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 THE 
 
 PROGRESS OF DEMOCRACY; 
 
 ILLUSTRATED IN THE HISTORY OF 
 
 GAUL AND FRANCE 
 
 ALEXANDRE DUMAS. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY AN AMERICAN, 
 
 Sans haine, sans crainte. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 J. & H. G. LANGLEY, 57 CHATHAM STREET. 
 1841.
 
 Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1841 , by 
 
 EDWARD S. GOULD, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States 
 for the Southern District of New York. 
 
 R. Craighead, Phinteh, 
 112 Fulton Street.
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 The title of this book in the original is, simply, Ga0le et 
 France, without one additional or explanatory word : but on 
 presenting it to the public in English, the translator has ven- 
 tured to adopt a different title, which though not that of the 
 author, is, nevertheless, descriptive of his work and of the pur- 
 pose with which he wrote it. 
 
 Its chief value to the general reader consists in the vast 
 amount of historical facts which it embodies in a compass so 
 small and in a style so attractive. Indeed, M. Dumas seems 
 to be invested with a faculty, peculiarly his own, of abridging 
 History nearly to the limits of Chronology, without sacrificing 
 the interest that belongs to illustrated narrative. 
 
 The political theory of the work is original, striking and 
 beautifully developed : how far it is sound as to the past and 
 prescient as to the future, the reader and Time must, severally, 
 determine. 
 
 The task of translation has been rather arduous, owing to 
 the difficulty of rendering political technical terms ; and owing, 
 also, to the incessant consultation and collation of authorities,
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 necessary to make the names of persons and places intelligible 
 to the English reader : and although, at last, tolerable correct- 
 ness has been attained ; yet in this respect, as well as in many 
 others, the " Progress of Democracy" is doubtless obnoxious to 
 criticism. 
 
 The various notes introduced by the translator have been 
 mingled indiscriminately with those of the author, but the 
 reader will readily distinguish them from each other by their 
 relation to the text. 
 
 New York, May 11th, 1841.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction page 13 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 The Franco-Roman Monarchy ; or Gaul, from its 
 first settlement to the accession of Peppin-le- 
 Brep 29 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 The Frank Monarchy; or Gaul, from the acces- 
 sion of Peppin-le-Bref to that of Hugh Capet 89 
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 The French Monarchy; or France, from the acces- 
 sion of Hugh Capet to that of Philip de Valois 169 
 
 Conclusion 343
 
 THE PROGRESS OF DEMOCRACY.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The limits prescribed to the following work allow 
 but a brief space for introductory remark; we must, 
 therefore, content ourselves with a very summary 
 view of the earlier ages of the world. 
 
 The Hebrew recoi'ds — the archives of a nascent 
 world — apprize us that the first family, like the fiery 
 triangle which symbolizes God, divided into three 
 branches ; and, under the conduct of its leaders, 
 deposited in the three parts of the then known earth 
 the germ of future nations. 
 
 Previous to this separation, however; that there 
 might be a distinct nation — a primordial seed — a 
 primitive people — Canaan, whom the malediction 
 of Noah drove from his presence, descended, with 
 his eleven children, the mountains of Armenia, 
 whereon the ark had rested ; traversed the Jordan 
 in a direction opposite to that afterward taken by 
 Moses; and established himself on the soil since call- 
 ed Palestine, but to which the proscribed fugitives 
 gave the name of their chief Each brother soon 
 2
 
 14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 became the head of a family; each family, a tribe ; 
 and the several tribes, a people : the race of one 
 man extended East and West from the Jordan to 
 the Mediterranean, and North and South from Mount 
 Libanus to the torrent of Bezor, or the River of 
 Egypt. 
 
 Here, separated from the rest of mankind by moun- 
 tains, rivers, and the sea — separated before the auda- 
 cious enterprise of Babel led to the confusion of 
 tongues — this nation preserved, what tv;^o centuries 
 later Abraham w^as to make his ovv^n ; the primitive 
 idiom of the children of God, and the first soil pos- 
 sessed by the father of men. 
 
 When the day of the dispersion of the nations 
 had arrived ; when the entire world was given to the 
 descendants of three men, the sons of Ham turned 
 toward the South, crossed the Nile, and, under the 
 guidance of Mizraim, founded the Kingdom of Egypt 
 between the Great Desert and the Arabian Gulf; 
 where, five centuries afterward, Osymandias was to 
 build Thebes; and Uchoreus, Memphis. Their chil- 
 dren, darkened by the sun of Africa, spread them- 
 selves from the Straits of Babelmandel to Mauritania, 
 where the Atlas takes its rise ; and from the Isthmus 
 of Suez to the Cape of Tempests, where rush to- 
 gether the stormy billows of the Atlantic and Indian 
 Oceans. 
 
 The sons of Shem journeyed eastward ; divided 
 themselves into three colonies under three different
 
 INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 chiefs, and, like the branches of a river, took diver- 
 gent courses from their very source. 
 
 Arphaxad, the eldest, founded on the left of the 
 Persian Gulf the kingdom of Chaldea — a privileged 
 race, who w^ere one day to take the title of the Peo- 
 ple of God and to give birth to Terah, of whom 
 Abraham was born. 
 
 Elam, the second son, crossed the Euphrates and 
 the Tigris, passed over a chain of unknown moun- 
 tains, and planted at their base the kingdom of the 
 Elamites, the remembrance of which still survives 
 in the names of a great city and a great man, — Per- 
 sepolis and Cyrus. 
 
 Asshur, the third son, paused in his journey be- 
 tween Mesopotamia and Syria ; built Nineveh ; and 
 laid the foundation of the kingdom of Assyria, where 
 Nimrod, the hunter, headed that list of thirty-four 
 kings which was closed by Sardanapalus. 
 
 Thus, the posterity of the three sons of Shem dis- 
 persed themselves over that garden of the world, 
 called Asia. They traversed forests abounding with 
 gandal-wood and myrrh ; passed rivers that flowed 
 over beds of coral and pearl ; and, in mines of rubies, 
 topaz, and diamonds, laid the foundations of those 
 wonderful cities, Bagdad, Ispahan, and Cashmere. 
 
 The descendants of Japhet chose a more gloomy 
 abode. Travelling through the nebulous atmosphere 
 of the West — after pausing in Greece to build 
 Sicyon and Argos — they spread themselves over
 
 16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Europe from Nova Zembla to the Straits of Gibral- 
 tar, and from the Euxine to the Norwegian shore : 
 thus appropriating that portion of the earth which 
 the Hebrews, poetic in their ignorance, styled " the 
 isles of the nations." 
 
 When, in process of time, the whole (eastern) 
 world became inhabited, God willed that the people 
 should be instructed by science and enlightened by 
 religion ; and, that none should escape the benefit of 
 this double blessing. He decreed that all the nations 
 of the earth should be brought, by conquest, within 
 the arras of the Roman Colossus. 
 
 And, to prepare for this gi'eat era of civilization 
 and Christianity, at a period no less than fifteen cen- 
 turies previous to its advent, we see the following 
 concurrent movements coinciding with the eternal 
 purposes of Jehovah. From Egypt there set forth, 
 simultaneously, — a colony of wise men under the gui- 
 dance of Cecrops, who reared that cradle of the arts 
 and sciences, Athens : — an army of soldiers com- 
 manded by Pelasgus, whose sons founded Rome, 
 the symbol of universal conquest: — and a band of 
 slaves led by Moses, from whose descendants was 
 born Christ, the type of universal equality. 
 
 Thence, hastening forward the mysterious work 
 appeared — 
 
 In Greece, for instruction. 
 
 Homer and Euripides, the poets ; Lycurgus and 
 Solon, the legislators ; Plato and Socrates, the phi-
 
 INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 losophers; and the whole world studied their poems, 
 adopted their laws, and assented to their dogmas ! 
 
 In Rome, for conquest, 
 
 Caesar, general and dictator ; whose army swept 
 across the world like a mighty river, receiving in its 
 bosom the tributary streams of fourteen nations — 
 making one current of all these waters ; one peo- 
 ple of all these inhabitants ; one language of all 
 these idioms : and, though all subsequently escaped 
 from his grasp, it was but to form, within the firmer 
 grasp of Octavius Augustus, one empire of all these 
 empires. 
 
 At length, the set time having come, in a comer 
 of Judea, and toward the East, where the day arises, 
 arose Curist, the sun of civilization ; and, surmount- 
 ing the Roman horizon, separated with his hallowed 
 rays the ancient from the modern age. His light shone 
 for three centuries ere it illuminated Constantine. 
 
 But this empire, too vast to be held in subjection 
 by one man, dropped from the dying hands of Theo- 
 dosius the Great ; and, breaking in two parts, rolled 
 on either side of his coffin — forming, under Arcadiua 
 and Honorius, the two christian Empires of the 
 East and the West. 
 
 Those streams of nations, however, which threw 
 themselves into the great Roman flood, brought with 
 them more slime than pure water. The empire 
 gained, indeed, their science and civilization, but it 
 was forced to take, in connexion with these, their 
 2*
 
 18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 concomitant and inseparable ^'ices. Corruption en- 
 tered the court; debauchery, the cities ; and supine- 
 ness, the camps. Men drooped under the weight of 
 mantles, so light that the breeze would lift them from 
 their shoulders. Women passed their days at the 
 baths ; and left them, veiled, for houses of licentious- 
 ness. Soldiers, unarmed, reposed on couches be- 
 neath painted tents ; and drank from cups heavier 
 than their swords. All things had become venal ; 
 the integrity of citizens, the honor of wives, the 
 service of waniors. A nation is near its fall when 
 its lares are statues of gold. 
 
 The young and pure morality of the Gospel was not 
 in harmony with this worn out and corrupted world. 
 The primitive race, fallen into impiety, was destroyed 
 by water : the second, steeped in corruption, was 
 now to be purified by fire and the sword. 
 
 Accordingly, from the heart of countries unknown 
 to this degenerate people ; from the North, the East 
 and the South, with great tumult of arms, arose innu- 
 merable hordes of barbarians. They rushed over 
 the land in irregular masses ; some on foot; some on 
 horses ; some on camels ; and some on sleds drawn by 
 the rein-deer. * They crossed rivers by floating on 
 their bucklers;! they traversed the sea in frail barks. 
 
 * Fuit alius quatuor cervis junctus, qui fuisse dicitur regis 
 Gothorum, — Vospicus in vita Aurcliani. 
 
 + Enatantes super parmA posiii amnem, in ulteriorem egressi 
 sunt ripam. — Greg. Tdk.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 They went onward, driving the inhabitants before 
 them with their swords, as the shepherd drives the 
 flock v/ith his crook. They overturned nation after 
 nation, as if the voice of God had said, I will mingle 
 the people of the earth as the whirlwind mingles the 
 dust, until from their contact the sparks of the chris- 
 tian faith shall be kindled over the face of the earth ; 
 and ancient times and memorials shall be forgotten, 
 and all things shall become new. 
 
 There was, however, order in destruction ; for, 
 from this chaos, a new world was to emerge. Each 
 actor in the drama had his part assigned him ; God 
 having apportioned to each his task, as the husband- 
 man designates to his laborers the fields they are to 
 harrow. 
 
 First, Alaric, at the head of the Goths, overran 
 Italy, impelled by the breath of Jehovah, as a vessel 
 is driven by the tempest. He goes not in his own 
 strength merely ; but seems urged and sustained by 
 a mighty, yet invisible power. A monk met him in 
 the midst of his career, and conjured him to turn 
 back. 
 
 " It is not in my power," replied thebarbarian : " an 
 irresistible impulse forces me onward to the over- 
 throw of Rome." 
 
 Three times he surrounded the eternal city with 
 his sea of soldiers ; and three times, like the ebb- 
 ing tide, he retired from it. An embassy of citi- 
 zens was at length despatched to his camp, recom-
 
 20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 mending him to abandon his enterprise, and assuring 
 him that he would else encounter an army thrice as 
 numerous as his own. 
 
 "So much the better," replied this reaper of men; 
 " the thicker the grass, the more easily is it mown." * 
 
 At length, however, he acceded to their request, 
 on condition of receiving, as a recompense for his 
 clemency, all the gold, silver, precious stones, and 
 barbarian slaves that the city contained. 
 
 " And what, then, will remain to the inhabitants ?" 
 demanded the ambassadors. 
 
 " Life," replied Alaric. 
 
 The Romans, of necessity, submitted to the severe 
 terms of the conqueror, and delivered to him five 
 thousand pounds' weight of gold ; thirty thousand 
 pounds of silver ; four thousand tunics of silk ; three 
 thousand scarlet skins ; and three thousand pounds 
 of pepper, t The vanquished inhabitants, for their 
 ransom, had melted the golden statue of Courage, 
 which they called the Martial Virtue. | 
 
 * Ipsius, inquit, fenum rariore facilius resecatur. — Zozi- 
 
 MIUS. 
 
 t duinquies mille libras auri, et prcetcr has, trccies niille libras 
 argenti, quatcr mille tunicas sericas, et ter mille pelles coccin- 
 eas, et piperis pondus quod ter mille libras Eequaret. — Ibid. 
 
 t Cluorum erat in numero Fortitudinis quoque simulacrum, 
 quam Romani Virtutem vocant, quo sane corrupto quidquid 
 fortitudinis alquevirtutis apud Romanos superabat extinctum 
 fuit. — Ibid.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 Genseric, at the head of the Vandals, passed into 
 Africa, and marched toward Carthage, where the 
 wrecks of Rome had taken refuge: toward Carthage, 
 the harlot ; where men, crowned with flowers and 
 dressed like women, accosted the passers-by and prof- 
 fered their monstrous favors. * 
 
 He an-ived before the city ; and while his troops 
 were mounting the ramparts, the people were descen- 
 ding to the circus. Without, was the tumult of 
 arms ; and within, the resounding echoes of the 
 games : at the foot of the walls were the shrieks and 
 curses of those who slipped in gore and fell in the 
 melee ; on the steps of the amphitheatre, were the 
 songs of musicians and the sound of accompanying 
 flutes. 
 
 After taking full possession of the city, Genseric 
 presented himself at the circus, and commanded its 
 guards to open the gates. 
 
 " To whom ]" said they. 
 
 " To the King of the earth and the sea," replied 
 the conqueror. 
 
 Not content Avith the subjugation of Carthage, 
 Genseric now prepared for further victories. He 
 did not know Avhat people dwelt on the earth, but he 
 panted to destroy them. He embarked his army on 
 
 ♦ Indicia sibi quaedam monstruosaj impuritatis inectebant, et 
 foeminse tegminum illigamentis capita velarunt, atquepublice in 
 civitate. — Salvien.
 
 22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the sea, and when the pilot demanded what course 
 he should steer, his answer was, 
 
 " Where God pleases to send me." * 
 " Against what nation do yon make war]" 
 "Against that which God wills to punish." t 
 The last of this trio of conquerors, was Attila, 
 whose destination was Gaul. Wherever he en- 
 camped, his army covered the space of three cities. 
 A captive king mounted guard at the tent of each of 
 his generals ; and, at his own tent, one of his own 
 generals stood sentinel. He disdained the gold and 
 silver vessels of Greece, and feasted on raw flesh 
 served in dishes of wood. As he paused with his 
 army on the banks of the Danube, arrested for the 
 moment by its deep and turbulent current, a she-dog 
 led the way to a ford across the Palus Maeotides, 
 and disappeared.! Having surmounted this obsta- 
 cle, he swept like a torrent over the Eastern Empire, 
 making Leo the Second and Zeno Isauricus his 
 tributaries. He strode with disdain through Rome, 
 already ruined by Alaric, and at length planted his 
 foot on that portion of the earth which is now called 
 France. Here, his devastating progress left but 
 
 * Intenogatus a Nauclevo, quo tendere populabundus vellet, 
 respondisse : Q.uo Deus impulerit. — Zozimius. 
 + In eos quibus iratus est Deus. — Procope. 
 t Mox quoque ut Scythica terra ignotis apparuit, cerva dis- 
 
 paruit, — JORNANDES.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 two cities standing, Troyes and Paris. By day, the 
 earth was ciimsoned with blood ; and at night, the 
 blazing homes of the slaughtered inhabitants illumi- 
 ned and reddened the firmament. Children were 
 suspended by the leg to trees, and abandoned, alive, 
 to birds of prey.* Maidens were crushed under 
 chariot-wheels. Old men were fastened to the necks 
 of goaded horses that rushed with them to destruc- 
 tion. Five hundred blazing cities designated the 
 march of the King of the Huns across the world, and 
 a desolate wilderness occupied the intervals between 
 them. 
 
 " The grass itself will not grow," said the exter- 
 minator, " after the steed of Attila has trampled it !" 
 
 Everything concerning these envoys of celestial 
 vengeance is extraordinary. 
 
 Alaric, when about to embark for Sicily, died at 
 Cosentia. His soldiers, aided by their army of pri- 
 soners, turned the course of the Busento, and dug 
 a deep trench for his corse in the midst of the chan- 
 nel. They then heaped over the body gold and jewels 
 and precious stuffs, turned back the current of the 
 river to its original bed, and massacred the slaves 
 
 * Irruentes super parentes nostros, omnem substnntiam abs- 
 tulerunt, pueros per nervum femoris ad arbores appendentes, 
 puellas amplius ducentas crudeli nece interfecerunt. — Greg. 
 Tor.
 
 24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 who had aided in the task, that the secret of the 
 sepulture might remain untold* 
 
 Attila expired in the arras of his bi'ide, Ildico ; and 
 the Huns made incisions beneath their eyes with 
 the points of their swords, that with the blood of men, 
 and not the tears of women, they might bewail the loss 
 of their conquering chieftain. t The flower of his sol- 
 diers kept watch during the day over his body, chant- 
 ing warlike songs. At night, they enclosed the corse in 
 three coffins — one of gold, another of silver, and the 
 last of iron — and buried it piivately on a bed of 
 arms, flags and precious stones : and, as in the case 
 of Alaric, to prevent the secret of this sepulchral 
 wealth from transpiring, the grave-diggers were 
 pushed into the tomb and inteiTed alive with the 
 dead. | 
 
 Thus passed away these men who, instructed in 
 their mission by a savage instinct, forestalled the 
 judgment of the world ; entitling themselves the 
 hammer of the universe, or the scourge of Goi>. § 
 
 * Hujus ergo, in medio alveo, collecto captivorum agmine, 
 sepulturae locum effodiunt: in cujus fodise gremio Alaricum 
 multis opibus obiuunt: rursusque aquas in suum alveum 
 reducentes, ne a quoquam quandoque locus cognosceretur, fos- 
 sores omnes interemerunt. — Jornandes. 
 
 t Ut prajliator eximius, non foemineis lamentationibus et 
 lacrymis, sed sanguine lugeretur virili. — Ibid. 
 
 JEt, ut tot et tantis divitiis humana curiositas arceretur, 
 operi deputatos detestabili mercede trucidarunt, emersitque 
 momentanea mors sepelientibus cum sepulto. — Jbid. 
 
 § " En ego sum malleus orbis."
 
 INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 When the wind had dispersed the dust of these 
 countless armies ; when the smoke of these blazing 
 cities had ascended to the sky ; when the vapors, 
 arising from these murderous battle-fields, had re- 
 turned to the earth in fertilizing dews ; when, in 
 short, the eye could penetrate to this immense chaos 
 through the veil of dust, smoke and vapor that envel- 
 oped it, a young and renewed people were seen 
 pressing around a few old men who held the Gospel 
 in one hand and the Cross in the other. 
 
 These old men were the fathers of the church. 
 
 These young people were our forefathers, as the 
 Hebrews had been our ancestors ; living springs 
 which gushed pure from the earth at the very spot 
 where the corrupted waters were ingulphed. 
 
 These were the Franks, the Burh-Gunds, and the 
 Visigoths who divided Gaul : the Ostro-Goths, the 
 Langobardi, and the Gepidae who spread them- 
 selves over Italy : the All-Inns, the Van-Dalls, and the 
 Suevi who took possession of Spain; the Picts, the 
 Scots and the Anglo-Saxons who disputed among 
 themselves for Great- Britain. And in the midst of 
 these new and barbarous races stood some few old 
 
 Roman colonies, scattered here and there a kind 
 
 of columns, long ago planted by civilization, and now 
 astonished to find themselves standing in the midst 
 of barbarism, while they bore upon their sides the 
 half-efiaced names of the first possessors of the world.
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 G A U I. . 
 
 THE CONaUERING RACE. 
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY.
 
 GAUL 
 
 THE CONaUERING RACE. 
 
 The limits of the Roman Empire were thus fixed 
 under Augustus : 
 
 On the East, the Euphrates ; 
 
 On the South, the cataracts of the Nile, the deserts 
 of Africa and Mount Atlas ; 
 
 On the North, the Danube and the Rhine ; 
 
 On the West, the Ocean.* 
 
 The country, the shores of which were bathed by 
 this ocean, was Gaul. Caesar achieved its conquest 
 fifty-one years before Christ, and converted it into a 
 Roman province. 
 
 He found it divided into three sections, inhabited 
 by three nations differing in language, institutions 
 and laws. These were the Belgae, the Galli or 
 
 ♦Termini igitur finesque imperii Romanisub Augustoerant : 
 ab Oriente, Euphrates; a Meridie, Nili cataractse et deserta 
 Africse et Mons Atlas; ab Occidente, Oceanus; a Septentri- 
 one, Danubius et Rhenus. 
 3*
 
 30 
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY, 
 
 Celtae, and the Aquitaiii. * The Celtae, placed be- 
 tween the other two nations, were separated from 
 the Belgae by the Marne and the Seine ; and from 
 the Aquitani, by the Garonne. 
 
 Rome divided her new conquest into seventeen 
 provinces ; f built fortresses in each and garrisoned 
 them ; and, like a careful mistress, who fears lest 
 her handsomest slave inay be stolen from her, she 
 caused a flotilla to cruize constantly along the shores 
 of Britain. | 
 
 Constantine, who possessed the empire in peace, 
 
 * Gallia omnis est divisa in partes tves, quarum unam iiicolunt 
 Belgse, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum linguA Celtae, nos- 
 trci Galli, appellantur. Hi omnes lingua, institutis, legibus, 
 inter se differunt. Gallos ab Aquitanis Garumna flumen, a 
 Belgis Matrona et Sequanadividit. — De Bella Gallico. 
 
 t They were divided as follows: 
 I. Narbonensis prima. 
 
 II. Viennensis. 
 
 III. Narbonensis secunda. 
 
 IV. Alpes Maritimae. 
 V. Alpes Graecce et 
 
 Penninee. 
 VI. Novem populana. 
 VII. Aquitania prima. 
 ■^ I. VIII. Aquitania secunda. 
 
 \{ 
 
 L 
 
 IX. Lugdunensis prima. 
 X. Lugdunensis secunda. 
 { XI. Lugdunensis tertia. 
 XII. Lugdunensis quarta. 
 , XIII. Maxima Sequanorum. 
 XIV. Belgica prima. 
 XV. Belgica secunda. 
 XVI. Germania prima. 
 XVII. Germania secunda. 
 
 tProximumque Galliae littus rostratce naves prsesidcbanl. — 
 Tacitus — Annales.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 31 
 
 created for G aul a praetorian prefect. All subordinate 
 officers were responsible to this prefect; but he was 
 accountable to the Emperor alone. At this lime, the 
 Christian religion prevailed in Graul : the conversion 
 of the country is dated from the reign of Decius. * 
 
 About the year A. D. 354, Julian (afterward 
 Emperor of Rome) was appointed to the prefecture 
 of Gaul, which office he held for five years. He 
 repelled two invasions of the Franks ; and after one 
 of his campaigns against them, passed a rigorous 
 winter at the Therms, which still bear his name in 
 the little borough of Paris — styled by him his dear 
 Lutetia.t 
 
 In the year 451 ^tius became prefect. His task, 
 however, as commander of the provinces, was not to 
 repel an invasion of Franks, but to oppose an inun- 
 dation of barbarians ; not to subdue an obscure leader 
 of a tribe, but to conquer Attila ! 
 
 ^tius, aware of the formidable nature of the dan- 
 ger that threatened him, omitted nothing in his power 
 necessary to an adequate resistance. In addition to 
 his own legions, collected and disciplined in Gaul, 
 he brought to his standard the West-Goths, the 
 Burh-Gunds, the Celts, the Saxons, the All-Inns, the 
 Allemanni, and, lastly, a tribe of the very Franks 
 who had formerly been vanquished by Julian, ^tius 
 
 * Gregoire de Tours. + Julian Misopogon.
 
 32 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 had met their chief, Mere-Wig, * at Rome, and 
 learned to appreciate his prowess. 
 
 The two armies encomitered each other on the 
 plains of Champagne, not far from Chalons ( Cahillo- 
 num.) One half the inhabitants of the earth were 
 now face to face. Here, the elements of a world 
 ready to perish ; there, the elements of a world ready 
 to be born. The battle that ensued was horribly 
 sanguinary. "If we may believe the old men," says 
 Jornandes, a writer almost cotemporary, "a little 
 rivulet that crossed this memorable plain was sud- 
 denly so swollen, not with rain but blood, that it 
 became a rapid torrent : and the wounded soldiers, 
 parched with thirst, who dragged themselves to its 
 brink, swallowed with avidity the revolting mixture, 
 which their own veins had helped to pollute." t 
 
 Attila was vanquished. But his first defeat was 
 Rome's last victory. 
 
 * Mere-Wig, in the Frank language, signifies eminent war- 
 rior. We are indebted to Coofer for having made known to 
 us the names of the celebrated Indian warriors of America; 
 and, but for Aug. Thierry, we should be ignorant of the names 
 of the former conquerors of France. 
 
 t Nam, si senioribus credere fas est, rivulus memorati campi 
 humili ripa prolabens, peremptorum vulneribus sanguine multo 
 provectus, non auctus imbribus, ut solebat, sed liquore concita- 
 tus insolito, torrens factus est cruoris augmento : et quos illic 
 coogit in aridam sitim vulnus inflictum, fluenta mixta clade 
 traxerunt: ita constvicti sorte miserabili sordebant, potantes 
 sanguinem quern fudere sauciati. — Jornandes.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY, 33 
 
 ^tius, having thus saved Gaul, hastened to Rome 
 to receive the reward of his valor; but Valentinian> 
 the Emperor, being jealous of his success, stabbed 
 him with his own hand. 
 
 Mere-Wig succeeded ^Etius in the government of 
 Gaul. He had become enamored of the beautiful 
 country, and made himself master of that portion of 
 it situated between the Seine and the Rhine, making 
 Paris his frontier town, and Tournay his capital. 
 
 His usurpation was not resisted by expiring Rome. 
 This once mighty empire had become powerless to 
 protect her original domains against barbarian inva- 
 sion, and of course could afford no aid to her subju- 
 gated provinces. At the same time that Mere-Wig 
 established himself in a corner of that Gaul which 
 his descendants were destined to conquer through- 
 out, the Vandals took Carthage and the West-Goths * 
 (Visigoths) Spain. The Roman Colossus which, in 
 the greatness of its power, seemed to cover the 
 w^orld, had, in its death struggles, contracted itself 
 into diminutive proportions ; as the bodies of giants, 
 shrivelled by suffering, appear, in dying, never to 
 have attained the ordinary height of man. 
 
 The reign of Mere-Wig is the first established 
 sovereignty in Belgic Gaul of which our learned 
 
 * West-Goths ; so called from the position they occupied in 
 their ancient country, north of the Danube, before Attila drove 
 them into the Roman provinces. — Acg. Thierry.
 
 34 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 modern historians * find any sure trace, or which is 
 recorded with entire certainty by Sigebert, Hariul- 
 phus, Roriconis and Fredegaire. 
 
 Mere- Wig was a notable chief. He gave his name 
 not only to a race, but to a nation ; his followers having 
 been called the Merovingian-Franks.t Those who 
 remained on the borders of the Rhine preserved the 
 name of Ripe-Ware-Franks.| 
 
 Mere-Wig died about the year 455. He was suc- 
 ceeded by Hilde-rik§, (Childeric I.) a powerful and 
 ardent man, as his name signifies. His soldiers 
 placed him on a buckler supported upon their 
 shoulders, and carried him, standing, with his battle 
 axe in his hand, around the entire army : and after 
 this ceremony, they proclaimed him their chief. 
 
 ♦ Sisrnonde de Sismondi: Aug. Thierry: Chateaubriand. 
 If I gave their names every time I quote from them, I should be 
 obliged to name them on every page. 
 
 t Merovechus a quo cognominati sunt Merovingi. {Sigi- 
 berti chronica.') It is evident that from this word, latinized by 
 Sigebert, we have made Merovingians. Two other authors 
 corroborate this: Meroveus, ob cujus facta et triumphos, inter- 
 misso Sicambrorum vocabulo, Merovingi dicti sunt. (Hariul- 
 phi chronica.) Meroveus, a quo Franci Merovinci appellati 
 sunt ; quod quasi communis pater ab omnibus coleretur. 
 
 RoRicoNis, gesta Francorum. 
 
 X Men of the shore. Latin authors translated this compound 
 word by Ripuarii. 
 
 § Handsome, and strong in combat.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 35 
 
 Hilde-rik's love foi' the wife, or slave, of one of 
 his generals soon led to a revolt of the troops, which 
 ended in his being deposed, and Egidius,* general 
 of the Roman armies, was elected to succeed him : 
 at the end of eight years, however, Hilde-rik was 
 recalled. 
 
 Bassina, wife of the King of Thuringia, whom 
 Hilde-rik, during his exile, had seduced, soon fol- 
 lowed him. 
 
 " I have come," she said, " to live with you. If I 
 knew a greater chief, I would seek him at the ends 
 of the earth." Hilde-rik was flattered, and espoused 
 her. On the night of their marriage she said to him, 
 
 " Arise, and tell your servant what you see." 
 
 He approached the window, and assured her that 
 he saw the court-yard filled with beasts resembling 
 lions, leopards and unicorns. 
 
 " Look again," continued Bassina, ** and tell your 
 servant what you see." 
 
 He replied that he now saw an assemblage of beasts 
 resembling bears and wolves. 
 
 She desired him to look a third time, and he 
 described the beasts as of a still inferior race. She 
 then explained to him the history of his posterity, 
 who, like the succession of animals he had seen, 
 were constantly to degenerate. Their son, who was 
 
 * The Abbe Vely calls him the Count Giles.
 
 36 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 named Hlodo-wig* (Clovis I.) was, in courage and 
 strength, a lion among the Frank chiefs. 
 
 In fact, the whole history of Hilde-rik's posterity 
 is typified in this apologue. Dagoberth I.,t ( Dago- 
 hert) was to Hlodo-wig what the wolf and bear are 
 to the lion ; and his eight successors, who were styled 
 faineans, were a sort of inferior animals, sitting on 
 the throne, yet in utter subservience to the Major or 
 Mayor of the palace. 
 
 Hilde-rik died about the year 481. He was 
 buried in the city of Tournay — the most ancient 
 capital of the Merovingian Franks — in a tomb 
 which was accidentally discovered in 1653. His 
 remains are those of a man of large stature. The 
 grave also contained the skeleton of a horse, the sym- 
 bol of courage : the head of an ox, symbol of 
 strength : a crystal globe, symbol of power : and 
 some enamelled bees, symbol of a rising people. 
 Near the body of the deceased monarch were tablets 
 and a style, that he might issue his commands to the 
 slaves who had been strangled on his tomb : and a 
 silver signet was there to seal them. The device 
 
 * Famous warrior. The early Latin autiiors liave translated 
 his name Clodovccus, endeavoring to preserve the Germanic 
 aspiration. Gradually this aspiration was modified, the authors 
 of the eighth and ninth centuries writing it Clvdovecu^, and, 
 finally, L/iidovicus, root of the modern name, Louis. 
 
 t Brilliant as day.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 37 
 
 of the signet represented a remarkably handsome 
 man, with shaven chin, and long, curling hair, parted 
 in the middle of the forehead and flowing behind. 
 And, that no doubt may remain as to the identity of the 
 tenant of the sepulchre, these two Latin words con- 
 stituted the inscription on the seal, Childericus Rex.* 
 Hlodo-wig, who, according to Gregory of Tours, 
 was the son of Hilde-rik, succeeded hira at the age 
 of twenty. The young nation and its chief soon 
 became desirous of extending their dominions ; for 
 the fertility of their soil, the limpidness of their water 
 and the clearness of their sky, daily attracted hordes 
 of immigrants from the borders of the Rhine ; and 
 the people felt circumscribed in their limits, as a 
 child grows and stifles in a bodice originally too 
 large for it. Hlodo-wig, therefore, passed through 
 Paris, his frontier-town, and advanced forty-eight 
 leagues to the North, where, near Soissons, he 
 encountered Syagrius, the Roman governor of Gaul, t 
 
 * See the learned dissertation of Aug. Thierry, who shows 
 that the word rex means nothing but chief. (Let. V., page 45.) 
 
 + Hlodo-wig had a two-fold motive for prosecuting this war. 
 Syagrius, as son of Egidius, (Gregory of Tours) might urge 
 pretensions to the title of chief of the Franks, formerly borne by 
 his father; and which pretensions, he, being a military chief, 
 might support by arms. Hlodo-wig, therefore, attacked him 
 as the pretender to his own title and as the representative of the 
 Roman power in Gaul. This explains the animosity with 
 which he pursued his vanquished foe, and the punishment he 
 inflicted when he obtained possession of his person. 
 4
 
 38 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 Syagrius was utterly routed and escaped almost 
 alone from the field. He fled for refuge to the West- 
 Goths, who had now extended their dominion over 
 Aquitania. Hlodo-wig pursued the fugitive, and 
 threatened his protector, Alaric II., with war, unless 
 he delivered him up without delay. Alaric yielded 
 to the demand, Syagrius was beheaded, and Rheims 
 and Soissons opened their gates to the conqueror. 
 
 Hlodo-wig was now desirous to give permanence 
 to his power by a matrimonial alliance with some 
 one of the neighboring chiefs. His position enabled 
 him to select whomsoever he chanced to prefer 
 among the fair daughters of the land ; and his choice 
 fell upon a maiden whose name proclaimed her fair- 
 est of the fair — Hlodo-hilde* {Clotilda,) whose uncle, 
 Grundebald, chief of the Burh-Gunds,t dwelt near 
 the city of Geneva. A Roman, slave to the Frank 
 chief, was the messenger who bore to Hlodo-hilde 
 the intelligence of his master's decision, and who 
 also presented to her the golden penny and the cop- 
 per denier as a pledge that Hlodo-wig bought her for 
 his bride.| 
 
 * Brilliant and noble. Latin authors call her Chlolilda, and 
 the French Clotilde. 
 
 t Confederated warriors. In Latin, Burgundii ; in French, 
 Bourguignons. (In English, Burgv.ndians.) 
 
 t This custom is still preserved : for at the present day the 
 bridegroom sometimes presents to his bride a piece of money 
 blessed by the priest.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 39 
 
 Hlodo-Hilde was a Christian. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Allemanni, jealous of the new 
 conquests and increasing power of the Franks, made 
 war upon them. Hlodo-wig advanced promptly to 
 the proffered, combat, and the two armies met at 
 Tolbiac. The battle was contested, with great obsti- 
 nacy and valor ; but was, at length, won by Hlodo- 
 wig; who, in the heat of the strife, and when his 
 defeat seemed inevitable, exchanged the sword for 
 the cross. He called on the God of Hlodo-hilde, 
 and embraced the Christian faith.* On Christmas- 
 day, in the year 496, St. Remy, archbishop of 
 Rheiras, sprinkled the holy water on the chief's 
 flowing hair ; and received for recompense as much 
 land as he could ^oalk around during the time that 
 Hlodo-wig should sleep after dinner : the true gift 
 of a conqueror, as he could cut short his nap and dis- 
 appoint the object of his liberality, whenever he 
 chose. 
 
 Hlodo-wig soon undertook new conquests. He 
 marched in the direction of Orleans (which the 
 Romans called Genabum,) crossed the Loire and 
 
 * This sentence and the preceding one are faraphrased from 
 the context, being taken, in part, from another source : the rela- 
 tion, as it now stands, is sufficiently obscure ; yet not quite so 
 vague as the language of M. Dumas, which is as follows ; 
 " La victoire est long-temps incertaine, et le chef des Franks 
 Mere-wigs ne I'obtient qu'en echangeant son epee contre une 
 croix. Hlodo-wig est vainqueur ; Hlodo-wig est chretien."
 
 40 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 appeared on its opposite bank, an object of terror 
 which his own and his country's renown were well 
 calculated to inspire * 
 
 The inhabitants of Bretagne, hitherto enslaved by 
 the Romans, now changed masters. Hlodo-wig 
 overran their country, pillaged their houses, devasta- 
 ted their fields, despoiled their temples, and returned 
 to Paris, leaving only what he could not carry away 
 — the soil.t 
 
 He found, at Paris, the envoys of Anastasius, 
 Emperor of the East, commissioned to bestow on 
 him the titles of Patrician and Augustus, and present 
 him vsdth the appropriate insignia. Flushed with 
 this unexpected honor, he determined to exhibit 
 himself in his new character to his subjects : and 
 accordingly, invested with the purple and preceded by 
 the fasces, he set forth from Paris, traversed G aul that 
 he vanquished, if not subdued, and furrowed the land 
 with his chariot-wheels from the Rhine to the Pyre- 
 nees — from the Ocean to the Alps. 
 
 It was probably about this time that the Frank 
 sovereigns changed their designation of royalty from 
 chief to hing : for humble and fawning Rome now 
 sent after them the purple mantle and the golden 
 crown which they had forgotten to take when they 
 
 ♦ Terror Francorum resonabat.— Greg, de Tours. 
 t Praeter terram solam, quam Barbari secum ferre non pote- 
 rant. — Script, riv. Fiancii.
 
 THE FKANCO-UOMAN MONARCHY. 41 
 
 wrested the sword from her grasp. This was Hlodo- 
 wig's second baptism, and victory called him Cassar. 
 
 It must not be supposed, however, that this pro- 
 gress of the warrior through the scene of his con- 
 quests was the peaceful and triumphant journey of 
 a beloved sovereign through his loyal domains. The 
 people who opened their gates to him were not his 
 people : they were our fathers ! they were his van- 
 quished foes, not his loving subjects. Wherever he 
 stood in the midst of his soldiers, there, and there 
 only, he stood in his power. For behind his chariot 
 and his army the people closed again, like the waves 
 which have been dashed aside by a ship on her course ; 
 and the commands that he uttered as he passed along 
 were lost amid the threats and imprecations that 
 flowed from every mouth, as soon as the fear inspired 
 by his presence was dispelled by his departure. 
 
 Hence the conquests, achieved by the energy and 
 genius of Hlodo-wig, were lost to his successors, 
 when the sword, with which he had hewn his way 
 through the Celts, the Aquitani and the Bretons, fell 
 into the feeble hands of Hilde-berth* [^Childebcrt T.) 
 and his posterity. The native inhabitants pressed 
 closely around their conquerors, and the Franks felt 
 themselves overpowered by their conquests like the 
 axe in the heart of an oak which it has penetrated. 
 
 * Bi-illiant warrior. 
 4*
 
 42 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 but not divided. The people remained unchanged in 
 all things, except being compelled to give place to a 
 foreign tribe which had forced itself into their bor- 
 ders, and taken possession of a large portion of their 
 territory. 
 
 Hlodo-wig died in 511, and was succeeded by 
 Hilde-berth ; and, as we believe that, from this time, 
 the descendants of Hlodo-Avig took definitively the 
 title of King, we shall hereafter give them the appel- 
 lation of King of the Franks. Ode, or Eudes,* 
 whom we find on the throne in 888, changed the 
 title to King of France. 
 
 The change of title, however, inferred no change 
 of power or immunity. The limits of their author- 
 ity were not altered or extended. At this period 
 the army was composed of freemen, and the 
 King was the head of the freemen — and nothing 
 more. It would, therefore, be a great misapprehen- 
 sion to suppose that the attributes of royalty, in this 
 age of the world, corresponded at all to those assumed 
 and enjoyed by Louis XIV. and Napoleon. In the 
 sixth century, a king of the Franks was content to 
 receive a prescribed portion of the spoils of victory.! 
 
 * Rich, or happy. 
 
 + During this time, the army of Hlodo-wig pillaged a num- 
 ber of churches, etc. His soldiers had taken from one of them 
 a vase of unusual beauty and value. The bishop sent a mes- 
 senger to Hlodo-wig, demanding its restoration. "Follow me 
 to Soissons," said the King ; " it is there that we divide our
 
 THE FRANrO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 43 
 
 Whenever his soldiers disapproved of an expedition 
 to which he had ordered them, they were at liberty 
 to abandon it.* And if the king refused to accom- 
 pany them on a campaign which they considered ad- 
 vantageous, they constrained him to go with them by 
 menaces, or, if necessary, by violence.t 
 
 Hlodo-wig left four sons, who divided the territory 
 occupied by the Merovingian Franks, and also that 
 acquired by their father, into four parts. They then 
 cast lots for these parts ; and Paris, Orleans, Soissons 
 and Metz — the four most important tovsms in the 
 entire dominion — became each the centre of a quar- 
 ter of the divided kingdom. Hilde-berth obtained 
 
 booty : and when the vase is given to me, I will do what the 
 Pontiff requires." When arrived at Soissons, the king besought 
 his warriors to give him this vase in addition to his allotted 
 portion. Upon this, a soldier raised his battle-axe, and, smiting 
 the vase, cried out, " You shall have no more of it than justly 
 falls to your lot." Nihil hinc accipies, nisi tibi quae sors vera 
 largitur. — Greg, de Tours. 
 
 * After this, Hlodo-her and Hildc-berth conceived the project 
 of marching against the Burh-Gunds. Theode-i-ik refused to 
 accompany them : but the Franks assured him that if he would 
 not join his brothers, they (the Franks) would quit him and 
 follow them in his stead. Si in Burgundiam ire despexeris, te 
 relinquimus. — Ibid. 
 
 t Irruentes super eum, ct scindentes tentorium ejus, ipsumque 
 vi detrahentes, interficere voluerunt, si cum illis ire differet. 
 — Ibid.
 
 44 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 Paris: Hlodo-mer, * {Clodomir,) Orleans : Hlot-hei"f 
 [Clotaire,) Soissons: and Theode-rik,| {Thierry,) 
 Metz. 
 
 This partition gave rise to a new geographical divi- 
 sion. The territory between the Rhine, the Meuse and 
 the Moselle was called Oster-Rike, the Eastern Mon- 
 archy, which the modems have corrupted into Aus- 
 trasia : that portion lying between the Meuse, the 
 Loire and the Ocean was called Nioster-Rikc,^ the 
 kingdom of the West, or Neustria. All the country 
 not comprised in these divisions, not having been yet 
 subjugated by the Merovingian Franks, retained its 
 ancient name of Gaul. 
 
 Thus, invasion followed its ordinary course : first, 
 conquest ; then, division ; and, lastly, the naming of 
 the divided territories. 
 
 The first of the four brothers who died was Hlodo- 
 mer. He was killed, in 523, at the battle of Veseronce ; 1 1 
 
 * Celebrated chief. 
 
 t Brave among the people. 
 
 t Celebrated and excellent. 
 
 § Literally, no7i est. 
 
 II And having joined each other near Veseronce, situated in 
 the territory of the city of Vienna, they gave battle to Gunde- 
 mer {peaceful and great.') Gunde-mer retired, and Hlodo-mer 
 pursued him. The latter having incautiously proceeded in ad- 
 vance of his troops, the Burh-Gunds imitated his accustomed 
 signal and cried out " come this way ; we belong to you." He 
 was deceived by the stratagem and fell in the midst of his ene- 
 mies, who cut off his head and carried it on the point of a pike 
 — Greg, de Tours.
 
 TUE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 45 
 
 nevertheless, Theode-rik, his ally, obtained the vic- 
 tory over the Burh-Gunds, made himself master of 
 their country, and united it to his own. Hlodo-mer 
 left three sons under the tutelage of their grand- 
 mother, Hlodo-hilde : — 
 
 — " Then Hilde-berth, King of Paris, seeing the 
 great affection that his mother bore to the sons of 
 Hlodo-mer, took umbrage at it ; and fearing that, 
 through her influence, she might be able to give them 
 a share of the government, he sent, seci'etly, this 
 message to his brother, the King Hlot-her : ' Our 
 mother has with her the sons of our brother, and de- 
 sires to give them the kingdom. Come without delay 
 to Paris : and after we have consulted together, we 
 will decide what to do with them : whether to cut 
 off their hair, like that of the people ; * or kill them, 
 and divide between us our brother's kingdom.' 
 Hlot-her came to Paris accordingly. Hilde-berth 
 had already circulated a report that he and his brother 
 would raise the orphans to their father's throne : and 
 the brothers now sent a messenger to Queen Hlodo- 
 hilde, who dwelt in the same city, saying to her, ' Send 
 us thy grand-children, that we may place them on 
 the throne.' She, overjoyed, and not suspecting 
 
 ♦The shaven head was the sign of forfeiture. The first 
 Frank kings wore the crown of hair before they wore the crown 
 of gold.
 
 46 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 their intentions, after having made the children eat 
 and drink, sent them to their uncles, saying, ' Go 
 children ; 1 shall not think that I have lost my son, 
 if I behold you succeeding to his kingdom.' The 
 children, being gone, were immediately seized and 
 separated from their servants and governors, and 
 shut up apart ; the followers on one side, and the 
 children on the other. This done, Hilde-berth and 
 Hlot-her sent Arcadius to the queen, bearing a pair 
 of scissors and a drawn sword. When he came be- 
 fore her, he discovered to her the scissors and the 
 sword, saying, ' Thy sons, our lords, oh, glorious 
 queen ! desire that thou wilt make known thy will 
 concerning the children. Command whether their 
 hair shall be cut, or they slain.' Dismayed at these 
 words, and moved to rage at sight of the scissors and 
 the sword, the queen suffered herself to be led away 
 by her indignation, and, not knowing what she said, 
 so much was her mind bewildered by her grief, she 
 imprudently replied, * If they do not reign as their 
 father, I would rather see them dead than shorn.' 
 Then Arcadius returned quickly to those who sent 
 him, and said to them, ' You may go on : the queen 
 approves of your beginning, and it is her will that 
 you accomplish your design.' Hlot-her then imme- 
 diately seized the eldest child by the arm, threw him 
 on the ground, and thrusting his knife in his body, 
 under the arm-pit, killed him cruelly. At his shrieks, 
 his brother prostrated himself at the feet of Hilde-
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 47 
 
 berth, embraced his knees and supplicated him with 
 tears : ' Save me, my very good father, so that I 
 die not as my brother.' Then Hilde-berth moved 
 to compassion, said to Hlot-her : ' O, I pray thee, 
 my very dear brother, gi-ant me the life of this child, 
 and 1 will give thee whatever thou desirest.' But 
 Hlot-her overwhelmed him with reproaches, and re- 
 plied, ' Shake off that child from thee, or certes, 
 thou diest in his place : for thou excitedst me to 
 this business, and now thou wilt not carry it through 
 to the end.' Then Hilde-berth, affrighted, shook off 
 the child, and threw him toward Hlot-her, who 
 plunged his knife in his side and killed him as he 
 had done his brother After this, they massacred 
 the sen'ants and governors ; and when all were dead, 
 Hlot-her mounted his horse, unconcerned at the 
 murder of his nephews, and repaired with Hilde- 
 berth to the suburbs. The queen, Hlodo-hilde, 
 having placed the little bodies on a litter, conducted 
 them with many sacred chants and mighty grief to the 
 church of St. Peter, where they were buried together. 
 One of them was ten, and the other, seven years old. 
 The third son, named Hlodo-ald* (Clodoald) was 
 saved by the interposition of a body of valiant men, 
 since called barons. Renouncing his terrestrial king- 
 dom, he cut off his own hair, and became an ecclesiastic 
 
 * Celebrated and faithful. It was he who built the monastery 
 of St. Cloud.
 
 48 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 and, afterward, a priest. The two kings divided be- 
 tween themselves the kingdom of Hlodo-mer." 
 
 We have thought it best to change nothing in this 
 narrative of Gregory of Tours : it appears to us as 
 simple as a chapter of the Bible ; and as dramatic 
 as a scene from Shakspeare. 
 
 Ten years after this event, Theode-rilc died, and 
 was succeeded by Theode-bert, * who united the 
 kingdom of the Burh-Gunds to that of Metz, at the 
 moment when Hlot-her and Hilde-berth were collect- 
 ing their troops to despoil him of his heritage, as they 
 had done the sons of Hlodo-mer. 
 
 Theode-bert was the first who took the title of 
 King of Austrasia; and, by reason of his union with 
 the Burh-Gunds, was able to bring a formidable force 
 into the field. The two brothers saw, at once, the 
 danger of their enterprise, and turned their arms 
 against Spain, where they took Pampeluna, Biscay, 
 Aragon and Catalonia, and laid siege to Saragossa. 
 This latter city preserved herself from pillage by 
 giving up to the two kings the tunic of the martyr, St. 
 Vincent. The conquerors returned to France with 
 this precious relic, and Hilde-berth built a church 
 near Paris called St. Croix-de-Saint- Vincent, where 
 he deposited the tunic with great pomp, and where 
 it was guarded with great devotion.! This church 
 
 ♦ Very brilliant among the people. 
 + Isid. hisp. hist. Goih.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROJIAN. MONARCHY. 49 
 
 is now called Saint-Germain-des-Pres, the most 
 ancient monument of the Merovingians in our mod- 
 ern Paris. 
 
 "While these events w^ere occurring in the West, 
 Justinian was boldly waging war against the barba- 
 rians who had invaded Italy : and as the Frank 
 Kings were becoming daily more powerful, they were 
 now very desirable allies to the Emperor. He there- 
 fore sent ambassadors to Theode-bert, with full 
 authority to cede to the Frank his residuary rights 
 in Provence, where Aries and Nismes still held out 
 for the Empire.* He also granted to him the right 
 of presiding, like the Emperors, at the games of the 
 circus, which were celebrated in these towns. He 
 issued an edict, ordering that the gold coined by the 
 new King of Austrasia, and bearing his image, should 
 be current throughout the empire : — a peculiar 
 prerogative, hitherto always denied even to the King 
 of Persia. Theode-bert, however, was not to be pur- 
 chased by these tempting proposals. Instead of form- 
 ing an alliance with Justinian, he leaarued himself 
 with Totilla ; coined gold and silver, on which he was 
 represented with all the insignia of imperial dignity,! 
 and assumed the title of Augustus. He then mode 
 a league with the Ost-Goths and the Grecians, pene- 
 
 * Procop., lib. ter., de Bell. Goth, 
 t This money was called, Dominus nosier. 
 5
 
 50 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY'^ 
 
 trated by a series of victories as far as Pavia, where 
 he collected an immense booty, and left Buccelin, 
 his lieutenant, to guard his conquests which were 
 assailed by Belisarius.* He then returned to Aus- 
 trasia, where the fall of a tree wounded him severely, 
 and caused his death.t 
 
 Theode-bert, who reigned but thirteen years, well 
 merited his sirnarae — Useful, by reason of the ser- 
 vices he rendered to his country. He, alone, of all 
 the kings of the three dynasties, Merovingian, Caro- 
 lingian and Capetian, received this name from the 
 people. Karl {Charles,) Philip II., Louis XIV., and 
 Napoleon, contented themselves with the title of Au- 
 gustus, — or, Great. 
 
 Theode-bald:}: (son of Theode-bert) succeeded 
 to the throne of his father, and died after a reign 
 of seven years. Hilde-bert, King of Paris, soon 
 followed him to the tomb; and Hlot-her, King of 
 Soissons, became sole master of Neustria and Austra- 
 sia: but he did not maintain possession of his domi- 
 nions in peace. 
 
 Of all the disasters that befell him — whether from 
 
 ♦ Gregoire de Tours. 
 
 ■f /Vgath., lib. prim. Gregory of Tours, nevertheless, makes 
 him die of a long illness. — " The king, Theode-bert, began to 
 fall sick. The physicians employed all their skill ; but it was 
 of no avail, for God had resolved to call him to himself." 
 
 X Bold among others.
 
 THE FnANCO-ROMA^f MONARCHY. 51 
 
 foreign or domestic enemies — we will cite only the 
 revolt of liis son, PIram.* This young man joined 
 with the Count de Bretagne against his father. 
 Hlot-her, in a single battle, defeated and dispersed 
 the Bretons, slew the Count and made Hram prisoner. 
 He then bound him, shut him up with his family in 
 a hut, and destroyed the whole with fire.f 
 
 One year after this, Hlot-her died at Compeigne, 
 at the age of fifty-one, on the anniversary of the battle 
 with Hram, and at the precise hour that he caused 
 his son to perish in the flames.f 
 
 • During the latter part of his reign, and while the 
 Turks were gaining a footing in Asia, Belisarius and 
 Narses, Roman generals, reconquered Italy, Sicily, 
 and the provinces in the south of Spain. 
 
 Hlot-her left four sons ; Hari-bert,§ {Charibcrt,) 
 
 * Strong in war. 
 
 t The two armies had no sooner come together than the 
 Count de Bretagne turned to flee, and was slain. Hram per- 
 ceiving this, fled toward the sea, where he had vessels in readi- 
 ness to effect his escape : but while he was delayed in taking 
 charge of his wife and son, he was overtaken by his father's 
 soldiers, made prisoner and bound. When Hlot-her was inform- 
 ed of this, he commanded Hram to be burned with his wife 
 and daughters. They were shut up in the hut of a poor man, 
 where Hram v/as extended on a bench and strangled. After- 
 ward, the hut was fired and he was consumed with his wife 
 and daughters. — Greg, ee Toubs. 
 
 t Gregoire de Tours. 
 
 § Brilliant in the army.
 
 52 THE FUANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 Gont-ram,* Hilpe-rik,f [Chilperic^ and Sighe-bert,| 
 [Sigehert.) 
 
 Immediately after the interment of his father, 
 Hilpe-rik seized the royal treasuiy at Braine, and, by 
 flattery and promises to the most influential Franks, 
 induced them to acknowledge him as the lawful 
 sovereign of the realm. He proceeded rapidly to 
 Paris, and made himself master of that city. But his 
 energies were not equal to his ambition : for his 
 brothers, uniting together, easily drove him from his 
 conquest, and divided the kingdom equally between 
 them. Hari-bert obtained Paris ; Gont-ram, Orleans ; 
 Hilpe-rik, Soissons ; and Sighe-bert, Rheims. 
 
 The short notice we can bestow on these brothers 
 will be confined, principally, to Sighe-bert and Hilpe- 
 rik. They espoused two sisters, daughters of Atha- 
 nagild. King of the Wesl-Goths. The wife of 
 Sighe-bert was Brune-hilde ; and of Hilpe-rik, Gala- 
 suintha. 
 
 Two years afterward, Galasuintha was found dead 
 in her bed ; and Frede-gunde,§ the mistress of 
 Hilpe-rik, was suspected of having murdered her. 
 This suspicion was confirmed when she, shortly 
 after, took the title and place of her unfortunate 
 rival. 
 
 * Generous man. t Brilliant conqueror, 
 
 t Strong in combat. § Peaceful woman.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 53 
 
 A deadly hatred between the two queens now 
 ensued : one, excited by a sister's murder; and the 
 other by a consciousness of guilt, together with a 
 determination to keep a station procured by crime. 
 During the continuance of their mutual animosity, it 
 is difficult to distinguish anything but a series of 
 assassinations through the vapor of blood that 
 enveloped the two kingdoms. The murderous 
 blows fell so rapidly, it was not easy to say who 
 struck and who were stricken. 
 
 At first, Frede-gunde caused Sighe-bert, Brune- 
 hilde's husband, to be assassinated : and afterward, 
 her own husband, and his two sons by a former 
 marriage. 
 
 Gont-ram was next slain, leaving his dominions to 
 Hilde-bert {Childc-bert II.) son of Sighe-bert. 
 
 Hilde-bert followed next in the death-march ; and 
 Brune-hilde avenged the murder of her husband 
 and two children by that of Theode-bert, son of 
 Hilde-bert. 
 
 The only survivor of the four sons* of Hilpe-rik 
 and Frede-gunde was Hlot-her ( Clotaire II.,) who 
 was proclaimed King of Soissons at the age of four 
 
 * To use the expression that their mother employed in her 
 grief; " the three others were killed by the tears of the poor, the 
 groans of widows, and the sighs of orphans. Ecce eos lacrymaj 
 pauperum, lamenta viduarum, suspiria orphanorum interime- 
 runt." 
 
 5*
 
 54 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 months. The young tiger gave early proof of his 
 maternal lineage by the assassination of Hilde-bert's 
 descendants ; whose death left him sole master of the 
 entire monarchy. In 613 he mounted the throne — - 
 the velvet drapery of which was the pall of eight 
 royal corses. The first exercise of his kingly preroga- 
 tive was the obtaining possession of Brune-hilde, the 
 old enemy of his mother and her house. He paraded 
 her around his camp on the back of a camel ; and 
 then, after a torture of three days' continuance, he 
 tied her to the tail of a wild horse that by its flight 
 dashed in pieces, in presence of the whole army, this 
 widow of two Kings and mother of seven princes. 
 
 In 1632, the tomb of Brune-hilde, in the church of 
 St. Martin, at Autun, was opened. The ashes of the 
 queen (her body having been finally burned) were 
 found there, together with some pieces of charcoal 
 and the rowel of a spur. This rowel, which at first 
 caused some doubt as to the identity of the remains, 
 is, to our apprehension, its most conclusive proof. 
 "When an execution took place like that by which 
 Brune-hilde suffered, it was the custom to attach 
 spurs to the horse's flanks : one of these spurs may 
 easily have become entangled in the clothes, or 
 broken off" in the flesh of the criminal ; and, the body 
 and clothes being subsequently consumed and buried 
 together, this rowel was very naturally found in the 
 ashes of the tomb.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 55 
 
 This execution took place in 614, as is proved by 
 the epitaph on the monument ; 
 
 " Brune-cheul fut jadis royne de France, 
 Fondateresse du lieu de ceans ; 
 Cy inhiimee en six cent quatorze ans, 
 En attendant de Dieu vraie indulgence."* 
 
 France is indebted to Brune-hilde for its first 
 great roads ; and some causeways in Burgundy and 
 Picardy still bear her name. 
 
 Hlot-her II. had, then, become sole master of the 
 kingdom : but the leaders of the army, taking 
 advantage of the disturbed state of affairs that fol- 
 lowed the death of Hlodo-wig, had managed to 
 secure to themselves a considerable jaortion of the 
 sovereign power. This encroachment was promptly 
 perceived by the nobles ; who, jealous of the increa- 
 sing strength of the generals, began now to contend 
 with them for a share of the usurped authority. 
 This incipient germ of the feudal system first made 
 itself known in Austrasia. t Hlot-her conceded to 
 his chiefs life-benefices and the privilege of a free 
 election of their mayors : and with Waniaher, | the 
 
 * Brune-hilde was erst of France the queen, 
 And eke was foundress of this place; 
 Was buried here in six-fourteen. (614) 
 And here awaits God's pardoning grace, 
 t That is, the feudal system of the conquest, which must not 
 be confounded with the national feudal system. 
 t Eminent for protection.
 
 56 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 first who was chosen by them, commenced that 
 principle of aristocratic election which, one hundred 
 and sixty years later, was destined to overthrow and 
 supersede the royal dynasty. 
 
 Hlot-her died in 628. He left a code of laws that 
 were generally approved. 
 
 Before discussing the progress of his successor, 
 Dagobert I., we will direct our attention toward the 
 East, and to an event deeply affecting the interests of 
 the world. 
 
 On the tenth of September, 570, near the confines 
 of Arabia Petraea, in the city of Mecca, and in the 
 bosom of the tribe of the Koreishites, a child was 
 born; whose ancestors for five generations held the 
 sovereignty of that city. Death deprived him of his 
 father in the second month, and of his mother in the 
 sixth year of his age. The orphan was educated by 
 his uncle, Abou-Thaleb, and he chose commerce for 
 his profession. At the age of thirteen, he went into 
 Syria. At eighteen, the propriety of his conduct, the 
 frankness of his words, and the conformity of his 
 actions to his words, gained for him the name of 
 Al-Amin, — the Faithful. At forty, having studied 
 the religious dogmas of the various countries through 
 which he had travelled, he carefully estimated his 
 own and their relative positions. 
 
 He saw the Arabs divided into rival tribes ; some 
 professing idolatry, and some, a corrupted Judaism i
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 57 
 
 while the eastern Christians, composed of nuaiber- 
 less sects, were persecuting one another with fury. 
 
 He, alone, in the midst of this distracted and 
 ignorant people, being endowed with a felicitous 
 memory, a lively eloquence, great presence of mind, 
 a robust constitution, and indomitable courage, felt 
 his own superiority ; perceived that the earth was 
 ready for the seed ; and believed that he, like Jesus, 
 the son of Mary, might be called to preach the tenets 
 of a new religion. He soon presented himself to the 
 people as the Apostle of God ; and, as is usual with 
 the founders of new sects, he commenced his career 
 against the opposing influences of incredulity and 
 persecution. Denounced as a false prophet by the 
 Koreishites, he was forced to fly from Mecca, a 
 proscribed fugitive : and from this flight, which cor- 
 responds in date to our 16th of July, 622, begins — 
 under the name of the Hegira, (or flight) — a third 
 era of the world. 
 
 He found a refuge at Medina, where his disciples 
 followed and rejoined him. He now collected an 
 army, placed himself at its head, and, sword in hand, 
 cut his way to the city that had banished him. On 
 the 12th of January, 630, he entered Mecca in the 
 joint capacity of conqueror and prophet, in his six- 
 tieth year. He repaired to the temple and caused 
 its three hundred and sixty idols to be cast down, not 
 even sparing the statues of his ancestors, Abraham 
 and Ishmael. And, in order to the complete purifi-
 
 58 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 cation of the holy place, he turned himself, succes- 
 sively, toward the East, the South, the West and the 
 North — at each pause crossing his arms upon his 
 breast, exclaiming " Allah ak-Bar," God is great. 
 Two years afterward, full of honors ; sole prophet 
 of a religion which now sways half the ancient 
 hemisphere; founder of an Empire which, aggran- 
 dized by his successors, embraced, within the period 
 of ninety years, more territory than the Romans in 
 eight centuries had subdued ; — he died at Medina, 
 on the Sth of January, A. D. 632, and for three entire 
 days the chiefs of the tribes he had conquered 
 watched around his corse, unable to believe that he 
 who had accomplished such mighty deeds was mortal, 
 like themselves. 
 
 This individual — an orphan in his childhood; 
 an outlaw in his manhood ; a conqueror in his age 
 — was Mahomet the Prophet, whom they of the 
 East style Mohammed-Aboul-Cassem. 
 
 And now, awaiting the period when his race, find- 
 inff themselves too much circumscribed in Asia and 
 Africa, appeared on the summit of the Pyrenees, we 
 resume the history of France. 
 
 In the month of November, 628; Dagobert was 
 proclaimed King by the Frank chiefs. He took the 
 throne by means of successful intrigue and not by 
 right of birth— he having excluded his brother 
 fiom an equal division of the kingdom. " Neverthe- 
 less, he afterward ceded to hira, as a sort of apa-
 
 THE FRANCO-nOMAN MONARCHY. 59 
 
 nage, the territory of Toulouse, Quercy, Agenois, 
 Perigord, and Saintonge, to which, also, he subse- 
 quently united Gascony, sufFering him to style himself 
 King of Toulouse. Dagobert espoused three wives ; 
 Gomatrude, Nante-hilde and Rague-trude; and from 
 this time the extravagances and disorders of his 
 reign began. He made the tour of his kingdom 
 accompanied by his leudes, * invested with his royal 
 robes and followed by his three wives — to whose 
 train was attached such a number of their husband's 
 concubines, that Fredegaire declares he could not 
 count them. Saint-Eloi, whose popular song Fame 
 has rendered so familiar, arrived at his court a simple 
 goldsmith, but was soon enriched with girdles of 
 precious stones. t He first made for Dagobert an 
 arm-chair of massive gold ; and, subsequently, a 
 throne of the same metal, on which the King sate in 
 629, when he presided over a general assembly of 
 lords. 
 
 From this period, the power of the mayors (which 
 sprang up by the side of the royal power) began to 
 be perceived and felt in the person of Peppin-de- 
 Landen — called, by some historians, Peppin-the-Old, 
 
 * Leudes, or fiiithful: a body-guard created by the Frank 
 Kings. The lands ceded to them by the rnonarchs, in recom- 
 pense of their services, made them at first lords, and afterward 
 grand vassals. 
 
 + Vita sancti Eligii.
 
 60 THE FRANCO-UOMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 because he was the ancestor of a mighty race. Owing 
 to the concession of the free election, imprudently 
 granted to the nobles by Hlot-her II., the mayors had 
 already ceased to be the King's men, and had become 
 the supporters of the nobles. Under the succeeding 
 reigns, we shall see a furious contest established 
 between these two rival powers, which terminated 
 fatally to the Merovingian Kings. 
 
 Dagobert died in 638, after a reign of sixteen 
 years. He was buried in the church of St. Denis ^ 
 and a monument was there erected to his memory. 
 He was the first of the Frank Kings who received 
 the honors of canonization already accorded to queen 
 Hlodo-hilde. His disorderly and dissolute life seems 
 to furnish a singular pretext for his being sainted after 
 death. But the following very sensible story accounts 
 for the sage proceeding. 
 
 Audo-ald,* bishop of Poictiers, having been sent 
 by the King into Sicily, visited there a holy and 
 venerated anchorite who lived in a hermitage on the 
 sea-shore. The hermit informed the prelate of the 
 King's death in the following tenns, as related by 
 Gaguin : 
 
 " In the midst of my slumbers, last night, an old 
 man with a long beard awakened me and bade me 
 pray for the soul of Dagobert. I arose to obey ; 
 when, from my window, I saw over the middle of the 
 
 • Firm and faithful.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 61 
 
 sea a company of devils who, with great triumph, 
 were transporting to hell the soul of the defunct 
 King. The unhappy spirit, grievously tormented, 
 screamed loudly for aid to the martyrs St. Martin, 
 St. Maurice and St. Denis. These saints, thus invo- 
 ked, descended from heaven in the inidst of lightnings 
 and tempests, and delivered the King's soul, which 
 they bore away, singing the song of David: 'Blessed 
 is the man whom Thou choosest.' " 
 
 On his return, Audo-ald related the marvellous 
 story : and ever afterward Dagobert was venerated 
 as a saint. 
 
 The entire story is inscribed in marble on the 
 King's tomb : the combat of the saints and demons 
 is represented in detail, and the three conquerors 
 hold a sheet on which they aie bearing the soul of 
 Dagobert to Paradise. The fine female figure weep- 
 ing over the tomb, is a statue of the queen, Nante- 
 hilde. * 
 
 Hlodo-wig II. and Sighe-bert II. succeeded their 
 'father and divided anew the Frank kingdom. 
 Hlodo-wig took the title of King of Neustria and 
 Burgundy : and Sighe-bert, King of Austrasia. 
 
 Peppin-de-Landen's first act of authority was an 
 act of justice. He sent ambassadors to Hlodo-wio-, 
 demanding a proper di\'ision of Dagobert's treasures. 
 
 * Beautiful as Nauda. Nauda is one of the daughters of 
 Odin. 
 
 6
 
 62 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 Hlodo-wig assented and sent Egue,* mayor of the 
 palace of Neustria, to Compeigne, where the gold 
 and jewels were equally divided between the two 
 Kings and their mother, Nante-hilde. 
 
 Peppin-de-Landen died, and his son, Grimo-ald 
 succeeded him. Egue died a short time afterward 
 and was succeeded by Erchino-ald. t 
 
 With Hlodo-wig II. and Sighe-bert II. commences 
 the list of feeble Kings : the power of royalty soon 
 followed its attributes and passed from the monarchs 
 to the mayors of the palace. The blood of Hlodo- 
 wig cooled in the heart of his sons ; and the descend- 
 ants of the early Frank chieftains speedily fell from 
 the buckler of Kings, their first throne, to the ox- 
 drawn chariots of queens, their first tomb. 
 
 Sighe-bert died at Metz, in 654, leaving one son, 
 whom Grimo-ald | (mayor of the palace) kidnapped 
 and sent into Scotland. Grimo-ald spread abroad 
 the report of his death and caused funeral honors to be 
 paid to him on a magnificent scale. He then substi- 
 tuted his own son in the place of the exiled prince, 
 and proclaimed him King of Austrasia with the title 
 of Hilde-bert II. But he was scarcely seated on the 
 throne, when a general revolt of the Austrasian 
 Franks swept him from power; and all traces of 
 Grimo-ald and his son were obliterated in the revolu- 
 tionary tempest evoked by their usurpation. 
 
 ♦ Subtle. t Firm in sincerity. t Firm in ferocity.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. bJ 
 
 But the race of Peppin was not lost in the wreck. 
 There yet remained, in the maternal line, a child 
 called Peppin of Heristal, who was to be the father of 
 Karl-le-Martel, grandfather of Peppin-le-Bref, and 
 great-great-grandfather of Karl-le-Grand, {Charle- 
 magne.) After the fall of Grimo-ald and his son, 
 Hlodo-wig 11. united, for the foui'th time, Neustria 
 and Austrasia under one kingdom. But he died in 
 657 at the early age of twenty-one. 
 
 Contemporary authors accuse this prince of a 
 double sacrilege. First, he is charged with having 
 taken the gold and silver plates which covered the 
 tomb of St. Denis, to purchase food for the poor 
 during a season of great distress ; and, secondly, 
 with having broken an arm from the statue of the 
 same Saint and placed it in his oratory for the benefit 
 of his private devotions — though at the manifest risk 
 of detracting, by such mutilation, from the homage 
 which the faithful were wont to pay to the patron 
 saint of France. 
 
 Hlot-her III., his son, succeeded him as King of 
 Burgundy and Neustria. Ebroin, mayor of the 
 palace, compelled Batilda, the child's mother, to 
 surrender to him its tutelage ; and he soon possessed 
 himself of the supreme authority. The Austrasian 
 Franks refused allegiance to the Neustrian Franks, 
 and demanded an independent King. Batilda gave 
 them her second son, Hilde-rik. Shortly after he 
 ascended the throne, his brother, Hlot-her, died in
 
 64 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 670, having reigned but four years. Ebroin appointed 
 Tlieode-rik (Batilda's third son) to succeed Hlot-her ; 
 but as he neglected to consult the nobles — who had 
 always maintained their right of election — they 
 annulled the appointment; and, seizing on the 
 King and his minister, sent them to Hilde-rik, who 
 caused them both to be shorn. He compelled 
 Ebi'oin to become a monk of the Abbey of Luxeuil ; 
 but, more lenient toward his own brother, he inquired 
 what he wished to have ] 
 
 "A cell, and time for my hair to grow," replied 
 Theode-rik, 
 
 And, three years afterward, he re-appeared, his 
 forehead bound with the double crown of the Kings 
 of the first race. 
 
 During the interval preceding his re-appearance, 
 Hilde-rik found himself, for a short time, King of the 
 entire monarchy. But, having punished with impru- 
 dent severity a lord named Bodillon, — -by causing 
 him to be tied to a stake and scourged with rods — 
 the enraged noble collected a company of mal-con- 
 tents, surrounded the palace, burst open the gates 
 and doors, and with his own hand slew Hilde-rik, his 
 wife Bili-hilde then near her confinement, and Dago- 
 bert their eldest son.* The second son escaped 
 the fury of the assassins, and in jDrocess of time suc- 
 ceeded to the throne, with the title of Hilpe-rik 11. 
 
 ♦ Frcdegaire.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 65 
 
 HilJe-rik, with his wife and son, were buried at 
 St. Germain-des-Pres. Toward the close of the last 
 century, some workmen, while repairing the church, 
 discovered two tombs : the one of a man, the other 
 of a woman. By the side of the bones of the man 
 were the remains of royal ornaments, a crown of gold 
 and an inscription bearing these words: Ch'ddcricus, 
 Rex. In the tomb of the female was found a little 
 coffin, enclosing the body of a child. The identity of 
 the one is certified by that of the other. A royal 
 family — foully assassinated — had slept for ten 
 centm'ies in these unknown tombs. 
 
 On the death of Hilpe-rik, by a singular caprice 
 of fortune, Theode-rik, whom we left shut up in a 
 cloister at St. Denis, and Dagobert, who was driven 
 into exile in Scotland by Grimo-ald, re-appeared 
 simultaneously: and each took the crown to which 
 he was entitled by inheritance. 
 
 After a reign of some years, Dagobert was slain 
 in an insurrection ; and Theode-rik, on learning the 
 intelligence, immediately sought to re-unite Austra- 
 sia to Neustria. But the Austrasian nobles had 
 already elected Peppin Heristal mayor, and Duke of 
 the kingdom ; and Peppin, in the name of Austrasia, 
 proclaimed that this portion of the Frank territory 
 would not submit to Theode-rik. The latter, to 
 enforce his wishes, assembled an army and marched 
 against Peppin. The hostile forces met at Testu, a 
 small village between St. Quentin and Peronne. 
 6*
 
 66 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 Theode-rik was totally routed in the battle that 
 ensued. He fled to Paris, but was pursued by 
 Peppin, who took the capital, seized on the royal 
 treasury and made Theode-rik prisoner. He after- 
 ward proposed to set him at liberty, on condition that 
 he would appoint him mayor of the palace of Neus- 
 tria. Theode-rik yielded to the necessity ; and 
 Peppin found himself mayor and Duke of both king- 
 doms, and King in fact of one of them. 
 
 After a reign of nine years — half of which passed 
 under the dictation of Peppin — Theode-rik died in 
 691. 
 
 Peppin now cast an eye over the degenerated race, 
 to choose a King under whose name he would 
 govern the realm. He selected Hlodo-wig IH.,* 
 who appeared on the throne of Neustria like a pass- 
 ing phantom ; for he soon died, and so entirely 
 obscured is he by the shadow of Peppin, that no writer 
 has apprized us of the time of his death or the place 
 of his interment. 
 
 It was during this reign that pens were first used 
 in writing. 
 
 A King aged eleven years now succeeded to one 
 who died at fifteen. Hilde-bert IH. reigned sixteen 
 years ; his court all the time consisting of a few 
 
 ♦ The Franks elected his son, Hlodo-wig, who was yet a child. 
 Franci filium Theodorici parvulum regem elegerunt. {Pre-' 
 mier conlinuateur de Fredegaire.)
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 67 
 
 domestics, who were rather spies than servants. 
 Peppin, on the contrary, was surrounded by the high- 
 est officers. He had a count of the palace ; a grand 
 referendary, and a steward of his houses ; and he took 
 to himself wives and concubines after the manner of 
 Kings. One of his wives bore him Grimo-ald ; and 
 one of his concubines, I\.ail* (Charles) — subsequently 
 known as Karl-le-Martel {Charles Martel.) 
 
 Hilde-bert died in 711. 
 
 Dagobert III. was, in turn, shown to the nobles, 
 elected by them, and immediately shut up in a villa, 
 whence neither he nor his wishes ever appeared, 
 The spirit of Peppin continued to animate the great 
 monarchical body until the year 714, when he was 
 attacked by a disease that terminated his life at 
 Jupil, one of his country-seats, on the Mouse, 
 opposite to his chateau of Heristal. 
 
 His son, Grimo-ald, was assassinated while on his 
 way to Jupil ; and Peppin, with his dying breath, 
 nominated his grandson, Theode-bald, to succeed 
 him as mayor of the palace — thus disavowing the 
 genius of Karl-le-Martel, and placing a King sixteen 
 years old under the authority of a child of eight. 
 Plectrude, Theode-bald 's grandmother, conducted 
 the affairs of government in his name ; and, to pre- 
 . vent any interference on the part of Karl, she detain- 
 ed him a prisoner at Cologne. 
 
 * Vieorous man.
 
 68 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 After a time, the lords of Neustria, impatient at 
 seeing a woman invested with the royal prerogative, 
 incited Dagobert to depose her ; which he, nothing 
 loth, prepared to do. He placed himself at the head 
 of the discontented nobles and such an army as they 
 could hastily collect ; and, encountering Plectrude 
 in the forest of Compeigne, he totally defeated her 
 forces and deprived her of the sovereign power. 
 Meanwhile, Karl improved the opportunity to escape 
 from prison, and Austrasia received him with open 
 arms ; while Dagobert, scarcely rid of Theode-bald, 
 appointed another mayor of the palace, and passed 
 from the bondage in which he was held by Plectrude, 
 into submission to Rainfroy. 
 
 However, the fatal hand which was so rapidly 
 hastening the downfall of the first race of Kings, 
 was not tardy in seizing on Dagobert, He died 
 at seventeen : so that the united ages of the last 
 three princes did not equal the ordinary duration of 
 one human life. What was the malign influence 
 that so early blasted these royal shoots 1 No one 
 can say : for the power of the mayors at this period 
 was so great, that no contemporary historian has ven- 
 tui'ed explicitly to declare whom they destroyed and 
 whom they suffered to live. 
 
 Rainfroy found the son of Dagobert too young to 
 wear a crown. And the child who escaped, as we 
 have seen, from the blows that felled Hilde-rik with 
 his wife and son, discovered one morning in hia
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 69 
 
 cloister that his priestly garments had been exchanged 
 for royal robes : and, after he an'ayed himself in 
 them, all whom he met knelt to him and saluted him 
 as Hilpe-rik II. 
 
 The short but energetic reign of this prince shines 
 out in the history of the period like a single star in 
 a gloomy firmament. His mind had been tempered, 
 sobered and elevated by thirty-six years of medita- 
 tion and misfortune in the solitude of a cloister ; and 
 Rainfroy, who, in elevating him to the throne, had 
 counted on finding him a pliant tool, soon discovered 
 that he had placed over himself a master not to be con- 
 trolled. Hilpe-rik II. was a true Frank chief, and 
 Rainfroy was his lieutenant. The King designed 
 the measures of his government, and the mayor, as 
 his agent, executed them. 
 
 Hilpe-rik's first step was an alliance with the 
 Duke of Frisons. A monk, formerly content with 
 the narrow boundaries of a single cell, now found 
 the whole of Neustria and Burgundy too limited a 
 sphere for his ambition, and he determined to add 
 Austrasia to his dominions. Radbode, chief of the 
 Frisons, marched to effect a junction with Hilpe-rik ; 
 but Karl, well knowing the consequences of their 
 acting together, threw his army across the path of 
 Radbode, in the hope of terminating the campaign 
 by a single battle. But his plan was foiled, and he 
 sustained a signal defeat. Karl, the hero; Karl, who 
 was yet to be called le Martel, (the hammer,) was 
 conquered. His first engagement was a defeat, an
 
 70 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 Utter rout ; but it was also his last defeat. He 
 escaped into the forest of Ardennes with the wreck 
 of his army, consisting of some five hundred men. 
 
 All obstacles to the invasion of Austrasia being 
 thus summarily removed, the Neustrians and Prisons 
 now united their forces, ravaged the country, and 
 laid siege to Cologne. But Plectrude, by a timely 
 offer of money, prevailed on them to raise the 
 sieare, and grant a cessation of hostilities. The 
 Duke of Prisons returned to his own dominions 
 unmolested; but the homeward march ofHilpe-rik 
 lay through the forest of Ardennes. 
 
 Karl, who had fled to this place for refuge, now 
 learned from his scouts that, by means of a well- 
 planned ambush, he could render it a scene of victory; 
 and he made his dispositions accordingly. Hilpe- 
 rik, unconscious of the snare that was spread for 
 him, established his camp at Amblef, and the army, 
 with scarcely any precautions against an attack, 
 retired to rest. In the middle of the night Karl 
 divided his men into select bands, attacked the sleep- 
 ing soldiers at various points, and broke and dis- 
 persed them so entirely that Hilpe-rik and Rainfroy 
 had great difficulty in escaping with their lives. 
 
 This victory, as it may well be supposed, brought 
 masses of troops to Karl's standard ; and although 
 Hilpe-rik with prodigious energy raised another 
 army, and in two successive battles sought to regain 
 the supremacy, he was completely defeated and 
 driven into Aquitania. Karl marched directly to
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 71 
 
 Paris, and the gates of the city were thrown open at 
 his approach. 
 
 From this time Karl was in reality King, though 
 Hilpe-rik retained the title of royalty until his death, 
 which occurred in 720, at Noyon. Karl now sought 
 the son of Dagobert III., in the Abbey of Chelles, 
 where he had been entirely forgotten, and placed 
 him on the throne with the title of Theode-rik III. or 
 Theode-rik-de-Chelles : he was at this time eight 
 years old. 
 
 The reign of this child is known or distinguished 
 only by the fact of being contemporaneous with the 
 victories of Karl. This warrior, within a compara- 
 tively short time, conquered the Saixons and drove 
 them beyond the Weser ; defeated the Germans and 
 forced them across the Danube ; routed the Bava- 
 rians, v/ho had unexpectedly taken up arms against 
 him; and thrice vanquished the Duke of Aquitania, 
 who had excited that province to revolt. And 
 scarcely had he sheathed his sword after these vari- 
 ous victoi'ies, when a cry of great distress arose from 
 the south of France. 
 
 The count Julian, to revenge himself on King 
 Roderick, who had dishonored his daughter, invited 
 the Saracens* into Spain ; and, in the first battle that 
 
 * The author of the continuation of Fredcgaire preserves 
 their ancient name, calling them Ishmaelites.
 
 72 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 ensued, Roderick lost his life and kingdom. The 
 stranger-troops, having accomplished the object of 
 their visit, tiow turned their attention and their arms 
 tow^ard France. 
 
 Suddenly, there appeared to the Franks, on the 
 summit of the Pyrenees, an unknown banner, and an 
 innumerable army curiously habited and uttering 
 war-cries in an incomprehensible language. This 
 army descended like a torrent into Languedoc, then 
 held by the West-Goths of Gaul ; seized upon Aries, 
 Rodez, and Castres; crossed the Garonne; took 
 Bordeaux ; and, finally, burnt the church of St. 
 Hilary, which was held in universal veneration.* 
 
 But the flames, thus ruthlessly kindled by the 
 Saracens, proved signal-fires to the inhabitants — 
 warning them to resist the invaders, and directing 
 Karl where to concentrate his forces against them. 
 He met them between Tours and Poictiers, having 
 under his command the united armies of Neustria 
 and Austrasia.t 
 
 The battle continued for one entire day, and Karl 
 enacted prodigies of valor. He slew great numbers 
 with his own hand and at last struck down Abd-al- 
 
 * After having delivered to the flames the basilick of St. 
 Hilaire — doleful thing to relate — they prepared to march and 
 destroy that of St. Martin de Tours. — Second continuation of 
 Fr6d6gaire. 
 
 t In 732.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 73 
 
 Rahhman. * On the death of their general, the 
 Saracens fled in every direction, abandoning their 
 camp and leaving boliind them an immense booty, t 
 
 From this day, Karl v^^as sirnamed le Martel, 
 because he had, as with a mallet, crushed the inva- 
 ders. 
 
 Thus, an infidel host wras invited to disturb the 
 peace of Europe because a petty Visigothian King 
 had violated some insignificant Lucretia : and, as a 
 sequel, the continent might have become Moham- 
 medan, had not the son of a concubine appeared for 
 the rescue of Christendom. 
 
 We can now scarcely follow Karl through his 
 various combats and rapidly succeeding victories. 
 Burgundy refused to acknowledge his authority and 
 was promptly reduced to submission. Papou, Duke 
 of Frisons, revolted; but he was defeated and slain, 
 and with him perished the race of the Frison Dukes. 
 Karl overthrew their idols, demolished their temples, 
 burned their cities, and cut down their sacred groves. 
 The duke of Aquitania having withdrawn his oath of 
 allegiance to Neustria, Karl immediately invested 
 Blaye, his citadel ; and Bordeaux, his capital ; and 
 took possession of both. Provence next became 
 refractory, and Aries and Marseilles paid the penalty 
 of their presumption. Saxony rebelled, and was 
 
 ♦ Servant of the Merciful. t Paulus Diaconus. 
 
 7
 
 74 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 forced thenceforward to pay Karl an annual tribute. 
 Another army of Saracens appeared in Provence and 
 seized on Avignon : but Karl carried the city by 
 assault and destroyed it by fire. The Saracens of 
 Spain flew to the aid of their brethren ; Karl 
 encountered them between the Val-de-Corbiere and 
 the little river of Bert, and crushed them at the first 
 onset. They retreated toward their ships, but Karl 
 pursued them so swiftly that he outstiipped them in 
 the race, reached their vessels, and took possession of 
 them : and the entire infidel army, being thus 
 deprived of the means of escape, was slain or cap- 
 tured. Karl then returned by Beziers, Magdelonne, 
 Agde and Nismes, razed the fortifications of the lat- 
 ter town, and garrisoned the others with men devoted 
 to his interest, who took the oath of allegiance to him 
 in a formula wherein the name of King Theode-rik 
 was not once mentioned. 
 
 Theode-rik died at the age of twenty-three, after 
 a reign of seventeen years. He was buried at St. 
 Denis, and the people seemed in no haste to remind 
 Karl that a successor had not been appointed. 
 
 Karl, on his own part, took no measures toward 
 supplying the vacancy ; but continued for five years 
 to rule under the title of Duke of the Franks and Aus- 
 trasians ; * and this form of interregnum materially 
 advanced the coming substitution of the Carolingian 
 for the Merovingian monarchy. 
 
 * Abbfe Conrad.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 15 
 
 But, though Karl's power was too firmly estab- 
 lished for the lords prudently to demand a King, the 
 time had not yet arrived when he could safely pre- 
 sent himself to them in that capacity. Pope Gregory 
 II., in one of his letters, styles him Duke and Mayor 
 of the Palace. And Gregory 111. approaches still 
 nearer to the regal designation by giving him the 
 name of vice-roy. Though, while doing so, he was 
 imploring his assistance under the following circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Leo (the Iconoclast), Emperor of the East, had 
 prohibited the worship of images, commanding them 
 to be taken from the churches and bi'oken as idols. 
 Gregory III. excommunicated him for his audacity, 
 and thus took the first step of the spiritual against 
 the temporal authority. Meantime Luitprand, taking 
 advantage of the troubles of the empire, made him- 
 self master of Ravenna and menaced Rome. The 
 sovereign pontiff, in great alarm, despatched to Karl 
 ambassadors bearing the keys of St. Peter's tomb 
 and a few links of the chain that had bound the 
 blessed Apostle ; and offering him, besides, the title 
 of Consul of Rome. Karl accepted the gifts and, with 
 a peremptory menace, only, forced Luitprand to with- 
 draw his troops and restore to the holy father the 
 dominions he had wrested from him. 
 
 Overwhelmed with the fatigue and labors of an 
 arduous life, Karl now fell sick at Verberie-sur-Oise, 
 near the city of Compeigne. He called bis two sons,
 
 76 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 Karl-mann and Peppin, to his bedside and bequeathed 
 to them the kingdom purchased by his sword. 
 Karl-mann received Auslrasia, Germany, and Thu- 
 ringia; and Peppin was made Duke of Neustria, Bur- 
 gundy, and Provence. Karl then caused himself to 
 be carried to Paris, knelt before the tomb of St. 
 Denis, and expired at Querzy-sur-Oise, aged fifty 
 years, in 741 — "after a reign of twenty-five years" 
 says the continuation of the chronicles of Fredegaire. 
 
 Karl-le-Martel received, after death, the royal 
 honors which, during his life, he dared not assume. 
 His body was borne with great pomp to the Abbey 
 of St. Denis ; and the substitution of the second race 
 for the first was confirmed by the interment of an 
 aristocratic corse in the royal cemetery. 
 
 Peppin, lacking the influence and authority so 
 eminently possessed by his father, soon heard on 
 every side the murmurs of the turbulent nobles, who 
 wanted only a pretext to revolt. In order to accede 
 to their wishes, and at the same time to give them 
 a proof of the degeneracy and incompetency of the 
 Merovingian race which they desired to perpetuate 
 on the throne — he chose, as the individual most 
 likely to effect this latter object, a son of Theode-rik, 
 whom he placed on the throne in 743 or 744 with the 
 title of Hilpe-rik III. 
 
 The people of the several provinces rendered trib- 
 utary to the Franks by the victories of Karl began, 
 also, to obey with great reluctance the sons of their
 
 THE FKANCO-KOaiAN MONAKUIIY. 77 
 
 conqueror. One after another they revolted ; but here 
 Karl-mann and Peppin proved themselves worthy 
 of their high descent, for they successively defeated 
 and subdued Odillon, duke of Bavaria; Theode-rik, 
 duke of Saxony ; and Hunold, duke of Aquitania. 
 
 Suddenly, however, in the very midst of his tri- 
 umj^hs, Karl-mann became disgusted with power, 
 with man, and with the world. He gave up the 
 government of the entire monarchy to Peppin, relin- 
 quished his warlike arms and appointments, and, 
 habiting himself in the humble garb of a monk, de- 
 manded from Pope Zachary a place in the abbey of 
 Mont-Cassin.* 
 
 Peppin now remained alone in front of the phantom 
 of a King. But, after a time — either forced into the 
 measure by Peppin, or impelled by his own wishes 
 — Hilpe-rik III. abdicated with the consent of his 
 vassals, and retired to the monastery of St. Bertin, in 
 Artois. 
 
 Peppin at once appreciated his position. He saw 
 everything concurring in the annihilation of one race 
 and the exaltation of another. He therefore assem- 
 bled his nobles, displayed to them his title and claims 
 to the crown, and was proclaimed, by a unanimous 
 voice. King of the Franks. 
 
 * In this year (745) Karl-mann acquainted his brother 
 Peppin with a project on which he had for a long time medita- 
 ted, viz. : to retire from the world and serve God in the habit of 
 monk. — Annals of Eginhard. 
 >7*
 
 78 THE FRANCO -ROMAN MONARCHT. 
 
 It was, consequently, by virtue of election, as most 
 worthy, and not by usurpation as the strongest, that 
 Peppin became the head of a dynasty which num- 
 bered thirteen Kings. The usurpation commenced 
 with his son ; for, in his case, the principle of election 
 was sacrificed to that of inheritance : but, as a com- 
 pensation for the infringement, that son was Char- 
 lemagne. 
 
 Before proceeding with the second race, we will 
 give a glance at the first, which still survived in the 
 person of Hilpe-rik III. — whose life and death 
 passed unheeded in the abbey of Fontenelle, now 
 called St. Vandrille. This rapid survey will be 
 devoted to the manners and customs of the men of 
 the conquest, in connexion with the rise and growth 
 of the several powers which, at a later day, were to 
 form the religious monarchy of the second race and 
 the feudal system of the third. 
 
 We have given the name' of Franco-Roman to 
 this first monarchy because, that while the conquer- 
 ors retained their own vernacular tongue (which was 
 religiously preserved;) they nevertheless adopted — 
 with the exception of the free election of their 
 Kings, which though sometimes violated was never 
 abolished — first, the manners and afterward the 
 creed of their vanquished subjects.* 
 
 * The Franks gave the name of Romans, without distinction, 
 to the three primitive nations of Gaul who had been subjected 
 to the Roman government.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY, 79 
 
 Indeed, the only change seems to have been a sub- 
 stitution of the title of Chief for that of General ; * for 
 those who bore the new appellation bon-owed from 
 their predecessors even their costume. Constanti- 
 nople sent to them, as to her Consuls, the purple : 
 their Kings took the title of Augustus, as did the 
 Emperors : their crown was the band of gold : their 
 sceptre, a palm, similar to that thrown away by 
 Sylla and recovered by Octavian : the leudes of 
 Hlodo-wig were a counterpart of Caligula's praeto- 
 rian guard : and the prevailing costume was the 
 chlamyde, over which was thrown a mantle of white 
 or blue, short at the sides, long in front, and trailing 
 behind. The theatres were circuses : the games, 
 combats of lions and bulls. The ornaments of cities 
 were triumphal arches and capitols. The great roads 
 were military high- ways ; the churches, ancient tem- 
 ples ; and the laws, the Theodosian code. The 
 throne, alone, differed from the curule chair of the 
 Consuls and the golden arm-chair of the Emperors : 
 it was a simple stool, without arms or back, which, 
 from its very form, warned the early Frank chiefs — 
 those Kings of the shield — that they would be 
 obliged to sustain themselves without aid from 
 others. 
 
 The army had no other pay than the spoils of war : 
 
 • Dux.
 
 80 THE FRANCO-KOMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 each one brought his part, and all divided and shared 
 the booty like brothers. The vanquished territory- 
 belonged to ths conqueror ; who, according to the 
 services to be rewarded, bestowed portions of it on 
 his generals under the names of alleti, or lands in fee, 
 and o£ Jiefs, or lands held of the King during his 
 pleasure. The inhabitants of these domains were 
 given with the 1 u.d, and they became thenceforward 
 the property of a master whose control over them 
 was absolute. 
 
 The precise time when these territorial cessions 
 commenced should be fixed, we think, at that period 
 when the division of the monarchy between the 
 children of Hlodo-wig gave rise to the family feuds 
 we have mentioned. As the power of each sovereign 
 consisted in the confidence he could repose in his 
 generals and soldiers, each was obliged to make 
 sacrifices to secure the attachment of his subordinates. 
 The gift of lands in alleu gave the recipients a 
 strong interest to defend the soil ; the owner fought 
 for his possessions as the King did for his kingdom. 
 Of course, this manner of disposing the land could 
 not have been in operation during the time of 
 Hlodowig, since he granted to St. Remy all he 
 could walk around during his sleep. Now, there is 
 nothing to show that he dictated to the prelate 
 what route he should pursue ; and, certainly, he 
 could not have proceeded far in any direction with- 
 out crossing land bestowed in alleu, the proprietor
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 81 
 
 of which would scarcely have consented to be 
 despoiled from mere consideration to the King's 
 promise. The incident of the vase of Soissons suffi- 
 ciently evinces the respect that all — conquerors, 
 chiefs, and soldiers — paid to the right of property. 
 
 In taking a survey of Gaul under Hlodo-wig, we 
 see only a conquering King, conquering generals, 
 and a conquering array. The vanquished populace 
 were no longer regarded in the rank of nations, for 
 they had become mere slaves. 
 
 The territorial divisions which took place under 
 the reigns of Theode-rik, Hlodo-mer, Hilde-bert, and 
 Hlot-her, in no particular changed the position of the 
 degraded inhabitants, except that their bondage 
 became more complete by the partition. They 
 formed an immense troop, and, on the death of their 
 master, were divided among his heirs who had the 
 right to sell them, give them away, or slay them. 
 
 This is the reason why ancient historians are so 
 silent concerning the people under the first race : 
 this is the reason why fourteen millions of indivi- 
 duals, whom Caesar had made Roman citizens, seem 
 — so far as the records of history are concerned — 
 to have suddenly disappeared from the face of the 
 earth, leaving no trace or memorial behind them. 
 
 It is our purpose, however, to keep them in 
 remembrance, for they were the sole ancestors of the 
 French nation : a people who submitted to the 
 double conquest of civilization and barbarism —
 
 82 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 from Crauls as they originally were, becoming 
 Romans under Caesar; and, from Romans under 
 Cassar, dwindling into slaves under Hlodo-wig. 
 Upon this conquered territory, among these slaves 
 and victors, was to arise, under the protection of the 
 Cross, a vigorous and new race. The Saviour 
 Christ, is the only son of God, and the French 
 nation was to be the eldest-born of Christ. 
 
 To explain our idea. We have remarked that the 
 division of the kingdom of Hlodo-wig into four parts 
 led to war between the sovereigns. As a natural 
 consequence of universal war, famine ensued : for 
 while every bondman and every freeman was 
 engaged in mortal strife, thq earth forgot to bring 
 forth, 
 
 The royal as well as the seigneurial domains 
 remained untilled, and over the whole expanse of 
 this once rich and fertile Gaul, but a few fields of 
 grain were to be seen. 
 
 These fields were the property of the successors 
 of St. Remy — men of peace, who had fertilized a 
 few isolated spots of a land devastated in its length 
 and breadth by men of war. 
 
 The harvests of these fields, however, were inade- 
 quate to supply the wants of the army: and Kings 
 and nobles concurred in the self-evident proposition 
 that to raise the aggregate of the harvests to the 
 necessities of the people it was necessary to augment 
 the donations of land already made to the Church.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 83 
 
 And, having done this, the warriors — sure that the 
 survivors w^ould not die of famine — returned to 
 butcher each other as before. 
 
 From the moment they belonged to the Church, 
 the slaves (given, always, with the land) were free, 
 and the soil was fertile : for Christ, in speaking of 
 slaves had said, " The disciple is not above his 
 master, nor the servant above his lord." 
 
 And he further said, of lands, " The seed that fell 
 on good ground sprang up and bare fruit, some 
 thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred fold."* 
 
 In conformity to these words, communities were 
 formed — genuine religious republics, subjected to 
 agrarian laws, obedient to an elected head, an 
 abbe, whose device, for this world and the next, was 
 equality. 
 
 These were the people: — 
 
 A people vigorous and young; who, increasing 
 under the shadow of the Cross, were neither the 
 citizens of Caesar nor the slaves of Hlodo-wig, but 
 were emphatically the people, containing within 
 themselves the i-equisites of a nation yet to be. 
 They were at first but a family, by no means power- 
 ful, who owed their existence to necessity and their 
 preservation to the cloister : but their children were 
 multiplying each day, their territorial power was 
 
 * These evangelical parables are remarkable for their truth, 
 whether taken in a figurative or literal sense.
 
 84 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 augmenting each year; and to such an extent was 
 this increase of numbers and strength, that, toward 
 the middle of the seventh century, Hlodo-wig II., in 
 an assembly at the Champ-de-Ma^rs observed that a 
 part of the kingdom was not represented ; and he 
 apprized the clergy that they were to send deputies 
 to the next convocation. 
 
 These first deputies, whose names have not been 
 preserved, repairing to the assembly of the Franks, 
 represented in an unperceived but incontestible man- 
 ner the nation that was gi'owing in the bosom of the 
 conquest. They were the vanquished, already re- 
 acting against the victors. They were the sons of 
 those who had received the law with their faces in 
 the dust; which sons, now raising themselves on their 
 knees, entreated the privilege of discussing this law : 
 and waiting till their children, on foot, and sword in 
 hand, should demand why this law had been imposed 
 on them. 
 
 About this period Papacy began to proclaim its 
 democratic mission, and took upon itself the defence 
 of interests of which it soon became the represen- 
 tative : — an elected popular power in face of, and in 
 opposition to, an elective aristocratic power ; it em- 
 ployed the authority it received from the people to 
 defend the people against royal and seigneiirial 
 encroachments. From this moment, the nation, 
 represented by the Church, had its tribunal as the 
 conquest, represented by the aristocracy, had its king.
 
 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 85 
 
 One held a staff, the other a scepti-e ; one wore a 
 tiara, the other a crown ; and in the strife that these 
 two rival powers waged against each other, the 
 Caesar of the people, so long as he was the cham- 
 pion of the democracy, always terminated the con- 
 test by placing his feet on the neck of the aristocratic 
 Caesar. 
 
 Such was the political labor of the Church during 
 the early centuries of the monarchy. In the survey 
 which we shall take of France after the extinction 
 of the race of Charlemagne, we shall resume this 
 subject where we now abandon it ; and follow it in 
 its representation of the popular interest as far as the 
 pontificate of Stephen III. and John XII. 
 
 The literary labors of the Church were immense. 
 The cenobitical life, by detaching men from the cares 
 of the world, forced them to expend their energies 
 upon intellectual effort. The political independence 
 of the monk gave him a literary independence. 
 That learned tongue in which he wrote, and which 
 was unknown to his conquerors, enabled him, 
 while exhaling his scorn and hatred, to transmit to 
 us his real sentiments toward his oppressors ; and 
 to prove, by the constant application to them of 
 the term barbarians, the true light in which he 
 regarded them. Monasteries were, therefore, forti- 
 fied libraries, preserving for us the treasures of pagan 
 literature. The works of antiquity would have been 
 lost, if the cloister had not received and enclosed 
 8
 
 86 THE FRANCO-ROMAN MONARCHY. 
 
 them in its inviolable recesses, where copies, under- 
 taken sometimes in the pure spirit of science, some- 
 times as a penitential mortification, were multiplied 
 in number ; and by this lueans the chain of the past 
 was connected with that of the future, and the 
 ancient and modern ages were indissolubly bound 
 together. Homer, Hesiod, Apollonius, Musaeus, Co- 
 luthus, jEschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, 
 Thucydides, Xenophon, Virgil, Livy, Polybius, Dio- 
 nysius . of Halicarnassus, Sallust, Ceesar, Lvxcan, 
 Tacitus, Josephus, Suetonius, Jornandes, Salvian, 
 Eusebius, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, Gregory of 
 Tours, St. Remigius, Fredegaire, Alcuinus, Anguil- 
 bert, Eginhard, Teghan, Loup-de-Ferriere, Eric of 
 Auxerre, Hincmar, Odo of Clugny, Gherbert, Abbon, 
 Fulbert, Rigaltius, Ville-hardouin, Joinville, Guil- 
 laume de Tyi', Jean de Meun, Froissard, Monstrelet, 
 Juvenal des Ursins, Commines, Brantome, Sully, 
 and De Thou — this is the uninterrupted series of 
 authors by means of whose labors we can ascend 
 from verified modern facts to the fabulous traditions 
 of antiquity. Each one of these is a torch placed on 
 the highway of ages, illuminating his own epoch, 
 and rendering feasible to all that folloAvthe explora- 
 tion of a road which runs through the middle ages 
 of France, the barbarian irruptions from the East 
 and North, the invasion of Ca3sar, the conquests of 
 Alexander, and the Peloponnesian war : a period of 
 no less than two thousand eight hundred and thirty- 
 three years.
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 GAUL. 
 
 THE CONaUERING RACE. 
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY.
 
 PEPPIN-LE-BREF. 
 
 We have shown our readers the ascendancy of 
 the Austrasian over the Neustrian powder, and the 
 triumph of aristocracy over royalty ; but our naiTa- 
 tion will have been misunderstood if it is thence in- 
 ferred that the advancement of Peppin to the Mero- 
 vingian throne was an act of usurpation. It was 
 but the overthrow of a dynasty which, by degrees, 
 had substituted in its ovni favor the right of inheritance 
 for that of election. By choosing their King from 
 without the circle of the reigning family, the nobles 
 had made use of a neglected, but not abolished privi- 
 lege. All the requirements of the law of election 
 had been complied with. The Pope* had approved 
 the nomination of the leudes ; and thus the choice of 
 
 * To the following question proposed by Peppin — "Which 
 should bear the title of King ; an impotent prince, or a capable 
 mayor of the Palace'?" the Pope (Zachary) replied : " He alone 
 merits the title who can adequately discharge the duties of a 
 King." 
 
 8*
 
 90 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 the conquering people was ratified by the conquered 
 people, of whom Zachary was the representative. A 
 hope was naturally entertained that the accession of 
 the founder of the second dynasty to the throne 
 would essentially ameliorate the condition of the 
 lower orders ; and in fact, the change from slavery 
 to servitude took place under his descendants. More- 
 over, this was the first instance of the Pope's conse- 
 crating, by his sjjiritual approbation, the act of the 
 temporal authority which elevated a King to the 
 throne. 
 
 This condescension on the part of the Pope was 
 amply recompensed. In the first place, Peppin con- 
 sented to be consecrated at Soissons by Boniface, 
 arch-bishop of Mayence, according to the Jewish 
 rite. The prelate anointed him with oil, after the 
 manner of the Kings of Israel : and this ceremony, 
 adopted by his successors, and continued until the 
 fall of Charles X., became the principle to which the 
 Kings of France allied the doctrine of the divine 
 right. In the next place, he fought and defeated 
 Astolph, King of the Lombards, who had besieged 
 Rome : and he gave to the church of St. Peter a 
 portion of the vanquished King's dominions. Thus, 
 he recognised, at his coronation, the spiritual supre- 
 macy of Zachary ; and by this surrender of territory 
 to Stephen III., Zachary's successor, he laid the 
 foundation of the temporal jDOwer of Rome. 
 
 Between the two periods at which these important
 
 THE PRANK MONARCHY. 91 
 
 acts occurred, another incident of moment took 
 place, viz.: the journey of Stephen III. into Neus- 
 tria. He came to demand assistance from Peppin; 
 and, as a preliminary, he anointed Peppin's sons, 
 Karl and Karl-mann, heirs to the throne. 
 
 Thus, in Peppin's case, consecration followed 
 election and confirmed it ; his accession did not in 
 any manner infringe upon the customs by which the 
 Merovingian Kings ascended the throne. 
 
 But in the case of Karl and Karl-mann, on the con- 
 trary, not only did consecration precede, but actually 
 supersede, election ; and the rights of the conquering 
 nation which were only violated under the fii'St race, 
 were totally abolished under the second. From this 
 moment it was easy to foresee that the papal autho- 
 rity, representing the popular will, would increase 
 with the development of that will ; would follow it 
 in its progress ; remain faithful to it in all its muta- 
 tions ; and, when the time should arrive for a 
 strife between the conflicting interests of the people 
 and royalty, it would take part with the native against 
 the foreigner, and make common cause with the men 
 of the nation against the men of the conquest. 
 
 It was, thus, a characteristic of Peppin's reign — 
 and the example has been more than once followed 
 in after times, — that powers and privileges, resusci- 
 tated to secure his exaltation to the crown, were 
 afterward ungratefully abused to perpetuate his 
 dynasty ; and in this, we apprehend, consists usurp-
 
 92 THE FRANK MONARCHY, 
 
 ation, rightly SO called : nor an assumption of power 
 over Kings, but over the rights of those who create 
 Kings. The French nobles were greatly discon- 
 tented; for two mighty principles, till then unrecog- 
 nised, had taken precedent of their ancient preroga- 
 tive ; first, the principle of divine right ; and, 
 secondly, that of inheritance. 
 
 But, to return to Pepj^in. 
 
 Pope Stephen III., at his death, was succeeded by 
 his brother Paul: and at this time the Saxons, the 
 Sclavonians, and the Lombards again threatened 
 Rome. Peppin marched to the aid of Paul and 
 conquered the invaders ; compelling the King of 
 Sclavonia and the Prince of Lombardy to become 
 his vassals and thenceforward to pay tribute to 
 France. The Pope, in return for this timely assist- 
 ance, sent to Peppin some choristers of the Roman 
 Church, to instruct those of his palace ; and made 
 him a present of several manuscripts of geogi-aphy, 
 orthography, and grammar ; and, among others, the 
 works of St. Dionysius the Areopagite, and Aristo- 
 tle's logic : and also, a nocturnal clock, the first ever 
 seen in France.* 
 
 Peppin next turned his arms against Va'ifre, Duke 
 of Aquitania, who was descended from Bogghis, son 
 of Hari-bert, and who consequently carried in his 
 veins the pure blood of the first race. Indeed, the 
 
 * Epistola Pauli ad Pippin.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 93 
 
 existence of this genuine branch of the first race in 
 Aquitania had been, and was still to be, a source of 
 constant jealousy on the part of the sovereigns of 
 the second race, and of resistance and revolt on the 
 part of the descendants of Hlodo-wig — the latter 
 uniformly refusing to acknow^ledge themselves vas- 
 sals of a throne that had belonged to their fathers.* 
 In the present expedition, Vaifre was defeated, and 
 in the flight that ensued, he was slain by his own 
 troops.t The duchy was re-united to the crown. 
 
 Shortly after this conquest, Peppin fell dangerously 
 ill at Saintes. He caused himself to be carried to 
 the tomb of St. Martin, where he prayed two days ; 
 and thence he was transported to St. Denis, where 
 he died of a dropsy.^ He expired in the fifty-fourth 
 year of his age, the twenty-sixth of his government, 
 and the seventeenth of his reign. He was buried, 
 according to his own request, with his face to the 
 earth and near the door of the church ; a position 
 that he conceived to be indicative of extreme 
 humility. 
 
 His two sons, Karl and Karl-mann, succeeded 
 him in 768. Their father had taken care to divide 
 
 * Gaillard, Labru^re, Chateaubriand. 
 
 t Continuation of Frcdegaire. The name of the author of this 
 continuation is unknown. It was written by order of the illus- 
 trious warrior, Nibe-Lung, son of Hilde-Brand. 
 
 t On the 18th. — or, according to some the 24th. — Sept.,7G8.
 
 94 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 his kingdom between them during his life-time, giving 
 Neustria to Karl-mann and Austrasia to Karl ; and, 
 to each, one half of the recently conquered duchy 
 of Aquitania. The nobles, who dared not dispvite 
 the right of succession, ventured, nevertheless to 
 resist the partition ; and, in order to a formal demon- 
 stration of their rights, they assembled together and 
 proclaimed Karl King of Neustria, and Karl-mann 
 King of Austrasia,* — thus reversing Peppin's aj)- 
 pointment. The young Kings, however, accepted the 
 change and were crowned simultaneously : Karl at 
 Noyon ; and Karl-mann, at Soissons. 
 
 Karl-mann died soon after his coronation ; leaving 
 two sons. But the nobles of Austrasia, emboldened 
 by their previous success, refused to acknowledge 
 these sons as Kings, and proffered the crown to Karl, 
 who accepted it, and thus became the sovereign of 
 the entire realm. 
 
 Karl was one of those men to whom a great histo- 
 rian should be exclusively devoted. He belonged 
 to that class of beings whom God has predestinated 
 for special purposes, and sent upon the earth at their 
 appointed time. During the life of such men, mar- 
 vellous things are accomplished ; and they are ordi- 
 narily ascribed to mere human agency : for the 
 visible cause is before us, and we attribute the events 
 solely to its instrumentality. But after the man has 
 
 * Eginhard: in vita Caroli Magni.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 95 
 
 passed away, and we calmly compare the ends he 
 seemed to have attained, with the results actually 
 effected, we find that he was but an instrument in the 
 hand of his Maker, instead of a creature obeying the 
 impulses of his own will ; and we are forced to see 
 and to confess that the genius was blind in propor- 
 tion as it was mighty ; and, the more it accomplished, 
 the less was it self-directed. 
 
 Those historians who have presented Karl — the 
 translator will hereafter apply to him the name by 
 which, in our present language, he is universally 
 known, Charlemagne — as a French monarch, have 
 labored under a great misapprehension of the facts. 
 Charlemagne was a man of the North — - a barbarian, 
 who never learned to write even his name : who 
 sealed his treaties with the hilt of his sword, and 
 enforced their observance with its point. Germany, 
 the native land of his ancestry, was emphatically his 
 own favorite domain. His two capitals were Aix-la- 
 Chapelle and Thionville. The language he habitu- 
 ally spoke was the Teutonic. His dress was that of 
 his forefathers. And when he found that, in his 
 dominions, the Romance language was supplant- 
 ing his vernacular tongue, and the national dress 
 superseding that to which he had been accustomed, 
 he gave orders to collect all the songs of his father- 
 land, that they at least might be preseived for his 
 jjosterity ; and he obstinately refused to array him- 
 self in any costume but that of his progenitors.
 
 96 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 Charlemagne is the type of conquest at the culmi- 
 nating point of its power. His throne is the most 
 elevated point of the Frank monarchy, which was to 
 give place to the French monarchy. His successors, 
 unable to rise higher than his standard, were destined 
 to fall far below it : and if the time occupied in the 
 downfall of the race seems disproportioned to the 
 gradual progress of its elevation, it is because descent 
 is much easier than ascent in the scale of greatness 
 and of power. 
 
 Charlemagne was sent upon the earth to found 
 and to build, in the ninth century, a colossal empire 
 in Europe : which empii'e was to crush the remnant 
 of those savage nations who, by reiterated incursions, 
 had overthrown all growing civilization and hindered 
 the Gospel from bearing fiuit. Hence, the long 
 reign of this Emperor was devoted to one object, — 
 the repelling of barbarism by a barbarian. He 
 drove the Goths beyond the Pyrenees ; pursued the 
 Huns and Avars into Panonia ; and destroyed the 
 kingdom of Didier in Italy : and at length, fatigued 
 with the toilsof a thirty years' war with the Saxons, he 
 determined to bring to an end their revolt, treason, and 
 idolatry. For this purpose, he marched from city to 
 city, placed his sword upright in the earth in the 
 centre of each town, and, causing the people to 
 assemble around it, he commanded his soldiers — 
 upon the true Procrustian principle — to cut off 
 every head that rose above the level of his blade.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 97 
 
 One nation, alone, escaped him — the Normans: 
 who, at a later period, by combining with the other 
 nations already established in the bosom of Gaul, 
 became the true and direct ancestors of the French 
 people. At present, they owed their safety to the 
 fleetness of their movements. Wherever they placed 
 themselves on the soil of the empire, Karl was there 
 in force to repel them : and no sooner did he appear, 
 than they eluded his gi'asp and took refuge in the 
 ships that lay waiting to receive them. The monk 
 of St. Gall thus narrates one of their apparitions upon 
 the coast : — 
 
 Karl, who was always on the march, arrived by 
 chance and unexpectedly in a certain maritime city 
 of Narbonnensian Gaul; and while there, a fleet of 
 Norman pirates came to anchor in the harbor. 
 When these strange vessels were discovered, a ques- 
 tion arose as to the country whence they came. 
 Some believed them to be Jews ; others, Africans ; 
 and others, again, Britons. The Emperor, however, 
 recognised them at once by their long hulls, slender 
 masts, and sails like the wings of a bird of prey ; 
 and, turning toward one of his followers, he said — 
 " Those vessels are not filled with merchandise, but 
 with enemies." At these words, the Franks sprang 
 forward with great enthusiasm, determined.to punish 
 the audacious intruders, but their attempt was vain : 
 for the Normans, having learned that the great 
 Emperor (whom they were accustomed to call Karl- 
 9
 
 98 THE FRANK MONARCHY, 
 
 le-Marteau) was there in person, weighed their 
 anchors and set sail with incredible rapidity, lest 
 their whole flotilla should be captured and burned — 
 and thus they escaped not only the swords, but the 
 fierce looks of the Franks. 
 
 The pious Karl, in the meantime, filled with a 
 great disquietude, arose from the table ; and placing 
 himself at a window that looked toward the East, 
 remained there a long time with his arms folded and 
 tears running down his cheeks. Then, as no one 
 dared inquire the cause of this deep grief, he was 
 pleased to say " My faithful friends, know ye why I 
 weep so bitterly 1 It is not, certes, that I fear yon 
 men will annoy me by their pitiful piracies ; but I 
 am cut to the heart that they dare approach this 
 shore while 1 live — because I foresee how they will 
 persecute my children and their people after I am 
 gone." 
 
 We will give another extract to show how Charle- 
 magne appeared to the generation that succeeded 
 him : it is brilliant history : — 
 
 One of the lords of the kingdom, named Ogger, 
 had incurred the displeasure of the terrible Karl ; 
 and, to escape his resentment, had taken refuge with 
 Desiderius, King of the Lombards. When it was 
 known in Lombardy that the dreaded King of the 
 Franks was approaching, Desiderius and Ogger 
 ascended to the summit of a high tower that com- 
 manded a view of the country on all sides. At first,
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 99 
 
 they saw machines of war like those that must have 
 served the legions of Darius and Julius. " Is not 
 Karl with this army ]" demanded the King. 
 
 " No," replied Ogger. 
 
 An immense troop of common soldiers came next, 
 and the King again demanded, " Surely Karl is tri- 
 umphantly advancing in the midst of this host ]" 
 
 " No, not yet ;" was Ogger's answer. 
 
 " What shall we do," said the King in alarm, " if 
 he come with a still greater force than we see 1" 
 
 " When he comes," answered Ogger, " you will 
 see him as he is; but what will become of us, I 
 know not." 
 
 While he spoke these words, the Emperor's 
 guard that never knew repose, began to appear in 
 the distance. The terrified King exclaimed — 
 
 " This is Karl himself!" 
 
 " Not yet," rejoined Ogger. 
 
 Next to these battalions came the bishops, the 
 abbes, the priests of the royal chapel and the Counts 
 of the empire. Desiderius, believing that he saw 
 Death incarnate marshalling this troop, cried out 
 with tears, 
 
 " Let us descend and hide ourselves in the bowels 
 of the earth, far away from the frown and the fury 
 of so terrible a foe." 
 
 But Ogger, though also trembling — for he too 
 well knew the Emperor's power — prevented his 
 retreat, being sure that Karl was not with this 
 troop ;
 
 100 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 " Nay," said he ; " but when you shall see the 
 grain shaking in the fields and bending as before the 
 breath of the tempest ; when you behold the 
 affrighted Po and Tesin overflow the walls of your 
 city with waves that are blackened by iron — then 
 you may believe that Karl approaches." 
 
 He had scarcely finished, when something like a 
 dark cloud lifted by the wind was seen on the west- 
 ern horizon, and the sky, until then clear, became 
 suddenly obscured. From the middle of this cloud 
 the glancing of arms flashed forth upon the eyes of 
 the awe-struck spectators, and Karl himself appear- 
 ed ; Karl, that man of iron ; his head covered with 
 a casque of iron, his hands encased in gauntlets of 
 iron, his broad chest and huge shoulders protected 
 by a cuirass of iron, his left hand, brandishing his 
 lance of iron, and his right wielding his invincible 
 sword. The inside of his thighs — where other 
 horsemen wore not even leather, that they might 
 with more facility mount their steeds — was cover- 
 ed with scales of iron. As for buskins, the whole 
 army wore them of iron. His buckler was of iron. 
 His very horse was of the color and strength of iron. 
 All who preceded him, all who moved by his side, 
 all who followed him — and, indeed, the army, as far 
 as the means of each individual man would allow, 
 was equipped in a similar manner. Iron covered 
 the fields ; iron covered the roads ; the rays of the 
 sun flashed upon innumerable points of iron, and this
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 101 
 
 mighty panoply of iron was borne by a race whose 
 hearts were as hard as iron. The glancing of this 
 iron now spread terror through the streets of the 
 city, and every one in his flight reiterated the excla- 
 mation, " Oh, the iron ! the iron !"* 
 
 Charlemagne, like all men of great genius, was 
 simple in his family, magnificent toward the people, 
 and ostentatious with strangers. From the chroni- 
 cles of the monk of St. Gall we can most accurately 
 estimate his character in detail. His military ex- 
 peditions are faithfully recorded by his friend and 
 secretary, Eginhard; whose pages supply abundant 
 material to any writer of the present day desirous 
 to present a faithful picture of his conquests. His 
 campaigns were fifty-three in number. 
 
 Our limits will not allow us to follow him either 
 in his civil or militai'y life. We can merely take a 
 view of the state of his kingdom (to which he restored 
 the name of the Empire of the West) at the time of 
 his death. It was a colossal empire, for its shadow 
 reaches even to us, and its name, if not its power, 
 still lives in modern Europe. 
 
 AVe behold, then, this empire, aggi'andized by 
 conquest, powerful and respected, extending itself 
 to the Baltic in Germany, to the Voltumo in Italy, 
 to the Ebro in Spain, and to the Ocean in Gaul. 
 Nine great nations were enclosed within its vast 
 
 * The monk of St. Gall.
 
 102 THE FRANK MONARCHy. 
 
 boundaries, subjected to the same laws and professing 
 the same religion ; and this apparent concord, accom- 
 plished by the labors of a single reign, is but a 
 stronger proof of the genius of the mind that con- 
 ceived the plan, and the vigor of the arm that com-'^ 
 pleted the edifice. 
 
 We quote from Eginhard an account of the pre- 
 cise limits of this Western Empire : 
 
 " France, as it was left by Peppin, comprehended 
 only that part of Gaul situated between the Rhine 
 and the Loire, the Ocean and the Balearic Sea ; that 
 portion of Germany inhabited by the Franks, bounded 
 by Saxony, the Danube, the Rhine, the Sala, the 
 country of the Allemanni and Bavaria. Karl, by 
 his memorable wars, added to these — first, Aquita- 
 nia, Gascony, the entire chain of the Pyrenees, and 
 the adjacent countries as far as the Ebro ; afterward, 
 that part of Italy v.-hich, from the valley of Aosta to 
 Lower Calabria, (the frontier of the Greeks and 
 Beneventines,) extends a distance of a million of 
 paces (in round numbers, one thousand English 
 miles) : still afterward, Saxony, a portion of Ger- 
 many as great in extent as twice the breadth, of the 
 country inhabited by the Franks and equal to it in 
 length : beside these, the two Pannonias, Dacia, 
 Istria, Croatia and Dalmatia : and, finally, all the 
 territory of those savage nations lying between the 
 Danube, the Vistula and the Ocean." 
 
 Charlemagne endeavored to change the names of
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 103 
 
 the twelve months of the year: the effort was abor- 
 tive, but it is remarkable that one thousand years 
 afterward the National Convention of France made 
 the same attempt with the same success. It is also 
 singular that the names adopted by Charlemagne 
 and the Convention bear a strong resemblance to 
 each other — though it is by no means probable that 
 Romme and Fabre d'Eglantine (the authors of the 
 revolutionary calendar of the ISth century) had any 
 knowledge of the Germanic calendar of the ninth 
 century. The following table shows the whole at a 
 glance. 
 
 Revolution. Charlemagne. 
 
 January Ventose, Windy Month, Wintermonath, Month of Winter. 
 
 February.. .Pluviose, Rainy Month, Hornunc, Month of Mud. 
 
 March Germinal, Budding Month, Lenzmonath, Month of Spring. 
 
 April Floreal, Flowery Month, Ostermonath, Month of Easter. 
 
 May Prairial, Meadow Month, Minnemonath, Month of Love. 
 
 June Messidor, Harvest Month, Prahmonath, Month of Sun. 
 
 July Thermidor, Hot Month, Heumonath, Month of Hay. 
 
 August Fructidor, Fruit Month, Arndmonath, Month of Harvest. 
 
 Sept Vendimiaire, Vintage Month, Windemmonath, Month of Winds. 
 
 October.... Brumaire, Foggy Month, Windeminonath,Month of Vintage. 
 November.Frimaire, Sleety Month, Herbstmonath, Month of Autumn. 
 December.Nivose, Snowy Month, Helmonath, Month of Death. 
 
 These names in the latter column have a barba- 
 rous sound, and corroborate what has been asserted 
 as to Charlernagrie's having been thoroughly Ger- 
 man. They were in use among several nations, and 
 particularly among the Anglo-Saxons ; and Eginhard
 
 104 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 Styles them national names : * in point of nationality, 
 therefore, the conquest was German. 
 
 As, previously, in the case of Caesar, and, subse- 
 quently, in the case of Napoleon, a series of unlucky 
 omens now announced to the world the termination 
 of this mighty Emperor's career. " Many prodigies," 
 says Eginhard, " were remarked at the approach of 
 the King's decease ; and he, as well as others, 
 regarded them as supernatural warnings address ad 
 personally to himself During the last three years 
 of his life, there were frequent eclipses of the sun 
 and moon : for seven days in succession a black spot 
 was visible on the sun's disk : the gallery which Karl 
 had constructed, at great expense, to connect the 
 cathedral and the palace, crumbled to its very foun- 
 dation on Ascension-day : the wooden bridge which 
 he had built across the Rhine at Mayence — a won- 
 derful specimen of architectural skill ; the fruit of 
 ten years' immense labor, and which seemed destined 
 to endure for ever — was suddenly consumed by fire 
 in the short space of three hours, and not a vestige 
 of it remained excejjt what was under the water. 
 At the time of his last expedition into Saxony, 
 against Godfred, King of the Danes.t Karl, having 
 
 * Among the Franks, the months before his day had names 
 half Latin and half barbarian : Karl gave them national names. 
 — Eginhard, Vila Caroli Magni. 
 
 t In 810.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 105 
 
 left his tent before the sun rose and commenced his 
 march, saw an enormous light fall suddenly from the 
 sky, and, in a breathless atmosphere, flare alternately 
 to the right and left ; while the army were admiring 
 this prodigy, and wondering what it presaged, the 
 Emperor's horse fell head-foremost to the ground, 
 and so violently precipitated his rider to the earth, 
 that the clasp of his cloak was torn off and his 
 sword-belt broken, and he was unable to rise with- 
 out the assistance of his followers, who disencum- 
 bered him of his arms ; the javelin, which he chanced 
 to have in his hand, was thrown forward more than 
 twenty feet from the spot where he fell. The palace 
 at Aix-la-Chapelle was shaken by violent trembling 
 of the earth, and the ceilings of the apartments occu- 
 pied by the King were heard to crack. The mys- 
 terious fire from heaven fell on the cathedral where 
 he was afterward buried ; and the golden ball that 
 decorated the pinnacle of the roof, struck by the 
 flash, was broken and scattered over the house of 
 the bishop, which was contiguous to the church. In 
 this church, on the border of the cornice, between 
 the higher and lower arcades, was an inscription to 
 the founder of the edifice, in the last line of which 
 were the words, Carolus princeps. It was remarked, 
 a few months before the Emperor's decease, that the 
 letters composing the word princejys were so effaced 
 as to be scarcely legible. Karl-le-grand testified no 
 fear at these portents from above, and despised them
 
 106 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 as much as if they had no connexion with his 
 destiny." 
 
 Charlemagne died on the twenty-eighth of Janu- 
 ary, 814, at three o'clock in the day, in the seventy- 
 second year of his age, and the forty -seventh of his 
 reign. As he left no directions concerning his burial, 
 it Avas a matter of debate where h's remains should 
 be deposited. At length, the magnificent chapel 
 which he had built at Aix and placed under the invo- 
 cation of the Virgin, was chosen for his last and per- 
 petual palace. He was lowered into one of its 
 vaults, drest in the hair-cloth vest, which he always 
 wore, surmounted with his imperial robes. His 
 famous sword, Joyeuse, was belted around him ; 
 with which blade, say the chronicles of St. Denis, he 
 once cleft an armed knight in twain. He was placed 
 on a marble throne, his crown on his head, the Bible 
 on his knees, and the sceptre and buckler of gold — 
 blessed by Pope Leo — under his feet. A precious 
 chain hung around his neck to v/hich was suspended 
 an emerald that enclosed a piece of the true Cross.* 
 A royal mantle was thrown over his shoulders, and 
 the pilgrim's scrip, which he was accustomed to 
 carry on his journeys to Rome, was attached to his 
 
 * This chain and emerald were in the possession of Ilortense, 
 Duchess of St. Leu. They were given to her by Napoleon, 
 who recei\eJ them as tribute, from the inhabitants of Aix-la- 
 Chapelle.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 107 
 
 girdle. The sepulchre, paved with pieces of gold, 
 was perfumed ; the bronze door was closed and 
 masoned over ; and a triumphal arch was erected on 
 the spot, bearing this inscription : 
 
 " Under this stone lies the body of Karl, the great 
 and orthodox Emperor, who nobly aggrandized the 
 kingdom of the Franks, reigned happily forty-seven 
 years, and died a septuagenarian on the fifth of 
 the Calends of February in the eight hundred and 
 fourteenth year of the incarnation of our Lord, at the 
 seventh Indiction." 
 
 Hlodo-wig or Lud-wig I. — (Louis L) surnamed 
 the Debonnaire, son of Charlemagne, succeeded to 
 the Empire. In conformity to the commands of his 
 father, he refused to submit either to consecration or 
 election. He took the hereditary crown from the 
 altar, and with his own hands placed it on his head, 
 demonstrating, by that act, that he had his authority 
 from God alone, and acknowledged no fealty but to 
 his Creator. This instance of energetic action, 
 however, seems to have exhausted him. The colos- 
 sal empire of Charlemagne slipped from his feeble 
 grasp into dismembered provinces,* and his succes- 
 sors divided it into nine separate kingdoms, viz. : 
 Neustria, Austrasia, Germany, Italy, Lorraine, Cis- 
 jurane-Burgundy, Transjurane-Burgundy, Brittany, 
 
 * We shall hereafter examine the causes of this dismember- 
 ment.
 
 108 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 and NavaiTe. His reign was but a series of revolts 
 and civil wars. His sons, by his first man'iage, were 
 Hlot-her, (Lothaire I.), Peppin, and Hlodo-wig. 
 The first was associated with his father in the 
 empire; the others, created, severally, Kings of 
 Aquitania and Bavaria, refused to admit Karl-le- 
 Chauve (Charles the Bald) — a son by a second mar- 
 riage — to a participation of power. They twice 
 took arms against their father and twice dethroned 
 hun. Hlot-her then made him prisoner and carried 
 him in his train from Rolfeld to Marlem, from Mar- 
 lem to Metz, and from Metz to Soissons, where he 
 incarcerated him in the Monastery of St. Medard ; 
 he then took from him the young Karl, his son, and 
 sent him to the abbey of Prum in the forest of 
 Ardennes. 
 
 But the three brothers soon quarrelled with each 
 other. Peppin and Hlodo-wig, alarmed at the 
 ambition of Hlot-her, leagued together against him, 
 delivered their father from bondage, and reinstated 
 him upon the throne, Hlot-her marched against 
 his father a third time ; but in this instance, he was 
 defeated, himself made prisoner, and, by his father's 
 great clemency, was banished to Italy. Soon after 
 this, Peppin, King of Aquitania, died ; and the 
 Emperor, despoiling his grandchildren (Peppin's 
 sons) in favor of his son, gave the whole of southern 
 and western France to Kai*l-le-Chauve. He 
 restricted Hlodo-wig, who murmured at this division,
 
 THE FRANK MONAUCHY. 109 
 
 to Bavaria only ; added a few provinces to the 
 dominions of Hlot-her and made him swear to be a 
 faithful guardian to young Karl (the Bald) who was 
 his half-brother. 
 
 Hlodo-wig, indignant at the partiality shown to 
 his brothers, revolted against his father's authority ; 
 but the Emperor marched toward him, and by his 
 presence alone dispersed the rebel army, without 
 striking a blow. He forbore, however, to punish 
 him with severity, as he had previously forborne in 
 the case of Hlot-her. Immediately after this he 
 fell sick, panic-struck by the appearance of two suc- 
 cessive comets, followed by an eclipse of the sun so 
 total that at eleven o'clock in the morning the stars 
 were as distinctly visible as at midnight. He subse- 
 quently died of inanition on an island of the Rhine, 
 near Mayence, having taken, for forty days, no other 
 nourishment than the sacramental emblems of the 
 Lord's supper.* 
 
 Hlodo-wig-le-Debonnaire was the first Frank 
 King who cultivated the sciences. He studied 
 astronomy under -an Arabian professor, spoke the 
 Latin, and understood the Greek. The beautiful 
 cathedral of Rheims was built during his reign ; to 
 which reign, also, the several ordeals of water, fire, 
 and the Cross owe their institution. About this 
 period, the Normans disembarked and established 
 
 * Vita Ludovici pii. 
 10
 
 110 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 themselves on that part of Neustria to which, at a 
 later period, they gave their name. 
 
 Thus the second race had hardly reached its third 
 generation, when the foundations of its power were 
 undermined. The Carolingian monarchy, young 
 under Peppin, and mature under Charlemagne, was 
 already superannuated under Hlodo-wig-le-Debon- 
 naire.* 
 
 * We continue the orthography of the names of the first race,' 
 because our task, as historian, is yet with the Franks, and not 
 the French, The Germanic idiom, up to this time,- was the 
 court-language, and the Latin itself had not yet despoiled the 
 word Hludovicus of the H of its original orthography. 
 
 The following curious acrostic — which serves as a prologue 
 to the poem of Ermold Le Noir — will be a proof to our readers 
 of what we advance. In 881 — forty years after the acrostic 
 was written — a song, the first two lines of which we subjoin, 
 wag composed in honor of Lud-wig, surnamed the Stammerer. 
 It was written, evidently, in German ; and the word Lud-wig 
 appears to us clearly to indicate the intermediate transition 
 from Hlodo-wig to Louis ; 
 
 Einen konig wrez ich 
 Heisset herr Ludwig. 
 
 Un roi je connais, 
 
 II se nomme le seigneur Ludwig. 
 
 AuGUSTiN Thierry. 
 
 But to return to Ermold : --- [This acrostic is more curious than 
 M. Dumas' remarks upon it would lead the reader to suppose : 
 for the author, with surprising ingenuity, has made the last
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. Ill 
 
 Karl-le-Chauve ascended the throne in 840, and 
 no sooner had he done so, than Hlot-her, disregard- 
 ing his oath of guardiansliip to his father, assembled 
 an army and marched into Burgundy. Karl imme- 
 
 letter of each line the same as the first: so that it i* n double 
 or compound acrostic] 
 
 ermoldi'nigelli prologus. 
 
 E-ditor aethereA splendes qui patris in arc E 
 
 R-egnator mundi, fautorque, redemptor et aucto . . . . R 
 
 M-ilitibus dignis reseras qui regna poloru M 
 
 O-lim conclusos culpft parientis Avern O 
 
 L-uminis seterni revehis qui, Christe, tribuna L 
 
 D-avid psahnicanuB prajsaga carminis illu D 
 
 V-oce prius modulans dudum miranda relat V 
 
 S-acra futurorum qui prompsit carmina vate S 
 
 C-onfer rusticulo qui possim Ccesaris in ho C 
 
 E-ximii exiguo modulanter poscito rit E 
 
 C-armine gesta loqui. Nymphas non deprecor istu . . C 
 
 I-nsani quodam ut prisci fescere perit I 
 
 N-ec rogo Pierides, nee Phoebi tramite lime N 
 
 I-ngrediar capturus opem, nee Apollinis aim I 
 
 T-alia cum fascerent, quos vana pueritia lusi T 
 
 H-orridus et teter depressit corda Vehemot H 
 
 L-imina siderei potius peto luminis ut so L 
 
 V-erus justiticc dignetur dona precat V 
 
 D-edere : namque mihi non flagito versibus hoc quo . . D 
 
 O-rania gestorum percurram pectine parv O 
 
 I-n quibus et magni possunt cessare magistr I 
 
 C-sesaream flectam aciem, sed cantibus hsec hu C 
 
 I-ncipiam celebrare. Fa ve modo, Christe, precant , . I
 
 112 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 diately formed an alliance with his brother Hlodo- 
 wig of Bavaria, to defend his crown and punish the 
 perjured King. The hostile forces met at Fontehay, 
 on the twenty-fifth of June, 841 ; and, after a furi- 
 ous contest, Karl and Hlodo-wig obtained a decisive 
 victory. Hlot-her abandoned his dominions to the 
 conquerors, who divided them between themselves 5 
 but afterward they restored him to his throne, on his 
 making conciliatory advances. This peace, however, 
 brought about a new division of the kingdom ; Hlot- 
 her soliciting from his brothers a portion of temtory 
 besides his own, on account of the title of Emperor, 
 conferred on him by his father.* 
 
 The partition was therefore, eventually, as fol- 
 
 C-armina me exilio pro quis nunc principis ab ho. .. C 
 
 A-uxilium miserando level qui celsus in aul A 
 
 E-rigit abjoctos, parcit peccantibua, atqu E 
 
 S-pargit in immensum clari vice lumina soli S 
 
 A-lta regis Christi princeps qui maxime sceptr A 
 
 R-ex Hludovice pie, et pietatis munera Ccesa R 
 
 I-nsignis meriti, praeclarus dogmate Christ I 
 
 S-uscipe gratanter profert quae dona Nigellu S 
 
 A-usubus acta tamen qui tangere carmine vestr .... A 
 
 R-egis ob ajterni vestro qui pectore sempe R 
 
 M-ansit amor, Ccesar, famulum relevato cadente . . . M 
 
 A-ltitonans Christus vos quo sublim'et in sethr A 
 
 * Si vellent aliquid illi supra tertiam partem regni, propter 
 nomen imperatoris quod illi pater eorum concesserat, et propter 
 dignitatem imperii quam avus regno Francorum adjeceratj au- 
 gere, facerent. — Nithardi historia.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 113 
 
 lows : Karl took that part of Gaul westward of the 
 Scheldt, the Meuse, the Saone and the Rhone, with the 
 northern part of Spain down to the line of the Ebro: 
 that is, all of modern France excepting Lorraine, 
 Franche-Comte, Dauphiny, and Provence, with the 
 addition of Navarre. Lud-wig,* those states speali- 
 ing the Teutonic language from the Rhine to the 
 Alps ; that is, the empire of Germany bounded by 
 Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia and Prussia. And 
 Lot-her, in addition to Italy, took the eastern part of 
 Gaul comprised, on the South, between the Rhone 
 and the Alps — on the North, between the Rhine 
 and the Meuse — and between the Meuse and the 
 Scheldt as far as the mouths of those rivers.t It was 
 this long band of territoty, containing four nations 
 speaking four different languages, and taken partly 
 from the Frank kingdom and partly from the Ger- 
 man empire, that the two brothers, Karl and Lud- 
 wig, consented to attach, as a train, to the imperial 
 mantle of Lot-her. 
 
 This same band of territory, however, was so 
 slightly attached to the imj^erial mantle — Italy — 
 that it parted from it by its own weight, and became 
 a little kingdom by itself. It was called Lot-her- 
 Rike,f from Lot-her; and, from his children, Lot- 
 
 * From this time, the orthography of Hlodo-wig was perma- 
 nently changed to Lvxd-wig ; as also that of Hlot-her to Lot-her. 
 t Augustin Thierry, 
 t Kingdom of Lot-her. 
 10*
 
 114 THE FRANK M0NAKCH7, 
 
 heringe-Rike ; * a term of which Latin authors have 
 made Lotharingia, and:we, Lorraine. 
 
 After this great partition, we find, for the first time, 
 in the MSS. of a monk of St. Gall, the word France 
 used in nearly the same acceptation as we now use 
 it. " At the conclusion of this division of territory," 
 says he, " there was a division of name : Gaul, of 
 which the Franks had taken possession, was called 
 New France ; and Germany, whence they came^ 
 Old France."t 
 
 Should the reader desire to see a specimen of the 
 language spoken in New France at this period, he 
 need but examine the two following quotations : the 
 first is taken from the idiom of the North of France, 
 i. e. the conquering nation ; and the other, from that 
 of the South, or conquered nation. 
 
 Oath of coalition against Lot-her, pronounced in the 
 Frank, or Teutonic tongue, previous to the battle of 
 Fontenay :\ 
 
 In godes minna ind um tes christianes folches ind 
 unser bedher gealtnissi fon thesemo dage frammor- 
 des, so fram so mir Got gewizei indi mahd furgibit, so 
 
 * Kingdom of the heirs of Lot-her. 
 
 + Francia, quae dicitur nova, Francia, quae dicitur antiqua. 
 — MoNACHUs Gai^lensi's. 
 
 t Nithard. History of the dissensions of the sons of Louis- 
 le-Debonnaire.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 115 
 
 hald ih tesan minan Bruodher, soso man mit rehtu 
 sinan Bruder seal, intliiu thaz ennig soso ma duo ; 
 indi mit Lutheren inno Kleinnin thing ne geganga . 
 zhe minait wilion imo ce scanden werden. 
 
 The same oath, jyronounced hy Hlodo-wig, in Gal- 
 lic, or the Romance Language : 
 
 Pro Deo amur et prochristian poblo et nostro 
 commun salvament, dist di in avant in quant Deus 
 savir et podir me dunat, si salvarai eo cist meon 
 fradre Karlo, et en adjudha, et in cadhuna cosa, si 
 com om perdreit son fradre salvar dist, in o quid il 
 mi alae si fazet et ab Lud-her nul plaid nunquam 
 prendrai, qui meon vol cist fradre Karle in damno sit. 
 
 French tra7islation of the oath : 
 
 Pour I'amour de Dieu et pour le peuple chretien, 
 et notre commun salut de ce jour et en avant, en 
 tant que Dieu me donnera de savoir et de pouvoir, 
 je soutiendrai mon frere Karl ici present, par aide 
 eten toute chose, comme il est juste qu'on soutienne 
 son frere, et jamais avec Lot-her je ne ferai aucun 
 accord qui, de ma volonte, soit prejudiciable a mon 
 frere. 
 
 And, in English : 
 
 For the love of God, and for the sake of this 
 Christian people — as, also, for the common weal, 
 from this time forward — according to the wisdom
 
 116 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 and strength that God shall give me, I will sustain 
 my brother Karl, here present, by aid and all things 
 else with which it is fitting that one should assist his 
 brother ; and I will never, willingly, make compact 
 with Lot-her which may be prejudicial to my 
 brother. 
 
 In addition to these two languages, there was'still 
 another used in France — the pure Celtic* 
 
 The people enclosed in this cradle of growing 
 France, and who, with the Normans, were to com- 
 pose the French nation, were the Roman-Gauls ; 
 the Burh-Gunds, or Burgundians ; the West-Goths, 
 or Visigoths ; the Vascons, or Gascons ; the Bretons ; 
 and the Franks. 
 
 While this great revolution was in progress, the 
 Normans prepared to establish themselves on tbe 
 shores of France. They were, however, no longer 
 a few wandering pirates, prowling privily about the 
 Neustrian ocean j but a navy of six hundred sail, 
 bearing a King, generals, and anarmy. They sepa- 
 rated their forces into two grand divisions, and one 
 ascended the Loire as far as Nantes and occupied 
 Guyenne, Anjou and Touraine ; while the other 
 entered the Seine with tbe tide, surprised and sacked 
 Rouen, and advanced to Paris. They found the 
 city defenceless; Karl having abandoned it in terror, 
 
 * In vero Celtice, vel, si mavis, Gallice loquere. — Sulpice 
 Severe.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 117 
 
 and fortified himself at St. Denis, in order to protect 
 the precious relics of the Apostle of France. As 
 the Normans approached, Karl proposed a negotia- 
 tion for peace, which the pirates granted on receiving 
 seven thousand livres of silver.* But a peace, so 
 obtained, is certain to be of short duration ; and in 
 this case, although the Normans retired, it was to 
 return again in greater force. 
 
 Meanwhile, young Peppin, from whom Lud-wig- 
 le-Debonnaire had wrested a crown to bestow it upon 
 Karl, formed an alliance with these brigands, and the 
 realm was soon desolated by fire and sword. A new 
 treaty was now made on the following basis : a con- 
 tribution of four thousand livres was to be provided 
 by the Franks ; and, in addition to this, a certain sum 
 was to be paid to the Norman chiefs for every Nor- 
 man soldier killed by the inhabitants of the country ; 
 and it was further stipulated that the Franks, should 
 seize and return to the Normans all prisoners who 
 had escaped, without ransom. The invaders then 
 retired to Jumieges to await the execution of the 
 conditions of the treaty. 
 
 The price of this retreat, for the country beyond 
 the Loire alone, amounted to more than five thou- 
 
 * Thelivre (or pound) of France, in the time of Charlemagne, 
 is supposed to have been a pound tceight, or twelve ounces, of 
 silver : worth about thirteen of our dollars. The present 
 French livre is worth about twenty cents.
 
 118 THE PRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 sand livres. Every seigneurial mansion, whether of 
 Count, bishop, abbe, or vassal of the King, w^as taxed 
 one sous (i. e. the twentieth part of a livre, or about 
 sixty cents American currency) ; each house of eight 
 free persons was taxed eight deniers ; and each 
 house of a serf, four deniers* — a denier is the 
 twelfth part of a sous. 
 
 Some lime after, another army of these barbarians 
 united with the Bretons and tooE possession of Mans. 
 They were eventually repelled, but Rod-bertt-le- 
 Fort, Count of Paris, and great-grand-father of 
 Hug-Capet I [Hugh-Capet), was killed in the action. 
 
 The Saracens, also, devastated, by partial inva- 
 sions, the South and West of Italy. Peppin now 
 caused himself to be recognised King of Aquitania 5 
 and Nomenoe, King of Brittany. 
 
 The Emperor Lot-her expired about the same time. 
 
 * Acta conventus carisiaci in capitul. Caroli Calvi. — The 
 annals of St. Berlin, which also give an account of this impost, 
 differ from the above in the assessment of the tax :-^ " Karl 
 agreed to pay the Normans four thousand livres of silver ; and, 
 to raise the sum, he ordered throughout his kingdom a levy of 
 six deniers upon every free manor, three upon every servile 
 manor, one upon every two cottages, one upon every inhabit- 
 ant, and ten upon those who were accounted merchants." 
 
 + Brilliant speaker. 
 
 * Provident. As at the time when Capet ascended the 
 throne, the Romance orthography began to prevail, we shall 
 hereafter write, Hugues, instead of Hug,
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 119 
 
 at the abbey of Prum, having divided his dominiong 
 between his three sons, Lud-wig, Lot-her, and 
 Karl. Lud-wig received Italy and the title of 
 Emperor. Lot-her obtained that part conceded by 
 treaty which became the kingdom of Lorraine; and 
 Karl took possession of Burgundy and Provence. 
 Lud-wig died in 875, and Karl-le-Chauve imme- 
 diately crossed Mount Cenis with an army, forced 
 his way into Italy and marched directly to Rome. 
 Here, by the aid of enoi'mous concessions to the 
 Pope, he was consecrated Emperor. He died two 
 years afterward at the village of Brios, in a peasant's 
 hut ; poisoned, as it is believed, by a Jewish physi- 
 cian named Sedecias.* His body was at first interred 
 at Nantua; but was afterward transported to St. 
 Denis, where a magnificent tomb was erected to his 
 memory in the middle of the choir of the abbey. 
 His son, Lud-wig II., succeeded him in 877. 
 
 His short reign of two years is remarkable only for 
 the resuscitation of the right of election vested in the 
 nobles, who repossessed themselves of power as it 
 escaped from the weakened hands of royalty. 
 Lud-wig was proclaimed King by means of conces- 
 
 * Karl, being oppressed with fever and thirst, took a draught 
 containing a powder given him by his physician, a Jew named 
 Sedecias, whom he befriended and confided in too much. It 
 was a mortal poison that he swallowed, — Annals of St. 
 Berlin,
 
 120 THE PRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 sions of fiefs and grants of land : alienations from 
 the royal demesnes, which, passing from his hands 
 into those of the nobles, laid the foundation of the 
 national feudal system, as the relinquishment of terri- 
 tory belonging to the children of Hlodo-wig laid the 
 foundation, as we have seen, for the feudalism of the 
 Franks. His mother brought to him from Italy the 
 sword of St. Peter, the crown, the-sceptre, and the 
 imperial mantle, with the will of his father declaring 
 him successor to the empire. But he had not the 
 courage to contend for his hereditary rights, and 
 Karl-mann, eldest son of Lud-wig the German, pre- 
 sented himself for election and bore away the title of 
 Emperor. 
 
 After a reign of but little more than eighteen 
 months, Lud-wig II. died at Compeigne on Good- 
 Friday, April tenth, 879.* Lud-wig III. and Karl- 
 mann, although his sons by a former repudiated wife, 
 succeeded him. Karl the Simple, his youngest son, 
 was born shortly after his death. 
 
 The young princes, neither of whom was more 
 than fifteen or sixteen years of age, were consecrated 
 together at the abbey of Ferriere, and they divided 
 between them their father's kingdom in conformity 
 to the decision of their subjects. 
 
 The Normans, meanwhile, continued their ravages. 
 They pillaged, burnt or razed to the ground, on one 
 
 ♦ Annals of St. Berlin,
 
 THE FRAiNK MONARCHY. 121 
 
 side, Cambrai, St. Riguier, St. Valeiy, Amiens, 
 Corbie, and Arras: and, on the other side, Maes- 
 tricht, Liege, Tongres, Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 and Malmedi. Lud-wig III. inarched against them, 
 and defeated them at Saucourt, in Ponthieu, with 
 great slaughter, nine thousand barbarians having been 
 left on the field. But they soon rallied on the banks 
 of the Loire and were again defeated at Tours. 
 While Lud-wig, after the battle, was making his 
 entrance into the city, his attention was attracted by 
 a young girl of remarkable beauty. She fled at his 
 approach, but he pursued her, on horseback, into a 
 narrow street when his steed became unmanageable 
 and dashed with him through an arched door where 
 the maiden had disappeared. His forehead here 
 struck against the arch with such violence that he 
 was thrown back on the saddle and his spine was 
 broken by the fall. He died of the injuries, three 
 days after, in the year 882. Karl-mann succeeded 
 him and took the two kingdoms under his ovra con- 
 trol. 
 
 About the same time, Karl-le-Gros [Charles the 
 Fat) succeeded his brother Lud-wig the German, as 
 Emperor of the West. He commenced his reign 
 by a disgraceful treaty with the Normans, — who, at 
 that period, were devastating Germany — conceding 
 to them the territory they had conquered, on the 
 sole condition that God-fred, one of their Dukes, 
 should embrace the Christian faith and espouse the 
 11
 
 122 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 Princess Ghiselle, daughter of Lot-her. This was 
 the first settlement, sanctioned by treaty, which intro- 
 duced these barbarians into the heart of Europe. 
 
 On the other hand, Karl-mann, at first victorious 
 over the Normans, was now, in turn, defeated by 
 them ; and he saved his provinces from pillage, only 
 by paying to the victors the sum of twelve thousand 
 livres of pure silver.* While his emissaries were 
 occupied in collecting troops for a new campaign, 
 he was mortally wounded in the thigh, at a boar-hunt, 
 by one of those fierce animals at bay.t 
 
 Karl, the posthumous son of Lud-wig, was now 
 only seven years of age. But as the energies of a 
 full-grown man were requisite to keep the Normans 
 in check at this period, the nobles refused the crown 
 to the legitimate heir and offered it to Karl III., 
 surnamed the Fat, who repaired at once to Gonde- 
 vrille, near Toul, and was proclaimed King in 884. 
 
 * Immediately, the souls of these avaricious people became in- 
 flamed with the love of money ; and, having exacted twelve 
 thousand livres of pure silver, they promised to preserve peace 
 for twelve years. — Annalcs de Meiz. 
 
 t Karl-mann departed for the chase ; at which, grievously 
 wounded by a boar, he lost both his life and his kingdom, 6th 
 October, 884. Some say he was wounded by one of his follow- 
 ers, who carried his weapon carelessly ; and as the deed was 
 committed accidentally, the king concealed the truth, lest the 
 man, being innocent, should nevertheless suffer death. — Annales 
 de Melz.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHIT. 123 
 
 Thus the empire and kingdom were again under 
 the control of one man, as they had formerly been 
 when the son of Peppin swayed the sceptre : but 
 now the Emperor was Charles the Fat instead of 
 Charles the Great, (Charlemagne.) 
 
 The Normans, having possessed themselves of the 
 money which was the price and object of their treaty, 
 awaited only a plausible pretext to violate it : and 
 this pretext was soon supplied by the assassination 
 of God-fred, who was slain at the island of Betau, 
 by order of Karl. They promptly collected their 
 forces to the number of forty thousand, and under 
 the command of Sighe-fred burned Pontoise and 
 laid siege to Paris. 
 
 This city, at the period in question, occupied only 
 the little oblong island in the centre of the present 
 metropolis now styled Isle-de-la Cite. Two bridges, 
 thrown across the two opposite arms of the river, 
 formed the means of access to the town. One of 
 these bridges was constructed on the site of the 
 present Pont-au-Change ; and the other, on that of 
 the Petit-Pont ; they were defended by two large 
 stone towex's,* and Eudes, or Ode,t Count of Paris, 
 
 * A charming isle possesses thee, (Paris): the river surrounds 
 thy walls, its arms embrace thee, and its soft waves glide under 
 the bridges that lead to thee on the right hand and on the left. 
 On either extremity of these bridges, and beyond the river, pro- 
 tecting towers guard thee. — Abbon, Siege of Paris by the 
 Normans. 
 
 t Generous,
 
 124 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 who was afterward King of France, placed him- 
 self at the head of the inhabitants to sustain the 
 siege. 
 
 The Normans pressed their assault with the aid 
 of warlike machines almost unknown to the Franks.* 
 These were balistas, for hurling stones ; galleries 
 of approach, which, by their double roof, protected 
 the besiegers ; battering rams, intended to crush in 
 the walls with their heads of iron ; and fire ships, 
 floating with the current, that lit up a conflagration 
 wherever they gi'ounded. The besieged, on their 
 part, accomplished wonders in defence. The Bishop 
 Gozlin, especially, animated the garrison by his 
 exhortations and example. He planted a large 
 cross on the ramparts, under the shadow of which he 
 fought, with aiTows or battle axe, every day for the 
 year and a half that the siege continued.! 
 
 At length, Karl-le-Gros determined to march in 
 person to the aid of Paris, which had made such a 
 valiant defence. And one morning, the besieged 
 
 ♦ The Danes fabricated — astonishing truth ! — three machines, 
 mounted on sixteen wheels of enormous size, made with im- 
 mense chains and bound together. On each was placed a bat- 
 tering-ram covered with a raised roof: in the cavities of their 
 centres and in the area of their sides, it is said that they could 
 conceal sixty armed men with their helmets. — Abbon. 
 
 + There, however, many nobles and brave men made them- 
 selves conspicuous; above all, the prelate Gozlin shone the 
 brightest. — Ibid.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 125 
 
 were surprised to behold the summit of Mont-des- 
 Marlyrs* crowned with the Emperor's army. 
 
 He had arrived, however, not to compel, but to 
 purchase, a truce ; he came to treat and not to fight ; 
 and this second treaty, like the first, was to be moi'e 
 humiliating and disastrous than a defeat. 
 
 The Normans raised the siege on receiving seven 
 hundred livres of silver, and the privilege of free 
 quarters for the winter in Burgundy — where they 
 retired and committed fearful depredations. 
 
 These two successive proofs of weakness in Karl, 
 satisfied the nobles that he was unworthy to rule so 
 mighty an empire. They therefore deposed him, 
 and he died in misery at a monastery situated near 
 the extremity of the little island of Reicheneau, on 
 lake Constance.t 
 
 Our readers will recollect the epitaph of Charle- 
 magne ; we subjoin that of his successor in the fifth 
 degree : — 
 
 " Kai'1-le-Gros, nephew of Karl-le-Grand, entered 
 with great power into Italy and conquered it. He 
 obtained the empire and was crowned Caesar at 
 
 * Now, Montmartre. 
 
 t On the opposite side of the lake, and on the declivity of the 
 mountain, the pretty chateau of Arenberg is visible from the 
 gate of this monastery. It is the residence of the Duchess of 
 St. Leu — another dethroned majesty ; but one who was never 
 so truly a queen as since she has been only a woman. 
 li*
 
 126 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 Rome. After this, his brother, Lud-wig, of Ger- 
 many being dead, he became, by right of inheritance, 
 master of Germany and Gaul. At length, failing in 
 heart, genius and body, a turn of fortune hurled him 
 from the summit of this great empire into this 
 obscure reti'eat, where he died, abandoned by all his 
 kindred, in the year of our Lord, 888." 
 
 The deposition of Karl-le-Gros was nothing more 
 or less than a reaction of the national spirit against 
 foreign influence. His want of energy — disrepu- 
 table to himself and to the people who had elevated 
 him to the sovereign power — was the pretext, but 
 not the motive, for his dethronement. By the new 
 partition that we have designated, Finance became a 
 distinct kingdom and perceived, at once, the possi- 
 bility and the necessity of escaping from the German 
 yoke. So long as the throne was filled by a King of 
 the Frank race, this escape did not seem feasible : 
 but now, the lords — whose territorial possessions, 
 conceded by the German dynasty, attached them to 
 the soil of France — took part with the soil against 
 the dynasty, banished the legitimate heir, Karl-le- 
 Simple,* and, in his stead, placed on the throne 
 Eudes,t Count of Paris, the valiant defender of that 
 city so basely abandoned by Karl-le-Gros. An 
 entire revolution, therefore, took place. The descend- 
 
 * Carolus Simplex — Stultus — Sottus. 
 
 + Son of Rod-bert, the Strong, who, as we have before 
 related, was killed by a Norman arrow at the siege of Mans.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 127 
 
 ants of the Carolingian race were expelled as anti- 
 national, the heir to the crown was dispossessed, and 
 a man of another race was called to the throne. 
 
 Karl-le-Simple now did, what Kings who are no 
 longer wanted generally do — he applied to a foreign 
 power for aid. He appealed to the Emperor Eren- 
 hulf,* with the determination, since he could not be 
 elected by the free will of the lords, to be imposed 
 upon them by force of arms. Eren-hulf, aware that 
 with the expulsion of Karl all pretext of authority 
 over France would escape his grasp, took the exiled 
 monarch under his pi'otection, convened a public 
 assembly at Worms, and commanded the prelates and 
 Counts to unite their exertions in oixler to reinstate 
 Karl upon the throne. 
 
 Warned by these menacing demonstrations, Eu- 
 des prepared for a vigorous defence ; though he 
 was obliged, at the same time, to make head against 
 the Normans. But, say the annals of Metz, " he 
 was a valiant and skilful man, surpassing all others 
 in beauty of face, height of stature, greatness of 
 sti'ength, and profundity of wisdom." 
 
 The Normans invaded France ; but they were 
 vanquished. Karl, the Pretender, was also repulsed. 
 
 Eren-hulf, however, did not abandon his project, 
 for he was aware of the advantage he could derive 
 
 ♦Eminently helpful. In Latin, Arnolphus; in modern 
 French, Arnoult; and, in English, Arnold, or Arnulph.
 
 128 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 from the fact of having so important a vassal as the 
 'Frank King. Nevertheless, he dared not openly 
 declare himself against Eudes, who, in that case, 
 would probably resort to invasion in the place of 
 a defensive war. He therefore affected to have 
 renounced his plans in regard to France, but labored 
 privately, at the same time, to accomplish Karl's res- 
 toration. 
 
 For this purpose, he gave the kingdom of Lot-her,* 
 which was on the frontier of France, to his bastard 
 son Swinde-bald ;t who, by his directions, assembled 
 a large army, with the avowed object of aiding his 
 father in his projected invasion of Italy. But after his 
 arrangements were completed, he took advantage 
 of the time when Eudes was engaged with the Nor- 
 mans, and suddenly invaded France. He proceeded, 
 without molestation, as far as Laon, and laid siege 
 to that town. 
 
 Eudes immediately drew off a part of his troops 
 and proceeded to Laon, where, however, Swinde-bald 
 did not deem it prudent to await him, but retreated 
 precipitately into Lorraine. Eudes then made a 
 formal and imperative demand on Eren-hulf for an 
 acknowledgment of his title to the crown of France, 
 which the Emperor conceded. 
 
 Karl now gave up all hope of returning to France 
 
 * We have already stated that this kingdom was Lorraine, 
 t Active and bold.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 129 
 
 during the life of Eutles : and as the latter had 
 no children he waited patiently for his death, which 
 occurred on the third of January, 898. 
 
 From this moment, Karl's restoration was easy. 
 The Emperor had but to menace the frontier with 
 an army, when the national party, having now no 
 rallying point, yielded to his demand, and the de- 
 scendant of the German race of Charlemagne re- 
 ascended the throne of his fathers. 
 
 Historians generally have been content to narrate 
 the occurrence, simply, of these various revolutions ; 
 but, from what we have now recorded, the reader 
 will see that the motives and causes that led to them 
 are equally easy to be ascertained. Indeed, we have 
 but to study the history of interests, to become con- 
 versant with the history of men. 
 
 Karl did not obtain the kingdom of France with- 
 out enormous sacrifices. Gratitude induced him to 
 inake large concessions of territory to his partizans ; 
 and fear compelled him to adopt the same course 
 towards those who opposed his elevation to the 
 throne. Each noble, then, placing himself in the 
 centre of his lands, formed a sort of independent 
 sovereignty of his own : and as the necessity increa- 
 sed that each should resist, with his own forces, the 
 reiterated invasions of the Normans, the nobles, by 
 common consent organized, at their own cost, disci- 
 plined bands of troops, containing as groat a num- 
 ber as their fortunes severally would permit. From
 
 130 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 this time, the custom of levying companies of hired 
 soldiers takes its date. The weaker put themselves 
 under the protection of the stronger. He who pos- 
 sessed but a castle rendered homage to him who 
 was master of a town ; and he who held a town, to 
 him who commanded a province : while the gov- 
 ei'nors of provinces held office directly from the 
 King. Thus was laid the foundation of the great 
 feudal government, which we shall find completely 
 organized under the third race. 
 
 While this seigneurial system — germ of the future 
 noblesse — was establishing itself in the kingdom, a 
 Danish exile, named Hrolf,* collecting together all 
 who were willing to attach themselves to his for- 
 tunes, made a descent upon England, where he won 
 two victories : thence, he again put to sea and 
 landed at Frison, which he compelled to become 
 tributary to him, He then made a descent on the 
 north of France, took possession of Rouen and re- 
 built its walls and towers. He soon converted this 
 town into a formidable fortress, whence he made 
 eruptions sometimes upon England, sometimes upon 
 Brittany, and sometimes into the very heart of 
 France. 
 
 About this time, a great clamor from all sides 
 
 * In the Romance language, Rou or Roul, whence comes the 
 French Raoul, and the English RoUd,
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 131 
 
 saluted the ears of Karl. Cries of distress were 
 heard from Clermont, Mans, Nantes, Angers and 
 Chartres ; there were loud murmurs of disaffection 
 from the national party, reproaching him for his 
 weakness and inefficiency as sovereign of the realm. 
 Karl became convinced that the revolution which he 
 thought extinguished, was in fact only dormant ; 
 and, believing that a permanent reconciliation with 
 his opponents was impossible ; that the result of his 
 contest with the Normans was doubtful ; and that 
 his defeat, by giving strength to the enemies of the 
 German line, would lead to his dethronement ; came 
 to the conclusion that this Danish chieftain and his 
 army, strangers to the national interests of France 
 and the German influence of the Emperor, might aid 
 him powerfully to suppress the malcontents, and 
 relieve him from all dependence on his imperial 
 patron and protector. He therefore sent an embassy 
 to Hrolf, proposing to recognise him as Duke of one 
 or more provinces : and, that their mutual political 
 interests might be closely imited, he proposed to 
 give him his daughter in marriage, on condition of 
 his becoming a Christian. Hrolf acceded to the 
 proposals — demanding the possession of those shores 
 which he and his ancestors had so often desolated, 
 and with theni the surrender of the Duchy of Brit- 
 tany. After a long discussion, these were finally 
 yielded. Duke Rod-bert, brother of Eudes, stood 
 god-father for Hrolf and bestowed his own name
 
 132 THE FRANK MONAUCHy. 
 
 upon him. He then esjooiised the Princess Ghiselle : 
 and all that part of Neustria, which extends from 
 the mouth of the Somme to the gates of St. Malo, 
 received the title of the Duchy of Normandy. Thence- 
 forward this duchy formed a separate dominion 
 under the crown, and Brittany, being subordinate to 
 it, was reduced to the rank of arriere-fief. 
 
 This treaty, which afterward became the source 
 of so many wars, was signed at St. Clair-sur-Epte ; 
 where, also, Hrolf took the oath of allegiance to 
 Karl. It was with great difficulty that this half- 
 savage vassal was persuaded to submit to the cere- 
 mony usual on such occasions. He for a long time 
 refused to place his hands between those of the 
 King; however, he finally consented; but when he 
 was required to bend his knee to his sovereign and 
 to kiss his foot, the fierce Dane, unused to acknow- 
 ledge any authority but that of his idols, and any 
 power but that of his sword, swore he would bow 
 himself to no mortal man, having already humbled 
 himself quite enough in doing reverence to the new 
 God that he had adopted. As this part of the cere- 
 mony was considei'ed essential to its validity, Hrolf 
 at length compromised the matter by commanding 
 one of his officers to perform the requisite kneeling 
 and kissing in his stead. The substitute was accepted 
 from necessity ; but he appeared to have as little 
 "devotion to the deed" as his master; and, either 
 through awkwardness or insolence, he seized the
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 133 
 
 foot of the King so rudely, and raised it so high, that 
 his majesty tumbled backward on the floor.* 
 
 Hrolf thus became Duke of Normandy and Brit- 
 tany under the name of Rod-bert. The twenty 
 years that elapsed between his conversion and his 
 death were employed by him in rebuilding cities, 
 repairing monasteries, cultivating the land and 
 abolishing theft. As one expedient for accomplish- 
 ing the last of these objects, he hung bracelets of 
 gold upon the trees that grew along the high-way and 
 prohibited the people from touching them : and it is 
 asserted that some of these remained for three years 
 undisturbed. Long after his death, his name, alone, 
 had power to protect the oppressed. Hence, the 
 Norman custom of vociferating haro in times of dis- 
 tress — the term being a compound of " Ah, Hrolf!" 
 used by those who, during the Duke's life, called on 
 him for assistance. 
 
 Thus was founded the celebrated colony of the 
 Normans ; whose race, united with that of the 
 Franks, gave Kings to England and Sicily. 
 
 While the preceding events were taking place at 
 St. Clair-sur-Epte, Count Rod-bert quitted the con- 
 ference, and, counting on the discontent occasioned 
 by the treaty just signed by the King, he assembled 
 the lords of the national party and presented himself 
 for election. Rod-bert, as we before remarked, was 
 
 * Chronicles of Duchesne. 
 12
 
 134 THE FRANK. MONARCHY. 
 
 a brother of Eudes, and a descendant from Rod-bert 
 the Strong, and of course his elevation would tend to 
 separate France from German influence. He was 
 elected in due form and was crowned King at 
 Rheims in 921, where he received the oath of fidelity 
 from a large number of jjrelates and lords. 
 
 Karl assembled an army to suppress this formi- 
 dable insurrection and was joined by William, Count 
 of Auvergne, and Raymond, Count of Toulouse. 
 They advanced upon Soissons where the national 
 army awaited them. Rod-bert was in the midst of his 
 troops armed cap-a-pie : that is, with a coat of mail, 
 a helmet and a lance. This weapon, little known 
 under the first race, was now generally used by 
 warriors. That he might be more readily recognised 
 by his soldiers, Rod-bert drew his beard, which was 
 long and white, through his visor; but the device led 
 to his death, for it rendered him a mark to his 
 enemies, and he fell on the field struck, as some 
 affirm by the sabre of the Count Ful-bert, and, 
 according to others, by the King's lance. The bat- 
 tle, however, was not terminated by his death ; for 
 his son Hugues, afterward surnamed the Great, 
 {Hugh the Great) took command of the troops, and, 
 exciting them to revenge his father's death, charged 
 desperately upon the royal army and defeated it. 
 
 Karl took refuge with his kinsman, Here-bert of 
 Vermandois, who promised him an asylum, but 
 detained him as a prisoner. The nobles offered to
 
 THE PRANK MONARCHY. 135 
 
 Hugues the crown they had given to his father; but 
 he declined it and solicited their sufl'rage in favor of 
 his half-brother, Raoul, Duke of Burgundy, w^hom 
 they accepted — indifferent as to the man, provided 
 he were not of Cierman origin. Raoul was therefore 
 elected King of France in the year of grace, 924. 
 
 The inhabitants of the southern provinces, not 
 having been consulted as to this election, protested 
 against it.* A series of domestic and foreign wars 
 succeeded. Some, against the Normans, who upheld 
 the rights of Karl, half-brother of their Count; others, 
 against William, Duke of Aquitania, who urged his 
 claim to the crown as a descendant of the Kings of 
 the first race : others, again, against the Hungarians, 
 who devastated Champagne ; and, lastly, those 
 against Heie-bert of Vermandois, who claimed the 
 county of Laon in recompense for his treason. 
 
 The result of these various wars was that the Nor- 
 mans were repulsed ; the Duke of Aquitania was 
 subdued; the Hungarians were dispersed; and the 
 county of Laon was ceded to Here-bert. Mean- 
 while, Karl-le-Simple died in prison in 929. 
 
 In 936, the death of Raoul caused an interregnum 
 
 * The will of Alfred, Duke of Aquitania, commences thus : 
 " Rege terreno deficiente, Christo regnante." We explained 
 why the house of Aquitania did not rally around the national 
 party, when we said that its chiefs were descended from the 
 Merovingian race.
 
 136 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 of five months, during which time Hugues ruled the 
 kingdom. But the Frank dynasty was not yet 
 extinct : for Lud-wig, a son of Karl-le-Simple, yet 
 survived in England and the Carolingian party pro- 
 posed him for election. At the same time Athelstane, 
 King of England, sent ambassadors to Wil-helm,* 
 son of Rod-bert and Duke of Normandy, soliciting 
 his influence to sustain the claims of young Lud-wig.t 
 The national party, either from disgust or timidity, 
 proposed no rival candidate ; and as Hugues had no 
 desire for the throne, but was foremost to declare 
 himself in favor of the Carolingian heir, Lud-wig 
 was recalled to France and consecrated and crowned 
 at Laon in presence of nearly all the nobles of the 
 realm and more than twenty prelates.| 
 
 This occurred in 936, and the new King was called 
 Lud-wig-d'Outi'e-mer — Louis the Transviarine, or, 
 Louis the Stranger. 
 
 One of Lud-wig's first acts was opposed to 
 the national interest, end, of course, impolitic. 
 Finding himself surrounded by nobles with whose 
 
 * Willingly protecting. 
 
 + Misit rex Anglorum Alstanus ad Guillelmum, principem 
 Normannorum, legates cum muneribus, ut Ludovicum, cum 
 concilio procerum Francorum patris, in regnum revocaret. — 
 Script, rer. Jr. 
 
 t He was thence conducted to Laon, consecrated with the 
 royal benediction, and crowned by the loi'd archbishop, Artaud. 
 — Chronicles of Frodoard.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 137 
 
 opinions he could not sympathize, and jealous lest 
 they should eventually deal with him as they had 
 done with Kai"l-le-Simple, he formed an alliance 
 with Otho, King of Germany ; very naturally seek- 
 ing protection from his own kindred.* The lords 
 highly disapproved of this proceeding, as it served to 
 replace France under Teutonic tutelage. Loud 
 murmurings broke forth around the throne, and 
 Hugues withdrew his countenance from the mis- 
 guided King, detaching, at the same time, from the 
 Carolingian party Here-bert of Vermandois, Wil- 
 helm of Normandy and Gilbert of Lorraine. The 
 mal-contents of the whole kingdom joined them 
 and a considerable force was at once organized 
 against Lud-wig. 
 
 The King prepared boldly for the contest, though 
 he was able to bring into the field but about half the 
 number of troops that his enemies had mustered ; but 
 this disadvantage was neutralized by the energetic 
 action of the King's prelates; who, accusing Wil-helm 
 of having burned some villages in Flanders, and Here- 
 bert of retaining in his possession some property be- 
 longing to the abbey of St. Remy-de-Rheims, — 
 promptly excommunicated them both. The two 
 Dukes were palsied in their efforts by the thunders 
 of the Church ; and Hugues, fearful lest, at the 
 moment, they should abandon the enterprise, pro- 
 
 * AuGusTiN Thierry. 
 13*
 
 138 THE FRANK MONAECHIT. 
 
 posed a truce for a few months ; which was acceded 
 to by Lud-wig on receiving hostages.* 
 
 An event now occurred that disunited the interests 
 of Lud-wig and Otho, and gave rise to a contest 
 between them. 
 
 The inhabitants of Lorraine revolted against the 
 King of Germany; and, declaring themselves in- 
 dependent, elected Lud-wig-d'Outre-mer for their 
 sovereign. Lud-wig accepted the appointment and 
 repaired to Lorraine, while England appeared with 
 a fleet on the coast of Flanders, to recognise and 
 support the title of her adopted son.t 
 
 But no sooner had Lud-wig departed from Lor- 
 raine, on his return to France, than Otho entered the 
 revolting province at the head of his troops, pillaged 
 and burned several towns, and re-established his own 
 authority over it. 
 
 Meanwhile Hugues, Here-bert and Wil-helm 
 besieged Rheiras. The city was defended by the 
 prelate Artaud, who was Carolingian, but a part of 
 his troops declared for the national cause, and on 
 the sixth day Artaud was forced to surrender. The 
 deacon Hugues — son of Here-bert — was entrusted 
 with the government of the city, and the three vic- 
 torious Dukes marched on to the town of Laon. 
 
 * Frodoard. 
 
 + The troops sent from England by Athelstane to sustain 
 Lud-wig, crossed the sea and devastated the country of the 
 Morins. — Chronique de Frodoard,
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 139 
 
 They were vigorously pressing the siege of this 
 place, when Lud-wig approached them from Bur- 
 gundy, at the head of his troops. The Dukes, dis- 
 liking to be placed between the garrison of Laon 
 and the army of the King, raised the siege and 
 retired to AUigni where they found Otho, to whom 
 they offered their services and the crown of France.* 
 
 Lud-wig pursued the retreating insurgents with 
 all the troops he could collect; but Hugues surprised 
 his array by an adroit manoeuvre, and put them to 
 flight. Lud-wig made his escape, with great diffi- 
 culty, into Aquitania. 
 
 A legate of Pope Stephen, named Damasus, or- 
 dained Bishop at Rome for this very mission, arri- 
 ved now in France bearing letters from the apostolic 
 See requiring the French lords, under the penalty of 
 excommunication, to recognise Lud-wig as their 
 King and put an end to the war, Wil-helm yielded 
 to the injunctions of the holy father at once ; but 
 Hugues and Here-bert continued the campaign. 
 After a time, however, they concluded a truce that 
 lasted from September till October. During the 
 truce, Otho interposed between the King and the 
 belligerent Dukes, and prevailed on the latter to 
 
 * They probably thought, that after availing themselves of 
 the services c f Otho to overthrow Lud-wig, they could easily 
 expel this foreign King who, unlike the Carolingians, had no 
 party in France.
 
 140 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 become subject to Lud-wig. Tranquillity was thus, 
 for a short time, restored. 
 
 The Duke of Normandy did not long survive the 
 pacification. He v\^as assassinated on the Somme, 
 during a conference with Eren-hulf, Count of Flan- 
 ders ; he left a son six years old, named Rik-hai'd.* 
 Lud-wig took the orphan under his protection, 
 declared himself his guardian, and conducted him to 
 Laon. Once within this town, he no longer dissimu- 
 lated his ulterior intention of uniting the duchy of 
 Normandy to the crown. 
 
 To remove any obstacle to this project which 
 might exist in the person of Rik-hard, he deter- 
 mined to disqualify him for the duties of a king by 
 burning the sinews of his legs — thus rendering 
 him a cripple, and of coui'se unfit to command an 
 army ; which at this period was the first requisite 
 for a King : but the young Duke's governor found 
 means to remove him secretly from the city, by con- 
 cealing him in a bundle of hay ; he thence conveyed 
 him to Senlis and placed him with his maternal 
 uncle. Count Bernhard. Lud-wig assembled his 
 army to pursue the young Duke, determining, also, 
 to subdue Normandy and annex it to his crown while 
 it had no efficient sovereign to defend it. 
 
 At this juncture, many of the Norman nobles, aware 
 of the great talents of Hugues, and knowing that 
 
 ♦ Strong and brave.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 141 
 
 his reconciliation with Lud-wig was a matter of 
 necessity and not of choice, sent an ambassador to him 
 with offers of their faith and homage, and promising 
 to deUver to hira the town of Evreux. Hugues 
 accepted the proposals ; and once more the national 
 opposition and the Frank royalty were set against 
 each other in battle array. 
 
 Lud-wig marched upon Rouen, which opened 
 her gates to him. But, subsequently, being drawn 
 into an ambuscade, under the pretext of an inter- 
 view with a Norman chief, named Haigrold, he and 
 his few followers were suddenly surrounded by a 
 superior force. His attendants were all slain, and 
 he for the moment escaped ; but he was pursued by 
 a Norman* whom he supposed to be friendly to him, 
 taken prisoner, and delivered up to Hugues. He 
 was then conveyed to a fortress in the city of Laon 
 Avhich as recently as 1818, bore the name of the 
 Tower of Louis d'Outre-mer.f 
 
 The queen of France, who was Otho's sister, now 
 appealed to that monarch for aid, She promised, in 
 the name and by the authority of Lud-wig, to cede to 
 Otho several French provinces, and among others 
 Lorraine, provided he would deliver the kingdom 
 
 * Chronique de Frodoard. 
 
 t This tower has, we believe, been since pulled down.
 
 142 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 from the hands, of the national party * Eren-hulf, 
 Count of Flanders, was charged with this mission. 
 
 Otho assented to the proposal ; and having united 
 to his standard Conrad, King of Cisalpine-Gaul, he 
 assembled an army consisting of thirty-two legions, 
 and marched to Rheims.t The national party, 
 overav^ed by this display of strength, and unable to 
 rely on the country which was divided by conflicting 
 interests, dared not risk a battle. Hugues and his 
 followers therefore abandoned the city of Laon, left 
 the captive King behind them, and retreated into 
 Normandy. The combined forces under Otho and 
 Conrad, now invaded that duchy, where, by his con- 
 cessions, Karl-le-Simple had formerly hoped to 
 create for himself and his posterity, devoted and per- 
 petual allies. 
 
 Lud-wig was, indeed, re-established on his throne 
 by the intervention of Otho. But no sooner had that 
 monarch and his colleague withdrawn their troops 
 and returned home, than Hugues issued from Nor- 
 mandy with a stronger force than he had ever before 
 
 * Timens (Ludovicus) ne eorum conatu deponeretur a cul- 
 mine regni, misit Arnulphum Flandrensem, ad Othonem, trans- 
 rhenanum regem, mandans quoniam, si Hugonem magnum 
 omnino contereret, ct normannicam terrain suo domino subjice- 
 ret procul dubio Lothariense regnum ei contraderet. — Scrip, 
 rer. franc. 
 
 t AuGusTiN Thierry.
 
 THE PRANK MONARCHY. 143 
 
 commanded : for the Norman lords, indignant at the 
 German invasion of their territory, and having suf- 
 fered much from it, joined at once the national 
 standard, for the purpose of retaliating on Lud-wig 
 the evils they had suffered at the hands of his friends 
 and in his behalf Lud-wig, dismayed at these formi- 
 dable demonstrations, fled across the Rhine, and a 
 second time sought aid from Otho.* 
 
 Otho convened a council at Treves, and ordered 
 Hugues to be excommunicated ; a mode of attack 
 which he now found to be much more convenient 
 and less perilous than a resort to arms.t As this 
 was the only assistance that Lud-wig received from 
 the German King upon this occasion, he found himself 
 obliged to return to Laon, the only strong-hold in the 
 kingdom that remained faithful to him. He was 
 killed shortly afterward, in a manner equally odd 
 and unexpected. 
 
 He had taken a disgust at Laon, as a residence, 
 from one of his sons' having died there; and he quit- 
 
 * Rex Ludovicus deprecatur regem Othonem, ut subsidium 
 sibi ferat contra Hugonem et cseteros inimicos suos. — Scrip, 
 rer. franc. 
 
 ■f Finally, the third day, and after the earnest demand of Luid- 
 hulf, envoy and chaplain of King Otho, — for such was his mas- 
 ter's pleasure — Count Hugues was, for all the crimes that he 
 had committed, excommunicated until he should come to repent- 
 ance. — Chronique de Frodoard.
 
 144 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 ted it for Rheims, which was under the government of 
 the prelate Artaud, one of the warmest partizans of 
 the Frank dynasty. As he approached the city, a 
 wolf suddenly crossed the road and the King started 
 in pursuit of it. He essayed to leap a ditch, but his 
 horse stumbled and he was thrown forward violently 
 to the ground. His attendants conveyed him to the 
 bishop's castle, where he expired in the thirty-third 
 year of his age, A. D. 954, leaving two sons, Lot-her, 
 thirteen years old, and Karl, still in the cradle. 
 
 Gerberge, widow of the deceased King, well 
 knew that she was now in the power of Hugues ; 
 but, determining to anticipate any hostile movement 
 on his part, she despatched ambassadors to declare 
 to him that to his loyalty she confided her own inte- 
 rests, and those of her two sons.* Hugues was thus 
 incited to generosity, and caused Lot-her to be 
 crowned at St. Remy. 
 
 Unquestionably, Hugues — before sacrificing the 
 interests of the paity whose representative he was, 
 to one of those sentiments of the heart to which no 
 political leader has a right to yield — persuaded 
 himself that Lot-her, at the age of thirteen, could be 
 
 * The queen Gerberge sent ambassadors to Hugues, implo- 
 ring counsel and assistance ; he invited her to come to him, 
 comforted her, and promised that her son should enter into pos- 
 session of the kingdom. — Chronique de Fkodoard,
 
 THE PRANK MONARCHY. 145 
 
 King only in name. And, in fact, all the affairs of 
 the government were soon under iiis own control. 
 
 Having now attained, the summit of power, pos- 
 sessed the highest dignities, and. acquired the titles of 
 Duke of France, of Burgundy, and of Aquitania,* 
 Hugues expired at Dourdan, A. D. 956. For twenty 
 years he had almost shared the x-oyal authority with 
 Lud-wig. He was surnamed the great, on account of 
 his height ; the white, for his complexion ; the j^'fince, 
 for his power ; and the abbe, because St. Germain- 
 des-Pres and St. Martin-de-Tours belonged to him. 
 He left three sons, of whom the eldest inherited the 
 title of Duke of France and the guardianship of the 
 young King. 
 
 This son was Hugues Capet — or Chapet,\ as it is 
 written in the Romance language — (Hugh Capet). 
 Hugues, in whom all the hopes of the national party 
 were concentrated, desired to perfect a lasting alli- 
 ance between himself and Rik-hard, Duke of Nor- 
 mandy. He therefore offered to the Duke the hand 
 of his sister in marriage, which was accepted — a 
 judicious and timely precaution, tending to strength-, 
 en his authority ; for Otho II., having some time 
 after succeeded his father, was proclaimed Emperor 
 of Germany ; and he, being the heieditary foe of the 
 
 * These last two provinces were ceded to liim by the youn^ 
 prince. 
 
 t AUGOSTIN ThII.RRY. 
 
 13
 
 146 THE FRANK MONARCHY, 
 
 French national party, now became an object of 
 great concern to that party, by reason of such an 
 accession of influence and power. 
 
 Hugues, after much argument, convinced the King 
 that the true source of his strength lay in the nation, 
 and not in foreign influence. He also repeatedly 
 demonstrated to him the fact that Lorraine ought 
 never to be an independent kingdom, but only a pro- 
 vince of France, Moved by his suggestions on this 
 latter subject, Lot-her determined to wrest that ter- 
 ritory from the Emperor. He assembled his army 
 and entered Lorraine with so much impetuosity that 
 the Emperor was nearly surprised by him in his 
 palace at Aix-la-Chapelle.* Otho made good his 
 escape, however, and fled to Germany ; where, col- 
 lecting an army of sixty thousand men, he marched 
 to repel the invaders. Lot-her, in turn, unable to 
 resist this force, retreated ; and, being closely pur- 
 sued by Otho, was compelled to maintain a continu- 
 ous battle during the whole of his backward march 
 to Paris. Otho now established his camp at Mont- 
 martre,! where, perceiving his inability to take the 
 city, he nevertheless caused the Te Deuvi to be 
 chaunted in honor of his victory : and the sound of this 
 chaunt, notwithstanding the distance, was distinctly 
 
 ♦ Chronicles of Raoul Glaber. 
 
 t Called Muns Marlis by Pagan, and Ilio?is Marlyrum by 
 Christian, writers.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 147 
 
 heard by the inhabitants. He also made his entire 
 army, with one voice and in chorus, repeat the line 
 Alleluia te martyrum* After this, he took up his line 
 of march for his own countiy. 
 
 But he was destined to undergo the same trials as 
 the retreating army of Lot-her, with tlie superadded 
 disadvantage of being pursued in an enemy's coun- 
 try. Hugues and Lot-her issued forth from Paris as 
 he retired from Montmartre ; and, hanging upon his 
 rear, they harassed him with incessant attacks in 
 the open coantry, at the fords of the rivers, at the 
 gorges of the defiles ; and when he at length 
 atrived at the frontiers, himself and his troops broken 
 and dispirited, he was apparently on the eve of being 
 annihilated in a pitched battle — but here, to the 
 great discomfiture of Hugues, and the astonishment 
 of the whole French army, Otho obtained a truce 
 from Lot-her.t This truce was foUovved by a treaty 
 still more surprising ; for it yielded Lorraine to the 
 imperial court on the simple condition that it should 
 bear the title of fief, and be held from the crown of 
 
 * Accitis quam pluribus cXencis, alleluia lemarlyruni, in loco 
 qui dicitur Mons Martyrum, in tantum elatis vocibus decan- 
 tari prrecepit, ui attonitis auribus Hugo et omnis Parisiorum 
 plebs miraretur. — Script, rer. franc. 
 
 t Pacificatus est Lotharius rex cum Ottone rege, Remis 
 civitate contra voluntatem Hugonis et Halnrici, fratris sui, et 
 contra voluntatem exercitussui. — Ibid.
 
 148 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 France,* This treaty seems incomprehensible to 
 many of our historians who have taken a view dif- 
 ferent from ours of the decline of the Carolingian 
 race ; and who, therefore, do not understand this 
 strange compact that gave all to the vanquished and 
 nothing to the victors.\ 
 
 We shall offer a clear and easy explanatio"h. 
 Lot-her had discovered that his real and mortal ene- 
 mies were the national foes of the Carolingian 
 family, and not the men beyond the Rhine ; whom, 
 on the contrary, a common origin and an identity of 
 interests made his natural allies. As he saw, day 
 by day, the ranks of the national party filling up and 
 their hatred to the Frank dynasty constantly increas- 
 ing, he regretted having yielded to the persuasions 
 of Hugues Capet in declaring war against the only 
 man whose exterior power could, by its protection, 
 counterbalance the continually growing interior 
 power against which he felt it necessary to combat. 
 He remembered that his father, twice dethroned, 
 had twice received succor and protection from the 
 
 * Dedit Lotharius rex Ottoni regi in beneficio Lothariense 
 regnum ; quae causa niagis contristavit corda principum 
 Francorum. — Script, rer. franc. 
 
 t Lothaire ceded to him Lorraine on condition that he would 
 hold it in fief of the crown of France, Historians uniformly 
 denounce this treaty which gave all to the vanquished, and 
 nothing to the victors but the empty name of sovereign,— 
 Vely.
 
 THE FRANK MONAUCIIV. 149 
 
 father of him whom he had just fought with and 
 conquered. Besides, the popularity of Hugues 
 Capet had now reached that point of sympathy with 
 the nation, that he might with impunity attempt a 
 revolt similar to that of Hugues the Great, against 
 which the King would find no support from his 
 nobles, and which the Emperor Otho would be very 
 careful not to suppress, since Lot-her had made so 
 disastrous a war upon him on such slight induce- 
 ments. 
 
 In view of all this, there was no time to be lost. 
 The influence of Hugues was doubled by his valiant 
 defence of Paris and his triumph over the retreating 
 Grermans. Upon his return to Laon with an army . 
 who scarcely knew the King, but who had learned 
 to appreciate Hugues, the royalty of Lot-her would 
 be nothing more than a problem, which the Duke of 
 France might, at his. pleasure, require his sovereign 
 to solve in a cloister. Of whom, then, could Lot-her 
 so naturally ask aid as of the Emperor of Germany, 
 whose family had so frequently proved to the Kings 
 of France that they possessed both the will and the 
 ability to protect them 1 He therefore seized this 
 opportunity to conclude a peace with Otho that 
 should be as advantageous as a victory and cause him 
 to forget his defeat : a peace which should give him 
 more than the war had taken from him, — a province, 
 in lieu of an army. And what province could so well 
 pi'omote the double political purpose of the King as 
 13*
 
 150 THE FRANK MONARCHYi 
 
 the little kingdom of Lorraine, — from the frontiers 
 of which the German army could in three days pene- 
 trate to the centre of France 1 
 
 Henceforward, the national party abandoned all 
 expectation of eradicating by violence this tenacious 
 dynasty which foreign arms had twice reinstated on 
 the thi'one of France. Hugues continued, however, 
 to withdraw imperceptibly all authority from the 
 crown and retain it in his own hands ; and, at the 
 time of the King's death, he had concentrated within 
 himself every attribute of royalty but its title.* Lot- 
 her died at Rheims in the forty-fifth year of his age, 
 and the thirty-second of his reign; after having asso- 
 ciated his son Lud-wig (Louis V.) with him on the 
 throne. 
 
 Hugues Capet was now the national heir, stand- 
 ing patiently by the bedside of expiring royalty till 
 it should yield up its latest breath. At the end of 
 fifteen months, this desired consummation took place; 
 when occurred the demise of Lud-wig — the last 
 abortion of that mother who had borne Charle- 
 magne. The people, now, regardless of Charles, 
 Duke of Lorraine, uncle to the deceased King, 
 who laid claim to the crown, by universal ac- 
 clamation called Hugues Capet to the throne. 
 Not, as some historians affirm, because he was 
 
 * Lotharius rex Francise preelatus et solo nomine, Hugo 
 vero, non nomine, sed actu et opere. -^ Giberti Epistolje.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHV. 151 
 
 related to the Carolingian branch through Hilde- 
 brand, brother of Karl-le-Martel;* but, on the con- 
 trary, because beyond Rod-bert the Strong his line- 
 age was by no means well defined ; and the new 
 nation required for their governor a new man. 
 For, as we have said, there was inveterate hatred 
 between France and the Carolingian race ; and the 
 election of Hugues was the triumph of an enterprise 
 commenced long years before — viz., eradicating 
 from the kingdom of France the posterity of the 
 Frank Kings .t 
 
 Thus, in a grave contest of a principle against a 
 race, though the strife may be prolonged, the result 
 is never doubtful : it is the wrestling of the angel 
 with Jacob : it may continue for a night or a cen- 
 tury ; but, in the event, man is always vanquished. 
 
 We have expatiated at length on the downfall of 
 this monarchy. We have entered into the details of 
 its decline. We have essayed to declare the causes 
 of a catastrophe, of which other historians have been 
 content to record only the results.^ And we believe 
 that we have faithfully submitted to the reader the 
 
 ♦ The Duke d'Epernon. 
 
 t Hugo-Capet more patrum suorum, odio motus antique, 
 genus Caroli cupiens era^^ere de regno Francorum. — Script, 
 rer. franc. 
 
 X M. Augustin Thierry is the first, we think, whose rapid 
 and sure glance has distinguished anything certain in the chaos 
 of the second race.
 
 152 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 conflicting interests of the Frank dynasty and the 
 French nation ; and, consequently, that we have 
 given, as far as is possible within the narrow limits 
 of a summary, the outline, if not all the scenes, of the 
 Carolingian drama which closes with the death of 
 Lud-wig V. 
 
 We see, then, our ancestors submitting to the 
 great and inevitable law of progression which, in 
 the overthrow of the Merovingian Kings, consum- 
 mated a first revolution — a substitution of the power 
 of the Austrasian chieftainship for the royal Neus- 
 trian power : a revolution among the victors : a 
 family revolution, in which those who might be sup- 
 posed to be most interested — the conquered people 
 — were so stupified by defeat as to take no part and 
 give utterance to no opinion. 
 
 Under the second race, we see a second revolu- 
 tion ; but, this time, its character is changed. It is 
 a revolution of the conquered people against their 
 masters ; a struggle of the national party with the 
 German party ; a reaction of the power de jure 
 against the power de facto ; a plea, supported by 
 arras, in which the nation demands not, indeed, to 
 govern herself, but to be governed by the man of 
 her own choice. 
 
 The third race, in its tui'n, was destined to 
 develope a third revolution. A revolution of the po- 
 pular power against the national-monarchical power. 
 A claim of universal rights against the privilege of the
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 153 
 
 few and the despotism of one. A contest in which 
 royalty was to combat, man to man, with freedom ; 
 not for a change of name, or a substitution of place, 
 but for life itself: a mortal struggle without pity, 
 without mercy ; of which the lists were to be the 
 Place-de-la-Revolution, and the judge, the director 
 of the guillotine. 
 
 The Carolingian race ruled for two hundred and 
 thirty -six years : during whic^ time it separated 
 itself into three branches and occupied, indepen- 
 dently, the three great thrones that Charlemagne had 
 united under one empire : the throne of Germany, 
 the throne of France, and the throne of Italy — and, 
 what is singular, these three thrones were severally 
 lost under the reigns of three Kings named Liid-wig. 
 The Frank Kings seveial times changed their places 
 of residence ; and, according to their inclinations, or 
 the force of events, removed the seat of government 
 into various cities. Peppin chose Paris ; Charle- 
 magne and his son, Aix-la-Chapelle and Thionville ; 
 Karl-le-Chauve, Soissons and Compeigne ; Karl-le- 
 Simple, Rheims; and, finally, Lud-wig-d'Outre-mer 
 and his two sons — the Kings of the civil war — the 
 almost impregnable city of Laon. 
 
 Under the Frank monarchy, as its name indicates, 
 the Roman usages gradually disappeared and the 
 kingdom began to display within itself its national 
 characteristics. The form and texture of habili- 
 ments were changed. Charlemagne disdained the
 
 154 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 chlamyde and the Roman mantle of Hlodo-wig. 
 " He wore," says Eginbard, " the dress of his 
 fathers ; next to his skin, a shirt and breeches of 
 linen-cloth; over these, a doublet fastened .with a 
 silken girdle, and stockings ; his legs were encircled 
 with bands, and his feet shod with sandals. In win- 
 ter, he wore a coat of otter-skins over his shoulders 
 and breast. He was always covered with the Sagum 
 of the Veneti, and the hilt and belt of his sword were 
 of gold and silver ; in fact, he sometimes wore a 
 second sword studded with precious stones, but this 
 was only on days of festivity, or when he gave 
 audience to foreign ambassadors. He despised the 
 dress of all other nations however rich it might be. 
 Twice only, during his sojourn at Rome, — first at 
 the entreaty of Pope Adiian, and subsequently at 
 that of Pope Leo — he consented to be arrayed in 
 the long tunic, the chlamyde and Roman hose." 
 Under Charlemagne, the sword was greatly increased 
 in length, and received a baptismal name : his own 
 was called Joycuse, because, war being the element 
 of this still primitive people, the unsheathing of the 
 sword was a signal for rejoicing. Soon after, the 
 conquest of Italy introduced a taste for robes of silk, 
 ornamented with furs brought by the people of the 
 Adriatic from the East. The short mantle of the 
 Gauls was preferred by the conquerors to the consu- 
 lar toga. Toward the commencement of the second
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 155 
 
 race, the coat of mail, covering the entire body, 
 superseded the antique cuirass which protected only 
 the breast ; and, finally, the vizor was attached to the 
 helmet to protect the face of the warrior. 
 
 A semblance of legislation was also established. 
 The Capitularia succeeded to the Theodosian Code. 
 Sumptuary laws were promulgated. The trials by 
 combat, fire and the Cross were instituted. By an 
 ordinance of Charlemagne, the first fairs, those of 
 Landy, were introduced into France. And some 
 statutes appended to the Capitularia enable us to 
 trace the first levying of imposts to defray the royal 
 expenses by deducting for the sovereign's use one 
 tenth of the pi'ofits that the Jews might gain by com- 
 merce and one eleventh of the profits gained in the 
 same manner by the Christians. There were also 
 established the duties of passage, pontage, imports 
 and exports, and officers were appointed for collect- 
 ing these customs. 
 
 The games, also, were changed. The chase super- 
 seded the combats of men and animals in the circus. 
 Then came the dancers upon ropes, the jongleurs 
 with their vielles ;. and, after them, the ?nimes leading 
 bears and monkeys instructed to imitate grotesquely 
 the ordinary actions of human beings. 
 
 A shadow of literature, animated by the founda- 
 tion of an academy, flitted across this changing scene. 
 The RomaTice language, a mixed dialect composed of
 
 156 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 the Lalin, Celtic, and Teutonic, was introduced* 
 Arithmetic, grammar, and church music ^yere taught 
 in schools ; and Charlemagne caused the popular 
 songs of the Franks to be collected together. The 
 Arabs translated the woiks of Aristotle and Hippo- 
 crates; and the nun Rasco'itha compiled a selection 
 of Latin poetry. 
 
 The sciences also began timidly to appear. 
 Chemistry was cultivated by the Arabs in the South 
 of France ; Lud-wig-le-Debonnaii'e studied astro- 
 nomy; and a school of medicine, founded at Salerno 
 in 984, sent some of its students into France. 
 
 The currency, too, underwent a change. The 
 coin consisted of livres, sous, and deniers, bearing on 
 one side the effigy of the reigning monarch ; and on 
 the reverse, a double or simple cross between an 
 Alpha and Omega — emblems of Christ, the begin- 
 ning and end of all things. The inscription was 
 this Latin device, adopted by Charlemagne — in 
 which is embodied a political revolution ; i. e. the 
 abolition of the right of election and the recognition 
 of the divine right — Karolus Magnus, gratia Dei 
 
 REX. 
 
 Under Raoul, the manufacture of hemp-cloth was 
 begun ; and, after this first step of national industry. 
 
 * It will be seen that^ at a later day, Rabelais introduced 
 Greek roots into the lanffuage.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 157 
 
 commerce clung to the soil which she never after- 
 ward abandoned. 
 
 The political aspect of the realm underwent a still 
 more important modification, A great social reform 
 was effected when the last King of the flowing hair 
 gave place to the first Carolingian monarch. This 
 was a transition from slavery to servitude. It was 
 the first step toward Liberty — a tottering and uncer- 
 tain step like that of an infant. It was the first halt 
 in that march which led man to unknown countries — 
 coimtries far beyond the horizon at first embraced by 
 his vision. This transformation commenced under 
 the first race with the relinquishing of grants of 
 property in fief and benefices : a proceeding that 
 introduced the feudal system which established itself 
 under the second race, and was to be perfected under 
 the third with the title of the Great Vassalage. 
 From this period are dated not only the powerful 
 families which constituted the French noblesse, but 
 the aristocratic names that designated those families. 
 The chiefs, receiving lands from the King, sought to 
 magnify the honor implied by these gifts by substi- 
 tuting the territorial titles of the newly acquired pro- 
 perty for their Frank names, and adding to these 
 their own baptismal names. Thus, at the outset, 
 they possessed, under the title of chiefs, the land 
 without the name ; next, under the title of grand 
 vassals, they possessed the land and the name ; and, 
 finally, under the title of aristocrats, they dignified 
 14
 
 158 THE FRANK MONAECHY. 
 
 themselves with the name though no longer possess- 
 ing the land. 
 
 The Church, which we have promised to follow in 
 her representation of the popular interest, reached, 
 under the second race, her highest degree of power, 
 and forced the usurpation to pay dearly for the oil 
 poured on its head. The Popes applied to temporal 
 purposes that power to hind and loose which they 
 had received for spiritual uses only. But the first 
 encroachments of pontifical supremacy were made 
 in a republican spirit: for when, in process of time, 
 the sons of those who had granted domains to com- 
 munities — which communities, be it remembered, 
 were the people — occasionally determined to take 
 back a part or all of the domains so granted ; a 
 complaint was preferred by the monk to the abbe, 
 by the abbe to the bishop, and by the bishop to the 
 Pope. Whereupon, His Holiness summoned the 
 King or the usurping chief to render to the people 
 the things that were the people's ; in imitation of our 
 Saviour's direction, " Render unto Caesar the things 
 which be Caesar's." If the spoiler refused obe- 
 dience to the mandate, excommunication, with its 
 spiritual terrors, took the place of temporal authority 
 which, at this period, was imperfectly or feebly 
 vested in the Holy See. The following formula was 
 adopted on these occasions : 
 
 " Concerning the usurpers of ecclesiastical pro- 
 perty — whom the sacred Canons, inspired by the
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 159 
 
 Holy Ghost and consecrated by the world's venera- 
 tion, as also the decrees of the Pontiff of the Apostolic 
 See, declare worthy to remain under anathema until 
 they have made full restitution ; and concerning ex- 
 tortioners who, according to the declaration of the 
 Apostle, speaking in Christ's name, shall not inherit 
 the kingdom of God — we do hereby interdict all 
 true Christians from eating with such men while 
 they persevere in their crime. And we decree, by 
 virtue of the authority of Christ, and of these 
 presents consecrated by such authority, that if, before 
 the approaching convocation of November, they shall 
 not have restored to the Church the property 
 belonging to it and by them unjustly seized, they be 
 then separated from the communion of the body 
 and blood of Christ, and continue so separated and 
 excluded until they shall make full restitution of such 
 ecclesiastical possessions and complete reparation 
 for their unlawful trespass upon the same. And 
 this, and all this, do we now decree and publish, to the 
 effect that, according to the words of the most excel- 
 lent preacher, the bodies of such offenders may be 
 delivered unto Satan for the saving of their spirits in 
 the day of the Loi'd Jesus."* 
 
 These demonstrations of the extent of the Church's 
 power excited the Pope to tyranny and the priest- 
 
 * The conclusion of this formula is the same as was employ- 
 ed by St. Paul; 1. Corinthians, v. 5.
 
 160 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 hood to arrogance. The sovereign pontiff made and 
 unmade Kings. The bishops took precedence of 
 the nobles, were named before them in diplomas, 
 and affixed their signatures next to that of the King. 
 They had droit dc justice as princes ; they coined 
 money as sovereigns ; levied taxes and soldiers as 
 conquerors ; and joined invaded territory to terri- 
 tories conceded, and conquests to benefices. In 
 fact the Rome of Stephen III. became a counterpart 
 of the Rome of Augustus ; and the city on seven 
 hills still vindicated its claim to the proud title of the 
 Eternal City. We shall see that it declined under 
 the third race : beginning to lose influence as it gra- 
 dually changed its democratic to an ai'istocratic 
 policy and espoused the cause of royalty against the 
 cause of the people. 
 
 The nobles, on their part, took advantage of 
 the troubles that distracted the heirs of Charle- 
 magne to withdraw from the royal influence : they 
 availed themselves of the weakness of Lud-wig-le- 
 Debonnaire, the imbecility of Karl-le-Simple and 
 the captivity of Lud-wig-d'Outre-mer, to escape the 
 bonds of their feudal allegiance. The sons of those 
 who had received domains from royal munificence 
 regarded the grants as made from interested motives 
 and not from a principle of generosity. They aver- 
 red that if their fathers had chosen to take unautho- 
 rized possession of the property, the sovereign, 
 occupied by civil and foreign wars, would have been
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 161 
 
 unable to avenge himself for the spoliation. All 
 sentiment of gratitude toward the power that be- 
 stowed these lands was now obliterated from the 
 minds of the nobility, as the same sentiment had dis- 
 appeared from the remembrance of the Kings in 
 regard to the nobility who originally elevated them 
 to the throne. Charlemagne declared himself to be 
 King by the Grace of God ; and scarce a century 
 elapsed before the nobles, refusing to hold their 
 possessions and titles from the crown, resolved 
 themselves into Counts and Marquises by the Grace 
 of God. 
 
 As to the alleged dismemberment of the Empire, 
 to which all historians have attributed the rapid fall 
 of the Carolingian dynasty, but of which fall we 
 believe that we have exhibited the true causes — as 
 to the supposed dismemberment, we repeat, histori- 
 ans have been led into error, because, i" accounting 
 for the fall of the dynasty, they have sought after 
 accidental and political causes, an^ overlooked those 
 that were natural and teiTito^ial. 
 
 An illustration altoge^Jfier material will, we hope, 
 
 * We be"- the reader's permission, enlightened as we are by 
 the niaste'-'y discussion of Augustin Thierry, to present the 
 dismemberment in its true light, and to discredit the false view 
 ur<ier which Montesquieu himself, and so many who followed 
 him. have considered it. 
 
 u*
 
 162 THE FRANK MONARCHY.. 
 
 render quite intelligible to all, the idea we have con- 
 ceived of the dismemberment of a single great empire 
 into nine distinct kingdoms. 
 
 Perhaps some of our readers have been in Swit- 
 zerland, and ascended to the summit of Mount Righi. 
 From the culminating point of this mountain, they 
 discovered nine lakes enclosed in the basins fash- 
 ioned for them by the hand of God. Each one of 
 these lakes, separated from its neighbors by the swell 
 of ground that constitutes its border, differs from all 
 the rest in the form of its shores and the color of 
 its waters. Suppose, now, that from the snowy 
 summit of Mount Pilate, one of those masses of ice, 
 which in that country of cones and pinnacles is a 
 fragment, but would be, to us, a mountain — should 
 be precipitated into the largest of these lakes. It 
 would at once displace an immense volume of water ; 
 this water would overflow the shores of the lake, and 
 the inundation would spread from valley to valley, 
 till all the intermediate ground was submerged 
 and the nine lakes had V>ecome one. 
 
 This immense lake, on tL, day following the dis- 
 ruption of the avalanche, would seem to have been 
 so created in the beginning of time ; although, in fact 
 it had assumed its present form only since yesterday. 
 It would be a kind of ocean, apparently of uniform 
 depth throughout, but which at certain spots did in 
 truth scarcely cover the surface of the earth : an im- 
 measurable sheet of water of uniform hue upon its
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 163 
 
 surface, but retaining in its depths its primitive 
 variety of shade. 
 
 Let a traveller, ignorant of these precedent facts, 
 now stand upon Mount Righi ; let him not be told, 
 " there were formerly nine lakes, but an accident 
 has united them in one," and assuredly he will see 
 but one, and will testify that there is but one. 
 
 Nevertheless, by the joint action of the water 
 and the air, the block of ice diminishes in size ; 
 though, while it remains, it continues to feed by its 
 liquefaction the overflow caused by its gravitation. 
 At length, it resolves itself into its original element 
 and disappears. 
 
 The lake, having now lost the aliment that sus- 
 tained its unnatural proportions, begins to decrease. 
 The more elevated points of ground appear upon the 
 surface ; the earth rises and the flood retires. On 
 the disappearance of the cause that disturbed the 
 harmony, harmony revives. The waters slowly sub- 
 side into their natural limits, and the nine lakes at 
 length re-appear, differing, as before, in color and 
 form. 
 
 Now place the same traveller on the summit of 
 Mount Righi ; let him count the lakes ; and ask him 
 the causes of the change : he will give you all but 
 the true one ! 
 
 Thus was it with the dominions of Charlemagne : 
 a heterogeneous empire, to which, however, conquest 
 gave the appearance of homogeneity : an ocean of men
 
 164 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 
 
 who, judging by the surface, composed one nation ; 
 while a hardy diver, phinging into its depths, might 
 discover various races, opposite customs, and nine 
 languages : a sheet of water, the expanse of which 
 was restricted only by colossal boundaries, the 
 intermediate ones being overwhelmed by the tide. 
 
 But when the hand that grasped these nations was 
 frozen in death ; when the genius that controlled 
 them had departed ; when the source of this warlike 
 inundation was dried up ; the Franks retired like 
 the straying waters of the flood. The boundaries 
 of the kingdoms, submerged by the empire, re-ap- 
 peared. Each nation rented in its own valley ; each 
 man returned to the home where his language, 
 habits and manners invited him. It is true, the sons 
 of a common father continued for a time, to reign 
 over these divided nations ; but the King here adopt- 
 ed the usages of his subjects without seeking to 
 impose his own upon them : and these Kings, from 
 having been Franks, became Italian, German, Bur- 
 gundian, according as chance impelled them to the 
 throne of Italy, Germany, or Burgundy. They 
 declared war according to the exigencies of those 
 over whom they reigned, against those who reigned 
 around them, and took small pains to ascertain the de- 
 gree of consanguinity by which they were originally 
 united. They cared not for the reproach of unnatu- 
 ral brother, or ungrateful son, so long as they pre- 
 served the title of King.
 
 THE FRANK MONARCHY. 165 
 
 So have we seen, in our own time, the hand of a 
 man of genius seize from the fields of modern 
 Europe, an empire like that of Charlemagne. The 
 brothers of this man became the royal prefects, 
 whom he installed in the countries that he van- 
 quished : the capitals of which were, severally, the 
 manor-houses or country seats of these new depart- 
 ments of France. For a time, one hundred and 
 twenty millions of men were submissive to this 
 Emperor's commands. For a time he heard, in 
 nine different idioms, the shouts " Vive Napoleon ! 
 Napoleon the Great !" For he, also, like the ava- 
 lanche, had caused France to overflow ; and the 
 inundation had submerged continental Europe. 
 
 When the man who raised the flood-gates of con- 
 quest had fallen, did we not see each nation subsiding 
 to its own place — each chief town of the department 
 becoming a capital 1 Have we not seen — to push 
 the comparison to its termination — the brothers and 
 generals of this man become Italians or Swedes ; 
 adopting the cause of their people against that of 
 their country ; marching at the head of foreign 
 soldiers against France, their mother; and, in order 
 to preserve the title of King, receiving and meriting 
 the reproach of unnatural brothers and ungrateful 
 sons 1
 
 PART THIRD 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 THE NATIONAL RACE 
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY.
 
 HUGH CAPET 
 
 The care with which we have detailed the con- 
 test between the national party and the Frank 
 dynasty, under the second race, renders it unneces- 
 sary for us to combat the opinion — as radically false 
 as it is generally received — that the accession of 
 Hugh Capet to the throne was an act of usurpation. 
 The Duke of Paris was unanimously elected to the 
 sovereign dignity by the unbought vote of his peers:* 
 a vote which was nothing less than a faithful echo 
 of the whole people's choice. 
 
 But the France over which he was called to reign 
 was no longer the realm of Charlemagne. The 
 very existence of peers — a title which we have now, 
 for the first time, pronounced — demonstrates that 
 the King was merely at the head of his equals. And 
 although France still extended from the Meuse and 
 
 * Nee isle Hugo, regni invasor aut usurpator aliqualiter est 
 indicandus queni regni proceres elegerunt. — Nangis. 
 15
 
 170 The FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 the Scheldt to the Ebro, and from the shores of the 
 Rhone to those of the Ocean, we shall discover that 
 he who bore the name of its sovereign possessed but 
 the smallest portion of this vast territory. 
 
 There were seven of these peers — though Hugh 
 afterward increased the number to twelve ; and 
 this latter number was unchanged until the time of 
 Froissard, who styles them the twelve brothers of the 
 kingdom. These seven peers possessed the follow- 
 ing portions of the realm ; and what remained 
 belonged to the Kinsf. 
 
 I. Eren-hulf, or Arnulph II., Count of Flanders, 
 was master of the territory lying between the Scheldt, 
 the Somme and the sea : 
 
 II. Here-bert or Herbert, Count of Vermandois : 
 whose possessions were, the county of Senlis, a por- 
 tion of the Isle of France, and a portion, also, of 
 Picardy and Champagne : 
 
 III. Hein-rick, or Henry, (brother of Hugh 
 Capet) Duke of Burgundy : who occupied all that 
 portion of the duchy of Burgundy that was not 
 tributary to the domains of Conrad the Pacific : 
 
 IV. Rik4iard or Richard (brother-in-law of Hugh 
 Capet,) Duke of Normandy and Brittany. His 
 possessions have already been specified (see page 132) 
 in the detail of the concession of Ivarl-le-Simple to 
 Hrolf the Dane, the same forming the most powerful 
 vassalage in the kingdom. Moreover the Dukes of 
 Normandy claimed to be free from the obligation of
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 171 
 
 furnishing troops to the Kings of France ; and 
 they were sufficiently wealthy to keep their masters 
 in pay : 
 
 V. Wil-helm, or William, Sancho, Duke of Gas- 
 cony, commanded the whole extent of country 
 between the Dordogne, the Garonne, the Pyrenees, 
 and the two seas. But this dominion soon after 
 became an arriere-fief, and passed under direct 
 seignorage to the Dukes of Guyenne : 
 
 VI. Raymond, Count of Toulouse ; who to the 
 country of that name, joined the principality of Lan- 
 guedoc and the Duchy of Septimanie. At a later 
 period, a descendant of this Count became one of the 
 most powerful feudatories of the crown, under the 
 title of Duke of Narbonne : 
 
 VII. And,, lastly, Wil-helm of William,* sur- 
 named Fier-a-bras, Duke of Guyenne, or Aquitania, 
 whose fief would have been the largest of the realm, 
 had he been able to keep it entire under his own 
 control. But, in the midst of the general confusion, 
 the lords of Bourbon, the Dukes of Auvergne, and 
 the Counts of Bourges, Angouleme, La Marche and 
 Perigord formed to themselves, severally, independ- 
 ent establishments in the Duchy, and held their 
 
 * We sh:ill now find proper names undergoing a third trans- 
 formation and taking the orthography that they have retained 
 to the present day.
 
 172 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 possessions by a right of ownership and with scarcely 
 any feudal tenure. 
 
 After these partitions, there would have remained 
 to the King of France nothing but a part of Soisso- 
 nois, the city of Laon, and some towns of Champagne, 
 if Hugh Capet,in ascending the throne, had not added 
 to these, certain disjointed parcels of territory which 
 were his own individual property, viz., the county of 
 Paris, the Orleanais, the Chartrain country, Perche, 
 the county of Blois, Touraine, Anjou and Maine. 
 
 But Hugh Capet was scarcely seated on the throne 
 ere, like Peppin-le-Bref, he abrogated the principle 
 to which he owed his elevation, and sacrificed the 
 secular to the spiritual authority, by causing, in his 
 own life-time, his son Robert to be consecrated 
 King of France. This example, followed succes- 
 sively by Henry I., Philip, Louis VI., and Louis 
 VH., secured to the dynasty an hereditary sove- 
 reignty of eight centuries ; which strengthened, 
 from its commencement, the right of primogeniture, 
 as established by an ordinance of 993. This instru- 
 ment declared that henceforward the title of King 
 shall be given to the eldest son only, and he shall 
 have precedence and authority over his brothers, 
 who are to venerate him as their lord and father, and 
 are to have no other portion than the lands he shall 
 assign them in appanage ; these lands shall be held 
 of the crown, to which the brothers owe homage.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 173 
 
 and shall be augmented or diminished according to 
 the good pleasure of the King.* 
 
 From the example of Peppin and from his own 
 experience, Hugh had learned that the office of 
 Mayor of the Palace and Duke of Paris was dan- 
 gerous to the sovereignty; as it concentrated, in 
 the hands of one vassal, powers almost regal. He 
 therefore determined to abolish the office ; but he 
 was too prudent to avow his motives. He called an 
 assembly of the peers and declared to them that, 
 holding all in equal regard, being equally grateful 
 to all, appreciating equally the rights of all, and not 
 wishing to sow dissension among them by advan- 
 cing one of their number to a station which he 
 sincerely wished he could grant to all in common, as 
 all were equally worthy — he intended to bestow 
 the office, in their name, on his son, whom France 
 had educated and nourished for her service, and 
 whom he would constitute their representative. He 
 thus confiscated to his own advantage a dignity 
 which, entrusted to other hands than those of his 
 heir, might be a bar to his ambition ; " and, there- 
 fore," says Jean de Serre, " he put an end to it, but 
 gave it a gilded sepulchre, burying it in the royal 
 family- He created in its place the office of Con- 
 stable, which, embracing less power, was propor- 
 tionably less dangerous." 
 
 * Jean de Serre. 
 15*
 
 174 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 The hereditary principle, which in our time, we 
 regard as pernicious, hecause it perpetuates itself 
 in the midst of a society already organized, was 
 necessary, in the times of which we write, to consoli- 
 date a society yet in its growth. The son, by 
 inheriting the throne, was enabled to follow out the 
 paternal idea and perfect the feudal system, which 
 determined the hierarchical organization of the tur- 
 bulent lords, — who were always ready to cut down 
 the tree before it could yield its fruit. By losing 
 the right to create, the lords lost also the power to 
 destroy. Royalty was no longer forced to call 
 on the spiritual authority of the Popes to combat 
 the temporal power of the lords ; and the blow that 
 struck the noblesse, reached also the Church, in its 
 recoil. From the moment that the monarchy became 
 hereditary, it became independent of the two influen- 
 ces from which, until then, it had been constrained 
 alternately to invoke assistance; and being no longer 
 under the necessity of conceding to the one in 
 order to obtain aid from the other, it was enabled 
 to maintain the balance between both and preserve 
 the supremacy. 
 
 The feudal organization, thus established, created 
 manners and customs, consolidated institutions, and 
 gave us great men and great events, great names and 
 great mementoes : it was contemporary with the birth 
 of chivahy — the Crusades — and the enfranchisement 
 of the Communes. This was the heroic ajje of France.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 175 
 
 The exposition we have given of the results, ren- 
 ders it unnecessary to give a detail of the acts, of 
 Hugh Capet's reign. We shall merely state that, 
 under him, Paris became once more the capital of 
 the realm: a prerogative that she lost under the 
 second race, but preserved under the third, 
 
 Hugh died in the year 996. His son, Robert, 
 succeeded to the throne. He had been previously 
 consecrated at Rheims, (in 990,) and, with the per- 
 mission of the French prelates, had man'ied his 
 kinswoman. Bertha.* For this act, he was excom- 
 municated by the Pope ; but, for a time, he struggled 
 against the interdict. The Pope next placed the 
 whole kingdom under ban. The Church immedi- 
 ately discontinued divine worship ; refused to ad- 
 minister the sacraments and to bury the dead in holy 
 gi'ound. The King's household at length abandoned 
 hira with the exception of two faithful domestics ; 
 and even they threw into the fire every thing- con- 
 taminated by his use. 
 
 Robert was forced to submit; for the desertion 
 of the nobles and the murmurs of the populace 
 made him fearful of a general revolt. The Capetian 
 
 * She was the widow of Eudes, CoUntof Chartres and of Blois, 
 and daughter of Conrad, King of Burgundy. The two incen- 
 tives to the excommunication promulgated by Pope Gregory 
 were, that Robert had held at the baptismal font a child of Bertha 
 by a former marriage; and, that Robert and Bertha were cou- 
 sins in the fourth degree. — Duchesne, vol. iv. p. 85,
 
 176 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 dynasty was not yet deeply rooted in the soil, and the 
 si gh test tempest might upturn it. Bertha was 
 repudiated in 997, bearing with her the poor conso- 
 lation of the title of queen, which she retained until 
 her death. 
 
 Constance, daughter of the Count of Provence, 
 was her successor. She was young and beautiful, 
 capricious and haughty. Born in a voluptuous cli- 
 mate, nourished under a southern sun, imbued with 
 the customs and the oriental literature with which the 
 Arabs had embellished Spain and Languedoc- — sire 
 and her suite formed a singular contrast to the frigid 
 forms of the French court. A taste for poetry began 
 soon to 2>revail, — a common, national, maternal 
 poetry. The language, also, was changed : it was 
 divided into two idioms ; that of the North and that 
 of the South : the langue d' Oyl, adopted by the 
 trouveres ; and the langue d'Oc, by the troubadours. 
 Guy d'Arezzo invented the six musical notes.* Har- 
 mony succeeded to Psalmody ; the national song to 
 the Latin hymn; and France, now, possessed a litera- 
 ture of her own.t 
 
 * Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la. It was not until about one hundred 
 and fifty years after, that si was imagined by a Frenchman 
 named Lemaire. 
 
 t This change was considered by contemporaneous authors 
 as a calamity, permitted by heaven to visit the nation on account 
 of its sins. Raoul Glaber thus speaks of it: " We deem it right to 
 relate, at the close of this third volume, the vengeance by which
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 177 
 
 It was a new, sonorous, and brilliant literature, 
 that borrowed nothing from other nations, but drew 
 all its treasures from its own resources ; and it be- 
 came, like all primitive literature, the history of the 
 people who invented it. 
 
 the Lord, the author of all good, caused humankind to expiate 
 its guilt and insolence. About the year 1000 of the Incarnation, 
 when King Robert had espoused Constance, princess of Aqui- 
 tania, the indulgence of the queen opened the gates of France 
 and Burgundy to the natives of Aquitania and Auvergne. 
 These vain and frivolous men were as foppish in their manners 
 as in their dress. Their arms and the trappings of their horses 
 were equally neglected: their hair scarcely covered the half of 
 their heads : they shaved off their beards like the jongleurs, and 
 wore boots that were unseemly. Alas ! the Franks (formerly so 
 virtuous) and the rude people of Burgundy soon imitated these 
 criminal examples and faithfully reflected all the perversity and 
 infamy of their models. If a priest, or a man loving and fear- 
 ing God, ventured to reprove such conduct, his zeal was treated 
 as folly. Nevertheless, father William, setting aside all vain 
 human respect, and giving himself up to the promptings of the 
 Holy Spirit, shai-ply rebuked the kihg and queen for tolerating 
 such indignities in their realm — a realm renowned above all 
 others for its attachment to honor and religion. At the same 
 time, he addressed such eloquent and severe reproaches to the 
 nobles of inferior rank, that some few renounced the new fash- 
 ions and returned to their former innocence of life. The holy 
 man plainly saw the finger of Satan in these innovations ; and 
 was convinced that a person interred with this livery of the 
 devil, could never get rid of it to all eternity. Notwithstanding, 
 these pernicious customs were adopted by the greater number; 
 seeing which, I have directed against them the following heroic 
 verses : —
 
 178 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 While this literary revolution was occupying 
 general attention, the political revolution was con- 
 solidating itself. 
 
 The king disallowed the right of his uncle, Henry 
 of Burgundy (who died without issue) to bequeath 
 
 [Tliis extract is given in English literally and line for line : 
 it does not seem worth the labor of paraphrase or versification, 
 as, in the original, it possesses no claim to the ambitious dis- 
 tinction of foelrij, beyond the fact of being divided into 
 irregular lines, (without rhymes) each of which commences 
 with a capital letter.] 
 "A thousand years after the Virgin had given our Lord to 
 
 the world 
 Men precipitated themselves into the most dreadful errors. 
 Yielding to the fascination of change, 
 
 We purpose to regulate our manners after the new mode, 
 And this imprudent fondness for novelty drags us into 
 
 the midst of dangers. 
 Past centuries are to ours but objects of ridicule ; 
 A mixture of frivolity and turpitude corrupts our manners ; 
 The minds of men have lost all taste for what is serious and 
 
 have no shame of vice ; 
 Honor and justice, the guide of good men, have no longer 
 
 any value. 
 The fashion of the day serves to form disfigured tyrants 
 With clipped garments, whose honesty in contracts is 
 
 equivocal. 
 The degenerate republic sees these effeminate manners with 
 
 trembling. 
 Fraud, violence, all crimes dispute for the universe; 
 The saints no longer receive homage ; religion is no more 
 
 venerated.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 179 
 
 his duchy to Otho William, son of his duchess by a 
 previous marriage : and Robert invaded Burgundy, 
 and, after a five years' war, subdued it and gave it 
 to Prince Hqnry, his second son. 
 
 On his return to Paris, he was appiized of the rise 
 of a new sect in his dominions that rejected the mys- 
 teries and sacraments. At the head of this sect 
 were, Stephen, the queen's confessor, and Lisoie, 
 prebendary of St. Croix d'Orleans. A council was 
 called in that city to try the heretics, and it condemned 
 them to be burned. The king and queen were 
 present at the infliction of the punishment, and the 
 latter, with a rod that she carried in her hand, put 
 out the eye of her former confessor. It was to this 
 execution, more than to the Latin hymns he com- 
 posed, that Robert was indebted for the surname, 
 Pious. 
 
 About this time, some Normans who were return- 
 ing from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, arrived at 
 
 Here, the ravages of the sword, there, famine and pestilence 
 Cannot reform men from their errors, nor wean them from 
 
 their impiety ; 
 And if the goodness of the Almighty did not suspend His 
 
 just anger, 
 Hell, ere this, had ingulphed them all in its bottomless abyss. 
 Such is the power of this wretched habit of sinning; 
 The more faults one commits, the less he fears to commit 
 
 them again ; 
 The less he is guilty, the more he dreads to become so."
 
 180 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 the principality of Salerno as the Saracens were 
 besieging its capital. They threw themselves into 
 the place and conducted its defence so valiantly, that 
 the Mahomedans were forced to raise the siege. 
 On their return to Normandy, these pilgrims recounted 
 their exploits and told of the generous recompense 
 they had received from the prince they had delivered. 
 This excited in the adventurous spirits of their com- 
 patriots a desire of seeking their fortune in the same 
 quarter. One of these, named Osmon Drogon, con- 
 strained to flee his country for having slain a noble, 
 set forth, accompanied by his four brothers, and of- 
 fered his services to the Prince of Capua. He ob- 
 tained permission to lay the foundation of a city, and 
 he was speedily joined by Tancred d'Hauteville and 
 his twelve sons — all warriors and all armed. They 
 at first repelled the Saracens ; then, the Greeks ; and 
 afterward, the Popes. Sicily was thus won from the 
 powers that disputed for its possession, and a new 
 monarchy arose, of which Roger, son of Tancred, 
 was the first King. His son, Roger H., succeeded 
 him, and made himself master of Naples; and the 
 sceptre remained with his descendants until the 
 Emperors of the house of Suabia wrested it from 
 one of them, whom Charles of France, brother of 
 St. Louis, and Count of Provence and Anjou, after- 
 ward avenged. 
 
 While these extraordinary events were in pro- 
 gress, Robert, having appeased some troubles in
 
 THE FRENCH MOiNARCHY. 181 
 
 France, associated his son Hugh with himself on the 
 throne, in the year 1007. He caused him to be re- 
 cognised at Compeigne, in a general assembly of the 
 nation ; and, from that period, the name of Hugh 
 figures in all the public acts after the name of the 
 King, his father.* 
 
 From this time, the peace of France was disturbed 
 only by domestic discord caused by Hugh, who was 
 dissatisfied at the influence Constance exercised over 
 his father, and at her harshness toward himself. But 
 these contentions were appeased, and he continued 
 to share the throne until his death ; an event that was 
 much regretted by the nation. 
 
 Robert now associated with himself Henry, his 
 second son, whom he had previously made Duke of 
 Burgundy. Constance was desirous that her third 
 son, Robert, should be preferred to this distinction ; 
 and being disappointed in her wishes, she excited 
 Robert to a revolt : but this was easily suppressed by 
 the King; and Burgundy, deprived of its Duke, was 
 united to the crown. This union was the first blow 
 aimed at the system of the great vassalage. 
 
 A last attempt was made against the King at Com- 
 peigne. Twelve conspirators had bound themselves 
 by oath to compass his assassination ; but Robert, 
 having discovered their plot, caused them all to be 
 arrested. While the judges were conducting their 
 
 * Helgald, Rvberti vita. 
 16
 
 182 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 trial, the King ordered the crdprits to be prepared by 
 penance for the sacrament. After the rite had been 
 administered, he invited them to dine with him ; and 
 the judge who brought their sentence for his signa- 
 ture, found him at the same table with the traitors. 
 It is needless to say that the sentence was cancelled.* 
 '' Soon after this, the king fell ill and died at Melun, 
 in the sixty-first year of his age, and the foity-fifth 
 of his reign. 
 
 He was a mild and amiable prince; just such an 
 one as was necessary to growing France,! after 
 the reign of an energetic prince. He every day 
 gave food to three hundred persons ; and, on some 
 days, the number was increased to a thousand. 
 
 On Maundy-Thursday, he put on a dress of hair- 
 cloth, served the mendicants on his knees, and wash- 
 ed their feet. He established the custom, adopted 
 by his successors, of periodically washing the feet of 
 twelve poor people and serving them at table with 
 the princes and nobles of the court. When he had 
 no money to bestow in alms, he suffered Jiimself to 
 
 * They. were tried and condemned, and theie were ag-ainst 
 them as many sentences of death as there were men. — Helgald. 
 
 t He was of tall stature, with soft, well arranged bair, mo- 
 dest eyes, mouth agreeable and sweet to give the kiss of peace, 
 beard sufficiently full, and shoulders high. "When he mounted 
 his royal steed — wonderful thing! — his toes almost touched 
 his heels;** which was considered a great marvel by tliose. who 
 witnessed it. — Helgald, vila Robcrli. 
 
 ** " Les doigts de ses pieds rejoignaient presque le talon."
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 183 
 
 be robbed by the mendicants. Helgald relates an 
 anecdote of a thief, named Rapaton, who knelt be- 
 hind the King in church, and, while he was prayino-, 
 cut off a part of the golden fringe that ornamented 
 his mantle, Rapaton, thinking the King had not 
 perceived his theft, prepared to steal the remainder 
 of the fringe; but Robert turned round, saying mild- 
 ly, " Desist, ray friend ; you have enough for your 
 present exigencies : what is left may be serviceable 
 to your companions." 
 
 The prerogative of curing the king's evil by mak- 
 ing the sign of the cross on the diseased part, was 
 first exercised by Robert. 
 
 Henry I. succeeded his father in 1031. He was 
 scarcely seated on the throne when his mother Con- 
 stance — always purposing to place the crown on 
 the head of her favorite son, Robert — incited Bald- 
 win, Count of Flanders, and Eudes II., Count of 
 Champagne, to revolt; and persuaded, also. Dam- 
 martin, Senlis, Poissy. Sens, Coucy and Puyset to de- 
 clare in Robeit's favor. These were more than one 
 half of the strongholds of the Duchy of France, which, 
 since Hugh united it to the crown, had always been 
 the patrimony of the Kings. Henry was forced to 
 quit Paris, with but twelve followers, and to take 
 refuge at Fecamp with Robert II., Duke of Nor- 
 mandy, whose harshness obtained for him the ap- 
 pellation of Robert-le-Diable.* 
 
 * Glabert, frag. hist. m. s., apud Duches.
 
 184 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 The vassal gave an army to his King, and the 
 King recovered his crown. The death of Constance, 
 in 1032, restored tranquillity. Robert submitted to 
 his brother, who pardoned him and ceded to him 
 the Duchy of Burgundy, over which this royal branch 
 ruled for nearly four centuries.* 
 
 Shortly after, Eudes, a younger brother of the 
 King, rebelled against his authority. William, the 
 natural son of Robert-le-Diable, assisted the King 
 to suppress this reibellion : and in turn, Henry aided 
 William to maintain himself in the Duchy of Nor- 
 mandy, — his claim to the Duchy having been con- 
 tested on the death of Robert-le-Diable, who expired 
 at Nicaea on his return from a pilgrimage to 
 Jerusalem, 
 
 The remainder of Henry's reign was spent in 
 pacifying quarrels of heresy ; instituting the first 
 military laws of the tournay ; establishing the so- 
 called Truce of God, or the Lord, which pi-ohibited 
 combat, pillage and bloodshed from Wednesday to 
 Saturday. He associated with himself on the throne 
 his eldest son Philip, and caused him to be conse- 
 crated on the day of Pentecost, A. D. 1059, although 
 he was but seven years old. In 1060 Henry died 
 suddenly of a medicine taken injudiciously, in the 
 fifty-fiflh year of his age and the thirtieth of his 
 reign. 
 
 * No longer under the title of grand vassal, but holding it as 
 an appanage.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 185 
 
 This was the first King of the reahii named Henry 
 — a name fatal to all sovereigns who have borne it 
 in France. Henry I. was, as we see, probably poi- 
 soned. Henry II. was killed in a tournament by 
 Montgomery. Henry III. was assassinated by 
 Jacques Clement. Henry IV. was stabbed by Ra- 
 vaillac. And Henry V., born an orphan, lives in 
 exile, between the tomb of his father and the prison 
 of his mother ;* a helpless child, doomed to expiate 
 the faults of a race; an unresisting innocent taken 
 for sacrifice in place of the guilty ; a victim, immola- 
 ted between defunct royalty and an unborn republic, 
 in honor of that strange goddess 'yclept Trmisition. 
 
 The reigns of Henry I. and of his son Philip I., 
 both of which were longt and peaceful, | were most 
 opportune for the still young and feeble kingdom of 
 France. They were the fostering reigns during 
 which those great events were germinated that soon 
 afterward appeared above the sui-face of the soil. They 
 prepared the way for the middle age, so imperfectly 
 understood even in our day — an age of iron; of ven- 
 turous heads, of mighty arms and pious hearts. The 
 
 ♦ Whenever these references to the present day occur, the 
 reader must bear in mind that M. Dumas's work was published, 
 originally, in 1833. 
 
 + Together, sixty years. 
 
 % The reign of Henry passed amid disturbances too slight to 
 agitate the body of the realm. — Jean de Serre. 
 
 16*
 
 186 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 nation, therefore, remained quiescent, for she was 
 about to bring forth something greater than the past 
 revolutions : she was about to give birth to the fcople 
 — the source of all future revolutions.* 
 
 We shall therefore narrate, not the reign of Philip, 
 but the prominent events that took place during 
 his reign j, a reign among the longest, and by its re- 
 sults, the most important of the monarchy.! Philip 
 was one of those men who appear great by reason 
 of the optical illusion through the medium of which 
 their acts are viewed : one of those men who, like 
 Francis I., are deemed to be the fathers of an age, 
 when in reality they are but its accoucheurs. 
 
 Indeed, three principal events, any one of which 
 would have sufficed to render an ordinary reign 
 famous — -so spontaneously and unexpectedly did 
 they arise and so immense and influential were their 
 results — occurred during the reign of Philip. 
 
 The first of these events was the conquest of 
 Great Britain by Wil-helm, or William,| who, 
 
 * Under the first race, in the bosom of the Church and under 
 a religious form, we saw tiiis same people whom we shall now 
 see, in the arms of the nation, under a civil form. It is a trans- 
 formation and nothing more. The people who entered into 
 their chrysalis state with the robe of the priest, will emerge from 
 it with the roundabout of the bourgeois. 
 
 + It continued forty-eight years: from 1060 till 1108. 
 
 tThe minutestdetails of this great event have become familiar 
 since they have found a, great liisiorian to narrate them. Now
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 187 
 
 thereupon, assumed the name of the Conqueror, 
 and became King of England. 
 
 The second was the enterprise of the Crusades, 
 under the conduct of Godfrey de Bouillon, who be- 
 came King of Jerusalem. 
 
 The third was the rebellion of the first Commune,* 
 in the midst of which was born the French people, 
 who became King of the world. 
 
 We will not say that the first tv/o of these events 
 were the inducing causes of the last ; but we will 
 essay to prove, by relating them in the order of their 
 occurrence, that they had a great influence upon it. 
 
 In the year 10G6, Edward, King of England, sur- 
 named the Confessor, died without issue of his 
 marriage with Edith. His death occasioned great 
 confusion and troubles in the kingdom, which the 
 election of Harold, son of Godwin, Count of Kent, 
 could not quell. Under these circumstances, Wil- 
 liam the Bastard cast an eye upon England, and 
 
 that M. Thierry's reputation is established, it is somewhat 
 late for us to repeat what so many have said before us, — that 
 he appears to be the only historian who unites in so high a de- 
 gree the faithfulness of investigation, the knowledge of causes, 
 the clearness of narration, the strength of style and the truth of 
 details. Nevertheless, late though it be, we could not resist the 
 desire of expressing our admiration ; which the public and he 
 will regard as the more sinjcere, since we know him only by his 
 works. 
 
 * Cambrai.
 
 188 THE FRENCH MONARCHY, 
 
 conceived the hope of becoming its sovereign. He 
 assembled, for his enterprise, an army of adventurous, 
 brave, robust, indefatigable, and penniless men, who 
 had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Seventy 
 vessels were anchored in the port of St. Valery; one 
 hundred and iifty thousand men embarked in them, 
 and the fleet put to sea.* 
 
 A strange spectacle now presented itself: an army 
 on its way to subdue a nation ; a petty Duke setting 
 forth to pluck a crown from the head of a King. 
 Doubtless, that nation and that King for a time 
 regarded the invasion as a dream ; nor did either 
 awake to a sober sense of its reality, until the nation 
 was subjugated, and the King lay prostrate and 
 dying on the field of Hastings. 
 
 The battle continued for eight hours only ; but 
 sixty-eight thousand men were left dead upon the 
 field. 
 
 * Edward of England, having no sons, adopted William 
 the Bastard and bequeathed to him his kingdom. On his de- 
 cea,se a certain English Count, named Harold, seized the crown. 
 Whereupon the said William assembled a considerable army 
 and made sail for England with seventy vessels. Harold, 
 learning that the said William had entered into England, 
 marched against him in great force; but, in the battle, Harold 
 was vanquished and slain. William's army consisted of a 
 hundred and fifty thousand men. After the victory, he 
 marched toward London, where he was received and crowned 
 on the day of our RAVtouR's birth. — Hugues de Fleury.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 189 
 
 William ascended the throne of Harold ; and the 
 young King of France, on receivhig his kingdom 
 from the hands of Baldwin, his regent, learned with 
 dismay that he had a king-vassal more powerful than 
 himself It was a teiTor of instinct; a presentiment 
 of evil which eighteen years afterward was to be 
 justified by a reality — by the first ravages of a war 
 between these two sisters, France and England, who 
 were too handsome, too jealous, and too near neigh- 
 bors, to continue friends. The war was born of a 
 joke,* but it lasted for eight centuries; it was a war 
 of extermination, as are all family wars ; an inter- 
 minable series of combats, discontinued by truces, 
 but never by a peace ; a struggle in which France, 
 like Antaeus, always rose again, but always after hav- 
 ing touched the ground. 
 
 We will now consider the Crusades and their 
 causes. 
 
 While the Persians and Egyptians maintained the 
 
 * King William having become very fat, had for a time kept 
 his bed. Philip one day laughingly inquired, when he was to 
 be broughtto bed of liis big belly 1 William sent answer " that 
 he could not fix with precision the day of his delivery, but the 
 King of France should have the earliest information, since it 
 was his intention to be churched at St. Genevieve de Paris, 
 with ten thousand lances in the guise of tapers." He would, 
 in all'probability, have kept his word, if he had not fallen from 
 his horse after having taken and burned Mantes, and died from 
 the consequences of the accident,
 
 190 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 pre-eminence in Afiica, the Christians, though ha- 
 rassed, enjoyed much freedom in the exercise of their 
 worship. But after the capture of Jerusalem, in 
 1076, by Alp-Arslan, the second Sultan of the Turks,* 
 the persecutions endured by the inhabitants of the 
 holy city became intolerable — the more especially 
 as the defeat, by the infidels, of Romanus (surnamed 
 Diogenes) Emperor of Constantinople, deprived them 
 of all hope of recovering their liberty. "From this 
 time," says Guillaume de Tyr, " the citizens had no 
 
 * Togrul-Bey, son of Michel, son of Seljouk, was their first 
 Sultan. He was elected in 1038, and reigned until 1053. Guil- 
 laume de Tyr thus narrates his election. " Having by common 
 consent agreed to give themselves a King, they took a general sur- 
 vey of the innumerable population, and from among all, they ac- 
 knowledged one hundred families to be more illustrious than the 
 rest. Each family was tlien commanded to bring an arrow ; which 
 being done, a bundle was formed containing a hundred arrows. 
 This bundle was covered by a mantle. A child was then 
 called and made to place his hand under the mantle and draw 
 forth an arrow, each arrow being previously marked by some 
 designation to show the family from which it was brought. 
 The arrow thus drawn by the child decided from which family 
 the King should be chosen. The lot fell on the family of Sel- 
 jouk. From the tribe of Seljouk there were then selected a hun- 
 dred men, superior to the rest by reason of age, manners, and 
 virtues, who were required to produce a hundred arrows, each 
 bearing the name of the individual that brought it. These, 
 again, were formed into a bundle, covered with a mantle, and 
 the child, as before, drew one forth. It bore the name of Sel- 
 jouk, for it belonged to Togrul-Bey, son of Michel, son of Sel- 
 jouk."
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 191 
 
 repose, at home or abroad. Death menaced them 
 every day and every moment of the day. And what 
 w^as far worse than death, they were forced into 
 hopeless bondage. No place was sacred : even the 
 churches that they had preserved and repaired were 
 exposed to outrage and violation. While celebrating 
 divine worship, their churches were entered by the 
 infidels, who, uttering cries of fury and menaces of 
 death, seated themselves on the altars, overturned 
 the chalices, trod under foot the sacred vessels, broke 
 the marbles, and heaped reproaches and blows uj^on 
 the priests. The patriarch himself was treated by 
 them as an abject creature. They pushed him from his 
 seat, thrust him to the ground, and dragged him about 
 by his beard or his hair; and afterward cast him into 
 a dungeon: all of which indignities and injuries were 
 inflicted that the people might be made to suffer 
 through the sufferings of their beloved priest." 
 
 This persecution, however, had its usual effect : 
 the number of pilgrims to visit the holy sepulchre 
 was doubled ; for the greater the risk incurred in 
 accomplishing their vow, the greater they conceived 
 to be, in the eyes of the Lord, the merit of its per- 
 formance. The majority of these pilgrims were 
 Greeks and Latins ; but some were Normans. On 
 reaching the gates of Jerusalem, half naked, exhausted 
 with fatigue and dying with hunger, they were forced 
 to pay a piece of gold for the privilege of entering 
 the city — which money was exacted under the name
 
 192 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 of tribute. Those who were unable to comply with 
 this demand, — and their number was large — were 
 crowded together in the environs of the city, more 
 wretched than ever. Here, reduced to nakedness 
 and scorched by the sun, they finally died of thirst 
 and famine. The dead and the living were equally 
 an expense to the inhabitants of the city : for they 
 were forced to bury the one, and to deprive them- 
 selves of every thing to support the other. 
 
 One day, a priest appeared in the midst of this 
 suffering multitude. He had encountered and es- 
 caped a host of perils ; he had suffered innumerable 
 hardships, without seeming to have felt them, 
 although a man of diminutive stature and of misera- 
 ble external appearance. He presented himself at 
 one of the gates ; and, on the usual demand as to 
 his name and origin, he replied that his name was 
 Peter ; that his counti-ymen surnamed him The 
 Hermit ; and that he was bom in the bishopric of 
 Amiens, in the kingdom of France. He paid the 
 customary tribute and entered the city. 
 
 He was a man of ardent faith and irrepressible 
 ambition : ambition that had for its object the 
 things of Heaven, for which he strove as zealously as 
 others do for the things of earth. The woes and 
 persecutions which overwhelmed the Christians 
 around him instigated him to undertake a mighty 
 enterprise. 
 
 As soon, therefore, as he had paid his devotions
 
 THE FREiNCU MONARCHY. 193 
 
 in the sacred places, he requested and obtained from 
 Simon, patriarch of Jerusalem, a letter, in which 
 were carefully and minutely detailed the calamities 
 of the faithful. This the patriarch sealed with his 
 seal to give it authenticity, and he then bestowed 
 his benediction on Peter ; who, resuming his staff, 
 left the city and repaired to the port of Jafta, where 
 he found a vessel ready to sail for Apulia. He em- 
 barked at once, made a prosperous voyage, landed 
 at Genoa, proceeded to Paris and thence to Rome, 
 where he presented himself before Pope Urban II., 
 and placed in his hand the patriarchal letter. To this 
 he added his own testimony, touching the miseries 
 of the faithful and the abominations committed by 
 the accursed Mussulmans in the holy places of Jeru- 
 salem.* 
 
 The holy father was moved by the confidence with 
 which the Christians of the East looked for aid from 
 their brethren of the West. He called to mind the 
 words of Tobit — " O, Jerusalem ! the holy city, he 
 will scourge thee for thy children's works and will 
 have mercy again on the sons of the righteous. 
 Give praise to the Lord, for he is good ; and praise 
 the everlasting King, that his tabernacle may be 
 builded in thee again with joy, and let him make 
 joyful there in thee those that are captives, and love 
 in thee for ever, those that are miserable. Many 
 
 * Guillaume de Tyr. 
 17
 
 194 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 nations shall come from far to the name of the Lord 
 God with gifts in their hands, even gifts to the King 
 of heaven ; all nations shall praise thee vi^ith great 
 
 joy."* ... 
 
 He therefore resolved to urge all Christian prin- 
 ces to take up arms, and, by their united power, 
 deliver the Holy Sepulchre from the sacrilegious 
 hands of the infidels. 
 
 In furtherance of this design he crossed the Alps, 
 descended into Gaul and stopped at Clermont, where 
 he convoked a council. On the ajipointed day, fol- 
 lowed by Peter, he entered into the chamber 
 where three hundred and seventy prelates were as- 
 sembled from the dioceses of Italy, Germany and 
 France. 
 
 The discourse addressed to them was simple, 
 eloquent and concise. It was a representation of 
 the sufferings endured by their brethren in the East : 
 suiferings predicted by King David and the prophet 
 Jeremiah. It essayed to prove from the Scriptures 
 that the Lord loved Jerusalem above all other cities ; 
 and that the malediction pronounced against Hagar 
 was designed for the Saracens — styled at that period, 
 Hagarites or Ishmaelites — who were therefore accur- 
 sed and would, consequently, be vanquished. 
 
 This discourse which appealed to their religious 
 and warlike sympathies — i. e. to the two great 
 
 * Tobh ( Apocri/pha) xn\., 9. 10. 11.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 195 
 
 necessities of the period, had a prodigious and 
 instantaneous effect. Each prelate, walking in the 
 path opened for him, returned to his diocese dissemi- 
 nating the words of war and saying, with St. Mat- 
 thew, " I came not to send peace, but a sword." 
 
 The result of this general exhortation to arms was 
 the separation of husbands from wives, and fathers 
 from sons. No tie was of sufficient strength, no love 
 of sufficient power, no danger of sufficient terror, to 
 restrain those who arose, like the multitudinous waves, 
 at the words of God. The zeal for religion, how- 
 ever, was not the' sole incentive to this great coali- 
 tion. Some joined the Crusade that they might not 
 be separated from their friends who had joined it; 
 others, to escape the imputation of apathy or cow- 
 ardice ; others, to avoid their creditors ; and others, 
 again, from recklessness, a taste for adventure, or a 
 predilection for new scenes and new excitement. 
 But, be the motive what it might, immense numbers 
 gathered themselves to the great rendezvous of the 
 Western nations, exclaiming, "It is the will of God: 
 it is the will of God !" 
 
 The heroes of the first Crusade assembled in the 
 spring of 1096. Among the most conspicuous of 
 its leaders were — 
 
 Hugh the Great, brother of King Philip, the first 
 and the most enthusiastic of all. He crossed the 
 ocean and disembarked at Durazzo with the Franks 
 under his command :
 
 196 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 Bohemond of Apulia, son of Robert Gui^card, a 
 Norman by birth, took the same route with the 
 Italian troops : 
 
 Godefroy de Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine, 
 traversed Hungary with a numerous army, and 
 reached the Holy City, which he was destined to 
 deliver and to rule as King : 
 
 Raymond, Count of Toulouse, passed through 
 Sclavonia, with an army composed entirely of Goths 
 and Gascons : 
 
 Robert, son of King William of England, took the 
 route through Dalmatia with a host of Normans : 
 
 And, lastly, Peter the Hermit, and a noble called 
 Walter the Penniless, followed by a multitude orga- 
 nized into companies of infantry, took their way 
 through the kingdom of the Teutons and descended 
 into Hungary.* 
 
 The general rendezvous was in the environs of 
 Nicaea ; and the crusading army when it arrived 
 before that city — though diminished to one quarter 
 of its original size by fatigue, famine, desertion and 
 defeat — was still so considerable that it seemed, 
 says Anna Comnena, " as if Europe, shaken from 
 her foundations, was about to fall upon Asia." In 
 fact, if we may credit contemporaneous authors, the 
 number of those who first took up the Cross ex- 
 ceeded six millions of men. 
 
 ♦ Foulches de Chartres, — Guillaume de Tyr.
 
 TUE FRE^fC^ MONARCHY. 197 
 
 Europe now inundated Asia, as Asia had formerly 
 spread itself over Europe. The Mohammedan 
 nations issuing forth from Arabia, had, in their migra- 
 tion, conquered Syria and Egypt, followed the coast 
 of Africa, leaped the Mediterranean as if it had been 
 a rivulet, crossed the Pyrenees as they would have 
 marched over a hillock, rushed upon Provence, and, 
 as we have before related, expired between Tours 
 and Poictiers, under the exterminating sword of Karl- 
 le-Martel. 
 
 The Christians, in turn, accomplishing the reac- 
 tion of revenge, marched from the place where the 
 Saracens had fallen ; followed through Europe the 
 opposite shores of the same sea, crossed the Bospho- 
 rus and attacked the Sons of the Prophet on the 
 very spot whence they had originally set forth to 
 attack the followers of Christ.* 
 
 Let us now abandon the Crusade before Niceea as 
 we abandoned the conquest of England at Hastings, 
 — and return to France. 
 
 As soon as the national party had tnumphed by 
 the substitution of the Capetian for the Carolingian 
 race, the people — after six centuries of servitude — 
 concluded that, as the nobles were justified in disem- 
 barrassing themselves of a sovereign, they, also, were 
 
 ♦ CnATEADBEiAND, Eludes HisloTiqucs. 
 17*
 
 198 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 entitled to be relieved from subjection to the nobles ; 
 and this political theory, once adopted, was never 
 abandoned. 
 
 Cambrai was the first city that reduced this theory 
 to practice : she resolved to constitute herself a 
 Commune. 
 
 Gilbert de Nogent, a viriter of the twelfth centuiy, 
 gives us the definition of Commune in his autobio- 
 graphy : " The meaning of this novel and execrable 
 word is, that the serfs will no longer pay their 
 masters the rent they owe them except once a year; 
 and, if they commit any offence, they must be par-- 
 doned on payment of a legal fine. As for other levies 
 of money that it w^s customary to impose on the 
 serfs, they are all annulled.* 
 
 We could not have given a better definition of the 
 word, commune, than the reverend abbe, in his holy 
 indignation, has recorded. 
 
 As early as the year 957 — that is, sixty years after 
 a national party had sprung up in France by the 
 election of Eudes to the prejudice of Charles the 
 Simple — the inhabitants of Cambrai attempted to 
 
 * Communio, autem, novum ac pessiinum nomcn, sic se 
 habet, ut capite censi omnes solitum servitutis debitum dominis 
 semel in anno solvant, et, si quid contra jura deliqaerint, pen- 
 sione legali emendent ; cseterEE censuum exactiones, quee servis 
 irifligi sclent, omnimodis vacent. — Guibertos aJia.';, de vi/d 
 sua.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHV. 199 
 
 form themselves into a commune* during a tempo- 
 rary absence of their bishop. When his reverence 
 returned from the court of the Emperor of Germany, 
 he found the gates of the city closed against him. 
 He then appealed to the Emperor for aid ; who 
 granted him an army of Germans and Flemings, 
 with which he returned to the rebellious city. The 
 inhabitants were terrified into submission, broke their 
 compact, and opened the gates to the bishop. t 
 
 He, however, was far from being appeased by their 
 submission. But, on the contrary, mortified and ex- 
 asperated that the serfs of his own city should have re- 
 fused him an entrance and renounced his authority, he 
 determined to inflict summary vengeance upon them. 
 He marched the army into the town where the sol- 
 diers pursued the conspirators even into the churches 
 and butchered them without mercy. When the vic- 
 tors were at length weary of slaughter, they consented 
 to make prisoners of the rebels : but they afterward 
 mutilated the poor wretches, destroyed their eyes, 
 and branded them in the forehead with a red-hot 
 iron. I 
 
 * Gives in unum conspirantes, episcopo absente, diu deside- 
 ratum conjurArunt communiam. — Balderici, Chron. 
 
 + AuGusTiN Thierry, Letter xvi. 
 
 t Novum genus spectaculi : continuo namque armali iimen 
 sanctissimseaedis absque reverential modo irrump.entes, alios irt- 
 terfecerunt, alios, truncatis manibus et pedibus, demembr&runt : 
 quibusdam vero oculos fodiebant, quibusdam frontes ferro 
 ardente rvotabant. — Balderici, Ckron.
 
 200 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 Here, again, the monstrous severity of the perse- 
 cution defeated its own object. Far from stifling by 
 terror the germs of revolt that were swelling in the 
 hearts of the Cambraisians, it augmented their desire 
 to be relieved from such atrocious domination. In 
 the year 1024, a new attempt at deliverance led to 
 another imperial interference and another ecclesiasti- 
 cal suppression. Forty years afterward, the inhabit- 
 ants again took up arms ; and three armies, — of 
 which, one still belonged to the German empire — 
 once more wrested them from their grasp.* At length, 
 taking advantage of the troubles that followed the 
 excommunication of Henry IV. of Germany, which 
 obliged this Emperor to give his sole attention to his 
 own affaii's, the Cambraisians, assisted by the Count 
 of Flanders, for the fourth time proclaimed their 
 commune. This, too, was destroyed in 1107, but it 
 was soon after re-established upon such a just and 
 solid basis that it served as a model to other towns, 
 which, by their partial and successive enfranchise- 
 ment, anticipated the general liberty of France. 
 
 The immunities that the Cambraisians owed to a 
 long, bloody, and mortal opposition, to ecclesiastical 
 power formed so singular a contrast to the thraldom 
 of the other towns, that contemporary writers re- 
 garded their constitution as an anomaly. " What 
 shall I say," exclaims one of them, " concerning the 
 liberty of this city 1 Neither bishop nor Emperor 
 
 ♦ Histoire de Cambrai. — Augustin Thierry.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 201 
 
 may there levy taxes ; no tribute can be exacted 
 from her, and no army is permitted to approach her 
 walls, save for the defence of the commune."* 
 
 The author of this extract has given a picture of 
 ecclesiastical rights destroyed : the following is a 
 description of secular rights created. 
 
 The citizens of Cambrai formed their town into a 
 commune. They chose from among themselves, 
 by an elective vote, twenty -four jurors, who were 
 compelled to assemble every day at the hotel-de 
 ville, the court-house. The administration and the 
 judicial functions were divided between them. Each 
 juror was obliged to entei'tain, at his own expense, 
 a valet and a saddle-horse, so as always to be in 
 readiness to ti'ansport himself without delay wher- 
 ever the duties of his office might render his 
 presence necessary. 
 
 This was a complete trial of the democratic power, 
 cast, like a lost child, into the midst of feudal France. 
 The historians of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries 
 give to the enfranchised towns, or those endeavoring 
 to become such, the name, sometimes, of republict 
 and sometimes, of commune. 
 
 * Gluid autem de libertate hujus urbis dicam 1 Non episcopus 
 non imperator taxationem in ea facit; non tributum ab ek exi- 
 gitur, non denique exercitum ex ea eduxit, nisi tantum modo 
 ob defensionem urbis. 
 
 t Facta est dissensio Remis, et respiMica conjurata a civi- 
 bus. — Chron. Remcus.
 
 202 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 Noyon soon followed the example of Cambrai, 
 but with much less difficulty. Its bishop, Baudri de 
 Sarchainville, (from whose memoirs we have drawn 
 our Latin quotations and authorities relative to the 
 revolution of Cambrai) was a man of information, of 
 sound judgment, and possessing the power to justly 
 appreciate events. He saw that a new order of 
 things had come into the world and that the bantling 
 was too strong to be smothered : so that the wiser plan 
 was to anticipate necessity, and not to be overtaken 
 and crushed by it. Therefore in the year 1108, some 
 days before the accession of Liouis-le-Gros to the thrmie, 
 he, of his own choice, called together all the inhabit- 
 ants of the town, who for a length of time had 
 desired a commune and who, by disputes with the 
 metropolitan clergy, were preparing for a change. 
 To this assembly, composed of artisans, tradesmen, 
 students and even knights, he presented the draught 
 of a charter bestowing on the inhabitants the privi- 
 lege of electing their own jurors, guarantying to 
 them tlie exclusive ownership of their property, and 
 making them amenable only to their municipal 
 magistrates. This was conceding more freedom 
 than we, at the present day, enjoy. Our modern 
 municipal council bears, indeed, some resemblance 
 to the ancient juries ; but over this council a mayor 
 of the King's appointment presides. 
 
 It may well be supposed that this charter was joy- 
 fully received and fervently sworn to by the people.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 203 
 
 After Louis-le-Gros ascended the throne, he was 
 called on to grant his sanction to this charter because 
 Noyon was situated in that portuM of Picardy which 
 was holden of the King of France. 
 
 We italicise some words in the preceding para- 
 graphs because, following the thread of our narration, 
 and anticipating the reign of Louis-le-Gros, we con- 
 sider this the fitting place to discredit the prevailing 
 belief that to this monarch belongs the honor of 
 enfranchising the communes. 
 
 The communes, as we have seen from the ex- 
 ample of Cambrai and Noyon, and are yet to see 
 from that of Laon, were enfranchised by their own 
 spirit of liberty and supported the enfranchisement 
 by their own proper strength. The subsequent ap- 
 proval of such enfranchisement by the bishop, or by 
 the King if the bishop held tenure of him, was a 
 simple ceremonial rite which, on an emergency, the 
 communes might dispense with; but which, from 
 policy, the King, the nobles and the bishops desired 
 to make a merit of conceding to the already emanci- 
 pated inhabitants, whom they found themselves 
 unable to reduce to their former servitude. It is 
 with this view that history, as servile as a courtier, 
 and the Charter of Louis XVIIL, as false as history, 
 wrongfully award to Louis-le-Gros the idea of en- 
 franchisement which, for a hundred and sixty years 
 preceding his epoch, had been germinating in the 
 hearts of the inhabitants of many of our towns.
 
 204 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 In fact, besides the two communes that Louis-le- 
 Gros found already established when he ascended 
 the thi'one in 1108, there were two others, instituted 
 as early as 1102. These were, the Commune of 
 Beauvais, of plebeian origin, as is verified by the 
 letters of Yvon;* and that of St. Quentin. The 
 charter of this latter city was granted by Raoul, 
 Count of Vermandois ;t who, j)owerful as he was, 
 did not deem it expedient to require its ratification 
 by the then reigning monarxh — Philip I. . 
 
 As the history of the Commune of Laon belongs 
 to the reign of Louis-le-Gros, we shall omit the 
 further cojisideration of it for the present. Our sole 
 object was to demonstrate, by precise dates, the fact 
 that four communes were already established in the 
 environs of Paris when the prince who enjoys the 
 honor of projecting this general emancipation as- 
 cended the throne of France. 
 
 Having now briefly considered the three great 
 events of the reign of Philip I.; the Norman Con- 
 quest, the fii'st Crusade, and the enfranchisement of 
 the communes ; it remains for us to show what influ- 
 ence the first two exerted over the third. 
 
 * Turbulenta conjuratio factae communionis. — Epistohe 
 Ironis, Carnolensis episcopi, apud acript. rcr. franc. 
 
 t Cum priiDum communiaacquisita fuit, omnes Viromandise 
 pares, et omnes clerici, salvo ordine suo, omncsque milites, 
 salva fidelitate comitis, firmiter tenendam juraveiunt. — Re- 
 cueil des ordonnances des rois de France.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 205 
 
 The reader will bear in mind, that when Charles 
 the Simple surrendered to the Danish chief, by 
 treaty, the two fine provinces of Normandy .and 
 Brittany, his governing motive in the concession was 
 to secure to himself, in the midst of France, a firm 
 and powerful ally : so that, in case he should be 
 deserted by the German Emperor, he might success- 
 fully resist the encroachments of the national party, 
 who were eager for the overthrow of the Carolingian 
 dynasty, and whose leaders were such men as Rod- 
 bert, Hugh-the-Great, and Here-bert, Count of 
 Vermandois. 
 
 It will also be remembered that the Dukes of 
 Normandy, disappointing the hopes of Charles the 
 Simple, had, in accordance with the promptings of 
 their interest, alternately lent their aid to the national 
 and to the Carolingian cause. Eventually, however, 
 Rik-hard attached himself permanently to the na- 
 tional party by becoming the brother-in-law of 
 Hugh Capet, and promoting his election to the 
 throne. From this period until the Conquest of 
 England by the Normans, the good understanding 
 between the two powers was uninterrupted : and, 
 probably, had William remained Duke of Normandy 
 and Brittany, instead of becoming King of England, 
 Philip would have found him an efficient ally in 
 repressing these growing communes — especially, as 
 William might have had reason to fear that the senti- 
 ment of liberty, thus manifesting itself in the domin- 
 18
 
 206 
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHV. 
 
 ions of the King and of his brother nobles, would 
 soon create disturbances in his own. But when he 
 abandoned a simple duchy for the conquest of a 
 great kingdom, he divested Normandy and Brittany 
 of their importance ; reducing them to mere appen- 
 dages of the English crown — to fiefs of a monarchy 
 which held its seat of empire beyond the sea — to a 
 sort of foot-hold that Great-Britain retained in the 
 kingdom of France. 
 
 But, in the event, so far was William from becom- 
 ing the ally of Philip, although he had been his vassal 
 while Duke of Normandy, that he became his rival 
 when he ascended the throne of England, and after- 
 ward his determined and victorious enemy. Wil- 
 liam's son, William Rufus, inherited his father's 
 animosity and bequeathed it as an heir-loom to his 
 successor : so that Philip, in place of receiving assist- 
 ance from Normandy to suppress the communes, 
 was glad to unite with the communes against Nor- 
 mandy. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that the Norman Conquest 
 indirectly, but efficaciously, encouraged the popular 
 sedition and commotion that began to agitate France 
 under the reign of Philip. 
 
 The Crusades had, and thereafter were to have, 
 a more direct bearing upon the same result. 
 
 The influence they already exercised was this : 
 
 The nobles, obedient to the summons of Peter the 
 Hermit, urging them to deliver the Tomb of Christ
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCH V. 207 
 
 from the infidels, earned in their train all the soldiers 
 they could muster in the provinces under their 
 respective control ; and, consequently, the seigneu- 
 rial authority almost vanished from France. The 
 clergy — and even a portion of the clergy accompa- 
 nied the nobles — the clergy, we say, and the people 
 therefore remained alone and in opposition to each 
 other. The clergy, by becoming proprietors of im- 
 mense landed possessions, ceased to feel a commu- 
 nity of interest with the serfs, who had no domains. 
 As the priests became rich, they ceased to be of the 
 people ; and the moment they ceased to be the 
 equals of the lower classes, they became their 
 oppressors. When the people determined to orga- 
 nize themselves into communes, they had but, in a 
 measure, to struggle against the ecclesiastical power ; 
 since the most "influential and the bravest nobles — 
 whom, unquestionably, they could not successfully 
 have resisted — were absent from the kingdom, and 
 therefore unable to i'epress these insurrectionary 
 movements, which, from their very impunity, led to 
 a general commotion. 
 
 The influence that the Crusades were thereafter to 
 exert may be thus explained : 
 
 The nobles, departing at such short notice for the 
 Holy Land, in order to defray the expenses of so 
 long a journey, were obliged to sell a part of their 
 domains to the clergy. The money, so raised, was 
 iraprovidently dissipated by these prodigal knights
 
 208 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 and fell into the hands of the frugal townsmen and 
 trades-people, who had undertaken to supply the 
 army and had furnished the armor and eqviipage for 
 the horses. Soon, also, an immense traffic in mer- 
 chandise followed the Crusade, and extended itself to 
 the North, by Hungary, into Greece ; and to the South, 
 by the ports of the Mediterranean, into Egypt. With 
 the enjoyment of the comforts of life, came the desire 
 of retaining them. The method of preserving them 
 to the poorer classes was evidently such a constitu- 
 tion as should guaranty their social and political 
 rights : and the means of procuring such a constitu- 
 tion were to be found in emancipation. 
 
 From this moment, then, the emancipation of the 
 people began, and its progress was not arrested until 
 it had attained its end — Liberty. 
 
 On the other hand, the monarchical power which 
 was destined to be, at length, the sole remaining ene- 
 my of Liberty, in order that when it, in turn, was 
 overthrown, Liberty should be not merely the queen 
 but the Goddess of the world — the monarchical pow- 
 er, from this time, and from similar causes, gain- 
 ed ground over the temporal power of the nobles 
 and the spiritual power of the clergy. Thence- 
 forward the feudal system, enfeebled by this pious 
 migration, was no longer arrayed against the royal 
 authority ; but was, rather, its defensive weapon ; a 
 buckler protecting it from the enemy and the people, 
 but which was at length struck from the regal arm by
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 209 
 
 foreign and civil war. Thus, from the termination 
 of the eleventh century the march of the monarchical 
 power and the popular authority was onward. Feu- 
 dalism, the daughter of barbarism, was the mother 
 of Monarchy and Liberty — twin sisters, one of whom 
 was destined to stifle the other. 
 
 The revolutions, then, that for eight centuries have 
 swept over France, took their rise, by feeble and im- 
 perceptible gradations, from the foot of Philip's 
 throne ; and, swelling from age to age, are precipi- 
 tated in immeasurable proportions into the midst of 
 our own epoch. 
 
 Thus, amid the Aljis, a child may leap over the 
 sources of four great rivers which, in their onward 
 and impetuous course, trench all Europe, and pour 
 into four different seas their tributary waters.* 
 
 We will now briefly consider some of the lesser 
 events of Philip's reign ; events which are almost 
 lost in the shadow of thethree gi*eat ones just related. 
 
 Philip, in conformity to the precaution of the Kings 
 of the third race, caused his son, Louis, to be conse- 
 crated during his own life-time. 
 
 The Romance language became more and more 
 perfected : the earliest Provencal poets appeared 
 
 * The Rhone, which throws itself into the Mediterranean ; 
 the Danube, into the Black Sea ; the Po, into the Adriatic ; and 
 the Rhine, into the Ocean. 
 
 18*
 
 210 THE FKENCH MONAROIIV. 
 
 under the name of Troubadours ; and the first Neus- 
 trian poets, under the name of Trouveres. 
 
 The crusading knights — in the midst of an armed 
 host composed of many millions of men, who spoke 
 thirty different languages — found it necessary to have 
 some rallying signal for their own retainers, and they 
 therefore adopted certain external symbols to meet 
 this exigency. On their return from the Holy Land, 
 these symbols were, from habit or from ostentation, 
 retained ; and those who had no such distinction 
 already, imitated the example from envy. This was 
 the origin of armorial bearings. 
 
 In 1088, St. Bruno founded the Order of the 
 Chartreuse in the heart of the mountains of Dau- 
 phiny. 
 
 A new order of architecture was introduced 
 during this reign and applied to the construction of 
 churches. It received the name of Gothic, and 
 occupied a middle ground between the decline and 
 the revival of Roman architecture. 
 
 During the same reign, important events occurred 
 in other countries contiguous to France. 
 
 The Cid — the Hero of Spain — subdued Toledo 
 
 and New Castile to the authority of Alphonso VI.* 
 
 Henry IV., Emperor of Germany, deposed Pope 
 
 Gregory VII. — who excommunicated and dei:)osed 
 
 him (the Emperor) in turn.t 
 
 » In 1073. t In 1076.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 211 
 
 Jerusalem was taken by the Crusaders,* and 
 Godefroy de Bouillon was proclaimed her King. 
 
 William Rufus was killed in the chase, and Henry 
 I. ascended the English throne. t 
 
 All these things were accomplished at home, or 
 were about to be accomplished abroad, when Philip I. 
 expired at Melon in the year 1108 in the fifty-seventh 
 year of his age. His son Louis VI. succeeded him. 
 
 Louis VI., — usually styled Louis-le-Gros (the 
 Fat), was one of those men who have the good for- 
 tune to be born at the right time, and to be endowed 
 with moral qualities exactly adapted to the exigen- 
 cies of the period. On coming to the throne, he 
 ascertained the position of France and estimated his 
 own strength ; and he conceived that royalty, in an 
 age when society was organizing itself, ought to be 
 a sovereignty, and not a suzcraijieti.X He devoted 
 his energies, therefore, to the perfection of this 
 design : and his reign was a sort of programme of 
 the grand drama performed by Louis XL 
 
 One man powerfully aided him in laying the foun- 
 dation of his monarchical edifice. He was neither a 
 Mayor of the palace, formidable for his arms ; nor 
 
 * In 1099. tin 1100. 
 
 t We have no English word corresponding to suzeTaln6lc, 
 and it may be necessary to state that, during the feudal ages, 
 the King was but a lord suzerain, or lord paramount, among 
 his peers ; a sovereign, in our acceptation of the term, holds a 
 higher rank than this, and possesses superior attributes of 
 power.
 
 212 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 a Count of Paris, influential for his domains : but a 
 simple abbe of St. Denis ; a man of genius ; a 
 co-regent after the manner of Sully and Colbert ; 
 a minister, in fact, in the modern (political) accepta- 
 tion of the word. This man was Suger. 
 
 Owing to the partial contests waged by Louis-le- 
 Gros against the feudal system, and to the skilful 
 management of the royal domains, — to which Suger 
 attached the lands bought from the lords pre^^ous 
 to their departure for the Holy Land, and the for- 
 tresses taken from rebellious and vanquished vassals 
 — a central and regular government began to pre- 
 vail from the very commencement of this reign. 
 
 Royalty slipped its feudal leading-strings ; tried 
 its first steps; claimed the privileges incident to its 
 peculiar conformation ; and stood forth a supreme 
 power; a power that would do little for national 
 liberty,* but much for forming and perpetuating a 
 government. 
 
 * We have shown that Louis-le-Gros had nothing to do with 
 the enfranchisement of the communes. In corroboration of 
 our own opinion we quote the following from M. Guizot; a 
 man whom we admire as a historian as much as wo dislike 
 him as a minister: — "I think it is without reason that to 
 them (Louis-le-Gros and Suger,) the honor is ascribed of the 
 first enfranchisement of the communes. This event occurred 
 before their day, proceeded from causes independent of their 
 agency, was accomplished without their concurrence, and was 
 opposed as often as seconded by them." — Fr. Guizot, Notice 
 sur Suger.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 213 
 
 Even during the life-time of his father, Louis had 
 commenced the work of concentration ; for he was 
 aware how much vexation Philip had suffered from 
 the nobles entrenched in their castles on the very 
 territory belonging to the crown. The chateau of 
 Montlery, among others, which belonged to Guy de 
 Truxel, son of Milon, commanded the high-way 
 from Paris to Orleans, ; " So that," says Suger, 
 " the depredations of this lord produced such em- 
 barrassment and disorder in the communication 
 between the inhabitants of the two towns, that they 
 were forced to make the journey in large companies 
 capable of defending themselves." 
 
 As soon, therefore, as Philip became master of 
 this almost impregnable castle, by the marriage of 
 one of his sons* with the daughter of Guy de Truxel, 
 he admonished Louis always to retain it ; " for," 
 said he, " the vexations arising from it have turned 
 my hair gray ; and that lord's damnable wiles and 
 stratagems have never allowed me an instant's quiet 
 or repose." 
 
 Louis, on becoming King, took, successively, the 
 castles ofGournay, Sainte-Severe, Ferte-Beaudouin, 
 and Roche-Guyon ; and, improving the opportunity 
 offered by a revolt of hfs brother Philip, he made 
 himself master of the citadel of Mantes and this 
 same fortress of Montlery, of which, despite his 
 
 * Philip, a son by the Countess of Angers.
 
 214 THE FRENCH MONARCHY, 
 
 father's caution, be had imprudently dispossessed 
 himself. After taking all these fortresses, he laid 
 siege to the castle of Puyset, the reduction of which, 
 though apparently of easy achievement, cost him 
 three years of contest — just the amount of time con- 
 sumed by the Crusaders in conquering Palestine. 
 
 Continuing the labour of rooting out these signo- 
 ries from the royal domain, as a gardener would erad- 
 icate the weeds from his beds, he marched against 
 the chateau of Nogent and forced it to suiTender : 
 then, continuing his course into Bourges, he took 
 Germigny, and sent Aymon, its chatellan, into 
 France, leaving this fortress, as he had done all the 
 others, under the care of men devoted to his interest. 
 
 Soon after, foreign war claimed his attention. 
 Henry I., of England, had landed in Normandy ; and, 
 desirous of extending his dominions in France, and 
 not unwilling to testify his hereditary hatred of the 
 nation, had taken up the interminable duel where 
 William Rufus left it. 
 
 The first encountei's were of little moment to either 
 party; but on the twentieth of August, 1119, the 
 French army was defeated at Brenneville. Louis, 
 however, counterbalanced this disaster by several 
 minor victories : he was then obliged to take the 
 field against a more powerful foe. 
 
 The domestic troubles of Germany, having been 
 appeased by the deposition of Henry IV., his succes- 
 sor, Henry V., found himself at the head of a tranquil
 
 THE F"RENCH MONARCHY. 215 
 
 and mighty empire. He looked back, now, with 
 jealous regret upon the time of the Germanic suprem- 
 acy over the Frank kingdom : a supremacy which 
 his ancestoi's had been unable to assert since the tri- 
 umph of the national party. And, making a pretext 
 of the excommunication pronounced against him at 
 Rheims by the Pope Calistus, he prepared to invade 
 Champagne. 
 
 Upon this, Louis made an appeal as a sovereign 
 to his grand vassals, who would have regarded them- 
 selves as his equals in the time of Hugh Capet ;* and 
 the grand vassals obeyed. Thenceforward the su- 
 premacy of royalty over feudalism was not a theory 
 but a fact. 
 
 The plains of Rheims were chosen as the gene- 
 ral rendezvous of the troops. In order that Saint 
 Denis, the special protector and patron of France, 
 might be propitious to the enterprise, the King went 
 in person to the Abbey of St. Denis and took from 
 the altar the banner of the county of Vexin,t which 
 
 * Every one is familiar with the reply of Adelbert to Hugh 
 Capet, when the latter demanded who made him a Count 1 — 
 " Those who made thee King." 
 
 + This is the banner that afterward became so celebrated un- 
 der the name of Orijlamme ; a standard that must not be con- 
 founded with the banner of the Franks, nor the banner of 
 France. The former of these two, was simply the cloak of St. 
 Martin ; the latter, was of violet or sky-blue colored velvet, 
 which Louis the Young, son of Louis the Fat, studded with
 
 216 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 county, Louis, though King, held of that Church ; 
 and, receiving it with great devotion, he repaired to 
 the rendezvous (and was the first to arrive there) at- 
 tended by a handful of men. 
 
 golden fleurs-de-lys, when lie brought it back from the Holy 
 Land. Charles V. reduced the number]j of the fleurs-de-lys 
 to three in honor of the Holy Trinity ; and from Charles V. to 
 Charles X. the three fleurs-de-lys were adopted by our sovereigns 
 as the arms of the kingdom of France. 
 
 The oriflamme was not white, as many painters and histori- 
 ans have represented it. The origin of the first part of its name 
 — the golden lance to which it was attached; and that of the 
 latter part — the color of the material of which it was made; 
 ought to have prevented them from falling into this error. Be- 
 sides, Guillaume Guiard has given a description of it in the four 
 following lines : 
 
 " Oriflamme est une banni^re 
 
 Aucun poi plus forte que guimple, 
 De cendal roujoyant et simple, 
 Sans pourtraitured'autre affaire." 
 
 The Flemish chronicles, too, agree on this point with the au- 
 thor we have quoted. " He held a lance to which was at- 
 tached the oriflamme, of a Vermillion samite, in tlie form of a 
 gonfalon cut into three points, each of which was tasselled witlr 
 green silk." 
 
 The testimony of Raoul de Presle, in his history of St. De- 
 ni:,, is as positive as that of the Flemish chronicles: "The 
 oriflamme is a gilded sword, to which is attached a vermillion 
 banner." 
 
 The successors of Louis the Fat followed his example, and the 
 oriflamme became their principal ensign. It was not until the
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 217 
 
 But his summons had been heard and heeded by 
 the realm at large. " When," says Suger, " our 
 mighty army was collected together from all parts of 
 France, there was so great a number of cavaliers 
 and men on foot that it seemed as if a swarm of 
 locusts covered the surface of the earth, not only on 
 the shores of the rivers, but on the mountains and in 
 the plains." The army amounted to nearly three 
 hundred thousand men. 
 
 Nevertheless, if a national war, a war against 
 Germany, had not been in agitation, probably the 
 appeal to arras would not have been so enthusiastic- 
 ally answered. The hatred of the people toward 
 the protectors of the Carolingian race was so extreme, 
 that, in this case, even the enemies of the King ral- 
 lied around his standard : and, among others, Count 
 
 reign of Charles VII. that it disappeared from the French ar- 
 mies; and then, not because their faith in the banner was de- 
 creased, but because St. Denis was in possession of the English 
 and the King could not procure it from the monastery. In the 
 mean time, Joan of Arc appeared and bore a white banner with 
 the single word, Jhesus, embroidered on it. The victories ob- 
 tained under this new standard militated much against the credit 
 of the other, which, indeed, was quite forgotten; and when the 
 English were driven out of the kingdom, the banner of Joan was 
 adopted in its stead. Hence the origin of the white flag. Nevei- 
 theless, Felibien assures us that in 1594 the oriflamme was still 
 among the treasures of St. Denis : but very much moth-eaten 
 and discolored. 
 
 19
 
 218 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 Thibault himself, came to his assistance ; although, 
 continues Suger, "he was then, with his uncle, the 
 King of England, waging war against the Lord 
 Louis." 
 
 The King essayed to discipline this vast multitude ; 
 and from this time began those military dispositions 
 and that organization of armed masses that the 
 genius of Napoleon canned to such a degree of per- 
 fection. Suger has transmitted the details of these 
 preparations and we shall quote them here, as they 
 seem to us extremely curious and, from their source, 
 likely to be authentic. 
 
 " The first corps was formed of the troops from 
 Rheims and Chalons, six thousand in number, foot- 
 soldiers* as well as cavaliers. The men of Soissons 
 and of Laon, not less numerous, composed the se- 
 cond. The third corps consisted of the Orleanese, 
 the Parisians, the men of Etampes, and the multitu- 
 dinous army of the blessed St. Denis, so devoted to 
 
 * The foot-soldiers were almost all men of the communes. 
 The militia drawn from them furnished, until the time of Fran- 
 cis I., the infantry of the army. It was in the midst of a body 
 of such troops — who had no defensive arms but helmets and 
 sometimes cuirasses of leather; and no offensive weapons but 
 lances or scythes — that the knights, armed cap-a-pie, mounted 
 on horses covered with iron, and dealing blows with swords 
 that required to be wielded with both hands, entered like reap- 
 ers. This explains the wondrous feats of prowess of the 
 middle-ages, which we are almost tempted to regard as fabulous.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 219 
 
 the crown. The King, full of confidence in his pa- 
 tron, placed himself at the head of these troops. " It 
 is they," said he, " who will aid me if living, and 
 caiTy me if dead." The noble Hugh, Count of 
 Troyes, led the fourth division. The fifth was com- 
 manded by the Duke of Burgundy and the Count of 
 Nevers. Raoul, Count of Yermandois, renowned for 
 courage and illustrious for his near relationship to the 
 King, was followed by a host of chosen knights from 
 St. Quentin and the adjacent country, well appointed 
 with cuirasses and helmets, who were to compose 
 the right wing. The left wing, by direction of Louis, 
 was formed of the men of Ponthieu, Amiens, and 
 BeauA^ais. In the lear-guard was placed the very 
 noble Count of Flanders with his ten thousand fine 
 troops, and near him were stationed William, Duke 
 of Aquitania, the Count of Brittany, and the valiant 
 warrior Foulques, Count of Angers,* It was pro- 
 vided that whenever the army was engaged in battle, 
 carts filled with water and wine should be placed on 
 the field in a circle, where those whom wounds or 
 fatigue obliged to quit the action might withdraw to 
 refresh themselves for a renewal of the contest." 
 
 When the Emperor was apprized of these dispo- 
 sitions, and of the numbers arrayed against him, he at 
 
 * It is obvious from this, that with the exception of Normandy 
 and Auvergne, all the feudatories of France marched under the 
 orders of the King.
 
 220 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 once lost lieart, and retreated without daring to risk 
 a battle. The King had great difficulty in restrain- 
 ing his army from carrying the war into the Ger- 
 manic dominions.* 
 
 During these preparations for war with Germany, 
 the King of England again essayed to make himself 
 master of the frontier of Frances bordering on Nor- 
 mandy. But a single baron, Amaury de Montfort, at 
 the head of a small body of troops collected in Vexin, 
 frustrated his attempts ; and, in numerous encoun- 
 ters, gallantly sustained the honor of his country : 
 so that Henry, finding that the diversion on the part 
 of Germany, on which he had calculated, had failed 
 to further his own purposes, was glad to make pro- 
 posals of peace to Louis, and offered to renew his 
 homage for his Duchy of Normandy. The proposals 
 were accepted. 
 
 Louis, being now disencumbered of his two pow- 
 erful antagonists, renewed his expeditions against 
 his own refractory vassals. His first movement was 
 directed against the Auvergnats, who had not yet sub- 
 mitted, and who claimed affinity with the Romans.t 
 They had disregarded his summons to the field, and 
 
 * On receiving news of his retreat, nothing but the prayers 
 of the archbishops, bishops, and men reverenced for their piety, 
 sufficed to restrain the French troops from carrying devastation 
 into this prince's dominions and pillaging the unfortunate in- 
 habitants. — SuGER, Life of houis-le-Gros. 
 
 t Avernique ausi Latios se fingere fratres,
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY/ 221 
 
 Louis soon found occasion to make them repent of 
 their temerity. 
 
 The bishop of Clermont, expelled from his See by 
 William IV., Count of Auvergne, sought refuge and 
 aid from the King of France. Louis granted him 
 both. He assembled an army, pursued the Auverg- 
 nats into their mountains ; took, one after another, 
 their castles which they thought impregnable — being 
 built on the summits of the rocks ; obtained posses- 
 sion of Clermont their capital ; restored to God his 
 Church, to the clergy its fortresses, to the bishop his 
 city ; re-established peace between him and the 
 Count; and caused that peace to be ratified by 
 numerous hostages and by the most sacred vows.* 
 
 He was equally successful in his next two expedi- 
 tions. The first was against the assassins of Charles 
 the Good, nephew of Robert, Count of Flanders, 
 surnamedthe Jerusalemite on account of his exploits 
 in the Holy Land. Louis attacked them in the city 
 of Bruges, made them all prisoners, and in the first 
 place condemned to death the two principal instiga- 
 tors of the murder. As the nature of the punishment 
 inflicted in any particular age is a test of the civiliza- 
 tion to which that age has attained, we shall describe 
 what these convicts suffered. 
 
 "Bouchard," says Suger, " was bound upon an 
 elevated wheel, where he remained exposed to the 
 
 * Suger; Life of Louis le-Gios. 
 19*
 
 222 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 voracity of crows and birds of pi'ey, which picked. out 
 his eyes and mangled his face. After this, he was 
 pierced by arrows, darts, and javelins, airned at him 
 from below, and he died in the most cruel tortures. 
 His body was then thrown in a ditch. 
 
 "His accomplice, Berthold, was suspended on a 
 gibbet with a dog. The dog was worried by the 
 spectators ; and, every time he was struck, he vented 
 his rage by biting and tearing the culprit's face. 
 
 ^' The other prisoners who had been shut up by 
 Lord Louis in a tower, were taken to the top of it 
 and, successively, thrown off to be dashed in pieces 
 at the bottom, in sight of their relations." 
 
 The King now marched against the chateau de 
 Couci, near Laon, belonging to Thomas de Marie : an 
 execrable being, who oppressed the Holy Church 
 and respected neither God nor man. 
 
 Thomas was soon defeated, mortally wounded by 
 Raoul, Count of Vermandois, and taken to Laon. 
 The next day, his defences were broken up, and his 
 property confiscated to the crown. 
 
 Louis — notwithstanding his extreme corpulence 
 — conducted, in person, three other expeditions. 
 The first, against the chateau de Livry, belonging to 
 Amaury de Montfort; and the other two, against the 
 fortresses of Bonneval and Chateau-Renard, belong- 
 ing to Count Thibault. All three fell into his hands. 
 
 Having followed royalty in its contest with the 
 nobles, let us now follow the communes in their
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 223 
 
 • 
 
 Struggle Avith royalty : and as the history of one town 
 is, essentially, the history of all, in details as well as 
 results, we shall take as an example the revolution 
 of Laon ; concerning which Guibert de Nogent gives 
 us the most minute particulars. 
 
 The See of the cathedral of Laon had remained 
 vacant for two years, when the King of England 
 (who industriously scattered through the French 
 dominions individuals on whom he could rely) suc- 
 ceeded, by means of promises and presents, in obtain- 
 ing the bishopric for Gaudry, his referendary, who, 
 however, had never received any higher orders than 
 the clerkship, nor led any other life than that of a 
 soldier. Notwithstanding this odd novitiate, he re- 
 ceived the Episcopal unction in the church of St. 
 Ruffin. The text chosen for the services of that day 
 was, as it chanced, prophetic for him : " Yea, a 
 sword shall pierce through thine own soul also." 
 
 After the ceremony, the new bishop left the church 
 on horseback, wearing the mitre and arrayed in his 
 official robes, to repair to his palace accompanied by 
 Guibert de Nogent and a young priest. On his way, 
 he met a peasant armed with a lance ; and, warming 
 with the recollection of his military achievements 
 among the English, he seized the lance from the 
 countryman, spurred his horse, and, bi'andishing the 
 weapon as if in pursuit of a foe, he struck witli much 
 address a sapling by the road-side. Guibert, on 
 aeeing this very worldly action, could not refrain
 
 224 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 from saying that the lance in the hand ill accorded 
 with the mitre on the head.* 
 
 Three years passed, during which time the bishop 
 gave tlie inhabitants more bad examples than good 
 ones. The profusion and extravagance of the palace 
 caused all serious men to murmur; the more espe- 
 cially, as every kind of exaction was resorted to by 
 the bishop to support his prodigality. "They had 
 reached that pass," says Guibert de Nogent, " that if 
 perchance the King came to the city of Laon — who, 
 certainly, as a monarch, had a right to require the 
 respect due to his station — he was grievously an- 
 noyed by the indignities offered to his retinue. For 
 at night and in the morning when his horses were 
 led to water, they were forcibly taken off by the 
 bishop's satellites and the grooms severely beaten. 
 Of couTse, the common people were treated with far 
 less ceremony. No laboring man could enter the 
 city without incurring the risk of being thrown into 
 prison whence he was obliged to ransom hiniself ; 
 or, of being cited to appear before the judge, and 
 condemned, without any offence, to punishment." 
 
 We will x'elate a single instance of the manner in 
 which the exactions were effected. 
 
 *' On a Saturday, the country people came from all 
 the adjacent parts to furnish themselves with neces- 
 
 ♦ Non bene conveniunt, nee in unA sede morantur 
 Cidaris et lancea
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 225 
 
 saries from the market at Laon. The bishop's men 
 made the tour of the city with baskets or dishes con- 
 taining samples of vegetables, grain, or other com- 
 modities and offered them, as if they were venders, to 
 the peasants. After the price was agreed upon, the 
 seller said to the buyer, ' Follow to my house and I 
 will deliver to you what you have purchased.' 
 When the parties arrived at the bins containing the 
 commodities, the vender begged his customer to ex- 
 amine the quality of the article ; and as he essayed 
 to do so, standing on his tip-toes and reaching his 
 head and shoulders into the bin, the pretended deal- 
 er seized him by the feet, pushed him suddenly in, 
 and locked down the cover ; he then held him prison- 
 er until a ransom was paid for his deliverance. 
 These, and similar things, were constantly taking 
 place in the towns. The nobles and their retainers 
 publicly committed theft and defended their prac- 
 tices with arms. There was no security for any man 
 belated in the streets ; for imprisonment, robbery, or 
 death was certain to be his fate." 
 
 However, the various expedients resorted to for 
 oppressing the people were at length exhausted. The 
 inhabitants went to Rheims to purchase commodities ; 
 the citizens of Laon remained within doors after 
 nightfall ; and the bishop had no prisoners for whom 
 he could demand aransom. But being in want of 
 money, he set out for Rome to crave assistance from 
 the King of England who was then in that city. 
 
 During his absence, the clergy, the arch-deacons
 
 226 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 and the nobles, iu order to obtain money from the 
 people, offered to grant them the power of forming 
 a commune on payment of a reasonable sum. The 
 populace, overjoyed at an opportunity to relieve them- 
 selves from oppression, eagerly thrust the price of 
 their liberty into the hands of these avaricious men ; 
 who, rendered tractable by the gold thus showered on 
 them, swore by things most sacred that they would faith- 
 fully observe the conditions made with the people.* 
 The bargain was scarcely concluded, when the bish- 
 op returned from Rome, enriched, for the moment, by 
 the King of England. On his first learning what had 
 been done in his absence, he was much enraged and 
 refused to enter the city. But when he was, appar- 
 ently, the most inflexible, he suddenly became molli- 
 fied, made his entrance into Laon, and swore, not 
 only to respect the rights of the commune — which 
 was modelled after the communes of St. Quentin 
 and Noyon — but also to induce the King to 
 ratify the treaty. " This change in his intentions," 
 says Guibert de Nogent, " was owing to the large 
 sums of money that were offered to him ; and they 
 were sufficient to appease the tempest of his words. 
 Similar considerations also determined the course of 
 the King's conduct.t 
 
 * Guibert de Nogent. 
 
 + Rich gifts made by the men of the people also determined 
 the King to confirm this treaty by oath. — Guibertus ahbas, 
 ds vita sua.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 227 
 
 The commune was therefore accepted by the peo- 
 ple, sworn to by the bishop, and ratified by the King. 
 
 But the bishop's remembrance of this contract 
 vanished with the gold that purchased it. He dared 
 not venture, however, to lay any new taxes j and, be- 
 ing out of money, he resorted to counterfeiting, to. 
 replenish his coffers. 
 
 " The agents employed in this transaction," says 
 the author from whom we draw our information, 
 " counterfeited coin to such an extent that a large 
 number of people were reduced to indigence by the 
 imposition. Pieces of money were fabricated from 
 villainous brass, which, through the wicked ingenuity 
 of the artisans, appeared for a time more brilliant 
 than silver ; so that — alas ! — the ignorant were de- 
 ceived, and exchanged for this money, this dross of 
 the vilest metal, all their valuable possessions." 
 
 As soon as the people discovered this new impo- 
 sition, they refused to receive silver money without 
 first rubbing its edge on a stone ; the bishop was 
 therefore obliged to adopt some new expedient for 
 filling his treasury. The most summary method 
 seemed to be, to repudiate the treaty and reduce 
 the inhabitants to their former condition of serfs, 
 taxable at pleasure. For this purpose, he called 
 together a council, in which it was determined that 
 the King should be induced to visit Laon during 
 the season of Lent, and that, on the eve of Good- 
 Friday, advantage should be taken of his presence to 
 formally abolish the treaty.
 
 228 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 The King arrived at the appointed time. The 
 inhabitants, suspecting that his visit was fraught with 
 mischief to themselves, offered him four hundred 
 livres of silver if he would favor their cause. But 
 the bishop and nobles promised to give him seven 
 hundred livres to sustain them in cancelling the 
 treaty. Louis decided in favor of the highest bid- 
 der,* and, on the specified day, repaired to the Hotel 
 de Ville, where the people awaited him. The bishop, 
 in virtue of his spiritual authority, absolved the 
 King from his oath, and afterward absolved himself; 
 they then both declared to the citizens that the 
 Commune of Laon was abolished. The consterna- 
 tion of the people was so great that they uttered no 
 cry of vengeance. But the King, conscious that he 
 had violated all rights, human and divine, dared not 
 sleep that night elsewhere than in the bishop's pal- 
 ace ; and the next morning, at day-break, he left the 
 city with his suite in such haste that he was forced 
 to take the bishop's promise of payment in lieu of 
 the seven hundred livres of silver. 
 
 The citizens, though at first astounded, were 
 
 * The cupidity of this King made him favor those who made 
 the most liberal offers. With his free consent, and against 
 what was due to God, all his oaths, as well as those of the 
 bishop and nobles, were recklessly violated and declared void, 
 without respect to honor and to the Holy days. — Vie de Gui- 
 bert de Nogerd, liv. 3.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 229 
 
 nevertheless filled with rage. The shops, the inns, 
 and the warehousea were closed ; the public men 
 refused to discharge their official functions ; and the 
 city bore that sad and desolate aspect which we, in 
 our own day, have seen cities assume in the sombre 
 hours that precede the outbreak of a popular revo- 
 lution. 
 
 The external appearance of things was rendered 
 still more solemn by the day on which these occur- 
 rences took place. For it was on Good-Friday that 
 the " minds of these men, who were now mortal 
 enemies, prepared themselves, by perjury on the 
 one hand and homicide on the other, to receive the 
 body and blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ."* 
 
 Dui'ing the day, bands of citizens (yet unarmed) 
 moved through the streets, speaking in a low tone ; 
 gathering in the public squares ; and dispersing at 
 every sound that seemed to intimate the approach 
 of armed troops, to form anew at some other point. 
 It is said, that forty men bound themselves by a terri- 
 ble oath — the penalty of breaking which was to be 
 the loss of all their hope of eternal salvation — to 
 massacre the bishop and such of his followers as fell 
 into their power. The bishop had received some 
 intimation of the conspiracy, and dared not go to 
 matins. 
 
 * GuiBERTUS abbas, de vitd sitd. 
 20
 
 230 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 The next clay, however, being Easter-Even, he 
 was obhged to join in the procession. He ordered 
 his servants and a few soldiers to conceal weapons 
 under their dress and follow close behind him. 
 The bishop now found in his suite, and separated from 
 him only by the few servitors on whom he could rely, 
 the whole population whom he had just betrayed. 
 Every face revealed disapprobation, and every ves- 
 ture covered a heait filled with mortal hatred 
 toward himself. Soon after, a confusion arose, as 
 will always be the case in a crowd, and immediately 
 one of the conspirators, supposing that the time for 
 action had arrived, came out from a low and gloomy 
 arch-way exclaiming in a loud voice, " Commune ! 
 Commune !" The cries, however, died away without 
 echo ; for these men, panting for revenge, yet reli- 
 gious even in their vengeance, would not accomplish 
 it at that moment when the bishop was fulfilling the 
 sacred functions of his office. The guilty man, there- 
 fore, returned unharmed to his palace with his pride 
 augmented in proportion to his success. The people, 
 at this stage of the insurrection, might be compared 
 to a yoking tamed lion, that has not as yet tasted 
 blood, and is regarded as harmless because its 
 strength and fury have never been called into action.^ 
 The bishop now hoped that the danger was past ; 
 but he stationed guards, composed of peasants from 
 his own domains, around his palace as well as around 
 the church to prevent disturbances.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 231 
 
 Meantime, the city became more and more agita- 
 ted. The citizens whoventured into the streets, bore 
 arms, either a sword or an axe. 
 
 The more timid yet hesitated to make open de- 
 monstrations, while the more hardy encouraged the 
 insurgents by gestures from the windows of the 
 houses, and, soon arming themselves, issued into the 
 streets. They hastened on to join their comrades, 
 and slackened their pace only when some lord 
 crossed their path on his way to the palace, whom 
 they eyed with menacing looks. The inhabitants, 
 uniting in troops, were astonished to find themselves 
 so strong in numbers, and they received with yells of 
 savage laughter the reinforcements that were con- 
 tinually arriving. 
 
 The bishop was in his palace with the arch-deacon 
 Gauthier, estimating the sums to be extorted from 
 the citizens : for, with a bitter derision, he deter- 
 mined that each man should pay him for the aboli- 
 tion of the commune the same amount as he had for- 
 merly paid for its establishment. From time to 
 time a i-umbling noise, like distant thunder, reached 
 the ears of these perjured men; for an instant, they 
 would raise their heads and listen, unconscious of the 
 portent of the sound, and then resume the apportion- 
 ment of the tax. Suddenly, a tremendous tumult burst 
 out under the very walls of the palace. The shouts 
 " Commune ! Commune !" reached the ears of the 
 bishop, who instantly opened a window and per-
 
 232 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 ceived all the adjacent streets filled with the anned 
 populace, brandishing pick-a«es, swords, Lows and 
 hatchets. The insurgents recognised him at once 
 and saluted him with curses and a shower of arrows. 
 He closed the window, and, turning round, saw before 
 him one of his nobles, named Adon, who had come 
 to apprize him that the revolt was general through 
 the city ; and that two of the lords (Guinimar ; and 
 Regnier, cousin of the Abbe Guibert, the historian 
 of the events we are recording) were already slain. 
 The prelate, who was a courageous man and habitua- 
 ted to arms, now ordered the necessary preparations 
 to be made ; armed himself, and repaired to the 
 walls. 
 
 The combat had already commenced. On the side 
 where he stationed himself, the assailants were led 
 by Teudegaud, a serf of the church of St. Vincent, 
 whom the bishop had frequently jeered for his ugli- 
 ness, and to whom he habitually applied the nick-name 
 of Isengrin — a word at that time signifying, in the 
 popular acceptation, a wolf. The mob shouted, like 
 maniacs, " Commune ! Commune !" and placed lad- 
 ders against the walls, which they scaled, with Isengrin 
 at their head, despite the showers of stones cast on 
 them by the defenders of the palace. The prelate, 
 feeling that success must attend courage so extraor- 
 dinary in such persons, and that a more desperate 
 assault was in preparation, which he could not hope to 
 resist, retreated precij^itately in order to hide himself
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 233 
 
 in the cellar of the church. On his way thither, he 
 saw that the gate of the palace had been forced, not- 
 withstanding the intrepidity of Adon, to whom this 
 post had been confided. This lord defended himself 
 most vigorovisly, and he had already slain three of his 
 assailants with his own hand. At length, however, 
 he mounted a table that chanced to be in the court; 
 " ^nd as," says Guibert de Nogent, " besides the 
 wounds that covered his body, he was hurt in both 
 knees, he fell upon them and, for a long time, con- 
 tinued thus to combat, dealing rude blows to those 
 who held him (so to speak) besieged ; until, at last, 
 overwhelmed with fatigue, he sank exhausted and 
 was pierced through by an arrow. His corse was 
 soon afterward consumed in the conflagration of the 
 palace. On the death of Adon, all resistance ceased. 
 The followers of Isengrin, who had scaled the walls, 
 joined the men who had forced the gate, and both 
 bands united in the search for the prelate whom, with 
 loud cries, they called not bis/iop hut wretch." 
 
 Nearly an hour was consumed in a fniitless search, 
 and the disappointment added greatly to their rage ; 
 but they at length seized ou a valet who, alarmed 
 by their threats, pointed toward the cellar. They 
 hastened thither, and found it filled with casks. All of 
 these which, by the sound, proved to be emptied of 
 wine, they pierced with their swords ; and at length 
 a shrill cry from the bishop announced that he was 
 wounded and discovered. The cask was opened and 
 20*
 
 234 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 a man taken from it habited like a servant, so that, 
 for a moment, the people supposed they had been 
 deceived. " Who are you 1" demanded Isengrin. 
 " A wretched prisoner," replied the bishop ; and the 
 answer was responded to with a shout, for all recogni- 
 sed the prelate's voice. Had he been arrayed in his 
 sacerdotal robes, their sacred character might have 
 saved him from the rage of the multitude; but, in the 
 disguise of a servant, he was nothing but a man, a 
 perjured extortioner and a debauchee. He was 
 therefoi'e dragged, with execrations and blows, to the 
 priest's cloister. 
 
 The bishop readily divined that this was to be the 
 place of his execution. He endeavored in every 
 way to propitiate the fury of the people. He prom- 
 ised them large sums of money for his ransom ; he 
 offered to quit Laon and bind himself by the most 
 solemn oatlis never to return ; and, finally, he pros- 
 trated himself on his knees before those men, whom, 
 ten years before, he had beheld kneeling to him. . 
 While he was in this position, Bernard de Bruyeres 
 smote him on the head with an axe. As the blow 
 was not instantly fatal, his executioners broke the 
 bones of his logs in several places and pierced him 
 slowly with a hundred wounds. Jsengrin, seeing the 
 pastoral ring on his hand, and not being able to un- 
 clench his dying grasp, cut off the finger that bore it, 
 and thus obtained the jewel. Finally, the body was 
 disrobed and thrown out in the street, where it
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 235 
 
 remained during the day exposed to the gaze, the 
 raillery, and the curses of the inhabitants.* 
 
 Thus fell the first victim of the first popular revo- 
 lution. It was a revolution of a town, yet it may be 
 likened to a revolution of a kingdom : for the inter- 
 ests and principles are the same, however large or 
 small may be the circle they embrace. 
 
 At first, occurs the necessity of amelioration in the 
 condition of the serfs of a city ; a necessity which is 
 expressed by a humble petition for enfranchisement ; 
 
 Then follows the treaty, sworn to by master and 
 serfs ; 
 
 Then, forgetfulness of this oath, and violation of its 
 provisions, by the master ; 
 
 Then, popular reaction, attended by all the demo- 
 cratic ci'imes that follow in its train : 
 
 Such was a revolution of the twelfth century. 
 
 Six hundred years later, an entire nation experi- 
 enced the same necessity of amelioration : she called 
 for liberty ; not by the words of a few citizens, but 
 by the voice of a whole people. 
 
 This people humbly claimed this liberty through 
 their representatives. The claim was scoffed at by the 
 higher orders of the nation ; and the representatives 
 
 * OGod! who can recount the many infamous jeers that the 
 passers-by showered on the prostrate corse; or with what 
 quantity of stones and mud they covered it [ — ^Guibert de 
 
 I^OGENT.
 
 236 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 were ejected from the hall of their deliberations ; but 
 they united again at the Jeu de Paume. 
 
 The foundation of the National Assembly fol- 
 lowed ; 
 
 Then, atreaty was prepared, establishing the rights, 
 of the people and limiting the power of royalty ; 
 
 Then, the free acceptance of this treaty by Louis 
 XVL; 
 
 Then, the oath of fidelity to the constitution of 
 '91; 
 
 Next, the forgetfulness of the oath and the violation 
 of the promise on the part of the King ; though the 
 oath is faithfully observed by the people ; 
 
 And, finally, the popular reaction, which erected 
 the guillotine in the Place-de-la-Revolution, Janu- 
 ary 21st, 1793 ; where Louis, the perjured traitor, 
 perished.. 
 
 Such was a revolution of the eighteenth century. 
 
 The only difference that we perceive in reviewing 
 the progress of Democracy during these two revolu- 
 tions is, that in the latter it advances with larger 
 strides. It is no longer a city, but a nation, that 
 rises ; it is no longer a bishop, assassinated by the 
 bourgeois; but a King, condemned by an entire peo- 
 ple and beheaded by their executioner. 
 
 It was not until sixteen years after the murder of 
 Bishop Gaudry, that is, in 1128, that the citizens of 
 Laon obtained — not the ratification of their com- 
 mune, for the name of commune was erased from
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 237 
 
 the new treaty as horrible and execrable, but — an 
 institution of peace* During the interval, royalty 
 had taken most bloody revenge on the insurgents. 
 All citizens w^homsoever, found with arms in their 
 hands, were hung without ransom ; and their bodies, 
 left uninterred, became the prey of dogs and birds.t 
 
 By this treaty of peace, the municipal jurisdiction 
 and the rates of taxes were established on the basis of 
 the former charter ; the remission of ancient forfeit- 
 ures was also stipulated for ; and permission was 
 granted to those who had been banished to return to 
 the city, saving and excepting thirteen citizens, viz. : 
 Foulques, son of Bomard ; Raoul de Cabricion ; 
 Ancelle, son-in-law of Lebert ; Haymon, vassal of 
 Leberd ; Payen Seille ; Robert; Remy But; 
 Maynard Dray; Raimbault de Soissons ; Paque 
 Osteloup; Ancelle Quatreraains ; Raoul Gastines; 
 and Jean de Molrain|. 
 
 These are the obscure names of the first victims of 
 the popular cause, the outlawed of the twelfth cen- 
 tury, who stand at the head of that long list of pro- 
 scriptions, that register of a thousand pages, the last 
 
 * Institutio pacis, 
 
 t Milvorum, corvorum et vuUurum rcipacitati pastum genera- 
 lem exliibens, et patibulo afRgi preecipiens. — Sugerius, de vita 
 Ludovici Grossi regis. 
 
 t Collection of the ordinances of the Kings of France, vol, 
 XI., page 186.
 
 238 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 of which, — written so recently that the ink is 
 scarcely dry, ■ — terminates with Prospert and Jean- 
 ne. The interval between the two events — the 
 devotion and punishment of the twelve men of Laon, 
 and of the two that finish the list of proscription — 
 is no less than seven centuries ; yet it was the same 
 principle that guided, and the same power that put 
 down, the several victims. All sovereigns place the 
 same interpretation on the word Liberty ; and it is ever 
 true that "Ze 7oi ne Icichc que quand lepeuple arrache" 
 — the King never concedes until the people coerce. 
 
 Let us return to Louis-le-Gros; who conquered 
 the nobles and was vanquished by the communes. 
 He had now attained his fifty-ninth year, and for a 
 length of time had suffered from the extreme corpu- 
 lence to which he owed his surname. He was ex- 
 hausted by his various expeditions, though still young 
 in heart, firm in purpose, and ardent in the prosecu- 
 tion of his will ; but he was forced to pause, groaning 
 under his impotence, and frequently repeating the 
 words " Alas ! Alas ! how wretched is man ! the 
 wisdom to know and the power to execute are sel- 
 dom permitted to exist together !" 
 
 When he perceived that his end was approaching, 
 he demanded to receive the sacrament and to con- 
 fess himself publicly. The doors of his apartment 
 were therefore thrown open ; and when a large 
 concourse of people had assembled, he divested 
 himself of the government in favor of his son Louis ;
 
 THE FRENCH MONAnCHY. 239 
 
 confessed that he had ruled the nation unwisely ;* 
 placed the royal signet on his son's finger; and 
 required him to promise, under oath, that he would 
 protect the Church of Gtod, the poor and the 
 orphans ; that he would respect the rights of all, 
 and would hold no one a prisoner in his court. 
 Louis then, in an audible voice, made the following 
 profession of his religious faith. 
 
 " I, Louis, a wretched sinner, do profess one only 
 and true God ; the Father, the Son and the Holy 
 Ghost ; I confess but one person in this Holy 
 Trinity, the only Son, consubstantial and co-eternal 
 with God, his Father, who was incarnate in the 
 womb of the most holy Virgin Mary ; who suffered, 
 is dead, and was buried ; who arose the third day ; 
 ascended into heaven, where he is seated at the right 
 hand of God the Fathcr ; and who shall come to 
 judge the quick and the dead on the day of the great 
 and last judgment. I believe that the Eucharist of 
 his most sacred body is the same that he took in the 
 womb of the Virgin Mary, and which he gave to his 
 disciples that they might remain united and joined in 
 him. I believe firmly, and 1 confess it with my 
 mouth and heart, that this wine is the self-same holy 
 blood which flowed from his side when he hung upon 
 the Cross. And 1 desire that this viaticum, the most 
 efficacious of all aid, may strengthen me in the hour 
 
 ♦ SuGER, Life of Louis-le-Gros.
 
 240 THE FRENCH MONARCHY, 
 
 of death ; and, by its invincible protection, defend 
 me against all the powers of Hell." 
 
 A few days after this ceremony, he requested his 
 attendants to spread a carpet on the floor and strew 
 it with ashes in the form of a cross. He was then 
 placed on it, and, in two hours, he expired, August 
 1st, 1137, having attained the sixtieth year of his age 
 and the thirtieth of his I'eign. He was succeeded by 
 Louis-le-Jeune, {the Young) Louis VH. 
 
 Just pi-evious to the death of Louis, some ambas- 
 sadors arrived at his court with the intelligence that 
 William X., Duke of Aquitania, having died during 
 a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James, had be- 
 queathed to him, as his King and lord suzerain, his 
 daughter Eleonora, who was unmarried, together 
 with the duchies of Aquitania and Guienne. Louis 
 joyfully accepted the legacy and insisted that his son 
 should espouse the Avealthy orphan. Louis-le-Jeune 
 immediately departed to fulfil his father's wishes, and 
 was on his road to Bordeaux when the old King ex- 
 pired. He did not, however, receive the news of 
 the event until he arrived at Poictiers ; nor, when 
 received, did he suffer it to retard his maniage, 
 which was celebrated in presence of all the lords of 
 Gascony, Poictiers and Saintonge. 
 
 After his marriagfe, the new King returned in 
 haste from Bordeaux to Orleans, where he learned 
 that the inhabitants of the latter city were endeavor- 
 ing to establish a commune. "Faithful to his father's
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 241 
 
 policy, he boldly repressed," says the unknown 
 author of his life,* " these conspiracies, not without 
 disaster to certain men." 
 
 Some years subsequent to this, Louis received in- 
 telligence that the Saracens had re-captured from the 
 Crusaders the town of Edessa.t He convoked a 
 large assembly at Vezelay, where a new Crusade 
 was promptly determined on. His queen and him- 
 self received the Cross from the hands of St. Bernard, 
 and they " departed pompously, surrounded by a 
 royal retinue, the week after Pentecost, in the 
 year 11-47."| 
 
 Before his departure, the King confided the gov- 
 ernment to Suger, v/ho strenuously opposed this Cru- 
 sade, and who, during its continuance, strove con- 
 stantly to recall Louis to France, where he conceiv- 
 ed his presence to be much more important than at 
 Jerusalem. His entreaties to this effect became the 
 more urgent when Robert de Dreux, the King's broth- 
 er, abandoned the Crusade and returned to France : 
 for, taking advantage of the King's absence, Robert, 
 with the Eissistance of several prelates and a large 
 
 * The author of the Life of Louis-le-Jeune is entirely un- 
 known. For a long time, the work was erroneously attributed 
 to Suger: but this historical fragment extends to the year 1165, 
 whereas Suger died January 12th, 1151. 
 
 t December 24th, 1144. 
 
 * Life of Louis-le-Jeune. 
 
 21
 
 242 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 popular party,* attempted to usurp the throne. The 
 firmness and prudence of Suger, however, quelled 
 the insurrection. 
 
 On this occasion, he WTOte the following letter to 
 the King : 
 
 " The disturbers of the public tranquillity have 
 returned, while you, who are bound to defend your 
 subjects, remain like a captive in a foreign land. Of 
 what are you thinking, Sire, that you thus leave the 
 flock confided to your care to the mercy of wolves 1 
 How can you conceal from yourself the perils with 
 which the despoilers, who are in advance of you, 
 threaten your dominions 1 You are no longer 
 excusable for keeping yourself from us. Everything 
 here claims your presence. We supplicate your high- 
 ness ; we entreat your pity, we appeal to the good- 
 ness of your heart, we conjure you by the faith which 
 reciprocally binds the prince and his subjects, not to 
 prolong your journey in Syria, beyond the festival of 
 Easter, least a further delay render you guilty, in the 
 sight of the Lord, of breaking the vow you made on 
 receiving the crown. You will have reason, I think, to 
 be satisfied with our conduct. We have placed in the 
 hands of the Knight Temjjlarst the money we have 
 resolved to send you ; moreover we have reimbursed 
 to the Count de Vermandois the three thousand 
 
 ♦Life of Suger; by William Monk, of St. Denis, 
 t The order of the Temple was founded by Louis-le-Gros 
 in 1118.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 243 
 
 livres that he lent us for your service. Your people 
 enjoy at the present a happy peace. We reserve for 
 your return an account of the revenues of the fiefs 
 tributary to you, and of the taxes and provisions for 
 your household which w^e levy on your domains. 
 You will find your mansions and your palaces in 
 good condition from the care that we have taken to 
 keep them in repair. I am now in the decline of life, 
 but T can freely say that the occupations which I have 
 undertaken for the love of God and from attachment 
 to your person, have hastened on my old age. With 
 respect to the queen, your wife, I am of the opinion 
 that it is advisable to disguise the discontent she 
 causes you until you return to your kingdom, when 
 you can quietly deliberate on that and other sub- 
 jects."* 
 
 We have presented this letter in detail, because 
 such details illustrate history. Besides, the last sen- 
 tence brings us to an event that had an important 
 bearing on the destinies of the nation : viz., the 
 divorce of Louis-le-Jeune and Eleonoraof Aquitania. 
 
 During the sojourn of the royal pair in Palestine, 
 an intimacy between the queen and a young Saracen 
 had become a subject of scandal to the Crusaders. 
 They conceived that her adulterous conversation 
 with an enemy of the Church was an inauspicious 
 preparation for the success which they besought God 
 
 * GuizoT ; Notice svr Siiger.
 
 244 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 to grant to their arms. Upon the King's return to 
 France, therefore, and on the birth of a daughter of 
 whose paternity he was doubtful, he proclaimed that 
 the degree of consanguinity between himself and his 
 wife should have been a bar to their union and was 
 a proper ground for their divorce ; and their sej^ara- 
 tion took place, accordingly, on the 18th of March, 
 1152.* 
 
 After repudiating Eleonora, the King restored to 
 her Guienne and Poitou, although Suger strongly 
 opposed the restitution; and, certainly, the act was 
 more worthy of an honest man than of a politic 
 sovereign. No sooner had Eleonora obtained pos- 
 session of these two duchies, than she married 
 Henry, count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy, 
 bringing to him these domains as her marriage-por- 
 tion. This Count, therefore, ascending the throne 
 
 * Therefore, Hugh, archbishop of Sens, summoned them both, 
 viz., King Louis and Queen Eleonora, to his presence atBeau- 
 gency ; whither, according to his injunction, they repaired on the 
 Friday preceding Pahn- Sunday. There were also assembled 
 Samson, bishop of Rheims ; Hugh, bishop of Rouen ; the arch- 
 bishop of Bordeaux, whose name I know not; ** some of their 
 suffragans ; and a great number of lords and barons of the king- 
 dom of France. The relatives of the King now pronounced the 
 oath, as they had promised to do, that there existed a near re- 
 lationship between the king and queen ; and their matrimonial 
 contract was therefore dissolved.— ir/e of LovAs-le-Jewne. 
 
 ** GeofTroy.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 245 
 
 under the title of Henry II., found himself King of 
 England ; Duke of Normandy, Brittany, and Aqui- 
 tania; and Count of Anjou, Poitou, Touraine, and 
 Maine. Consequently, the result of this divorce 
 was the introduction and establishment of a power- 
 ful foe in the very heart of the kingdom ; and in 
 future, the King of England eould bring Frenchmen 
 into the field to wage war against France. 
 
 Louis now espoused Constance, daughter of the 
 King of Spain ; but she died in giving birth to a 
 daughter : * and the King, fearing that France might 
 cease to be governed by a prince of his own blood, 
 contracted a third marriage with Adele, daughter of 
 Thibaut, Count de Blois, who crowned all his hopes 
 by bearing him a son on the 22d of August, 1 165. 
 
 This son was Philip Augustus. t 
 
 ♦ In IIGO. 
 
 t Philip was surnamed Augustus by Rigord, or Rigot. 
 This man was a Goth by birth as he himself says, that is to 
 say, born in Languedoc** where at first he followed the profes- 
 sion of medicine ; but he afterward abandoned this employment 
 and secluded himself in the Abbey of St. Denis, where he 
 wrote the life of the King. He tlms explains what signification 
 he attaches to the name, Augustus ; by which Philip is still 
 known, although Guillaume Lebreton— who continued Rigord's 
 
 ♦* This name of Languedoc was not adopted until toward 
 the commencement of the fourteenth century. Tliis part of 
 France was previously called Gothia, from the government of 
 the West-Goths, which continued from 408 to 7l2; at which 
 latter period it was overthrown by the invasion of the Arabs. 
 21*
 
 246 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 The narration of the unknown historian of Louis 
 VII. here terminates, although it was not until the 
 year 1181 that this monarch expired, " leaving," 
 says Jean de Serre, " the leaven of a great woe to 
 his posterity." 
 
 In addition to the events that we have recorded, 
 there were many others of moment which distin- 
 guish the period embraced by the reign of Louis- 
 le-Jeune. Among these, were the condemnation, by 
 the council of Soissons, of the doctrines of Abelard ; 
 the recovery of the Justinian Code, found in Italy 
 and brought to France, where it became the estab- 
 lished law ; the rise of the Papal and Imperial fac- 
 tions, known by the names of Guelph and Ghibelline; 
 the prohibition of duelling for a debt less in amount 
 than five sous ; the foundation of the University of 
 Paris ; the establishment of the School of Medicine at 
 Montpellier; and, finally, the controversy, relating 
 
 history •— always styles him Philip the Magnanimous. " But 
 perhaps you will be amazed at the title of Augustus, which I 
 give to the King at the commencement of this work. My reason 
 for so doing is this. It has been customary for writers to be- 
 stow the name Augustus (from the verb augco, auges,) on the 
 Csesars who added to the dominions of the empire. Philip, 
 therefore, is entitled to the name, for he enlarged the boundaries 
 of the kingdom by the addition of Vermandois (which his 
 predecessors for a length of time had lost) and also many other 
 territories that greatly augmented the royal revenue. Further- 
 more, he was born in the month consecrated to Augustus 
 (August) — that is, when the granaries and wine-presses over- 
 flow with temporal blessings."
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 247 
 
 to ecclesiastical immunities, between Henry II. and 
 Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, which ended in 
 the assassination of the prelate. 
 
 Louis caused his son to be anointed and crowned 
 during his own life ; and the ceremony was per- 
 formed at PJieims on All Saints' day in the year 
 1180, the prince being then fifteen years of age. 
 Henry II., King of England, was present, and 
 "humbly held one side of the crown on the head of 
 the young King of France, in token of the submission 
 that he owed him." 
 
 " In the same year," says his historian, " inflamed 
 with holy zeal, he caused the Jews, on the 16th of 
 March, to be seized in their synagogues throughout 
 France and despoiled of their gold, their silver, and 
 their garments, as they themselves had despoiled the 
 Eg}'ptians previous to their Exodus. But this was 
 only a prelude to their banishment which, thanks be 
 to God, soon followed this first warning." 
 
 In the month of April, 1182, Philip Augustus 
 issued an edict of banishment against the Jews — 
 granting them, however, a suspension of the execu- 
 tion of the sentence until Mid-Summer, during which 
 interim they were permitted to sell moveables. But 
 of tbsir domains — "such as houses, fields, vine- 
 yards, presses, and other immoveables, the King 
 reserved the ownership to himself and his successors 
 upon the throne of France." * 
 
 * RiGORD. Life of Philip Augustus.
 
 248 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 In 1187, a dispute between Philip and Henry, led 
 to a war between the two countries. At the conse- 
 cration of the King of France, Henry had, by 
 holding the crown on Philip's head, made a formal 
 acknowledgment of ~ vassalage ; but this proved to 
 have been a vain ceremony ; for Philip had subse- 
 quently been unable to obtain from the young Count 
 of Poictiers — Richard,* son of Henry — that ho- 
 mage which he, the Count, owed him for his pro- 
 vince. Besides, Philip claimed several castles from 
 Henry ; and particularly that of Gisors, which his 
 sister Margaret had received as her marriage portion 
 on espousing Henry's eldest son, Henry, and which, 
 on the death of, the latter without issue, should of 
 right have reverted to France. 
 
 But Philip, finding his claims for homage and 
 restitution all resisted, raised a numerous army in 
 Berry, marched suddenly into Aquitania and laid 
 siege to Chateauroux. 
 
 He had scarcely made this demonstration, how- 
 ever, when envoys arrived at the court of France to 
 " announce with groans and tears that, in punishment 
 of the sins of Christendom, Saladin,t King of Egypt 
 and Syria, had invaded the possessions of the Chris- 
 tians in the East ; that he had without pity massa- 
 cred thousands ; and that, pursuing his iniquitous 
 
 * Afterward known as Richard Coeur-de-Lion. 
 t Salah-Eddin.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 249 
 
 course, he had, in a short time, subjugated the Holy 
 City, Jerusalem, and all the j^romised land. Tyre> 
 Tripoli, Antioch, and a few other fortresses, had 
 alone resisted his assault." 
 
 This news caused a truce to be agreed on between 
 Philip and Richard, in which it was stipulated that 
 the adjustment of their j^rivate quarrels should be 
 deferred until this battle of the Lord was fought. A 
 new Crusade was therefore immediately undertaken. 
 In the meantime, Henry of England died and Rich- 
 ard succeeded to the throne. 
 
 On St. John's day, 1190, Philip — having made 
 his will — repaired, with a numerous retinue, to St. 
 Denis, where he took the oriflamme from the altar;* 
 and received the garter and staff from the hands of 
 "William, archbishop of Rheims, together with the 
 benediction of the nail, of the crown of thorns and 
 of the arm of St. Simon. He thence repaired to 
 Vezelay, where he took leave of his barons and 
 placed hia kingdom and his son Louis t under the 
 
 * It was an ancient custom for the Kings of France, previously 
 to their commencino; a war, to take a banner from the altar of 
 the blessed St. Denis; to carry it with them as a safe-guard; 
 and to place it in the front of the battle. The enemy were oft- 
 times disheartened and took to flight on merely recognising this 
 banner. — Rigord. L,\fe of Philijy Augustus. 
 
 + He was born September 5th, 1187; and, consequently, at this 
 time, was not yet three years old,
 
 250 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 joint care and guardianship of A-dele,his mother, and 
 his uncle William. This done, he departed for 
 Genoa where the vessels and the requisite arms and 
 equipments were prepared. Richard embarked from 
 the port of Marseilles, and the two Kings arrived 
 almost simultaneously at Messina. 
 
 The object of this Crusade — the reconquering of 
 Jerusalem — was frustrated by the jealousy and 
 rivalry existing between the two Kings.* Richard 
 took the island of Cyprus ; and Philip, the city 
 of St. John d'Acre : but the latter becoming suspi- 
 cious of the King of England, by reason of some 
 presents that had been exchanged between Richard 
 and Saladin, convened his knights in secret council, 
 apprized them of his wishes as to the regulation and 
 disposition of the army, and took leave of them to 
 return home. He set sail with a suite of two galleys 
 only, which were prepared for him by a Genoese 
 named Roux de Rulla, and, after a voyage of fifteen 
 days, reached France a short time before Christmas. 
 
 But notwithstanding his departure from the Holy 
 Land, his suspicions of Richard were not dispelled. 
 
 * The special cause of their misunderstanding was jealousy. 
 Philip Augustus was eclipsed by Richard Coeur-de-Lion, " of 
 character adventurous and courage rash, whose siiadow caused 
 the Saracen hosts to start ; and whose corselet, on his return 
 from the combat, bristled with arrows as a cushion does with 
 pins." — Vinisauf.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 251 
 
 He I'eceived letters from the East informing him, 
 says William Lebreton, *' that the men of the nation 
 of the Assissins had been sent by order of King 
 Richard to kill him, (Philip) as they had just slain 
 near Acre, Conrad, the Marquis of Montserrat.* 
 Whereupon, the said King Philip created a very 
 faithful body-guard, and almost always thencefor- 
 ward carried in his hand a mace of brass or iron : 
 his guard also carried clubs ; a custom which is pre- 
 served until the pi'esent day. The King, being 
 meanwhile very much troubled, sent messengers to 
 the Old Man of the Mountain — King of the Assis- 
 sins — to demand promptly and clearly the truth of 
 this matter. In reply, the Old Man, by letters, 
 assured the King that the rumors were false ; and 
 being thus assured of the facts, and despising, hearti- 
 ly, these deceitful reports, his spirit was no longer 
 tormented by such dire suspicions. 
 
 "Nevertheless, there exists among the Assissins 
 a creed detestable to God : for they believe that if, 
 in obedience to their master, they kill a man, or 
 commit any other crime, they do thereby immediate- 
 ly secure the salvation of their souls." 
 
 There is so much reference by our chroniclers — 
 and especially those who have written of the Crusades 
 — to the Old Man of the Motmtam and his people, 
 
 * Walter Scott has introduced this assassination at the close 
 of liis romance, " The Talisman."
 
 252 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 tlie Assissins ; and this reference is always so vague 
 and unsatisfactory ; that we think it our duty to give 
 oui: readers a more particular account of these people. 
 We borrow it from the Venetian traveller, Marco 
 Polo, who lived one hundred years after Philip 
 Augustus. He is the first author who speaks with any 
 precision concerning this sect. 
 
 " Mulehet," says he, " is the country where he who 
 was called the Old Man of the Mountain formerly 
 lived. This word, Mulehet, signifies, in the Saracen 
 language, the place where heretics reside ; and the 
 inhabitants are styled Mulehetics, that is to say, 
 apostates from their religion, as are the Patarins* 
 among the Christians.! The Old Man was named 
 Aloadin.X In a lovely valley between two very high 
 mountains he had planted all manner of trees and 
 flowers ;^ and in the midst of the extensive enclosure 
 w^ere built palaces and pavilions, decorated with 
 golden tapestry, pictures and silk-embroidered furni- 
 ture. Fountains of wine, of milk, of honey and of 
 the purest water glided through pipes and flowed 
 
 ♦Albigenses. 
 
 + "We shall see, hereafter, that the Assissins, the Ismailis, 
 the Batenians and the Arsacides — for these are the four names 
 given to them indifferently — were in fact a dissenting sect. 
 
 t Allah-Eddin ; who was the last Emir but one of the 
 Ismailis of Persia. 
 
 § Marco Polo is in error here. These gardens were planted 
 by Hassan Ben-Sabbah.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 253 
 
 out in rivulets through these palaces ; which, also, 
 were tenanted by beautiful females, skilled in the art 
 of singing and of performing on all sorts of musical 
 instruments ; and skilled especially in those seduc- 
 tive arts most captivating to men. The Old Man's 
 purpose in creating this beautiful place may be thus 
 explained : 
 
 " Mahomet had proclaimed that all who obeyed 
 his commands here, should dwell for ever in Para- 
 dise, where were to be found lovely women, streams 
 of milk and honey, and all that is delightful in this 
 world. The Old Man, ambitious to be known as a 
 Prophet, and desirous to be thought the companion 
 of Mahomet, proclaimed that he, too, could grant an 
 entrance into Paradise unto whom he chose. The 
 place we have described was so guarded at its 
 extremity by an impregnable castle that none could 
 gain admission by force, nor, indeed, could it be 
 entered at all, except by a secret passage through the 
 castle. Being thus prepared, the Old Man held audi- 
 ences with those young men of his court who were 
 from twelve to twenty years of age, and who seemed 
 well adapted to the profession of arms. He talked to 
 them of Mahomet's Paradise, and of his power to grant 
 admission to it : and, when it pleased him, he would 
 give to ten or a dozen of these youths a certain drink 
 which stupified them.* In this condition they were 
 
 ♦It was from the use of this beverage that they derived the 
 22
 
 254 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 transported into different apartments of the palaces 
 w^e have mentioned. "When they awakened, they 
 found themselves in the Paradise they had heard 
 described. They were surrounded by females who 
 sang, played upon instruments, and enticed them by 
 blandishments and caresses ; and who also presented 
 to them wines, viands and fruits of the most exqui- 
 site flavor. 
 
 " At the expiration of five or six days, the Old Man 
 caused the same stupifying beverage to be again 
 administered to these young men ; and during their 
 torpor they were taken back under his directions. 
 As soon as they recovered from the effects of the 
 potion, they were brought before him and interro- 
 gated as to where they had been. ' By your kind- 
 ness, we have been in Paradise,' they replied : 
 and they proceeded to relate, in presence of 
 the whole court, all that they had seen. Their 
 recital naturally excited a desire, in the minds of 
 all, to experience a similar felicity. The Old 
 
 name of Assissins. Writers who are interested in etymologi- 
 cal research have disputed much about the origin of the name ; 
 but this is the most plausible of their explanations: The plant 
 ef which this intoxicating potion was made, was a species of 
 hemp called hascMch meaning herb, as if hemp was the herb 
 par excellence. This Arabic word, in the plural, forms, 
 hasch.ischi7i ;' and the corrupted words heissessini, assissini, as- 
 sassini, have finally settled into assassi?i which has naturally 
 found its way into our language with the narrations of the 
 authors of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 255 
 
 Man then proceeded to repeat the commands of the 
 Prophet and to promise an entrance into Paradise to 
 all those who would faithfully serve him. Indeed , 
 he so wrought upon them, that those whom he com- 
 manded to die in his service, esteemed themselves 
 most hapjiy. All his enemies, of whatever station, 
 were now in peril of death from his Assissins, who, 
 themselves had no dread of death, provided they 
 faithfully executed the orders of their master. They 
 voluntarily exposed themselves to the greatest dan- 
 gers, counting as nothing the loss of their present 
 lives. It may well be supposed that a sovereign ha- 
 ving the absolute control of such men, soon began to 
 be regarded as a tyrant. The foes of such a mo- 
 narch could not hope to escape death." 
 
 The religion of the Assissins — such as it was — 
 originated under the following circumstances. 
 
 As Mahomet died without apjiointing a successor, 
 it was not until after the reigns of the Caliphs Abou- 
 Bekr, Omar and Osman, that Ali (the cousin and 
 son-in-law of the Prophet) obtained the sovereign 
 power. In the interim, however, a class of Mussul- 
 mans, disowning the monarch de facto, claimed that 
 All, alone, was the legitimate sovereign. It may 
 easily be supposed that, when Ali came into the 
 possession of the supreme power, this class was 
 honored with his special favor and protection. But 
 after his death, the nation, collectively, refused to 
 allow his sons to succeed him : this same class, 
 therefore, separated themselves from the rest of the
 
 256 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 Mussulmans and chose from among the descendants 
 of Ali a certain number of sacred chiefs to whom 
 they gave the title of Imaums. In the course of 
 time, dissensions arose about the legitimacy of the 
 Imaum ; and soon the Fatimite Caliphs of Egypt, 
 who professed to be descended from one of these 
 Imaums, averred -that they , alone, were in possession 
 of the Imaumate, and consequently had the sole 
 right to transmit it. They even maintained that 
 they were the incarnate Divinity; and, by this pro- 
 fession, placed themselves above the infirmities and 
 duties of humanity. Nevertheless, they did not 
 arrogate this latter pretension except among the 
 adepts of whom they were sure and whom they 
 admitted into their secret conclaves. It was from 
 these assemblies held in Egypt, that Hassan, son of 
 Sabbah, and the founders of the sect of the Assissins 
 and Ismailis drew their doctrine : consequently, 
 they were partisans of the Fatimite Caliphs, the 
 last of whom was strangled by Saladin.* They had 
 
 * From this moment, Saladin was exposed to the Ismailian 
 poignards, and was several times in great danger of assassina- 
 tion. The first attempt on his life, made by the followers of 
 the Old Man of the Mountain, occurred at the siege of Aleppo. 
 The Assissins mingled themselves with the Sultan's army ; 
 and one day while he was seated, examining the works of the 
 castle of Ezaz, in the environs of Aleppo, one of these despe- 
 rate men threw himself upon him and wounded him in the 
 cheek with a knife. The fanatic had already felled Saladin to 
 the ground when he was sla,in by an emir. Immediately,
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY, 257 
 
 two domiciles: one, in Peisia, near Cazouin or Cas- 
 bin ; the other, in the mountains of Libanus, where 
 they occupied the fortress of Messyat. It was to 
 this latter place that Philip Augustus sent deputies 
 to communicate with their chief, who was named 
 Si nan. 
 
 Meainwhile, Richard, disquieted at the departure 
 of Philip, confided to his nephew, Henry of Cham- 
 pagne, a young prince of rare merit, the command 
 of his army and the care of all the territory that the 
 Christians then occupied in Palestine, and embarked 
 for England. His voyage, however, was disastrous, 
 and his vessel "was driven upon the ^ shores of Italy 
 between Aquileia and Venice. He, with a few of 
 his suite, barely escaped perishing. . 
 
 When the news of Richard's shipwreck trans- 
 pired, a certain Count named Maynard de Zara, 
 joined by some of the people of the country, went 
 in pursuit of the King with the intention of making 
 him prisoner — in defiance of the usage of all Chris- 
 tian nations, which granted to every pilgrim wear- 
 ino- the cross a free passage through their dominions. 
 Richard was forced to flee before his assailants, 
 leaving eight of his knights in their hands. When 
 he arrived at the archbishopric of Saltsbourg and 
 
 another darted from the ranks and perished in the snme manner; 
 and, finally, a third followed the example, and shared the fate 
 of his brethren. 
 
 22*
 
 258 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 was near the village of Freysinghen, Frederick de 
 Saint-Sauve pursued him with a similar hostile 
 purpose and made six of his remaining knights 
 prisoners. The King, now obliged to flee by night, 
 attended by only three men, directed his steps 
 toward Austria. Leoj^old, who was a Duke and a 
 relation of the Emperor, being apprized of Richard's 
 situation, caused all the passes of the country to be 
 guarded with soldiers. Richard was therefore forced 
 to wander by stealth through a strange land, and he 
 had proceeded in this manner as far as the environs 
 of Vienna, when he was discovered and taken in a 
 small cabin where he had secreted himself Leo- 
 pold took from him all the valuable things he posses- 
 sed ; and, in the month of December following, 
 delivered him up to the Emjjeror, who im2")risoned 
 him for a year and a half in defiance of honor and 
 justice. Richard eventually obtained his liberty by 
 the payment of two hundred thousand marks of 
 silver.* 
 
 The war between Philip and Richard, suspended 
 by their departure for the Holy Land, was renewed 
 on the return of the latter to England. It continued, 
 with varied fortune, until 1199, when Richard died 
 in the manner thus described by William Lebreton : 
 
 " In the year of the Incarnation 1199, God visited 
 the land of France ; for King Richard was killed, in 
 
 * RiGORO. Life of Philip Mtgiistus^
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 259 
 
 the first week of the Passion of our Lord, in the ter- 
 ritory of Limoges, where he was besieging the castle 
 of Chahis, to gain possession of a treasure said to 
 have been discovered there.* A knight shot an 
 arrow that wounded the King in the shoulder, and 
 he died of the wound in the course of a few days." 
 
 Richard was succeeded by his brother John, sur- 
 named Lack-land. 
 
 This name brings to mind two important historical 
 facts : the murder of Arthur ; and the summons of 
 Philip Augustus to John Lack -land to appear before 
 the court of Peers :t a summons to which the King 
 of England made no response, but which was fol- 
 lowed by a solemn judgment, confiscating all his 
 
 * The treasure, in contending for which he met his death, 
 was said to be an Emperor, seated with his wife, his sons, and 
 his daughters at" a table — the figures and the table being all 
 made of the purest gold. An inscription indicated the age in 
 which the personages lived. — Rigord. Life of Phil. Aug. 
 
 t In the year of our Lord 1203, John, King of England, took 
 prisoner Arthur, Count of Brittany, the son of John's eldest 
 brother, Geoffrey, and heir to the kingdom. This occurred near 
 Mirabeau, in Poictiers; and the King followed up this act of 
 oppression by secretly murdering the young prince. The 
 barons made accusation of the crime against him to the King 
 of France — John being his vassal, As, after numerous cita- 
 tions, he refused to appear, he was, by the sentence of Philip's 
 peers, despoiled of the Duchy of Aquitaniaand all the territory 
 he possessed in the kingdom of France. — Des Gestcs glorieux 
 des Fran^ais de 1202 et 13H.
 
 260 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 dominions in France.* Chaleaubriahd observes that 
 this was the first political sentence passed by this 
 high court. We have been witnesses of the last. 
 
 After Richard's death, the war between England 
 and France was continued with equal animosity, 
 but with very different success. Philip had no longer 
 to contend with the fierce hardihood of the Lion-heart. 
 And three years after Richard's death, Philip had 
 recaptured Falaise, Domfront, Saint-Michel, Evreux, 
 Sees, Coutances, Bayeux, Lisieux, and Rouen. 
 
 On St. John's day, in the year 1204, the King of 
 France made a solemn entry into the capital of Nor- 
 mandy — which had been sevei'ed from the French 
 crown for three hundred and sixteen years; and 
 which, two hundred and fifteen years afterward, was 
 again to be wrested from France by Henry V. of 
 England. 
 
 When the intelligence of the taking of Rouen 
 reached Verneuil and Argues, they, too, surrendered ; 
 and they were the last towns in Normandy that held 
 out for King John. 
 
 After the submission of this province, Philip 
 marched into Aquitania, took Poictiers and laid 
 siege to La Rochelle, Chinon, and Loches. John, 
 meantime, landed at La Rochelle with a numerous 
 army, proceeded to Angers, which surrendered to 
 
 * It was on account of tkis confiscation that the name of 
 Lack-land was given, in derision, to John.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY, 261 
 
 him ; and, having detached the Viscount de Thouars 
 from his alliance with Philip, he took a position in 
 front of the French troops. 
 
 Every thing seemed now ready for a decisive ac- 
 tion; when, suddenly, the hostile Kings agreed upon 
 a two years' truce, on the twenty-sixth of October, 
 1206. 
 
 Philip took advantage of this truce to commence 
 another Crusade, not against the Mussulmans but 
 against the Christians : for, as he could not vanquish 
 the infidels abroad, he was eager to exterminate the 
 heretics at home. 
 
 The details of this war for religion are so well 
 known, that we shall merely cite two examples of 
 the cruelty and fury with which it was waged. 
 
 The army of the Crusaders arrived before Beziers 
 and summoned the Catholic inhabitants to deliver up 
 the heretics, or evacuate the place. This demand 
 was promptly refused, whereupon an assault was 
 made and the town taken. The leaders of the expe- 
 dition then inquired of the Abbe de Citeauxhow the 
 Catholics could be distinguished from the Albigenses 
 during the massacre 1 " Kill them all," replied the 
 legate; "God ivill recognise his own .'" 
 
 The unknown author of the history of the war of 
 the Albigenses, speaking of this event, says, " Here 
 was done the most cruel massacre that was ever 
 done in all the world besides ; for neither old nor 
 young were spared, nor even the sucking babe : all
 
 262 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 were butchered. Those of the citizens who were 
 able to do so, retreated into the large cathedral of 
 St. Nazaire ; but here they found a grave instead of 
 a refuge. The clerks of the church had received 
 orders to ring the bells when all the inhabitants were 
 slain ; but no bell was heard, for the soldiers had so 
 accomplished their work that neither priest nor 
 clerk remained alive. All had passed under the 
 edge of the sword : not one escaped." 
 
 A short time after this, Simon de Montfort, a 
 captain of the King's array, took several castles ; and, 
 having made prisoners of their inhabitants, he col- 
 lected them all in one body, put out their eyes, and 
 sent them to Narbonne under the conduct of one of 
 their own number whom he had deprived of but one 
 eye — sparing the other that he might act as a guide.* 
 
 This Crusade against the Albigenses, commenced 
 by Kliilip Augustus, in 1206, was not terminated 
 until 1245, during the reign of Louis IX. Innocent 
 III. ; St. Dominick ; Raymond, the Count of Tou- 
 louse ; Simon and Amaury, Counts of Montfort, 
 were the principal authors of this bloody drama of 
 which we here take leave and retuna to the affairs of 
 France. 
 
 Here we find, in 1214, Philip placed between two 
 enemies : John, who had taken advantage of Philip's 
 
 * Don Vaisset ; History of Langucdoc.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 263 
 
 war with the Albigenses to obtain possession of 
 Anjou ; and a new antagonist, induced by the King 
 of England to become such, — Otho II., Emperor of 
 Germany. The latter advanced toward Tournay 
 with a numerous army, collected principally from 
 Hainault, Brabant and Flanders ; and, true to the 
 prejudices he inherited, he showed himself ready to 
 aid the foes of the national party, now represented 
 by the Kings of the race of Hugh Capet. 
 
 Philip marched to repel this invasion, and encoun- 
 tered the Germans on the twenty-seventh of July, 
 1214: and as this battle has become identified with 
 the national remembrances of France, we Shall give 
 a more extended account of it than our liinits would 
 seem to warrant. 
 
 Some days previous to the battle, the German 
 army received a reinforcement of five brave knights 
 with their attendant men-at-arms, sent to the aid of 
 Otho by his ally, John of England. These knights 
 were, the Count of Boulogne, a liegeman of the 
 King of France ; a man whom Philip had raised 
 from a simple squire to the rank of knight : the 
 Count of Salisbury, who had now for the third time 
 cx'ossed the Channel to encounter the knights of 
 France : Ferrand, Count of Flanders, who, in the 
 anticipated division of France, had selected for his 
 portion the city of Paris : the Duke of Brabant, so 
 powerful in men and lands that Otho had espoused 
 his daughter : and lastly, the Duke of Limburg,
 
 264 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 with many German lords and counts in his suite, 
 whose names, at that time illustrious, are now oblite- 
 rated from the records of fame. 
 
 • Philip departed from Peronne, on the day after 
 the festival of St. Magdelene. He entered the do- 
 minions of the Count Ferrand, sword in hand, 
 burning all the villages that lay in his route ; so 
 that the French army arrived before Tournay as if 
 borne on wings of fire. This city had just been re- 
 conquered from the Flemings by the Count de 
 Saint-Paul and by a very brave man of sound 
 wisdom and judgment, the bishop of Senlis, a monk 
 of the hbspital of Jerusalem who never laid aside 
 the dress of his order, and who for this reason was 
 called friar Garin. The city, therefore, opened its 
 gates to receive the King, who encamped his army 
 around its walls, and sojourned there several days. 
 
 Otho now advanced as far as a chateau called Mor- 
 tain about six miles from Tournay, and Philip pi-o- 
 posed to attack him there ; but tlie French barons 
 disapproved the j^lan because the army would be 
 obliged to jjass a narrow and dangerous defile in 
 their route. Philip yielded to this counsel, and de- 
 termined to retire upon the frontiers of Hainault 
 and devastate the land as he had done in Flanders. 
 
 Accordingly, on the twenty-seventh of July, he 
 broke up his encampment and advanced upon Lille, 
 where he intended to pass the night ; thus present- 
 ing his flank to the enemy. But Otho, on learning
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 265 
 
 tbe moveinent of the French, immediately prepared 
 to fall upon their rear. Philip detached friar Garin 
 and the Viscount de Melun with a body of light- 
 troops to observe the enemy, and they took post on 
 an elevated spot of ground about three miles in the 
 rear of the army, whence they saw the entire Ger- 
 man force advancing in order of battle. The Vis- 
 count resolved to maintain his position for a time, to 
 retard the enemy's progress, and Garin hastened to 
 the King to apprize him that Otho was assuredly on 
 the march and evidently desirous of battle, as his in- 
 fantry were placed in advance of the cavaliers. 
 Philip ordered a halt and consulted his barons ; but 
 they almost unanimously advised him to continue his 
 route until they should aiTive at a more favorable 
 spot for an encounter. He consented to this, and, in 
 about an hour, arrived at the bridge of Bovines, be- 
 tween Cisoing and a place then called Sa?ighifi. 
 
 The greater part of the army had crossed the 
 bridge ; and Philip, wearied with the heat and the 
 march, had thrown off his arms and seated himself 
 under a tree near a church dedicated to St. Peter, 
 when naessengers arrived from the Viscount de Melun 
 to say that he was attacked by the enemy and could 
 not sustain himself without reinforcements. 
 
 Philip immediately entered the church and made 
 
 a short prayer for the success of his troops : then, 
 
 assuming his arms, he vaulted on his steed with a 
 
 face as joyous as if he were bound to a feast, and 
 
 23
 
 266 THE FUENCH MONARCHY, 
 
 drawing his sword, shouted, in a voice audible to half 
 the army, " to arms, warriors ! to arms !" 
 
 At this shout, the trumpets sounded, and the sol- 
 diers that had passed the bridge wheeled rapidly and 
 returned. They paused a few moments for the 
 oriflamme to be carried to the front — that magic 
 standard which assured the army of the protection of 
 St. Denis, and which in every battle took precedence 
 even of the royal banner : but, as there was a delay 
 in its coming forward, and the emergency was press- 
 ing, the King called to his side Galon de Montigny, 
 bearer of the standard blazoned with ileurs-de-lys 
 that always announced, by its presence, the presence 
 of the King, and both of them, putting spurs to their 
 horses, rushed to the head of the rear ranks — 
 which, by the recent evolution, had become the van- 
 guard — and thus took post in the very front of the 
 battle. 
 
 The Germans, supposing that the King was still 
 on the other side of the bridge, were at first discom- 
 posed on seeing him appear with the banner of 
 France ; but, soon recovering, they extended them- 
 selves along the right of the plain and, elongating 
 their flank toward the West, took possession of the 
 only rise of ground in the vicinity. But, by so doing, 
 they brought the sun directly in their faces ; and, 
 as if God himself espoused the cause of France, 
 its rays this day were intensely brilliant. Philip, pro- 
 fiting by the error, spread his own line along this im-
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY, 267 
 
 mense expanse of the plain, directly opposite to the ene- 
 my, so that his men had the sun at their backs. For an 
 instant the two armies remained motionless in face 
 of each other and separated by the distance of but 
 an arrow's flight. In the centre of the French line, 
 and a little in advance of the ranks, was King 
 Philip, easily recognised by the golden crown which 
 surmounted his helmet. The flower of his chivalry 
 was with him : Barthelemy de Roy, a man venerable 
 for age and wisdom ; Gauthier-le-Jeune ; . Guillaume 
 de Barres ; Pierre de Mauvoisin ; Girard Scropha ; 
 Etienne de Longchamps ; Guillaume de Mortemar; 
 Jean de Rouvray ; Guillaume de Garlande ; and 
 Henri, Count de Bar, young in years but old in judg- 
 ment ; distinguished alike for his bravery and his 
 beauty, he had succeeded his father, who was first 
 cousin to the King, in the office and dignity of Count. 
 All these, and many more illustrious men trained to 
 arms, had voluntarily placed themselves around the 
 King, as the post of danger and honor : for they well 
 knew that wherever Philip and the banner of France 
 were, there would be the thickest of the fight. 
 
 On the opposite side, the Emperor Otho could 
 not be descried, being hid by the dense ranks of his 
 troops. His presence, however, was certified by 
 his standard — a gilded eagle surmounting a dragon 
 attached to a very long lance and placed upon a 
 car. He was suppoited by Bernard de Hostemale, 
 Count Otho of Tecklemburg, Count Conrad of Dorth-
 
 268 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 raund, Girard de Rauderade, Hugh de Boves, and 
 the Count de Boulogne, well assured that he could 
 rely on their bravery. 
 
 King Philip, as the battle was about to com- 
 mence, raised his hand signifying that he wished to 
 speak. Every one was immediately silent, and he 
 pronounced these words with an audible voice : 
 
 " All our hope, all our confidence is placed in 
 God. King Otho and his army, who are the ene- 
 mies and despoilers of Holy Church, have been 
 excommunicated by our lord the Pope. Their 
 wages are coined from the tears of the poor, the pil- 
 lage of the Church and the spoils of the abbeys and 
 their inmates. But we are Christians. We enjoy 
 the communion and the blessing of Holy Church ; 
 for, although sinners, we are united to the Church of 
 God, and we defend, according to our ability, the 
 liberties of the clergy. We should therefore take 
 courage and expect divine mercy from Him who, 
 notwithstanding our iniquities, will gi'ant us the 
 victory over His and our enemies." 
 
 The knights then demanded the King's bene- 
 diction. Philip raised his hands, letting his sword 
 hang by the chain that fastened it to his wrist ; 
 those who were mounted, bowed to the necks of 
 their steeds, those on foot fell upon their knees, and 
 the blessing was pronounced by the King — who, 
 alone, in the midst of an army occupying a space of
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 269 
 
 forty thousand paces,* raised his eyes toward God, 
 as if he drew from heaven the words he uttered on 
 earth. 
 
 After this, the trumpets sounded along the French 
 line and the chaplains and priests began to sing the 
 143d Psalm : " Blessed be the Lord, my strength^ 
 which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to 
 fight," " All sang it as they best could," says Wil- 
 liam Lebreton, who took part in this pious concert, 
 " for tears streamed down their cheeks and sobs 
 mingled with their sli'ains." 
 
 Notwithstanding the eagerness of the King and 
 the knights around him for the combat, it did not 
 commence with them, but with the right wing, 
 between the men of Count Ferrand and friar Garin. 
 The bishop did not himself fight, on account of his 
 dress; but he was sustained by Eudes, Duke of 
 Burgundy ; Gaucher, Count de Saint-Paul ; John, 
 Count of Beaumont ; Mathieu de Montmorenci ; and 
 more than a hundred and eighty knights of Cham- 
 pagne. These champions, with their men, had been 
 formed into a single battalion by the bishop, who order- 
 ed to the rear certain soldiers of the front rank whose 
 courage and ardor were doubtful, and replaced them 
 with those on whom he could fully rely. " The field," 
 
 * " Qjiaran'e ?nille pas." This is a manifest error, 40,000 
 French paces being equivalent to nearly /or<y mil:s ; but the 
 translator has neither the means nor the authority to correct it. 
 23*
 
 270 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 he said to them, " is vast, my noble knights ; extend 
 yourselves in a line across the plain, lest the enemy 
 enclose you. No knight must make a buckler of his 
 fellow, but each must present himself singly and 
 boldly to the foe." So saying, the bishop, by the 
 advice of the Count de Saint-Paul, sent forward one 
 hundred and fifty men-at-arms on horseback to com- 
 mence the attack, that the noble knights might 
 find the enemy somewhat disordered when they came 
 to the charge. 
 
 The Flemings, who, on the other side, were the 
 moat eager for the fight, were indignant that men-at- 
 arms, instead of knights, should have been despatch- 
 ed to commence the attack ; they awaited the arrival 
 of their assailants without moving from their posi- 
 tion ; and this first assault terminated in the destruc- 
 tion of almost all the horses of the French men-at- 
 arms ; and many of the riders were wounded, though 
 only two were killed. The dismounted cavaliers 
 immediately formed themselves into infantry — for 
 they were brave men from the valley of Soissons, 
 and fought as valiantly on foot as on horseback. 
 
 Two knights now advanced from the German 
 line, and, putting their lances in rest, dashed through 
 the company of men-at-arms and appeared in front 
 of the French army, without taking heed of those 
 whom they had overthrown and trodden down in 
 their charge. These knights Avere Gauthier de 
 Ghistelle and Buridan, renowned for their prowess, 
 incapable of fear, and who regarded war as a pas-
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 271 
 
 time. They were instantly joined by a third knight, 
 named Eustache de Maquilin, who followed their 
 route, shouting in a haughty tone, "Death to the 
 French!" These three — themselves knights — 
 disdained to combat with any but knights. 
 
 To meet these men who now, by their position, 
 defied the army of France, Pierre de Remy and two 
 other knights sprang forward, and the six warriors 
 rushed upon each other with the greatest fury. 
 Their lances were shivered at the first shock, and 
 they then drew their swords and renewed the com- 
 bat. Neither party had gained any advantage, when 
 the returning body of dismounted men-at-arms sur- 
 rounded and made prisoners Gauthier and Buridan ; 
 while Eustache de Maquilin, who had not ceased 
 crying " Death to the French !" was attacked by an 
 athletic man, armed only with a knife. Notwith- 
 standing the blows which this knight showered with 
 his sword upon his hardy assailant, the latter succeed- 
 ed in grappling with him, clasped him tightly with 
 one arm around his neck, and threw hirn backward 
 on the horse's croup. He then forced open the 
 knight's helmet, thrust the knife between his chin 
 and his corselet and inflicted a mortal wound first in 
 his neck, and afterward in his breast. " Thus," 
 says William Lebreton, " he who had so insolently 
 shouted ' Death to the French !' himself suffered 
 death from the hand of a Frenchman." 
 
 At this time, some slight confusion was observable
 
 272 THE FRENCH MONARCHV. 
 
 in the German ranks, as they were preparing to move 
 to the assistance of their three cliampions. Gaudier, 
 Count de Saint-Paul, perceiving that the moment to 
 charge had arrived, disposed a body of chosen 
 knights in the form of a wedge, placed himself at the 
 forward and pointed extremity of the mass, and 
 all simultaneously rushed onward with the cry, 
 "Champagne! France!" Impelled by the great 
 strength of the horses, this wedge of iron was forced 
 into the very heart of the Flemish battalions, and the 
 Count de Saint-Paul ti-aversed their whole line, 
 giving and receiving numberless blows, killing, indif- 
 ferently, men and horses, but not pausing to make 
 prisoners. Having gained the enemy's rear, he 
 deployed his men into a curved line, renewed the 
 charge, and, surrounding a large number, dragged 
 them in his fierce career toward the French army as 
 a fisherman draws his net to the shore. 
 
 This first assault on the part of the French, was 
 followed by a second under the command of the Vis- 
 count de Melun, the Count de Beaumont, Mathieu 
 de Montmorenci, Michel de Harmes, Hugues de 
 Malaunaye and the Duke of Burgundy himself. As 
 this body of troops was disposed differently from that 
 led by Gaucher, the enemy was able to offer a more 
 protracted resistance to the charge, and an admi- 
 rable contest ensued, sword to sword, hand to hand, 
 man to man. The Duke of Burgundy was the first 
 who was unhorsed. He was borne to the earth by
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 273 
 
 the thrust of a lance and his steed was slain. The 
 Burgundians in an instant surrounded their prostrate 
 leader and formed for him a rampart of their bodies ; 
 and, as he was only bruised by his fall, he speedily 
 recovered himself and mounted another horse. He 
 now rushed anew upon the enemy and struck each 
 Fleming that he encountered, as if upon each in 
 particular he would avenge the death of his steed. 
 During this time, the Viscount de Melun, after the 
 manner of Gaucher de Saint-Paul, had twice pierced 
 through the enemy's ranks. Huguesde Malaunaye, 
 dismounted like many others, had collected together 
 his foot-soldiers and fought, on foot, at their head. 
 And Michel de Harmes, his shield, corslet and thigh- 
 piece pierced by a Flemish, lance, was nailed to his 
 saddle and his horse ; so that the steed and rider had 
 fallen on their side, and the lance remained upright, 
 swaying to and fro like the mast of a vessel. 
 
 In the meantime, the Count de Saint-Paul, ex- 
 hausted more by the blows he had given than by 
 those he bad received, retired somewhat from the 
 field of carnage to gain a moment's rest, when he 
 beheld one of his knights surrounded by the enemy 
 and about to be slain, as he would not surrender. 
 As this knight was very valiant and was much be- 
 loved by the Count, he determined to rescue him, 
 although the attempt seemed nearly desperate. In 
 order, however, to pierce the dense array of foemen 
 with the least danger to himself, the Count suffered
 
 274 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 his sword to hang from his wrist by its chain, bent 
 himself forward to his horse's neck, clung firmly to 
 the steed with both hands, and, pressing its flanks 
 with his spurs, he bore down upon the Flemings, 
 burst through their ranks and reached the knight. 
 Then rising in his stirrups, he grasped his sword 
 with both hands and, swinging it around his head, 
 cut down all within his reach, both man and horse. In 
 this manner he enlarged the circle within the mass 
 of iron that was stifling the knight. Then, both of 
 them pressing against each other's sides, ty a simul- 
 taneous movement darted forward, overturning all 
 that opposed their progress, and returned in safety 
 to their own battalion. Those who were witnesses 
 of this feat of arms affirm that for an instant the 
 Count de Saint-Paul was in imminent danger, as he 
 was struck by twelve lances at once, but his horse 
 was not borne down, nor was he raised from his 
 saddle. 
 
 About the time that the battle commenced with 
 the right wing, the men of the communes, who in the 
 march of the army had formed the vanguard, and who, 
 on hearing of the approach of the enemy, had retra- 
 ced their steps and re-crossed the bridge — arrived on 
 the field, bearing the oriflamme. Having descried the 
 banner of the fleurs-de-lys which indicated the royal 
 presence, they compelled the knights to make way, 
 and threw themselves between Philip and the Em- 
 peror's army. They w^ere the men of Corbeil,
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 275 
 
 Amiens, Beauvais, Compeigne, and Arras ; all un- 
 impeachably brave, but, being unprotected by ar- 
 mor, their success in battle could not equal that of 
 the knights sheathed in iron. 
 
 The Geiman knights, aware that these men were 
 comparatively defenceless, rushed upon and slaugh- 
 tered them like sheep. They of course gave way 
 at all points, and the German knights were soon in 
 view of the King of France; indeed, the Duke de 
 Boulogne was for an instant confronted with him 
 — but, recognising his sovereign, he lowered his 
 lance in token of respect and turned aside to attack 
 Robert, Couiit de Dreux. 
 
 The knights who surrounded Philip pushed for- 
 ward at once to meet the Germans ; and, in their 
 eagerness, forbore to consider that they must pass 
 over the bodies of the communes to reach the enemy. 
 They dashed on, therefore, over all intervening 
 obstacles, and the advancing foes were arrested in 
 their progress as by a wall. 
 
 Otho, finding it impossible to reach the King 
 through this phalanx of knights, detached a party of 
 infantry in pursuit of the men of the communes ; 
 and when they had driven these routed troops back, 
 and become mingled with them, they suddenly 
 wheeled, marched upon Philijj's rear and surrounded 
 him and the few knights of his suite before he per- 
 ceived that they were enemies. Immediately, Galon 
 de Montigny, who bore the standard of France,
 
 276 THE FRENCH MONARCHY, 
 
 Uttered aloud cry of distress, lowering and raising 
 the banner to show that the King was in danger. 
 The German infantry pressed upon Philip and drag- 
 ged him to the ground with their hooked lances ; they 
 then thrust at him with their pikes ; but, happily 
 his armor was too well tempered to be pierced in 
 front. At this juncture, Peter Tristan jumped from 
 his horse, threw himself before the King and with 
 his sword severed the heads from the lances of the 
 infantry. Five or six other knights followed his 
 example, and, with their combined efforts, dispersed 
 and killed the assailants ; while the King, whom God 
 had preserved fi'om injury, sprang lightly on another 
 horse. At that instant, one of his bravest. khights, 
 named Etienne de Longchamp, rolled dead at his 
 feet, having been wounded through the visor of his 
 helmet by the stroke of a dagger : for the enemy, 
 in this battle, made use for the first time, of a weap- 
 on entirely unknown to the French : it was a long 
 and narrow blade with three edges, equally sharp at 
 each angle from the point to the hilt. 
 
 The danger that Philip had just escaped, served 
 only to augment his courage. He rushed into the 
 midst of his faithful knights, preceded by Galon de 
 Montigny who bore the royal banner, and shouted — 
 " Hola ! knights and men-at-arms ! let the King 
 pass!" At these words, every rank opened; and 
 Philip, whom the Emperor supposed to have been 
 killed, or at least made prisoner, appeared again in 
 front of his army.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 277 
 
 Otho's knights now began to fall back; for the 
 French, animateJ by their King, charged desperately 
 upon them and penetrated into the immediate pres- 
 ence of the Emperor. In fact, Pierre Mauvoisin 
 seized his horse by the bridle, but as, owing to the 
 crowd that pressed around, he was unable to force 
 him otF a ptisoner, Girard Scropha aimed a dagger 
 at his breast. The excellence of his armor resisted 
 the stroke, and Scropha repeated it : but the weapon 
 glanced to the head of Otho's horse, passed through 
 the eye into the brain, and there remained so firmly 
 wedged, that the knight could not withdraw it, 
 though he essayed to do so with both hands. 
 
 The horse, mortally wounded, reared, and by that 
 movement forced the bridle from Pierre Mauvoisin's 
 grasp ; then, turning toward the German line, it bore 
 its rider among his own soldiers with a speed and 
 frenzy that nothing could resist. The Emperor thus 
 turned his back upon the French and fled from the 
 fight, abandoning his standard to the victors. At 
 sight of this, Philip raised his sword, exclaiming, "I 
 swear to you on my word, my knights, that you will 
 not see his face again to-day." And, indeed, Otho's 
 wounded steed fell at a distance of about five hun- 
 dred yards ; another was brought him, which he 
 mounted ; but, instead of returning to re-animate his 
 men, he continued his flight in the opposite direction. 
 
 Nevertheless, the knights whom, for their approv- 
 ed valor, he had chosen to attend in his suite, sustain- 
 24
 
 278 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 ed their reputation, and were as faithful to his cause 
 after his base retreat as before. They threw them- 
 selves between the French knights and their retreat- 
 ing sovereign, and the combat was at once renewed. 
 These brave men were Bernard de Hostemale, 
 Count Otho of Tecklemburg, Count Conrad of 
 Dorthraund, Gerard de Rauderade, and the Count 
 of Boulogne. 
 
 Fortune, however, decided in favor of the French, 
 and these knights, with the exception of the last, were 
 all made prisoners, after having many times exchang- 
 ed their lances and broken their swords to the hilt. 
 The chariot bearing the Emperor's standard was 
 forthwith shattered to pieces, the dragon was broken, 
 and the eagle, with its wings plucked off, was brought 
 to the King. 
 
 Meanwhile, the ranks of Otho's army were rapidly 
 diminishing. The Dukes of Louvain and Limburg, 
 Hugh de Boves and others, with their troops of 
 fifties and hundreds, abandoned the fight as fast as 
 their horses could carry them. The Count de 
 Boulogne remained alone upon the field. His troop 
 of eighty knights, early in the action, formed them- 
 selves into a hollow square, two men deep, and ac- 
 companied the Count wherever he moved, that, when 
 exhausted or hard pressed, he might retire within 
 their ranks, as into a moving tower or fortress, to 
 recover himself; whence, after a few moments, he 
 could sally out and renew the fight. This band of
 
 THE FRENCH MO^fARCHY. 279 
 
 eighty men was now reduced to six ; but, with despe- 
 rate valor, they held in check six times their own 
 number of the French, striking and hewing down all 
 who approached the Count — for seven hours of com- 
 bat had not sufficed to weary their iron nerves. Prob- 
 ably they would much longer have continued the 
 strife, had not a brave soldier, by name Pierre de 
 Tourelle, whose horse they had slain, glided like a ser- 
 pent between their horses' £eet, and in this manner 
 approached the Count without being discovered : 
 then, crawling under the Count's horse, he plunged his 
 sword up to the hilt in its belly. One of the knights, 
 perceiving the occurrence, seized the wounded 
 horse by the bridle, and, putting his own to a 
 gallop, dragged the Count unwillingly from the field, 
 while the remaining five covered their retreat. But 
 two brothers, Quenon and Jean de Condune, made a 
 detour and attacked the Count from one side. They 
 immediately beat down the knight who led his horse, 
 and at the same moment, the horse fell and the Count 
 was thrown and entangled in the animal's trappings^ 
 Hugh and Gautier Desfontaines with Jean de 
 Rouvray now came up and disputed with Quenon 
 and Jean de Condune for the possession of the Count. 
 During this time Jean de Nivelle and his retainers 
 also arrived. He was a knight of tall stature and 
 handsome face, but his courage and heart did not 
 tally with the beauty of his person, for throughout 
 this battle he had not yet fought with any one. How-
 
 280 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 ever, he now contended with the rest to induce the 
 belief that he had a share in the Count's capture : 
 and his retainers had already drawn the Count from 
 beneath his horse and were bearing him off when the 
 bishop of Senlis approached. The Count, on seeing 
 the bishop, held out to him what remained of his 
 sword and surrendered himself on the sole condition 
 that his life should be spared. It was fortunate for 
 him that the bishop arrived as he did ; for a young 
 man, named Comot, to whom the Count had^refused 
 to surrender, because the youth was not a noble, was 
 endeavouring to slay him : he had already cleft his 
 helmet with a sword-cut, and was about to stab him 
 beneath his corslet. All the bishop's authority was 
 requisite to pluck the Count out of the hands of this 
 furious soldier. The bishop having prevailed, how- 
 ever, the prisoner stood upon his feet without fur- 
 ther molestation : but at this moment, perceiving 
 Arnoult d'Oudenarde, a renowned knight, who was 
 hastening to his assistance with some men-at-arms, 
 he feigned to be unable to sustain himself, and sank 
 back upon the ground, waiting for the rescue. But 
 his captors forced him to mount a horse, and led him 
 toward the French lines. Arnoult and his followers 
 were taken prisoners. 
 
 Philip now took a survey of the vast plain which, 
 one hour before, had been occupied by the German 
 army, — but that army had vanished like a cloud 
 of smoke. All were taken, put to flight, or slain
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 281 
 
 excepting a corps of Braban^ons, consisting of about 
 seven hundred men whom Otho had placed in front 
 of his army for a rampart, and who, like a rampart, 
 remained immoveable. Philip, amazed at so much 
 valor in men of the communes, sent against them 
 Thomas de Saint-Valery (a man of birth, commen- 
 dable for his virtues and somewhat distinguished 
 for his learning) with fifty cavaliers and two thousand 
 infantry, summoning them to surrender. On their 
 stubborn refusal to comply, Thomas de Valeiy 
 attacked them and massacred almost the whole 
 troop. This last point of resistance being overcome, 
 nothing remained to arrest the progress of the 
 French army : but the mighty voice of Philip for- 
 bade them to pursue the enemy to a greater distance 
 than one mile — as niglii was approaching and they 
 were ignorant of the country; moi'eover, he was 
 fearful that his prisoners might escape unless care- 
 fully guarded. Indeed, this latter consideration 
 caused him great uneasiness, and he gave the signal 
 for the trumpets to sound the recall. 
 
 The victory was complete and its results were of 
 vast importance. It extinguished all hope enter- 
 tained by the Germans, of legaining the influence 
 over France which they possessed during the reigns 
 of the men of the conquering race : and it induced 
 John of England, who was then in Poitou, to con- 
 clude a truce "for five years with King Philip. 
 
 This truce was signed at Chinon, in the month of 
 24*
 
 282 THE FRENCH MONARCHV. 
 
 September, 1214 : and France, like an eagle shaking 
 its wings, found herself relieved by one battle of 
 two armies, that assailed the two extremities of her 
 dominion. 
 
 Soon after this, a civil war broke out in England 
 between King John and his nobles. The latter 
 called to their assistance young Louis, son of Philip 
 Augustus, who, however, was at that time engaged 
 in a war with the Albigenses, and could send them 
 only a few good knights with a considerable num- 
 ber of armed men ; but he promised to follow these 
 in person as soon as he was able. And at the end 
 of a year he made good this promise notwithstand- 
 ing his father's prohibition ; who was resolved to 
 observe the truce, and who, finding his commands 
 disregarded, confiscated the property of his son and 
 of the barons who accompanied him to England. 
 
 Meanwhile, Louis entered London ; besieged and 
 took Rochester and Canterbury; joined to his stand- 
 ard the King of Scotland and William Longsword 
 brother of King John, and forced his antagonist to 
 retreat beyond the Humber, in the North country, 
 where he soon after died.* Louis received the 
 
 * William formed this alliance because some one on whom 
 he could rely informed him that ^vhile he, WilHam, was a 
 prisoner in France, King John, disregarding the natural alli- 
 ance between two brothers, had committed incest with his 
 wife. — Gfillaume Lebbeton ; Vie de Philippe AiLguste.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 283 
 
 intelligence of his death while pressing the siege of 
 the castle of Dover. 
 
 This event, which at first seemed favorable, pro- 
 ved fatal, to his interest. The greater part of the 
 English nobles had rallied around Louis from the 
 hatred they bore to John : but this hatred was ex- 
 tinguished with his life. John left a son two years 
 old, named Henry, whom the Cardinal Galon 
 crowned King immediately on the death of his 
 father. His uncle, William Longs word, was the first 
 to give an example of loyalty to the new sovereign 
 by abandoning Louis of France. This example was 
 soon followed by the other lords, and. Louis, entirely 
 deserted, concluded a truce and returned to France. 
 
 In 1217, he crossed the channel with a fresh levy 
 of troops and endeavored to enforce an acknowledge- 
 ment of his claim to the English crown; but he was 
 entirely unsuccessful ; and, after making peace anew, 
 he returned to take part in the Crusade against the 
 Albigenses, in 1219. 
 
 This expedition was also a failure. The Crusa- 
 ders at first took Marmande and slew the inhabitants 
 to the number of fifteen hundred " with the women 
 and little children. Thence they marched to Tou- 
 louse, which they besieged and assaulted, but with 
 little vigor,* some among us maliciously hindering 
 
 * Toulouse was three times besieged in the space of twenty 
 years, and braved the assaults of three Kings, although the first 
 siege was conducted in person by Philip Augustus, the second 
 by Louis VIII.,. and the third by Saint-Louis, — Louis IX,
 
 284 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 the success of the Cross ; and the affair proving thus 
 abortive, the warriors returned home laden with 
 more blame than praise."* 
 
 Philip Augustus fell sick in 1223, and expired on 
 the evening of the ides of July, at the age of sixty- 
 nine, after a reign of forty-three years. He had con- 
 tinued the monarchical work of Louis-le-Gros, and 
 increased the stability of the government, the king- 
 dom and the throne. He re-conquered Normandy, 
 Touraine, Anjou, Maine, and Poitou ; purchased 
 the counties of Auvergne and Artois ; and recover- 
 ed Picardy, a great number of places in Berri, and 
 divers other counties, chatellanies and seigniories. 
 
 In the meantime, the spirit of enfranchisement was 
 not idle, but made immense progress in the nation. 
 It was sapping the seigniories behind, which the 
 King v/as attacking in front ; and forming around 
 Paris — made free by the presence of the King — a 
 belt of independent communes that not only paid no 
 taxes or imposts to the sovereign, but sometimes 
 even marched against him ; as is attested by the list 
 of prisoners taken at the battle of Bovines, among 
 3vhom were found men belonging to fifteen different 
 communes.t 
 
 * GUILLAUME LeBRETON. 
 
 + The fifteen communes were Noyon, Mont-Did ier, Monti-euil, 
 Soissons, Bruyeres, Ilesdin, Cerny, Cressy en Laonnais, 
 Craon, Vesly, Corbie, Compeigne, Roye, Amiens, and Beau- 
 vais.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 285 
 
 Under this reign, the University of Paris first 
 gained celebrity. The trivium and quadrivium were 
 taught there. The trivium consisted of grammar, 
 rhetoric, and logic; the quadrivium, of astrology, 
 geometry, arithmetic, and music. " 
 
 Philip Augustus commenced or completed several 
 works of public utility. The cathedral of Notre- 
 Dame, in Paris, the foundations of which were 
 scarcely above ground when he ascended the throne, 
 was entirely finished when he died. Paris, the pro- 
 gressive growth of which rendered a new line of 
 fortifications necessary, was, by his ordei's, sur- 
 rounded with walls J* and he aspired to render 
 
 * In the same year ** — 1211 — King Philip the Magnani- 
 mous surrounded Paris, toward the Soutli, with a walltt ex- 
 
 *♦ We might be led to suppose, from the manner in which 
 this author expresses himself, that this great work was under- 
 taken in this year. But it is not so. The walls were com- 
 menced in 1190, and finished in 1211. 
 
 +t From the bank of the Seine toward the North the wall 
 passed inside the Louvre, crossed the streets St. Honore, Deux 
 Ecus, the site of the Hotel de Soissons, the streets Coquillicre, 
 Montmartre, Montorgueil, the site of the present Italian Theatre, 
 the streets Fran9aise, Saint-Denis, Bourg-l'Abbc, St. Martin, 
 continued the length of the street Grenier-St.-Lazare, crossed 
 the streets Beaubourg and St. Avoie to the site of the present 
 Hotel de Mesme; and, passing over the site of the Convent 
 des Blancs-Manteaux and thence between the streets Francs- 
 Bourgeois and Rosiers, terminated at the river between the 
 Monastery of the Jesuits and the Convent of Ave-Maria, It
 
 286 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 obsolete its name Lutetia,* by being the first to pave 
 three of its two hundred and thirty-six streets.t It 
 was he, also, who built the Louvre, where his feuda- 
 tories assembled to swear fealty and homage, and 
 
 tending on both sides as far as the Seine and enclosing a very 
 great extent of ground. He then forced the owners of the fields 
 and vineyards, so enclosed, to lease them to the citizens for the 
 purpose of building houses on them, so that the whole city, to 
 the very walls, appeared full of houses. — Guillaums Lebreton. 
 
 * From luluyn, which signifies vmd. 
 
 i The King, one day, looked out at a window of his palace, 
 whence he was wont frequently to watch the flow of the Seine. 
 Suddenly, the carriages drawn by horses in the middle of the 
 streets caused an insupportable fetid odor to arise from the 
 mud disturbed by their passage. The King could not endure 
 it; and, from that moment, he meditated an enterprise as diffi- 
 cult as it was indispensable, the difficulties and the cost of 
 which had always prevented his predecessors from undertaking 
 it. Having, therefore, convoked the prevosts and citizens of 
 the town, he ordained, in virtue of his royal authority, that all 
 the quarters and streets of Paris should be paved with hard 
 and solid stones, — Rigord; Vie de Philippe Augusle, 
 
 had eight principal gates; the first, near the Louvre, on the 
 river's edge; the second, where the priests of the Oratoire now 
 reside; the third, opposite St. Eustache, between the streets 
 Platriere and du Jour; the fourth, at the street St. Denis: the 
 fifth, at the corner of the street Grenier-St,-Lazare; the sixth, 
 called la porte Barbette, between the street Francs-Bourgeois 
 and the Convent des Blancs-Manteaux; the seventh, near the 
 Monastery of the Jesuits ; and the eighth, on the border of the 
 river between the port St. Paul and the bridge Marie. — Sainte- 
 Foix ; Esquisses hisioriqties.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 287 
 
 where they found a prison when they broke their 
 oath. 
 
 Philip Augustus was the first of the descendants 
 of Hugh Capet who neglected to have his son con- 
 secrated during his life-time. Perhaps he thought 
 the precaution needless ; or he may have feared that 
 the Pope — to whom King John had been a vas- 
 sal for an annual pension of one thousand marks of 
 silver — might refuse his sanction to Louis whom he 
 had excommunicated on account of his war with 
 England. At all events, he substituted a martial 
 ceremony for \he religious one — and knighted him 
 in presence of his whole court. 
 
 One month after the death of Philip, Louis was 
 consecrated and crowned at Rheims. As his was a 
 reign of three years' duration only, it was productive 
 of but few important events : his expeditions into 
 England and his Crusades against the Albigenses 
 having occurred during the life-time of his father. 
 
 We find him, however, making war with much 
 valour and some fortune, not against the English of 
 Normandy and Guienne whom his father had driven 
 from the kingdom, but against some of the French 
 lords who still held out for them. He thus took the 
 chateau of Niort and the town of Rochelle from 
 Savary de Mauleon. " On hearing the news of these 
 two victories," says the unknown historian of Louis 
 VIIT., "the lords of the country of Limoges, of 
 Perigord and of Aquitania — with the exception of
 
 288 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 the Gascons who lived beyond the Garonne — prom- 
 ised, with much submission, fidelity to King Louis, 
 and they kept their faith." 
 
 In 1226, Louis again took up the Cross against the 
 Albigenses. His army assembled at Bourges, march- 
 ed by Nevers and Lyons, and arrived before Avignon, 
 which had been deemed imj^regnable. The siege 
 was long and obstinately sustained, but eventually 
 the town surrendered. Its trenches were filled up : 
 three hundred houses, garnished with towers, were 
 razed to the ground ; and the King marched on to 
 Toulouse. 
 
 But he fi:)und his health declining, and left the 
 expedition under the command of Imbert de Beau- 
 jeu. He had jiroceeded on his return to France, 
 as far as Montpensier, in Auvergne, when he was 
 forced to stop. The malady by which he was attack- 
 ed made rapid progress, and he expired on the 
 twenty-seventh of Octobei', 1226, in the thirty-ninth 
 year of his age. He bequeathed ten thousand livres 
 to two thousand lazar-houses built in France to 
 accommodate those suffering under diseases brought 
 thither by the Crusaders from the Holy Land. 
 
 The first order of Mendicants was established in 
 this reign ; as was also the edict prohibiting prosti- 
 tutes from " wearing gowns with rolling collars, 
 trains, or girdles embroidered with gold."* 
 
 * Chateaubriand; Analyse raisonnce de Vhisloire de France.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 289 
 
 Louis VIII. makes but an insignificant figui'e in 
 history; although his contemporaries style him Coeur- 
 de-Lion for his bravery, and Lion-Pacifique for 
 his mildness : and Nicolas de Bray, author of a 
 poem in his praise* has elevated him above Alexan 
 der and Ccesar.t His name is extinguished between 
 tlie names of his predecessor and his successor : he 
 was the son of Philip Augustus, and the father of 
 Saint-Louis. 
 
 Louis IX. was not yet fourteen years old when 
 Blanche of Castile, his mother, caused him to be 
 consecrated at Rheims by the arch-bishop of Sois- 
 sons.t During the minority of Louis, the regent 
 Blanche, was occupied in suppressing the partial 
 revolts of the nobles, who rebelled, ostensibly, in 
 scorn of the regency of a woman ;- but in reality 
 from their hatred of the royal power, which was 
 daily establishing itself more firmly. The communes. 
 
 ♦ Faits etGestes de Louis VIII. 
 
 t " Doubtless, if the sisters, tlie Daughters of Destiny, had 
 not so speedily cut his thread of life, in the middle of his bril- 
 liant youth, the great Alexander — to whom the world entire 
 was subjected, from Cadiz, city of Hercules, to the Ganges — 
 returning to this earth, would appear insignificant and would 
 humble himsslf before Louis ; and, compared with Louis, he who 
 constituted the glory of the Roman nation — Julius Csesar — 
 notwithstanding his greatness and his merit, would be only 
 scorned." 
 
 i The See of Rheims was vacant. 
 25
 
 290 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 too, increased in numbei' and the popular enfran- 
 chisement made rapid progress. In 1233, the King 
 attained his majority and took the reins of govern- 
 ment into his own hands. 
 
 Louis IX. is a perfect type of the Middle Age 
 personified. His arm was powerful; his spii'it, ad- 
 venturous; his soul, religious; and his habits, simple. 
 He fought in person, like the meanest of his 
 knights. He administered justice under an oak 
 without marshals or guards. And he died in a tent, 
 a thousand leagues from his capital, with his eyes 
 raised to heaven, saying, " I shall enter into thy 
 habitation; I shall adore thee in thy holy temple, 
 and confess myself to thee, O Lord !"* 
 
 Saint-Louis had his chronicler, and his poet : 
 N^angis wrote his history and Joinville his epic — 
 for the naiTalion of Joinville is a perfect poem ; 
 charming in its simplicity, marvellous in its crudity; 
 and sublime in its hope and faith. 
 
 In considering the reign of St. Louis, it will be 
 necessary only to point out the prominent events. 
 
 In 1224, the victories of Tailleboui'g and Saintes 
 were obtained over Hugh, Count de la Marche, who 
 was sustained in his revolt by England.t 
 
 * Chronicle of Guillaume de Nangis. 
 
 + He gave battle before Saintes to the said Hugh, Count de la 
 Marche, and to Henry, King of the English, whom Hugh had 
 persuaded to pass into France with a great multitude of armed
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 291 
 
 In 1250, the fifth Crusade, into Egypt, was under- 
 taken and the King was made prisoner.* 
 
 In 1251, arose the troubles occasioned by the 
 shepherds,! — Pastoureaux. 
 
 men, because his wife was mother of King Henry. King Louis 
 conquered them valiantly, put them to flight, and made prison- 
 ers of a great number of their soldiers. — GHjillaume de Nangis. 
 
 * It happened, by permission of God, and perhaps in punish- 
 ment of the sins of some, that the King of France, Saint-Louis, 
 fell into the hands of the Saracens, as did also his two brothers, 
 Alphonse, Count of Poitou and Charles, Count of Anjou. — Ibid. 
 
 t A surprising event, a novel and unheard-of thing, occurred 
 in the kingdom of France. Some chiefs of brigands, in order 
 to seduce simple folk and spread the Crusade among the peo- 
 ple, announced, by inventions full of duplicity, that they had 
 seen a vision of angels, and that the holy Virgin Mary had 
 appeared to them commanding them to take the Cross and as- 
 semble an army of herdsmen and of the lowest orders of the 
 people, whom the Lord had chosen to march to the rescue of 
 the Holy Land and of the King of France who was cap- 
 tive in that country. They represented by images painted on 
 banners the tenor of this vision. Passing, first, through Flan- 
 ders and Picardy, they drew after them, by their exhortations, 
 the herdsmen and the common people of the villages and fields 
 as the loadstone draws iron. When they arrived in France, 
 their numbers were so increased, that they ranked by thousands 
 and marched like an army. Whenever, in traversing the 
 country, they passed by shepherds tending their flocks, the 
 shepherds, abandoning their charge without consulting their 
 parents, possessed by I know not what frenzy, joined them- 
 selves to these criminal adventurers. While, truly, the herds- 
 men and simple folk, united with these men with a good intent,
 
 292 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 In 1259, Henry, King of England was reinstated 
 in the possession of his ancient dominions South of 
 
 there were in the ranks many thieves and murderers, secretly 
 guilty of every imaginable crime, by whose comisel and direc- 
 tion the whole band was governed. When they passed by 
 villages and towns, they raised their clubs, hatchets and other 
 weapons in the air, and thus rendered themselves so terrible, 
 that no one to whom was confided tlie judicial authority dared 
 gainsay them in anything. They had fallen into such error, 
 that they presumed to solemnize marriages, to bestow the 
 Cross, and to grant, at least in appearance, the absolution of 
 sins. But, what was worse than all, they so led the common 
 people into error that many of them affirmed and others believed 
 that the viands and wine they carried with them did not dimin- 
 ish, but rather increased, by being used. The clergy learned 
 with great sorrow that the people had fallen into such delu- 
 sion : but in endeavoring to oppose its progress, they became 
 odious to the misguided folk, who conceived such an aversion 
 to the priests that they killed many whom they found in the 
 fields, making, as we think, martyrs of them. Queen Blanche, 
 whose admirable wisdom at that time governed the kingdom of 
 France, would not, perhaps, have allowed their error to make 
 such progress, had she not hoped that, through them, assistance 
 might be rendered to her son, the King St. Louis, and to the Holy 
 Land. "When these people had traversed Paris, they conceiv- 
 ed that they had passed all dangers; and they gave themselves 
 out to be virtuous men, which position they proved by this argu- 
 tnent ; viz., that in Paris, the source of all knowledge, they had 
 been gainsayed in nothing. They then began more eagerly 
 than ever to give themselves up to their follies, and addicted 
 themselves with new ardor to rapine and depredation. Having 
 proceeded to Orleans, they attacked the clerks of the University 
 and killed a great number: but many of their own party were
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 293 
 
 the Loire,* in exchange for his pretensions to {he 
 Duchy of Normandy and the counties of Anjou, 
 Mans, Touraine, Poitou, and their fiefs. 
 
 In 12G9, the sixth and last Crusade against the 
 Turks was undertaken, during which the King died 
 amid the ruins of ancient Carthage ;t and the oath 
 of fidelity and homage to his son Philip was taken by 
 the crusading barons and knights. 
 
 also slain. Their chief, whom they called Mastei- of Hungary, 
 thence led them to Bourges, wherethey entered the synagogues 
 of the Jews, destroyed their books and deprived them of all their 
 wealth. But when they had quitted Bourges, the citizens of 
 the town pursued them, arms in hand, and killed the Master 
 with many of his band. After this check, the remainder dis- 
 persed themselves in different places and were slain or hung 
 for their crimes. — Guillaume de Nangis. 
 
 During the time that King Louis was captive, a great num- 
 ber of young shepherds and youths in the kingdom of France 
 suddenly took the Cross: but they were dispersed in a short 
 time like a cloud of smoke. — Des Gesks glorieux des Franqais. 
 * St. Louis, King of France, gave Henry a great sum of 
 money, and assigned to him, for himself and his successors, 
 much country in the dioceses of Limoges, Perigueux, Saintes 
 and Agen, on condition that he and his successors should hold, 
 in fief of the Kings of France, these lands, Bordeaux, Bayonne, 
 and all Gascony ; and that the King of England, enrolled 
 among the barons of France, should be called peer, and King of 
 Aquitania.— Ibid. 
 
 t After these words, he fell asleep in the Lord. All the 
 
 barons and knights, then present, swore fidelity and homage, 
 
 in behalf of the kingdom of France, to Philip, his son, who 
 
 succeeded him in the camp under the walls, of Carthage. — Ibid. 
 
 25*
 
 294 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 Of the minor events that took place at home 
 during the reign of St. Louis, were: — 
 
 The establishment of the Sorbonne College by 
 Robert de Sorbonne :* 
 
 The introduction into France of the Mariner's 
 Compass, by the Venetian, Marco Polo, in 1260 : t 
 
 The use of astronomical tables, called Alj>honsme: 
 
 The substitution of the trial by witnesses, for that 
 by combat : 
 
 The police of tradesmen, established by Etienne 
 Boileau, their provost : 
 
 The resistance of the King to the usurpations of 
 
 ♦ At this epoch — 1264 — illustrious theologians flourished in 
 Paris : frcre Thomas d'Aquinas, of the order of Dominicans; 
 frere Bonaventureof the order of Cordeliers; and, among the 
 lay-clergy, mal.trc Gerard d' Abbeville; and maitre Robert de 
 Sorbonne, who instituted the schools of the Sorbonne. — Chro- 
 nique de Nangis. 
 
 i It is not clear that Jean Gira or Goya, or Flavio Ji\ia 
 d'Amalfi invented the Mariner's Compass. Marco Polo might 
 have brought it from China in 1260 ; and an old French poet, 
 Guyot de Provins, exactly described the Compass under the 
 name of mar inetla, or picrre mariniere, more than fifty years 
 preceding the journey of the Venetian into China. The adop- 
 tion by all nations of the fleur-de-lys to designate the North in 
 the representation of the cardinal points, seems to confirm the 
 claim of France to the honor of perfecting the Compass. — Cha- 
 TEAUBRi,4ND, Ano,lyse raisonn6e. 
 
 M. Viardot, in his essay on the Moors of Spain, claims for 
 them this invention, and dates it from the eighth century.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 295 
 
 the Court of Rome, and his interference in favor of 
 the liberties of the Gallican Church : and, 
 
 The Code, or civil establishment, of St. Louis. 
 
 The events that took place abroad, were : — 
 
 The founding of the Prussian dominion l)y the 
 knights of the Teutonic order; A. D, 1230 : 
 
 The rise of the free cities of Italy and the Han- 
 seatic towns of Germany ; 1254 : 
 
 The commons admitted into the Parliament of 
 England; 1265: and, 
 
 Conradin beheaded by order of Charles of Anjou, 
 brother of St. Louis, whom Pope Urban IV. in- 
 vested with the kingdom of Naples ; 1268. 
 
 Thus the epoch of St. Louis' reign is remarkable 
 for the contemporaneous advancement of poetry, 
 liberty, and science : * 
 
 Of poetry, by the songs of Thibault, Count of 
 Champagne : 
 
 Of science, by the invention of the Mariner's 
 Compass ; the foundation of the Sorbonne ; and the 
 encouragement granted to the University.* 
 
 * There arose in Paris, a great dissension between the stu- 
 dents and the citizens. The citizens had killed some clerks; 
 their brethren, therefore, quitting Paris, dispersed themselves 
 through different countries. Louis, seeing this, was greatly 
 grieved that the study of letters and philosophy, by which the 
 treasure of knowledge is acquired— which treasure excels all 
 others — should be discontinued in Paris : for it had come from 
 Athens to Rome and from Rome to France, with the honors of
 
 296 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 Of liberty — the liberty of the Church, by the 
 ecclesiastical Code ; civil liberty, by the appeal to 
 royal judges ; and, political liberty, by the admission 
 of the commons into parliament. 
 
 Although the death of St. Louis caused great sor- 
 row and mourning throughout the camp, it did not 
 interrupt the siege of Tunis. Charles, King of 
 Sicily, arrived by sea with a host of knights and 
 restored confidence to the Christians ; the Saracens, 
 on the contrary, seeing that the Crusaders were pre- 
 paring a multitude of warlike machines, and would 
 soon attack them simultaneously by sea and land, 
 proposed a treaty of peace, which was accepted. 
 
 The principal conditions of the treaty were : 
 
 That all Christian prisoners in the kingdom of 
 Tunis should be restored to liberty : 
 
 That Catholic priests should have the right of 
 preaching the Christian faith in the monasteries 
 throughout the kingdom : 
 
 chivahy, under the auspices of Charlemagne and in the train 
 of Denis {Dionysius) the Greek Areopagite, who was the first 
 to disseminate the Catholic faith in Paris. This very pious 
 King, St. Louis, fearing for the prosperity of his realm, — be- 
 cause science and knowledge (sapientia ct scienlia) are the wealth 
 of social life — and fearing, also, that the Lord might say to 
 him, " as thou hast banished knowledge, I banish thee," this 
 King, we say, commanded the said clerks to return to Paris, 
 received them with great clemency, and compelled the citizens 
 to make to them prompt reparation for all the wrongs they had 
 sustained. — Guillaume de Nangis.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 297 
 
 That those who desired to be baptized, should be 
 allowed the privilege without molestation ; 
 
 And, that the King of Tunis, after having paid all 
 the expenses incurred in this expedition by the Kings 
 and barons, should continue to pay the tribute he 
 owed to the King of Sicily. 
 
 At the conclusion of this treaty, the King and 
 nobles, finding that the army was greatly diminished 
 by contagious diseases, now resolved to return to 
 France by tlie way of Sicily and Italy. But, before 
 quitting Africa, they swore upon the body of St. Louis 
 that they would return to the Holy Land, remain 
 ing in France no longer than was necessary to crown 
 the King, to recruit their health and to levy another 
 army. Some knights, however, more zealous than 
 the rest, refused to return at all ; but put themselves 
 under the conduct of prince Edward, eldest son of 
 Henry of England, and marched into Syria to do 
 battle for Christendom.* 
 
 Philip III. left this land of desolation, carrying 
 with him the bodies of his father, St. Louis, and of 
 his brother, the Duke de Nevers. On his route home- 
 wai'd, his sister died ; and, entering France Avith 
 this funeral train, he proceeded to the abbey of St. 
 Denis to inter the remains of his family where they 
 had desired to be buried. 
 
 In the month of August next following, Philip was 
 
 *GUILLAUME DE NaNGIS,
 
 29S THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 consecrated and crowned at Rheims by the bishop of 
 Soissons. 
 
 Phil'qj the Bold was placed in contrast with St. 
 Louis, his fatlier, and Philip the Fair, his son, as 
 Louis VIII. had been with Philip Augustus and St. 
 Louis : and as a husbandman suffers ajield to lie Jul- 
 low between two harvests, so Providence permitted 
 France to repose between two great reigns. We quote 
 this from M. de Chateaubriand, because it is impossi- 
 ble to give a more just idea, in a more figurative 
 style, of Philip III. 
 
 Indeed this reign, which lasted for fifteen years, 
 presents no remarkable feature, except the war of 
 the King against Peter of Aragon: the causes of 
 which we will here consider. 
 
 Charles of Anjou, brother of St. Louis, after 
 having vanquished and slain Mainfroy, picked up the 
 crown of Sicily from the foot of Conradin's scaffold. 
 Pope Clement, following Urban's policy, confirmed 
 to him the ownership of a kingdom that he had no 
 right to bestow ; and the French established them- 
 selves at Palermo, whence they extended their con- 
 quests over the whole island. 
 
 The Sicilians, thereupon, entered into a league with 
 Peter of Aragon who, through his wife, the daughter 
 of Mainfroy, had a claim to the crown usurped by 
 Charles. Peter raised a powerful array and col- 
 lected his ships ; which hostile preparations excited 
 the suspicions of the then Pope, Martin, and of Charles ;
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 299 
 
 and they demanded an explanation of his intentions. 
 Peter returned answer by a solemn deputation to 
 Rome, that the forces he had assembled were desti- 
 ned to the service of God, who had inspired him 
 with the intention of taking the Cross to afford aid 
 to the Christians in Jerusalem. And, in fact, he put 
 to sea; but he anchored in a port of Africa and held 
 himself in readiness to second the attempt of the 
 Sicilians to rid themselves of Charles. 
 
 " In the year 1281," says Guillaume de Nangis, 
 " the inhabitants of Messina and Palermo, filled with 
 rage against King Charles and the French residents, 
 massacred the latter without distinction of age or sex : 
 nay, more, they destroyed all of their own country- 
 women who were about to become mothers from 
 their connexion with Frenchmen." 
 
 Every one is familiar with the fact that this mas- 
 sacre was committed on Easter-day at the hour of 
 vespers. The ringing of the vesper-bell was the 
 signal for commencing the work of death ; and the 
 French were recognised by being forced to pro- 
 nounce the word cicai ; as twenty years later, and 
 on the occasion of a similar massacre, at Bruges, 
 they were compelled to repeat in low Dutch, the 
 words scilt ende vriendt — (buckler and friend.) 
 
 Charles of Anjou, who was at Rome when this 
 massacre took place, immediately sent his son 
 Charles, prince of Salerno, to ask aid of his nephew 
 Philip in. of France. In the meantime, he himself
 
 300 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 passed the Pliaros of Messina and laid siege to the 
 town. It was then that the inhabitants of Palermo 
 received Peter of Aragon and his army into their 
 port. All Sicily hailed him as a deliverer and he 
 was elected King. Upon this, Charles raised the 
 siege of Messina and returned to France. He after- 
 ward went into Apulia, where he died on the seventh 
 of January, 1284. /> 
 
 Pope Martin now excommunicated Peter, and 
 gave his kingdom of Aragon to Charles, son of King 
 Philip, as Pope Clement had before given the king- 
 dom of Conradin to Charles of Anjou. The King of 
 France raised an army and marched toward the 
 Pyrenees to put his son in possession of the domin- 
 ion thus bestowed ; he crossed these mountains by 
 passes before deemed impracticable, and laid siege 
 to Gerona. 
 
 Peter of Aragon hastened to defend his realm. 
 He learned that a French convoy was to repair to 
 the port of Roses, where the royal flotilla was sta- 
 tioned, in order to transport provisions to it and to the 
 camp. He therefore placed himself in ambush, on 
 the route the convoy proposed to take, with five 
 hundred knights and three thousand foot-soldiers. 
 
 Raoul, lord of Nesle, Constable of France, the 
 Count de la Marche and Jean de Harcourt, being 
 informed of this ambuscade, marched in advance of 
 the convoy with a hundred and fifty-six armed 
 knights. The Aragonese, seeing so small a troop,
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 301 
 
 sallied forth to destroy them, but the French defend- 
 ed themselves valiantly ; and at length, notwith- 
 standing the disparity of their numbers, defeated 
 the assailants. The Count de la Marche mortally 
 w^ounded Peter in the fray, but he was not conscious 
 of having done so, as Peter was disguised in a suit of 
 common armor ; and the wounded man, unknown 
 to the French, expired in an abbey. 
 
 As Winter was approaching, Philip, ignorant of his 
 antagonist's death, garrisoned Gerona, which had 
 surrendered after the victory of the French, disband- 
 ed his flotilla and retired to Perpignan where the 
 malady, which for some. time had afflicted him, made 
 such rapid progress that he died on the fifteenth of 
 October, 1285, two months after Peter's death, and al- 
 most in sight of the harbor of Aigues-Mortes, whence 
 his father had embarked to die at Tunis. His flesh 
 and entrails were buried in the great church at Nar- 
 bonne, and his bones and heart were carried for in- 
 terment to St. Denis.* 
 
 Philip was the first monarch who granted letters of 
 nobility; and, consequently, was the first who aimed 
 a blow at the aristocracy by elevating a commoner to 
 that rank. The man who obtained this distinction 
 was a silversmith, named Raoul. But two centuries 
 had elapsed since the people struggled to escape 
 
 * GUILLAUME- DE NaNGIS. 
 
 26
 
 302 THE FRENCH MONAUCUY. 
 
 from the condition of serfs ; and already they began 
 to be nobles. 
 
 Philip IV,, or Philip the Pair, succeeded to the 
 throne in 1285. 
 
 This reign, which was placed between the pure- 
 feudal and the monarchical-feudal government, a 
 reign of social transformation, — was one of the most 
 important of the monarchy, on account of that which 
 fell and that which arose during its continuance. 
 
 The religious spirit that had incited the Crusades ; 
 the power of the Popes who had accomplished their 
 democratic mission ; the powerful order of the Tem- 
 plars, who were condemned as criminals, yet who, 
 perhaps, suffered as martyrs — these fell. 
 
 The parliament and the Third-Estate, ( Tiers-Etat) ; 
 the republic of William Tell in Switzerland ; the 
 republic of Artevelde in Flanders — these arose 5 
 and the monarchical ground trembled at these first 
 eruptions of the popular volcano. 
 
 The religious spirit of the Crusades was thus dis- 
 sipated. The oath taken by the Crusaders on the 
 body of St. Louis, was blown away by the tempest 
 that dispersed their navy ; and the dissensions be- 
 tween Peter of Aragon and Charles of Anjou effa- 
 ced this spirit from the minds of Christendom so 
 effectually that, of all the territory which, two centu- 
 ries before, the Christians had sworn to conquer and 
 subdue, the cities of Tripoli and St. Jean d' Acre, 
 now alone remained in their possession. Besides,
 
 TflE FRENCH MONARCHY. 303 
 
 this latter city was defended only by the King of 
 Cyprus, by the two military and religious orders of 
 the Templars and the Hospitallers, and by fifteen 
 hundred men in the joay of Pope Nicolas. 
 
 In 1288, three years after Philip the Fair's acces- 
 sion to the throne, Tripoli was taken by the Sultan of 
 Babylon, and all the Christian inhabitants were killed 
 or made slaves. The inhabitants of Acre, terrified 
 at this, immediately demanded and obtained a truce 
 of two years. 
 
 In defiance, however, of this truce and in opposi- 
 tion to the wishes of the Templars and the Hospi- 
 tallers, the hired troops of the Pope made an excur- 
 sion upon some Saracen towns, and massacred all 
 the infidels who fell in their way, without regard to 
 age or sex. 
 
 On receiving the news of this violation of the 
 treaty, the Sultan commanded the inhabitants of 
 Acre to surrender to him the offenders, under penal- 
 ty of having their city destroyed in case of their re- 
 fusal. They did, nevertheless, refuse. 
 
 The Sultan then assembled an immense army and 
 marched to take summary vengeance on the Chris- 
 tians; but he fell ill on his route : and, finding that he 
 could not survive, he called his seven emirs around 
 his bed, gave to each four thousand horsemen, and 
 twenty thousand foot-soldiers and ordered them to 
 proceed to attack the city. An army equally large 
 remained behind to guard his tent.
 
 304 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 He then caused his son to be elected his succes- 
 sor, and charged him to follow the precedent army 
 with the remainder of the troops and complete the 
 destruction of Acre, as soon as he should expire. 
 
 This injunction was faithfully obeyed ; and the 
 young Sultan was soon in command of the united 
 forces near the walls of Acre, erecting and preparing 
 a great number of warlike machines to ensure a vic- 
 tory. 
 
 On the fourth day of May, 1290, these messengers 
 of death slowly and heavily approached the walls, 
 notwithstanding the determined resistance of the be- 
 sieged : and, having reached their appropriate posi- 
 tions, they rained upon the city a shower of stones 
 for two entire days. The terrified inhabitants sent, 
 by ship, to Cyprus, the aged, the sick, the women 
 and children — all, indeed, who were useless for the 
 defence of the town. They also transported, by the 
 same vessels, their treasures, precious merchandise 
 and holy relics ; so that there remained in Acre only 
 about twelve thousand men among whom were 
 scarcely five hundred knights. 
 
 On the fifteenth of May the Saracens made an as- 
 sault on that part of the walls defended by the King 
 of Cyprus. The city would undoubtedly have been 
 taken if the Templars had not hastened to his assist- 
 ance. The next day, under pretence of fatigue, he 
 placed this post in charge of the commander of the 
 German troops ; and, at night, he fled from the town
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 305 
 
 by sea with all his retainers and nearly three thou- 
 sand men besides. 
 
 The next morning, the Saracens, perceiving how 
 few soldiers were in position to defend that part of 
 the walls which they had already nearly taken, ad- 
 vanced in mass toward the same point, filled the 
 trench, effected a breach, and penetrated into the 
 city. Once more, the Templars and Hospitallers 
 repulsed them with admirable bravery, but it was 
 their last triumph. The day following, the Saracens 
 forced an entrance by the gate of St. Anthony and 
 were again encountered by these vigilant knights ; 
 but, by this time, their arms and fortunes grew 
 weary. One after another, the soldier-monks were 
 slain, confessing one another and glorifying unto 
 death the God for whom they died. The city, of 
 course, was taken. 
 
 The Saracens then entirely destroyed it. Ram- 
 parts, towers, churches, houses — all were demolish- 
 ed. The patriarch and the Grand Master of the 
 Hospital, wounded and bleeding, were placed by 
 some of the survivors on board a vessel, in the hope 
 of reaching the Archipelago, or Sicily ; but they died 
 at sea. "Thus," says Guillaume de Nangis, "was 
 the city of Acre — the sole and last asylum of 
 Christianity in this land — destroyed; destroyed by 
 the enemies of the faith, and not one King in all 
 Christendom would render it assistance in its dis- 
 tress." 
 
 86*
 
 306 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 The contention between Pope Boniface VIII. and 
 King Philip IV. occupies a prominent place in the 
 reign of the latter. We shall consider its causes, its 
 occuiTences and its results. 
 
 The relations between Philip and the holy father 
 were, at first, amicable. We find, in Guillaume de 
 Nangis, that in 1297 Philip produced, in an assem- 
 bly of the prelates of France, a letter by which 
 Boniface VIII. granted to him and his next heir per- 
 mission to receive a tenth part of the goods of the 
 Church, with the approbation of the French clergy, 
 whenever the necessities of the kingdom should re- 
 quire it. 
 
 Some time after this, the bishop of Pamiers, 
 having uttered at the court, certain words offensive 
 to the royal majesty, was arrested by Philip, but 
 afterward claimed by Pope Boniface on the ground 
 that the bishop was amenable only to the ecclesiasti- 
 cal court. The King ordered him to be set at 
 liberty and driven from the kingdom.* 
 
 Boniface, offended at this manner of compliance 
 with his demand, sent a bull to the King, requiring 
 him to acknowledge that he held the kingdom of 
 France of the Holy See and declaring that whoever 
 maintained or even entertained a contrary opinion, 
 was a heretic. The King burned this bull in a full 
 assembly at his palace, and sent back those who 
 
 ♦ Continuation of Guillaume de Nangis.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHV. 307 
 
 brought it, without any reply whatever* The 
 keeper of the seals, Pierre Flotte, undertook the 
 composition and transmission of the answer to the 
 Pope. This is the commencement of the letter that 
 he wrote : 
 
 " Philip, by the grace of God, King of the French, 
 to Boniface, representing himself to be Pope, little 
 or no salutation. 
 
 " That your very great simplicity may know 
 that we are not submissive to any for temporali- 
 ties." etc.t 
 
 Boniface replied to this by another bull, in which 
 were set forth his grievances and his grounds of 
 complaint against Philip. He accused the King of 
 overwhelming his subjects with taxes, of debasing the 
 coin, and of receiving the revenue of vacant bene- 
 fices.! 
 
 The three orders that had just been constituted 
 
 ♦ Des gestes glorieux des Francais. 
 
 \ Chateaubriand ; Analyse raisonnee deVhistoire de France. 
 
 t By a letter to Philip, the Pope liad previously authorized 
 these receipts. " Besides, the said Pope had granted to him, to 
 aid in defraying the expenses of war, all the revenues, profits 
 and dues of a year from prebends, priories, archdeaconries, 
 deanships, church-benefices and all other ecclesiastical digni- 
 ties whatsoever, which had become vacant during the period of 
 the war in the kingdom of France, — bishoprics, archbishop- 
 rics, monasteries and abbeys excepted." — Guili.aume de 
 Nangis.
 
 308 THE FPvENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 wrote to Rome : the clergy, in Latin ; the noblesse 
 and the Third-Estate, in the Romance language. 
 The letter of the clergy is extant ; its style is grave 
 and firm. Those of the noblesse and Third-Estate 
 are lost ; biit the reply of the cardinals proves that in 
 the letters of these tw^o orders the Pope did not 
 receive even the appellation of sovereign pontiff'. 
 
 A bull which placed the kingdom under interdict 
 and excommunicated Philip, immediately followed 
 the reply of the cardinals. The two nuncios, who 
 were the bearers of this latter missive, were put in 
 prison and the three orders were convoked at the 
 Louvre. A public prosecution was instituted against 
 Boniface. It was set forth in the declaration that he 
 denied the immortality of the soul ; that he doubted 
 the real presence of the body of the Saviour in the 
 Eucharist; that he was sullied by the infamous sin ; 
 and that he called the French, Patarins* The three 
 orders adhered to each other ; and Philip appealed 
 from the bulls of Boniface to future councils and 
 future Popes.t 
 
 Not content with this, Philip gave orders to Guil- 
 laume Nogaret de St. Felix, who was in Italy, to 
 seize on the person of the Pope and conduct him to 
 Lyons, where the keys of St. Peter were to be taken 
 from him in a general council. 
 
 * Nickname of the Albigenses. 
 
 t Chateaubriand: Analyse raisomiee.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 309 
 
 We quote from Chateaubriand the naiTation of this 
 event : it will be, amid our barren prose, an oasis to 
 the reader : 
 
 " Nogaret conspired with Colonna, a member of 
 that powerful Roman family, whom Boniface had 
 persecuted.* The enterprise Avas conducted with 
 secrecy and success. Nogaret and Colonna, aided 
 by certain lords whom they had persuaded to join 
 them, and also by some adventurers whom they 
 had enlisted in their cause, introduced themselves 
 into Agnani. On the seventh of September, 1303, 
 at day-break, the inhabitants leagued with the con- 
 spirators and took the Pope's palace by assault. The 
 doors of his chamber were then forced. 
 
 " The pontiff was seated upon a throne, bearing 
 on his shoulders the mantle of St. Peter ; on his 
 head the tiara, ornamented with two crowns, symbol 
 of the two powers ; and holding in his hands the Cross 
 and the Keys. 
 
 " Nogaret was taken by surprise. He approach- 
 ed Boniface respectfully, avowe'd his mission, and 
 desired him to convoke a general council at Lyons. 
 ' I shall console myself,' replied Boniface, ' with the 
 reflection that I am condemned by Patarins.' The 
 grand-father of Nogaret had been a Patarin, i. e. 
 one of the Albigenses, and was burned alive as a 
 
 • He had tsiken away the Cardinal's hat from two brothers of 
 this family.' '
 
 310 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 heretic. * Will you lay down your tiara V demanded 
 Colonna. ' Here is my head,' said Boniface ; ' I 
 will die in the chair where God has seated me.' 
 
 " After this proud reply to Colonna, Boniface com- 
 menced a tirade of abuse against Philip, when 
 Colonna struck the Pope and would have plunged a 
 dagger in his breast if Nogaret had not restrained 
 him. ' Base Pope !' cried Colonna; * consider this 
 kindness as the act of the King of France, who 
 guards you by Nogaret and thus defends you from 
 your enemies.' 
 
 " Boniface, fearing poison, refused all food, A 
 poor woman fed him for three days on a little bread 
 and four eggs. After this, the people, with their 
 usual fickleness of purpose, delivered the pontiff 
 from the hands of his captors and he set out for 
 Rome, where he died of a nervous fever on the 
 eleventh of October, X303, Some authors assert 
 that, after having devoured his fingers, he dashed 
 his bead against the wall,* 
 
 * In the year of our Lord, 1303, on the eve of the nativity of 
 the holy Virgin Mary, in the month of September, while Boni- 
 face was residing with his court at Agnani, — his country 
 and natal city,— believing himself to be more secure amid his 
 own people, he was betrayed and held prisoner by some of his 
 guilty servants, His treasures and those of the Church were 
 pillaged and carried away, not without great shame to the 
 Church. The cardinals, trembling for themselves, abandoned 
 him and fled, with the exception of two, the lord Peter, a Spanish
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY, 311 
 
 The people bestowed on him this epitaph : " Here 
 lies one who entered into the pontificate Hke a fox, 
 reigned like a lion and died like a dog." 
 
 But two centuries had elapsed since Gregory V. 
 excommunicated Robert ; and now Philip IV., in 
 turn, deposed Boniface VIII. Gregory VII., placed 
 equidistantly between them, was the culminating 
 point of Papacy. Until his accession, the power of 
 the Popes was constantly increasing; and afterward, 
 it steadily diminished. 
 
 We proceed, now, to the fall of the Templars. 
 
 " In the year of our Lord 1307," says the author 
 
 bishop, and the lord Nicolas, bishop of Ostia, The author of 
 this arrest and this crime was Guillaume No^aret de St. Felix 
 of the diocese of Toulouse; and his accomplices were the Co- 
 loiina, from two of whom the Pope had formerly taken the car- 
 dinal's hat. Thus, outrag;e, fear and grief suddenly overwhelmed 
 that Boniface who had made Kings, pontiffs, monks and the 
 people to tremble terribly. He was avaricious of gold to ex- 
 cess ; and he lost his treasures that, by his example, pi-elates in 
 power might learn to govern the clergy and people with humility, 
 and lead them like a flock with all carefulness, and seek to be 
 loved rather than feared. Thirty days after his arrest, trans- 
 ported from Agnani to Rome, this pontiff, taken from a court, 
 was placed on abed of pain and bitterness and died at Rome 
 in agony of spirit on the eleventh day of October. The day 
 following, he was buried in a tomb that he had prepared for 
 himself in the church of St. Peter, in the year of our Lord, 
 1303, and in the ninth year of his pontificate. — Des gestes glo- 
 rieuxdes Franqais.
 
 312 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 of the Gestes glorieux des Fran^ais, " there happen- 
 ed a great event, an amazing event, which should be 
 transmitted to posterity by writing. On the festival 
 of the holy Confessor Edward, the Templars, 
 throughout the whole extent of the kingdom, were, 
 by order of the King and his council, arrested, with 
 the exception of some secretaries and clerks of the 
 order. All were ignorant of the cause of this pro- 
 ceeding, and were truly amazed that an order so 
 ancient as that of the Templars,* and one so favored 
 by the Romish Church, should thus suddenly have 
 fallen."t 
 
 The crimes which served as a foundation for their 
 impeachment were these : 
 
 ♦ It was founded in 1118. 
 
 t The author of the continuation of Nangis thus relates the 
 same Tacts : " About the time of Pentecost, Philip, King of 
 France, repaired to Poictiers to hold an interview with Pope 
 Clement V. There,' it is said, many important events were 
 deliberated and determined on by him and the cardinals, and 
 especially the arrest of the Templars, as the event that follow- 
 ed will attest. The Pope then expressly commanded the Grand 
 Masters of the Temple and the Hospital who were beyond the 
 seas, to leave all things else and beat Poictiers within a speci- 
 fied time, to appear before him. The Grand Master of the 
 Temple obeyed this order; but the Grand Master of the Hospi- 
 tal, arrested in his progress, at Rhodes, by the Saracens who had 
 seized on this island, could not appear at the stated time, and 
 legitimately excused himself by his envoys. At length, at the 
 end of some months, having reconquered the island by force 
 of arms, he hastened to obey the summons of the Pope."
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 313 
 
 "In the first place — abominable thing!" — says 
 the author of the continuation of Nangis, " upon the 
 command of the Master — infamous to relate ! — they 
 kissed each other on the posterior parts. Besides, 
 they spat on the image of the crucifix, trod it under 
 foot, and idolatrously worshipped in secret the head 
 of an idol with the greatest veneration. When their 
 priests celebrated mass, they in no wise uttered the 
 words of consecration ; and although they vowed to 
 lead a life, of chastity, they nevertheless paid little 
 regard to their oath."* 
 
 * The order of the Templars, which was thought to be 
 extinct, appears to have been preserved until our day with- 
 out the cessation of their conventual assemblies, and without 
 ■ an interruption of the legal and legitimate succession of Grand 
 Masters from Jacques de Molay. On the contrary, in this suc- 
 cession will be found, if we may credit the testimony of the 
 modern Templars, the names of men who enjoyed the venera- 
 tion of their contemporaries. 
 
 With regard to the crimes cited above, the author recently 
 interrogated a modern Templar on the possibility of their hav- 
 ing been committed; and his answer, if not decisive, is at least 
 plausible : " The order of Templars had its ordeals like 
 the order of Free Masons ; but its ordeals were religious and 
 moral, instead of being physical. The neophyte received the 
 injunction, under penalty of death, to spit upon Christ, to adore 
 the head of an idol, etc. etc. If, in his fright, he complied, he was 
 declared unworthy and expelled : if, on the contrary, he main- 
 tained his purity and integrity, he was admitted a member of 
 the order. This will explain the evidence brought against the 
 27
 
 314 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 On the tenth of May, 1310, after having endured 
 three years' imprisonment and tortures ordinary and 
 extraordinary, fifty-four Templars, condemned on their 
 own confession, were burned without the walls of Paris 
 in a field near an abbey of nuns called St. Anthony. 
 Some days after, four other Templars, and still later 
 nine more, were condemned for the same cause and 
 in the same manner by the arch-bishop of Rheims 
 and his suffragans, and delivered up to the secular 
 arm to be burned. " And, what is strange," says 
 the author of the chronicle whence we draw our 
 details, " every one retracted absolutely the con- 
 fession he had individually made during the course 
 of the trial, giving no other reason for the confession 
 than the severity and dread of the tortures." 
 
 Four years after this, on the fifteenth of March, 
 1314,* Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the. 
 Temple and Guy, Dauphin of Auvergne, prior of 
 Normandy, were burned on the Isle auxJuifs, Paris, 
 
 Templars. Those applicants who had not the firmness to 
 undergo the initiation, related that as an act of faith, which in 
 truth was only a moral. ordeal." 
 
 * Doubts have arisen concerning the accuracy of this date. 
 The. author has had recourse to the tradition of the Templars 
 themselves, and the following is the result of his research. 
 The execution took place on the 29th Cedar, the year of the 
 order 196, that is to say, the last day of the lunar year, 1314: 
 therefore, the golden number of the year 1314 being 4, the epact 
 3, the 29th Cedar corresponds to the 15th March, 1314.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 315 
 
 nearly on the spot where the statue of Henry IV. 
 now stands. The execution took place after vespers, 
 or, in other words, about five o'clock in the evening. 
 
 The following account of their death is given by 
 an historian of that day : 
 
 " The Grand Master of the Temple and three 
 other Templars, viz., the Visiter of the order in 
 France and the Masters of Aquitania and Normandy, 
 on whom the Pope had reserved to himself the right 
 of passing definitive sentence — avowed openly and 
 publicly the crimes of which they were accused in 
 presence of the archbishop of Sens and some other 
 prelates and men learned in canonical and divine 
 law, who were called together for this especial pur- 
 pose (by order of the Pope) by the bishop of Albano 
 and two other cardinal-legates, to whom was com- 
 municated the opinion of the council. As the accu- 
 sed persisted in their declarations, and appeared 
 determined to persevere in them to the end, the 
 assembly, after a mature deliberation on the opinions 
 of the said council, did, on the Monday after the festi- 
 val of St. Gregory, in the public square in front of 
 the church of Paris, condemn them to perpetual 
 seclusion. The cardinals now supposed that this 
 matter was definitively settled ; when, suddenly, two 
 of the Templars, viz., the Grand Master,* and the 
 
 * Jacques de Molay.
 
 316 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 Grand Prior of Normandy* obstinately defended 
 themselves against a cardinal who was spokesman 
 and against the archbishop of Sens ; and, without 
 any reservation, denied all that they had previously 
 avowed, which caused great surprise to many. 
 Upon this, the cardinals delivered them into the 
 hands of the Prevost of Paris, then present, with the 
 sole intention that he should have them in safe- 
 keeping until the following day, when they, the car- 
 dinals, might more fully deliberate upon the case. 
 But as soon as the rumor of these things came to the 
 ear of the King, who was then in the Palais Royal,t 
 he, consulting only his own advisers, prudently deci- 
 ded to deliver these two Templars to the flames in 
 the evening of the same day, on a little island of the 
 Seine situated between the royal garden and the 
 church of the Freres Ermites. They bore their 
 punishment with gieat calmness and indifference ; 
 and indeed their firmness and their last denials were 
 the cause of surprise and bewilderment to all the 
 witnesses. The other two Templars were incarce- 
 rated according to their sentence." 
 
 But this narration does not mention what in fact 
 occurred; that the two Templars, previous to their 
 execution, from being the accused, became the accu- 
 sers, and cited their judges, Philip and Clement, to 
 
 * Guy, Dauphin of Auvergne. 
 t Le Palais de Justice.
 
 THE FUENCH MONARCHY. 317 
 
 appear, within the year, before the throne of God to 
 .. wash their double crowns of this double murder; and 
 that the two individuals, so summoned, did in fact 
 present themselves within the prescribed time before 
 the tribunal of eternity. 
 
 In speaking of events that took place during the 
 reign of Philip the Fair, we should have said, in re- 
 gard to the parliament and the Tiers-Etat, that the 
 former was settled and the latter, resuscitated. 
 
 The parliament was settled — for it had been in 
 existence since the year 1000 ; it succeeded to the 
 placita of Gregoire de Tours, and to the viallcum im,- 
 peratoris of Charlemagne. It had, however, been 
 itinerant : it had been carried wherever there was a 
 necessity for its presence. Philip the Fair rendered 
 it stationary and ordained that it should hold two 
 sittings during the year. It was composed of coun- 
 sellor-judges taken from the noblesse and the clergy, 
 and of counsellor-reporters drawn from the class of 
 the burgesses and clerks. Charles VII., who regu- 
 lated the Council of State, created during the in- 
 sanity of his father, restricted the parliament to the 
 exercise of purely judicial functions. But the con- 
 vocation of the three orders, having by degrees fallen 
 into desuetude, or, at most, taking place only at long 
 intervals, the people, who were not represented by 
 any one, became accustomed to consider the parlia- 
 ment as their representative. The parliament, by 
 its custom of registering imposts, acquired the right 
 27*
 
 318 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 of Terifying the will of the Kings. This right ac- 
 quired, it next arrogated that of censuring the royal 
 will ; it enacted a prominent part during the time of 
 die Fronde; was overshadowed during the absolute 
 monarchy of Louis XIV., suppressed under Louis 
 XV., re-established under Louis XVI. ; and, from 
 the last act of its power, emanated the call of the 
 States-general.* 
 
 We said that the Tiers-Etat was resuscitated, and 
 we now explain the sense in which the word is thus 
 used. 
 
 Under the first and second races, as we have be- 
 fore remarked, the soldiers — and let it not be for- 
 gotten that these soldiers were the conquerors — 
 united themselves in an assembly called the Champ- 
 de-Mars, or Champ-de-Mai, and gave their votes on 
 the election of the sovereigns and the acceptance of 
 the laws. Under Hlot-her II., the clergy gained 
 great importance, by means of waste lands granted 
 to them, and this importance so increased that, a 
 hundred years later, that is about the year 750, they 
 obtained the privilege of sending representatives to 
 this assembly. In conformity to the opinion we 
 have expressed, that the clergy represented the peo- 
 ple — and, at this period, the conquered people — 
 we see, by a first and almost imperceptible reaction, 
 that this conquered people took part in the election 
 
 * Chateaubriand.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 319 
 
 of the Kings who were to govern them, and in the 
 discussion of the laws by which they were to be 
 ruled. Soon after, finding a powerful support in 
 their elected chief, in their crowned representative, 
 in their Pope — the peer of the sovereign — the 
 National Party formed itself: obtained its first King 
 in Eudes : its second, in Raoul : and consolidated its 
 triumph by the election of Hugh Capet. Until this 
 time, there had been no people, properly so called ; 
 but the clergy, representing the people. 
 
 The Crusades now approached. Alexander III. 
 issued a proclamation that every Christian was a free- 
 man. Communes were organized. They struggled 
 — triumphed — obtained their charters. A new or- 
 der claimed footing on the social ladder ; and when 
 questioned concerning its name, declared itself, The 
 People. 
 
 From this time, the clergy — composed, till then, 
 of two elements, the secular and ecclesiastic — pre- 
 served the latter only. The hive had swarmed. 
 
 From this time, instead of two orders in the king- 
 dom, — the noblesse and the clergy — there were 
 three ; the noblesse, the clergy, and the people. 
 
 From this time, the clergy, like a woman delivered 
 of her child, ceased to carry in its womb the popular 
 heir; and, from being a protector, became an egotist : 
 separated from the democratic principle to which it 
 owed its power, it lost one half of its strength : de- 
 prived of the people who gave it its purity, it be-
 
 320 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. . 
 
 came doubly corrupt : and it produced^ severally, a 
 perfect type of its strength, its weakness and its 
 corruption, in Gregory VII., Boniface VIII., and 
 Alexander Borgia. 
 
 Nevertheless, the clergy, such as it was, still pos- 
 sessed sufficient power to maintain its own repre- 
 sentation in the monarchy. Then, the three orders 
 w^ere constituted ; and one of their elements was the 
 resuscitation of the Tiers-Etat, represented under the 
 first and second races by the clergy ; and, under the 
 third, by itself. 
 
 It may be objected that we return often, and with 
 prolixity, to this subject: but the opinions we enter- 
 tain and advance clash with so many received opin- 
 ions, that we desire, at least, to be clearly understood, 
 and to explain what are our own convictions, even, 
 should we fail to transfer them to our readers. 
 
 The formation of the republics of Flanders* and 
 Switzerland is connected with our history only in 
 the way of episode : and as these two events are 
 universally known, we shall content ourselves with 
 designating their respective dates. 
 
 Philip the Fair had scarcely conquered Flanders, 
 
 * The league of the Hanseatic towns is posterior, by more 
 than fifty years, to the period we now speak of, and did not 
 take effect until the reign of King John. But as the wars of 
 Flanders were a prelude to this league, we date its origin at 
 1302, the year of the battle of Courtray..
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY, 321 
 
 when troubles arose on all sides. Assassinations of 
 the French took place in many towns, similar to the 
 massacre at Palermo : that of Bruges is the most 
 noted. 
 
 Philip sent against the Flemings an army of forty 
 thousand men, commanded by his brother Robert, 
 Count d'Artois, and Raoul de Nesle, Constable of 
 France. The Flemings advanced to meet this force 
 as far as the village of Groemingue, near Courtray. 
 They were commanded by Peter Le Roy,* a weaver, 
 who equipped himself as a knight for the occasion. 
 The peasant and the burgher now fought the noble ; 
 and the event proved that valor was not the exclu- 
 sive prerogative of the knights. Twelve thousand 
 French gentlemen remained upon the field ;t among 
 whom were Robert d'Artois, General of France ; 
 Raoul de Nesle, Constable of France ; Jacques de 
 Ch^tillon, Governor of Flanders j John, King of 
 Majorca; Godfrey de Brabant and his son j the 
 Counts d'Eu, de la Marche, de Dampmartin, and de 
 Tancarville. Four thousand golden spurs were 
 taken from four thousand knights by the good people 
 
 ♦ A master-weaver, one-eyed, deformed, malicious, and bab- 
 bling, named Peter, was one of their principal colonels, accom- 
 panied by his footmen ; and the other chief was a butcher of 
 the same calibre as this tribune. — Jean de Serre. 
 
 t Jean de Serre.
 
 322 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 of Flanders * This battle look place in July, 1302; 
 fifty-nine years later, a league of sixty cities formed 
 the Hanseatic republic. 
 
 In the night of the seventeenth of October, 1307, 
 thirty men assembled in the little plain of Grutly, 
 near the southern part of Lake Lucerne. Ten 
 were from the canton of Uri ; ten from the canton 
 of Schweitz ; ten from the canton of Underwalden. 
 There, in the face of heaven, they svv^ore to achieve 
 the liberty of Switzerland and destroy tlie life of her 
 tyrants : and, on the first of January, 1308, Gessler 
 was dead and Switzerland free. 
 
 Philip the Summoned died toward the close of the 
 year 1314, of a disease which his physicians could 
 not discover ;t and this fact countenanced the popu- 
 lar superstition that his death was a special judgment 
 from God. Clement V. was already dead.| 
 
 * Chateadbriand. 
 
 t Philip, King of France, was afflicted by a disease the nature 
 of which, unknown to his physicians, was to them and to many 
 others the cause of great surprise and wonder : the more 
 especially as his pulse did not at any time announce that he 
 was ill or in danger of dying. — Continuation of Nangis. 
 
 * At the time of Easter, 1314, in the city of Avignon, Pope 
 Clement went the way of all flesh, etc. etc. — Guillapme de 
 Nangis. — The date of Pope Clement's death causes us to 
 doubt whether the date of the punishment of the Templars is 
 correct. Indeed, if the Templars were burned on the fifteenth 
 of Mar.h, 1314, Pope Clement, dying at Easter, could have 
 taken no part in their condemnation.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 323 
 
 Philip the Fair was the first who took the title of 
 King of France and Navarre. This latter kingdom 
 was brought to him, in dowry, by his wife Jeanne, 
 His three sons succeeded him one after another 
 under the titles, severally, of Louis X. surnamed, 
 Hutin ; Philip V. surnamed, the Long; and Charles 
 IV. surnamed, the Fair. " This succession of three 
 brothers," says Chateaubriand, " occurs twice again 
 in our history and, in both instances, disastrously : 
 Francis II., Charles IX.,. Henry HI, : Louis XVI., 
 Louis XVIIL, Charles X. 
 
 Louis X. was the first who ascended the throne ; 
 and' although his reign lasted but sixteen months, 
 it is celebrated by three conspicuous events : — 
 
 The triple suit for adultery instituted by Louis and 
 his two brothei"s against his wife and his two sisters- 
 in-law : 
 
 The death of Enguerrand de Marigny : and. 
 
 The letter of enfranchisement of the people. 
 
 The following are, essentially, the historical facts 
 of these three events. 
 
 Under the reign of Philip the Fair, and during the 
 absence of Louis who was in Navarre, the three 
 sisters, Blanche, Marguerite and Jeanne, met almost 
 every evening in the hotel de Nesle where their 
 mother-in-law Jeanne,* wife of Philip the Fair, 
 
 * There was a queen, residing at the hotel de Nesle, who 
 kept a watch for all who passed by ; and those who pleased her
 
 324 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 resided. In this tower, laved by the Seine, every- 
 thing was prepared for an orgie in which three men 
 were to participate. The night was passed in revels 
 and debauchery; and when the day came, the royal 
 courtezans retired to an adjoining room, and their 
 attendants seized the men and threw them into the 
 river. 
 
 In order that these murders might be more safely 
 and surely committed, the victims were iirst sewed 
 up in sacks. Nevertheless, a young student, named 
 Jean Buridan, escaped the fate intended for him and 
 became famous by the publication of this thesis : Re- 
 ginam interficere nolite timer e; honum esse. This 
 
 most, of whatever condition of men tliey might be, were request- 
 ed to enter the hotel ; and after she had obtained from them 
 what she desired, she caused them to be precipitated from the 
 tower into the water. — Brantome ; Dames galantes. 
 
 Robert Gaguin, a writer of the fifteenth century, while deny- 
 ing that these facts, which were for a time charged upon Jeanne, 
 were justly imputed to that princess, confirms the truth of the 
 quotation just made from BrAntome, by attributing the crimes 
 to the wives of the king's three sons. " These disorders," says 
 he, "gave rise to a tradition injurious to the memory of Jeanne 
 of Navarre. According to this tradition, this princess took 
 several students to her couch ; and that no trace might remain of 
 the debauch, she had them thrown from the windo\v of her cham- 
 ber into the Seine. One alone, named Jean Buridan, had the 
 good fortune to escape. He afterward published this sophism: 
 Fear not to kill a queen : it is good. ( Reginam interficere nolite 
 timere : bonum esse.)"^ — Compeiidivm Roherti Gaguini.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 325 
 
 was all the revenge he could take upon the royal 
 murderess. The facts seem to have been known 
 and admitted in the fifteenth century, since Villon 
 wrote, in his ballad of olden times, 
 
 . . ' la reine 
 
 dui commanda que Buridan 
 Fut jete en un sac en Seine. 
 
 The return of Louis put an end to the revels of 
 the tower. But permanent lovers succeeded to fugi- 
 tive ones. History has preserved the names of those 
 who intrigued with Marguerite, wife of Louis X., 
 and Blanche, wife of Charles IV. They were two 
 brothers named Philip and Walter d'Aulnay; who, 
 after the discovery of their crime, were condemned, 
 flayed alive, drawn at the tail of a horse over the 
 newly-mown meadow of Maubuisson, mutilated, de- 
 capitated, and finally suspended on a gibbet by the 
 shoulders and joints of the arms.* 
 
 Marguerite and Blanche were immured in the 
 Chateau-Gaillard ; and Jeanne, at Dourdan. 
 
 The heads of the first two were shaven : and 
 Marguerite was afterward strangled, some say with 
 a napkin, others, with her winding-sheet, and buried 
 at Vernon in the church of the Freres-Mineurs (Cor- 
 deliers.) 
 
 * GUILLAUME DE NaNGIS. 
 28
 
 326 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 The trial of Marigny, like that of the Templars, 
 to which this minister was no stranger, remains a 
 mystery between tlie tomb of the judge and the 
 tomb of the victim. A contemporary writer gives the 
 following account of his sentence and death. 
 
 ""Enguerrand de Marigny, a knight of very agreea- 
 ble manners; prudent, wise and skilful; was estab- 
 lished in great authority and power over the nation, 
 and was the principal and especial adviser of the late 
 Philip, King of France. Having become, so to 
 speak, more than mayor of the palace, he was at the 
 head of the government of the whole kingdom. It 
 was he who transacted all affairs of difficulty ; and 
 every one obeyed his slightest as well as his most 
 authoritative requests. In the Temple, at Paris, he 
 was most shamefully accused, in presence of King 
 Louis, of execrable crimes by Charles, Count de 
 Valois, uncle of King Louis, and by some others insti- 
 gated thereto by the common people, who were ex- 
 cited against him on account of the debasing of the 
 currency, and of the numerous extortions with 
 which they had been oppressed during the reign of 
 the late King Philip and which were attributed to 
 Marigny's evil counsels. 
 
 " Although the said knight frequently, and with 
 much urgency, demanded a hearing in his own 
 vindication, he, nevertheless, could not obtain it, 
 hindered as he was by the power of the said Count 
 de Valois. The wife and sisters of Enguerrand
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 327 
 
 were imprisoned ; and at length Enguerrand him- 
 self, r.ondemned in presenc^e of the knights, was 
 hanged at Paris on the thieves' gallows.* He how- 
 ever made no confessions of the sorceries imputed 
 to him; and said, only, that others with him had been 
 the authors of the exactions and of the debasing of 
 the coin : that he had not been allowed to make a 
 defence, notwithstanding his earnest solicitations and 
 the promise given him at the commencement of the 
 proceedings. This is why his execution, of which 
 many people knew not the cause, was a subject of 
 great surprise and amazement." 
 
 Some time before his death, Louis X. published 
 ' letters of enfranchisement for the people. "We 
 quote one of them : 
 
 " Louis by the grace of God, King of France and 
 NavaiTe, etc. etc. 
 
 " Whereas, according to the law of nature, every 
 one of right should be born free ; yet, by certain 
 usages or customs, which from great antiquity have 
 been introduced and until now retained in our king- 
 
 * Montfaucon has brought such misfortune to those who 
 have meddled with it, that the first who caused _it to be built 
 Cwho was Enguerrand de Marigny) was hanged there: and 
 since, having been repaired by the command of one named 
 Pierre Rcmy (director of the finances, under Charles the Fair,) 
 he was himself hanged there under Fhilip de Valois. 
 
 (Pasquier, Livre VIII. chap, entitled " More unfortunate 
 than the wood of which the gibbet was made.")
 
 328 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 dom, and peradventure, for the misdeeds of their 
 predecessors, many of our common people have 
 fallen into bonds of servitude and of untoward situa- 
 tions, — which greatly displeases us : We, consider- 
 ing that our kingdom is named and known as the 
 kingdom of the Franks, and being willing that the 
 reality of the thing should accord with its name, and 
 that, through us, the condition of the people should 
 improve on the advent of our new goveniment, have 
 by deliberation of our great council, ordained, and 
 do ordain that, generally, throughout our kingdom, 
 so far as it can possibly depend upon us and our suc- 
 cessors, such servitude shall be exchanged for free- 
 dom ; and that to all those who by origin, or ancient 
 custom, or recently by marriage, or by residence in 
 situations of servile rank, are fallen or may fall into 
 bonds of servitude, freedom be given on suitable 
 conditions." 
 
 On the sixteenth of July, 1316, Louis died at his 
 royal mansion in the wood of Vincennes, leaving his 
 queen, Clemence, about to become a mother ; and 
 having had by his first wife, Marguerite, but one 
 daughter, named Jeanne. 
 
 Philip, his brother, on receiving intelligence of 
 this event, returned hastily to Paris from Avignon, 
 whither he had gone to accelerate the election of 
 the Pope. He immediately assembled the parlia- 
 ment, and it was by them determixied that he should 
 protect and govern the kingdom of France and
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 329 
 
 Navarre during eighteen years, even in case queen 
 Clemence gave birth to a male child. In conse- 
 quence of this enactment, he caused a signet to be 
 made on which was engraven, "Philip, son of the 
 King of the French, regent of the kingdoms of 
 France and Navarre." 
 
 On the fifteenth of November following, the queen 
 was delivered, at the Louvre, of a son, who was 
 named John and who died on the twentieth of the 
 same month. In all the catalogues of Kings, this 
 sovereign of five days has been omitted. 
 
 " The day after his death, he was buried in the 
 church of St. Denis at the feet of his father, by the 
 lord Philip, who now held legitimately the rank of 
 King of France and Navarre." 
 
 Philip V. was in the same year crowned King at 
 Rheims, with Jeanne his wife, in presence of his 
 uncles, Charles and Louis, and of the peers of the 
 realm, wlvo, however, took no part in the ceremony. 
 
 The reason for this was, that a party had been 
 organized in favor of the daughter of Louis X. by 
 Marguerite of Burgundy. The Duke of Burgundy 
 made an appeal to the peers, and charged the pre- 
 lates not to crown Philip until they had deliberated 
 on the rights of the young Jeanne to the crown. 
 Notwithstanding this appeal and prohibition, the 
 coronation was solemnized and the gates of the city 
 were closed and guarded by armed men. 
 
 Some time after, an assembly was convened of 
 2S*
 
 330 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 nobles, men of influence, prelates, doctors of the 
 University and burgesses. They approbated the 
 coronation and declared unanimously that females 
 should not inherit the crown of France. Mutual 
 friends soon reconciled the differences between the 
 King and the Duke of Burgundy. Indeed, the latter 
 espaused the eldest daughter of Philip and concuiTed 
 in the general voice which acknowledged him to be 
 King. 
 
 Jeanne, the disinherited child of the kingdom, 
 married Philip, son of the Count d'Evreux ; to 
 whom she brought Navarre in dowry. This king- 
 dom, thus severed from the crown of France, was not 
 re-united to it until brought back by Henry IV. 
 
 Under Philip the Long, the disturbances occa- 
 sioned by the shepherds [Pastoureaux) already de- 
 scribed in the reign of Louis IX. again broke forth. 
 Like their predecessors, these bands of armed peas- 
 ants traversed all France, committed innumerable 
 outrages and finally disappeared. " Thus," says the 
 continuation of Nangis, " this disorderly expedition 
 vanished like a fog : because that which is intrinsi- 
 cally worthless can never long appear to be of any 
 value." 
 
 These troubles were succeeded, in 1321, by others 
 excited by the lepers.* A rumor obtained currency 
 
 * We have already said that the unhappy beings who, on the 
 return of the Crusaders were seized with this malady, filled the 
 lazar-houses to which Louis VII. left a legacy.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHV. 331 
 
 that tliey had poisoned all the springs and wells 
 in Aquitania. Many were arrested and confessed 
 the crime. The cause of its being committed was 
 thus explained in a letter which the King received 
 from the lord of Parthenay. 
 
 One of the most influential of the lepers confessed, 
 at the stake, that a Jew had urged him to commit the 
 crime, had furnished him with the poison and given 
 him ten livres to apply it. The poison was compo- 
 sed of human blood, and of three herbs the names of 
 which he would not reveal. A consecrated wafer 
 was added to these ingredients, and, when dried, 
 the whole was reduced to a powder. After this, it 
 was enclosed in bags, fastened to stones and thrown 
 into the wells or springs.* The Jews, taken in turn, 
 and questioned, related the following singular story : 
 
 " The King of Grenada, disturbed at being so fre- 
 quently vanquished by the Christians, and unable 
 to revenge himself by arms, determined to obtain 
 vengeance by means of treachery. He therefore 
 
 * We have also seen with our own eyes in a city in Poitoua 
 female leper, who passing that way, and fearing to be arrested, 
 threw behind her a parcel tied up in a rag which was immedi- 
 ately taken to the tribunal of justice. In it was found the head 
 of an adder, the feet of a toad and some long hairs, mixed in a sort 
 of very black and fetid liquid ; so that it was as disgusting to see 
 as to smell. All this, thrown purposely into a large blazing 
 fire, would not burn: a manifest proof that it was one of the 
 most virulent of poisons. — Contimiation of Nangis.
 
 332 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 called together the Jews of his kingdom to devise 
 with them some expedient for destroying Christen- 
 dom, and promised them an immense reward if they 
 would invent some witchcraft to accomplish this 
 result. The Jews replied that they were so much 
 distrusted by the Christians that it would be impos- 
 sible to practise any charm upon them personally ; 
 but the lepers could easily be employed to throw 
 certain poisons into their springs and wells. The 
 King of Grenada acceded to this proposal ; and the 
 Jews conferred with the lepers who, by the interven- 
 tion of the devil, were so misled as to abjure the 
 Catholic faith ; to powder and mingle the body 
 of Christ with these moital poisons ; and to under- 
 take to dispense them according to the plan propo- 
 sed. The principal lepers then collected themselves 
 together from all parts of Christendom and establish- 
 ed four general assemblies, to which each noble lazar- 
 house sent its representatives. In these assemblies 
 the chiefs set forth that ' as their leprosy caused them 
 to appear, in the sight of Christians, vile, abject and 
 unworthy of any consideration, they might well be 
 permitted to devise a plan that should cause the 
 Christians themselves to die or to be afflicted with 
 a similar disease ; so that, when all were lepers, no 
 one should be despised.' This project was approv- 
 ed, and every one applied himself to its execution. 
 And thus, by the instrumentality of the Jews, these 
 poisons were scattered abroad."
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 333 
 
 The King, now issued an edict, declaring that all 
 lepers, convicted of joining in this conspiracy, should 
 be delivered to the flames : that those who knew of 
 the conspiracy and had not divulged it, should be 
 perpetually imprisoned : and that all guilty leprous 
 females who were pregnant should be imprisoned 
 until their accouchement, and immediately afterward 
 put to death. 
 
 The executions followed this edict. Many Jews 
 were burned in Aquitania. At Chinon, a large pit 
 was digged in the earth and a fire was kindled within 
 it, where, in one day, one hundred and sixty Jews 
 of both sexes were consumed. " Many among them, 
 both men and women," says the chi'onicle that fur- 
 nishes these details, " sang as if they were about to 
 attend a wedding and jumped gaily into the pit. 
 Many widows caused their own children to be thrown 
 into the flames lest they might be carried away and 
 baptized by the Christians." 
 
 At Vitri, forty Jews, suspected of this crime, were 
 confined in the King's prison. They were certain of 
 their doom, but determined not to die by the hands 
 of the uncircumcised and agreed that one of their 
 own number should slay the rest. By a unanimous 
 choice they designated for this last and terrible office 
 the eldest of the company — an old man with white 
 beard, whom they called Saint, on account of his 
 goodness, and Father, on account of his age. He, 
 however, would not undertake to fulfil the dreadful
 
 334 THE FKENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 task, unless some one should be appointed to aid 
 him. Accordingly, the young st among them, a 
 youth of sixteen, was chosen as his assistant. A 
 knife was placed in the hands of each of these two, 
 and they began the work of death without hesitation, 
 although among the victims were the old man's sons 
 and the young man's father. When all were de- 
 stroyed but the two executionei's, they stood before 
 each other, bathed in blood, disputing which should 
 kill the other. At length, they drew lots and death 
 fell to the old man. He then blessed the youth, 
 held forth his neck and died. The youth now took 
 from the slaughtered bodies all the gold he could 
 find, made a rope of their clothes, and fastening it to 
 a bar in the prison, climbed through a passage that 
 he had sawed in the gratings, and, as the night was 
 dark, let himself down undiscovered. When he 
 came to the end of the rope, he extended his feet as 
 far as possible downward, but could touch nothing — 
 the rope was too short ! and a space which he had 
 no means of estimating, separated him from the 
 ground. Too much exhausted to re-ascend, he was 
 forced to let go his hold, and fell a distance of twenty 
 feet to the earth ; but the violence of the fall was so 
 much increased by the weight of the gold -which 
 encumbered him, that his leg was broken. 
 
 He dragged himself about a quarter of a league 
 from the place of his descent, but could go no fur- 
 ther ; and here, in the morning, he was discovered
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY, 335 
 
 by the Christians. Being delivered up to justice, he 
 made a full confession of these things, and was 
 hanged with the bodies of those whom he had slain. 
 
 Philip was busied with the cares of government 
 when he fell ill. It was his purpose to establish 
 throughout his kingdom a uniform measure for wine, 
 grain and merchandise; and to have a uniform coin- 
 age of money. This last project, in especial, met 
 with lively opposition from the nobles, the prelates 
 and the communes. Meantime, the King's disease 
 made slow but sure progress. He lay for five months 
 on a bed of pain. " Some doubted if it were not 
 the maledictions of the people — on account of the 
 exactions and extortions, till then unheard of, with 
 which he overwhelmed them — that caused him to 
 fall ill." At length, on the third of February, 1321, 
 he expired, after having received all the ecclesiastical 
 sacraments ; and Charles, Count dc la Marche, his 
 brother, succeeded him without any dispute or oppo- 
 sition* 
 
 Charles IV., after the condemnation of his wife, 
 Blanche, for adultery, had easily obtained a decree of 
 divorce from the holy father. He then espoused 
 Mary of Luxembourg ;t but she died shortly after 
 giving untimely birth to a son who lived but a few 
 
 * Continuation of Guillaume de Nangis. 
 + In the year 1322.
 
 336 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 days. Two years aftei"ward, he married Jeanne 
 d'Evreux, by whom he had no male children. 
 
 From the commencement of his reign — which 
 opened during the troubles with Italy and England 
 — Charles merited the appellation of the dispenser 
 of Justice, which history has since conferred upon 
 him. "A gieat lord, named Jourdain," says de 
 Lille, " to whom the King, at the prayer of Pope 
 John, had remitted the punishment of eighteen 
 crimes whereof he stood accused, each of which 
 was punishable by death, having added other crimes 
 to those already committed, viz., the ravishment of 
 young maidens ; the perpetration of homicide ; the en- 
 tertaining of had men and murderers ; the protecting 
 of brigands and rising against the King; and having 
 at last hilled tvith his own hands a servant of the King 
 wearing the royal livery — was summoned to trial at 
 Paris. 
 
 "He came, accordingly, attended by a numerous 
 and brilliant suite ; but this did not prevent the 
 King, after an examination, from confining him in 
 the Ch&telet. He was afterward condemned to death 
 by the doctors of the law, dragged at a horse's tail, 
 and hanged on the public gibbet." 
 
 Charles, soon after, gave a second proof of his 
 inflexible justice. The lord of Parthenay, a noble 
 and powerful man in Poitou, was accused of heresy ; 
 and on this accusation was summoned to an audience 
 before the King at Paris. He repaired thither; but>
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 337 
 
 excepting to the inquisitor who accused him, he re- 
 fused to answer the interrogatories propounded, and 
 appealed to the Pope. Upon this, Charles restored 
 to him his estates which had already been confiscated, 
 and sent him with an escort to the Pontiff; " not 
 wishing," he said, "to shut from any one the road to 
 his rights." 
 
 The war with England, which for some time had 
 been extinguished, now broke forth again. The 
 ground for a renewal of hostilities was a dispute con- 
 cerning a chateau that the lord of Montpesat had 
 erected in Gascony. The King of France claimed 
 the ch&,teau because, he averred, it was built on 
 his territory; the King of England, on the contrary, 
 insisted that the territory was his and that the chat- 
 eau necessarily pertained to him. The question 
 was at first submitted to arbitrators who gave judg- 
 ment in favor of the King of France. But the 
 English King refused his assent to the decision; and 
 a war was commenced between these old enemies 
 that terminated only on the deposition of Edward II.* 
 
 ♦ After many events and adventures, Edward II., accused 
 before theparliament of having violated the laws of the country, 
 and of having reposed confidence in unworthy ministers, was, 
 by a solemn decree, deposed and condemned to perpetual im- 
 prisonment, the crown passing immediately to Edward III. 
 The sentence was read to him in prison in these terms: "I, 
 William Trussel, proxy of the parliament and of the whole 
 English nation, declare to you in their name and by their au- 
 29
 
 338 THE FRENCH MONARCHY. 
 
 Charles IV. expired at hia royal abode in the 
 wood of Vincennes on the fii'st of February, 1328. 
 Finding that his death was near at hand, he called his 
 lords around his bed and told them that if the queen, 
 who was soon to be confined, should be delivered of 
 a son, he desired his cousin-german, Philip de Valois, 
 to be its guardian ; if, on the contrary, the child 
 should be a daughter, the kingdom must be given to 
 him whom they thought most worthy.* 
 
 The queen was delivered of a daughter : and with 
 Charles IV. the first branch of the Capetians became 
 extinct. 
 
 The States-general elected Philip de Valois, his 
 cousin-german, although Edward III. of England 
 was his nephew, and consequently his nearest rela- 
 tion ;t this relation, however, was by his mother's 
 
 thority that I revoke and retract the homage I have rendered 
 you; and, from this moment, I deprive you of the royal power, 
 and protest that I will no longer obey you as my King." — 
 Chateaubriand; analyse raisonnee de Vhistoire de France. 
 
 * When he perceived that he must die, he devised that if, 
 perchance, the queen should lie-in of a son, Messer Philip de 
 Valois, his cousin-german, should be its guardian and regent of 
 the kingdom, until that his son was old enough to reign : but if the 
 child wore a daughter, the twelve peers and the high barons of 
 France should counsel and advise among themselves as to its 
 disposal, and should give the kingdom to whoever ought to 
 have it. — Jean Froissard. 
 
 + Edward II. married Isabelle of France, sister of Charles 
 the Fair, of whom was born Edward III.
 
 THE FRENCH MONARCHV. 339 
 
 side. The reason given by the lords for this sub- 
 stitution was, says Froissard, " that the kingdom of 
 France is of such high nobility that it ought not, by 
 inheritoTice, to descend to a female, nor, consequently, 
 to the son of such female ; and they caused my lord 
 Philip to be crowned at Rheitns on the day of Trinity, 
 in the year of G-race 1328, — since which, great 
 war and desolation have happened to the kingdom of 
 France, and to vimiy countries.
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 29*
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 We have now brought our chronological labor to 
 a close. What we have thus far written is a simple 
 record of dates and facts — the result of mere histo- 
 rical research, in which the imagination of the poet 
 has no shai'e ; unless the religious theories we have 
 hazarded and the political theory we are now to 
 offer, be regarded as poetical. 
 
 We concluded with the death of Charles IV., 
 because, on the accession of Philip de Valois, a new 
 era commenced for France. The national monarchy 
 had attained its loftiest point ; and was to descend, 
 step by step, from the feudal heights where Hugh 
 Capet laid the foundation of his edifice, to the popu- 
 lar plains where Louis-Philippe — probably the last 
 King of this race — has pitched his tent of a day. 
 
 Anived at the summit of this mountain, let us 
 cast a last glance before and behind us : a glance 
 which will extend on one side to the Gaul of Caesar ;
 
 344 CONCLUSION. 
 
 and, on the other, to the France of Napoleon. To 
 our readers this will be, at once, a summary of 
 what we have written and a programme of what we 
 have yet to write. 
 
 Gaul, conquered by Caesar, became, under Augus- 
 tus, a Roman province. The Emperors sent thither 
 a governor who ruled over the prefects : this governor 
 received his orders directly from the republic and 
 transmitted them to his agents. The policy gene- 
 rally adopted for other conquered countries, was also 
 adopted for Gaul. The government was mild 
 and paternal ; and, as civilization brought to barba- 
 rism pleasures, arts and enjoyments previously 
 unknown to the latter, she had no difficulty, cor- 
 rupter as she was, in moulding the primitive nations 
 of Gaul to the Roman manners. The South espe- 
 cially — with its fertile plains which were separated 
 from Italy but by the Alps ; its shores laved by the 
 same sea ; its inhabitants breathing an air perfumed 
 like that of Sorrento and Pcestum — was the favorite 
 portion of the pi'ovince." The Roman Narbo arose 
 near the Grecian Massilia ; Aries had an amj^hithea- 
 tre ; Nismes, a circus ; Autun, a school ; Lyons, 
 temples. Native legions, each soldier of which was 
 proud to bear the name of Roman citizen, were 
 raised in the Narbonnaise ; and, traversing Gaul, 
 subjected Brittany to the empire, — a conquest 
 which the empire had been unable to achieve.
 
 CONCLUSION. 345 
 
 The Frank conquest succeeded to the Roman 
 sovereignty ; barbarism superseded civilization, and 
 it was high time : for the corruption that infected 
 the heart of the Empire w^as extending to its 
 extremities. But the Frank sword severed Gaul 
 from the Roman body and saved it. It is remarka- 
 ble that the civilization which conquers barbarism is 
 fraught with inherent decay : while the barbarism 
 that conquers civilization b^ars a fertilizing and self- 
 perpetuating principle. 
 
 The Frank chiefs retained so much of the Roman 
 constitution as they could adapt to their manners 
 and their interests. The government was concentra- 
 ted in one man under Mere-wig and Hlodo-wig ; it 
 was divided under their successors. 
 
 The division of power led to the division of 
 property. As soon as the chieftainry possessed 
 lands, it sought a representative in the government, 
 and the office of Mayor of the Palace was created 
 to meet its demand. This office underwent the 
 same progressive variations as the royalty it was one 
 day to supersede. Under Sighe-bert* and his prede- 
 cessors, the incumbent held it for a term : under 
 Hlot-her, for life : and, under Hlodo-wig II., it 
 became hereditary : nevertheless, like royalty, it was 
 
 * The first Mayor of the Palace of whom we have any ac- 
 count was Goggon, who was sent from Sighe-bert to Athana- 
 gilde to ask from him the hand of Brunehilde.
 
 346 CONCLUSION. 
 
 of elective origin, " Reges ex nohilitate, duces ex 
 virtute sumunty But the moment that one of these 
 rival dignities abandoned its original principle, the 
 other followed the example. 
 
 The authority of the Frank Kings was by no 
 means absolute. In addition to the Mayor of the 
 Palace, placed near the throne to represent the 
 chieftainry, there were also councils composed of 
 military leaders, who conferred with the King on the 
 affairs of the nation,* and reported the result of such 
 conference to the troops, on the occasion of the 
 grand reviews which ordinarily took place in the 
 month of March or May. Things continued thus 
 until the people, represented by the Church, found 
 themselves, in turn, possessed of a portion of terri- 
 tory. Then the bishops entered into the councils 
 of the King ; ecclesiastical deputies were sent to the 
 Champ de Mars, or de Mai ; and the three orders of 
 proprietaries were represented : royalty, by the 
 King; chieftainry, by the Mayor; and the Church 
 or the people, by the bishops. 
 
 The overthrow of the Merovingian by the Caro- 
 lingian dynasty created a vacuum in the representa- 
 tion of these powers. The chieftainry had overcome 
 royalty and taken its place ; and it cherished the belief 
 that the two were inseparably amalgamated, forget- 
 
 * Of the conquering nation : as for the conquered nation, 
 there was no discussion of its interests, for it was yet in slavery
 
 CONCLUSION. . 347 
 
 ting that under the very scythe of the mower a new 
 harvest is always springing up. Chieftainry now 
 no longer existed as a separate power, and no longer 
 needed a distinct representative ; it was blended with 
 royalty and could not elect the King. Consequently, 
 the office of Mayor of the Palace was suppressed, 
 and Charlemagne took for the inscription on his coin, 
 Carolus, gratia Dei rex. 
 
 Thus, with the promotion of the chieftainry to 
 the throne, the elective principle that made Kings 
 was destroyed. 
 
 Charlemagne was, therefore, the first and the last ab- 
 solute monarch of the conquering race ; for his pre- 
 decessors had been obliged to wrestle with the chief- 
 tainry, and his successors were to contend with the 
 vassalage. During his reign, there was nothing 
 bearing the similitude of resistance on the part of a 
 class whose heads scarcely rose above the ground 
 that he trod with his sandals. His commands were 
 neither approved nor opposed : they were issued and 
 obeyed. He desired laws — and the Capitularia 
 superseded the Theodosian code: he desired an 
 army — it arose : he desired a victory — it was won. 
 
 This union of authority and strength was needed, 
 that Charlemagne might accomplish his mission. It 
 was necessary that one intelligence should erect on 
 one plan the ramparts of this mighty empire, in order 
 that barbarism, unable to find a single weak point, 
 might crush itself against the adamantine barrier.
 
 348 CONCLUSION. 
 
 And it was necessary that Charlemagne's reign 
 should be a long one, for he alone could accomplish 
 the prodigious task he had undertaken. 
 
 We have already expressed our views of the dis- 
 memberment of the empire. The heirs of Charle- 
 magne made — but on a much larger scale — the 
 same division as the sons of Hlodo-wig had done j 
 and the same causes brought about the same result, 
 viz., the creation of a new seigneurial caste, by 
 means of the grants of lands that the Carolingian and 
 Merovingian Kings were obliged to concede; first, 
 to gain the throne and afterward to keep it. Char- 
 lemagne, breaking from the trammels of the Frank 
 Chiefs, was the first who adopted the inscription on 
 money — which he, alone, had the right to coin — 
 Carolus, gratia Dei rex. The French lords, in 
 turn, escaping from the Frank domination, denied 
 that their prerogative emanated from royalty, as 
 Charlemagne had denied that his emanated from the 
 chieftainry: and, two centuries later, they arrogated 
 to themselves not only the right to coin money, like 
 the Emperors, but also — after the example of Char- 
 lemagne — to stamp upon it gratia Dei.* 
 
 We have also explained in what manner the sepa- 
 ration was effected between the Frank royalty and 
 
 * In 865, Odon, son of Raymond, was the first to set this 
 example, by taking the title of Count of Toulouse and Marquis 
 of Gothia, by the grace of God.
 
 CONCLUSION. 349 
 
 the French seigniory ; and how the territorial pro- 
 prietors took part with the interests of the soil 
 against the interests of royalty, although the Lords 
 and the Kings were of the same race. We entered 
 into details sufficiently minute of the rise, struggle 
 and victory of the national party ; and it is not neces- 
 sary now to present another picture of this epoch of 
 change, placed between the royalty of the conquest 
 and the royalty of the nation. 
 
 When Hugh Capet ascended the throne previously 
 occupied by Eudes and Raoul — these first French 
 Kings, who were thrust in among the German Kings 
 — he found territorial France divided between seven 
 great proprietaries, holding their possessions no 
 longer by royal grant and tolerance, under the title 
 of alleu or fiefs, but, hy the grace of God, The 
 monarchical edifice which he was to erect, was 
 therefore to differ in many respects from that of 
 Charlemagne and of Hlodo-wig. The royalty con- 
 ferred on him much more nearly resembled the pres- 
 idency of an aristocratic republic than the dictator- 
 ship of an empire. He was the first, but by no 
 means the richest or the most powerful, among his 
 peers. Consequently, the first act of the new King 
 was to increase the number of his grand vassals to 
 twelve, by introducing among them ecclesiastical 
 peers in order to secure the support of the Church ; 
 and then, upon the solid basis of these twelve mighty 
 30
 
 350 CONCLUSION. 
 
 coluinns, which represented the grand vassalage, he 
 placed the dome of the national monarchy.* 
 
 When the benefits that this first era was to pro- 
 duce were realized : that is to say, when a language, 
 as new and national as the monarchy, had succeeded 
 to the language of the conquest; when the Crusades 
 had opened the way for the introduction of arts 
 and sciences from the East ; when the bull of Alex- 
 ander TIL, which declared all Christians free, had 
 led to the enfranchisement of the serfs; when, finally, 
 Philip the Fair, aiming the first blow at feudal mon- 
 archy, had modified it by the creation of the Tiers- 
 Etats, and established the seat and the sessions of 
 parliament, — then the lime arrived for this monar- 
 chy, which had fulfilled its destiny, to give place to 
 another which had its destiny to accomplish. Then 
 Philip de Valois appeared, struck the hatchet in the 
 edifice of Hugh Capet, and the head of Clisson fell. 
 
 Tanneguy Duchatel inherited the hatchet of Philip 
 de Valois. Seventy years after Philip, he, in turn, 
 struck, and the head of John of Burgundy fell. 
 
 Louis XL, therefore, on entering this edifice, found 
 
 * We must beg our readers to follow us with some attention 
 in the theory we are about to develop: not because it is compli- 
 cated, but because it is simple; and because nothing is more 
 difficult of belief than a simple proposition of which we have 
 never before thought. Besides, this theory, whether true or 
 false, superficial or profound, grave or ridiculous, is entirely 
 our oton.
 
 CONCLUSION. 351 
 
 two of the feudal columns, by which its dome was 
 sustained, already demolished. His task was to de- 
 stroy the remainder, and he was not recreant to his 
 duty. He had scarcely ascended the throne before 
 he commenced his labor. 
 
 Nothing was then to be seen but feudal ruins. 
 The wrecks of the houses of Berri, Saint-Pol, Ne- 
 mours, Burgundy, Guienne and Anjou were strewn 
 around ; and doubtless the edifice would have fallen, 
 had not the King upheld the dome with one hand 
 while he beat down the columns with the other. 
 
 He at last stood alone, supporting by his single 
 arm the ponderous dome, which his genius enabled 
 him to uphold by keeping it at a perfect equipoise. 
 
 Louis XL was the first absolute sovereign of the 
 national monarchy ; but he bequeathed despotic 
 power to successors too feeble to maintain it. The 
 grand vassalage, demolished by him, was succeeded 
 under the reigns of Charles VIH. and Louis XH. by 
 the grand seigniory. So^that, when Francis I. as- 
 cended the throne — alarmed at beholding the oscil- 
 lations of the monarchy ; seeking its primitive sup- 
 ports and not finding them ; looking for the twelve 
 men of iron and meeting only two hundred men of 
 velvet^ he proposed to remedy the loss of the twelve 
 massive columns by supplying their places with a 
 multitude of inferior ones; by substituting great 
 seignors for great vassals ; he cared not that the dome 
 was depressed to the lower level of these new col-
 
 352 CONCLUSION. 
 
 umns, provided the edifice was strengthened by such 
 depression. And, in fact, although the supports of 
 his erection were less elevated and, individually, 
 weaker than the old ones ; they were not, in the ag- 
 gregate, less solid ; for they constantly represented 
 property ; and their multiplication was in exact har- 
 mony with the territorial division that had taken 
 place between his own reign and that of the eleventh 
 Louis.* 
 
 Francis I. was, therefore, the founder of the mon- 
 archy of the grand seigniory, as Hugh Capet had 
 been of that of the grand vassalage. 
 
 Then, when this second era of national royalty had 
 brought forth its fruits : when printing had given 
 some stability to the revival of letters and sciences ; 
 when Rabelais and Montaigne had refined the lan- 
 guage ; when the arts had appeared in France in 
 the train of Primaticcio and Leonardo da Vinci ; 
 when Luther in Germany, Wicliffin England, and 
 Calvin in France had, by religious reformation, pre- 
 pared the way for political reformation ; when the 
 evacuation of Calais (with which event the last trace 
 of the conquest of Edward III. disappeared from our 
 soil) determined our military limits ; when the eve 
 of St. Bartholomew, with a result contrary to what 
 
 ♦ In our investigations we shall follow the division of pro- 
 perty with care in all its details : for this base, enlarged by the 
 revolution, will one day be the only solid pedestal of Liberty.
 
 CONCLUSION. 353 
 
 was anticipated, caused religion and royalty which 
 were held in each other's embraces to slip and totter 
 in Huguenot blood; when, finally, the execution of La 
 Mole, the assassination of the Guises, and the arrest 
 of Biron announced to the grand seigniory — as the 
 death of Clisson and John of Burgundy had formerly 
 announced to the grand vassalage — that their time 
 was fulfilled and their hour had come : then, like a 
 blazing comet in the firmament, appeared Richelieu; 
 that mighty destroyer who was to drain on the scaf- 
 ^? .fold all the blood that civil war and duelling had left 
 ■^ in the veins of the noblesse, 
 
 u Louis XL had now been dead one hundred and 
 forty-nine years.* 
 
 We need not say that the mission of these two 
 men was the same. And it is well known that 
 Richelieu accomplished his as religiously as Loxiis 
 XL had done. 
 
 Louis XIV., therefore, found the monarchical edi- 
 fice not only deprived of the support of its two 
 hundred columns, but completely disembarrassed of 
 every vestige of their ruins. The throne was so 
 equipoised upon levelled France that, child as this 
 monarch then was, he ascended it without stumbling. 
 Afterward, when he attained his majority, the road 
 to absolute power displayed itself before him marked 
 
 * Richelieu entered the council in 1624. The first executions, 
 by kis command, took place in 1625 and 1626. 
 3Q*
 
 354 CONCLUSION. 
 
 out by so broad a foot that the disciple had but to 
 follow his master's steps without fear of going astray. 
 And this was necessary for Louis XIV.: he had not 
 the genius, but only the education, for despotism. 
 
 He did not, however, the less accomplish his 
 mission. He made himself the centre of the kingdom. 
 He attached to himself all the springs of royalty, 
 and held them with such a firm and long continued 
 tension that he foresaw they would snap in pieces 
 in the hands of his successors. 
 
 The regency now came, spread its compost over 
 the kingdom, and aristocracy sprang up from the 
 soil. 
 
 Louis XV., when his minority terminated, found 
 himself in a position similar to that of Francis I. 
 and Hugh Capet. The monarchy was to be re- 
 organized. The ground occupied by the grand 
 seigniory and the grand vassalage was, in effect, 
 vacant j for strong and vigorous trunks had given 
 place to feeble saplings. It was therefore necessary 
 to depress the monarchical dome still lower, and 
 again substitute the quantity for the strength of its 
 supporters. In place of the twelve grand vassals of 
 Hugh Capet, and the two hundred grand lords of 
 Francis 1.,^ Louis XV. was forced to. prop his totter- 
 ing edifice with the fifty thousand aristocrats of the 
 Orleans regency. 
 
 Finally ; when this third era of the national royalty 
 had brought forth its fruits — fruits of the Lake 
 Asphaltus, full of ashes and rottenness j, — when the
 
 CONCLUSION. 356 
 
 Dubois's and the Laws, the Pompadours and the 
 Dubarrys had destroyed the respect due to royalty ; 
 when the Voltaires, and the Diderots, the d'Alem- 
 berts and the Grimms had stifled the faith due to 
 religion; — religion, that nurse of the people, and 
 royalty, that foundress of society, sullied by their 
 contact with men, re-ascended to the God who gave 
 them. 
 
 Their flight left the monarchy of divine right de- 
 fenceless ; and, at the distance of but four years, 
 Louis XVL saw gleaming in the East the flames of 
 the Eastile, and, in the West, the iron of the guil- 
 lotine. 
 
 It was now no longer a man that came to destroy, 
 for one man had been incompetent to the task of des- 
 truction. A whole nation arose ; and, increasing 
 her workmen with the increase of her task, she sent 
 four hundred proxies to hew dovni the aristocracy, 
 daughter of the grand seigniory and grand-daughter 
 of the grand vassalage. 
 
 On the twenty-second of September, 1792, the 
 National Convention laid hold of the hereditary 
 hatchet, 
 
 Richelieu had now been dead one hundred and 
 forty-nine years. 
 
 There is something singular in this coincidence 
 of dates : Richelieu appeared one hundred and forty- 
 nine years after Louis XI. ; and the Convention one 
 hundred and forty-nine years after Richelieu.
 
 356 CONCLUSION, 
 
 Let us now correct an error which some have com- 
 mitted through ignorance and others have sanctioned 
 through bad faith. 
 
 The year 1793 gave birth to a revolution, but not 
 to a repubUc : this latter word was adopted in hatred 
 of royalty, and not as descriptive of existing institu- 
 tions. Thus, the axe of the guillotine is triangular, 
 and it is by a triangle that we symbolize God : but 
 who would dare to say that the guillotine and the 
 Deity are identical 1 
 
 The Thermidorian reaction saved the lives of the 
 remainder of the ai'istocracy who were about to fall 
 under the hand of Robespierre ; the axe, raised 
 against them, inflicted a deep, but not a mortal wound ; 
 and the Bourbons found them still surviving when 
 they re-entered France in 1814. The old monarchy 
 recognised its ancient support and gave into its safe- 
 keeping the Chamber of Peers — that last fortress of 
 the royalty by divine right. 
 
 Those who most narrowly watched the progress of 
 events in France were wholly perj^lexed by the pre- 
 cocious accident of the ninth Thermidor ; and twenty 
 years later they were astonished to behold alive, and 
 entrenched in the heart of France, that aristocracy 
 which they believed to have been exterminated by 
 the Convention, 
 
 Immediately the sun of July arose; and, for three 
 days, like the sun of Joshua, it stood still in the 
 Heavens.
 
 CONCLUSION. 357 
 
 Then occurred that marvellous revolution — a revo- 
 lution that did not exceed its commission ; that attain- 
 ed only what it was destined to attain ; that destroyed 
 only what it was destined to destroy, A revolution 
 believed to be new ; but which was the offspring of 
 1793. A revolution which lasted only three days, 
 because it had only the wreck of aristocracy to 
 exterminate : and which, scorning to assail so feeble 
 a body with axe or sword, was content to strike it 
 powerless with a law, and a decree, as is done to a 
 crazy old man whom a family council interdicts. 
 
 The law was that of the tenth of December, 1831, 
 abolishing the right of succession to the peerage : 
 and. 
 
 The decree was that of the sixteenth of Decem- 
 ber, 1832, declaring that any one might style himself 
 Count or Marquis.* 
 
 The day after these two things were done, the 
 revolution of July was completed ; for aristocracy, 
 if not dead, was manacled. The genuine party of 
 the Chamber of Peers, represented by the Fitz- 
 
 * The 259th article of the ancient Code was thus expressed : 
 " Whoever shall have publicly worn a costume, uniform, or 
 order which does not belong to him, or assume noble titlesxohich 
 have not been legally conferred on him, shall be punished by an 
 imprisonment of from six months to two years." On a revis- 
 ion of the Code the words in italics were stricken out as being 
 incompatible with our customs.
 
 358 CONCLUSION. 
 
 James's and the Chateaubriands, left the Palace of 
 the Luxembourg, to return thither no more ; and 
 with them all aristocratic influence disappeared from 
 the realm, to give place to that of the landed in- 
 terest. 
 
 Louis-Philippe placed himself near expiring roy- 
 alty, like an heir at the pillow of a dying testator, 
 and seized the will which the people might have 
 broken. But the people, with unerring intelligence, 
 perceived that there was a last form of monarchy 
 yet to be exhausted, and that Louis-Philippe was the 
 repi'esentative of this form. They were therefore 
 content to erase from the hereditary escutcheon the 
 gratia Dei : and if they did not inscribe gratia pop- 
 uli in its place, it was because they were certain that 
 the King would never cease to remember from whom 
 his power emanated. 
 
 New supports now became indispensable to the 
 new monarchical edifice. The fifty thousand aristo- 
 crats of Louis XV. had ceased to exist ; the two 
 hundred great lords of Francis I. had fallen ; the 
 twelve grand vassals of Hugh Capet slept in their 
 feudal sepulchi'e : and, in the place of these abol- 
 ished orders, which had held privileges restricted to 
 the few, there arose on all sides wealth and industry 
 which propose equal privileges to all. Louis-Phil- 
 ippe had not even the choice between the sympathies 
 of birth and the exigencies of the moment : in place 
 of the fifty thousand aristocrats of Louis XV., there
 
 CONCLUSION. 359 
 
 sprang up the hundred and sixty thousand great 
 proprietaries and artizans of the restoration ; and the 
 monarchical dome was brought still nearer to the 
 people ; it was its lowest and its last descent. 
 
 Thus, after each revolution that demolished, came 
 the calm that re-constructed. After each harvest 
 that was mowed, came the fallow ground where a 
 new harvest was germinated. After the reign of 
 Louis XI. — that terror of the grand vassalage — 
 came the reigns of Charles VIII. and Louis XII. in 
 which sprang up the grand seigniory. After the 
 reigns of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV — that '93 of 
 the gi'and seigniory — came the regency, during which 
 aristocracy sprang up. And, finally, after the reign 
 of the Committee of Public Safety, which mowed 
 down the aristocrats, came the restoration, during 
 which sprang up la grande propriety. 
 
 We wish to point out, in this connexion, the per- 
 fect analogy that existed between those who re- 
 organized the society of the several epochs and those 
 who composed that society : 
 
 Louis-Philippe, with his costume so well known as 
 to be proverbial, his manners so simple as to become 
 a model, — is he not the type of the great landed 
 and operative interests 1 
 
 Louis XV., with his coat of velvet covered with 
 embroidery and spangles, his silken vest, his sword 
 with hilt of steel and knot of ribbons, his profligate 
 manners, his libertine spirit, his selfishness for the
 
 360 CONCLUSION. 
 
 present and recklessness for the future, — is he not 
 a complete type of the aristocrats 1 
 
 Francis I., with his cap surmounted by plumes, 
 his doublet of silk, his shoes of slashed velvet, his 
 spirit elegantly haughty, and his manners nobly de- 
 bauched, — is he not a perfect type of the grand 
 seigniory 1 
 
 And Hugh Capet, their common ancestor, encased 
 in his iron cuirass, leaning on his iron sword and 
 severe in his iron manners, — does he not appear, 
 standing on the horizon of monarchy, an exact type 
 of the grand vassalage 1 
 
 One question, which we have avoided for fear of 
 interrupting the course of our argument, will here 
 naturally suggest itself to the minds of our readers. 
 
 In this great system of monarchical decline which 
 has just been presented, what disposition is to be 
 made of Napoleon 1 
 
 We answer that, according to our theory, three 
 men have ftom all eternity been foreordained to ac- 
 complish the work of social regeneration : Caesar, 
 Charlemagne and Napoleon, 
 
 Caesar was to pave the way for Christianity ; 
 
 Charlemagne, for civilization ; 
 
 Napoleon, for liberty.* 
 
 * Every new and bold idea has the appearance, at first sight, 
 of being paradoxical; the readermust first listen to ours and 
 afterward judge of it.
 
 CONCLUSION. 361 
 
 We have already shown in what manner Caesar 
 paved the way for Christianity by collecting, within 
 the colossal embrace of Rome, fourteen nations upon 
 whom Christ arose. 
 
 We have also explained how Charlemagne pre- 
 pared the way for civilization, by opposing the ram- 
 parts of his vast empire to the migration of barba- 
 rians. 
 
 We will now relate how Napoleon prepared the 
 way for liberty. 
 
 When Napoleon, on the 18th Brumaire, took pos- 
 session of France, she was still feverish with the ex- 
 citement of civil war; and, in'one of her paroxysms, 
 she had thrown herself quite in advance of other na- 
 tions ; the equilibrium of general progression was 
 deranged by the excess of individual progression. 
 France, in short, was a maniac for liberty, whom, 
 according to Kings, it was necessary to manacle in 
 order to cure. 
 
 Napoleon appeared with his two-fold propensity 
 for despotism and war ; his two-fold nature, popular 
 and aristocratic : he was behind the ideas of France, 
 but in advance of the ideas of Europe: a man of re- 
 sistance, as to his own people; but of progression, as 
 to others. 
 
 The Kings of other nations most injudiciously 
 made war upon him ! 
 
 Napoleon then collected together whatever was 
 the purest, the most intelligent and the most pro- 
 31
 
 362 CONCLUSION. 
 
 gressive in France. Of this materiel he formed ar- 
 mies and spread them over Europe. Everywhere 
 they carried death to Kings, but life to the people. 
 Wherever the spirit of France passed, liberty made 
 a gigantic stride in its footsteps, sowing the seed of 
 revolutions as the sower casts the grain into his fur- 
 rows. Napoleon fell in 1815, and scarcely three 
 years had rolled away, ere the revolutionary fields 
 were ready for the harvest. 
 
 In 1818, the grand Duchies of Baden and Bavaria 
 claimed and obtained a constitution. 
 
 In 1819, Wirtemburg claimed a constitution and 
 obtained it. 
 
 In 1820. Revolution and constitution of the 
 Cortes of Spain and Portugal. 
 
 In 1820. Revolution and constitution of Naples 
 and Piedmont. 
 
 In 1821. Insurrection of the Greeks against 
 Turkey. 
 
 In 1823. Institution of the States in Prussia. 
 
 One nation alone, by its topographical situation, 
 escaped this progressive influence ; and was too dis- 
 tant for France to gain a foothold upon its soil. 
 Napoleon, by constantly fixing his eyes on it, became 
 at last habituated to this distance, which appeared, 
 at first, possible, and then easy, to surmount. Let 
 but a pretext arise, and he would conquer Russia, 
 as he had conquered Italy, Egypt, Germany, Austria 
 and Spain. This pretext soon presented itself.
 
 CONCLUSION. 363 
 
 An English vessel entered a port of the Baltic, in 
 defiance of continental promises ; and war was imme- 
 diately declared by Napoleon the Great against his 
 brother-despot Alexander I., the Czar of all the 
 Russias. 
 
 At the first glance, it seemed as if the purposes 
 of Providence were to be baffled by the despotic 
 instinct of a man. France entered into Russia, but 
 liberty and slavery could not coalesce. No seed 
 would germinate in that frozen soil. Not only 
 armies, but a whole people retired before the French 
 troops. It was a deserted country they invaded ; 
 it was a burning capital they conquered ; for when 
 they entered Moscow it was depopulated and in 
 flames. 
 
 Then the mission of Napoleon was accomplished 
 and the hour of his downfall had arrived : for liberty 
 was now to gain from his fall as much as she had 
 formerly done from his elevation. The Czar, so 
 prudent before a conquering foe, became rash before 
 a vanquished one : he retreated from the victor, but 
 he pursued the fugitive. 
 
 God therefore withdrew his hand from Napoleon : 
 and, to make His intervention in human affairs visible 
 to all. He changed the nature of the contest. Man 
 no lonerer contended with man, but the order of the 
 seasons was reversed : snow and cold were sent 
 upon the earth before their time, and the elements 
 destroyed an army.
 
 364 CONCLUSION. 
 
 And thus, by unseen Wisdom, are events caused 
 to work together. Paris had been unable to carry 
 civilization to Moscow; Moscow, therefore, must 
 come to seek it at Paris. Two years after the con- 
 flagration of his own capital, Alexander entered that 
 which had been Napoleon's. 
 
 But his sojourn was of too short a duration. His 
 soldiers scarcely touched the soil of France ; and 
 the sun which would have enlightened, only dazzled 
 them. 
 
 The Lord then recalled his chosen instrument. 
 Napoleon re-appeared, and the gladiator, still bleed- 
 ing from his last contest, came not to combat but to 
 hold forth his throat at Waterloo. 
 
 Then Paris re-opened her gates to the Czar and 
 his barbarian host : and, this time, the men of the Volga 
 and the Don dwelt for three years on the banks of the 
 Seine. After this, impressed with new and strange 
 ideas, stammering the unknown names of civiliza- 
 tion and enfranchisement, they returned with regret 
 to their rude country. Eight years afterward, a 
 republican conspiracy burst out at St. Petersburgh. 
 
 Turn over the leaves of the immense volume of 
 the past ; and say in what other epoch so many 
 thrones have trembled and so many Kings fled 
 along the high-ways. And wherefore ? Because 
 their half-slain enemy was interred alive ; and the 
 modern Enceladus shook the world each time he 
 moved within his tomb.
 
 CONCLUSION. 365 
 
 Thus came at intervals of nine centuries, and as 
 living proofs of what we have advanced — that 
 genius is blind in proportion as it is mighty — 
 
 Cassar, the pagan, preparing the way for Christi- 
 anity ; 
 
 Charlemagne, the harharian, preparing the way 
 for civilization ; 
 
 Napoleon, the despot, preparing the way for liberty 
 
 And now the word of Christ is in full progress 
 of accomplishment : the nations march with even 
 steps toward liberty — one after another, it is true, 
 but still with no interval between them ; and what- 
 ever the little men who govern her may have 
 done in her great name, France has, nevertheless, 
 preserved her revolutionary position in the vanguard 
 of the nations. 
 
 Two persons, alone, could have forced her to 
 change this position and deviate from her route ; for 
 they were the representatives of two principles 
 opposed to her progressive principle : they were, 
 
 Napoleon II. and Henry V, 
 
 Napoleon II. represented the principle of despo- 
 tism ; and, 
 
 Henry V, the principle of legitimacy. 
 
 The Lord stretched forth his hands and grasped 
 them at the two extremities of Europe : one, at the 
 castle of Schoenbrunn, and the other, at the citadel 
 of Blaye. 
 
 31*
 
 366 CONCLUSION, 
 
 And now, what has become of Napoleon 11. and 
 H enry V 1 
 
 Having taken a rapid but exact view of the past, 
 let us now glance at the present — in which, perhaps 
 we may gain some glimmerings of the future. 
 
 We have followed the monarchy over the four 
 great stepping-stones which it has surmounted and 
 which have crumbled behind it — pointing out, by 
 their successive ruin, the impossibility of returning 
 by the same route. We have seen the monarchy 
 descending to our own time leaning, by turns, on 
 the twelve grand vassals of Hugh Capet, the two 
 hundred great lords of Francis I. and the fifty thou- 
 sand aristocrats of Louis XV. She now makes a 
 halt before us, sustained by the one hundred and 
 sixty thousand great proprietaries and working-men, 
 of whom Louis-Philippe is the representative. Let 
 us see whether this aristocratic representation will 
 suffice for France, and whether the whole population 
 will be contented with it. 
 
 We do not believe they will. 
 
 The number of proprietaries actually existing 
 in France amounts, according to the highest esti- 
 mates, to five millions ; and, according to the more 
 moderate calculation, to four millions and a half. 
 We shall adopt the latter for our basis, as it is the 
 lowest. 
 
 Among these four and a half millions of proprie- 
 taries, the copy-holders, of two hundred francs and
 
 CONCLUSION, 367 
 
 upward, form a total of one hundred and thirteen 
 thousand : the patentees of the great cities, such as 
 Paris, Lyons, Bordeaux, Marseilles, Nantes, Rouen, 
 etc. etc. complete the number of one hundred and 
 sixty thousand electors — the total amount for 1831. 
 The manufacturing interest is therefore joined to the 
 landed interest in the proportion of one to four. 
 
 Deduct this hundred and thirteen thousand from 
 the total of four and a half millions ; and we have 
 four millions, three hundred and eighty-seven thou- 
 sand proprietaries cut off from the right of repre- 
 sentation in the Chamber : nevertheless, these politi- 
 cal parias pay a little more than two thirds of the 
 national taxes, while the one hundred and thirteen 
 thousand electors pay something less than one third. 
 
 Let us now take from this one hundred and thirteen 
 thousand, those who are eligible to election ; and we 
 have fourteen thousand copy-holders at five hundred 
 francs each, and ninety-nine thousand at two hun- 
 dred francs. 
 
 Consequently, but fourteen thousand individuals 
 are entitled to take an active part in the government : 
 the remaining ninety-nine thousand take only a facti- 
 tious part therein, by voting for men who do not 
 even represent them, since the parties eligible are 
 their superiors in rights and in fortune. 
 
 Now, among these fourteen thousand aristocrats of 
 property who are qualified to become deputies — and 
 therefore ministers, peers, counsellors of State,
 
 368 CONCLUSION, 
 
 receivers-general and prefects ; and, indeed, anything 
 at will, of which the rest are incapable and unwor- 
 thy — nearly seven thousand, i. e. one half, are embar- 
 rassed with ruinous mortgages, and look to their 
 official position to repair, by the ministerial sale of 
 their votes, their dilapidated fortunes. 
 
 Thus, the government of Louis-Philippe is in re- 
 ality a representation of the interests of only four- 
 teen thousand privileged persons — although it ap- 
 pears, at first sight, to rest upon one hundred and 
 sixty thousand electors ; and although its advocates 
 have the hardihood to aver that its basis is the whole 
 proprietary-interest of four and a half millions of men. 
 
 It is here that we differ from the republican theo- 
 ries that have preceded ours — since, instead of 
 seeking for the spirit of progression among the poorer 
 classes, we hope to find it in those who are possessors 
 of property : for, at the present day, the owners of 
 property are almost a majority in France. Because, 
 if each of these four and a half millions of proprie- 
 taries, have but a son, a nephew, or any other heir, 
 we find at once nine millions of individuals having 
 the same interests, cherishing the same desire ; a 
 desire of preservation : a desire against which all 
 attempt at spoliation would be vain, even if the 
 property were not, in the hands of its possessors, 
 unalienable as it is : since, if we separate the old 
 men, women and children from the twenty mil- 
 lions of inhabitants that remain, the number of
 
 CONCLUSION. 369 
 
 those who own noflhing [proletaires)* would fall 
 short of this number of proprietaries. But, we 
 repeat, property is unalienable, whatever may have 
 been said by the lying voice of the government, 
 which falsely proclaims itself the representative of 
 property to induce the owners thereof to unite for 
 its support ; and which has succeeded in making 
 these owners believe, for the moment, that there is 
 no security to their property but in the protection it 
 offers them against the agrarian encroachments of 
 those who own nothing. 
 
 It is necessary, then, only to quiet a few ground- 
 less fears, in order to rally to the progressive move- 
 ment, the genei'al proprietary-interest, to which a 
 moment of irresolution has given the appearance of 
 retrograding ; but this appearance will be changed 
 the instant it is made obvious that the general good 
 calls for the progressive principle and will not bring 
 individual interest into jeopardy by its operation. 
 
 * As this word cannot be translated, its definition, as given 
 by Jean Reynand, is here subjoined : " I give the name of pro- 
 lUaires to those men vho produce the riches of the nation, yet 
 possess only the daily wages of their labor, which labor, 
 too, depends on causes beyond their control. They draw, day 
 by day, from their toil, but a scanty portion; and that portion 
 is constantly decreasing by competition. They look to the 
 morrow with a hope as unstable as the irregular fluctuations 
 of trade, and the prospect of their old age is bounded by the hos- 
 pital and the grave."
 
 370 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Let us prove, then, that these fears are unfounded. 
 
 If our readers have follow^ed vv^ith attention the 
 preceding history of France, they must have remarked 
 that each successive revolution resulted in the remo- 
 val of property from the hands in which it vv^as found 
 and its transfer, by division, into more numerous 
 hands — thus always bringing it nearer to the people. 
 This is because the men who are bom upon a terri- 
 tory, have, alone, the right of possessing that terri- 
 tory : for, as God made them for the land, so He 
 made the land for them. Chance may for a longer 
 or shorter period keep them from its possession, but 
 harmony is interrupted until it is restored to them 
 again. Hence arise revolutions, which appear to 
 derange the social order ; but which, in reality, tend 
 to the primitive re-organization of that order. 
 
 It will be borne in mind that Caesar converted 
 Graul into a Roman province, and its inhabitants into 
 Roman citizens. That is to say, in the annexation 
 of Gaul to the empire, the vanquished people lost 
 none of their rights to the soil on which they dwelt; 
 and this is not strange, for the Romans did not emi- 
 grate into the provinces they conquered. The 
 Roman spirit felt circumscribed within the limits of 
 the universe ; but the Roman people dwelt at ease 
 in Rome. 
 
 The character of the Frank conquest was exactly 
 the reverse of this. The colonies, conducted by 
 Mere-wig had been forcibly driven from Germany
 
 CONCLUSION. 371 
 
 by the Eastern hordes that burst from the fastnesses 
 of Asia, and appeared in Europe under the command 
 of Alaric and Attila. It was not, therefore, a thirst 
 for the glory of arms that urged toward Gaul these 
 armed beggars in quest of a kingdom — but the 
 necessity of a refuge for their fathers, their wives 
 and their children. And as at this time all coun- 
 tries were inhabited, they sought and took posses- 
 sion of the territory of a people weaker than them- 
 selves under the pretext that those stronger than 
 themselves had robbed them of their original do- 
 mains. 
 
 We have therefore seen the first Kings of France 
 seize upon Gaul and divide the conquest among 
 their chiefs, without pausing to consider that they 
 possessed it only by right of the stronger. 
 
 We have also seen that when the national reac- 
 tion took place, the men of the conquest sided with 
 the interest of the French soil against the Frank 
 dynasty. They thus restored to the kingdom its 
 nationality : but, by constituting themselves into 
 privileged classes, they retained the lands of the 
 nation. 
 
 Louis XI. effected a transfer of these lands from 
 the grand vassalage to the grand seigniory ; and 
 Richelieu transferred them from the grand seigniory 
 to the aristocracy : but the Convention alone conveyed 
 them from the aristocracy to the people. It is 
 therefore only since '93, that these lands have been
 
 372 CONCLUSION. 
 
 — as in the time of the Gauls — in the hands of 
 those who have the right to possess them. But to 
 the attainment of this end, fourteen centuries and 
 six revolutions were requisite ; and, that all might 
 be legal, as there had been prescription, redemption 
 became necessary. 
 
 To accomplish this last necessity — and those who 
 gained most by the result are perhaps the least 
 conscious of their obligation — the Convention 
 decreed that enormous issue of assignats, (forty- 
 four thousand millions) which placed within reach of 
 the people the possibility of acquiring property : for 
 the value of this depreciated currency, factitious in 
 all other negotiations, became real for the purchase 
 of domains which, by instinct rather than knowledge, 
 the Convention called national. It is owing to 
 this concurrence, which was first aided by the aboli- 
 tion of the rights of primogeniture and afterward 
 by the suppression of hereditary privileges, that this 
 inconceivable multiplication of proprietaries has been 
 effected ; an increase, within forty years, from fifty 
 thousand to four and a half millions. 
 
 Thus, the owners of property may now regard its 
 possession as unalienable, and any new revolution as 
 impossible. Indeed, for what purpose should there 
 now be a revolution, since distinct classes, from the 
 grand vassalage to the aristocracy, are all destroyed % 
 territorial division, fettered in former times by the 
 privileges of these classes, now takes place without
 
 CONCLUSION. 373 
 
 hindrance among the people : the nation is one large 
 and single family, where all are brethren, and every 
 brother has the same rights. 
 
 Property, so powerful in itself, no longer needs the 
 factitious support of a government which does not 
 represent it ; but which, drawing everything from its 
 resources and giving nothing in return, must needs 
 be mortal to its interests — mortal, by reason of the 
 annual budgets by which the government draws the 
 blood from the body of the nation and injects it into 
 its own veins. Government in the body-politic is 
 intended to perform the office of the heart in the 
 human body : it should transmit to the arteries the 
 same quantity of blood as it receives from them : let 
 it retain but one drop, and the whole economy is 
 disorganized. 
 
 Thus, the present government will fall without any 
 concussion, and by the simple substitution of rational 
 for revolutionary policy. It will fall, not by the 
 efforts of those who have nothing ; but by the voice 
 of those who possess something. It will fall, because 
 it represents and is sustained only by the aristocracy 
 of wealth — which aristocracy is every day weaken- 
 ing itself by partition, and must soon give way 
 beneath the cumbrous and worthless superstructure. 
 
 Probably the event will occur in this manner. The 
 
 copy-holder of two hundred francs will be the first 
 
 to perceive that the concession to him of electoral 
 
 privilege is illusory : that the subordinate part yield- 
 
 32
 
 374 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ed to him in the government would not enable him 
 to turn it from its course even if that course should 
 conflict with his interests — since his influence is not 
 direct, but is exercised only through a proxy, whose 
 fortune at the lowest estimate is three-fifths superior 
 to his own. Now, we all know that our equals alone 
 can appreciate our necessities, because they have 
 experienced them : that our peers alone will defend 
 our interests, because theirs and ours are identical ; 
 and, consequently, that we can rely only on our peers 
 and our equals to foresee the one and protect the other. 
 
 From the day that the electors shall be convinced 
 of this truth — and the day is not far distant — they 
 will require from their deputies a promise to reduce 
 the rate of eligibility to two hundred francs, and of 
 the electoral privilege to one hundred. The candi- 
 dates will give this pledge in order to be elected, and 
 redeem it in order to be re-elected ; and the two- 
 fold reduction of the rate of electorship and eligi- 
 bility will be the result of this measure. 
 
 The parliamentary revolution will then commence. 
 
 After a time, the electors of one hundred francs 
 will perceive that they are no more represented by 
 their eligible candidates of two hundred francs, than 
 the latter were by the copy-holders of five hundred. 
 This discovery will be followed by the same mea- 
 sures ; the same necessities will bring about the 
 same results ; and the rates will thus be lowered by 
 a constantly decreasing progression until every one
 
 CONCLUSION. 375 
 
 who owns nothing will be an elector, and all who 
 own anything will be eligible to the office of a 
 deputy. 
 
 Then, the parliamentary revolution will be achieved. 
 
 A government in harmony with the wants, the in- 
 terests and the wishes of all, will next be established. 
 Let it be styled a monarchy, a presidency or a repub- 
 lic — it is immaterial: for this government will he 
 a magistracy and nothing more. A quinquennial 
 magistracy, probably; for that is the form of govern- 
 ment which presents the best chance of tranquillity to 
 a people ; since those who are contented with the 
 administration of their delegate, have the hope to re- 
 elect him ; and those who are dissatisfied, have the 
 right to supersede him. 
 
 But then, also, as the aristocracy of wealth — the 
 present transitory government — will have had its 
 representative ; so, the property of the nation at 
 large must in turn be represented : only, the repre- 
 sentative of the one cannot be that of the other. For 
 it is necessary that this last should be the exact type 
 of his time, as Ijouis-Philippe, Louis XV., Francis 
 I., and Hugh Capet were types of theirs. He must 
 be born among the people, so that there may be 
 sympathy between him and the people. His private 
 fortune must not be above the general average of 
 fortunes, so that his interests may be similar to the 
 interests of all. His civil list must be restricted to 
 the strict necessity of his expenses, so that he can
 
 376 CONCLUSION, 
 
 have no control over the means of corruption, by the 
 aid of which, at the election of his successor, he 
 might subsidize a party whose will would not be the 
 will of the nation. This representative, therefore, 
 can be neither a man of the blood-royal, nor a great 
 proprietary. 
 
 This is the Charybdis where the pi'esent govern- 
 ment will be ingulphed. The Pharos that we light 
 up on its route will illumine only its wreck ; for 
 even if the pilot were disposed to tack, he no longer 
 has the power to do so ; the current which drags 
 the ship onward is too rapid, and the gale that pro- 
 pels it is too strong. But, at the hour of its destruc- 
 tion, the recollections of a man, overpowering those 
 of a citizen, will cause one voice to exclaim, Death 
 to royalty — hut God save the King } 
 
 That voice vnll be mine ! 
 
 THE END.
 
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