"s'i'grrsl"^^^^^^^ and Semigallia were reserved :o aChard Kettler.'the last Grand Master o L^vo-a to be enjoyed by him.elf and his heirs-male with the Wle ^f dutchy. Ind as a fief of the king and crown of Poland, fhe new Duke, on taking tie oath of fidelity to the King of Poland, solemnly kid Se all L badges of his former dignity He married June daughter to the Duke of Mecldenburg-Schewerin, and imnsmiSlhe dutchy of Courland to his male-descendants who did not become extinct until the eighteenth century The Order of Livonia was en'.irely suppressed, as were also the archbishonrics of Riga, and the bishoprics under its jurisdiction. £ reSion in Livonia caused a violent commotion among the powers the North, who were all eager to share in the the protection of Eric XIV -^^^S^' ^^^^ ;^ ^^^ ^^^, rdTe"di^2fof'w;S Esthonia, were sold to Frederic if. Sn^ of Denmark, by the last bishop of the island, who also ceded tohtmTe bishopric and district of Pilten m Courland S 1 % °/fir^t ViPld the balance, and maintained Livonia against fhf Ruslns by^^^^^^^ the Kussians, oy me pe gtrucrgle afterwards ensued be- t^rvZF::T^^'^n fof the s|ue ol^ct, which was not ^"fcHur^nl f^Tl2!Z^e., assumed an asnec; entTrefy new. She succeeded in throwmg off he vokHf the Moguls, and began to act a conspicuous part on he &e of EurL. The Horde of Kipzach, called also the GW or theollden Horde, had been greatly exhausted by its ttrTorkl losses, and the intestine wars which followed ; while heSd Duke's of Moscow gained P-^^^.f'^l ^^^.^ Zd I a union of several of these petty principa hties, ^.^^Jpl^^^^^f/^;^ lout t enfo h^^^fi^^^^^^^ century, knew well how to profit bvThese circumstances to strengthen his authority at home, and by tnese cwcuiuMai & several expeditions, he TuM^S^ter WbHc rNo^ogcod, an.an^cien. ally of the Hanseatic towns, anS which had for a long time affected an *u"Tnre;dence: He was also the first sov^^^^^^^^ PERIOD VI. A. D. 145»— 1648. 273 that came from the Khan of Kipzach. He even suppressed the that came ^^^^ ^\^^ ^.^^rt; and at length shook i hit £. of Kipzach, having despatched certam depu .e3 u^^n ltd .heS put all the deputies to death except one, whom "'S' Sn^wiATe riew of revenging that insuU, invaded Russil seveTal^imes, but the Grand Duke vigorously repulsed Sriu atS- and while he was arresting the progress ot his all his a"Jf « ' ?"^ ™f ^ u he despatched a body of troops toXceSre o°f Ae Grind tfordle, who faid every thing desolate rtt't aan Tflsl. £m of Sn was follow Jby that [ » . .!n Bi t John was by no means so fortunate in his en- CrlslT'^in^tLiv^^a^^S, as we have already said^^^^^^^^^^ from England He Wf ^^i^;;^^;',^ i^^des and manufactures. Se tlrlduceTth/an of"ng a. Mosco^v, and est^ished .he first permanent army in the country, that of the S(rA(ze», which he employed in teeping the nobles in check. The d.»- ^very of sTberia is one of the events that belong to Ins reign- SkSf^n^rl\ro?rh^;r:fW^^^ ga7;KlingJursued;g;^^^^^^^^^^ StttXtadt e^th'Scotcks,.^ gionsaimeuea Tartars of Siberia, and their Khan Slrrgot^o: e sfon^f Sfcity of Sibir, which was their Kutscneni, ne gu p Tprmak in order to obtain his pardon rArol^mSi h?ni o'rotll he had coiKaiered , ^h ma agreed to by that Prince, and Uie troops of u.e Ra.-=.a... 274 CHAPTER VH. then took possession of Siberia (1583.) The total K?"*?" »' Ae co^ir however, did not take place untd the reign of the C^5 Theodore or Fedor hvanovitz, the son and successor of ?o1Sn, who taUt the city of Tobolsk (1587,) wh.ch has smce be- °Tedt Iw£li«, a Fi^ce weak both in mind and bodv, was enUrel"uXti;:co«nLlso.fhisbro.her.inJ.w^^^^^^^ vvVin with the view of opening a way for himselt to tne mront, Taus'erthe younrDeme?^^^ only brother, to be assas- causea tne yu j, ^^ ^ ^ ^^^^^^ ^^ t^ou- '^:Ct^lfeLMTZ^oi Fedor (1598.) . With him. as hi IfTnirhfldren the reigning family of the ancient sovereigns of Ru sia, th^^ d^^^^^^^^^^^^ Ruric, be\ame extinct ; after having occuDied the throne for more than eight hundred years. After this the Russian Crown was worn by persons of diflfe- renf houses' Their reigns were disturbed by various preten- ded who assumed the name of Demetrius, and ^vere suppor ed '; the Poles. During fifteen years R-?- PJXlt're^^^^^^^^ in'g spectacle of infusion -^--^^^^^^^^ - --//y for these disasters, they thought ot D,csiowm^ foreign prince. Some chose ^^.^^.^J^^; '^^^^^^^^ tavus Adolphus 0/ Sweden^^ and othj ^ vmea ^^^^^^^.^^^ ^^^^^^ son of Sigismund IV., King oi ^^inu^. Swoflos took ad- The Russians, now seeing their monarchy on the edge of a Ihe Kussians, iiuw „ , j c^ar of iheir own precipice, adopted the plan ot elect n p^a^ovitz, who became now, Archbishop °f ^^^"'°"' . „f ,he Swedes, by surrendering •he state; he P""*^^^„tsian CaieUa The sicrffices which he to them Ingria and ''"^^^'f? ™„' ; jejaUe. By the truce of '!?%'" Tl^fsl'rdVep rceoT^sma (IBsZ) he ceded to S'?helasHirteils oFsmolensko, Tschernigou, and Novo- «"pl:fatto?S:"«=d a corrupt aristoc».y, which hadSsSlwlegeneJaLdintoc^^^^^^^^^^ were the only Persons Iha f " °f^i™%';,he nuncios or de- tL"tS-*evTc?:d"at *: Kel ; tL honours and dig PEBIODVI. A. D. 1453— 1648. 27A neasantrv alone supported the whole burden of expenses This SSn aUhe same time, was under the control of a sort of de- m?crTv in as far as the nobles, without exception, were held to "faCLlf t^^S itSX^il fc. ffd thrTeutonic Kfight., she acquired Livonia, and mamtamed " 't Jl'lfot'ltiotof religion was likewise prom-lg;;;^/,^^ P»^ land, where it was particularly P"™""^'! X^/Pn, V„i,11itv Tea part of the senate, and more than half of the nobilUy Se Vith their King, a profession of the new opinions ; and if S*frrma«on did nS taL deeper root i" that kingdom or . . hafl not a more conspicuous mfluence on the ciyihzation oi me people it was from ?he want of a middle class m the kmgdom, hv which it could be supported. . -^1, o-^c. Vhe male line of Jagellon, having become extjnct with Sg^s- mund II. (1572,) the throne became purely elective, a^a^t was Tdained that, during the King's life, no --essor ^W ^^^^^ pointed ; but that the States, on his demise, should en o lor ever a perfect freedom of election on every vacancy of the thione Such was the origin of the Diets of Election, which, from heir lTyconstitudon,'could not fail to be always tumultuous m^^^^^^ nroceedings. The nobles in a body appeared at these Diets Ser hS repaired in arms and on horseback, ranked accord- So thp order of the Palatinates, in a Camp prepared for he purpose near Warsaw. The.custom of the ^-^^^J/;^^^; fnok its rise about the same time. Henry de Valois, who was elected S.^ on the death of Sigismund II., was f first Aat swoe to these conventional agreements, [by which he engaged, So'°f:^4ner should he m^^^^^^ *Ta^Zs ^:Ltd"nit ™r™r^nd l^X^^ of '•"KSnl'sequen'^fr^^^^^ its influence; the govern- meMwas'XtS Us fundamental principles, and the kingdom XnJd into In abyss of calamities. Among the elective Kings teucceedeTneiirx de Valois, the 1-' AjJ -P^fh s^on ff „ity, of thec^wn again. Enssia^^^^^^ - ■ KTrt of n;.,*: interior of Russia (1618,,-he penetrated 276 CHAPTEH VIl. as far as Moscow ; and in a second which he made 0634,) fte compelled the Russians to raise the siege of Smolensko ; and shut them up so closely in their camp, that they were obliged to cap tuE fo? want of provisions, rfe then made a new attac^ onle capital of Russia ; and at the peace of Wias.na, he ob- tained conditions most advantageous to i^oland. In the history of Hungary, the most splendid era was the reiffnof Matthias Corvin, who, at the age of scarcely sixteen, had been raised to the throne by the free choice of the nation (1458 ) Like his father the valorous John Hunniades, he was he terror of the Turks during his whole reign ; he took Bosnia from the mrand kept Transylvania, Wallachia, Moldovia, Scla. vonia. and Servia in dependence on his crown, m spite of the [nces ant efforts which the Turks made to rescue these provinces^ He likewise conquered Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia ; he even "ok Austria from the Emperor Frederic I., and came oRx his residence at Vienna (1485 ) It was m lj^\^>yj»^^^,^i«,^^^^^^ minated his brilliant career, at the early age of fortv-seven (1490. That great prince added to his military talents a love for elegant litemtfre, of which, from the first revival of letters, he showed thias. liis^successo'rs,'uiadislaus II , the son of Cas.mir V King of Poland, and Louis the son of Uladislaus, who held a Uiefame time the crown of Bohemia, were weak and indolent nrhiceT who saw Hungary torn by factions, and ravaged with fmmn Uy by the Turk' 'soliman the Great taking advantage o?L yJuth of Louis, and the distressed state in which Hungary was, concerted his plans for conquering the kingdom. He at- ^cked the fortress of Belgrade (1521,) and rnade himself master oT that important place, before the Hungarians cou d march to Us relief His first success encouraged him to return to the charg Having crossed the Danube and the Drave withou meeting with any resistance, he engaged the Hungarians near Mohacz 1526,) in that famous battle which cost them the life of their kng and their principal nobility. Twenty-two thousand Hun^ria^s^vere left on the field of battle, and the whole king- dom lay at the mercy of the conqueror. Soliman now proceeded as far as the Raab/but instead of completing the conquest of Hunoary as he might have done, he contented himself with the Svbg waste all that part of the country with fire and sword, and carrying several hundred thousand prisoners into slavery. The premature death of the young King who left no progeny, occrisioned a vacancy in tlie throne of Hungary and Bohemia Fe dSand of Austria who married Anne, sister to Louis, clauned the succession in virtue of the different treaties signed in the TEnioD vu A. D. 1163-1648. 277 14R1 MRR 1491 and 1515, between the Austrian princes years 1463,14b8,14yi,an 1^ 7 ^^^^ Bohemian and the last longs J^» \\""S';y\u, IJetensions of Ferdinand. XrlLSg J lives o« ts;^^,; rr =pe>Uor. 'o"fT„k„ Zapolya w.. to devolve on l.erd.na . /h- «-V was never '""^l^ .'"'''sS mund .hcAntlt i. his cradle, p„dauned *e jrou„| prmce »^J«-^'„i;- ,,p,ai.io';, into t.on of the lurks. J'"""" , . -^^^^ „f signal perfidy, Hungary m h,s f«" *'i?V he cii/o" Lda, the capital of the he took this occasion to seize trie ciiy o '.^^ ■;, i„ce «r„fCda wUh the Ser part of Hungary and Sclavonia ror^llTlitrs^ru^^fd to hi. by the truce which ''^'°?Ss7o^£r u'nfoi'u^ate events, the Austrian prince. ha\V^in"t\mpt™cetoalie,^^^^^ garians, by the intolerant smri. *=/ 'l^P^,^y/^;„'^^^^^^^^^ „,;„;„„ which they -n^y 'ly "^''° °f„^"'rL« her and Calvin "had from that kingdom. 1 he ''fi™''™^ '.,,,:„„ ,v,e reicn of Louis, already been propagated in """S™ d eVen ^de great pro- the predecessor of Ferdinand The^^^^^^^ bitious, who were ^^»^\""° ,^ rrnvernmem. Stephen »it;rhiroWV5|^-^^^^^^^^^^ Transylvania, were successively the chiela or icaaei 279 CHAPTER VII. malecontents, in the reigns of Rodolph II., Ferdinand II., and Ferdinand III., Emperors of Germany. Accordmg to the Paci- fication of Vienna (1606,) and that of Lintz (1645,) as well as by the decrees of the Diet of Odenburg (1622.) and of Presburg (1647,) these princes were compelled to tolerate the public exer- cise of the reformed religion ; and to redress the political com- plaints of the Hungarian malecontents. , • , . r The same troubles on the score of religion, which mfested Hungary, extended likewise to Bohemia, where the new doc- trines met with a much better reception, as they were in unison with the religious system of the Hussites, who had already nu- merous partisans in that kingdom. It was chiefly under the reit^n of the mild and tolerant Maximilian II. that Protestantism made its way in Bohemia. All those who were formerly called Utraquists, from their professing the Communion in both kinds, joined the followers either of Luther or Calvin. Kodolph II., the son and successor of Maximilian, was obliged, at the Diet of Prague (1609,) to grant them the free exercise of their worship, without distinction of place ; and even to extend this indulgence to the Protestants of Silesia and Lusatia by letters-patent, known by the name oi Utters of Majesty ; copies of which were made at Prague on the 11th of July and 20th of August 1609. These letters were confirmed by King Matthias, on his accession to the throne ol Bohemia; as also by Ferdinand III., when he was acknowledged by the Bohemian States, as the adopted son and successor of Matthias. The diflerent interpretations which were put on these letters occasioned the war, known in history by the name of the Thirty Years' War. The Emperor Matthias happening to die in the midst of these disturbances, the Bohemian States, regarding their crown as elective, annulled the election of Ferdinand II. (1619.) and conferred the crown on Frederic, the Elector Pala- tine. Being in strict alliance with the States of Silesia, Mora- via, and Lusatia, they declared war against Ferdinand, who was supported, on the other hand, by Spain, the Catholic princes of the Empire, and the Elector of Saxony. ^ ,, . , r^i The famous battle of Prague (1620,) and the fall of the Elec- tor Palatine, brought about a revolution in Bohemia. The ring- leaders of the insurrection were executed at Prague, and their goods confiscated. Ferdinand, who treated that kingdom as a conquered country, declared that the States had forfeited their rif^hts and privileges ; and, in the new constitution which he gave them, he consented to restore these, only on condition of expressly excepting the rights which they had claimed in the ciectior. of their kings, a? well as the Letters of Majesty which PERIOD VI. A. D. 1453 — 1648. 279 fftanted to the Protestants the free exercise of their worship But this prince did not stop with the suppression of their reli- ^ou iSs. he deprived Wm also of their rights of eu-n^ ship. Laws the most atrocious were published against them, fnlhe even went so far as to deny them ^he Ijberty f^ m^^^^^^^ testaments, or contracting legal marriages. AH their mj"»ster8, wS exception, were banished the kingdom ; and the most uiquitous means were employed to bring back the Protestants off pale of the Catholic Ahurch. At length it ^yas enjoined by an edict in 1627, that all Protestants who persisted in their opinions should quit the kingdom within sir months^ Thirty thousand of the best families in the kingdom, of whom a hun- d ed and cighty-five were nobility, abandoned Bohemia, tran.- porfing thei Lents and their fndustry to, the neighbourmg States, such as Saxony, Brandenburg, Prussia, &c. Fe dinand judged ft for his interest to detach the Elector of Saxony f?om he alliance with Sweden, which he had joined. He concluded a special peace with him at Prague, m virtue ot which he made oVer to him the two Lusatias, which he had dis- ttxembered from the kingdom of Bohemia ^o reimburse the Elec- Tor for those sums which he claimed, as havin- been the ally of Au ?ria against the Elector Palatine, then King of Bohemm. That province was ceded to the Elector John George, for him- self aSd his successors, as a fief of the Bohf."^^^" ^f °^^"j "" ^l the express condition, that failing the mae line of ^^e Electoral branch, it should pass to the female heirs; but that it should tien be at the option of the King of Bohemia to use the righ oi redemption, by Repaying to the female heirs the sum for wh ch Lusaka had been mortgaged to Saxony. This sum amoun ei to seventy-two tons of gold, valued at seven millions two hundred thousand florins. • r » •*«,„ v.«tV The Turkish empire received new accessions of territory, both in Asia and Europe, under the successors of Mahomet II., who had fixed their capital at Constantinople The conquest of ^- sarabia belongs to the reign of Ba azet II., about the Y^r^^ That prince had a brother named Jem or Zizim, who had been his competitor for the throne ; and having fled to Rome, he was imprisoned by order of Pope Alexander VI., at the instance of Baj zet? who\ad engaged'to pay the Pope a -ge Pension f^^^ him. Charles VIII. of France, when he "J^^de his expedition iZ Italy for the conquest of Naples, compel ed the Pope to sur- enderVp the unfortunate Zizim, whom he designed to em^^^^^^ in the expedition which he meditated against the Turks, but which never took p.ace. Selim I.the son and ^^^^^f «[ "^ f^' iazet, taking advantage of a revolution winch hanneued in Persia, and if the Victory which he gained near Taurus over the S haw 290 OB AFTER VII. bmail P"phi I. (1614,) conquered the promcc. of Diarbel.r and Algczim, beyond the E"rh'?'»"^ . , ^n,™ of the Ma- the capital of the Empire of ^S^t, was taKen oy ^ y ^^^ ^r WKlfdrvVichXS 0^.1°'^^^^^^ of St. John 'Xfg^t$%n>r Hungary h^^ Moldavia and ^aUadm o a 'f °f -le^p^^f,^. f,, nke^i,, ,„ the Turkish authors, about the Y™' l^Ji. ^^ That prince d«™S"'" ^'^ ™f".h of the Empire, ^vhich made to increase *;, """^d He took into his service the h s predecessors had neglecteci. J"- y^ , created famL ^rate Barbaros- K,.Jg «f ^X'?4:;%„:pped a dee. Capitan Pocha, or Grand A''™™'. , . , ^ y^^^ei the Impen- „f Lre than a h™'!^^ »"'• ^I'^^^fested *« ""^'^'^ "' ^f"™' nlists from the Archipelago , and '"'';Y";" -^j however, in his Italy and Sicily (1^6^) |t"""g--™'™=" "'"''^ ^^'"1 !Sl^CogS^^*hle Jrtl of the flee, from Sicily, obiiged the Ottomans to retreat. p«^„:-„ bosran with the death of The decline of ^^-^OUOfiT T^.7 ultanfhis successors, sur- Soliman the Great (1566.) J»^/^"^^ na^ and shut up in rendering themselves '^ ^^^Zl'^^.^^^^o^^^ the gov- their seraglios and harems left ^« ^^^^^^J^J^^f ^^e army. The ernment of the Empire and the ma^^geme^^ eunuchsrand se- sons of these Sultans, educated by ^^ omen an ^^^.^ eluded from all ^^^{^f^J^^^^i^^^^^^^ and no longer earliest infancy all the y»^f \?^ ; ^^^ enterprising spirit, brought to the throne hat ;j°If ^^^^^^^^ and the which had been the sou of the O oman o ^^^ basis of all their i«^t;t'|!\°"^. . ^^^tmple^o his s^ In was the first who set his fa ^ /^^^P^^^^ ^^^^ ^le Venetians his time, the Turks took the If.f,Xm"thr terrible defeat Sll^S^tSri^JaS^lI^^j;^ which was .Uowod bv the ruin of their marine. Dy ine rui ^^^ ^^ ^^^ _,^g^ volume. cir [a- of nd ro, 7,) the ted sed the )hn, s of lade ,vise ling hhe hich 3 the }ated fleet ipevi- pain, n his >y the niged ath of 3, sur- up in e gov- "The nd se- 1 their longer spirit, .nd the )linian, rs. In netians defeat oUowcd i tmrn- 'i^** mtm ■» -*'•*•■*. ■ '"'"^■BT-"*^'"" to >